The Brain Pickers, part 4 By Eric Smith

The plane landed in the parking lot of Plextron Chemicals. Launchpad jumped out, followed by Darkwing. Then Gosalyn tried to leave the plane.

"You stay here, young lady." said the masked mallard. "Aw..." protested Gosalyn, but she sat back down. She was too concerned with Honker to bother arguing. Darkwing fired a grappling hook onto the roof, and they climbed up. They stole across the roof and found a ventilation shaft. "I accessed a layout of this place." said Darkwing. "This shaft will take us straight into the building." He pulled the screen off and jumped in. Launchpad followed, although he had to make a little effort to push his larger body through.

Launchpad crashed to the floor, and DW barely had time to jump out of the way. "Will you be careful? I don't want every guard in the place in here." They stood in a small room, with a table and storage closet. It smelled of cleaning fluid, and Darkwing guessed it was a janitor's storage room. He tried the door, and it opened. "Let's go, and quietly. We have to get to where the GZ7667 is stored." The corridor was mostly dark, but there were some security lights here and there. Darkwing pulled out a small flashlight and map he had drawn. "According to this, the room where the gas used on the Muddlefoots is located down the hall and to the right. Come on."

They proceeded down the hall, when they got the surprise of thier lives. A door suddenly opened, a light blazed into the hall and a caninoid in a lab coat stepped out. "Gah!" he cried at the sight of the two crimefighters. "It's...it's you!" Despite his surprise, Darkwing recovered quickly. "Darkwing Duck at your service." he said, bowing and spreading his cape dramatically.

"It's true...you really are a crook." said the canine. "No, I'm not." said DW. "I fight crime, and I'm here to investigate a kidnapping." The scientist or technician studied the masked duck. "You're not here to steal more of my valuable research?" asked the scientist.

"No, of course not." Darkwing was getting impatient. "Are you referring to the GZ7667 gas?"

"Yes. Almost all of it was stolen. Do you know why?"

Darkwing nodded. "It was used to gas and kidnap a young boy. So I want to find out who's responsible, and I could use your help. In fact, I insist." The look in his eyes left no room for argument.

Suddenly, there was the rapid patter of feet. Feet wearing sneakers, thought Darkwing with a sigh. As if in answer, Gosalyn appeared, coming from the main entrance area. "Darkwing!" she cried. "What are you doing here?" asked Darkwing. "And how did you get in?" "The front door was unlocked." DW rolled his eyes. It made perfect sense-if someone was working late, they'd leave a door open. They could have just walked right in.

"All right...little girl who just happened to be in the area...what's wrong?"

"FOWL Eggmen." replied Gosalyn. "I saw thier van pull up and three Eggmen sneak in."

Suddenly it was all becoming clear. "Where are your gases stored? Fast!" demanded Darkwing of the scientist. "Follow me!" he said, running around the corner. The others followed. They ran down a long corridor to a pair of double doors. The scientist punched in an access code to open them, and they found themselves in a large room full of tanks that resembled large gas cylinders. "This is where the GZ7667 was stored." said the scientist.

"Are the Eggmen here DW?" asked Launchpad. "I'm about to find out." Darkwing moved like a shadow between the cylinders of gas. He spotted the three Eggmen gathered around one of the storage cylinders. One of them had attached a hose to it, and was filling a smaller tank, the size of an SCUBA tank. The masked mallard quickly noted the number on the storage tank, CC-199132. Then he got back to the others in a hurry.

"What kind of gas is CC-199132?" asked Darkwing. "It's a new formula, it's designed to act on the brain and depress the higher functions. It can be a very effective truth gas." said the scientist. "Darkwing..." said Gosalyn in a choked voice, already guessing what was going on.

"Let's get back to the plane. Hurry!" Darkwing ordered his companions. "Before those FOWL goons leave. Thanks for your help." he added to the scientist, who just waved in bewilderment as they ran out a side door. As soon as they were safely inside the jet, everyone talked at once.

"Dad, FOWL must have kidnapped Honker!" cried Gosalyn. "And they're going to use that truth gas on him!"

"But why?" asked DW. "What could they expect to get out of him?" "Uh, maybe information about you DW?" suggested Launchpad. Darkwing clenched his fists. "Dammit...that's right. If they thought they could get information out of him, they'd do it. And use any means necessary, hence the truth gas they're stealing now." The Thunderquack had already lifted off, and was hovering about 500 feet above the ground. The FOWL van had pulled out of the parking lot. "Follow them, Launchpad, but maintain altitude." instructed DW. "I don't want the scum to know about us until I'm ready."

They were heading out of town. "It all makes sense, it's too much of a coincedence. FOWL stole the knockout gas to use in the original kidnapping plot. I don't know if they tried to get Honker to voluntarily give them information first."

"Honker would never talk." insisted Gosalyn. "I know he wouldn't." said Darkwing. "That's why it makes sense that they're going to force him to talk, and went back to the easy source of the gas they'd need. And it's up to us to make sure they don't use it." The truck had stopped in front of a low, rectangular building. "I know that place, it was a school at one time." remarked Darkwing. "Land across the road, Launchpad."

After the Thunderquack had touched down, all three climbed to the ground as quietly as they could. Darkwing said nothing about Gosalyn staying behind. "How do we get past those guards DW?" asked Launchpad. They could be seen patrolling in the floodlights around the building.

"We'll think of something." said Darkwing in a grim voice. "We're going to rescue Honker, and God help any FOWL goons who get in my way." His fists were clenched again.

To be continued...

Darkwing Duck and related characters are the property of Disney. This work is (C) 2006 Eric Smith.