Launchpad got up, then stood there for a minute, trying to decide what to do next. He wasn't sure why, but now that he'd met Darkwing he was more convinced than ever that he had to be his sidekick. They could both do a lot of good for Saint Canard. Launchpad would finally feel useful again. He just had to find a way to convince DW that he needed him.

The Joy Rider was a wreck. One wing was broken in two and the plane itself was almost in two pieces. Launchpad was going to have a lot to do before it would fly again. Fortunately, he had plenty of backups, including the Thunderquack. His planes would be no help to him now, though, because DW had a head start. Launchpad didn't have the time to go back for the Thunderquack. He looked over across the street and saw a bicycle shop.

"I don't believe it," he thought, struck by an idea. "Some of Gladstone's luck must have rubbed off on me!"

He went to the bike shop, whistling cheerfully as he walked. He bought a bike and started riding it in the direction Darkwing had gone. The shop owner had agreed to put the remains of the Joy Rider in storage until Launchpad could come back for it. DW had a big head start, but Launchpad was determined to find him.

He rode for a long time, letting his mind wander. This was his method of meditation, of letting his mind clear itself. When his mind wandered, it got rid of everything that was cluttering it and allowed him to think more clearly. The thoughts just came without other obstacles to get in their way.

He didn't want to overdo it again. The next time he saw DW and he needed help, Launchpad was going to think things through. His over eagerness was not going to get the better of him again.

"I'll show him," he said to himself as he peddled past the Saint Canard orphanage. He was panting with the exertion of peddling for so long, but he wasn't going to give up. "Every hero needs a sidekick. But how am I gonna find DW?"

"He's attacking!" Launchpad heard someone cry. "Fire!"

Suddenly, near the police station, he saw Darkwing flying through the air.

"That's handy," Launchpad said to himself. "Hang on, DW! What's the rush!"

There was a little girl near him in the side car of a big purple motorcycle. The bike was speeding towards the station. "That must be why the cops think he's attacking," Launchpad thought. Then he saw Darkwing and the girl being shot at by the police! DW was ahead of the girl until the motorcycle caught up with him. He was lucky; he fell back onto the bike instead of landing on the concrete. "That would have hurt," Launchpad thought, wincing inwardly at a mental image of Darkwing hitting the ground.

"Yikes!" he cried, as he saw the bullets whizzing past. He peddled backwards to avoid flying bullets.

"Oh, yeah," he heard the kid say sarcastically as he caught up to them, "I feel real safe now."

"What did you do to make those guys so mad?" he asked Darkwing, still peddling backwards but briefly riding beside DW's bike.

"I didn't do anything!"

"How about robbing a train?" the girl asked, pointing to a newspaper.

"What? I didn't-" Darkwing began, then he saw his picture in the newspaper. "Oh, that's not a bad picture, though. You don't think it looks pretentious, do you?"

A bullet went through the newspaper.

"Drastic times call for drastic action!" Darkwing said. They were near the Audubon Bay. "How are you at holding your breath?" he asked the girl.

"Don't do it, DW!" Launchpad said, alarmed as he finally got the bike peddling in the right direction again. "It's a dead end! Whoa!" They all went into the bay.

"Nice trick, DW!" Launchpad panted as he broke to the surface. "That's one way to lose those bad guys."

Then he realized he was alone.

"DW? Little girl? Anybody?"

He stared around. Where could they have gone? He was afraid they might have drowned. It was possible, but Launchpad's instincts told him they were still alive. DW was a hero; he would never kill a little girl, and he had to know he could do no good for the city if he was dead himself.

He looked for ten minutes, hoping he'd find them, but when he couldn't he went back to the bike shop, got the Joy Rider and transported it back to the hanger. There was nothing more he could do today. He would keep an eye out for DW and play it by ear.

Launchpad had bought a police scanner a long time ago. He liked to know where there was trouble so he could help, if possible. The next morning, as he ate his breakfast in Duckburg, he heard a message come over the scanner from the Saint Canard Police Department. DW had been arrested for the train robbery. They had an anonymous tip telling them where to find him. Launchpad somehow knew it was Bulba, or one of his goons, who had given them the tip.

Launchpad went to Canard Tower, where the cops had picked up DW, and found his motorcycle. This was the fastest way to get to the station, and he could return it to DW after he bailed him out. He was innocent and Launchpad was going to help him prove it, but they couldn't do it with DW in jail.

It wasn't hard to drive the bike; the only problem was that he couldn't find reverse.

"Now," he thought when he got to the police station, "How do I park this thing?"

He flipped a control, and crashed through the wall of DW's cell.

"Oh, so that's reverse," he laughed nervously. "I thought it was park."

Darkwing was on his knees, on top of a pig. They both looked at him in surprise. Darkwing blinked.

"Launchpad?" DW asked, as if he wondered if he was really seeing him.

"Well, you've done it again!" Launchpad berated himself. "He's gonna think you're stalking him! Not only that, but yah crashed again! How can you convince him he needs you to be his sidekick if yah keep-"

His thoughts broke off when he saw DW's eyes light up.

"Launchpad!" he cried happily in an "It is you" tone. "What are you doing here?"

Launchpad stuttered a bit before he could get his explanation out. DW had said he never wanted to see him again, and he'd just crashed DW's motorcycle. He needed to justify his being here, but he wasn't sure how.

"This was left behind when the cops took yah away," he said, indicating the bike. "I was coming to bail yah out. Guess there's no point to that now," he finished, embarrassed as he looked at the broken wall.

"Don't worry about it," DW said, smiling. "Heroes don't stop for paperwork." Then he said, more to himself than to Launchpad, "And maybe this costumed clown can still be a hero."

"Say," Darkwing said as they drove away from the jail. He was driving now and Launchpad was in the side car. "How did you figure out how to drive the ratcatcher?"

"Ratcatcher?"

"That's what I call the motorcycle."

"Oh, I like it. Well, it wasn't hard; I just couldn't find reverse, or park. So what's the plan, DW? How do we prove you're innocent?"

"We've got to save Gosalyn!"

"Who?"

"She's the little girl you saw me with yesterday. Her grandfather invented something that Taurus Bulba wants."

"Was that the piece of equipment on the train that you tried to keep from being stolen?"

"Yes, the Waddlemeyer ramrod. Professor Waddlemeyer was killed last year. Gosalyn is an orphan. Bulba thinks she knows the arming code to the ramrod."

"Does she?"

"Yes, but she doesn't know she knows it. Her grandfather taught it to her in the form of a lullaby. By now, Taurus Bulba must have Gosalyn in his air ship. We have to find a way of getting up to him!"

An image of the Thunderquack flashed in Launchpad's head.

"Air ship!" he said, excited. This was his chance! He could finally prove to DW that he could help him, and most important, he could help save Gosalyn!

"No problemo, DW! I got just the thing! We need to go back to the airport."

Later, Launchpad led Darkwing over to the hanger next to the one DW had crashed through yesterday. The sleek Duck's head shaped jet plane sat there, already fueled. Launchpad had fueled her up the day before, after the incident at the bay, hoping he'd have a chance to show it to DW soon.

"I love this!" Darkwing said as they took off. "It even looks like me!"

"Oh boy," Launchpad laughed proudly, "I told yah I was your biggest fan! I been working on it for a year. I call it the Thunderquack!"

"I call it sensational. We're gonna bring Bulba down like a ton of bricks-" he paused and looked right at Launchpad. DW had his arm across the back of the chair and was sliding his fingers along the brim of his hat. "Sidekick," he finished, smiling.

Launchpad couldn't remember when he'd felt so happy. To vent some of his good feelings, he screamed, "Yahoo!" and took the Thunderquack into a series of forward spins. He was almost convinced now that Gladstone's luck had rubbed off on him when he handed him the check for his house. All his hopes for his life in Saint Canard were being realized.