Disclaimer; I do not own Darkwing Duck or Gosalyn or any other Disney character....
The Path Chosen Chapter 2
Dawn broke over St. Canard. The golden rays of sunlight beamed through the window on 537 Avian Way. Drake Mallard opened the door to his daughter's room, quietly and peaked in. Gosalyn lay bundled up in her bed. Her covers wrapped tightly about her small body. It wasn't from cold that she huddled into her blankets but from fear. The fear of knowing Dark Warrior was there.
Drake stepped to the side of the bed and looked with compassion at the troubled face of the sleeping child. Even in her dreams, dark Warrior taunted her.
Sitting down on the side of the bed, he brought a hand up to gently brush a strand of stray hair from her face.
Drake had accepted what Gosalyn had told him that night. That the figure in black that robbed a SHUSH lab that night before was indeed the dark futuristic version of himself. What J. Gander had told him earlier of his own experience with the intruder confirmed it. It was Dark Warrior. But how could it be? From what Gosalyn had told him, it was her disappearance that had caused him to become the tyrant overlord in that alternate reality, but she had come back. She had set things right again - hadn't she.
A sudden fear gripped Drake, could this mean that he was going to lose Gosalyn at some time in the future. Would he still become Dark Warrior? The thought caused him to reach out and grasp his sleeping child's tiny hand in his own. No, that couldn't - mustn't be the answer! How would he live without her?
Drake forced the thought from his mind and composed himself a little. He let go of Gosalyn's hand and stood slowly up. He couldn't think such crazy thoughts. Right now he should concentrate on how and why Dark Warrior was here in this time.
* * * * * *
Outside of St. Canard a black limo is on an open road headed for the city limits. Beside the limo a figure in a high-tech armor flies with he aid of a helmet copter. Scrooge McDuck his boys, Webby and Mrs. Beakly are all piled inside the vehicle.
"Boy Uncle Scrooge, I can't wait for the grand opening of the 2nd. McDuck Amusement park", said an excited Huey. "Especially since we get to go on all the rides free!"
Scrooge smiled at his nephew "Aye Lad, and I'm excited about all the money that I'll be making on it. St. Canard is twice the size of Duckburg. That means twice as many customers!"
"And having Gizmoduck there to make a personal appearance at the grand opening is sure to pack them in", Mrs. Beakley added.
"Yeh, and .. and maybe Quiverwing Quack,too!" Webby chimed in excitedly. Scrooge had sent an invatation to the papers for Quiverwing Quack to also make an appearnce. She was a bigger crowd pleaser than even Gizmoduck, but there had been no reply to rather or not she would show. Scrooge had sincerely hoped so, not only for the profit her appearance would no doubt reap, but for Webby's sake. She had been looking forward to this day more than anybody just for the chance to meet Quiverwing.
"Will you ride some of the rides with me Uncle Scrooge?" Webby asked sweetly.
Scrooge laughed "Oh, I suppose your old Uncle Scrooge could find a few minutes in his busy schedule to take you on a ride or to Webby."
Just a few yards ahead of the limo in the middle of the road was a large pool of water. Duckworth noticed this as being odd since it hadn't rain around that area for days. The puddle was too big to avoid, but a little water wouldn't hurt the limo.
Unfortunately as the limo started to drive through the puddle, the passengers all became suddenly aware that it wasn't just a puddle of water. The water rose without warning into a small tidal wave that swept over the vehicle, as well as Gizmoduck, washing them off into an Embankment.
"What was that!" asked an alarmed Dewey as he was toppled on top of his brothers.
"I don't know Lad, but I'll be finding out", Scrooge answered as he clambered hastily from the wrecked limo followed closely by the others.
Gizmoduck was face down in a mud puddle, trying desperately to pull his mud-stuck bill free.
Huey, Dewey, and Louie rushed over to help him. Once free he spat out a mouth full of mud "And to think, some people actually pay to be immerse in that stuff!"
A voice sounded from the road " Statistics show that a mud bath a day keeps wrinkles away". Everyone turned to see the puddle of water rise into the watery silhouette of a canine.
"Liquidator!" exclaimed a surprised Gizmoduck "How dare you waylay my fair employer and hid good family, and in my very presents..."
"Ah, you super hero types are all the same ....yack, yak, yak", came another voice from behind them.
Gizmoduck shuttered at the sound of the voice, he knew it all to well. He and the others turned to see megabuck and the rest of the Fearsome Five standing on a hillside overlooking the limousine. "Negaduck!" Gizmoduck bellowed trying to look more confident than he was at the moment "What ever the dastardly deed you may be considering - reconsider, for I am Gizmoduck! I am the defender of the downtrodden, protector of the week ...YYAAAHHH!" he cried out as he was struck by a stream of electricity courtesy of Megavolt. The electric current was strong enough to overload his armor and almost fry Finton Crackshell inside. Gizmoduck collapsed to the ground unconscious. The children huddled behind Scrooge, Mrs. Beakly and Duckworth.
"What is it you want?" Scrooge demanded standing his ground.
Negaduck ambled down the hillside followed by the rest of his evil gang. He walked up to McDuck so that his bill was only inches from Scrooges face but didn't speak. His cold black eyes staring into Scrooge's. Scrooge wasn't intimidated easily but he felt a cold chill go through him as he stared at the evil villain. The eyes were the windows of the soul, it was said, and Scrooge could see the dark evil of this ones sole through those black eyes. An evil he had never seen before in any living creature.
In spite of his effort to appear unflinching, Scrooge's disheartenment was obvious. Negaduck snickered and walked back to the rest of the Fearsome Five. He turned to face McDuck again, his arms crossed over his chest. "To tell ya the truth, old timer. We were just out looking for a little fun, and thought you might want to play."
With that, he whipped out his chain saw. The look of fear on the faces of the children gave him pleasure to no boundaries. Scrooge glanced over at Gizmoduck who was still unconscious. He pushed the kids behind him. Lifting his cane defensively, he braced himself for what was sure to come.
"I think your games are a little rough for children". Came a voice from the same hilltop the Fearsome Five had been standing on. Everybody turned in surprise to see a small band of strangers dressed in outlandish costumes, all wearing masks. The one adorned in white and silver tipped his snow-white fedora to Negaduck " but if roughhousing is what you're looking for, we'll be glad to play!"