A/N: Remember how I said that you might want to read my other fic,
'Bubbles', before reading this just to get an idea of the timeline?
Weeeell....yeah, this story kind of changed its own mind about where it was
going, so now you really probably want to read the other one. Thanks so
much for the great reviews I've gotten so far! Enjoy!
------
It had been nearly a full week since the last spooky robbery had taken place; in fact, it had been a week since ANY crime had taken place in St. Canard. On the one hand, Drake was glad that the robberies had stopped; if he didn't receive any new clues, that meant there was no new evidence that could link the crimes with Morgana. On the other hand, his sense of justice compelled him to want to solve the mystery. Not to mention that he was bored stiff without any crime to fight.
"I don't get it, Launchpad!" he exclaimed, turning his attention away from the news, which was covering a story about the Cute Little Lost Bunnies. "One minute, we've got our hands full of crimes to solve, and then the next thing you know, nothing's happening at all!"
Launchpad just shrugged, then pointed to the TV. "Hey, that looks kinda exciting," he suggested. Drake opened his mouth to say that he'd seen almost the exact same Cute Little Lost Bunnies story reworded at least fifty times, but stopped when he caught sight of the television again. There was a special bulletin flashing at the bottom of the screen, and the video had changed to show images of a giant spider's web stretched between two buildings.
"Police reports say that although no suspect was seen fleeing the crime scene, there appears to be another giant web blocking the front entrance of the Tyke-Time Toy Factory, the largest manufacturer of toys in the greater St. Canard area." Tom Lockjaw was saying. "Investigators believe that the criminal escaped through a side entrance into this alley, leaving the web to deter --"
"This looks like a job for....Darkwing Duck!" the masked mallard announced, already in his trademark purple suit and fedora. "Come on, LP. Let's get --"
"Gee, DW, weren't you going to get Morgana to come along with us to investigate the next creepy looking robbery?" Launchpad interrupted, scratching his head. Darkwing sighed, upset at having his catchphrase interrupted.
"Yeah yeah, we'll pick her up on the way over. NOW, let's --"
"I'm comin', too!" A voice called from the top of the stairs. Two seconds later, Gosalyn had barreled down into the living room.
"Absolutely not, young lady! You're staying right here and finishing up your homework!" Darkwing ordered, frustrated.
"But Daaaaad, I know all about super uber creepy monster stuff! I can help you guys! Besides, I finished my homework half an hour ago!" Gosalyn wheedled.
"I don't have time for this!" Darkwing flailed. "Fine, you can come, but stay out of trouble, and don't get in the path of Morgana's spells this time. I don't want to have to bring you home as a bat again," he added with a shudder, sitting down in the blue armchair just as Launchpad got into the other one and Gosalyn jumped onto his lap. "Ahem. Now. Let's get dangerous!"
------------
After waiting outside Macawber Manor for nearly five full minutes without getting an answer at the door or seeing so much as a shadow move behind the curtains, Launchpad ventured hesitantly, "Um, maybe she's not home, DW. Shouldn't we get outta here and head on over to the crime scene? This place is even creepier when no one's home." Casting a final look at the darkened house, Darkwing sighed and nodded.
"I don't get it..." he mused as they climbed back into the Thunderquack. "She told me she didn't have any plans after work for the rest of this week! Where would she have gone?"
"Maybe she was kidnapped by eeeevil mutant zombies from outer space!" Gosalyn chimed in, then paused. "Or maybe she just went to the store," she added as an afterthought, shrugging. Darkwing didn't reply; in fact, he didn't' say much for the rest of the ride. Apparently, neither Gosalyn nor Launchpad had been having the same suspicions he had been having about the nature of the robberies that had been taking place, which made him feel a little guilty. Why was he the only one who seemed to be wondering whether or not his own girlfriend might be responsible for a crime? Shouldn't he have been the one defending her? He knew she was still working on paying off her student loans, but she was WORKING this time, not stealing. The Shadow Chateau had been a risky venture (he still suspected that she had hidden away some of her old loot from him and used it to start the restaurant, since she never gave more than vague answers as to how got the money for the place), but it had paid off, and Morgana was slowly but surely making her way out of debt – the honest way.
"Whoa," Launchpad said as they landed in front of the toy factory, just as Gosalyn let out a 'keeeen gear!' The spider's web looked more impressive in person than it did on television, and Darkwing could see why the police hadn't been able to get inside; from a distance, there appeared to be large spaces between the strands of silk, but in reality they were filled in with smaller, ordinary webs.
"Stand aside, gentlemen!" he announced, hopping out of the plane. "Darkwing Duck, the caped crusader of combating creepy crimes, can handle this." He strode purposefully towards the entrance, whipped out a magnifying glass, and peered at the web. "Hmm...my deductive reasoning leads me to conclude that this is the work of more than one spider!"
"Maybe those little guys pitched in," Gosalyn suggested, pointing up to the top of the web. Darkwing looked up to see several dozen ordinary spiders hanging from the high doorframe, swinging gently in the breeze.
"...you may be onto something, Gos," he replied, then pointed out some larger strands in the web. "It looks as though the main framework was done by a much larger spider, but there are individual webs built in between them."
"Cool beans! Giiiiiiant mutant spiders!" the redhead exclaimed, grabbing Darkwing's magnifying glass out of his hand and peering through the web into the factory. "Maybe there are still some in there!"
"Say, DW..." Launchpad began slowly, a look of realization dawning on his face. "Doesn't Morgana have a giant pet spider?"
"Archie? No way would he do something like this!" Gosalyn said vehemently before Darkwing had a chance to reply, and he was secretly somewhat proud that his daughter was sticking up for his girlfriend so readily. "He'd never do anything without Morgana knowing about it, and she's on our side! She's part of the Justice Ducks, remember?" she added pointedly.
"I'll bet what Launchpad means is that we should question Archie to see if he knows any other giant spiders living around town," Darkwing said hurriedly, hoping to derail Launchpad's train of thought before the pilot started piecing any more evidence together. "We'll head over to Macawber Manor again once we finish up here," he added, pulling out his gas gun. "Step aside, citizens!" he announced loudly before firing. As the smoke cleared, the web trembled for a moment, then suddenly collapsed into a pile of silk on the ground.
"What was that stuff?" Launchpad asked as they picked their way over the fallen web.
"Glue solvent," Darkwing replied simply, looking around. Upon first glance, he didn't think anything was missing. The inside of the factory didn't look the least bit out of place...until he started examining the items of the shelves closely.
"This has GOTTA be Quackerjack's doing!" Gosalyn exclaimed, clambering up on a ladder to see some of the higher shelves. "I mean, who else replaces normal toys with stuff like this?"
"No....Quackerjack's toys are generally demonic and dangerous, not...spooky," Darkwing replied, picking up a toy werewolf ('Really Howls When Exposed To Moonlight!' the label read) from a shelf that was marked for teddy bears. "Besides, I checked; he hasn't broken out of prison again yet."
"But who else would want to empty out all the toy stores in town, then replace the new toys being made with stuff like this?" Launchpad asked, glancing over his shoulder every now and then in case more spiders decided to appear.
"Maybe he's getting someone from the outside to work with him..." he mused, then stopped short when he glanced over at the next set of toys on the shelf. In a space marked for "Weeping Wendy" dolls, all the original pink and purple boxes had been replaced with black and red ones. Inside the boxes were headless dolls exactly like the one he had seen in a box of old things at Morgana's house a few weeks ago. Scanning over to the next shelf, his heart sank as he recognized more items; poison ivy jump ropes in place of synthetic pink ones, witch's brooms in place of toy vacuum cleaners...and even a line of black bubbles with skull stoppers.
"Hey, this stuff is awesome! And none of it LOOKS like it's going to attack us..." Gosalyn said, still on top of the ladder. "There's some reeeally neat looking board games!" she added, holding up a box entitled 'Death'. "Hey Dad, think you can take any of this stuff as "evidence"? Y'know, maybe me and Honker can test stuff out to make sure it's safe!"
"Binkie Muddlefoot would have a conniption fit," Darkwing remarked dryly, tearing his eyes away from the bubbles to look up at Gosalyn, who grinned.
"Hey, you never know about her and creepy things...she was a lot happier with Morgana's cooking than you thought she'd be," she reminded, then looked back at the 'Death' box and added, "Say, I bet Morgana would love this stuff! Wonder if this is the kind of game she played as a kid."
"Put it back, Gos," he ordered, sighing a little.
"But -- "
"Gosalyn..." he began in a warning tone, and she pouted as she put the game back on the shelf. "Come on, let's go."
"But DW, aren't you gonna search for more clues?" Launchpad asked, exchanging glances with Gosalyn as the crimefighter headed back towards the entrance.
"I've, uh...gotta do a little research before I can go any farther with this case," Darkwing supplied, not pausing in his steps. "We'll let the police clean things up here." At that, Gosalyn stopped short halfway down the ladder, looking back and forth from her father to Launchpad in disbelief. Launchpad had about the same expression on his face; Darkwing Duck, letting the police be the last ones at a crime scene?
"Something weird is definitely going on," Gos muttered to the pilot as they trailed out of the building behind Darkwing. Launchpad just shrugged.
"Maybe he's just got a lot on his mind?" he supplied. Gosalyn shrugged back.
"Maybe....he's probably just got some mondo cool trick up his sleeve," she said finally, nodding for emphasis, but stopped talking once they all got into the Thunderquack. The flight home passed mostly in silence until Launchpad started to turn the plane towards Macawber Manor.
"Go straight, LP," Darkwing instructed. Launchpad frowned, but obeyed, heading towards the bridge instead.
"Sorry, DW, I thought you wanted to see if Morgana was home yet," he reminded.
"Yeah, Dad, didn't you want to question Archie?" Gosalyn chimed in, sticking her head up in the front seat.
"Naw, she's probably off...visiting relatives, or something. I'll catch up with her tomorrow night," he said, waving his hand absently. He only hoped that she had a good alibi for being out of the house during the toy switch. Gosalyn still didn't seem the least bit suspicious of the sorceress, but Darkwing was sure that Launchpad had his doubts. Of course, he knew that LP wouldn't say anything right away, but it was only a matter of time before he started questioning whether his boss was more loyal to the law or to the love of his life. That was a question that Darkwing himself wasn't entirely sure he could answer just yet.
------
It had been nearly a full week since the last spooky robbery had taken place; in fact, it had been a week since ANY crime had taken place in St. Canard. On the one hand, Drake was glad that the robberies had stopped; if he didn't receive any new clues, that meant there was no new evidence that could link the crimes with Morgana. On the other hand, his sense of justice compelled him to want to solve the mystery. Not to mention that he was bored stiff without any crime to fight.
"I don't get it, Launchpad!" he exclaimed, turning his attention away from the news, which was covering a story about the Cute Little Lost Bunnies. "One minute, we've got our hands full of crimes to solve, and then the next thing you know, nothing's happening at all!"
Launchpad just shrugged, then pointed to the TV. "Hey, that looks kinda exciting," he suggested. Drake opened his mouth to say that he'd seen almost the exact same Cute Little Lost Bunnies story reworded at least fifty times, but stopped when he caught sight of the television again. There was a special bulletin flashing at the bottom of the screen, and the video had changed to show images of a giant spider's web stretched between two buildings.
"Police reports say that although no suspect was seen fleeing the crime scene, there appears to be another giant web blocking the front entrance of the Tyke-Time Toy Factory, the largest manufacturer of toys in the greater St. Canard area." Tom Lockjaw was saying. "Investigators believe that the criminal escaped through a side entrance into this alley, leaving the web to deter --"
"This looks like a job for....Darkwing Duck!" the masked mallard announced, already in his trademark purple suit and fedora. "Come on, LP. Let's get --"
"Gee, DW, weren't you going to get Morgana to come along with us to investigate the next creepy looking robbery?" Launchpad interrupted, scratching his head. Darkwing sighed, upset at having his catchphrase interrupted.
"Yeah yeah, we'll pick her up on the way over. NOW, let's --"
"I'm comin', too!" A voice called from the top of the stairs. Two seconds later, Gosalyn had barreled down into the living room.
"Absolutely not, young lady! You're staying right here and finishing up your homework!" Darkwing ordered, frustrated.
"But Daaaaad, I know all about super uber creepy monster stuff! I can help you guys! Besides, I finished my homework half an hour ago!" Gosalyn wheedled.
"I don't have time for this!" Darkwing flailed. "Fine, you can come, but stay out of trouble, and don't get in the path of Morgana's spells this time. I don't want to have to bring you home as a bat again," he added with a shudder, sitting down in the blue armchair just as Launchpad got into the other one and Gosalyn jumped onto his lap. "Ahem. Now. Let's get dangerous!"
------------
After waiting outside Macawber Manor for nearly five full minutes without getting an answer at the door or seeing so much as a shadow move behind the curtains, Launchpad ventured hesitantly, "Um, maybe she's not home, DW. Shouldn't we get outta here and head on over to the crime scene? This place is even creepier when no one's home." Casting a final look at the darkened house, Darkwing sighed and nodded.
"I don't get it..." he mused as they climbed back into the Thunderquack. "She told me she didn't have any plans after work for the rest of this week! Where would she have gone?"
"Maybe she was kidnapped by eeeevil mutant zombies from outer space!" Gosalyn chimed in, then paused. "Or maybe she just went to the store," she added as an afterthought, shrugging. Darkwing didn't reply; in fact, he didn't' say much for the rest of the ride. Apparently, neither Gosalyn nor Launchpad had been having the same suspicions he had been having about the nature of the robberies that had been taking place, which made him feel a little guilty. Why was he the only one who seemed to be wondering whether or not his own girlfriend might be responsible for a crime? Shouldn't he have been the one defending her? He knew she was still working on paying off her student loans, but she was WORKING this time, not stealing. The Shadow Chateau had been a risky venture (he still suspected that she had hidden away some of her old loot from him and used it to start the restaurant, since she never gave more than vague answers as to how got the money for the place), but it had paid off, and Morgana was slowly but surely making her way out of debt – the honest way.
"Whoa," Launchpad said as they landed in front of the toy factory, just as Gosalyn let out a 'keeeen gear!' The spider's web looked more impressive in person than it did on television, and Darkwing could see why the police hadn't been able to get inside; from a distance, there appeared to be large spaces between the strands of silk, but in reality they were filled in with smaller, ordinary webs.
"Stand aside, gentlemen!" he announced, hopping out of the plane. "Darkwing Duck, the caped crusader of combating creepy crimes, can handle this." He strode purposefully towards the entrance, whipped out a magnifying glass, and peered at the web. "Hmm...my deductive reasoning leads me to conclude that this is the work of more than one spider!"
"Maybe those little guys pitched in," Gosalyn suggested, pointing up to the top of the web. Darkwing looked up to see several dozen ordinary spiders hanging from the high doorframe, swinging gently in the breeze.
"...you may be onto something, Gos," he replied, then pointed out some larger strands in the web. "It looks as though the main framework was done by a much larger spider, but there are individual webs built in between them."
"Cool beans! Giiiiiiant mutant spiders!" the redhead exclaimed, grabbing Darkwing's magnifying glass out of his hand and peering through the web into the factory. "Maybe there are still some in there!"
"Say, DW..." Launchpad began slowly, a look of realization dawning on his face. "Doesn't Morgana have a giant pet spider?"
"Archie? No way would he do something like this!" Gosalyn said vehemently before Darkwing had a chance to reply, and he was secretly somewhat proud that his daughter was sticking up for his girlfriend so readily. "He'd never do anything without Morgana knowing about it, and she's on our side! She's part of the Justice Ducks, remember?" she added pointedly.
"I'll bet what Launchpad means is that we should question Archie to see if he knows any other giant spiders living around town," Darkwing said hurriedly, hoping to derail Launchpad's train of thought before the pilot started piecing any more evidence together. "We'll head over to Macawber Manor again once we finish up here," he added, pulling out his gas gun. "Step aside, citizens!" he announced loudly before firing. As the smoke cleared, the web trembled for a moment, then suddenly collapsed into a pile of silk on the ground.
"What was that stuff?" Launchpad asked as they picked their way over the fallen web.
"Glue solvent," Darkwing replied simply, looking around. Upon first glance, he didn't think anything was missing. The inside of the factory didn't look the least bit out of place...until he started examining the items of the shelves closely.
"This has GOTTA be Quackerjack's doing!" Gosalyn exclaimed, clambering up on a ladder to see some of the higher shelves. "I mean, who else replaces normal toys with stuff like this?"
"No....Quackerjack's toys are generally demonic and dangerous, not...spooky," Darkwing replied, picking up a toy werewolf ('Really Howls When Exposed To Moonlight!' the label read) from a shelf that was marked for teddy bears. "Besides, I checked; he hasn't broken out of prison again yet."
"But who else would want to empty out all the toy stores in town, then replace the new toys being made with stuff like this?" Launchpad asked, glancing over his shoulder every now and then in case more spiders decided to appear.
"Maybe he's getting someone from the outside to work with him..." he mused, then stopped short when he glanced over at the next set of toys on the shelf. In a space marked for "Weeping Wendy" dolls, all the original pink and purple boxes had been replaced with black and red ones. Inside the boxes were headless dolls exactly like the one he had seen in a box of old things at Morgana's house a few weeks ago. Scanning over to the next shelf, his heart sank as he recognized more items; poison ivy jump ropes in place of synthetic pink ones, witch's brooms in place of toy vacuum cleaners...and even a line of black bubbles with skull stoppers.
"Hey, this stuff is awesome! And none of it LOOKS like it's going to attack us..." Gosalyn said, still on top of the ladder. "There's some reeeally neat looking board games!" she added, holding up a box entitled 'Death'. "Hey Dad, think you can take any of this stuff as "evidence"? Y'know, maybe me and Honker can test stuff out to make sure it's safe!"
"Binkie Muddlefoot would have a conniption fit," Darkwing remarked dryly, tearing his eyes away from the bubbles to look up at Gosalyn, who grinned.
"Hey, you never know about her and creepy things...she was a lot happier with Morgana's cooking than you thought she'd be," she reminded, then looked back at the 'Death' box and added, "Say, I bet Morgana would love this stuff! Wonder if this is the kind of game she played as a kid."
"Put it back, Gos," he ordered, sighing a little.
"But -- "
"Gosalyn..." he began in a warning tone, and she pouted as she put the game back on the shelf. "Come on, let's go."
"But DW, aren't you gonna search for more clues?" Launchpad asked, exchanging glances with Gosalyn as the crimefighter headed back towards the entrance.
"I've, uh...gotta do a little research before I can go any farther with this case," Darkwing supplied, not pausing in his steps. "We'll let the police clean things up here." At that, Gosalyn stopped short halfway down the ladder, looking back and forth from her father to Launchpad in disbelief. Launchpad had about the same expression on his face; Darkwing Duck, letting the police be the last ones at a crime scene?
"Something weird is definitely going on," Gos muttered to the pilot as they trailed out of the building behind Darkwing. Launchpad just shrugged.
"Maybe he's just got a lot on his mind?" he supplied. Gosalyn shrugged back.
"Maybe....he's probably just got some mondo cool trick up his sleeve," she said finally, nodding for emphasis, but stopped talking once they all got into the Thunderquack. The flight home passed mostly in silence until Launchpad started to turn the plane towards Macawber Manor.
"Go straight, LP," Darkwing instructed. Launchpad frowned, but obeyed, heading towards the bridge instead.
"Sorry, DW, I thought you wanted to see if Morgana was home yet," he reminded.
"Yeah, Dad, didn't you want to question Archie?" Gosalyn chimed in, sticking her head up in the front seat.
"Naw, she's probably off...visiting relatives, or something. I'll catch up with her tomorrow night," he said, waving his hand absently. He only hoped that she had a good alibi for being out of the house during the toy switch. Gosalyn still didn't seem the least bit suspicious of the sorceress, but Darkwing was sure that Launchpad had his doubts. Of course, he knew that LP wouldn't say anything right away, but it was only a matter of time before he started questioning whether his boss was more loyal to the law or to the love of his life. That was a question that Darkwing himself wasn't entirely sure he could answer just yet.