Episode 11: The Ghost Hound of St. Canard
Darkwing didn't know what to do as he roamed through the lonely streets of . The old mallard had lost track of time, and was heading on his way home, sighing in defeat.
Gossalyn's birthday was tomorrow and he had yet to find her the perfect birthday present. He could already see the infuriated look on Gossalyn's face as he imagined her getting no birthday presents from her adoptive father.
None of the stores had anything decent to sale, so what was Darkwing going to do? Luckily, the answer came a little further down the street.
Darkwing saw an old, wooden wagon parked at the side of the road, home to beautiful gypsy. Behind the woman, on a self, sat cages with cute little puppies barking inside them.
"That's the perfect gift to get for Gossalyn!" thought Darkwing, and dashed towards the wagon.
"Excuse me Mam" said Darkwing to the gypsy " how much for one of those puppies?"
"Ah" said the gypsy " you wish to take one home for your adoptive daughter yes?"
"Yeah I..." satrted Darkwing, then asked in confusion " how did you know?"
"I could see it in your eyes" said the gypsy, grabbing a cage with a black and white puppy with yellow eyes, and handing it Darkwing " please take this one with my compliments. Hope your little girl has a Happy Birthday,"
"Okay" said Darkwing, leaving withe puppy in hand " Thanks!"
As soon as Darkwing was out of sight, the rest of the puppies and the wagon dissappeared. The gypsy shed her form to reveal a tall, female duck in bright red dress, and eerie yellow eyes. Her voice was like an evil hiss.
"Enjoy the party Darkwing" said the mysterious woman " cause the next celebration will be your funeral,"
With that said, a chill of evil laughter echoed through the night.
The next morning, the Drake Mallard house was in full swing as Gossalyn and her guests celebrated her birthday. After all the games and birthday cake, Gossalyn all about pounced into the pile of presents she recieved.
One by one, she got one amazing gift after another, but she noticed quickly that someone's gift was missing. Confused and hurt Gossalyn turned to her Drake.
"Dad" she asked " didn't you get me anything?"
"As a matter of fact I did," said Drake, pulling out a present that he had been behind his back, and handed it to Gossalyn.
Excited, Gossalyn fiercely tore away at the wrapping. Once it was off she and all of her guests gasped in surprise. For inside the gift there was a cage holding a cute little black and white puppy with beautiful yellow eyes.
Gossalyn immediately unlocked the cage and held the puppy in her arms. The puppy seemed to take a liking to Gossalyn right away and started licking her face.
The rest of the party was spent playing games with Gossalyn's new pet, and by the time all her guests left, Gossalyn gave a big hug to her dad saying...
"This was the best birthday ever,"
Drake smiled at his daughter's thanks and later on that night, he tucked Gossalyn and her new pet, happily into bed.
But things were not likely to be very happy for long. A full moon shown brightly in the skies that night, making Gossalyn's new puppy stir and jump out of bed.
Feeling something missing from her bedside, Gossalyn awoke to find her puppy looking out the window at the bright glowing moon.
"Hey Night Hound" asked Gossalyn, sleepily " what are you doing over there?"
At first, Night Hound didn't even realize that Gossalyn was speaking to it, but then it suddenly growled and turned towards its master.
To Gossalyn's horror Night Hound started to grow into a demonic looking black and white wolf, with burning red eyes. His teeth were gleaming razor-sharp, and he looked ready to tear her to pieces.
"Gossalyn!" came the voice of Darkwing, banging on the bedroom door " I told you to turn the T.V. off and go to sleep!"
"It's not the T.V. Dad!" shouted Gossalyn, holding up a pillow in defense as Night Hound stalked closer.
"Just what the..." said Darkwing, barging into the room, and stopped when he saw Night Hound " Whoa, Momma!"
Night Hound immediately turned his gaze away from Gossalyn and charged after Darkwing, making the mallard run for his life. Launchpad just got out of bed looking for a glass of water as Darkwing ran by with Night Hound chasing him.
"Hmph" said Launchpad, continueing to the kitchen " DW is playing with Night Hound. He must really like the pup,"
Gossalyn ran after her dad and Night Hound as the chase took to the streets. Darkwing was screaming for his life searching for anyway to escape the demonic wolf, while Night Hound charged from behind determined to kill.
From her current pace, Gossalyn knew that she would never be able to catch up to Night hound and her dad. Unless...she took a shortcut!
With that thought, Gossalyn jumped into the sewers, and took the shortcut to Main Square. By the time she popped out of the manhole cover, Darkwing had arrived, breathing hard from all the running. Night Hound wasn't to far behind him.
"Stop!" yelled Gossalyn, running in front of her dad as Night Hound came to deliever the killing blow.
Pain erupted from Gossalyn's body as one of Night Hound's claws slashed her mid-section, making her fall to the ground dripping blood.
"Gossalyn!" creid Darkwing in terror, immediately running over to his injured daughter's side.
Tears escaped from the hero's eyes, striking the ground. Night Hound paused in his attack, horrified at seeing the pain it had just caused.
"Well done my pet," said a voice from behind, grabbing Darkwing's and Night Hound's attention.
Darkwing's eyes widened in shock as he saw tall, evil-looking, female duck standing there with eerie yellow eyes and a bright red dress.
"Who are you?" asked Darkwing, something about this woman looked familiar.
"You may call me Blood Wraith" said the woman " my pet was sent to destroy you Darkwing Duck, but your daughter got caught in the crossfire,"
Night Hound growled at Blood Wraith, showing it was not at all pleased that had hurt an innocent little girl. With warning, Night Hound charged at Blood Wraith, determined to put an end to the evil socceress.
But Blood Wraith had expected the attack and shot a ray of dark red energy right at Night Hound's heart. The demonic wolf fell to the ground and died instantly.
"You served your purpose" said Blood Wraith to the dead dog, then turned her gaze to Darkwing " next time my sweet, I won't fail to kill you,"
With that said, Blood Wraith disappeared into a cloud of red smoke, leaving the mallard more confused then ever. Who was this Blood Wraith? Why did she send this hound to kill him?
A groan from Gossalyn suddenly stopped Darkwing's thoughts in their tracks. All those questions could wait to be answered later, right now he had to get Gossalyn to the hospital.
A few days later, Gossalyn had woken up and was released from the EMC with a bandage wrapped her chest. Darkwing told her all of what happened after she had gotten injured and about Night Hound's death.
"I'm sorry this was the way your birthday had to end," said Darkwing, solemnly.
"It's okay Dad" said Gossalyn, giving Darkwing a reassuring hug " even though Night Hound may have been used by that evil lady, in the end he defended us. He was a true hero,"
"Yes" said Darkwing " I guess he was,"
A silent funeral was held for Night Hound not to long after. Darkwing and Launchpad had retrieved the body and buried it somewhere in the park.
In the mourning, Darkwing's mind couldn't help but think of Blood Wraith and the merciless way she killed Night Hound. Right in front of Night Hound's grave, Darkwing swore to find the socceress and make her pay for what she's done.
