Summary: Something odd is happening, and all of the usual candidates have been ruled out. So who is Darkwing and the gang fighting against...

Rating: K+

21.

Liquify

Previously, on The New Adventure of Darkwing Duck...

"What's today's secret lab that we're checkin' out?"

"Unknown, sir. FOWL left very little information about it, hence why SHUSH never discovered it. I can confirm, however, that some kind of science experiment was under way here, and there were volunteer test subjects involved."

--

"Then, where are the records?"

"There aren't any, sir, they've all been wiped."

"Wiped? Ya mean deleted?"

"Yes sir, done according to clause three-two-two-alpha in the original FOWL regulations."

"Clause three-two-two...ya mean t' say that FOWL abandoned this facility?"

--

"The question I'd like t' have answer to, though, is what that somethin' is?"

"We're not quite sure sir, but we're presuming it's all behind this door."

"Okay, then, let's see what's behind it."

--

"Edward, ya said that there were test subjects involved in this project, whatever it was. Any idea how many?"

"No sir. Why?"

"Because I think I know where they are."

--

"Where am I? What happened?"

"In a FOWL laboratory. You've been in cryogenic sleep for the past seven years."

"I have? For seven years? Why?"

"Don't ya remember?"

"No, n-not really. I remember entering a FOWL laboratory, I'm presuming this one, for some experiment and seeing a bunch of armed Eggmen, and after that...It's blank."

--

"So why destroy all the data? If they were so sure they were going to come back to it..."

"Maybe they didn't lock this place down because they thought they were going to come back to this place. Maybe they locked it down to keep whatever was here from getting out."

--

"FOWL granted him more time, and finally the project leader believed he had a fix ready for testing. The other four were then arranged for the test, but FOWL set up extra precautions in case something went wrong again. Each test subject was brought in one at a time, and the moment they entered, were tranquilized. Apparently, they were kept unconscious for the remainder of the test."

--

"But that's not the end of the document either, sir. There's more. And it talks a bit more about the project itself. Sir, you aren't going to believe what this project is supposed to do..."

--

"Um, doc. You said you're looking for anything odd about me, right?"

"Right."

"Well, here's something odd for you. My hand's on fire."

"What?"

"It doesn't hurt, either."

--

"It was a project funded by FOWL t' create a kind of serum. A serum capable of enhancin' the performance's of one's body! That's what it's done t' you guys! Only it's unexpectedly gone and enhanced a little further!"

--

"Suppose we don't want to have anything to do with FOUL, now?"

"Listen, Firefox, I'm givin' ya quite an offer. If ya run off, where will ya go? What will ya do? If ya stay with me n' FOUL, though, I can give ya places to go an' stuff t' do. Now what do ya say?"

--

Finally, after a long and tense moment, a choice was made...

"You have a meeting in the morning with the city council to discuss the possibilities of improving traffic on Jacques Street, a luncheon with Councilman Jones at twelve, and your wife has requested you actually come home for dinner for a change. You also still need to approval the new tax relief bill."

Mayor Kim of St. Canard sighed, putting his head down on his desk. "Whoever or whatever convinced me I would actually like this job should be hanged, or shot, or something..." he grumbled.

His aide frowned. "I'm sorry sir." she apologized, like it was her fault. "If you want, I can see if I can clear your schedule..."

"No, that's okay." Kim said, standing up, and starting to pace his office in city hall. "I'm just weary, that's all." he glanced at the clock. "It's getting late, shouldn't we be calling it a night?"

"There is still some paperwork you need to finish, sir." his aide said, pointing to the small pile on his desk.

"Oh." Kim said, glancing at it. "Right. Is that all?"

"Yes sir."

"Then I guess I'll get to it, then." he sat down at his desk again, and pulled the first paper from the stack towards him.

His aide, seeing her job was done for the moment, left the office, leaving the mayor alone. Kim worked on the papers for a moment, before stopping to rub his eyes. "I'm glad I didn't decide to run for president." he remarked. "If I can't handle these mere mayoral duties, there's no way I could handle the duties a president has." he sighed. "My predecessor certainly left a lot of junk for me to handle though. Typical politics, no wonder so many people hated him."

He stared at the paper before him, noting it required his signature. Since he figured he already had a good enough idea about what the document was about, he skipped to the end, read the last sentence or so, then reached for his pen. He noted it felt warm under his touch, but didn't think a thing more about it until he clicked the pen, which caused the heated writing utensil to promptly burst, splattering ink all over Kim's hand.

"Oh..." he grumbled, dropping the pen and standing up, holding his hand out away from his suit. "That was my best pen, too."

Grumbling, he walked out of his office to the restroom, stopping before a sink. Holding his hand under the facet, he turned the knob for some water. Nothing happened, however, the facet simply grumbled for a moment, and rattled. Kim frowned at it for a second, wondering why no water was coming out.

Then, without warning, the whole sink exploded, spraying water everywhere with enough force that chaos quickly followed...

"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the phone call you nearly kill yourself to answer only to find out it's a telemarketer! I am...Darkwing Duck!"

"And I am the heir to the cape! I am the politician who never does what he promises to do! I am the Crimson Avenger!"

Darkwing and Crimson materialized from their respective clouds of smoke in the hallway of city hall, only to be surprised by the fact that it flooded with an ankle-deep amount of water.

"Whoa." Darkwing remarked, lifting up his cape to keep it from getting wet. "Should've used a water related catch phrase this time."

"I can see why the police called us here, now." Crimson remarked, starting forward down the flooded hallway to where a large group of people were crowded around a bathroom doorway. "Wonder what happened."

"Only one way to find out." Darkwing remarked, following.

They pushed their way through the crowded doorway filled with city hall personnel, police officers, and a medic. Once through here, they could see the damage the exploding sink had dealt to the room. One person knelt down before the remains of the sink, snapping pictures of the evidence. Standing over him watching this was...

"Officer Matthew!" Crimson exclaimed, surprised.

Matthew turned at the sound of his name, and grinned at the sight of the two superheroes. He quickly rushed over. "Oh good, you came!" he said. "Thank goodness! We've got something that's right up your guys's alley!"

"Well, that's why we're here, Matt." Darkwing said, surveying the situation. "So what happened?"

"As I understand it, Mayor Louie Kim was in here cleaning up when his pen burst in his hand, washing off the ink." Matthew explained, turning back to look at the broken sink. "According to the mayor, the sink rumbled for a moment when he turned the knob, then suddenly exploded."

Crimson stepped up the broken sink and ran her hand over the crumbled edges. "Could it be an accident?" she asked.

"No, I don't think so." Matthew said. "I think that if this explosion of water had been caused by a natural means, we would've found evidence of it long before it actually blew. But this sink was working just fine until the mayor of all people came along to use it."

"So what do you think happened?" Darkwing asked.

"I think it was an assassination attempt." Matthew said. "Sinks don't just blow up randomly when ever the mayor of St. Canard goes to use it. And besides, we know of someone who could arrange for this kind of attempt, anyway."

"The Liquidator." Crimson said, rubbing her beak. "This does sound like something he'd try."

"I suppose it's possible Negs is trying to take out the city council, so he can take over, and had Liki try and start by taking out the mayor." Darkwing reasoned.

"Speaking of which, how is Mayor Kim?" Crimson asked.

"Fair." Matthew replied. "Except for a broken wrist and feeling a little waterlogged, he's fine. He was taken to the hospital so his wrist could be put in a cast, and he has an escort of officers with him."

"Too bad it wasn't his predecessor that was subject to this attack." Darkwing grumbled, kicking at the water they all waded around in.

"Oh please, Darkwing, you're only hate that mayor, because you're still mad he wouldn't let you give a speech at the St. Canard Town Square Celebration." Crimson said, rolling her eyes.

"Darn straight!" Darkwing said. "I had it all ready and prepared, too..."

"Getting back on subject." Matthew interrupted. "What's the plan of action?"

"Right." Darkwing thought for a moment. "First, we should make sure that the rest of the city council is safe, in case this attempt, or something like it, is repeated on one of them. Matt, you should be able to handle that, easy. Me and Crimson will investigate who caused it, starting with Liki."

"Sounds like a plan." Matthew said. "Thank for your help."

"Don't mention it." Darkwing said, grinning.

"But thank us later." Crimson said. "We haven't caught the bad guy just yet."

"A sink exploded?" Launchpad remarked as he flew the Thunderquack. "Sounds something like the time I tried cleaning out the fridge last."

"Yes, we all learned to never shove that much rotten food into the garbage disposal at once." Darkwing agreed, watching St. Canard fly by down below. "But still, I think ol' Officer Matthew's right. I think this was an attempt to assassinate, or more likely, just hurt, our find mayor of St. Canard. And Liki and the Fearsome Five seem to be the most likely candidate."

"But I thought the police captured Liki when he and Rowe tried to attack at that dance Gos and Honker were at last week." Launchpad remarked.

"They did." Darkwing replied. "But that liquid nitrogen bath Techno gave Liki didn't last as long as everyone thought. He unthawed during the trip to the supervillain prison, and escaped. Rowe's still locked away, though."

"Think he might have some answers, DW?" Launchpad asked.

"That's the idea, LP." Darkwing replied. "I sent Crimson and Techno to go interrogate him. We, however, are still on patrol, on the look out for any crime on this fine post-Christmas night." he glanced at the thermometer, indicating the temperature outside, and frowned. "Even though it is fifteen degrees Fahrenheit below zero, and it's unlikely there are any criminals stupid enough to go out in this cold."

Deep underground in the St. Canard Supervillain Prison, Crimson and Techno were traveling through the barren grey hallways of the prison with an armed escort of police officers. Very soon, they arrived before a simple cell, designed to hold more common villains. Such as Rowe, who sat on a cot, eating salmon from a previously-sealed container. He looked up when he say the party arrive.

"Hey, Rowe." Crimson said, leaning against the bars of the cell, looking in. "What's up?"

Rowe swallowed the bite of salmon he had in his mouth and wiped a paw across his whiskers. "Crimson and Techno." he said. "What brings you to my lonely cell, mates?"

"We want to ask you some questions." Techno said. "Involving any plans you knew the Fearsome Five was working on before you got locked up."

"And why should I tell you?" Rowe asked with a grin, stepping over to the bars, leaning on them as well. "You can't force me, now can you?"

"Oh, just try me, Rowe." Crimson said, folding her arms. "Besides, we don't want to know much. Be vague if you must."

Rowe frowned. "I ain't telling a thing, mates." he said, turning his back to them.

"That's too bad, then." Crimson said, reaching her hand through the bars to grab Rowe's tail. "Mate."

"I ain't your...YOWCH!" Rowe exclaimed, trailing off when Crimson yanked hard on his tail. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, All right! Ow! I-I'll...ow...tell!"

"Good!" Crimson said, releasing the otter's rudder-like tail. "Let's hear it, then."

Rowe rubbed at his sore tail for a moment before answering. "Let's see..." he began. "All I know was that Bushroot was working on some really complicated project, and there was something involving the Negaverse."

Crimson frowned. "Is that all you're going to tell me?" she asked.

Rowe paused for a moment. "You said to be vague." he pointed out. "Why? Where you looking for something in particular, mate?"

"Actually, yes." Techno said. "Anything involving Liki and the terrorizing of the mayor or city council of St. Canard."

"Political stuff, huh?" Rowe remarked, thinking. "Uh, no, nothing of the sort. Particularly not with Liki. He's a big fan of politics."

Crimson narrowed her eyes at Rowe for a moment. "C'mere Rowe, I want to tell you a secret." she said, beckoning to him.

The otter paused for a moment, then leaned over, pushing his ear as close to Crimson as he could, with the bars dividing them.

"Thank you!" Crimson said, pulling the concealed and previously hidden earpiece from Rowe's ear.

"H-hey!" Rowe stuttered, standing up.

Crimson ignored him, pressing the earpiece to her own ear, listening.

"Rowe?" the voice of NegaGosalyn came from the earpiece. "You there still? What happened? Tell them we really don't know a thing about a plot to terrorize the city council."

Crimson gave Techno an evil grin, then held the two-way earpiece up to her beak. "HELLO NEGACRIMSON!" she yelled into it.

"Ow! Wha...why...CRIMSON!" NegaGosalyn could be heard exclaiming from the other end of the earpiece.

Crimson wasn't listening anymore, having learned what she wanted. Throwing the earpiece down to the floor, she stomped on it with her webbed foot and crushed it.

"Move Rowe to another cell, so that Negs and company don't know his exact location anymore." Crimson advised the police officers, taking Techno's arm and steering him back out. She caught sight of the container of salmon Rowe had been eating. "Oh, and no more salmon for Rowe either. That's how he got the earpiece in the first place, I betcha."

"You sure?" Darkwing asked as the Thunderquack circled over St. Canard.

"Positive." Crimson replied from over the radio. "The Fearsome Five aren't behind our little exploding sink incident. Someone else must have done it."

"Ok, thanks." Darkwing said, leaning back in his seat. "Keep me posted, Darkwing out." he sighed. "There goes that lead."

"But I don't get it then, DW." Launchpad remarked. "Who else besides The Liquidator could've done it?"

"That's the mystery, LP." Darkwing said. "Unfortunately, all we can do is wait, and hope we'll get another lead."

They flew on for a few moments. Then a light started to flash on the Thunderquack's dash.

"There's an alarm going off at the Last National bank, DW." Launchpad reported.

"Lay in a course, LP." Darkwing said. "Probably just some goon looking for trouble. Easy fix."

"Roger Wilcox, DW." Launchpad said, turning the Thunderquack around sharply, nearly running into the lightning rod of a nearby skyscraper.

Darkwing squeezed hismelf into the back of his seat. "Easy," he repeated, "unless we crash first!"

They arrived at the bank in question in a matter of moments. Launchpad brought the Thunderquack to hover over the building, then shut off the engine. The jet crashed to the roof with a loud crash.

"Launchpad!" Darkwing exclaimed, wincing, and pulling himself free from the tangles mess he had gotten in with his seatbelt in the crash. "Now they know we're here!"

"Sorry DW." Launchpad said. "Forgot to lower the landing gear again."

"No, you forgot to land the plane!" Darkwing corrected, climbing out of the Thunderquack, and heading for the stairs leading in the bank. "C'mon, we'll discuss it later. First let's go catch this robber."

They clambered on down the stairs to the bottom floor, where the vault was. Stopping at the door, Darkwing fired a canister of gas at his feet, and let the purple smoke fill the stairwell for a moment, before flinging the door open, and stepping into the bank's lobby.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am-YIKES!"

The moment he and Launchpad entered the room the floor before them ruptured and a pipe burst, sending a wave of water at them, throwing both crime fighters backwards and into a wall, getting knocked out. But just before this all happened, Darkwing saw four figures standing in front of the vault, and they didn't look like any gang he knew of before then.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself hanging upside down, tied up with a rope. Beside him was Launchpad, in a similar predicament.

"Well, look who decided to wake up." a male fox remarked from below Darkwing.

Darkwing glanced at him, and at his cohorts, two ducks (one male and the other female) and a female hare. They all wore identical jumpsuits with a circular logo on them split into fourths. On each fourth was a certain object. One had a drop of water, another a ball of fire, the third a cloud, and the fourth, a mountain. Darkwing realized they must be some sort of team. He told them this little revelation.

"Very good, Darkwing." the fox, the apparent leader, remarked. "We're new in town, so this is the first time we've met. I'm Jack. Jack O'Hara. The two ducks are Elizabeth Guire and Garth Miner, and our favorite hare here, is named Sally McHare. Together, we're called The Elements."

"The...what?" Launchpad repeated, puzzled.

"According to the Greek, there were only four things that made up our universe." Elizabeth explained. "They were fire, water, air, and earth. They were referred to as 'elements.'"

"Due to an experiment that we participated, we four all now have an ability reflecting each one of these 'classical elements.'" Jack said. "Seeing our potential, we formed a team to unite these powers to use to our benefits."

"Fire, water, air, and earth." Darkwing repeated, things starting to click into place. "One of you has the ability to control water!" he deduced.

"Aye, that would be me." Sally said, stepping forward.

"You tried to attack the mayor!" Launchpad exclaimed, slow to realize this fact.

"It's all part of the plan." Sally replied calmly in her British accent. "Yeh'll see wot I mean soon enough."

"Fire, water, air, and earth." Darkwing repeated again, rubbing his chin. "Fire...it was you guys that was involved in that incident with FOUL in the Sahara earlier this month!"

"Oh, so SHUSH did see our little escapade, then." Jack remarked, grinning.

"So are you all working for FOUL?" Darkwing asked.

"We did, once." Garth said. "And we were offered the chance to keep working with Steelbeak."

"But we turned it down." Jack remarked. "Now we work solo."

Darkwing and Launchpad glanced at each other. "So what are you all up to, then?" Darkwing asked.

"If I told you that, Darkwing, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Jack grinned. "Anyway, we got what we came for, even with your brief interference." he held up the bag of money he had stolen from the vault. "Now, Darkwing, witness the power of The Elements."

Tossing the bag to Elizabeth, Jack suddenly burst into flames. The flames not hurting him at all, he suddenly shot upward like a rocket, going through the skylight of the bank, which had already been opened. It was most likely the way they had entered the building.

Sally went and stood by the broken pipe that had washed Darkwing and Launchpad aside earlier, and held her hand out over it. A stream of water shot out of the pipe and stopped to hover in her hand, forming a ball. Waggling an ear at Darkwing, Sally hurled the ball of water at Darkwing, it splashing into his face.

That done, a gust of wind suddenly swirled around, lifting Elizabeth into the air, as well as Garth and Sally, who Elizabeth was giving a lift. The whole group was quickly gone again. A moment of silence fell, during which Darkwing struggled against the bonds that held him upside down. Then the front doors of the bank suddenly slammed open, and a cloud of crimson smoke poured into the room.

"I am the heir to the cape!" said Crimson as she and Techno stepped into the room. "I am..." she trailed off for a moment, seeing Darkwing and Launchpad captured, and the bad guys no longer in sight. She frowned. "...late."

"Crimson!" Darkwing exclaimed hopefully. "Quick, help us down! I need to get in touch with SHUSH!"

"Darkwing, if what you're suggesting is true, then we could be facing problems far bigger than the Fearsome Five!" Hooter reasoned, as he, Darkwing and the gang, and a small escort of SHUSH agents walked through the hallways of SHUSH Headquarters at a rapid pace.

"I know, I wish I was bringing better news." Darkwing admitted sadly. "But the point is, J. Gander, that The Elements are up to something, and we need to track them down and stop them!"

"Exactly what I was thinking, Darkwing." Hooter said, as they made their way towards his office. "Which is why, after I received your call, brought in some help."

"Help?" Darkwing repeated, puzzled, as they stepped into the office. He then saw the unmistakable figure of one of the people he hated the most on the face of the planet. "Oh no, not him!"

Gizmoduck turned around from where he had been looking out the window. "Wingy!" he exclaimed in his usual dramatic voice. "Heard we had a problem on our hands, and hurried on over from Duckburg to help out!" he rolled forward and back out the door on his one wheel. "Well, come along then, we haven't a moment to lose! Oh, and before I forget, good to see you again, Wingy!"

Darkwing didn't reply. He was too busy trying to keep from blowing up in anger.

"Well, isn't this a great way to get back together, gizmobuddies!" Gizmoduck said from the back of the Thunderquack, sitting between Crimson and Techno. "Nothing like the threat of chaos to bring us all together again, hmm?"

"All the more reason to put an end to chaos." Darkwing grumbled. He turned to Launchpad. "Please tell me you've found some trace of them!"

"Sorry DW, I've got nothing." Launchpad remarked, looking at the Thunderquack's radar. "For such a powerful group of supervillains, they certainly have vanished without a trace."

"Reminds me of the time the Beagle Boys got some of that invisibility formula Mr. McDuck was working on a couple years back." Gizmoduck said, also looking for The Elements with one of his gadgets. "I was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Except you couldn't see it."

"Uh-huh." Darkwing said flatly.

"Well, I'm personally glad to see you again, Giz." Crimson remarked. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"It most certainly has, gizmobuddy!" Gizmoduck agreed. "We should do this more often!"

"Oh, please, no." Darkwing grumbled.

"Mr. Darkwing sir, Director Hooter was just trying to help when he asked Gizmoduck to help." Techno said, trying to comfort Darkwing.

"I know, but you'd think he could've ran it by me first!" Darkwing said.

"Oh where, oh where, can they be?" Gizmoduck said to himself in a sing-song voice.

"Particularly so I could've gotten a chance to grab some earplugs." Darkwing said, slapping his hands over his ears to drown out Gizmoduck's annoying voice.

The security guard stood calmly outside the gates leading into the St. Canard waterworks. He was very used to his job, and had it down to a science now. So he wasn't worried in the slightest when he saw the black car pull up to the gates.

Calmly, he stepped up to the driver's side window, as the driver rolled down the window.

"Can I help you?" the guard asked.

"Aye, that yeh can, sah." the driver, a female hare in a brown overcoat and matching hat, remarked. "My companion..." she motioned to a male duck, similarly dressed, "...an' I are here t' run an inspection on the facilities. Routine, y'know."

The guard frowned. "I don't remember such an inspection scheduled for today." he said. "It's after hours, anyway."

"It's really for tomorrow, but we arrived in town a tad early, and jolly well figured it wouldn't hurt t' come now." The driver said.

The guard frowned, and pulled out a clipboard. Sure enough, there was such an inspection scheduled for the following morning. "Can you not wait until morning?" he asked.

"We're busy people, sah, got lots of things we need t' do elsewhere in the world!" the driver said. "St. Canard jolly well isn't the only city in this bloomin' world, now is it?"

"Well, no." the guard admitted. "I don't think I should let you in, though."

"Tell yeh wot, I'll give yeh a bit of an incentive." the driver said. She looked around first before continuing in a conspiratorial whisper. "When's yore next paycheck?"

"Not until next month." the guard said. "Why?"

"Would yeh like t' get an advance?" the driver asked with a wink.

The guard hesitated, considering the bribe. "How much?" he asked.

"As much as yeh need, sah." the driver said.

Moments later, the guard allowed the car to drive through the gates, his wallet full of money that wasn't there earlier. The driver drove her car down to the facilities, then around a nearby building, going out of sight of the guard. She then stopped the car, and climbed out.

Shedding their costumes, Sally and Garth walked around to the back of the car, and opened the trunk. Jack and Elizabeth climbed out of it.

"Goin' all accordin' t' plan, Jack." Sally remarked. "The guard accepted that bribe with the stolen money from the bank straightaway!"

"Good, and with the SCPD busy investigating that attack on the mayor, they'll never see what we're about to do coming!" Jack said. "All right, gang, you know your jobs! Get to it!"

The group nodded, and The Elements broke apart to do their jobs. Sneaking up a staircase to the waterworks security room, Elizabeth poked her head into the room. Two night workers sat lazily at the control panel. Quietly, she approached them.

"Dull evening gentlemen?" she asked.

The two workers turned in surprise to face her, then two gusts of wind suddenly pulled them out of their chairs to smack into the opposite walls. They both slid to the floor, unconscious. Elizabeth grinned, worked with the now-abandoned controls for a moment, then pulled out a radio.

"Security's down, Jack, you're free to take the control room now." she reported.

"One step ahead of you, Liz." Jack said from within the control room, already having disabled the workers within and now working with the controls.

Meanwhile, Garth pinpointed all the entrances into their area of the waterworks, and stamped his foot at each one he approached. The resulting earthquake caused each entrance to either collapse, or become blocked by rubble falling down from around it's surroundings.

"We've got the whole place to ourselves, now." he said to himself as he blocked the last entrance.

Jack was busy pulling a few levers in the controls room, shutting down machinery, and blocking off the pipes that allowed water to flow in and out of the waterworks. "All right, Sal." he said into his radio, pulling the last lever. "It's all you."

Sally stood before a large tank of water, the largest collection in St. Canard besides Audubon Bay.

"Here goes." the hare said, and raised her arms.

The whole collection of water in the tank suddenly erupted upward, looking like a great big mushroom cloud of water...

This cloud unknowingly went up the same moment the Thunderquack started to fly over, the cloud of water rising up to cut off the Thunderquack's flight path.

"Holy H2O!" Gizmoduck exclaimed, surprised.

"LP, submersible mode, NOW!" Darkwing exclaimed.

Launchpad quickly slapped a button. The Thunderquack's engines shut off for a moment to switch into water mode, allowing the jet to sail onward for a moment. It slipped right into the mushroom cloud of water with a jolt.

"Dive, dive, dive!" Launchpad remarked, bringing the jet down into a dive, going down the middle of the rising collection of water. He then realized they were about to run into the bottom of the tank the water was all surging out of.

"Surface, surface, surface!" Darkwing exclaimed anxiously.

Launchpad pulled back on the steering wheel, and brought the Thunderquack's nose up. It shout back out of the cloud of water, shooting right over Sally's head, then smashed into the control room Jack still occupied.

Picking himself up from the debris, Jack whirled around to face the Thunderquack sticking into the room, watching the superheroes within climb out. Anticipating a fight, the fox lit one of his hands aflame.

"Alright, Firefox..." Darkwing began, drawing his gas gun and about to fire a flame retardant at Jack, but Gizmoduck moved in the way.

"Halt, for I'll be forced to use force!" the metal-plated duck remarked boldly to Jack.

Jack looked Gizmoduck over, then decided he would need more firepower and burst fully aflame, starting to charge Gizmoduck. He was brought up short when Gizmoduck sprayed him with a fire hose he had pulled out from his side, extinguishing Jack.

"Ack...gag...splutter...you...glub...you..." Jack tried to say, but the water kept spraying too much at him.

"Go on, you four, I've got him!" Gizmoduck said to Darkwing and gang, keeping his fire hose trained on Jack. "Go and stop the other three!"

"Thanks Giz!" Crimson thanked quickly, as she followed Darkwing, Launchpad, and Techno out of the control room.

"All right, Crimson, Techno, you take out Sally there, me and LP will track down the other two!" Darkwing ordered.

"Got it!" Crimson said, as she and Techno broke off to go after the water-raising hare.

But as they got close, Sally simply used her powers to create two streams of water that lashed out and struck the two, knocking them back. Sally then formed a bubble of water around herself to temporarily hold back other attacks as she concentrated.

Meanwhile, Darkwing and Launchpad ran through the complex, and came face to face with Garth. Garth approached them slowly, then stomped his foot once. An earthquake rushed outward from Garth foot, creating a crack in the ground right under Darkwing and Launchpad. Just as they were about to fall into that crack, and large gust of wind blew them aside, blowing them along like tumbleweeds.

Elizabeth climbed down from the staircase leading into the security room, and floated over to Garth on a gust of wind.

"Let's go." she told him. "We've done our part here."

She then picked up Garth in the same gust of wind, and the two were swept away by the wind, Elizabeth allowing the wind blowing Darkwing and Launchpad to stop, allowing them to tumble to a stop.

Up in the control room, Gizmoduck was still dousing the fighting Jack with his fire hose, the steady stream of water the only thing keeping Jack from bursting into flames again. Then, without warning, the fire hose stopped spraying water. Gizmoduck suddenly realized he had exhausted his small supply of it.

"Uh-oh." he said. "This could be a problem."

Jack shook water off of him, then burst into flames, first firing a fire ball that knocked the armored Gizmoduck backwards to smack into the crashed Thunderquack. The force of both pushed the Thunderquack free from where it was rammed into the control room, and it fell to the ground with another crash. Gizmoduck quickly activated his helmet copter, and watched with dismay as Jack the fireball flew away.

By this point, Sally had successfully collected all the water from the tank while also fending off attempts to stop her from Techno and Crimson. Gathering her strength, she then hurled the large collection of water floating in the air to one side, allowing it to crash down again.

"Techno!" Crimson exclaimed, and fired off her grappling hook and rope from her gas gun. It latched onto Techno's arm as he was nearly swept away in the flood of water, and pulled him to safety.

The water surged onward, heading into St. Canard itself. The closest structure to the waterworks beside the small and grassy hillside the facility sat upon was the St. Canard hospital.

"Oh no!" Darkwing exclaimed, rushing forward as the wave of water surged towards the hospital. "We've gotta stop that wave of water!"

"I completely agree, Wingy." Gizmoduck said, flying down to hover nearby. "We can't let that wall of water wash away the weary souls who reside in that hospital!"

"Not only that, but Christine's working late there!" Darkwing exclaimed. "We gotta stop it!"

Gizmoduck had an idea. "Grab on, Wingy, I'll need your help!" he exclaimed, starting to fly off with his helmet copter.

Darkwing quickly grabbed hold of Gizmoduck's tire, and they flew away, outracing the wave of water Sally had created, and coming to hover near a tall radio tower standing nearby that had it's support frame covered with metal plating.

"Here, throw this at the tower's base!" Gizmoduck said, pulling out a lit bomb from a compartment in his Gizmosuit and handed it to Darkwing. "If we can knock this structure over..."

"...it'll act like a dam!" Darkwing said, getting it, as he hurled the bomb down at the tower's base.

A moment later, the bomb went off, weakening the structure. Slowly, it tipped over, forcing Gizmoduck to fly out of the way. Just as the wave of water started to surge past, the tower fell down on top of it, cutting it off short. A significantly lessened amount of the water continued out, spreading out until only about an inch of it reached the hospital.

"You did it, Giz!" Darkwing exclaimed, relieved.

"Correction, Wingy, we did it!" Gizmoduck said, heading back for the waterworks.

When they landed, they found Crimson, Techno, and Launchpad standing there waiting for them.

Darkwing looked around. "Where's Sally?" he asked.

"She's gone." Crimson said. "Slipped away like the rest."

"You mean they're all gone?" Darkwing asked, stunned.

"Yep." Techno admitted.

"We tried to stop them, DW, but they were too quick." Launchpad said.

"Well, at least we stopped their evil scheme from causing too much harm." Gizmoduck pointed out.

"Yeah, but just barely." Darkwing said.

"Still, maybe that'll get them to think twice before messing with us again." Crimson said, happy that they had somewhat succeeded.

"Oh, they will, Crimson, you can count on that." Darkwing said. "Which means they'll be even harder to beat next time..."

Hidden away deep in some woods, a facility of some sort jutted out of a nearby mountain, more than half of it hidden by the wall of rock that made up the mountain. Within this facility, someone sat in a large chair, turned to look out the large windows that lined the back wall of his office.

The double doors that led into the office suddenly banged open, and Jack entered, smirking.

"Well?" the person in the chair asked.

"They bought it." Jack said proudly. "Hook, line, and sinker."

"Good." Steelbeak said, turning around in his chair to face Jack. "Which means they'll never see what's comin' next, heh-heh-heh!"