A/N: Giving credit where credit is due; thanks to Jen for suggesting frogs! And...I don't own Darkwing Duck. I really, really wish I did so I could bring the show back. But...I don't. Too bad. Enjoy the chapter!

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There was no doubt about it; Drake Mallard was in a funk. A deep blue funk, to be precise, and no matter what they tried, his daughter and sidekick couldn't seem to bring him out of it. Neither of them knew exactly what had gone on two days earlier to cause his foul mood, but judging from the angry black storm clouds that had been hanging heavily over St. Canard, he had probably been in a pretty bad fight with the town sorceress.

"I can't take much more of this, Launchpad," Gosalyn moaned, flopping down beside him on the couch and grabbing the remote.

"Uh-oh...what happened this time?" the pilot asked, not bothering to protest as Gosalyn changed the channel; he only watched the news to look for possible crime situations, and from the recent state of things, there didn't seem to be any use in that. Darkwing hadn't been out on a patrol for two nights.

"Oh, Dad's outside. He just tried to ground me for jumping over the fence from Honker's. I mean, I do that every day!" she exclaimed, then added, "True, most days I don't land on his head, but still!"

Launchpad frowned. "DW's outside? In this weather?" he asked, puzzled.

"Yeah...he's gardening." As if to emphasize the absurdity of the situation, a flash of lightning illuminated the darkened sky outside, followed almost immediately by a clap of thunder. "I think he's trying to prove to Morgana that her storm isn't affecting him or something..."

"Gee, how do you know it's Morgana's storm?" Launchpad questioned. "I thought it was just the rainy season or something..."

"Launchpad, St. Canard doesn't have a rainy season. We're usually in a heat wave this time of year. And if some super villain with a weather controlling was device running around again, Dad would know about it. Besides, me and Honker rode our bikes downtown yesterday and went right past Morgana's house....that's definitely where this is coming from," Gosalyn explained, still flipping through channels absently. She finally ended up right back at the news again. "Great, Dad's in a bad mood, and there's nothing good on TV."

The redhead was just about to turn the set off when Launchpad stopped her. "Hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "Isn't that Morgana's house now? Turn the volume up!" Sure enough, the image on the screen was that of a rather wind-blown, harried looking reporter standing across the street from Macawber Manor. The two ducks leaned in closer to the TV, listening intently.

"Police believe they might have traced one of the spiders that took part in creating the abnormally large web used to deter crimefighters at the Tyke- Time Toy Factory break in and robbery earlier this week," the blonde duck on the screen shouted, barely audible over the rushing gale. "Two arachnids were seen escaping from Peter's Plethora of Playthings earlier this afternoon, apparently after being frightened by an oversized, lifelike toy frog that croaks whenever someone tries to enter the stock room of the store. The pair abandoned the scene after encasing three employees in webbing." At that point, the screen briefly switched to an image of three very confused looking ducks, their limbs bound by spider silk.

"Gosalyn, I thought I told you NO TV!" Drake exclaimed as he entered through the front door, rainwater dripping from his beak.

"Dad! Come here, you've gotta see this!" Gosalyn exclaimed, then added, "Morgana might be in some kind of trouble!" She knew that, argument or no argument, her father would rush to his girlfriend's rescue in spite of himself.

Sure enough, her trick worked; Drake zoomed over to couch and started watching as the news reporter continued. "Both spiders have been identified as an unusually large, rare breed found only in the heart of Transylvania. While police lost track of one of the spiders, they have traced the second one to this house: Macawber Manor, home to the owner of the newly popular foreign restaurant, The Shadow Chateau." Drake couldn't help but allow himself a small smile of pride at the 'popular' comment, but the expression quickly changed to a frown at the camera zoomed in to several officers hauling themselves hand over hand up a rope hooked to Morgana's porch railing. "As you can see, police are attempting to reach the front door of the house, which is no easy task in this wind. Looks like they've finally gotten close enough to knock on the door."

The wind seemed to calm for a moment after the officer knocked; the door opened slightly, and a very upset looking Morgana peered through. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"Ms. Macawber, I'm afraid we have a warrant to search your house for a rogue criminal spider," the beagle officer nearest to the door replied, almost harshly. "If you'll only--" He was interrupted when the door slammed onto his face, leaving his nose squished flat. "...cooperate."

"Dad! We've gotta help her!" Gosalyn exclaimed, watching as the police force started using a battering ram on the front door; not that it was doing much good, considering the fact that the wind had picked up again and they were barely able to keep on course.

"You're right, Gos," her father replied, having already slipped into his Darkwing costume before either of them realized it. "Come...to the bat cave!"

The other two ducks just blinked at him blankly at that comment.

"Get it? Morgana's house...she has bats, and...um...all right, I've just always wanted to say that, okay?" he whined, stomping towards the blue chairs and flopping into one. Shrugging, Gosalyn and Launchpad followed suit.

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"Step aside, gentlemen!" Darkwing Duck announced; rather, he screamed it above the now howling winds. The weather had caused quite a bit of trouble for Launchpad when he tried to land the Thunderquack. Rain battered against everyone standing outside, soaking them to the skin. The chief of police glared at the purple-clad duck.

"Nothing doing, Darkwing; this is serious business! We've got it covered," he yelled back.

"Look, pal, we're the only ones she's going to even CONSIDER letting inside right now...so BACK OFF!" Without waiting for a response, Darkwing pulled out his gas gun and shot a grappling hook at the door knocker, allowing the three of them to pull themselves to the porch before anyone could get close enough to stop them. Launchpad looked scared to even be near the house, but he held his ground while Darkwing knocked on the door.

"I said go AWAY!" a voice yelled from inside; they could all tell by her tone that the sorceress was beginning to feel desperate.

"Morgana, it's us!" Gosalyn shouted. The curtains fluttered, and a moment later, the three of them were ushered inside, seemingly of the house's own free will. Morgana was pacing the living room floor, wringing a black handkerchief in her hands.

"Drake, I don't know what to do..." she cried out helplessly; he knew then that she had to be truly upset, because she never called him Drake when he was in costume. Not to mention the fact that if she wasn't upset, she would still be holding a grudge against him. All the frustration and anger he had been feeling towards her – and towards himself – immediately melted, replaced by a need to make everything better.

"Calm down, Morg," he said soothingly, taking her hands and leading her over to the couch. The dark haired witch let him hold her, and didn't object when he took the handkerchief out of her hands and gently dabbed at the tears of frustration that had formed in her eyes. Launchpad and Gosalyn both stayed standing near the door, trying to be invisible. Gosalyn looked somewhat disgusted by 'lovey-dovey' scene that was beginning to develop; no matter how much she liked Morgana, she still didn't enjoy seeing all the mushy stuff. Launchpad just looked uncomfortable.

"But Drake...I mean, Dark..." she said, realizing for the first time that he was dressed as Darkwing Duck. "Oh, I wish you didn't have so many names!" she burst out.

"It's part of my job, honeywumpus..." he began hesitantly, but she interrupted him.

"Dark, they're after Archie! He came home half an hour ago and went straight to the attic, grumbling something about being in trouble, but he won't tell me where he's been or why these people are after him or ANYTHING!" she exclaimed in a rush. Darkwing sighed.

"They caught him escaping from an attempted toy store robbery, Morg...and he wasn't alone. There were reports of another spider that looked to be of the same species with him," he explained. Morgana frowned.

"I thought Archie was the only one of his kind in this city...truth be told, there aren't many of his kind left at ALL," she mused, then hesitated. "Dark, you never gave me the chance to explain where I was the other night during the robbery--"

"You don't have to explain, Morgana," he interrupted. "I should never have doubted you in the first place..."

"Let me finish!" she insisted, and he hushed. "I had been looking for Archie...he was gone half the night. I couldn't find him anywhere! He finally did come home, and all he would tell me was that he had been visiting with relatives...he wouldn't even tell me WHICH relatives...oh, Dark, you don't really think Archie's turned criminal, do you? I know he used to help me on crime heists, but...oh, I hope I haven't been a bad influence..." she fretted, but he stopped her with a hand on her lips.

"Shh. You're a good person, Morgana," he replied sincerely, moving his hand to cup her cheek. The two of them became lost in one another's eyes for a moment, and were leaning in for a kiss when a loud voice interrupted them.

"TIME OUT! Impressionable young mind, here!" Gosalyn exclaimed, her expression almost matching the one her father always wore when he was fed up with something. The two lovebirds pulled away from each other, looking slightly embarrassed. Launchpad had his eyes squeezed shut. Without waiting for any sort of permission, Gosalyn bounded over to the couch, landing herself smack in between Darkwing and Morgana. "Right, so somebody's obviously trying to frame Archie, 'cause he wouldn't do anything bad! So what's the game plan? Find the crooks and clobber 'em?" she asked, swinging a fist in the air.

Darkwing and Morgana exchanged glances over the ten year old's head, unable to keep from smiling a little at one another; adopted or not, Gosalyn was most definitely Drake's daughter. "Well, the simplest solution would be for us to get Archie to tell us what's going on," Morgana began. "Unfortunately...I can't get him to talk to me. He almost acts as though he's afraid it's going to hurt me or something."

"I'll talk to him!" Gosalyn exclaimed, jumping up from the couch. "Archie and I are good buddies! Where'd you say he was?"

"He's up in the attic..." Morgana answered slowly. "But..."

"Thanks Morgana!" the redhead replied, already running up the stairs.

"Watch out for Anthony! He hasn't been fed yet today!" Morgana called after her.

"Stay away from carnivorous plant – got it!" came the reply. Darkwing shook his head; he worried about his girlfriend's choice in 'pets' sometimes.

"Hey, DW, the police are starting to gather on the porch again," Launchpad announced, peering through the curtains at the scene outside.

"Let's turn on the TV so we can see what's going on," Darkwing said, heading towards the old black and white set sitting against the wall; Morgana was modern enough to have a television, but not so modern that she cared to have any sort of updated version. He turned the knob on the set, and was greeted with a picture of himself. "Hey, look, I'm on TV!" he exclaimed a little proudly, his ego once again speaking for him.

"St. Canard crimefighter Duckwing Dark is still inside Macawber Manor," the newscaster was saying. Darkwing frowned and stomped his feet.

"It's DARKWING DUCK! DARKWING DUCK!" he shouted at the set, but calmed down a bit when Morgana laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Shh, honeywumpus, I can't hear what they're saying," she hushed him, her eyes on the screen, which had switched to an image of her own house again. She frowned slightly. "I really need to get those shutters redone, don't I?" she murmured to herself.

"There have been reports that the self-proclaimed vigilante and Ms. Macawber have been dating, although an on-the-spot witness has cast some doubt on the restaurant proprietor's faithfulness to the masked mallard...." The camera angle panned back to the reporter, no longer quite so windblown now that Morgana's foul mood had lifted somewhat and the storm lessened along with it. Standing beside her was none other than Herb Muddlefoot, decked out in his Quackerware salesman suit, his suitcase of wares in hand. "Mr. Muddlefoot, I understand that you're acquainted with Morgana Macawber?"

"Well, sure! Little lady's been over to the house a couple times for barb- ee-ques with our neighbor, my good buddy Drake Mallard," Herb drawled, looking rather excited about being interviewed randomly on the street. Then again, Herb got excited over Pelican's Island reruns. "Me an' Binkums think pretty highly of her, too...she sure is a good cook. She and Drakesters are a great couple! Plumb head over heels for each other!"

Inside the house, Morgana and Darkwing exchanged glances, unable to keep from smiling a little shyly at each other at that comment; neither of them had fully apologized for the earlier argument, but at the moment, they both seemed to have forgotten. However, their expressions changed at the reporter's next comment, "Well, there you have it, folks. It seems as though Morgana Macawber is seeing a duck on the side, which makes one wonder just how trustworthy of a person she is. Rumor has it that she was once a criminal, herself, before meeting the caped crimefighter Dackwing Dork--"

"Will they at LEAST be CONSISTENT with calling me the wrong name!?" Darkwing exclaimed, then jumped back quickly when, without warning, the television set exploded. Morgana stood in front of the charred remains, looking livid. Outside, thunder shook the house and lightning ripped through the sky almost simultaneously.

"How DARE they! First they accuse my familiar of attempted robbery, then they have to go and make character judgments about me on the six-o-clock news for the entire world to hear!" she seethed, sparks still jumping dangerously from her fingertips. "How am I supposed to run a business when they're degrading me left and right?"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he soothed, gingerly taking her arm. "We'll get to the bottom of this somehow, Morg. I promise," he reassured. "Now, just think for a minute...you said before that Archie was out visiting relatives the night of the last toy store robbery...but didn't you say that you didn't think there were any more of his kind in St. Canard?" he questioned, frowning.

"Well, there aren't...I just assumed he'd gone through the door to Transylvania. If I'm not mistaken, his mother is still living there..."

Just then, Gosalyn came bounding down the stairs. "I found him!" she announced, swinging over the railing instead of taking the last three steps.

"What'd he say?" Launchpad piped, looking eager to get some answers so they could all just get out of the house; he had pressed himself against the doorway in terror at Morgana's outburst, half-afraid the sorceress would turn on anyone in her path. Not only that, but Eek and Squeak had appeared out of nowhere and begun flapping around the pilot's head.

"Well, not much, really," Gosalyn replied, somewhat disappointed, but she added quickly, "He DID admit that he'd been at the toy store, but that it wasn't his idea, he was doing someone a favor."

"Who would Archie owe a favor to?" Morgana mused, puzzled. Darkwing began pacing back and forth through the living room in his typical 'sleuth' stance.

"Hmm...first, giant spider webs are found in front of a robbed toy factory. Then, Archie tells Morgana that he's been visiting relatives during the time of the crime. The only relative she knows of is his mother in Transylvania. Finally, Archie is seen leaving a SECOND toy factory with another spider of his species! It all makes SENSE!" he proclaimed, waving his arms in the air.

"...it does?" Launchpad asked, scratching his head, but Morgana and Gosalyn seemed to understand.

"You think Archie's mother is behind all this?" Morgana asked.

"But that doesn't make any sense, Dad...why would a spider want to rob a toy factory?" Gosalyn added, sounding skeptical. Darkwing paused.

"Erm...well...they must be working for someone else!" he covered, faltering a bit. Then, suddenly, an idea struck him. "Of COURSE! Since Quackerjack is in prison, he obviously couldn't commit the robberies himself! So he enlisted the help of Archie's mother!"

The statement was met with blank stares all around. "But...honeywumpus...why would Quackerjack know Archie's mother in the first place?" Morgana questioned hesitantly.

"Because he...and the...um...the thingy...and...uh...nevermind that!" Darkwing spluttered.

"DW, you said before that the robberies didn't look like Quackerjack's handiwork," Launchpad pointed out.

"Nevermind what I said!" the caped crimefighter exclaimed, flailing his arms. "Come on, LP! We're going to pay a little visit to Quackerjack at the St. Canard Center for Crazy and Corrupted Criminals!" he announced.

"What about us?" Morgana asked indignantly, gesturing to Gosalyn and herself. "You're certainly not going to leave us here with the police skulking around my front door trying to exterminate Archie!"

"Why are they making such a big deal out of this case anyway?" Gosalyn asked. "I mean, it was just a toy store, and it didn't even really get robbed!"

"Well, for one thing, there's nothing else interesting going on in St. Canard," Darkwing began, only to be interrupted by his girlfriend.

"And for another thing, everyone jumps at the chance to throw stones at the town witch." There was an awkward silence following the outburst, which was surprisingly out of character for the sorceress. Morgana rarely ever made comments regarding fact that she was a little different than most people in town; in fact, for the most part, she acted almost as though she wasn't the least bit out of place among them.

"Well, they don't know what they're talking about!" Gosalyn announced stoutly. "You're one of the coolest people I know, Morgana!"

Darkwing couldn't help but smile a little; leave it to Gosalyn to know exactly what to say when it really mattered. Morgana smiled, as well, and gave the young duck a quick hug. "Thanks, Gos," she replied quietly.

"Actually, I'd rather have you two come along with us, considering what's going on outside. But who'd guard the house?" Darkwing asked. Morgana smirked a little.

"Oh, don't worry about the house. It can guard itself, if anyone actually gets in," she replied vaguely.

"Oh. Well, that's...that's handy," he replied, blinking.

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's get dangerous!" Gosalyn exclaimed.

"Hey hey hey, that's my line!" Darkwing protested. His daughter rolled her eyes.

"Dad, you forfeited the chance at saying that line tonight when you came up with 'to the bat cave' earlier," she remarked. Launchpad snickered a little; Morgana looked somewhat baffled.

"Bat cave...?" she questioned.

"...nevermind! Let's just go already!" the masked duck exclaimed.

"How are we gonna get out, DW? The house is kinda surrounded," Launchpad reminded, chancing a glance out at the ever-growing crowd outside. Darkwing turned to his girlfriend.

"Morg, do any of those doorways of yours lead to another part of the city?" he asked, receiving a hesitant nod in response. "Great! Let's go!"

"Um, Dark, I'm not exactly sure WHAT part of the city it leads to now...there's been a great deal of construction done around town since I installed the portal..." Morgana began to warn. Sensing that the group was getting ready to leave, Eek and Squeak flew into the witch's hair to tag along for the ride.

"Oh, who cares? We're wasting time, let's go!" Darkwing insisted. Shrugging, the four of them followed Morgana to the doorway.

"Right, everyone hold hands so we go together," Morgana instructed, reaching for Darkwing and Gosalyn. Launchpad grabbed onto Gosalyn's other hand "Archie?" she called. "Archie, we're leaving..." Receiving not so much as a grumble in response, she sighed and shook her head. "Guess he's going to keep hiding. Oh, well...Dark, you go first." Without awaiting further instruction, the caped crimefighter stepped through the seemingly blank doorway. With a sudden lurch, he was sucked through the portal, dragging his three companions along with him.

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A/N: Woo, longest chapter yet! ...actually, this is the longest chapter I've probably ever written of a fic. Not that I write many chapter fics to begin with. Um...yes, so, now I'm rambling. Tune in next time for the continuing stooory of our heroes! Will Morgana's portal actually lead to anywhere useful? Will our favorite caped crusader catch the crook? And just what is up with Archie and his mother, anyway?