The Sea Swiper

******

It was a little past eight thirty when the trio returned to their hotel room on the third floor after they had eaten dinner at a local restaurant recommended by the hotel's staff. The room itself had two twin sized beds with a foldout couch, a small television complete with a video game console, a small refrigerator and one bathroom. The two adults had claimed the beds, while Gosalyn had been perfectly content with the fold out couch. Overall, Drake was actually quite pleased with what he had gotten for the price he'd paid for it.

As soon as he opened the door, Gosalyn rushed into the room, flipped off her shoes and bounced onto her fold out bed. The souvenirs she'd accumulated earlier, which she still couldn't remember how she got, were piled on the left side of her bed by the window. She gave them a nasty look before she glanced over to see what her father was doing.

"Are you going to bed already, Dad?" She asked incredulously as he pulled out his pajamas from his suitcase. "It's only eight thirty!"

"Now, now missy, you should know that one of the keys to maintaining your health is a solid sleep schedule."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure you follow that rule religiously seeing as you're the terror that flaps in the night and all." She rolled her eyes before drawing back a little from her father's ugly glare.

"She's got ya there, DW." Launcpad cut in with his normal cheerful voice. The short mallard gave him an aggravated look.

"Launchpad, you're not helping."

"Sorry Drake, but it is a little early. Why don't we watch a movie to pass a little time before bed?"

"Yahoo!" Gosalyn shouted jumping up and down on her bed. "How about 'Zombies vs. Vampires IV' where the two rival monster groups fight for domination, while feeding on the flesh of the remaining normal civilians, sucking out their blood, eating their brains, ripping out their intestines…"

"Gee, um, I was hoping for a something a little more relaxing." The pilot informed her with a nauseated look as she continued to list off the gory details.

Drake grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV to see the movies that he could order for their room. Scanning the list briefly, his face lit up when he saw one of his all time favorite films.

"Not to worry, LP. For tonight's movie will be a superhero classic: 'Batduck and Robin.'"

The red haired duckling's face fell considerably at this statement. "Dad," Gosalyn whined, "Launchpad said 'relaxing' not mind numbing and painful."

"This from the girl who won't watch anything except B movies with Beelzebub's flesh eating minions. Now this, on the other hand, is classic cinema and it might just reverse all the brain rotting you've accumulated from those horror flicks."

Seeing that his daughter still wasn't satisfied and was going to continue the argument, he decided to try a different tactic. Putting the most neutral expression on his face that he could, he cut her off before she could continue speaking.

"Tell you what Gosalyn. If you pay for the movie, then you can choose which one we watch."

An evil grin made its way across his beak as he watched her glower at him, reminding her of how she had already spent all of her money and lost their agreement.

"Well, since you don't have any money, I get to pick which movie we watch." He gloated immaturely, grabbing the remote from her hands. "And I say that we're watching the classic 'Batduck and Robin' movie and that's final."

Gosalyn's let out a heavy groan as her father turned back to the TV to order the old movie. She quickly laid her head down on her pillow and crossed her arms with a scowl. Launchpad, who had been watching the scene with a bit of pity for the little duckling, noticed that his seemingly bottomless stomach had started grumbling. In truth, he was no more interested in watching the movie then his friend's grumpy daughter and decided this would be the perfect exit strategy.

"Ya know, I'm a little hungry." Launcpad told Drake as he pressed the play button on the remote. "I think I'll grab myself some snacks."

"How can you be hungry?" His friend raised an incredulous eyebrow, putting his hands on his hips. "You had two whole tropical fish for dinner, not to mention two sides of mashed potatoes, a bowl of clam chowder, a plate of crab cakes on top of brown rice, a large seafood salad, an order of the house specialty soup, a whole basket of bread with honey butter, and you even had crème brule for dessert."

"Wow, that's all I had today," he remarked in astonishment. "No wonder I'm still hungry. I usually eat at least twice that much."

"Launchpad," Darkwing queried with a hand over his stomach, looking as though he was about to be sick, "do you, by any chance, have any bovine relatives? It might explain why you have four stomachs."

"Huh?"

"Oh, forget it, LP. Just go get your snacks."

Shaking off his confusion, he waved to his friend who was now sitting on his bed, looking excited as his movie started. "I'll be right back, Drake. See ya later!"

Exciting the room quickly, happy to have escaped from the old super hero film temporarily, he took the elevator down to the main floor. The large pilot spanned both sides of the long hallway and main lobby area before finally finding a vending machine. He was about to put his money in when he noticed the 'Out of Order' sign posted on the machine and the strange spitting noises coming from it. Annoyed, but not deterred, he went out the main doors of the hotel in search of a small convenience store.

Looking back and forth at both sides of the street, Launchpad didn't see anything that was open. Not ready to give up yet, the sidekick began strolling down to his right, noticing how few street lights there were in comparison to St. Canard. Taking a quick glance upward, all of his vexation with his situation disappeared as he took in the beauty of the night sky. Launchpad had always lived in the city and he couldn't remember if he'd ever seen this many stars in his whole life. Whistling to himself, he continued to walk and admire the stars, not really watching where he was going. Before he knew it, he was at the same harbor the trio had been to that afternoon and he stopped when a pleasant scent hit his nostrils. Curious in spite of himself, he tore his eyes away from the sky and began following the sweet smell down a side street.

Hey, this looks like some kind of bazaar. The pilot thought cheerfully, examining all the stalls and empty booths that would be filled with goods come morning. Maybe if I keep going I'll find something that's still…He tried to focus as his mind began getting fuzzy…still openmaybe they even have…have something sweet…like that… scent…

Launchpad allowed his hazy mind to shut off, letting his feet lead the way to his destination.

******

Gosalyn Mallard was staring at the TV screen in front of her with complete disinterest and checked the clock for what seemed to be the hundredth time. She couldn't believe it had only been a little over a half hour and she fervently wished that she had gone with Launchpad to get some junk food.

"Boy, it sure is taking Launchpad a long time to come back. Maybe we should go find him." She remarked, looking for any opening that would get her out of the movie. Her father was so captivated that he couldn't take his eyes off the screen, making punching motions to go along with the overly cheesy fight scene.

"Oh, you know LP. He probably got sidetracked and forgot why he left our room in the first place." Drake told her in a distracted tone. "It's nothing to worry about."

Heaving an exasperated sigh, she heard the lock turn and Darkwing's faithful sidekick came through the door with a deeply puzzled expression on his face.

"Hey, Launchpad! What took you so long?" Gosalyn asked, wondering if the pilot had gotten some candy to go with the movie. That's when she noticed all the random items he was carrying, none of which looked remotely like food. "What's all that stuff?"

The short mallard turned at his daughter's question and saw that his sidekick had several bottles of sun tan lotion in his thick arms, a cheap looking Hawaiian shirt, a potted plant, several pairs of plastic sunglasses and a visor.

"LP, what is all this?" Drake examined the items briefly before giving his friend a look that said that he might have lost his all his marbles. "I thought you said you were going to get some food."

"Ya know, it's funny that ya say that. I thought so too, but…" The larger duck trailed off, scratching his head in confusion. "I dunno what happened. One minute I was walking down the street searching for a convenience store and the next thing I know I'm back in the lobby of the hotel with all this stuff in my arms."

The shorter mallard tilted his head curiously as he took in the information and picked up one of the bottles of sun tan lotion his friend was carrying.

"Why would you have bought this?" He questioned with something prodding the back of his mind as he glanced down at the label. There was a familiarity to it that he couldn't quite place. "I thought you already had sun tan lotion."

"I dunno, DW. Like I said, I can't remember how I got any of this."

Sensing a mystery at hand, Drake was about to let himself going into crime fighting mode when he remembered his promise to his sidekick and his side of the deal with his daughter. Clearing his throat to cover up the awkward silence, he quipped back in a causal voice:

"That's no surprise. You can't even remember what you had for breakfast in the morning on any given day. At least tell me that you got some kind of receipt after you purchased all this junk."

Dropping all the stuff on his bed, Drake's sidekick sifted through the pile and picked up a small business card. He gave the card an odd look before handing it to his friend.

"Doesn't look like I got a receipt, but do you think this'll do?"

Taking a look at the card, he saw four tropical flowers designs in each corner with a wave in the background. On top of the wave graphic was a row of cursive text that said, "We appreciate your business and hope that we'll see you again soon." Flipping it over and seeing that the other side was blank, Drake frowned in suspicion.

"What kind of business card is this? No company name, no address, no phone number, not even an e-mail address! It's almost as if they don't want to be found..." He trailed off as he realized he was going into Darkwing mode. The shorter mallard berated himself again as his daughter spoke up for the first time.

"Well, with the way they're running their business, it's better for their sakes if I don't find them." Gosalyn muttered darkly as she balled her right hand into a fist and shook it. "I'll show em a thing or two about taking money from Gosalyn Mallard!"

"You're going to do no such thing." Drake informed her sternly. "I'm sorry that you spent your money the way you did, but you can't get angry at the vendors for your choices."

"But Dad!" She stared at him in disbelief. "Don't you think it's a little weird that both me and Launchpad ended up with a pile of junk that we don't remember how we bought? We even have some of the same stuff! Like that potted plant over there!" She pointed to the red hibiscus flower in the middle of the bed. "I got the exact same one this afternoon. I think these creeps are cheating people out of their money and we should do something to stop them!"

"Gee, maybe she's right DW. Something weird seems to be going on around here."

"Even if there is," Drake said with a sigh, "the local authorities will take care of it, like you said earlier today."

"But DW," Launchpad argued, thinking back to the conversation he'd heard between the two cops, "what if this is too much for them to handle? Maybe this case requires a more experienced hand."

"Launchpad you're the one who made the no crime fighting rule on vacation in the first place, remember?"

Launchpad's bill snapped shut abruptly and he shifted his gaze to the ground. Drake shrugged and sat back down on the bed.

"Tomorrow morning we'll go back to the place where you got all that stuff, LP and you can try to return the things you don't need. You at least remember the general direction of where you got that stuff, right?"

"Um…I guess I do." The pilot said after a pause to think it over.

"Good, then it's settled." Drake replied going back to his movie. "We'll take care of it tomorrow."

As Drake Mallard became engrossed in his film once more, Launchpad exchanged worried looks with Gosalyn. Sighing, the pilot now fervently wished he hadn't forced his friend to make that promise.

******

Drake Mallard woke up from his peaceful slumber the next morning to the sound of frantic rustling. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and sitting up groggily, he searched for the source of the noise and saw Launchpad shuffling through his duffle bag. Piles of clothes were scattered all over the floor as the pilot continued emptying his bag.

"Launchpad, what in the world are you doing?"

His sidekick didn't look at him as he answered, still furiously searching his bag.

"It's my visor. Ya know, the one I brought with the wings stitched into the brim. I got it as a parting gift from a friend of mine at Scrooge's manor when I left for St. Canard. I had it yesterday and now I can't find it anywhere!"

"Are you sure you can't just remember where you left it?"

"No," Launcpad shook his head in frustration. "I'm positive that I left it right here on top of my clothes and this morning it was gone. Not only that, but my sun tan lotion and my pair of sunglasses are gone too."

Drake put his feet on the floor, stood up and stretched with a yawn.

"Don't worry, LP. Everyone knows that inanimate objects don't just get up and walk away. I'll help you look for them."

However, after a half hours search, where they virtually tore apart the hotel room, the missing items still hadn't turned up. As the pair of them checked under their beds for what seemed like the tenth time, Gosalyn finally woke up and stretched.

"Hey, what're you guys doing? Playing hide and seek?"

"I wish." Launcpad replied sheepishly. "You haven't seen a visor, a bottle of fifty SPF sun tan lotion or my sunglasses, have you?"

Gosalyn processed the list of items and shook her head sleepily.

"Sorry Launchpad, but I just woke up. When did you lose them?"

"That's just it Gos, I didn't lose them. They just disappeared when I woke up this morning."

Seeing her friend's distress made her check both sides of her bed quickly, but when she didn't see any of the mentioned items, she turned back to him with a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry Launchpad. I wish there was something I could do."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Drake told his friend, grabbing his clothes out of his suitcase, heading to the bathroom and quickly changing out of his pajamas. Coming back out and still seeing the discouraged expression on the face of his sidekick, he sighed and tried to find a suitable compromise.

"Tell you what. Why don't we go down to the lobby and get some breakfast? Maybe if we take a break from the situation, we'll come back and be able to look at it from angles we hadn't thought of before."

Knowing that his friend was trying to cheer him up, the pilot nodded, though not with as much enthusiasm as he normally would have. Gosalyn, on the other hand, was bouncing up and down on her bed, having more than enough enthusiasm to make up for any that Launchpad was lacking.

"Oh, boy, I love breakfast foods! I'm gonna have a cinnamon roll, with a bowl of frosted flakes and one of those big chocolate muffins…"

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast young lady! I'm paying for your food and I'm not getting you any of that sugary junk to eat. You're eating a healthy meal of oatmeal, fruit and yogurt."

"Aw, Dad, are you trying to kill me?" His daughter queried petulantly, making gagging noises and pretending to choke herself. "It should be a crime to force anyone to eat that stuff!"

"Very funny, young lady, but this is another important lesson you should learn about not having your own money. When you don't have your own source of income and rely on other people's earnings, you lose your freedom to choose. When you have your own job and start earning your own money, you'll understand the value of a solid work ethic and you'll be less likely to blow everything on useless junk."

"Fine," Gosalyn crossed her arms and sulked on her fold out bed. "I just won't go to breakfast then."

"Suit yourself." Drake replied neutrally, not wanting to reward his daughter childish behavior by arguing or getting angry. "Then, you'll just have to wait here until I bring you back something from the lobby."

"See ya later Gos!" Launchpad called out to her as they left the room.

Once her father and his sidekick were gone, Gosalyn began punching her pillow, tired of feeling like she was having life lessons shoved down her throat. After a few minutes, she got bored of this exercise and decided she might as well get dressed. Once the red haired duckling had pulled on her usual purple jersey, she lay back down on her bed, stared at the ceiling and began thinking out loud.

"Hmm…Dad said I should stay here and wait for him to bring me my breakfast. But, on the other hand, he also said that it was important for me to learn my lesson about money. Being waited on like this certainly doesn't teach my anything about the 'work ethic' that goes with earning money."

She began grinning deviously as she continued conversing with herself. "So, if earning my own money is more important then staying here, then I should find a means of income to support myself! And I know just the place to start. I'll show Dad that I understand a thing or two about money." Her decision made, the little red haired duckling raced towards the door in anticipation. "That cinnamon roll is as good as mine!"

******

Gosalyn hastily made her way to the elevator and went to the ground floor, carefully avoiding the conference room where breakfast was being served. Running out the door, she wove skillfully in between the crowded throngs of people until she reached the pier she had been at yesterday afternoon. The spirited duckling made her way down the docks and wasn't disappointed as she saw several luxurious cruise ships. She knew all too well that many of these ships had their own private casinos. Match that with her incredible luck and skill at card games, Gosalyn knew that her pockets would be lined with cash again soon enough.

After all, she added with a smug grin, rubbing her hands together in anticipation, Dad just told me that I had to earn my money. He didn't make any rules about how I earned it.

Spotting a particularly large, luxurious looking cruise ship docked at the port called The Sea Swiper, her grin widened, sensing victory in her grasp.

Perfect! Now, all I have to do is sneak on and I'm in business.

Looking for an opening, she spotted some dockworkers taking some boxes in through a side entrance. Most of the workers were middle aged men, but she did spot a few younger boys who were around her age carrying in some of the smaller boxes. Tip toeing up to the cargo unobtrusively, she waited until the last worker had grabbed his box before taking a smaller one and filling in at the end. Moving up the ramp, she kept her head down so that the security guard couldn't see her face and boarded the vessel. Once she was a safe distance away from the entrance, she dropped the box in the hallway and started exploring the ship.

Running excitedly, dodging through the wealthy passengers, Gosalyn skidded to a halt when she saw exactly what she was looking for through a large set of red double doors. It was a banquet sized room full of card tables, roulettes, lotteries and slot machines.

"Keen gear!" She whispered in awe as she glanced back and forth between all the different machines. Deciding she should start with something easy, she made her way to the slot machines.

Searching underneath the rotating stools by each machine, the red haired duckling finally spotted a lone quarter. Snatching it up quickly, Gosalyn slid it into the slot machine, sat on the stool and pulled the lever. Crossing her fingers, she gave a cheer as three cherries lined up and quarters began spilling out of the tray onto the floor. Jumping down to neatly pile up her money, she smiled victoriously at her already increased revenue.

See, nothing to it! Dad'll be eating his words when he sees how much I made today.

Playing the slots ten more times, Gosalyn was thrilled by her good luck, winning round after round. After the last pull, she estimated she must have at least a fifty dollars worth of quarters. Glancing back and forth, she spotted a well-dressed duck cashier behind a counter in the far corner and she sprinted in his direction. Skidding to a stop and jumping up on a stool, she coughed to get his attention.

"Excuse me, kind sir, "she said in the sweetest, innocent little girl voice she could muster, "you wouldn't happen to have a bag lying around that I could borrow, would you?"

"Sure thing, young lady," he said with a smile, handing her a large brown sack that they gave out to help their customers carry their winnings. "Just be sure to bring it back when you're done with it, okay?"

"I will! Thank you!"

Not waiting another second, she rushed back to her station and began scooping all of her quarters into the bag. Once she got them all in, Gosalyn took one quarter out, thinking that she would have one more round on the slot machine. Just as she was about to pull the lever, a large, pudgy hand landed over hers, causing her to turn around on her stool. She was met with the face of an oily, scowling rat with large buck teeth, a thin mustache, thick black eyebrows and equally greasy black hair. He was wearing a fancy button down white dress shirt that looked as if it were straining to hold in his bulging belly, a black overcoat and black slacks that were hemmed to fit his stubby legs.

Ewww. He reminds me of Tuskerninni in rat form…Gosalyn thought, trying not to make a face.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing?" The rat asked pompously, his hand still firmly planted over the red haired duckling's. "I'm sure you're aware that the casino is not open to minors."

"Well, some dumb rules are meant to be broken." Gosalyn replied sticking out her tongue. "What's it to ya, anyway?"

"I am the owner of this ship," the rat snapped back, annoyed at the insolent tone. He was satisfied as he watched the little girl shrink back, aware that she had just gotten herself into a lot of trouble. "And I will make sure that the rules are upheld," he added yanking her arm, causing her to fall off the stool and on to the floor. "We'll see how spirited you are when your parents find out exactly what you've done."

Gosalyn quickly snatched her sack of quarters before she was dragged off by the rat owner, who was surprisingly strong in spite of his flabby figure. Just as they exited the double doors, however, two crew members ran up to the owner, attempting to speak to him.

"Not now! Can't you see I'm busy?" He growled, trying to wave them off.

"But sir!" The taller of the two shouted after him as he started walking off. "We were sent to tell you that your special delivery has arrived and is waiting for you in the cargo hold."

The pudgy rat visibly stiffened and turned around to glare ferociously at the two younger men. The pair took a step back, wondering if they had done something wrong.

"Have either of you spoken of this to anyone else?"

The voice held a dangerous undertone to it and both of them shook their heads vehemently.

"N-No sir! Of course not, sir. I-It just arrived a few minutes ago…"

Sighing in relief, the rat pulled out a sizeable wad of cash from his coat pocket, divided it in half and handed it to the two crew members.

"See that you don't."

Pocketing the money quickly, the pair nodded again before walking off hurriedly in the other direction. Dropping Gosalyn's arm, he glared down at her in annoyance.

"I'll deal with you later! Just be thankful I have more pressing matters to attend to right now."

Without another word, the owner raced off in the direction of the cargo hold. Gosalyn stared after him for a minute, knowing that she should be getting away…

But what's this 'special delivery' he's so worried about? I think I smell a rat, well, in the figurative sense anyway.

Letting curiosity get the better of her, the spirited duckling slung her bag over her shoulder and raced down the stairs, following the rat's trail. Heading down the stairs, she slowed down as she quietly opened the door to the bottom level of the ship and peaked in to see if she was in the clear. Seeing no one in the corridor, she shut the door quietly and snuck down the passage way.

Keeping her ears open, she heard the shrill, angry voice of the owner coming from the second door from the end. Creeping up to it, she peered in through the small crack in the door to see the pudgy rat was now accompanied by two men in brown trench coats that covered their figures from head to toe. The one on the right was a bit shorter and much thinner than the man to his left. Both men were wearing hats that covered their faces, however, so Gosalyn couldn't make out their complexions. The only thing that she could really see was that the taller of the two had a pair of really odd looking blue eyes that seemed to glow underneath his hat.

"Would you two mind being a little more careful next time?!" The owner told them in a put upon voice. "If anyone finds out what's going on down here then I'll be ruined!"

"Our apologies valued sir," The one on the left answered smoothly. "We both give you our word, with no fine print attached, that such an incident will not happen again any time soon."

The greasy rat opened his mouth to continue the argument, but the man on the left held up a finger and continued speaking in an odd gargle that the little red haired duckling was sure she'd heard before.

"But wait, there's more! As a limited time added bonus, my associate and I will give you a little extra cash on this upcoming rental payment." The shorter man on the right gave a quick nod of affirmation. "After all, if you're not satisfied, we're not satisfied."

Wait a minute! I'd recognize that sleazy advertising anywhere. That's Liquidator! But what's he doing here? Gosalyn questioned before shaking her head. Well, never mind that for now. He's obviously up to no good. I've got to go get Dad!

Jumping up from the squat she'd been in, Gosalyn slung her bag over her shoulder and started to run when she bumped into something. Looking down, her green eyes widened as she saw the red hibiscus flower that had been bundled in with her souvenirs. Only this time, it wasn't potted; it had sprouted roots and was carrying a visor with wings stitched into the brim, a pair of sunglasses and a large canister of fifty SPF sun tan lotion.

"Why you overgrown weed! That's Launchpad's stuff! You give that back or I'll—Hey!!!"

Gosalyn found herself dangling above the ground as a hand roughly grabbed her collar and hoisted her up. She struggled fiercely as she was brought into the room with the owner and the still disguised Liquidator.

"She was spying on us in the corridor. What should we do with her?"

The spirited young duckling, still struggling against the hold, glared up into the face of her captor and saw purple strands of hair sticking out from underneath his hat along with a familiar green complexion.

"Why you little brat!" The pudgy rat snarled, clenching his yellowed teeth. Turning back to the disguised Liquidator, his face softened considerably as he wrung his hands together. "My sincerest apologies to both of you gentlemen for this child's unsightly intrusion. In truth, I was just about to take care of her when you called. Please, let me to remedy this situation."

"Good sir, allow your worries to dissipate." The water dog in the brown jacket responded with a casual wave of his hand. "Fixing snags in the contract and providing convenient solutions is one of the perks of working with my associate and me."

His eerie blue eyes narrowed as they met Gosalyn's and she gulped nervously.

"Yes, making sure that business ventures are carried out no matter what the cost or the sacrifices that have to be made is not a goal, but a guarantee."

******

Author's note: Hmm, this chapter seemed a little slow to me, but the next one should pick up the pace. After all, when has Darkwing ever really trusted anyone to solve a case other than him? Well, I hope you enjoyed!