Chapter 6
It was the middle of the night when they brought the three of us back out. I would have said it was Darkwing Duck's finest hour, if the situation weren't so dire.
The airship's hangar, or at least what I guessed to be the hangar, looked like it had been the prison's main courtyard in the penitentiary days. I could see a red-and-purple jet shaped like a duck's head sitting at the far end before Hammerhead prodded me forward with his gun. Was that the Thunderquack the others had mentioned? I wouldn't be too surprised. I made a mental note to ask Launchpad about it, if we survived this. I could see Bulba's overgrown turkey-vulture perched on top of one of the higher rails, before my attention was caught by the invention that started this whole mess.
The Ramrod was now bolted down to the airship's "mouth." No doubt in a position where it could fire down at any target in the city if Bulba so wished. I saw Gosalyn shivering as she looked at it, probably being unpleasantly reminded of her grandfather, and reached down to take her hand. It wasn't much reassurance, but it was better than nothing.
"You two are close, eh?" Bulba asked maliciously from behind us. "How trusting. How...fortunate."
Before I could react, he grabbed Gosalyn, tearing her away from me as he aimed my gas gun at her.
"The code, Darkwing? We wouldn't want anything to happen to your young friend. For instance, if this should go off..."
I grit my teeth and stepped up to the Ramrod. There were those cursed colorful buttons that had had been the key to figuring out all this, and it was all I could do to avoid smashing them. Instead, all I did was punch the colors from the song into it. Even as I did, I heard the machine purring to life, and as I pressed the last button, the small screen in the control panel lit up with an interface menu.
"Excellent." Bulba pulled his ponderous patilla to the controls, still holding Gosalyn and my gas gun.
"I've done my part of the deal," I said. "Let Gosalyn and Launchpad go."
"Not before I test." Bulba now stood behind me. "As planned, the first target is the city gold depository..."
There was the sound of metal creaking, and I felt a rush of air as the airship's mouth slowly opened. I had a dizzying view of the city below me, with the gold depository across the bay.
"Now, Darkwing, would you steal all the gold for me?"
I didn't know how to work the Ramrod, but the controls seemed relatively intuitive. I flinched at what I was being forced to do, even as I pressed the buttons to aim the machine. A final button press made beam came out of the Ramrod's nozzle, encapsulating the building, and slowly tearing it to shreds. I could see security guards fleeing, and devoutly hoped there was nobody left when the building finally came apart, revealing all the gold inside. A pulled lever brought the tons of gold over to the airship, finally bringing it to rest a few feet away.
"And so it begins," Bulba laughed as he walked off the Ramrod and over to the newly-arrived piles.
"Then, you're done with Gosalyn and Launchpad?" I asked, following after him. Bulba merely smirked at me. I had a bad feeling that things were about to get nasty, especially when that overgrown buzzard flew over and picked Launchpad up in its talons.
"Oh, quite. She and the other one can now have an unfortunate 'accident.' Just like her grandfather."
It was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. All I could think of was that he was the reason Gosalyn had gone through so much grief and heartbreak over the last few months. Oh, it was doubtful that he personally was responsible for Gadwall Waddlemeyer's death. More likely it was Hammerhead and his two goons, but they worked for him...
And he was planning on doing the same to Gosalyn?
I didn't think so.
In almost the same instant, two things happened. Bulba suddenly yelped and dropped Gosalyn, clutching his hand. I caught a brief glimpse of a bent almost beyond recognition hatpin in her grip even as I moved to kick him in the stomach. Sure, my foot hurt like heck doing it (Seriously, that guy was made of steel!), but it gave me great satisfaction to see him doubled over in pain. This also had the effect of making him drop my gas gun.
"That's not happening," I said, grabbing the gun and getting between him and her. "Not today, not ever!"
I unloaded the explosive canister and put in one of my smoke bombs. The instant I fired, purple smoke engulfed the area, blinding Bulba and his goons, including the bird that held Launchpad. It wouldn't last, of course; the wind blowing through the open "mouth" started to quickly disperse it.
"Gos, get out of here!" I yelled over the din.
"But..."
"No 'buts.' Get to the Thunderquack!"
I could see her sprinting across the way, but couldn't see if she made it. I had to deactivate the Ramrod so it couldn't do any more damage. And what better way to do it than by distracting Bulba and his goons? I prepared another smoke canister and this time shot it off about twenty feet away.
"I am the terror that flaps in the night..."
"There, shoot the smoke!" I heard Bulba bellowing, then gunshots in that direction.
"I am the loose gear that ruins your entire plan!" I pulled myself onto the Ramrod again.
"...I am Darkwing Duck!"
I saw Hammerhead through the clearing smoke raise his gun, only to be stopped by Bulba.
"No! Not while he's on the Ramrod, get the girl! Darkwing is mine!"
I could only pray that Gosalyn was swift enough to evade them. Meanwhile, I had my own problems. Taurus Bulba was advancing on me with blood in his eye and violence in his mind. I had to hurry.
"How do I shut this thing down?" I asked myself irritably.
The only way I could think of was to hit random buttons, but that was definitely not a good idea. I looked around frantically for an "off" button, something, anything to turn the machine off, but there was no time. I saw Bulba bearing down on me in time to dodge a blow which seriously dented the Ramrod's railing.
"Gyah!" I barely dodged another blow, and another. Every time I did, Bulba grew even angrier. In between avoidances, I could see Gosalyn and Hammerhead's trio also fighting. Gos had got her hands on a stick of rebar, I think it had been part of the depository. She was effectively holding them off, but I couldn't see any more than that before I had to dodge again. This time I didn't just dodge, I grabbed his arm and twisted it as hard as I could. Bulba's bellow of pain was more than worth the effort, but I wasn't quick enough to evade his other fist and took the edge of it. The hit sent me pancaking into the Ramrod's console, then Bulba grabbed me.
"I underestimated you once, Darkwing Duck," he said. "This time, you simply die."
I struggled to get loose before he could inflict that final blow, then something whooshed overhead, clipping him so that instead of hitting me, his fist connected with the Ramrod. And went right through it.
The resulting explosion blew both of us off the Ramrod's platform, fortunately in different directions. I staggered to my feet quickly enough to see the thing that had hit Bulba careen into a crash landing right through Hammerhead and his goons. That "thing" proved to be Bulba's vulture, and the one who seemed to be riding it...
"Like I say, if it's got wings, I can crash it." Launchpad announced.
"Launchpad, how did you..." I could only gape.
"Huh? Oh, I rode one of these things a couple of years ago. It's pretty easy if you know what you're doing."
"Never mind. Let's get out of here! I think the Ramrod's gonna blow!"
There was no other explanation I could give for the ominous noises, alarms, and sparks the machine was making. Even as I said that, odd beams, almost like droplets, started leaking out of the nozzle. Everything in the immediate area touched by those beams, mostly the remains of the rail and other debris from the fight, started floating, and it looked like the beams were getting stronger.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Launchpad said. "The Thunderquack's over there!"
I could see Gosalyn already climbing into the cockpit of that red-and-purple jet, and felt a wave of relief. She was safe, at least for now. The feeling that this was nearly over quickly faded I saw Bulba pick himself up from the rubble and start moving toward the Thunderquack, probably looking to use Gosalyn as a hostage again.
Or worse.
"Hoo, boy," I muttered under my breath. Not good, that was very not good. There was no way I'd make it to the Thunderquack before Bulba, but if I kept him away from the others, they'd have a better chance of making it out...
And maybe this costumed clown can still be a hero, I thought.
"D.W., what're you doing?" Launchpad yelled as I stopped running to the Thunderquack and turned to intercept Bulba.
"Don't worry about me," I called over my shoulder. "Get moving! I'll catch up!"
"But, Darkwing," Gosalyn cried. "That's..."
"Dangerous, I know." I took a breath. "Let's get dangerous."
I want to take a moment here to appreciate how awesome I was at that particular moment. I wish I had a video camera or something, so I could watch me being awesome like that all the time. In fact, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Memo to self: Bring the video camera next time I go on patrol. No wait, never mind. I already tried that, it didn't work out too well, and ended up with me covered in birthday cake and ice cubes. Gosalyn still brings it out every now and then to annoy me or as blackmail material when she wants something.
It wasn't exactly how I expected that case to end.
But, back to my story. Bulba was too enraged to stop, so I had to stop him.
"So happy to see me?" I snarked dryly. "Guess I have to do something about that."
I struck a karate pose, then at the last minute not only dodged, but stuck my foot out so that he tripped over it. Bulba went flying into a nearby beam. getting his head stuck, then I heard the Thunderquack's engines powering up behind me.
"It's over, Bulba," I added. "And this time, you'll be in a non-portable prison!"
Then the airship around me lurched and began turning upside-down. I could see the floor below me glowing with the same beams of light that were coming from the Ramrod. I realized that the leaking beams from the Ramrod were now shooting in multiple directions, and apparently strong enough to affect the entire airship. The massive monstrosity was now at the mercy of the malfunctioning machine. I found myself sliding to the side of the room, thankfully nowhere near that ton of gold which crashed into the wall about thirty feet away, making the airship's roll even more intense.
"Grab onto something!" I heard Hammerhead yell. I looked over to see him and Hoof holding on to a catwalk while looking up at a floating Mouth. Mouth wasn't the brightest of henchmen, and out of desparation grabbed the nearest thing.
"...Not me, you lunkhead!" Hammerhead screeched indignantly. "Hoof, save us!"
But Hoof was also floating, having been hit by another beam. I saw them drift in the direction of the airship's still-open "mouth," screaming all the way. I couldn't see any sign of Bulba's buzzard, either, and I guessed that it'd had the sense to fly away when things got hairy or had been caught by the Ramrod's anti-gravity beams and was floating harmlessly away.
And so it was down to me and the others. And Bulba.
