"Are we there yet? I thought you said this was supposed to be fun?"

Launchpad shook his head and grinned. "Nearly there, kiddo." The whining should have been bugging him. But he was surprised she'd actually come. This one was much more of a troublemaker than his Gosalyn had been. Not that she hadn't upset her adoptive father on more than one occasion, but that had always been innocently. She'd been such an odd child.

"Are you listening to me?"

"No."

"Launchpad doesn't ignore me."

"I'm not your Launchpad." The Negaverse Launchpad took one last drag on his cigarette, then stomped it out under his boot and carefully kicked dirt over it. "Look, we're here."

They'd come upon a derelict little shack. Behind it ran an old creek bed, all but dry in the arid weather.

Gosalyn frowned. "I'm still not impressed."

"Man, you're a tough little nut, aren't you?" Launchpad booted open the rusty door, and the whole hovel rattled and shook. A single, not-quite-upright support column propped up a support beam that ran across the centre of the roof. The column visibly swayed, dust rained down from the rotting ceiling and the old kerosene lamp he'd hung up bounced around, but the shack stood firm. One day he was going to send the whole thing crashing down, and that was exactly the reason Launchpad kept booting the door in so hard. Inside was littered with fuel cans, butane canisters, a couple lengths of PVC pipe, crates of bottles and cans, some old course rope, and, of course, potatoes.

Gosalyn raised an eyebrow. "Where's the gun? This is just a pile of trash."

Launchpad winced. The terrible thing was she was right. He really missed his rocket launcher. He scooped up the PVC pipe and tossed it to her. "Well, you're going to learn how to make a gun from a pile of trash. Grab the other half. I'll get the potatoes."

Gosalyn looked at him like he'd grown another head. But he definitely had her hooked. She grabbed the other length of pipe, and carried them both outside.

Launchpad gulped at the lump in his throat. Oh man. He was getting attached way too fast. Hanging out with Gosalyn had roused that faint feeling of guilt down inside. He'd have liked to have thought he'd gotten between his Gosalyn and Negaduck once or twice, that he'd protected her. But the truth was, despite all his faults, Negaduck would never dream of physically hurting his daughter. He had other ways of keeping her in line. Launchpad had never stood between them; he'd never had the guts. He'd just been the guy who was usually around when Negaduck got so fed up with his daughter he felt like hurting someone. At least now his Gosalyn was being looked after way better then he'd ever been capable of in Negaduck's house. She was better off without him.

Launchpad huffed and hefted up the crate of potatoes. "Bastard." He booted one of the butane canisters and sent it spinning out the door.

"Hey!"

"Pick it up. We need it."

Outside, Gosalyn was trying to assemble the bits of PVC pipe, her tongue stuck out in concentration.

"Here." Launchpad set up the pipe to form the canon, resting it on its makeshift tripod so it pointed out and over the dry creek bed. Across the other side he'd previously set up crates, bottles and cans. And, most importantly, nothing that he'd get in trouble for hurling a potato clean through.

Gosalyn was picking up on the general idea. She rifled through the crate of potatoes, picked a good sized one, and rolled it down the tube. Then she scowled. "How's a bit of plastic supposed to fire a potato?"

Launchpad picked up the tin of butane and spun it around so Gosalyn could see the 'caution: flammable' warning on its side. "We're going to set this. On fire."

"You've really got a theme, don't you?"

Launchpad filled the tube with gas, and sat himself behind the pipe to line her up and make sure the recoil didn't send the whole thing spinning off. That had been pretty funny the first time he'd fired it, and Gosalyn probably would get a kick out of the whole contraption knocking him on his ass. But he wasn't going to risk it with the child of the superhero who probably still didn't trust him around. Satisfied everything was set up as safe as a potato gun could be, her lit her up.

The potato shot out of the tube with a pop, sailed through the air and splattered some hundred yards across the other side of the creek.

Gosalyn's jaw dropped. "Keen gear."

Launchpad loaded and fired off a half dozen more. Truth was the thing was impossible to aim, and he rarely had to go out to set up new targets. Still, he somehow managed to send a potato splintering through an old crate he'd set up. He broke down laughing, which really confused Gosalyn. He'd spent far too long scratching a likeness of Negaduck into that crate, but you couldn't actually see it from this distance.

"Okay, you weirdo. If you're going to sit there and giggle, I think that means its my turn."

"Alright, alright. Let me get you set up. This things got a fair bit of kick. Wait…" The sound of an engine cut into the desert air. It sounded like a motorbike. Launchpad's eyes narrowed and his fists tensed at his sides.

"Is that a motorbike? What, what is it?"

"Probably that damn kid." Launchpad drew in a breath, and fought down the part of himself that still wanted to deal with any annoyance with as much force as possible. He'd kept it at bay last time, even if Mrs McQuack hadn't been entirely happy when he'd told her what happened. "I caught him riding on the McQuack's property a few weeks ago. When I told him to clear off, he back-chatted me. So I fired a potato in his general direction. I think he got the message."

Now, he was going to have to find some other way to deal with the situation. Mrs McQuack had told him off, despite the fact he'd made it clear he hadn't actually fired the potato straight at the brat. She hadn't made him do anything dumb like go apologise, but she'd told him not to fire projectiles at or near people again. Especially kids. "At least, I thought he got the message." Launchpad shielded his eyes as he searched for the machine. It was familiar, but now he wasn't sure it was that same kid's bike.

"Fill her up. Check. Aim. Light her up!"

Launchpad didn't realise what Gosalyn was doing until the PVC pipe let out a decidedly louder than normal pop. The slam of an impact and splintering wood followed a split second later.

Launchpad spun around. "Shit!"

The PVC pipe bounced and rattled along the ground then rolled to rest. Gosalyn slumped against the side of the shack where she'd been thrown, one of the brittle boards cracked and splintered behind her head.

"No, no, no…" Launchpad skidded to his knees beside her and gently shook her shoulders. "Kiddo?"

The motorbike rattled up behind him and the engine shuddered off. Even a bratty kid would help. And if he didn't, he could donate his bike to getting Gosalyn back to the house as quick as possible.

"Oh. Wow. Nice job. She's been here, what, three hours? I can't believe I used to let you babysit. In fact, I can't believe you're still alive."

Launchpad's chest tightened; he couldn't breathe. His vision grew fuzzy around the edges. All he could focus on was his trembling hands and how they engulfed Gosalyn's tiny shoulders. Gosalyn. Launchpad finally managed to suck in a gasp of air, and the oxygen cleared his head. He couldn't let him hurt this Gosalyn. Launchpad gathered every ounce of his strength and turned to face the voice from his past.

"You ran away from me too, didn't you?" Negaduck. He was right. There. His yellow and black motorcycle behind him, and Launchpad wondered how he'd ever mistaken its sound for a dirt bike. "So much for loyalty."

"What are you doing here?" Launchpad's voice grated and caught in his throat.

"I tailed that idiot Darkwing Duck. Figured I could have a little fun out here." Negaduck's beak split into a wide grin. "But this is a surprise. Where've you been, buddy?"

"I was never your buddy. You have to leave. Now." His voice sounded weak, pathetic. Even to his own ears.

Negaduck laughed. "Oh, someone definitely ran away, didn't they?" The cackle cut off just as quickly, then Negaduck was right on top of him, grabbing him by the collar, pressing his beak against his. "You don't tell me what to do!"

Launchpad stumbled back under the unexpected weight and his heart-rate rocketed. He shoved Negaduck off and threw up his guard. "Don't touch me!"

Negaduck raised his hands and took a step back, chuckling. "Someone's developed a backbone."

"You can't. Be here. You're whole deal is Saint Canard, and Darkwing Duck, and… you can't mess with the McQuacks. They're good people. They don't live in a place like Saint Canard. They can't deal with all this superhero and villain stuff."

"The McQuacks, huh?" Negaduck stroked his beak, completely ignoring the fact Launchpad was squared up like he wanted to fight. "Oh, you idiot, what have you been doing? Playing happy little families? This isn't your world, you know."

"Never stopped you from trying to take it over."

Negaduck flung his arms wide. "That's because I'm ambitious. But now, there's an idea. Messing with a cute innocent country family whilst Darkwing Duck tries to protect them? Could be fun."

"Negaduck, don't."

"Come on, Launchpad. You know it will be. I know I usually left you in charge of the home front. But, seeing as you're here, why don't we both have a little fun?"

"You have got to be kidding me."

Negaduck waggled his eyebrows. "I'll let you fly my aeroplane."

The faintest hint of a thrill rose in Launchpad's chest. He was actually letting him… And then, slowly, he lowered his fists. "I… I can't believe I let you take that away from me. I've got plenty of aeroplanes I can fly now. And the people who own them don't tease me with them, and make me feel like I have to earn every last little shred of respect!"

"Been behaving yourself, have you? Got them fooled? Please. What do you think they'll think about this?" He pointed a finger at Gosalyn. "Or this?" And jabbed his thumb back into his own chest. "As soon as they see who you really are they won't be so forgiving."

"Darkwing's here."

"Yeah, and you just knocked out his daughter. Listen up, Launchpad. I'm giving you a choice. As soon as your little surrogate family realises I'm here, they're going to start asking questions. They're going to think you called me, or at least that taking you in was what brought this tragedy down upon them…"

"You leave them alone."

"Maybe I will. I'd rather cause my havoc at night anyway, so I'll give you until sunset. Then, you're going to come back to this sad little shack and you're going to tell me you're ready to help me take down Darkwing Duck. In return, I'll let these good, kind people get away with simply the scare of me slaughtering a superhero in their back garden. Or, you oppose me, or tell Darkwing I'm here, and if that happens…" Negaduck cackled. "I'll burn this whole place to the ground, along with any soul unfortunate enough to get in my way!"

Launchpad's fists shook at his sides. Grab him now. Tie him up. Beat him to a pulp. He's half your size! All those thoughts bounced around in his head. But he didn't move. "Negaduck, please don't."

Negaduck threw a leg over his motorcycle and started her up. "Think about it, old pal. It really would be fun causing chaos with you again." Then he gunned the engine, skidded around so the bike threw up a wave of dirt, and tore away.

As soon as the motorcycle disappeared over the nearest rise, Launchpad's knees buckled. His back slammed into the old shack besides Gosalyn and he put his face in his hands. "Aw, kid. What am I supposed to do?" He fished the packet of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket, and fumbled to push out a single one so he could grab hold of it. The simple task was almost impossible.

Gosalyn shot to her feet. "I knew I needed to keep an eye on you!"

"Shit!" The packet jumped from Launchpad's hands and cigarettes scattered everywhere. "Damn it, kid. I thought you'd really hurt yourself."

Gosalyn put her hands on her hips. "Don't play games with me. I saw you talking to Negaduck! You're still working for him, aren't you?"

Launchpad's heart plummeted. "No! I didn't even know he was here, I swear."

"A likely… story…" Gosalyn blinked a couple of times, then sat down heavily.

"Aw, man, you're not okay, are you?" Launchpad reached out for her.

Gosalyn swiped a hand in front of her face. "Back off, buster."

He could've scooped her up and there would be nothing she could do about it, but Launchpad paused in his advance. "You hit you're head. I just want to check you're okay." He reached out for her again, slowly, and she lowered her hand. He felt her head. There was no blood, but he thought he could feel a decent sized bump.

Gosalyn tolerated it for a second, then slapped at his hand. "Ow, stop."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two." She frowned up at him. "Your hands are shaking."

Launchpad swallowed hard. "I'm not working for Negaduck. Please believe me. He was just… there. He said if I didn't help him he'd hurt the McQuacks. What am I supposed to do?" Suddenly, nothing seemed as important as this kid believing him. He didn't know what else to say to convince her.

"I must've really hit my head… okay. He must've followed us from Saint Canard. Maybe we should tell Dad."

"No! We can't. If I tell Darkwing, Negaduck's going to hurt the McQuacks. I have to deal with this myself. And if the McQuacks find out…" If he lost their trust, he didn't know he could take it. No wonder this world's Launchpad had been so angry with him when he arrived. It didn't matter that he'd changed. He'd dragged trouble right along with him. Launchpad hung his head. "I shouldn't have come here."

Gosalyn leaned over and swiped her knuckles into his arm. It was a terrible punch, and he was sure she could've done better had she not been semi out of it. "Come on. Where would you be if you hadn't crashed in their front yard?"

Not causing trouble for innocent families for sure. Launchpad stood to his feet and held out a hand. "Can you get up?"

Gosalyn pushed herself to shaky feet and grabbed onto his arm.

"Right, I'd better carry you."

"You are not carrying me like a baby."

"I'm not letting you walk."

"Hang on. Crouch down."

Launchpad did as she instructed. Gosalyn managed to make a little jump, and hook her arms around his neck. Launchpad hefted her up in a piggy back, making sure he had his arms under her in case she passed out again and lost her grip. He started heading back to the house. "You're not going to tell your Dad about Negaduck, right?"

"Okay fine. But you have to do something for me first."

Despite his apprehension, Launchpad rolled his eyes. This kid was something else. "I'm not letting you play with the potato gun again. But, go on, anything else. What do you want?"

"I know Negaduck's not a nice guy. But you're terrified of him. What did he do to you? Launchpad told me about him making you burn your planes, but, you know, what else?"

Launchpad's guts tightened. "Aw, man, kid. You don't pull any punches do you?"

"If someone scared my Launchpad that bad… well, that's why I was so mad at you."

"Okay, okay…" There was plenty to choose from. Some he certainly wouldn't share with a kid. But neither did Launchpad want to downplay her question by choosing something like Negaduck getting way too competitive about playing punchies, which had never really bothered him at all. And then he thought about his own Gosalyn. "It wasn't just me he was a jerk to…"

"Come on, Negaduck. Are you sure you're not going a bit overboard?"

"Stop whining," Negaduck grumbled as he balanced on Launchpad's shoulders so he could tie his minion's wrists to the branch above. The dying tree in Negaduck's backyard couldn't take his weight, so they'd just settled for stringing him up to it with his feet still on the ground. "You're the idiot who let her keep talking about getting a pink pinata for her birthday. Honestly, I leave you two alone for five minutes…"

"You beat a pinata with a stick! I thought you wanted her to find something violent to enjoy? Sounds like violence to me."

"She wants a pink pony pinata because its supposed to have candy inside. Urgh. I don't want any daughter of mine getting candy for her birthday. By this age, I expect her to ask me for a butterfly knife or something." Negaduck finished his knot, then leapt back to the ground. "If she wants to hit something with a stick the only thing she should enjoy getting out of it is blood and teeth." He scooped up the rolled up bit of cardboard that had come with the pinata Gosalyn thought she was getting, and thumped Launchpad heavily on the chest with it.

Launchpad grinned. "Heh. Yeah. That's always fun. I'm glad she won't be knocking anything out with that flimsy piece of trash though. But we've got to start her somewhere, right?"

"Oh, yeah of course." Negaduck dug amongst the smashed paper mache they'd already destroyed in the corner of the yard, and came up with a handful of colourful candy, and a pink ribbon. "Now, hold still."

"I don't want that thing in my hair… wha…"

Negaduck rammed the candy, wrappers and all, into Launchpad's beak, then trussed it up with the pink ribbon. "That's much better." He grinned, patted Launchpad on his bulging check, then screamed: "Gosalyn! Get your butt out here. It's pinata time!"

Gosalyn stumbled out of the house in her pink party dress, blindfolded. She grinned madly as she swayed across the yard like a drunk man. "Dad! Can I at least see the pinata first?"

"What? And break the pinata rules?" Negaduck winked at Launchpad. Then he hurled the rolled up piece of cardboard over the Muddlefoot's fence. "Won't be needing this!" He reached into the pile of paper mache and pulled out an aluminium baseball bat.

Launchpad shuffled back. "Nefadufck…" he mumbled around the plastic mixed with sickly sweet goop in his mouth.

"Stay where you are, Launchpad!" Negaduck barked.

Launchpad jerked to a halt at the order.

"What?" said Gosalyn. "What's he doing?"

"Being pushy. You know how he likes smashing thing. But you're the party girl; so you get to go first." Negaduck shoved the bat into Gosalyn's hands and adjusted her grip. He pointed her to face Launchpad.

Gosalyn tapped the bat on Launchpad's hip.

"Higher, sweetheart. If you want it to spill, you need to hit it right in the guts." Negaduck leaned forward, hand on his daughter's shoulder, a wicked grin splitting his beak.

Gosalyn adjusted her grip. All the practice Launchpad had with her in the back yard was paying off; her swing was perfect. The bat slammed up under his ribs. Launchpad dropped. The flimsy bough broke under his weight and snapped in half on impact across his back. Launchpad doubled over as bile leapt up his throat and mixed with the gunk in his mouth. He spluttered and gagged and couldn't get air, and then the flimsy pink ribbon popped and the whole mess spilled out on the browning lawn.

Gosalyn ripped her blindfold off. No way she could've been fooled that impact had been with paper mache. The bat clattered to the ground at her side.

"Gosalyn… I'm… kay…" Launchpad said, then sagged back down with a wheeze.

Gosalyn's eyes filled with tears. "Launchpad, I'm sorry." She bolted back into the house.

Negaduck cackled. "Happy birthday, sweetheart!"

Launchpad spat, then pushed himself to his knees, a hand still to his belly.

Negaduck grabbed him by the collar. "Next time, I expect you to talk her out of this kind of garbage before I have to get involved. I can find someone much bigger than a little girl to take a swing at you." He hauled him to his feet and flung him towards the house. "Now go ask her if she wants cake!"

He'd carried Gosalyn almost all the way back to the house now. Launchpad gulped and adjusted his grip underneath her. Between Darkwing Duck and the McQuacks, he really didn't know how this would pan out.

"You can put me down now."

Launchpad let her slip off his back. She grabbed him around the waist and hugged him tight.

"Hey… what?"

"I'm sorry, Launchpad. I knew Negaduck was a jerkface, but… I won't tell my Dad. And I'll help you take care of Negaduck."

"Heh." Launchpad prised her off him. "Let's just make sure you're okay first."

Drake had paced the porch for the last half hour. His only consolation, despite Birdie's assurances that the Negaverse Launchpad was harmless, was that it was highly unlikely he had kidnapped his daughter. Gosalyn would have taken off with him simply because she knew her father wouldn't like it.

Finally, he saw her coming down the front path, Launchpad's double trailing almost right behind her. Drake cleared the front steps and rushed to meet his daughter. "Gosalyn, don't go running off like that!"

He knew something was wrong when Gosalyn looked up at him, not ready for an argument, but with relief. And then she slumped into his arms. Drake clamped her tight to her chest. His gaze snapped up to the Negaverse Launchpad, and the only thing that stopped him from slamming a fist into his face was supporting his daughter. "What did you do?" he hissed.

"Dad, it's okay," said Gosalyn, though she still clung to him. "It's not his fault. I was being stupid and I fell over."

Launchpad shuffled a boot through the dirt. "She hit her head. I'm sorry. I thought I was watching her." The subdued moment was just so… Launchpad, that it gave Drake pause. His buddy's double actually felt bad about this. So he should, but still.

Leaning on the porch railing beside his wife, Ripcord went rigid. "Wait, she hit her head?" He paled several shades. "I'll… doctor…" He bolted back inside so quickly the door slammed into the wall and the front windows rattled.

Birdie winced. "Rip! It's okay, she's conscious…" She hung her head in resignation. "Great. We're going to have the entirety of the town's medical staff here in ten minutes. I thought we were past this."

Drake scooped Gosalyn up, despite her half-hearted protestations, threw a glare at Launchpad's double, and followed Birdie inside. His heart still thudded in his chest, but it was steadily slowing. He wasn't sure how mad he was supposed to be at the Negaverse Launchpad. I mean, he'd be mad at Launchpad if he'd let something like this happen, but he wouldn't hold it against him. He wasn't surprised Gosalyn had gone and down something dumb. It wasn't the first time.

"Yes, send them now!" Ripcord growled into the phone.

Birdie, put a hand on his arm. "Ripcord, calm down. Here…" She took the phone off him. "Yes, she's conscious. But if you could send one of the doctors over that'd be great." She hung up, then turned back to her husband and grasped his hands. "Are you alright?"

"Better safe than sorry," Ripcord grumbled.

Launchpad pushed past them, not making eye contact with anyone, and went into the kitchen.

Drake took Gosalyn into the living room, put her down onto the sofa and rearranged the cushions around her.

"Dad, I'm fine."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you are. Although, its not the first time you've given yourself a concussion." He squeezed her shoulder. "That head of yours is nearly as hard as Launchpad's. You'll be fine."

"My son does not have a hard head," said Ripcord. "And neither does your daughter! You don't know what happened to her; it could be serious. How can you be so blase about your own child…"

Drake saw red. He whirled and stabbed a finger into Ripcord's chest. "I think I know whether my daughter needs medical attention or not, thank you very much!"

Although Drake had intended to give him a good prod in the chest, he found himself pointing just above the man's belly button. Ripcord glared down at him, and then his shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to help."

Drake lowered his hand. "I… yeah, I know. Thanks for, you know, being so on the ball and calling the doctor. Sorry, I overreacted."

Ripcord smiled tightly. "Hey, its fine, I get it. I have kids too, remember?" He turned to Birdie. "How long ago did we call?"

"Speaking of kids," said Birdie. "I heard one of our planes come back over. Launchpad might be back in the hanger. You should go talk to him. He'll be in a better mood after taking a plane out."

"Yeah, but…"

Birdie patted his arm. "Not your kid. We'll handle it. You know you'll just get underfoot."

"Probably," Ripcord huffed. He glanced one last time at Gosalyn, then headed out the front door.

Launchpad came back from the kitchen with a glass of water and took it to Gosalyn. Drake snatched it off him, then handed it over to her.

"Dad, really?"

"I don't know what you two were up to," he said, voice low. "But you are not going out together unsupervised again!"