Hi Everyone! Themusicmaniac here!

I hope you all are doing well and that finals season goes well for those of you still in school. Good luck!

SciFiGirl253: Thanks! One of the parts of Darkwing that I have always loved is how much it focuses on dual identity. Darkwing's identity as a superhero and a father is a central theme of the show. Many of the other characters encapsulate this too: Bushroot as scientist and plant, Negaduck as the evil side of Darkwing, and Launchpad's dual lives in Duckburg and St. Canard. These and other characters show how people are complicated and that both parts of themselves are part of their identity. They learn to embrace things that were once thought to be vices, such as Bushroot's plantness, or Darkwing trying to give up superheroism multiple times. This is Valerie's journey: she has to learn what it is to be a duck and to be human, and embrace both the reality of it and the fantasy of it all. Learning to shower is one of those things she'll have to do, as well as an overall humorous moment. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Guest: You'll get to find out!

It had been two days since we built the acorn launcher and made a plan. We were hoping to disguise ourselves as tourists. Then we'd sneak into the lab and power up the Ramrod to find her grandfather, and my home.

Gosalyn noted most of the time the key was left in the machine, so we would probably have no problem getting it to start. The problem would be when Bubla noticed that we started the machine. I would use the acorn launcher to distract him while Gosalyn operated the machine. We would give ourselves a day to rest before carrying out the plan.

Bonkers called after that. He told us that no one at the station believed his story, but he filed a report and is doing everything he can to help us.

"I'll see if I can dig up anything on Steelbeak. You two lay low for now, okay?"

"Sure."

"Sure? Whaddaya mean, sure?"

"Well… we may or may not be trying to find a way to get to the Ramrod."

"But isn't that a bit… risky? You already told me that you're struggling to keep Goslayn from being taken away as it is."

"Yeah." I sighed. "Well, I'll talk to you later Bonkers."

"Hang in there, Val."

The phone went dead as Bonkers hung up and I flopped down onto the couch.

This whole thing was frustrating.

Where was Darkwing Duck?

I had been reading the newspaper and catching up on local St. Canardian news on the couch. Gosalyn had been doing some schoolwork and looking for a map of the lab her father had from when they moved to the new building.

"WHAT!" I heard Gosalyn scream from the other side of the house. I ran to the garage and saw her looking incredulously at her phone in her hands.

"Dr. Bulba… HE took credit for MY GRANDFATHER'S project, and called his disappearance an accident."

"What?" I said, walking behind her to look at her phone.

"I can't- I thought-" She was stuttering, and couldn't get a complete thought out. "I thought he was a good person Valerie."

"Oh Gosalyn." I said, as I sat in a chair. She was crying and I wasn't sure of what to do. I didn't know if I knew her well enough to hug her, but I felt she needed comfort. "Do you need-"

She wrapped her arms around me and was shaking with sobs. I was frozen for a minute before I gently hugged her. We just sat like that for a while.

"What now?" She asked.

"We need to be more careful." I said, as she moved away and wiped her eyes. "We need to make sure he doesn't expect us to come and save your grandfather."

She nodded.

"He's a liar."

"I know. But there's not much we can do about it-" The doorbell rang and we both walked to the door. Gosalyn opened it.

Taurus Bulba was standing in the doorway.

"You!" Gosalyn nearly yelled.

"Me?" Bulba said, confused.

"What is this?" Gosalyn showed him the headline she saw on her cell phone and his face sobered in understanding.

"Gosalyn. The world can't know what the Ramrod can do. I lost your father just-"

"YOU took credit for his work."

"If I didn't, he would've looked crazy."

"If you DID, you would get the glory for his success!" Bulba's face darkened at this.

"Gosalyn, as your legal guardian-"

"NO!" Gosalyn yelled. "I won't let you be my guardian after you betrayed my grandfather!"

"It's the law, Gosayn. Listen to reason."

"YOU listen to reason Bulba." I said, stepping forward. "She doesn't trust you and I don't either."

"You turned her against me!" Bulba dove after me, as Gosalyn screamed and moved aside. I dodged, but ran into a small table with a vase on it. The vase fell off and broke.

I jumped around it and grabbed Gosalyn's hand, leading her into the garage. We barricaded the door.

"You two can't hide forever!"

"Gosalyn, we have to leave." I picked up the backpacks we had been packing and handed hers to her. She grabbed her phone charger (which had been in the garage, thankfully) and her crossbow. I grabbed my acorn launcher and we opened the garage door. She grabbed my arm and led me down the side door.

"They're gone!" I heard Bulba say as we ran out the fence and down the driveway.

"There they are!" An Eggman said, as we rounded the corner to the street.

"We can't be out in the open like this Gosalyn!"

"I know, but there isn't' really anywhere we can hide!"

"Wait… I know!" Gosalyn pulled me into someone's yard through the fence. The Eggmen ran by and down the next street.

We waited for a while for things to ensure that they all left. It wasn't until we saw Bulba driving away in one of the vans that we considered ourselves safe.

We let out a large sigh of relief.

"...what now?" She asked.

"We can't be seen by Bulba." I said, so anything where we'll be seen is a no-go. We'll have to break in when he's the most distracted. And that is…"

"When his boss visits!" Gosalyn finished.

"The question is how we're gonna hide for the next two weeks."

"I've got an idea." Gosalyn smiled.

This one was a hard one to write. It wasn't a part of my original concept for the story, but I felt that showing some history between Gosalyn and Bulba would make things more tragic as the story continues.

Thank you so much for your continuing support! It helps me to feel less like Jim Starling standing in front of Siesta Rick's talking to a bunch of people wanting to buy sofas and more like people are invested in the story.

Anyway, see you next week!