FAIR WARNING: This chapter contains a brief mention of blood.
Though the hunting party responsible for Gosalyn's capture had only just returned, they found themselves back in the Astro-Raider's launch bay. They marched toward the bay door and halted in front of it, holding their phasers to their chests. The Thunderquack sat docked behind the steel, ready to be boarded.
Zargon's firm voice sounded through their earpieces. "Bring them to me alive. How you do that is your choice."
All six in formation nodded their heads.
On the bridge, Zargon turned to his right and smiled. Gosalyn was standing defiant, arms crossed, caged by bars of laser energy.
She pointed her finger at Zargon when his eyes met hers. "You won't get away with this, jerk! Darkwing's gonna kick your flunkies' butts!"
"In all honesty, little girl?" Zargon crooned, his smile growing as he focused back to his crew, "I would like to see him try." He turned away from Gosalyn toward an officer. "Open the bay door."
"I obey, Master." The soldier pressed a button on the panel in front of him.
The Evronians aimed their guns at the door as it began to part. Thick blue smoke emitted from the crack and spread itself into the room, growing thicker by the second as the door fully retracted. Coughs erupted from the soldiers as they tried to wave the foreign substance away.
It was then that their attention was snared by a voice.
"I am the terror that flaps in the night!" it echoed. The soldiers were unfazed by the mysterious voice but looked for its source up and down the docking bay. It shouted again, "I am the phaser that never misses its mark."
The smoke began to thin out, and one soldier was able to spot a figure through it. "There!" he called, and each head turned in the direction he was pointing. Laser blasts from each soldier whipped the cloud around until it had collapsed into faint wisps. It revealed no one.
Each soldier scanned the bay, searching for their missing target when the voice sounded once more. "I am Darkwiiiiing Duck!"
Suddenly, the hero dropped in on top of a soldier, forcing him to the ground. Darkwing ducked as laser bolts rushed to meet him. The shots followed him as he dove behind a nearby stack of discs.
"He was right next to you, you waste of space!" spat a large Evronian at his comrade.
"Sorry, sir!" the shooter yelped.
Darkwing popped out from behind his cover and fired his gas gun. A grenade shot toward the group, and one pointed it out loudly to the others. They all jumped away from the bomb just as it detonated.
"Get him!" an Evronian shouted, and Darkwing bolted away from his cover. He dodged laser fire as the Evronians gave chase.
Darkwing shoved a smoke cartridge into his gas gun and fired at the Evronians' feet. The cartridge bounced on the hard tile and the blue smoke reappeared, spreading out in a dense layer on the ground.
As the soldiers swiped it away, Darkwing seemed to vanish without a trace. They searched their vicinity, bewildered.
"Hope you don't mind if I smoke!" came a sneer from behind. One soldier turned around to see Darkwing jumping to his height and socking him across the jaw. The hero landed and sprung back onto his hands, launching himself into a kick that landed on two Evronians at once. They stumbled back as Darkwing flipped himself upright. An Evronian dove towards him, but Darkwing jumped out of the way. The Evronian slid on his belly and smashed his head on a nearby wall.
"Shoot him, you imbeciles!" shouted the biggest soldier, taking out his blaster and firing wherever he saw that cursed shade of purple. Darkwing cartwheeled past each blast as it landed on the floor and dissipated harmlessly.
Darkwing's cartwheeling morphed into somersaults, and he flew into the air off his hands. The Evronian turned his head in Darkwing's direction, but it quickly whipped back around as the Evronian was knocked to the floor by Darkwing's signature triple flip web kick. His blaster was knocked out of his hand as he impacted on the ground.
The 313-X finally broke through the sparse cloud cover as it climbed higher and higher into the atmosphere. Duck Avenger's spacesuit was like his regular outfit, except for the thicker material and the spherical helmet that protected him from the harshness of space.
He was fixated on his destination, the Astro-Raider where Darkwing was no doubt fighting the Evronians.
"One, call up the Thunderquack," Duck Avenger said to his friend miles below in Ducklair Tower.
"What for?" One transmitted. "I am certain that Darkwing won't be talking to you again."
"Boy, don't I know it…" he griped. "But if my hunch is correct, I can still talk to Launchpad."
"Very well, hero. I am attempting to connect now." A dial tone droned over the car speakers for a few seconds, then the familiar click of connection prompted Duck Avenger to begin speaking.
"Launchpad, are you there?"
"D.A.? Is that you?" whispered Launchpad.
"Yeah. And you don't need to whisper."
"But I'm nervous! DW's fighting about six of those Evro-whatchamacallits all by himself."
"WAK?!" Duck Avenger shrieked. "Aren't you his sidekick? Why the heck aren't you out there helping him?!"
"Well, he told me not to come out until he needed backup. Said I needed to keep the ol' Thunderquack runnin' for a quick getaway."
Duck Avenger rolled his eyes. "More like he saw you as prime prisoner material and didn't want you getting in the way."
"Come on, D.A., I know you two had a bit of a tiff earlier, but DW would never say that stuff to his sidekick."
Maybe not to your face… thought Duck Avenger, before responding, "Look, I'm on my way up there, whether 'DW' wants me there or not. Just sit tight until I arrive."
"Gotcha. Could ya hurry?" Launchpad paused as a crash sounded outside the Thunderquack. "It's gettin' ugly out there."
"Don't worry. I'm coming." Duck Avenger cut the call there and slammed his boot on the gas pedal. The 313-X's engine roared as the car blasted away. There was no way Darkwing was getting hurt today if Duck Avenger had anything to say about it.
Darkwing fired another grenade cartridge toward the group. As it soared toward them, a laser blast jerked the trusty piece out of Darkwing's hands. He looked back to see his gas gun clatter against the hard deck, disabled. He shielded his face as the group of Evronians were flung off their feet from the grenade's explosion.
Evronians lay in a heap just in front of him. Darkwing nodded confidently, believing they were done, but one Evronian, the biggest of the crew, rose from the ground, singed, but not defeated.
Darkwing snarled and rolled up his sleeves. "Queensberry rules, villain?"
The Evronian responded with another laser bolt. Darkwing dodged, then dove at the Evronian. He was met with the blaster burying in his stomach. Darkwing grunted at the powerful impact. A jab and hook to the face followed it up.
Recovering quickly, Darkwing dropped to the floor. The Evronian looked down and met with two webbed feet to his middle. He was pushed back and Darkwing righted himself to deliver a kick, a chop, and a jab on his enemy.
"Didn't think Quack Fu could pack a punch, eh?" said Darkwing, easing into a Crane pose. "That's what happens when you learn from the-"
A laser pulse brushed against Darkwing's coat, catching him off guard. He squealed and lost his balance, falling onto the large Evronian's foot. He barely had time to blink before he was kicked across the bay, where he crashed into the tower of discs he once used for cover.
He stood up, wincing at the newly-formed bruise on his side where he landed. There was no time to recover, though, as the Evronian group was charging him yet again.
Darkwing hauled himself toward the elevator. He was swept off his feet by a laser blast and slammed into the elevator doors headfirst.
As he crumpled to the floor, his head swam and his vision blurred. He grunted as he began to pick himself up off the floor. The big Evronian saved him most of the trouble by lifting him up by the jacket so that their eyes met.
"You fight well for such an annoying little worm," the Evronian growled.
Darkwing panted. The fight was beginning to take its toll on his stamina, but he did not waver. "Spare the compliments, Evro-punk, and tell me where Gosalyn is."
"But we've only just begun. I was anticipating taking our little brawl in a different direction." The Evronian's eyes glowed in terrifying bloodlust, and Darkwing's blood ran cold.
"...w-what did you have in m-mind?" the pale hero gulped.
He tossed Darkwing across the room to his cohorts. He slammed into a fist and returned to the floor on his feet. He was too disoriented and overwhelmed to do anything as fist after foot after fist impacted on his body. One well-placed hook to the jaw spun him around and sent him back to the floor.
The large Evronian stepped once again to Darkwing and grabbed him around his neck, bringing the battered hero to meet his terrifying eyes.
As the murderous pupils pierced the battered hero, his strong hand squeezed on Darkwing's throat, choking him. Darkwing pushed on the fist, struggling to breathe, but it was an iron constriction on Darkwing's airway. The Evronian chuckled menacingly as Darkwing gagged and strained to the delight of each soldier.
"DW!" came a shout from the other side of the room. Each head turned toward the sound. With every eye on him, Launchpad grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Launchpad, no!" Darkwing choked out before he was slammed to the ground, gasping for air.
Before Launchpad could even think to dodge, he was blasted by two soldiers. The energy surged through every bone and muscle in Launchpad, freezing him to the spot in jolting pain. Defenseless, he fell to his knees as the energy dissipated. A soldier delivered a pistol whip to the back of his neck, and Launchpad collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Darkwing wheezed, struggling to regain his breath so he could come to his pilot's aid. Every bone in his body ached with his injuries, and he strained to even lift himself up. An Evronian foot pinned him to the ground, the weight upon his back immobilizing him. The large one shook his head at Darkwing, denying him from doing anything more.
"Targets have been incapacitated," the big Evronian relayed on his ComLink. "We are delivering them to you now."
Darkwing was lifted off the ground once more and was slung over the Evronian's shoulder. His breath had come back again, but with his body immobilized by the hand on his back, there was nothing he could do but hope they were taking him to Gosalyn.
Tethered safely to the metal body of the Thunderquack with the magnet attachments on his boots, Duck Avenger peered in through the windshield of the disabled plane. The cabin was completely empty. Only two spacesuits lay on the floor in wrinkled heaps. Duck Avenger figured they weren't needed seeing as how the tractor beam directly connected the plane to the Astro-Raider.
He walked across the Thunderquack's beak, marveling at the outlandish construction. Guy certainly knows how to make a statement, he thought as he reached the outside wall of the Astro-Raider. He peeked into a porthole, careful to remain out of sight as best he could. Luckily, he could see the Evronians' backs were turned away, so he moved his face so that the entire launch bay came into view.
"Darkwing and Launchpad!" he hissed, recognizing their outfits from the call. Launchpad seemed completely unconscious, and as Darkwing's hat slipped off his head and floated to the floor, Duck Avenger could see that he too was significantly worse for the wear. There were being carried to the elevator.
I knew they'd get walloped, he thought, berating himself for not arriving sooner.
Three Evronians stepped inside the elevator cabin with their haul to ride to the bridge. The other two took up post just outside the elevator.
Duck Avenger jogged up the beak of the Thunderquack and climbed over the windshield to a hatch at the top of the plane. He opened it and eased himself inside, dropping into the plane as silently as his boots would allow.
The main entrance to the Thunderquack, and the Astro-Raider that held it hostage, was to Duck Avenger's left. He stepped toward the wall of the plane, tiptoed to the edge of the doorway, and peeked out.
All seemed quiet. Crates and discs lay strewn across the floor, and laser burn marks dotted the tiles like the stars just outside. There were even dots of blood adding to this grim collage, though he rubbed at his eyes just to make sure they weren't playing tricks.
Duck Avenger could only hope that Darkwing had been able to somewhat keep up with the Evronians before his defeat.
Those Evronians have got to go. He glanced around the cockpit, looking for something to throw. A stray pebble by his foot provided just what he was looking for. He tossed the pebble out the entry, hearing it bounce on the Astro-Raider deck.
"Who's there?" came the Evronian voice. Duck Avenger held his breath. The footsteps grew louder and closer, until…
"Surprise!" Duck Avenger jumped in front of the Evronians, shooting them with the X-Transformer's Bradionic Paralyzer. Before they could even scream, they were engulfed in an orange glow and completely frozen to the spot. Time continued as it did without them.
That takes care of dumb and dumber. "Come in, One," he said quietly into his X-Transformer as he ducked behind a crate and sat against it.
A green globe on his side of the shield filled with static and One's face appeared. "I'm all ears, hero."
"I'm aboard the Astro-Raider. The place looks ugly. They've already got Darkwing and Launchpad."
"Oh dear. They must be rescued immediately before something bad happens."
"Of course, but with that tractor beam holding their ship hostage, nobody's making an easy escape."
"Why not just take them home in the 313-X?" One suggested.
Duck Avenger scoffed. "And leave their plane here to be Evron scrap? Maybe we should throw in a fruit basket too. Besides, I've already tethered 313 to the Thunderquack."
"Fine, have it your way. I know exactly where the tractor beam is, thanks to the Astro-Raider blueprint you stole not too long ago. Look to your left."
A long and skinny cone stood near the wall, covered in shiny metal plating. Upon its base was a panel of unfamiliar buttons and switches. Duck Avenger walked carefully to it, keeping his guard up for ambushes. Beeps and blips of electronic activity tickled his ears as he approached the control cone.
"Now, plug me into the port next to the large lever," One instructed.
Duck Avenger pulled out a retractable cord housed next to One's tiny orb on the X-Transformer. This universal adaptable interface had turned the tide on many a mission where One's hacking skills were necessary.
"What code are ya crackin' this time?" said Duck Avenger as the plug on the end of the cord was jacked into the port.
"I shall be disabling the tractor beam swiftly, while also keeping our Evronian friends on the deck unaware. We'll be halfway to Earth before they even notice the beam is kaput!"
"One, you never cease to amaze me," Duck Avenger smiled.
"I should hope so," One replied, "I would hate to think that you would label me as obsolete if I were to ever stop amazing you."
"I wouldn't worry about it, buddy. The way Ducklair designed you, you'll be amazing generations of ducks to come."
"Oh, you flatter me, DA. Alright, that should do it."
A soft, low-frequency hum emitted from the cone, then all was quiet again.
"You can unplug me now," One told Duck Avenger, and he did just that, retracting the cord back into the X-Transformer.
"Great job, buddy!"
"A simple job for a superior mind. So what's next, Avenger?"
"Next, the bridge," said Duck Avenger, stretching his arms with a sly look beneath his mask. "I've got a complaint to file about their treatment of guests." He darted to the elevator, eager to end the extortion of his Earthling friend. Jeez, one call and that maniac's rubbing off on me…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Aaaaaand there's my attempt at a fight scene. Hope you liked it. What could the Evronians have in store for a beaten-down Darkwing? And can Duck Avenger make it before things turn for the worse? Might and Power may be coming their way next time we meet. See you then.