Longer Days Pass

Chapter 7

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Fenton Crackshell never did like driving all that much. He didn't actually care to travel much, period. Though he didn't mind flying via airplane. Which was saying a lot, seeing as how the only pilot he's ever flown with was the infamous plane crash professional: Launchpad McQuack himself.

With a sigh, the accountant clicked on his windshield wipers to a faster setting. He really didn't mind the two hour drive to St. Canard from Duckburg, however, this weather was horrible! It was pouring down rain and visibility was awful! Even with his car lights on, he was only able to see a few yards in front of him.

"Oh, just my luck!" whined Fenton under his breath. "The one time I borrow a car and the weather has to be bad! If I get one scratch on this car, Scroogey will not be at all happy!" Just thinking of how furious the rich alpha would be made his stomach twist and turn.

Hitting the brakes at a stop sign, Fenton sighed. He placed his arms up on the steering wheel, idly glancing over to his left before looking back to the traffic light. He quickly did a double take and blinked in surprise. He was next to the St. Canard East Side Hospital and he could see flames coming out of the third floor windows!

"Holy smokes!" he gasped. He glanced around to see if there was any emergency activity. Not seeing any, he nodded to himself in determination. "I've got to do something! That hospital is on fire! I need to make sure they don't need my help evacuating!"

He made quick work of finding a place to park his car before reaching to the backseat of the car to retrieve a large white briefcase. "It's time for Gizmoduck!"

He then paused. "Right after I call Launchpad and let him know I'm running late!"

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The fire that took place at the hospital had caused quite a stir, of course, alarming everyone in the building and causing a panic. This did not go well with the certain occupants of the room across from where it happened.

Kerch was standing next to a large rounded machine, which was where Negaduck was sitting. He was sitting at the end of it. He had just been given his MRI scan when the fire alarm went off. Liquidator and Bushroot looked up just in time for the red flashing lights of the alarm to blind them.

Negaduck just sat there and glared out at the world. "What the hell is happening?" he growled, his question towards Kerch. Kerch looked over at the fire alarm switch, which was now flashing red, and furrowed his brow, confused. He was standing in front of Negaduck, a clip board in his hand and pen in the other, jotting down notes. "I don't understand. We weren't scheduled to have a fire alarm testing. We only have those twice a year and we just had ours last month. This makes no sense…"

"Maybe this is a real one" spoke Bushroot, his voice quavering slightly. "Maybe we should be getting out of here like everyone else."

"And what are we supposed to do!? Just waltz on out of here like everybody else!? I don't think so, begonia breath!" snapped Negaduck. Bushroot flinched at the anger in his voice, nearly bumping into the Liquidator. Liquidator rubbed at Bushroot's shoulder a couple times before stepping up before him.

"Why wait? Act now before all turns to ash!" he told them in his usual persona voice. "I think we should do less chatting and more doing."

Negaduck scowled at the dog made of water. "And what will you have me do, Dripbrain!? As I told the vegetable, we can't just go strutting out there like everyone else! We'll be seen."

Kerch sighed, a dull look in his eyes. "I can just picture the chaos that would happen if any of you were seen out there…"

Negaduck nodded, "Yeah, listen to the PhD!" His voice sounded angry, but it held no sarcasm, which impressed Kerch. He didn't think that was possible for the villain to give him even the slightest of compliments.

"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing!" continued Bushroot frantically.

He looked out the window, an expression on his face that practically said, 'I don't want to catch on fire!'

Liquidator then sloshed his way over to the window, his watery face in deep thought. "Hmmm, Liquidator institutes a new plan! Those who want to hear it, gather round!"

Bushroot and Kerch seemed eager to hear what he had to say while Negaduck stayed his ground near the door and growled at him. "Well, spit it out, you moron!"

Liquidator didn't seem at all fazed by Negaduck's anger, a cool demeanor over his features. "Why couldn't we escape through the window, using the aid of Bushroot's handy vines?"

Bushroot flushed, wondering why he hadn't thought of that first. Negaduck narrowed his eyes on the canine villain. "Alright. Sounds promising. I'm surprised you managed to come up with that on your own, drip brain."

"Just to let you know, it's pouring down rain outside" Kerch informed them.

Negaduck rolled his eyes. "Pussy. Get over it. Little rain never hurt anybody."

"Actually, it'll feel quite refreshing to me!" chirped Bushroot happily.

Kerch moved aside as Negaduck walked over to the window like a dark cloud. He grunted from the pain of his chest as he opened up the window. He struggled, having difficulty. Seconds later, hands came from beside Negaduck, pushing the window up since the villain couldn't from the pain. Negaduck stepped back, glaring at Kerch. The doctor never expected a thank you and therefore wasn't surprised when he didn't get one. Just a glare. But Kerch was under the impression that that was the closest he would ever get to a thank you.

Now that the window was open, Bushroot took his chance to look out it, bringing his arms and raising them, summoning a large thick vine to come up out of the ground and grow along the sides of the building, the cement being ruined where it came up from. The vine came all the way up to the window, where it hooked onto the window sill, ready to be used.

The fire alarm was still blaring, the white lights still flashing, as they began their escape. Voices could be heard from a far distance and now they could hear ambulances and fire truck sirens wailing.

Liquidator went first without question, hardly even needing the vines as his watery body just fell down it swiftly without problems, landing on the cement below with ease. The canine looked up and waited for the others, occasionally looking around in case anyone spotted them.

Bushroot went second, climbing down quickly, the leaves of the vines helping him along and waving at their master. Negaduck looked up at Kerch, who was a great deal taller than him. Kerch gulped, knowing that he was expected to go next. "Can't have you sneaking off, now can we?" sneered Negaduck.

Kerch shook his head as he climbed up through the window sill, carefully making sure that his feet met the vine properly before starting to climb down, Negaduck right behind him. Negaduck took the most amount of time getting down since his chest was throbbing painfully, but the other three didn't say anything about it, knowing they wouldn't live to see the next day if they did.

Once they were all down on the cement safely, Negaduck pushed his way passed the three of them to take a look at what was going on. At the corner of the building, if one looked around it, one could see a great amount of fire trucks and ambulances trying to safely take away all of the patients and drive them to safety. Negaduck looked around said corner, checking to see if the coast was clear.

Squinting through the rain, Negaduck muttered, "Damn! You weren't kidding about the rain!"

It was then that a little yelp of fear from behind them was heard.

The four of them swirled around to see Megavolt, Quackerjack, and Rufener standing there. Negaduck glared at them. "We seem to have had a bit of delay in our plans, boys." He narrowed his eyes at them. "I don't suppose you would know how this happened?"

Megavolt flinched, knowing that this whole mess was his fault and also knowing that he was probably now going to die a most painful death, courtesy of Negaduck's chainsaw. Quackerjack and Rufener, who were standing on either side of the villain, couldn't help but give the rodent a look of pity.

"So? Let's have it. I haven't got all day… Do you know what happened in there and the reason we had to all evacuate?" Negaduck sounded as though he was getting more and more pissed.

Megavolt shuffled his feet, still not wanting to answer. He then finally met Negaduck squarely in the eye and Quackerjack and Rufener both knew that he was about to tell him. "I have no idea…" shrugged Megavolt. He turned to look around the corner at the chaos that was everyone evacuating. Rufener and Quackerjack blinked while Negaduck turned away, seeming to accept that answer. Kerch and Rufener stood next to each other, deciding it would be best to stick together as they were stuck with these whacky and nasty villains.

Just when they were about to walk away, Megavolt walked past Negaduck, who grabbed him by the collar. "Let me guess: You threw a fit and you started the fire. You can't let anything slip by me, Sparky!"

Megavolt struggled to get out of his grip as he started to panic. Negaduck moved to strangle the rodent when Liquidator's voice cut through the air.

"If we don't act now, you won't be able to throw him a shish boom pow!" cried Liquidator, his watery eyes wide as he looked towards the crowd. It appeared that some cops were coming around the corner to see what was going on. Without further ado, the seven of them left as soon as possible.

"Halt evil doers!"

"Oh, for the love of-" cursed Negaduck under his breath.

All of them turned to their right to see none other than Gizmoduck standing proudly before them; the evening light casting him in sillohette. They all squinted to see through the rain and it seemed the deluge didn't hinder the mechanized hero a bit.

"Heeeey, this isn't YOUR city! Isn't it bad enough that Darkwing bothers us!?" whined Quackerjack. "Go bother somebody else! Why are you even here!?" He pulled down sullenly on the ends of his hat.

"I am a member of the Justice Ducks! Though my hometown is Duckburg, I seek justice anywhere I go! I just so happened to be in the area!" replied Gizmoduck. "Now if you would kindly release those two doctors-"

"Shove it, bolt breath!" snapped Negaduck. He went to take a step forward when a wave of dizziness overcame him, causing his knees to buckle and legs to fall out from under him. He collapsed on the wet cement with a grunt. He clutched at his head and groaned. "Don't just stand there! DO SOMETHING, YOU KNOBS!"

While Negaduck was disoriented, Quackerjack stepped forward. "Hey, Gizzy! Have you ever played cricket!?"

Gizmoduck faltered for a moment. "I-I can't say that I have. No." He sounded confused as he pondered where the jester was taking this.

Quackerjack titled his head to the side in an innocent way; causing the bells on his hat to jingle. "No?" He pulled out from behind his back a cricket bat before a red cricket ball as well. He tossed the ball on the ground before him. His teammates would never understand where he kept all his toys. "Shame! You should try it sometime! It's SOOO much more fun than golf! And d'ya wanna know why?"

Still uncertain as to what was going on, Gizmoduck said, "Uh...Sure?"

Quackerjack's playful and innocent antics turned wicked as his expression morphed into an evil smirk. He raised the cricket bat far up behind himself as he readied to swing. "It can cause a LOT more DAMAGE!" He swung as hard as he could, sending the ball flying straight towards Gizmoduck.

"Ahhh!" shouted Gizmoduck in alarm. He managed to dodge just in time before the ball would have smacked him in the face.

"Tired of feeling out of the loop?" came a watery voice before Gizmoduck.

"Huh!?" The hero's single tire squealed on the wet cement as he turned quickly to find the source of the voice.

"Are you always feeling confused!?"

Panicking, Gizmoduck tried using his helmet's vision sensors to pick up Liquidator through the rain. The hardest part was that the liquid villain blended perfectly in with the weather. His eyes quickly scanned the other villains and he vaguely noted they were standing by and watching their teammate torment him.

"Then tonight is your lucky night!" continued Liquidator's sales pitch. "Here you can have Liquidator Brand water therapy to KNOCK-" The moment he uttered the word, a liquid fist smashed into the side of Gizmoduck's face. "-you right out!"

Stumbling and groaning, Gizmoduck wheeled himself backwards a few feet as he tried his best to gather his thoughts. "Oh, I was not ready for that one..."

"Then you definitely won't be ready for THIS!" came Megavolt's voice. "I may be shorted out, but I still have my ways of packing a punch!" He had pulled out one of his electrical guns and pressed it right up against Gizmoduck's back after having sneaked up from behind. With a pull of the trigger, Gizmoduck was heavily electrocuted.

The sound of electricity filled the air for a moment before Gizmoduck collapsed against the brick wall of the hospital, his unicycle no longer able to balance him. "Oh..." groaned the accountant underneath the suit. Most of the time the Gizmoduck armor was able to protect him from most damage. However, electric shots like that were too much for the suit when he was caught off guard as much as he was now.

Bushroot grabbed Negaduck's arm and helped their boss stand on his feet once more. Dusting himself off best he could given the rain, Negaduck hobbled himself over to the fallen hero with a leery grin. "Well, well. I guess you should have stayed back in your little Duckburg, Gizzy" he taunted.

"Hey! Part of his helmet is cracked! I can almost see someone underneath it!" gasped Bushroot.

Gizmoduck froze.

No. No, they couldn't take off his helmet! Then his secret identity would be exposed! He'd be found out!

With a grunt, Gizmoduck raised an arm and tried sending an attack, but sparks began snapping throughout the suit.

Megavolt cackled with glee. "Haha! It would seem my electrical charge, combined with all this rain, has messed up your circuits! Boy, does it feel good to finally see someone else shorted out besides me!"

Panic and anxiety twisting his stomach, Gizmoduck frantically tried to do anything but sit there as Negaduck stepped closer and closer to him. His inentions were obvious.

"Let's find out what kind of dunderhead is under this bucket of bolts!" declared Negaduck.

Just as Negaduck went to touch Gozmoduck's helmet, a cloud of purple smoke appeared around them and a familiar voice filled the air.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the fire alarm that goes off at the wrong time! I…..am Darkwi-ing Duck!" The smoke disappeared, showing a posing Darkwing with Launchpad standing behind him.

"I am the shadow that haunts you at night! I am Quiverwi-ing Quack!" came another voice from beside Launchpad.

Negaduck grimaced in annoyance, resisting to roll his eyes. He leaned back from where he was towering over Gizmoduck to glare at them. "Well, if it isn't the Geek Patrol…" he met eyes with Darkwing. "How have you been, Darky? Have you missed me?" he sneered.

Darkwing narrowed his eyes. "Not a bit, Negaduck! It's been quite peaceful around here lately. I was beginning to think you had given up, knowing I was too big of a match for you!"

This statement made the villain in the yellow suit laugh harshly. "HA!" He swayed ever so slightly before continuing. "That's a good one, Dorkwip! You should consider being a comedian. Though you'd fail at that too!" He glanced back at the Fearsome Four. "Well, what are you losers waiting for!? Take care of these three losers!"

Megavolt, Quackerjack, Bushroot, and Liquidator did as they were told and stepped up in front of the others as Darkwing, Quiverwing, and Launchpad prepared themselves for what was to come.

Quackerjack raised his cricket bat so it was resting on his shoulder. "Ha! Sure thing, boss! I can play cricket with these guys too!"

He stepped forward and began swinging at the new arrivals. Darkwing just managed to dodge it, hurling himself into Launchpad, who had been right beside him. They landed on the ground, Darkwing on top of Launchpad.

"You okay, DW?" asked Launchpad, immediately trying to sit up so he could see for himself. Launchpad managed to stand up quicker once he was off the pilot.

Darkwing nodded.

Negaduck meanwhile, never let his eyes move from the pair, his eyes narrowing even further by the second as he watched them stand. Quiverwing had landed a ways away from them, already up and getting out one of her arrows and preparing to shoot. Just as she was about to shoot as Megavolt, silly putty slammed into her face, making her fall backwards with a shout. She dropped her bow as she furiously tried to get the silly putty off of her. Quackerjack clutched his stomach, doubling over with laughter at Quiverwing's misery.

Darkwing, now standing, scowled at Quackerjack after seeing what he had done to his daughter and pulled out his gas gun. "I made this gas gun extra special for you, Quackerjack!" he informed the rodent, glaring at him. He aimed the gun at him and fired. Instead of gas coming out of it, a thick net shot out, wrapping itself around the colorful jester. He watched with a grin as Quackerjack fell to the ground in pain from the fall.

Negaduck snarled. "Bushroot, take his place!" he commanded.

Bushroot gave a small squeak, looking as though going off and fighting was one of the last things he wanted to do. But he did as he was told, and just when he was past where Negaduck was standing, he raised his vine-like arms, where roots started to come up from the ground, which rumbled slightly as they came. The vines quickly came towards a distracted Darkwing, aiming for his ankles.

"DW!" cried out Launchpad.

Darkwing looked over at the coming vines just in time for Launchpad to dive in front of him, blocking the path of the vines to Darkwing, making them hit him instead. The vines knocked over Launchpad and just as he was falling, grabbed him by the ankles. Launchpad yelled in fright as they raised him and then threw him several yards away from the battle.

Darkwing watched Launchpad up in the air from where he was standing, his eyes wide. When he saw the pilot fall, he immediately went over to him. "Launchpad!"

Negaduck kept a mutual face, watching the scene before him take place, his eyes thoughtful. He glanced over at Gizmoduck and saw that the hero had finally managed to get back up. He jumped for the chance to catch Gizmoduck off guard. He reached out and grabbed for the helmet once more, much to Gizmoduck's horror.

"CEASE, you foul fiend!" commanded Gizmoduck desperately.

Quiverwing, meanwhile, was still trying her hardest to get the silly putty off of her face. Her bow and arrow down on the ground, she was using both of her gloved hands to try and get the stuff off.

Megavolt skulked his way back over to where Negaduck was standing, hating the fact that he couldn't contribute more to the fight. Negaduck ignored him, his eyes never leaving Gizmoduck. "Watch the two doctors…" he growled after a while, making Megavolt blink at him. "Don't let them escape."

Megavolt nodded and moved behind Kerch and Rufener, who was standing next to each other, watching in shock as all of this took place. The two of them knew they were the unlucky doctors that had been pulled into this nightmare as they were forced to help St. Canard's worst villain.

Seeing the doctors in danger, Gizmoduck shouted out, "Not so fast!" Forcing the gizmo suit to do what he wanted, he managed to get the chest cavity of the suit to open up. A pie appeared and slammed itself into Negaduck's face.

Negaduck yelled in anger as he fell over from the impact.

Gizmoduck extended one of his arms out to attack Megavolt, sending the rodent flying after punching him in the face.

Negaduck wiped the last of the pie out of his face just in time to see the perfect opportunity to catch the hero unprepared. He turned to Quackerjack and swiped the bat away from him. "Give me that!"

"Hey! No fair! Get your own toys!" cried out Quackerjack.

Negaduck ignored the jester and raised the bat high before slamming it into the back of Gizmoduck's head. Gizmoduck fell over immediately. It was then that a loud clang of metal was heard and every froze when they realized that Gizmoduck's helmet had fallen off.

Fenton was panicking. More than panicking. He was having a meltdown.

His helmet was off!

If he turned around or anyone got too close-They would see his secret identity!

"NOW we're talkin'!" laughed Negaduck. He tossed the bat aside and walked over to the fallen hero. "Now let's see who we're REALLY dealing with!"

As this was happening, Quiverwing finally managed to get the silly putty off of her face after hearing Launchpad yelling. She threw the gob of gunk to the ground, her eyes wide as she looked over to see what was happening to her dad and Launchpad. She saw them both on the ground, starting to get up. It was then that Quackerjack's laughter pierced through her thoughts. She glared at the jester, grabbing her bow and arrow from the ground and readied it, shooting for Quackerjack.

The jester was caught off guard thanks to all of his laughing and was hit in the arm, which made him cry out and glare daggers at Quiverwing as he rubbed at his sore arm. "Silly, girlie! We've had this discussion before! Those arrows are WAY too sharp!" He reached into his large purple clown pants and brought out some toy teeth, but before he was able to let them go, he freezes at the sound of Bushroot crying out in fright. The jester looks over, wide eyed, along with Quiverwing.

Darkwing, now standing, aims his gas gun at Bushroot. "Sorry, Bushy, but I'm afraid all I have left is weed killer…"

Bushroot trembled just at the words 'weed killer' and gulped as Darkwing came closer with the gas gun.

"HELP!" shouted Gizmoduck as loud as he could. That brought everyone's attention to him. Which is exactly what he wanted. "My helmet is off!"

Darkwing's eyes widened. He didn't have time to think. He knew what it was like to have a secret identity and all that came with it.

Quickly changing canisters to his gas gun, Darkwing shot it again in Gizmoduck's direction. Once it hit the ground, a thick cloud of purple smoke appeared.

Negaduck coughed and backed off at the sudden onslaught of smoke.

He growled deeply as he knew he had just blown his shot to find out the hero's identity. He looked back behind him to Liquidator, who'd been standing there watching the scene unfold and waiting for his chance to strike. "Let's get out of here! We found out all we're going to learn!"

Liquidator would have blinked had he been capable of it. "Are we not keeping the doctor's hostage?"

"No. My head is throbbing, I want to kill something, and I want sleep…" groused Negaduck, turning to Megavolt, Kerch, and Rufener. "They're not giving me any answers! I'll seek them myself another way. He grabbed Bushroot by the arm just before Darkwing let off the weed killer. However, thanks to the weed killer, it allowed the villains to slip away while Launchpad, Darkwing, and Quiverwing were blinded by it. They coughed as they tried pushing away the smoky cloud of weed killer and when they finally managed to do it, all they could see was the fuss of the ambulances and police cars and fire trucks trying to take care of the chaos from the fire.

The fire had by then spread to the second and third floor, which made sense, since the Fearsome Five had been on the third floor. Darkwing watching fire breaching out from the shattered windows, sighing deeply.

He continued to stare up at the burning building until he felt Launchpad behind him and a strong hand being put on his shoulder. "You okay, DW?"

Darkwing nodded. "Yeah, I am." He turned slightly to look up at the pilot. "How about you? You had a bit of a fall there."

Launchpad shrugged, feeling sheepish. "Nah, it was nothing, DW. I've dealt with worse…" Darkwing said nothing to this, just turned back to the burning building.

"Say, where's Gizmoduck?" inquired Quiverwing.

The purple smoke of the bomb was disappearing and they were able to see Gizmoduck still hunched on the ground awkwardly since he just had his unicycle. His thick black hands were covering both sides of his face as they stepped over to him.

"I'm fine! Thank you so much for helping me!" The metallic hero was saying. "You can go now!"

The three of them turned to each in uncertainty before turning back to their fallen friend.

"Hey, Gizzy!" greeted Launchpad in the most cheerful tone he could muster in the situation. They were still standing in the pouring rain after all. "Negaduck and them left! So we're all in the clear now!"

"Great! Thank you again!" replied Gizmoduck, though his voice wavered uncertainly and it wasn't nearly as deep as usual.

"Are you okay? Megavolt got you pretty good with that ray gun of his" asked Quiverwing as she stepped closer.

Gizmoduck quickly turned away and began trying to stand. His hands never left his face. "Yes! My helmet might be off but otherwise I'm fine! You can go now!" His tone grew sharp with agitation. Just as he was finally back up on his unicycle, there was an electrical buzzing sound as more of the suit short circuited. The suit then began humming loudly and piece by piece it began disassembling, much to the duck underneath the suit's dismay.

"No no no no no no no!" cried out Fenton as the suit came to life and whirled away, each piece of the suit, minus the broken helmet, all swirling in the air until it reached its home: the white suitcase it came from. The suitcase collapsed on the ground and clicked shut once everything was back inside and Darkwing, Launchpad, and Gosalyn were left standing there in silence and confusion.

Left in the place of Gizmoduck was a trembling little duck barely taller than Darkwing, wearing a purple jacket and curled up in a fetal position.

"You're Gizmoduck?" Darkwing found himself asking.

"NO!"

"Umm...Really? The suit just told us otherwise" sassed Quiverwing.

Darkwing gave her a warning look. While Gizmoduck had never been one of his favorite people, mainly because of all the attention he often stole from Darkwing's own achievements, that didn't mean he didn't feel bad for the duck before him.

"Blathering Blatherskite!" shouted Fenton.

Nothing happened.

Whimpering, Fenton tried again, his body never leaving its fetal position; his face still completely hidden. "Oh, please! Please work! Blathering Blatherskite!"

The suit remained silent in its suitcase.

Sighing, Darkwing warily walked over and grabbed the damaged helmet; swaying on his feet from dizziness as he went to stand back up. Launchpad steadied him before the vigilante walked over to Fenton and set it down beside him. "Uhh...Here. Your helmet never went back with the rest of the suit."

"Please go away! You can't know who I am!" begged Fenton, who was trying to remember to use his Gizmoduck voice but failing under all the panic.

Launchpad titled his head to the side. "Your voice kinda sounds familiar..." he pondered aloud.

"No, it doesn't!" snapped Fenton in a deeper voice.

"Look, we get it. You have a secret identity. So do I! But you were kicked around quite a bit before we showed up and you can't tell me those electrical shocks from Megavolt didn't just hurt the suit. So come on. We're here to help you!" reasoned Darkwing. "Not to mention, I'm very cold and dizzy and we're still standing out here in the pouring rain!"

"No! You DON'T understand! If my identity gets out-I'm finished!" explained Fenton as tears began to fall from his eyes.

"But Gizmoduck! You're a Justice Duck! So is Darkwing! We're on the same team! I don't understand why it would be so bad if we knew!" chimed in Launchpad.

"Can we all just stop standing out here in the rain already!?" groused Quiverwing as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

Darkwing, fed up and feeling another wave of dizziness coming on, leaned over and grabbed Fenton by the shoulder, wrenching him backwards and forcing the other duck turn around. Fenton shouted in alarm and surprise by the sudden movement and his hands left his face just long enough for him to be recognized.

"Fenton Crackshell!?" gasped Launchpad.

Knowing the jig was up, Fenton lowered his hands, now fully showing himself as he sat there on the wet cement. Tears were ow streaming down his face. "Please! Please don't tell anyone! No one can know! I'll be in SO much trouble if it ever got out who I really am!"

"Why? Why would it be such a horrible thing? I mean, besides every villain finding out who you really are, but by the way you're acting, you're not worried about that so much as everyone else in the world finding out" inquired Quiverwing.

"Because he's an omega" stated Darkwing in a monotone voice.

"Huh?" Both Launchpad and Quiverwing looked to Darkwing at the same time.

Fenton groaned and curled up into a ball. "How do you know I'm an omega!? Did Launchpad tell you!?" He shot a glare up at his friend who gave him a guilty smile.

"No, Fenton. LP didn't tell me. You did."

"W-What?" This had Fenton looking up at Darkwing in surprise.

Darkwing sighed and glanced around their surroundings. Seeing no one else around, he began undoing the tie to his mask on the back of his head.

"Darkwing!" cried out Quiverwing, her eyes wide.

"I know your secret identity...I guess it's only fair that you know mine too. Especially since you and I are fighting the same battle" he whispered. Off came the mask and Drake Mallard was in full view for the world to see.

Fenton just gaped at him. "Drake Mallard!?"

"SHHH! Not so loud!" hissed Drake. He quickly put his mask back on, tying it tightly.

Launchpad reached down and grabbed Fenton by the arm, dragging him up to his feet. Fenton barely registered it though since his eyes never left Drake. "But-But you're an omega-Like me! But you smell just like an alpha!"

Darkwing nodded. "Yes, yes! Not all of us have a fancy trash can to hide our scent behind like you!" he said briskly as he began to push Fenton along. "Grab your suitcase. I've got your helmet. We can all clean up and dry ourselves off at my house."

Fenton refused to take his eyes off Darkwing as they all walked over to where the Thunderquack had been parked and they were finally able to climb into it and out of the rain. "How!? How can you be Darkwing!" He asked as he climbed in. "You're an omega! Does your alpha let you fight crime!? Mine does! That's the only way I can be Gizmoduck!"

"Yeah, doesn't surprise me that Mr. McDee let's ya be Gizmoduck!" chuckled Launchpad. "You are still his omega right?"

Fenton nodded faintly, still recovering from the new information.

"I don't HAVE an alpha! I have a Launchpad!" Darkwing corrected him.

Launchpad blushed at the comment.

Quiverwing put away her bow as she sat down on one of the cushioned seats of the Thunderquack. "What's going to happen to all those patients, dad?" she asked, fully changing the subject.

Darkwing was setting the Gizmoduck helmet down next to Fenton, who was now sitting next to Quiverwing. "Well, they'll probably be sent off to other hospitals until all of this mess is cleaned up. Yet, with all this damage, it'll be a while. I'm just glad no one seemed to have gotten hurt. Least, I don't think so. No deaths, at least…"

Launchpad nodded as he began pressing buttons and getting the aircraft going. The top of the Thunderquack slid shut and the engine roared to life. "Well, whatever this is all about, I hope they would stop hitting all the hospitals. They're really hitting them hard lately, aren't they…?"

Darkwing nodded, glancing over at the fire. "Yeah…" he spoke thoughtfully. He narrowed his eyes, the wheels in his head turning. "Negaduck is up to something. Did either of you see? He was holding two men prisoner."

"They looked like doctors judging by their clothes" voiced Quiverwing with little concern. Darkwing ignored her indifference.

Fenton finally spoke up, seemingly having snapped out of his shock from finding out Darkwing's identity. "They were doctors alright! I'm just glad they didn't take them hostage!"

"That's the strange part! Why go to all this trouble if he didn't even want to hold them hostage? I wonder what Negaduck could possibly want with two doctors anyways. Not just one but TWO!" thought the Masked Mallard out loud.

"Maybe he's sick" suggested Launchpad with a shrug as the Thunderquack rose from the ground and began its flight.

Darkwing's eyes went wide at this suggestion before he rested a hand on his head and closed his eyes.

Launchpad and Quiverwing saw this, concerned. Fenton could only sit there in confusion since he was still reeling at the revelation that he was currently with his friends who were secretly crime fighters.

"What is it, dad?" asked the younger hero.

Darkwing didn't reply at first, his mind racing. When he did, he whispered in awe. "Of course! Why didn't I think of it sooner! He's sick!"

More silence, the only noise being the Thunderquack's engine and Fenton's tinkering of his helmet for lacking anything else to do.

"But why two doctors? And what's wrong with him…? You don't suppose...?" He looked down and felt at the sore part of his chest, rustling his purple suit. "No….it…That's….."

"That's what, DW?" asked Launchpad, his eyes not leaving the sky line.

Darkwing shook his head. "Nahhh! There's just no way!" he chuckled to himself. He frowned instantly though as he continued to think it over. "But...You guys saw him stumble! He was acting as though he was dizzy too!"

Gosalyn watched him for a moment before slowly catching on. "Wait a minute! Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?!"

Darkwing raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't know. What do you think I'm thinking?"

"That whatever it is YOU have: Negaduck has too?" suggested the younger mallard.

"What does Negaduck have? Drake-I mean Darkwing- Are you sick!? Sorry-I'm just totally out of the loop here!" interjected Fenton. It was obvious he was tired of being left out of the conversation.

"Dad has been suffering from some major dizzy spells. Sometimes even some mild cases of vertigo! He's been to the doctor and they said nothing was wrong with him. THey can't figure out why he's having these dizzy spells. Well, tonight we noticed Negaduck was having some of the same problems as dad!" explained Quiverwing.

Fenton peered curiously at the younger duck beside him. "'Dad'? I'm guessing you're Gosalyn then, huh?" he laughed softly and good naturedly. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point."

"Gosalyn!" snapped Darkwing. "What have I told you about calling me that when I'm Darkwing!?" He had whirled around in his seat to glare at her, wishing he hadn't immediately when the dizziness came.

Quiverwing groaned and slapped herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand. "Ugh! I'm sorry! It's habit!"

"You're secret is safe with me" promised Fenton with a smile.

Launchpad blinked as he flew the air craft. "Wait, so...You think Negaduck is also getting these dizzy spells?"

Darkwing looked up at his boyfriend with a worried frown before nodding. "Yeah. I mean, it's just a theory, but...I think so." He found himself having a loss of words as he realized this bit of information as well.

"But then that means that there is more of a connection between you two than we originally thought! I mean, we know he's from the Negaverse, which is the opposite of our world. But, that couldn't possibly mean that if one of you gets sick, so does the other, right?" asked Quiverwing.

"I would hope not! But it's a possibility" replied her father quickly. "I mean, there's so little we know about the Negaverse!"

Launchpad just shook his head. "This is too much for me to take…" he then chuckled, laughing to himself.

"Could someone explain to me what the Negaverse is?" asked Fenton innocently.

"Later" mumbled Darkwing. "Anyways, as crazy of a thought as it is, it makes the most sense…" muttered Darkwing. "I mean, even Dr. Court has no idea what's wrong with me and even an MRI scan didn't fully show anything."

Quiverwing felt her dad's forehead. "Are you feeling okay, dad? You're being a little more intuitive than normal. I think you'd better go to bed and rest, you're creeping me out.."

Darkwing frowned at her, coming out of his thoughts. He scowled a bit in a fatherly, teasing, way. "What, and you're saying I'm incapable of being intuitive!?"

Quiverwing gave him an innocent look, shrugging as she turned away. "I dunno, dad. But you've had some pretty dull moments in the past. This just doesn't seem like you.." She closed her eyes, satisfied. What she didn't see coming was the tickling as Darkwing turns and reaches back for her. She cried out in giggles as her father tickled her on the sides. "Stop it! Stop it!"

Darkwing stopped before stealing her hat and ruffling her hair. "Never change, daughter of mine. Never change."

The rest of the ride home went with little incident and idle chatter. They were all exhausted and knew they would have a lot of discuss when they got back to the Mallard household.

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