Summary: A new Darkwing double is on the loose, and he is proving to be quite a foe. But as the gang works to unravel the secrets behind him, will they like what they find?
Rating: T
Author's Note: A very dark chapter today, particularly towards the end. You have been forewarned. On another matter, I am now working more hours at my place of work, which is going to sap more of my time. I don't know how regular new chapters will be coming, but never fear, come they will, one way or another. :)
38.
Negawing Duck
"Comin' up on SHUSH HQ, DW!" Launchpad reported as he banked the Thunderquack around for a landing.
"All right, LP." Darkwing said, peering out the glass canopy at the building below. "Put 'er down LP. Slowly, and let's not crash, please?"
"I'll do my best, DW!" Launchpad said, saluting.
"Wonder what SHUSH wants us for." Crimson wondered out loud from the backseat.
"Dunno." Darkwing admitted. "Hooter was all excited about it, regardless. He said it wasn't a case, though. Just something he wanted to show off."
"That's a bit of a twist." Techno remarked. "Usually, we're only called by SHUSH to help with a problem."
"Must be something, then." Crimson remarked.
"Please fasten your seatbelts, we're making our final approach." Launchpad announced suddenly as the plane started to tilt, heading rapidly for the rooftop landing pad on what would clearly be a crash course.
"Launchpad, pull up!" Darkwing said quickly.
Launchpad obeyed, looking puzzled.
"On second thought, LP, maybe we should do a hover landing." Darkwing suggested.
Launchpad shrugged. "Okay." he said, bringing the jet into a hover over the landing pad.
"Remember to lower the landing gear first." Darkwing added quickly.
"I know." Launchpad said, and pulled the lever that lowered the gear.
"Now, you may land the plane." Darkwing said.
Launchpad nodded, and killed the power to the Thunderquack. The plane fell the remaining ten feet to the landing pad with a jarring jolt.
"Whoops." Launchpad said.
Darkwing said nothing, he just popped open the canopy with a glare.
Agent Grizzlikof was there waiting for them. "Ah, Darkwing." he greeted as the group climbed out of the jet. "Director Hooter has been expecting you. Follow me please."
He led the way into the building.
"So what's this about, Grizz?" Darkwing asked as they went.
"You shall see, Darkwing." Grizzlikof said.
"What, no clues? No hints?" Crimson asked, annoyed. "Nothing to help us figure out the puzzle?"
"Ooh, I love puzzles." Launchpad remarked.
"Patience." Grizzlikof said. "A true SHUSH agent knows when to wait."
"Betcha that's one of their zany regulations as well." Darkwing added, whispering to Techno.
"It is." Grizzlikof said, overhearing. "Not that I'd expect you to know that, Darkwing. When was last time you looked at SHUSH regulations manual?"
"I haven't ever looked at the SHUSH regulations manual." Darkwing replied.
"Case and point." Grizzlikof said, leading the way into a lab.
Hooter and Dr. Bellum were present already, standing around a gun-like device standing on a tripod, pointing towards a target. They were quietly discussing something. They stopped and turned when they entered.
"Ah, Darkwing ol' boy, thank you for coming so quickly." Hooter greeted.
"A pleasure as always, J. Gander." Darkwing said. "Though, I can't understand why you wanted us here."
"Yes, you would be understandably curious." Hooter agreed. "Well, I'll leave it to Dr. Bellum to explain."
Bellum nodded and gestured to the device. "Presenting what currently has SHUSH all abuzz." she said gleefully. "A Tron Transceiver."
Techno blinked. "A Tron Transceiver?" he repeated, astonished.
"What's a tron?" Darkwing asked.
"Think negatron, Darkwing." Crimson said.
Darkwing's eyes widened slightly. "It emits negatrons?" he asked, a little leery of it.
"And positrons." Bellum explained proudly. "And it transmits them into natural objects."
"What good does that do?" Launchpad asked, not understanding.
"It means that we can use this device to transfer as many trons as we wish into any given object, living or non-living." Hooter explained. "We can turn anything with a high positron count to evil, or turn anything with a high negatron count to good."
"Okay..." Darkwing said, still not understanding. "I'm still with you."
"Darkwing, suppose we could capture someone like Negaduck." Hooter said. "With this device we could turn him from bad to good."
Darkwing blinked, understanding now, but glanced at the device with hesitation still. "I dunno, J. Gander." he said. "I still think it's not big of a deal."
"I think it's great." Techno said, eyeing the device with respected awe. "We could really change things around here in St. Canard."
"We could take any villain and adjust their tron counts so they will be good." Bellum went on. "We could turn all of our villains into our best allies. We could make the world crime free with this device."
Crimson's brow furrowed. "So we could make them be good?" she asked.
Bellum nodded.
"Cool." Crimson said.
"N-n-n-n-no." Darkwing said, agitated. "There's no choice in that. They can't choose what they want to do. And furthermore, if everybody's good, where does that leave me?"
"Darkwing, you would still have a role as a crime fighter." Hooter said. "By capturing all the villains long enough for us to turn them good. All the Tron Transceiver will do is to get these crime waves better under control."
Darkwing still didn't look convinced.
"Maybe we should demonstrate." Bellum suggested.
She went an grabbed a clear plastic box, moving it to stand on top of a small podium some feet in front of the transceiver and just before the target on the wall. Inside of it was a small squirrel, looking a little nervous, particularly now that all eyes were on it, and curled into a ball in the middle of the box. Darkwing stepped over to the box and peered inside of it.
Bellum then grabbed an upright and flat device on wheels, and moved it in front of the box. On the device's screen was the squirrel. At first glance, it looked like an x-ray device, but instead of showing the squirrel's skeleton, it showed an outline of the creature, which was filled with a large mass of sparking blue dots, packed so close together that they almost overlapped each other.
"This is the squirrel's tron count as of right now." Bellum explained. "Blue means positrons, and as you can see, the squirrel's positron count is very high at the moment." she then moved the device away from the squirrel and walked over to the transceiver. "But, that will change." she started to warm up the device, but paused for a moment. "Darkwing, you'd better step back a few feet. The trons I am about to transmit to that squirrel are not compressed into a tight beam. I wouldn't want you getting any stray trons."
Darkwing nodded, and took a step back. Bellum then activated the device. It's tip glow with a red halo for a moment. In the box, the squirrel froze, and twitched a couple of times. It remained like that even after the transceiver had powered down. Bellum moved the tron scanner back in front of the squirrel. The same mass of dots could be seen on it's screen, but instead of blue, they were all now red.
"Now the squirrel's high positron count has been replaced with a high negatron count." Bellum explained.
At this point, the squirrel suddenly snapped out of it's dazed state and suddenly rammed the side of the clear plastic box facing Darkwing, and clawed at it viciously. Darkwing jumped, and stepped back to join the others standing behind the Tron Transciever. Bellum moved the device away again and stepped back to the transceiver.
"But with a flip of a switch..." Bellum began, throwing a switch. The transceiver's tip glowed again, this time with a blue halo. The squirrel quickly calmed down again. Bellum pulled the device back in front of the squirrel. "...I can restore things back to normal." she concluded. "The process is completely harmless, and very foolproof."
"I dunno, I still stand by what I said earlier." Darkwing said.
"Regardless, Darkwing, the success with this device has led me to change your primary objectives." Hooter said. "Instead of focusing your attention on The Elements and FOUL, your primary goal is to now track down and capture all the members of the Fearsome Five, starting with Negaduck, if you can manage it."
Darkwing narrowed his eyes at Hooter. "Is that an order, J. Gander?" he asked.
"It will be, if it absolutely must." Hooter said, slightly puzzled by Darkwing's dislike for the mission. "But I rather not make it that, and you know it."
"Personally, I think this is a great idea." Crimson said, stepping in. "I'm up for the mission."
"Me too." Techno added.
"I guess that includes me, too." Launchpad said as well, raising a hand.
They looked at Darkwing. He shook his head.
"Fine." he said. "But I still stand by what I said, J. Gander. Using this device will be a mistake. Both morally and physically."
And with that, he stomped out of the room. Perplexed, the others bid their farewells to the SHUSH group and followed Darkwing back to the Thunderquack.
"Get us out of here, LP." Darkwing said once they were all safely strapped into the jet.
Launchpad nodded, and they took off. Once they were in the air, Crimson spoke.
"Dad, don't you think you're getting a little worked up over this?" she asked.
"I know." Darkwing admitted. "But Crimson, think about it. I thought one of the goals of liberty is to choose for yourself. We may not always like the choices one makes, yes, but we still have that right. By using that device of SHUSH's we're revoking the true meaning of that right."
"True." Techno agreed. "But don't we have a right to have a safe and crime-free community as well?"
"Of course we do." Darkwing said. "But this isn't the way to get it."
Crimson opened her mouth as if to say something, but apparently thought against it. The rest of the ride was spent in silence.
Later that night, Crimson and Techno drove the Ratcatcher through town while on patrol in a similar state of silence. Techno was busy working on scanning for any criminal activity while Crimson drove, and thought about what had happened that day.
"Tech, what do you think about this new Tron Transceiver of SHUSH's?" she asked suddenly.
"I'm for it." Techno said. "Why?"
"I've just been thinking about what Dad said about it earlier." Crimson said. "What if he's right, and it is morally wrong? Will we even know it?"
Techno frowned. "Crimson, I thought you were all for using the device as well." he said.
"I was." Crimson admitted. "But now I'm not so sure."
"What changed your mind?" Techno asked.
"Dad." Crimson said. "You saw how mad he was over it."
"Yeah, but what's special about that?" Techno asked. "He gets mad over a lot of things."
"I know, but not like that." Crimson said. She was silent for a moment. "Tech, what if this device leads Darkwing to become another Darkwarrior?"
"What?" Techno said, caught off guard by the question. "Whatever makes you think that?"
"The Darkwarrior I encountered in that alternate timeline when I accidently traveled years into the future became bad because of two things." Crimson said. "Me vanishing, and then I suspect the fact that he had succeeded in making St. Canard crime free. He was left with nothing to do. So he went for the extreme."
"Right, I know all of that." Techno said. "But what are you afraid of? Darkwing's not about to let any of that happen, not by using the Tron Transceiver, anyway."
"But that's what I'm worried about, Techno." Crimson said. "SHUSH seems determined to use it like that. And if so, and Dad maintains his opinions about the device, that'll turn him against SHUSH. And if he turns against SHUSH, one of his greatest allies, who knows what he could turn against next?"
Techno thought that through for a moment. "I see your point." he admitted. "But you'll still be here, shouldn't that be enough to keep him from going over the edge?"
"No." Crimson said. "Because the Darkwarrior from the Warriorverse still had his Gosalyn, and he still became who he is." she shook her head. "Tech, you know how much the prospect of Dad turning into Darkwarrior scares me. What do you think I should do?"
Techno thought for a moment. "I think you should tell all of this to your dad." he replied.
Crimson sighed. "I was afraid you were going to say that." she said.
All further conversation was cut off when Techno's visor bleeped. "Looks like someone's broken into a jewelry store on main street." he reported, reading the display on his visor. Confirmed that there is at least one person involved. Police have been notified."
"We're nearby, bet we could beat them there." Crimson said, turning the Ratcatcher suddenly to turn onto main street. "Call dad and LP, tell them what's going on."
Techno nodded, activating his helmet radio. "This Techno to Thunderquack, come in Thunderquack." he said into the device.
There was a pause, then Launchpad's voice came onto the radio. "This is Launchpad." he said, sounding a bit tired.
Techno didn't think much of it, though. "We've got a burglary in progress at a jewelry store on main street." he said. "We're moving to intervene, requesting you join us. Where are you?"
"Me?" Launchpad asked, then said, "I'm at the tower."
Techno paused. "Say again?" he asked.
"Me and the Thunderquack are at the tower." Launchpad repeated. "See, I'm not feeling too good at the moment. I think I came down with something, maybe something I ate. DW said I should go home and rest."
"Okay, so where's Darkwing?" Techno asked.
"I dunno, he had me drop him off somewhere." Launchpad said. "Said he'd go on patrol on foot tonight. I think he's got his radio with him, though."
"Okay, I'll give him a call." Techno said, and adjusted the frequency on his radio. "Darkwing, this is Techno, come in please."
"Darkwing here."
"Darkwing, sir, we're heading to stop a jewel store burglary on main street." Techno explained. "Care to join us?"
"Sure." Darkwing said. "But I'm currently on Rowling Road and without a quick mode of transportation. It might take me a few moments to get there."
"Got it." Techno said. "We'll assess the situation and try to work without you in the mean time. Techno out." he turned off his helmet radio. "Looks like we're on our own for the moment, Crimson."
They arrived at a dark building. Crimson looked inside through one of the windows and didn't see much of anything.
"You sure this is the right place?" she asked, hopping off the motorbike.
"That's what the report said." Techno replied, climbing out of the sidecar. "Maybe the criminal, whoever it was, got what he wanted and left already."
"Hmm." Crimson said, rubbing her bill. "Well, we should still investigate, search for clues, assess the damage, all that jazz."
Techno nodded, and opened the door and entered. Crimson followed, drawing his gas gun in the process. Switching on a flashlight, Techno shined it around the store. The beam finally fell upon a broken display case. They wandered over to it.
"Well, looks like there really was someone here." Crimson noted, examining the broken glass. "Broke in with a blunt object, it looks like. Maybe a club or the butt of a gun. Any fingerprints?"
Techno scanned the case with his visor. "I'm not picking any up yet." he said. "Give me a moment."
"No hurry." Crimson said, taking Techno's flashlight and shining it around the room. "Looks like nobody's here now."
The moment after she said this, she heard the familiar whoosh of a gas canister going off. Thinking it was Darkwing, Crimson turned around to look at the door. But the cloud of gas she saw wasn't the familiar blue she was used to, but rather a deep, blood red color.
"I am the terror that grips your heart!" a very Darkwing-ish voice echoed out. "I am the murderer in the dark!" a figure stepped out of the smoke. "I am...Negawing Duck."
Crimson blinked, and stared at the newcomer. At first glance, she thought she was looking at Negaduck, but the costume was all wrong. Instead of the annoying yellow and black tones, this guy's costume was colored a bright red with yellow trim. Crimson looked up into the guys face, and saw it was identical to Darkwing's. At first, Crimson though this was some kind of joke Darkwing was pulling on them, but then saw that this Negawing guy's eyes were void of the good sparkle Darkwing's had. And he was very serious.
"Techno..." Crimson said, nudging her sidekick.
Techno had heard Negawing enter, and half-turned to eye him. "I see him." he said, then asked, "Who are you, anyway?"
"I just told you." Negawing replied, stepping towards the pair. "You don't need to know a shred more."
"Good, I think I know enough anyway." Crimson said, pointing her gas gun at Negawing. "Now freeze."
"You freeze." Negawing said with a smirk, pulling out a 9mm pistol and pointing it at Crimson's head.
Crimson looked at the gun, then dropped her gas gun, raising her hands over her head. Neagwing looked at Techno, who seemed stunned.
"Don't try anything, egghead." he growled at the sidekick. "I know what you've got, too." he held out his hand, wiggling the fingers.
Techno got the hint and handed over the small supply of chemical bombs he had by giving Negawing the wristband they were kept in. Negawing figured it for a moment.
"Good." he said.
He then struck both of them with his fists, knocking them out like lights.
"Crimson, wake up!"
Crimson felt something gently slap her face, and she came to again, groaning with pain. Opening her eyes, she saw the caring eyes of Darkwing hovering over her head.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Crimson nodded, and sat up. She saw Techno sitting nearby, also in a dazed state. "What happened?" she asked.
"You tell me." Darkwing said. "When I got here, I found you both on the floor, unconscious. Did someone attack you?"
"Yeah." Gosalyn said, putting two with two. "Dad, we've got another Darkwing double on the loose."
"So let me get this straight," Darkwing said as they returned to the tower on the Ratcatcher, "There's yet another guy out there that looks like me, dresses like me, has the same mannerisms as me, yet is bad, and calls himself Negawing Duck?"
"That pretty much covers it, yeah." Crimson said as they pulled the Ratcatcher into the tower and parked it.
"So where, pray tell, did this guy come from?" Darkwing asked, annoyed.
"He didn't say." Techno admitted, climbing out of the sidecar. "But if he came from another parallel universe, wouldn't SHUSH have detected the portal?"
"Maybe he only just got here." Crimson suggested. "We could call and find out if they saw anything like that."
"Launchpad, are you still here?" Darkwing called out. He then spied a note taped to the wall and yanked it off to read it. "'DW, went home to go to bed, sincerely LP.'"
"Yeah, we heard he fell ill." Crimson remarked.
"Yeah, with stomach cramps." Darkwing said. "I think it's just the twenty-four hour flu though, so I think he'll get over it soon." he stuck the note back on the wall. "Anyway, about calling SHUSH. That sounds good, let's try it."
He walked over to the command chair and plopped himself into it, typing out a few commands. On the big screen, the SHUSH logo appeared as a connection was made. A few moments later, Hooter's face appeared on the screen.
"Darkwing!" he exclaimed, looking surprised. "You're timing is perfect; I was just about to call you."
"Really." Darkwing said. "And what was it about? A transdimensional portal?"
"No." Hooter said, looking puzzled. "I was going to call to report that the Tron Transceiver has been stolen."
"Stolen!" Techno exclaimed. "By who?"
"Not sure." Hooter admitted. "Whoever it was scrambled our security cameras, and we're still trying to get liable data from them. However, one of our agents did encounter the thief in the act, and learned the name the thief goes by."
"Which is?" Darkwing asked wearily, already having a good idea.
"Negawing Duck." Hooter replied.
Darkwing rolled his eyes and sighed. Crimson bit her lip.
"We've already met up with him." she explained.
"I see." Hooter said. "No doubt you were calling, then, to report it to me."
"That among other things." Darkwing said. "Do we have any clues on this guy?"
"No." Hooter admitted. "But Dr. Bellum assures me that he can't be from an alternate reality, because we haven't detected any portals opening, save one that we can confirm was opened by the Fearsome Five."
"Then where the heck did this guy come from?" Darkwing asked.
"Perhaps some other means of teleportation between universes?" Techno offered.
Crimson was thinking hard. "What if it's not a new double, but one we already know of in disguise? Like Negaduck or Darkwarrior? Particularly Negaduck, as I could see Negaduck doing this kind of thing."
"I dunno, this Negawing guy didn't seem to have the right personality to be Negs." Techno remarked.
"And it's not Darkwarrior's kind of thing." Darkwing added. "Still, it's something to investigate."
"SHUSH will investigate further on our end." Hooter said. "Perhaps we will find a clue. However, it is clear what this Negawing, or whomever he is, wants the Tron Transceiver for."
"Enlighten me." Darkwing suggested.
"He wants to use it to turn anyone good to bad." Techno said. "The exact opposite of what we planned to use the device for."
"I told you only trouble will come from that device." Darkwing said.
"And perhaps you were right, Darkwing." Hooter agreed. "But now we must get the transceiver back before Negawing carries out his plans."
"If that's what they really are." Crimson said. "We only have a theory that fits."
"Very true." Hooter said. "We've been proven wrong before. It can always happen again."
"Well, we'll investigate too, see if someone else could be posing as Negawing." Crimson said.
"Okay, sounds like a plan." Darkwing said. "Thanks J. Gander."
"You're welcome, Darkwing, and good luck." Hooter said, and then the screen winked off.
"Gos, you want to investigate Darkwarrior or Negaduck?" Darkwing asked, turning to look at her.
"Negaduck." Crimson replied without hesitation.
"I'll help." Techno offered.
"That leaves me with Darkwarrior." Darkwing said. "Good, I have a score to settle with that guy. Now let's go."
They went back out to conduct their investigations. But they didn't find any new clues, or anything to prove that Negawing was a different double in disguise. They didn't even see Negawing again that night.
The following morning, Honker came up with an idea while reading a book at home, confident that it would allow them a chance to have a face-to-face interview with Negaduck regarding the matter of Negawing Duck.
"It's foolproof." Honker explained after he tracked Gosalyn down, outside and enjoying the early June weather. "He won't be able to turn it down. And when he shows up...snap! We have him trapped."
"I don't know Honk, I could see Negaduck not buying it and thus messing everything up." Gosalyn said, looking over the slip of paper Honker had given her.
"Do you have a better idea?" Honker asked.
"Well, no." Gosalyn admitted. "Alright, I guess it's worth a try."
So they went straight to the office building of the Canard Times. After having been inside for several moments, Honker stepped back out to join Gosalyn outside on the sidewalk.
"Well, it's done." he said.
"Really think this will work?" Gosalyn asked.
"Trust me Gos." Honker said. "Negaduck won't turn the chance down."
Night fell again, and the gang went out on patrol again, save Launchpad, who was still ill. Darkwing was still looking for any clues of Darkwarrior, and him possibly being Negawing Duck, but was coming up dry on both ends. He was confident he'd find a lead sooner or later, though, and went off on his own to search for it.
As for Crimson and Techno, their plan wouldn't be ready until tomorrow, so they went on a regular patrol, searching for any regular crime, as well as any new clues to the Negawing mystery.
"You think Negawing has used that Tron Transceiver yet?" Crimson asked as she drove the Ratcatcher around town.
"Hard to know at this point." Techno admitted. "Though if we don't catch up with him soon, we'll probably have more problems on our hands soon enough."
"Why do you think he was robbing that jewelry store anyway, if he was going to steal the Tron Transceiver?" Crimson asked.
"I think it was bait for a kind of trap." Techno said. "Because he didn't appear until we showed up. And then he attacked us."
"True." Crimson said. "Which means he could try it again."
At that moment a loud bang rang out, and the Ratcatcher suddenly spun out of control. Tipping over on it's side, it skidded along the road for several feet before coming to a stop and depositing it's riders on the ground. Groaning, they picked themselves up and looked around.
Techno looked at the Ratcatcher's popped rear tire. "That would explain why we went out of control." he said. "We must have hit something sharp."
"Or something sharp hit us." Crimson remarked, staring back up the road.
Techno followed her gaze, and saw Negawing Duck standing there, armed with a machine gun.
"Surprise!" he exclaimed, and brought the weapon to bear on the pair.
"Duck!" Crimson said, dropping down behind the overturned Ratcatcher, pulling Techno with.
Negawing fired his weapon. The bullets ricocheted loudly off the underside of the Ratcatcher, blowing holes in it. A couple of yells rang out as the few pedestrians who were on the street at this late hour ran in terror at the sounds of the gunshots.
Finally, Negawing stopped. "Come out and play, guys!" he cried out.
Crimson carefully peered over the top of the Ratcatcher. "What do you want?" she called out.
"Terror!" Negawing replied. "And your heads on a platter!" he opened fire again.
Crimson tried to return the fire with her gas gun, but what few shots she could risk getting off all missed or fell short of their target. Growling, she turned to Techno.
"Tech, think you could rocket out of here?" she asked quickly.
Techno shook his head. "I'd be shot down in a heartbeat!" he said.
"So, too dangerous." Crimson summarized. She winced as she heard more bullets strike the underside of the Ratcatcher. "Though, if we don't do something soon, we're going to have to get dangerous no matter what."
"What's with this guy?" Techno asked. "He's so violent! I'm not even sure Negaduck is that violent!"
"Oh, I don't know." Crimson said. "I bet he could, we just never let him get the chance."
"If we're right, and that is Negaduck in disguise out there, then he's breaking several of his own policies." Techno said. "Negawing wants us dead, but he doesn't care what it takes to do it. Nor does he seem to plan things out. He just wants us dead. Negs is more crafty, he'll think out a plan first. He wouldn't just jump out and start attacking for no real reason."
"Still, Tech, it's the best lead we've got." Crimson said. " And besides, maybe Negs is using the Negawing ruse to get away with what he normally wouldn't as Negaduck."
"Presuming we're right." Techno added.
"Of course." Crimson said.
More bullets struck the Ratcatcher.
"C'mon, you scaredy cats!" Negawing exclaimed. "C'mon out and face me!"
He then heard sirens behind him, and turned to see a whole armada of police cars arrive. Overhearing, Techno and Crimson peered out from behind the Ratcatcher.
"Someone must have called the police!" Techno exclaimed.
"Thank heavens, we're saved!" Crimson exclaimed, relieved.
Negawing, however, merely grinned cruelly, and turned his fire on the police cars, the machine gun tearing the cars apart. Police officers were forced to run and seek shelter. After this for awhile, Negawing stopped and shouldered the weapon.
"Now you see me.." he said, pulling out what appeared to be a gas gun, "...now you don't!"
And he vanished in a cloud of smoke. Crimson and Techno came out from hiding.
"Crimson! Techno!" A voice rang out from among the police officers also revealing themselves.
"Officer Matthew!" Crimson exclaimed, running to meet him. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, and no one else over there was hurt." Matthew said, gesturing behind him. "Are you alright?"
"Pretty much, yeah." Techno said.
Matthew shook his head. "We got a call saying that there was a gun fight going on here." he said. "But I expected two crooks fighting over loot with pistols, not one guy armed with a full-fledged tactical machine gun! Who was that guy?"
"Someone who's rapidly proving himself to be a very deadly enemy." Crimson said.
After things were brought back to order, Crimson and Techno went right back to the tower, feeling safer there. There they contacted Darkwing about the situation. His reaction was angry, but controlled. He didn't even ask if they were all right before he hung up. Crimson feared that Darkwing was going on a vendetta after Negawing. But as the night drew to a close and Darkwing returned, it was revealed Darkwing hadn't seen hair or hide of Negawing anywhere, and was no closer to resolving the mystery of the double than Crimson and Techno were.
The next day, however, was filled with some hope. Today, Crimson and Techno's plans to see if Negaduck had answers to the mystery and possibly confirm their theory could be carried out. As it was summer now, and two had no school, they went off to get ready, going in costume. All the while, Techno was confident their plan would work. And sure enough, it did.
Negaduck arrived at an empty and abandoned old factory, alone, and upon arriving, saw Darkwing standing there, waiting for him. Letting out a roar of rage, Negaduck charged Darkwing. Halfway there, however, a net sprang up and ensnared Negaduck, lifting him up into the ground. Crimson and Techno then revealed themselves.
"Well, well, two really can play at this game with nets." Crimson remarked.
Negaduck glared at them. "What do you guys want?" he asked. "This is just between me and Darkwing!"
"You mean this guy?" Techno asked, pointing to Darkwing standing there.
He walked over to the figure and pushed. Darkwing toppled over, revealing that he was nothing more than a cardboard cutout.
"Dad's got a whole bunch of those things stashed around." Crimson explained. "I didn't really think you'd think it was real so effectively, though."
Negaduck seethed at himself for a moment. "I should've know that ad in the paper saying that Dipwing wanted a death match just between him and me was too good to be true." he muttered, earning pleased looks from Crimson and Techno. "So what is it you want?"
"We want to know what you know about Negawing Duck." Techno said.
Negaduck's face went blank. "Who?" he asked.
"The newest Darkwing double on the streets." Crimson said. "It was all over the front page of the Canard Times, the same paper you found that planted ad in. Don't tell me you didn't see it!"
"Oh, that guy." Negaduck said, struggling against his bonds. "So you're after the guy too, huh?"
"Huh?" Crimson asked, not expecting that answer. "Well, of course we are, but why are you?"
"Didn't you know?" Negaduck asked. "He stole some stuff that belongs to me and the rest of the Fearsome Five a couple of nights ago! I've been hunting him to try and get them back, but he's proving to be more slippery than a bar of soap!"
"What did he steal?" Crimson asked, puzzled.
"Weaponry." Negaduck said. "My pistol, for instance. That article that spoke about him that you mentioned said he had a machine gun that night. That gun's Gos's."
"You mean NegaGos." Techno clarified.
"Right." Negaduck said.
"So you have nothing to do with it?" Crimson asked.
"What, did you think I was helping him?" Negaduck asked.
"More than that, we thought he was you." Techno said.
"Ha!" Negaduck said. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Did you really think I'd do everything that Nega...thing...guy has done?"
Crimson and Techno glanced at each other. "I guess so." Crimson said. "Drat, there goes that lead."
"So are you done with me, or are you going to hand me over to the cops, now?" Negaduck asked.
"Actually, we're letting you go." Techno said. "We had agreed to offer you that in case you were unwilling to give us all that information."
"Turns out you were anyway, but we follow through on our word." Crimson said, then turned to go. "C'mon Tech. The day's still young."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Negaduck exclaimed. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Oh, right!" Crimson said, turning back around and pulling something from her pocket. She slapped it on Negaduck's sleeve. "There!" she said. "That tracking device should lead the Fearsome Five straight here. Eventually, anyway. Might take a day or two."
Smirking, Crimson and Techno then left, leaving Negaduck dangling in that net, enraged.
"I can't believe that turned out to all be for nothing, though." Crimson remarked later, as they drove for home on the Ratcatcher.
"I guess we should've seen it coming, though." Techno said. "We already had our doubts that the theory was wrong."
"Yeah." Crimson agreed.
"And our plan to interrogate Negs did work, and we did learn that Negawing is not Negs." Techno pointed out. "That has to get us somewhere."
"I suppose so." Crimson said.
A light suddenly started to flash on the dashboard of the sidecar. Techno glanced at it. "SHUSH is calling us." he reported. "Priority call."
"Really?" Crimson asked, a little surprised. "Maybe they found something; put it on, Tech."
Techno pressed a button, and Hooter's face appeared on a little screen.
"Ah, Crimson and Techno!" Hooter said. "Sorry if this message is inconvenient but I need to speak with you two."
"What's up J. Gander?" Crimson asked.
"We've learned more about Negawing Duck." Hooter reported. "And it's urgent."
"Can you relay it to Darkwing, then?" Crimson asked. "We're not really in a position to..."
"Actually, I would prefer that Darkwing stay out of this." Hooter interrupted. "Hence why I specifically called you two and not him."
Techno and Crimson glanced at one another.
"What are you getting at, Director?" Techno asked.
"I will show you, but you must come here, to SHUSH Headquarters, first." Hooter said. "You'll understand why then."
Once they arrived at SHUSH Headquarters, Crimson and Techno were taken straight to the lab where the Tron Transceiver used to be. There they found, gathered around a computer screen, was Hooter and Dr. Bellum.
"Crimson, Techno, thank you for coming." Hooter said, and hung his head. "I'm afraid the news isn't good."
"What happened?" Crimson asked.
"We unscrambled the security cameras, finally, that's what." Bellum said, gesturing to the screen. It showed video of the same lab, currently rewinding.
"How is that bad news?" Techno asked.
"It's not." Hooter said. "It's what we found on the recordings that is."
"See, I had started to think that maybe somebody from SHUSH got in this lab without permission and accidently used the Tron Transceiver on themselves, resulting in Negawing Duck." Bellum explained. "Unlikely, yes, but we weren't coming up with anything else, so we viewed the footage taken during the time the transceiver was stolen."
"And?" Crimson asked.
"Nothing." Bellum admitted. "All we got were visuals of Negawing stealing the device."
"But it did indicate that maybe whoever Negawing is perhaps got his negatron count boosted sometime earlier, so we rewound and looked at the footage from times earlier." Hooter explained.
"And?" Crimson said again.
"That would be something you had better see for yourself." Hooter said.
"Right here." Bellum said, stopping the tape quickly, and playing it.
They watched it for a few moments, then Bellum pointed. "Right there." she said.
Crimson's eyes widened. "No." she said. "It can't be."
With an abrupt halt, the chairs stopped spinning. Closing her eyes for a moment to stop her spinning head, Gosalyn stood, and walked away from the chairs, looking around the hideout.
"Dad?" she called out. "You here? Launchpad told me you were up here working with something all day."
Drake's head poked up into view, revealing he was standing in front of the big screen.
"Indeed I am, Gos, but it's going to be a surprise." Drake said, turning back around so that his back was towards her.
Gosalyn stepped towards him. "Thought you'd like to know that I was back." she said. "Lead didn't end up anywhere."
"Okay." Drake said.
"Also stopped by at SHUSH." Gosalyn went on.
"Oh?" Drake asked, sounding unconcerned.
"Yeah, they think they might have a clue." she continued, now climbing up the stairs to join Drake. "I'm not sure if I buy it though."
"Yes, they haven't been exactly too helpful these days." Drake agreed, still keeping his back to Gosalyn. "At this rate, they'll never find that Tron Transceiver on their own."
"Oh, but I think they might." Gosalyn said, jabbing her gas gun into Drake's ribs as she finally reached him. "Which is why you're now under arrest by order of SHUSH..."
She paused, perhaps for dramatic effect. Drake hadn't reacted to this announcement yet. Finally Gosalyn finished her statement.
"...Negawing Duck."
Drake's complexion changed completely. His eyes narrowed, and he straightened upwards. He did not panic.
"So, they figured it out?" he asked flatly.
"Yeah, they figured it out." Gosalyn confirmed, narrowing her own eyes. "They figured out that when Dr. Bellum demonstrated the Tron Transceiver for us the other day, that the negatrons used to turn that squirrel bad covered a much larger area than she expected, and turned one other thing bad at the same time who happened to be nearby. You."
Drake did not deny it. "So how did they realize it?" he asked darkly.
"As everyone exited the room, you stepped in front of Bellum's tron scanner." Gosalyn went on. "The security camera in the room got a clear view of your trons. And they were red."
"Hence why I scrambled the security cameras in the first place." Drake replied. He paused. "So, now what?"
"Now you're going to tell me where the transceiver is, Negawing." Gosalyn said.
Drake smirked. "I don't think so." he replied.
And then he whirled around, firing NegaGosalyn's P90 in the process. Gosalyn ran away from the bullets, forcing Drake to fire in a complete circle as his aim followed her. The missing bullets instead hit all the computer stations and controls panels on the platform they stood upon. Finally, at the end of the circle, Gosalyn threw herself over the edge of the platform and landed on the floor.
Drake hurried to the edge of the platform and fired again at Gosalyn as she ducked behind one wing of the Thunderquack. Once safely behind there, Gosalyn fired off a gas cartridge in Drake's direction. Drake dodged it, and fired again. But Gosalyn had moved again, heading for towards the chairs.
Drake raced after her, shooting at the chairs quickly. Gosalyn quickly threw herself to the floor upon hearing the P90 discharge again. The bullets tore the chairs and it's activation mechanism apart. Drake approached Gosalyn where she lay on the floor, and rolled her over with his foot.
Once rolled over, Gosalyn fired her grappling hook up at a platform that bridged across the room, and zoomed up to it. Drake's firing followed, taking out one of the tall windows in the room, but ultimately missed. Gosalyn took point up on the platform.
"Give it up, I have the high ground!" Gosalyn called down.
"Maybe for now." Drake admitted, pulling something from his pocket and threw it up at the platform.
Gosalyn saw it was a grenade, but it was too late to do anything about it. It struck the platform and blew it up, tearing it in two. Gosalyn hung on to her portion as it tilted downward, the flames from the explosion nearly reaching her. Drake fired his P90 at the railing Gosalyn hung onto and forced Gosalyn to let go. She slid down the platform and to the floor with a crash. Moaning in pain, Gosalyn was in no mood to move again, but Drake forced her to, firing at her once more.
Rolling and dodging the bullets, Gosalyn slid to one side, and then stood, pointing her gas gun at Drake. But Drake was one step faster and fired once at Gosalyn. The shot hit her in the chest, and she toppled over.
Drake smirked, and lowered the weapon. He walked over to stand over Gosalyn's fallen form, grinning as he stared into her closed eyes.
"Did you really think you could take me on and win?" Drake asked tauntingly.
Gosalyn was suddenly up in a flash, and before Drake could react, she had fired a canister of sleeping gas point-blank into his face. He was out like a light.
"Did you really think I'd get into this battle without a bulletproof vest?" Gosalyn asked wearily, patting her chest and feeling the vest under her shirt and sighed in relief that this little battle was over.
Tied to the command chair and wearing his mask now, Darkwing struggled nosily against his bonds.
"You can't do this!" he screamed. "You'll all die for this! Let me go!"
"You aren't going anywhere until you tell us where you hid the Tron Transceiver!" Crimson demanded, also wearing her mask.
"How do you know it's not here?" Darkwing demanded.
"We've searched." Techno replied, the only one in full costume.
"Besides, we were pretty confident that if you were taking the time to create a new identity for yourself to hide what had happened, we figured you were hiding the loot somewhere else as well." Hooter remarked, his face on the big screen.
"Well, you aren't getting it!" Darkwing exclaimed, still struggling. "You aren't getting that info from me!"
"We will figure out a way, Darkwing." Hooter said. "SHUSH has means of getting information from prisoners, though none of it pleasant, and I would rather not have to use it on you."
Darkwing snorted at the idea. "You wouldn't dare." he scoffed.
Crimson turned to Techno. Techno nodded, and lifted a taser-like device. Darkwing looked at it, and merely smirked.
"I'm not afraid of that little thing." he persisted.
"This is your last warning, Darkwing." Hooter said. "Tell us where the transceiver is."
"No." Darkwing replied.
Techno responded by jabbing the device into Darkwing's ribs. Darkwing yelled out in pain as the electric current rushed through his body, not as strong as a normal taser would've been, but still painful, nonetheless. Crimson winced, and looked away.
"Tell us, Darkwing!" Hooter persisted, not looking to be exactly thrilled to have to resort to this.
"Never!" Darkwing replied.
Techno zapped him again, also looking like there were many other things he would rather be doing. Darkwing yelled out, but stood by his answer.
"Never, you hear me? Never!" he cried out.
Techno only tazered him again.
"I'll kill you all for this!" Darkwing roared in-between the shocks.
Then suddenly Crimson stepped forward and yanked the device from Techno. "Tell us." she said flatly.
Darkwing stared defiantly at her. "Nev...er." he said slowly and with added emphasis on each syllable.
Crimson then jabbed the device into Darkwing's ribs, and held it there, shocking Darkwing for a very, very, long time. Techno, getting worried, went to intervene, but Crimson, eyes filling up with tears, shrugged him off and kept at it.
"ALL RIGHT!" Darkwing yelled. "I'LL TELL, I'LL TELL!"
Crimson removed the device and threw it away, her expression neutral. "We're all ears, Darkwing." she said flatly.
Crimson and Techno later arrived at an old warehouse in the depths of town.
"Warehouses." Techno muttered. "Why do the villains always hide out in warehouses?"
"Because there are plenty of abandoned ones all over St. Canard." Crimson replied, climbing off the Ratcatcher, in full costume now.
A group of SHUSH agents were already at the site, examining the large sliding door that provided for the warehouse's entrance. Among them was Agent Mia. Seeing Crimson and Techno arrive, she broke off to come over and join them.
"We've searched the area." she reported. "It's clear. We're currently checking for any booby traps on the doors."
"It's safe!" an agent called out suddenly, stepping away from the door.
"Open it up." Crimson said, coming to stand in front of the door. "Let's get this over with."
With a nod, Mia confirmed the order. The other agents quickly opened the door, sliding it upwards. Mia pulled out her sidearm in case there was something inside to combat with. There was nothing of the sort inside the warehouse, but that still didn't change how stunned they all were at what they saw.
Standing on it's tripod on the far side of the room, unharmed, was the Tron Transceiver, as was expected. But the group was completely stunned at everything else they saw. Sitting on a table to one side of the room were the two Uzis, pistol, machine gun, and ammunition for all of them that Negawing had swiped from Negaduck and party. A row of bottles with complicated and frequently misspelled chemical names sat near that. Next to the transceiver was a patched together computer that was displaying a fuzzy picture of the spinning trademark letter "D" the Darkwing Tower's screensaver sported, indicating that Negawing had hacked his way into the computer systems there.
A modified gas gun and a walkie-talkie sat next to it. On one wall was a picture of Darkwing himself that Negawing had been using as a target, as several knives protruded from the picture. Then finally, on the lefthand wall was an easel with a canvas on it, violently splattered with paint, mostly of a red color. Taped to the wall behind it where several illustrations drawn in pencil in which Negawing could be seen quite graphically killing key figures in his life as Darkwing. Crimson recognized herself appearing in many of these pictures.
Mia swore, her weapon nearly dropping from limp fingers. "What is going on in that head of his?" she asked aloud.
"I don't want to know." Crimson said flatly. "Let's just get the transceiver and go."
An hour later, the transceiver was set up in Darkwing Tower, with Gosalyn at the controls. Drake sat in the command chair, still tied to it, and very angry. No one else was present. Hooter wasn't even watching via a video feed. Gosalyn said this was probably would be best done in private, and no one disagreed.
Having familiarized herself with the controls, Gosalyn flipped on the power to the transceiver. "You ready for this, dad?" she asked flatly.
Drake shook his head with a glare.
"Don't worry, you'll thank me in a moment." Gosalyn said, and then flipped the switch that activated the transfer of trons.
The tip of the transceiver glowed blue for a long moment, then faded away. Drake's glare remained until the end of it, then slowly melted away. Drake then broke down and wept. Fighting back tears herself, Gosalyn hurried over and untied Drake and hugged him tightly.
"Don't worry dad, it's over, it's all over." she assured him.
"I tried to fight it, Gos, I really did." Drake muttered in-between sobs. "I was screaming at myself to stop, but I couldn't..."
"It's okay dad, it's all over." Gosalyn repeated.
"It was me behind it all." Drake went on to explain, even though Gosalyn knew all of this. "Me that slipped Launchpad some kind of chemical that gave him those stomach cramps, me that conspired against SHUSH, me that tried to kill you, and Honker, and..."
"It's okay dad, you had your negatron count doubled, no one is going to blame you for anything." Gosalyn said, hugging her father closer.
They remained like that until both had calmed down significantly, and then were just silent for a long moment, still hugging each other.
Gosalyn wiped at her eyes. "You'll be pleased to know that, in light of recent events, SHUSH intends to destroyed the transceiver." she said to Drake. "They agree that this proves it has too much potential in being abused."
"What a heck of a way to convince them of that." Drake muttered. "I hope it never has to come to that again."
They were silent again for a very long moment.
"I'm sorry for having to torture you like that, Dad." Gosalyn apologized.
"Completely understandable, Gos, you did what you had to, and that's what counts." Drake said. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you."
"Like I said, Dad, no one will blame you for any of that." Gosalyn repeated.
Again they fell silent.
"It's good to have you back Dad."
"It's good to be back, Gos."