The Key That the Jailer Threw Away
Well seeing as I'm once again single on Valentines, I have plenty of time to work on my fan-fiction. You know I've never had a girlfriend on Valentines Day so it's never really been a holiday for me. Maybe someday I will… But all that's in the future so here to you my readers is the next chapter.
Chapter 3
Sora continued to watch the ever fading trail of Darkwing Duck on his motor-cycle as he sped off into the darkness. It wasn't long before the image faded completely and was no longer visible. Sora turned to his companions, "Well guys what do you think we should do?"
"That Darkwing guy sounds like a bit of a show-off to me," responded Donald, "I don't think he really understands what he's getting himself into."
"Garsh, I don't know," said Goofy, "he looks like a hero to me."
"Maybe he is," suggested Sora, "but even so if there are heartless in this world that means that we have to do something about it with or without Darkwing's help."
"But I'll bet he knows this world pretty well," supplied Goofy, "It would make sense to have him as an ally."
"I guess you're right," said Sora, "Let's follow him and see if we can find him."
Meanwhile in a secret location Megavolt and Bushroot had fled from Sora and Darkwing and began making machinations of their own.
"We need some sort of plan now Bushy," he began, "It's bad enough that we got that kid after us but now Darkwing Dip is after us too."
"Ahh neither of them are a concern," replied Bushroot, "now that we both know how to control the heartless we can wipe the floor with them.
"Maybe so," said Megavolt, "but it certainly would make things easier if we could turn them against each other and not have to worry about them at all."
"Hmmm," thought Bushroot, "divide and conquer is a nice strategy but I don't think it will work. Or better yet how do we make it work?"
"That's why I'm the brains of this operation Lettuce head," supplied Megavolt, "I happen to have the perfect plan and we don't even really have to turn the two against each other per se."
"Oh," said Bushroot, "Then what do we need to do?"
"We just need to bruise Drakwing's ego a bit," answered Megavolt, "Darkwing likes to believe that he's number one and doesn't need anyone else to help him, so all we have to do is make the kid look better than him and things will be fine."
"And how do we do that?" asked Bushroot
"Let's seek out the kid and fight him a bit," said Megavolt, "then when Darkwing Dork shows up we look like were losing and get him annoyed. I guarantee within know time at all we'll have Darkwing focused on the kid instead of us."
"So what happens after that?" asked Bushroot
"After that we take over St. Canard," cackled Megavolt, he began rubbing his hands together and electricity sparked between them
Sora and Co., had wandered away from the greenhouse and were exploring the dark streets of Saint Canard. They had long since lost track of Darkwing but decided to follow in the hopes that he would show himself again. It wasn't long before they encountered more heartless some familiar and some new.
"It looks like those two guys we saw earlier have figured out how to control the heartless," observed Goofy as he smashed into a pair of them.
"Just our luck eh?" replied Sora as he slid forward into a group of them,
"It seems like I always get stuck with all the bad luck," quacked Donald as he summoned some lighting to get rid of some more.
"Less talking more fighting," commanded Sora
With their usual precision the trio quickly dispatched the heartless and were once again on their way. They continued along the dimly lit and deserted streets for what seemed like ages before a loud alarm guided them towards its source. They arrived in front of what was clearly a bank; in front of the entrance was quite a number of flower heartless.
[Sorry can't remember what they're called but you know the ones I'm talking about. They appear in Wonderland in CoM]
"They're trying to keep us out," yelled Donald as he barely avoided being attacked by one of their long reaching roots.
Sora ran forward to get in close but was stopped short as he was hit by a barrage of seeds that sent him spinning back. He tried to recover In the air but as he charged forward again he received another blast in the face from the spitting flowers.
Goofy tried blocking the attacks with his shield but that tactic only worked for so long as a creeping root sprung out at him sending him jumping in pain.
Donald and Sora had enveloped themselves in fire and were wading through the flowers trying to burn them. This seemed to be working but it seemed as quickly as the burned a few of them more sprung up to take their place.
"I think we're gonna need help here," observed Sora and I know just who could help us. Sora steadied himself and concentrated with all his might as he gripped the lamp charm. "Genie!" he shouted after awhile. The effect was instantaneous suddenly the large blue figure of the genie appeared in front of him and he was ready for battle. Transforming into valor mode Sora and the genie used their combined power to inflict massive damage upon the plant creatures. A few rounds of their "valor" attack and Sora managed to get rid of all the annoying flower heartless.
"Tootaloo," said genie as he vanished.
"Nice work Sora," said Goofy, "now let's see what caused the alarm to go off." Goofy took the lead as the trio entered the front door of the bank. Someone was already coming out and as soon as he stepped into the light it was clear who it was.
"Bushroot," said all three together.
"What ? ahh Why? How? What are you guys doing here?" he stammered.
"We could ask you the same question" said Sora smugly.
"I have some banking to take care of," said Bushroot, "now if you'll excuse me I must be off."
Before he could go anywhere a familiar voice was heard as if coming out of nowhere.
"I am the terror that flaps in the night; I am the fire that burns down your bush."
Suddenly a familiar cloud of smoke appeared and from within its depths emerged not one but two figures. Darkwing Duck and his sidekick Launchpad.
"Oh of course you'd be here too," groaned Bushroot but suddenly an idea came to him, and he decided to implement it then and there. "But it's not like I'm afraid of you Darkwing Duck, in fact I believe you're late to the party. Why Sora here was first I think he'd make a better defender of this city than you."
Darkwing had not noticed Sora but upon hearing Bushroot's words he turned his head to face him.
"You!" he snapped, "didn't I tell you to stay out of this, I'm the crime fighter here not you."
"I'm not trying to replace you," said Sora defensively, "I just want to help you why can't we work together."
"Because," began Darkwing, "The deft defender of the dark does not and despises doing double duty with a wanna be do-gooder."
Sora looked at Donald and Goofy who both looked confused.
"Uhh could you repeat that?" asked Sora
Darkwing fell from his triumphant pose onto the ground in a state of disbelief.
"The point is," he began staring straight at Sora, "that I am the hero and savior of St. Canard and you are just an interloper trying to get in the way. Besides I never asked for your help and even if I did (which I won't) I should still be the one calling the shots here."
"I guess I never thought of it that way," admitted Sora, "Most of the places we go to need our help in some way or another and we're only too happy to give it. I'm sorry if we got in your way, but we still have a job to do and I think you need our help."
"Well I'm still not sure if I want your help, but I've agreed for now that we may as well work together to stop that-," began Darkwing
"Uhh 'scuse me for interrupting," said Launchpad, "but Bushroot is getting away."
The gang turned just in time to see the vegetable duck escape down a dark deserted alley.
"After him," called Darkwing, everyone rushed after him. "We've got him trapped, there's no way out from there."
All five heroes peeked their heads around the alley wall, and were greeted by the sight of Bushroot flying away. He was holding onto what looked like two large flowers except the petals were revolving like helicopter blades they were spinning around very fast and lifting the villain farther away.
"Ta-ta, Darkwing Ducky," he called as he soared away into the dark.
"Drat's," said Darkwing throwing his hat on the ground. "He got away."
"I guess it's our own fault," said Sora, "We shouldn't have wasted time arguing,"
"No we shouldn't have," agreed Darkwing, "and I suppose I have been a bit hard on you guys. I mean you only wanted to help me and if we had worked together we probably could have captured Bushroot by now. So this means that now we have to start working together and I know the perfect place to start."
"Where would that be?" asked Sora
"Follow me I'm going to lead you to my secret lair," replied DW
[Darkwing Duck has been switched into your party]
The gang proceeded to follow DW for what appeared a long time, finally they made it back to the large bridge where Sora and Co. had first entered the world.
"Garsh is this bridge your secret lair?" queried Goofy
"No, it's only the entrance to my lair," replied DW, "See the top posts on the bridge? Near the bottom there's a secret entrance that leads right to my lair follow me."
Darkwing lead them to the base of one of the large central pillars that held the suspension bridge. After locating a secret entrance at the base the team saw a spiral stair case that lead into a large interesting room. It was incredibly tall with only one window at the top. It had all sorts of weird and scientific devices. Most noticeable was a large platform in the center that held some sort of computer mainframe in it. Next to that computer was a large filing case, and next to that was another room but Sora couldn't quite see into it to determine what it's function was.
"Welcome citizens to my secret crime-fighting lair," bellowed Darkwing.
"Wow this place is awesome!" exclaimed Donald
"Garsh it looks real fancy," said Goofy
"This place is cool," said Sora.
"Well there's no time to lollygag, said Darkwing, "we don't have much time but we need to learn how to work together if we're going to stop both Megavolt and Bushroot." Darkwing hurried over to his filing cabinet and accessed a new file from the bottom shelf. "I've got files on the most wanted criminals in St. Canard, but it looks like I'll need a new one for these heartless species. So why don't you sit down and tell me about them."
Sora ran through as much as he knew about the heartless and watched as Darkwing took careful and calculated notes about everything Sora said. It wasn't long before the file he had been working on had reached a considerable size. Finally after Sora had mentioned everything worth mentioning they stopped.
"Well this has been informative," said Darkwing as their interview concluded, "thanks to this information I'm one step closer in my fight against the heartless."
"So what's next?" asked Sora
"Next," answered Darkwing, "who's hungry for breakfast?"
Sora was a little stunned by this question, but decided to play along for now.
"I guess I'm hungry," he replied
"Good now if you'll follow me," said Darkwing
Darkwing lead Sora up to the room that was next to the filing cabinet. From below Sora had been unable to determine what the room was or what it's possible purpose could be. Now that he saw it up close it looked like a standard kitchen with checkered tile. Although there was something strange about the room Sora couldn't exactly guess what that might be. He did however notice that it was a bit larger than a standard kitchen.
"The most important meal of the day is breakfast," explained Darkwing, "For crime-fighting it's even more important and not just as the start of the day, but also as a form of training. Now as you might have guessed this is not an ordinary kitchen so please stand back and watch me."
Sora watched as Darkwing walked over to the table that was in the room he noticed it had a small stopwatch on it. He barely noticed that Darkwing had pushed the button before several things happened at once.
First Darkwing jumped into the air as a plate and silverware were tossed at him. He managed to grab the utensils in his hand and the plate with his mouth. He quickly returned them to the table. Next he grabbed a bowl and rushed across the room as a gun began shooting cereal at him; fortunately he was able to catch all the cereal not missing a drop. He put the bowl of cereal on the table with the plate and silverware. Then he ran to grab an iron pan just in the nick of time, he turned around just as two eggs shot out from the fridge. Darkwing positioned the pan so that both eggs hit the pan and were ready to be cooked. Unfortunately he had miscalculated and almost realized his mistake too late as a floor panel opened beneath him. He was just able to jump out of the way as searing hot flames spat out from the ground. The flames hit the pan and began to cook the eggs instead of him. Darkwing grabbed the pan failing to realize it was hot. He quickly threw the pan away and luckily managed to fling the eggs onto the prepared plate on the table. He barely had time to recover as two pieces of toast shot out of the toaster at him, but he was prepared and shot out two small squares of butter that hit the toast mid-flight and changed it's trajectory back towards the table. He threw a small plate for toast at the table and managed to catch the bread just in time. A small canon sprung out of the wall behind him and fired a large grapefruit at Darkwing, with a well placed kick he split the grapefruit in half and sent it towards the table where it joined the rest of breakfast. Finally a small catapult launched three oranges at him, but once again Darkwing was ready he jumped up to grab all three and squeezed them together so their juice fell into a glass on the table. Sitting down in his chair he stopped the stopwatch admiring his time.
"Not bad at all," he remarked, "and we have everything a champion needs for a good breakfast…..except the milk."
As he realized there was no milk the fridge behind him suddenly shot up in the air, Sora was certain that the large fridge would smash the hero. At the last second however Darkwing sprung out of his chair the fridge landed harmlessly beside the table and an actuator holding a pitcher of milk came out of the fridge and poured a generous serving into the cereal.
"That used to surprise me," admitted the caped crusader, "but enough practice and even I remember everything. You know I built and designed this training course myself. It took me awhile to even get past the plates so let's see how fast you do Sora."
[This is a mini-game that I'll expound upon in the appendix section. Basically it's a test of how fast your reaction skills are, as the game is a whole big set of reaction commands one after another. You still have to move to the right location but it's all about keeping the rhythm going with reaction commands. Good Luck!]
Sora stepped up to the start button, and stretched his arms and legs. When he finally felt he was ready he pressed the button and was off. In no time at all he had zoomed through the obstacle course and was sitting eating his well earned breakfast.
Darkwing starred in disbelief at his time, "Wow I got to admit that's pretty good, I mean it's still not really in my league but with a little practice you'll get there-
"Hang on a second DW," called Launchpad, "I think Sora here beat your record."
Darkwing took another look at the stopwatch and was surprised to find that Launchpad was indeed right.
"Well you're off to a great start," he said grudgingly. "But now let's work on your form."
Darkwing lead Sora and Co. downstairs to where there was a large training mat that looked like it was used for sparring.
"I want to see just how good you are," said Darkwing, "I have of coursed mastered many multiplications of multiple melees as well as mixed martial arts. So let's see what you and that key can do against me."
Sora and Darkwing stepped into the ring and got ready for a little sparring match. Sora watched as Darkwing loosed up and stretched. Sora practiced swinging his key-blade about and finally got ready in a fighting stance.
"Let's begin," said Darkwing
[Another mini-game you can practice fighting Darkwing here just for fun really. Not much else to say. Of course I will detail it more in the Appendix]
Sora expected Darkwing to charge at him and was therefore surprised when he wrapped himself up in his cape and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sora began searching all over for him but couldn't find him anywhere.
"First round and already your lost?" taunted Darkwing's voice. Sora looked up at the ceiling but still found nothing. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to catch me," said the voice.
Sora noticed only too late as he suddenly felt pain in his back; he was flying forward into the ropes. When he looked back he saw Darkwing had somehow appeared behind him and kicked him. Sora turned and summoned his key-blade and charged straight for Darkwing. They began to exchange blows as Darkwing effortlessly warded off Sora's swings. He was only using his arms but it seemed like all he needed.
"Too slow," criticized Darkwing, "you'll never land a blow if that's as fast as you can move. You need to use your mind as well as your muscles."
Sora swung once more but this time was tripped and fell to the ground. Darkwing had once again disappeared.
"Now come on," taunted the voice again, "Don't use your eyes use your other senses, and figure out where I will appear."
Sora heard it this time, what sounded like a soft hiss and quickly turned to smoke, it had started subtly behind him. But this time he was ready and jumped to avoid Darkwing's kick.
"Very good," observed Darkwing, "but what about when the whole advantage is mine?"
Without another word he pulled out his gas gun and in an instant had sprayed thick dark clouds of gas over the whole arena. Sora looked around but might as well have had his eyes closed as he couldn't see a thing. The smoke was stinging his eyes and made him cough and sneeze to breathe it. He simply stood still and it wasn't long before he paid the price. In quick succession he felt a blow to his face then his feet were once again tripped and finally a blow at his stomach. As he looked up from the floor he thought he could see the faintest of Darkwing Duck outlines. He tried to get up but realized that Darkwing was pinning him down with his foot.
"You haven't impressed me yet key-blade master," said Darkwing, "it took me years of training before I was ready to don the mantle of the terror that flaps in the night. Who gave you the title of key-blade master? You know what this is? It's all just smoke and mirrors you have to make your opponents think your stronger than you really are. All I've done is some cheap theatrics and already I have you on the ropes. The fight isn't over though show me you still have some spirit."
Sora raised his key-blade to the air and shouted, "Thunder," in the blink of an eye a small thunderbolt came out of the sky and hit Darkwing dead center, The shock was enough to cause him to move out of the way, and Sora used the opportunity to get up. His expression changed and he was now battle ready and confident. He let loose with a flurry of blows at Darkwing, the caped duck tried his best to block them but eventually Sora scored a hit and then another and then another. Soon Darkwing was caught in a barrage of blows that he was unable to escape.
"It's over," proclaimed Sora as he unleashed the Explosion finishing move on Darkwing. The balls of energy sent him up in the air where Sora continued his assault on the duck before unleashing his aril finishing move on him, "Back off," commanded Sora as he caught Darkwing in his aril assault."
As they fell to the ground Darkwing called at Sora.
"Well done, we can stop now I knew you had it in you," said Darkwing, "you truly have the heart and courage of a warrior and now I know that together we can stop whatever Bushroot and Megavolt have planned…..but first I think I need a little rest, that battle really wore me out." Said Darkwing as he collapsed into a chair, "the rest of you take five too okay."
"Ok perfect," said Launchpad, "hey Sora that'll give me just enough time to whip up a batch of my famous fudge brownies. Hey DW do you want any?"
But the only sound that came back was the sound of heavy snoring. Sora, Launchpad, and the others chuckled.