Darkwing Duck

"DW! That building's on fire!" Launchpad called over the roar of the engine, pointing.

Darkwing screeched their pursuit to a halt in front of the building. "Call the fire department, Launchpad!" He jumped off the motorcycle and raced into the building, his helmet still on his head.

Darkwing Duck reviewed the state of the building as he moved in, nearer toward the flames.

"Fire!" He rapped on the doors as he went. "Everybody get out!" He didn't know if there were people still in the apartments, but there was no way he was standing by to take that chance. Now he heard a scream, and he watched the building more closely as he came forwards. Once the support beams went, he would be history with the others.

He shouldered open the door, the fire had eaten through the side wall between the apartments, the room was ablaze, in the anterior room an infant lay, screaming in the cot. He undid his cape and bundled up the infant, looking around for the mother.

No time for two guesses, he glanced at the support beams before barreling through the increasing flames, holding the child protectively against him.

He knocked on the next few doors, just for his conscience's sake. "Fire!" Darkwing coughed. "Everybody get out!" He ran back up the corridor and down the fire exit.

Outside Darkwing headed to the less busy ambulance. He handed the child to an emergency worker and a female worker shoved an oxygen mask over his beak.

He pulled it away, "Is the mother out here?" He asked the worker, casting his eyes desperately around. "I didn't see her. I hope she wasn't in the other room." Although, he was unfortunately sure she had been.

"Mister. Why don't you do yourself a favour and just breathe?" The worker snapped at him, grabbing the plastic thing and shoving it over his beak again. "Of all the stupid things to do! Running into a burning building? You seem to think ..." A nervous spasm jolted through Darkwing on this unexpected rebuke.

He had never heard such an unbelievable insult in all his years of fighting crime. "It must be my overwhelming genetic compulsion to help people!" He said angrily, throwing the breathing mask back into the ambulance. "I can't imagine why you do your job, but helping people is a part of mine! It doesn't matter how danger..." He coughed. "How dangerous." He croaked.
"You need to keep breathing through the oxygen mask."
"Well, I guess I'm just too stupid to worry about that!" He snarked, "and besides which, with me gone you can go back to looking after someone else less stupid!"

Darkwing skulked off, looking for Launchpad.

"Launchpad!" He called out, "we still need to try to find Liquidator!" He turned around. "Oh, good, there you are, Launchpad." Launchpad was hurrying over from talking to the police officers.

"Do you think we can still catch him?" Launchpad asked his crime-fighting counterpart.
"No, he's long gone." Darkwing headed towards the rat-catcher, feeling much calmer with his sidekick by his side. "I just wanted your company back." He started the engine. "Call me selfish, but I do like talking to someone who would actually miss me if I did go up in flames."

"Don't take it to heart, DW. I'm sure she didn't mean it that way."

"Oh, I'm fine." Darkwing said, because he wanted to believe it enough to make it true. "Sometimes I just feel like I don't get enough time to savour my victories before I get ripped to shreds yet again." He sighed, pulling up to the side of the road, the engine purring. "You better drive back to the bridge, Launchpad, I'm ..."

DW disappeared.

"Oh." Launchpad double blinked, and then climbed over from the sidecar. Launchpad twisted the grip and headed towards Darkwing Tower.

"He's never been like that before ..." Launchpad wracked his brain. Darkwing usually only took things personally if it had something to do with Gosalyn, or even Morgana. "They'd barely met and he was set on defending her: 'She's just misguided.' " Launchpad shook his head. "Nope, McQuack, you're up the creek without a canoe on this one."

Launchpad got back to the tower. Darkwing was sitting, watching the news channel.

"I have come to a conclusion, Launchpad."
"Uh-oh." Launchpad fretted. "DW, without you, St Canard would be overrun with criminals and super villains. Remember that St Canard needs you, no mater how ungrateful they seem to be sometimes."

Darkwing smiled halfly. "Of course they do. I'm not about to quit."
"Oh. Okay, so uh ... what's your conclusion?"
Darkwing stood up. "My conclusion, Launchpad, is that I am not stupid."

Launchpad scratched his head. "Well, sure DW. I mean, not everybody can be a rocket scientist. And you can play the harmonica, that's pretty clever."
Darkwing cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm glad to see my many talents have captured someone's appreciation." He shook his head. "Anyway, that emergency worker was talking to me that way like I wasn't trained for fires. She wouldn't have said that if I had an emergency services uniform on like she did." He sighed. "She'd have treated me with respect. Instead, she just treated me the way she saw me. Just a clown in a cape."
"That's silly. You're not a clown, DW."

With a flip DW jumped down from the platform, landing acrobatically on the floor below.

Launchpad followed him to his desk and DW handed him a book.

The picture on the cover in faded gold leaf was a helmet and two axes crossed behind it. He looked inside the cover. Written in it in a noticeable blue inky swirl were the words:

Property of Drake Mallard

"Wow, DW, I didn't know you trained to be a fire-fighter."

"That's my dad's manual, but I've read it and done a bit of practice too. Fire-fighter, musician, sketch artist, mime, detective, gym instructor ... and a couple more things that I thought might come in handy to do this job." He gestured to the tower around them.

"What job is that, DW?"

"The Midnight Mallard! Master of disguise, the terror that flaps in the night, striking fear into the hearts of evildoers. I am the nightmare that scary things have, because they know I'm out here waiting to get them." He swished his cape dramatically. "I'm tricky and at times underhanded, bold and indefatigable! I am Darkwing Duck!"

"Phew, that's a relief, DW."