Chapter three; I'm sorry for the delay. Fact is, I'm not sure anybody is still reading this, but I will keep posting anyway. More tears, more pain and a plan taking form...but read for yourself.

Enjoy, and don't forget to R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own one single bit in this except for the plot. All rights are Tad Jones and Disney, without any financial profit whatsoever Warnings: PG-13 for some graphic details and character death Summary: A scheme by the Fearsome Five leads to a tragic loss, which affects the entire Darkwing family. How will they cope?

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Beryllium Flowers

lll Beyond the dark

Launchpad had left them.
Neither one of the women could really blame him for that; the things within the house, the hideout, the entire city of St. Canard, held too many precious memories for the distraught pilot to handle.
He had taught the two women everything he could, everything he knew, and when he was done, he said goodbye and returned to Duckburg.
He still wrote, texted, even called regularly, but it was quite apparent, that he would never set foot in the metropolis again.
At first, Quiverwing had been slightly hurt about his departure, but soon came to understand, that there was no point in having a crime fighter around, who had no more fight left in him.
Plus, he hadn't really...approved of their little experiment. And even though it was nowhere near finished, he had not wanted to wait for the outcome.
Appalled, he had watched as their plans were hatched, witnessed the development, spent endless hours in the laboratory...and hated every minute of it.
So, on a beautiful autumn day, underneath a velvet blue sky, three broken hearts bade farewell to each other, pledging loyalty and unbreakable friendship.
Launchpad had boarded the plane at St. Canard International Airport, turned at the door, waved once more and was gone.
He left the Thunderquack behind, because despite its size, it would never fill the hole in his heart.

eight months later

"It doesn't fit."
The voice had dropped considerably. Even though Morgana had expected it to, she still flinched at the slight gravely undertone in the words. Sighing, she rose and, pulling the fabric in several directions, replied;
"I know, but I'm working on it. Both your chest and shoulders have broadened, since you started the new workout, and there's only so much I can do."
Again, she stretched the cloth, pinned the edges together with practised ease and sewed everything up with a dozen firm, rapid stitches.
"There. Better?"
Experimentally, her opposite flexed their arms and back, then nodded.
"Perfect. I must admit, I never got the hang of this, myself. Oh well, not all of us can be decent, docile housewives, can we?"
Morgana smiled, as Dr. Bellum turned around with a cheeky grin. Then the scientist grew serious again. Bracing herself, she looked at the other side of the room. Once more, she shrugged more comfortably into her training suit and muttered,
"Now for lesson two..."

day 712 after the siege

"What do you mean, they escaped?!"
Paling, the maximum security supervillain prison director shrank in his seat, staring at the enraged Quiverwing towering over him.
Gulping, he managed;
"Yes, well, you see, the Liquidator..well, we put him on kitchen duty, you know, doing the dishes and-"
"You let a mad, water-manipulating, liquid felon with a PHD in water physics into your kitchen, and didn't expect it to blow up in your face?" growled the heroine.
By now, the director was positively shivering in fear, wiping his brow with a handkerchief.
"Well, yes, you know, he was on parole -sub-intern parole- for good behaviour and, well, we thought -figured, the kitchen, you know..."
Gosalyn gave him a level gaze.
"Lemme guess, he flushed himself right down the drain, reentered through the sewage system or something the likes, then transformed himself into a giant mallet and smashed down the wall!"
The director wiggled uncomfortably, pulling at his collar.
"Ehm, not quite; he stole several industrial detergents, mixed them together and poured them into the ventilation system. Once he could be sure everybody was dazzled, he used the hammer trick you described."
For several moments they just eyed each other, the Quiverwing pushed herself off the desk and snarled;
"As of this moment, this case is no longer in your hands."

three weeks later

Negaduck was on the run.
After they escaped, the Fearsome Five had split up in order to heighten their chances of avoiding incarceration.
Negaduck, being the leader, was of course target number one, but had so far escaped arrest.
But now he was being hunted down by a shadow, a phantom, who with an uncanny certainty almost always knew where he was.
Such as now.
The villain clambered up a fire ladder to the rooftop, then scurried towards the staircase exit.
He was almost on top, when something breezed past his head and exploded mere feet away in a spray of blue lightning and debris.
Cursing, Negaduck climbed the last few steps, swiftly made towards the opposite roof and shot a glare over his shoulder.
Flinty blue eyes widened to almost comical proportions, when his pursuer stepped out of the shadow.
Purple mask, jacket and pants, gloved hands clasping one end of a dark cape, respectively the grip of a mean-looking gun, the vigilante breathed an aura of serious business.
"You..?" Negaduck's voice left him. In the blink of an eye Darkwing had overcome the distance between them and growled,
"Surprised at the new get-up? Well, after our last meeting some -alterations needed to be made."
Negaduck tried to make sense of the situation, the smooth tone and mock grin accompanying Darkwing's words barely concealing this one's grim mood.
"But-but we thought, you were dead!" rasped the villain. Darkwing smirked.
"I was, when we arrived at S.H.U.S.H. headquarters. According to their reports, the surgeons worked twenty hours straight, just to keep me alive. I spent five months in an artificial coma, and another five just relearning to walk, talk and bathe myself."
This time, the grimness shone through. Negaduck blanched, as the trigger was pulled back.
For a split-second, there was a desperate, crazed glint in Darkwing's eyes, one Negaduck recognized.
"No!" he screamed, launching forwards.
The gun went off.

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And that's all she wrote, folks *ducks behind desk* Just kidding, that was merely the preliminaries to the second part, so stay tuned. Oh, and there's a pic of the last scene, I might considering putting up, too(whenever it's done)