Disclaimer: All the characters invented by Disney belong to them and are used without permission to tell my plots and I receive no money for these stories at all. Please read and review generously and remember Fan Fiction authors LIVE for feedback so leave me lots of responses thanks, Irual. Also I DO mention a couple of disturbing things for which I recommend a T but nothing explicit and I am trying to learn to imply things so letting me know what you think of my efforts is very much appreciated.
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Herb Muddlefoot sat numbly in the comfortable office chair and stared at the now very nervous people in the large, well appointed office while Binkie tried unsuccessfully to fight back sobs. The large bear who had been introduced as First Agent Grizzlikof had just offered a box of tissues to Binkie Muddlefoot looking as though he'd rather be at the dentist getting a root canal with no novacane than be here and frankly Herb didn't blame him. This was like something out of a combination big budget action movie plot and horror marathon that he couldn't wake up from and part of Herb STILL couldn't believe it.
He and Binkie had noticed how much happier Honker had become when Drake and his little family had moved next door, and at first they had put it down to their son's having found a best friend at last…. But as the months had passed and Honker had become more involved with the Mallards; they had suspected that Drake was teaching Honker SOMETHING; and with his being so advanced academically Binkie had speculated that having someone like Drake to teach him was a good thing. After they had realized that Drake was in fact Darkwing Duck when they had gone with him to the Long Life Spa; they had even done their best to pretend that they hadn't figured it out.
The Adult Muddlefoot's had wanted Drake to trust them and in spite of the negative publicity Darkwing Duck got, both Binkie and Herb had observed the tender concern and devotion Drake had displayed to his loved ones and so hadn't believed the news. And they had trusted Launchpad and Drake implicitly with Honker; but neither Herb nor Binkie had even suspected that Drake was in fact a clandestine government sponsored operative or that their youngest son was actually one too albeit an apprentice one!
Patting Binkie awkwardly on the shoulder Herb listened while Director Hooter said cautiously, "Words cannot express how distressed I am about all this. I take full responsibility for not having informed you earlier about young Bolt's involvement in the HERO directives. You see,"
Binkie interrupted tearfully, her take charge personality coming to the forefront even as her tears continued to flow; "We always knew Honker was special. I always thought our little genius would become involved in some sort of government project but I never even considered something like THIS. And when he started spending so much time with Drake and his family our Honker was so much more c,con,confident…and Ha,happpy…."
Tears ran unnoticed down her cheeks as she managed to ask, "This attack, was it some enemy that…."
Unable to finish Binkie waited and regretfully Director Hooter shook his head and admitted while tactfully ignoring her reference to Darkwing's civilian identity, "I'm afraid it's nothing like that Mrs. Muddlefoot…We have an admission of sorts from young Bolt…."
First Agent Grizzlikof had winced slightly at the breach of protocol from Mrs. Muddlefoot but only Director Hooter noticed. Carefully Griz played the recording Dr. Bellum had made of Bolt's tearful explanation but even with all their years of experience both Director Hooter and First Agent Grizzlikof were caught a little off guard as Bolt's parent's learned the identity of their son's assailant.
Binkie collapsed back into her seat in a dead faint and it was First Agent Grizzlikof who caught her as Herb Muddlefoot dashed out the doorway with murder in his eyes. Director Hooter was caught just as flat footed as his right-hand Agent. He did manage to hit the security toggle that summoned Benji almost immediately though and at the sounds that irrupted outside his door he sent Grizzlikof to try and catch up to Herb Muddlefoot.
James Hooter sighed as he surveyed the misery stricken female in his office as he managed to revive the petite housewife…he definitely spent too much time with trained operatives. His people skills were not as up to handling civilians as he'd hoped. This was turning out even worse than he'd feared other than, so far at least; Bolt's parent's hadn't made any statements about taking legal action against the agency. He made sure Mrs. Muddlefoot was taken care of as best he could and took his personal cell phone out of his vest pocket and debated trying to contact Darkwing in hopes of trying to get a handle on some part of the situation.
As Griz charged out the door he tripped over the hapless form of Special Agent DD who was trying to pick himself up off the floor where he'd been thrown as Herb Muddlefoot had charged away to extract bloody vengeance for his sons. Benji had also tried to intervene but since Herb was technically a civilian, and since no one had expected violence from him; all she had managed was to do was dodge behind her desk and send an alert to the rest of the building.
Her Chihuahua had reacted with his usual calm and leaping out of his pet carrier he had landed on her desk chair and hit the emergency toggle built into her desk before ducking back into his carrier. There wasn't anything else he or his chosen could do directly that would help, but this toggle sent an emergency security flag throughout S.H.U.S.H. 's systems and doubled the guards protecting injured personnel and that was going to make it better until the Normal's could organize themselves and calm the hurt ones. Crooning to Benji he made sure she was unhurt and settled down to await developments.
Unfortunately Grizzlikof's tripping over Special Agent DD meant that Grizzlikof landed head first beside Benji's desk and hit his head on the edge of the furniture so hard that he actually lost consciousness for a few precious seconds. By the time he regained his senses, Benji had summoned medical help and found out that Herb Muddlefoot had left the building and caught a cab and his whereabouts was currently unknown.
Agent DD was reporting Darkwing's going off on his own to hunt down Frank Muddlefoot to the director who sighed and decided, "We had better hope Darkwing finds him first…. I'll inform Mr. Tweeter and the rest of the legal department that Herb Muddlefoot will likely need legal council as well as psychological help once we catch up to him. Special Agent DD I want you to escort Mrs. Muddlefoot back to her sons and then report to the task force. I'll assign Special Agent Delilah Deer to stay with Mrs. Muddlefoot and First agent Grizzlikof, once you have been medically cleared, I'll expect you to coordinate our efforts with that of Darkwing and his team."
At Grizzlikof's frown Director Hooter offered, "I know Darkwing is impulsive, but you and I know how much he notices and this is too important to him for him to…."
Just then Benji interrupted, "I'm sorry Sir, but it's Gizmoduck on the H.E.R.O. line. He says that Darkwing has assigned Morgana Macabre to safeguard Quiverwing and he is watching the Duckburg residence of the suspect in case someone shows up there. Gizmoduck is asking for permission to get backup from the Duckburg police until the D.I.A. and F.B.I. can get there."
She paused and added, "According to Gizmoduck, Darkwing is headed to the scene of the incident to inspect the suspect's luggage before joining him in Duckburg."
Director Hooter looked relived and said, "Authorize Gizmoduck's backup and have him inform me of any developments. You see Agent Grizzlikof, Darkwing isn't just going this alone."
He winced as he polished his glasses and added, "and I can hardly blame him for assigning someone to keep an eye on his daughter. I am going to give him an update about this unfortunate incident while you get yourself seen to and then we can discuss our next step."
First Agent Grizzlikof winced as the EMT wiped the blood from his eyes and admitted a bit cautiously, "That was wise of him Director, we cannot afford to underestimate that animal. I shall be ready…."
The EMT interrupted, "You need stitches and X rays or a CAT scan." and tried again to stanch the bleeding from the cut above Grizzlikof's eyes.
The blood from the cut was matting Grizzlikof's fur but manfully he refrained from scratching at the irritation. At the E.M.T.'s statement he turned his attention towards this unfortunate and growled but at the glares from Director Hooter and Benji he acquiesced with ill grace and was assisted to a gurney to be taken care of.
---
Darkwing and Launchpad zoomed along on the way to their neighborhood, but being in full costume and on the Ratcatcher meant they weren't exactly inconspicuous. Before they got to their destination, Launchpad noticed they were being followed by one of the action news vans. This one was from channel four. Channel four was the same station that had hired Bianca Beakley the former T.V. personality turned crazed villainess that had served time in the tri state super villain prison under intense psychiatric treatment.
She had served time for becoming the costumed villainess 'Bug Master' in a misguided attempt to bolster her own ratings and popularity by becoming a nemesis for Darkwing Duck. She had been released on parole after selling her story to a Hollywoodland agency and had recently been rehired to increase the ratings of the station. Launchpad knew DW was in no mood to put up with reporters, but they were going to have to handle this carefully; the last thing they needed was for Bianca; or any other reporter really; to discover their civilian address especially given her past with them. He touched Darkwing's sleeve and Darkwing's head snapped up.
Fortunately, Darkwing saw the van and relaxed a little before he responded to Launchpad. "I See them LP."
DW sighed dramatically and groused a little, "NOW we have media coverage, back when I was a lone vigilante I wanted news hounds to follow me so I guess this is more payback…this complicates things."
Hearing the self-recrimination in his friend's tone worried Launchpad even more but he knew that now was no time to bring that up. Instead he offered, "We need to lose them somehow but using any of the Ratcatcher's evasive tricks is sure to be caught on film."
Darkwing nodded and decided, "You're right LP but fortunately I have a plan. I'll hit the release on the sidecar and if the news van follows you; tell them that the sidecar coupling failed and offer them an interview. Tell them about the art forgery case and how the damage is most likely from the case we had with those creations of Splatter Phoenix. If they follow me, you head for the house and hide the sidecar in the garage."
Launchpad started to interject an objection to the idea that the Ratcatcher was less than perfectly maintained but Darkwing continued as he turned down a side street to lead the reporters away from their real destination. "Whoever trashed the house, didn't do any damage to the front door or the remote system for the garage. Check over the damage and then use your authorization from S.H.U.S.H. if there are any police still there and go to the Muddlefoot's. If the van follows me instead, I'll get rid of them and join you as soon as I can. I set up telltales with the G.E.E.K. 's so IF that THING uses his accounts, cell phone or logs into anything on the internet with a password; we should get a hit on this."
He handed Launchpad a small PDA and grinned but the haunted look in his eyes and the fury in his face turned the expression into a gruesome parody of hate and Launchpad suppressed a shudder as he accepted the tiny device. He half hoped the reporters would follow him and not DW even though it went against the grain to deceive anyone….In this mood there was no telling what DW would do or say but at least he had maintained his objectivity and said whoever instead of assuming that it was Frank Muddlefoot. Both LP and Drake knew that the C.S.I. 's were being extra through with the first round of evidence from both houses, but until they confirmed Honker's story with hard evidence it was best to keep an open mind.
About an hour later Launchpad glanced unhappily at his cell phone as it buzzed yet again. Sure enough it was Gosalyn, Launchpad decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and answer…he'd just have to be careful what he said. Summoning all his resolve, and careful not to disturb or contaminate any evidence he ignored the dark dried patch on Mrs. Muddlefoot's kitchen rug and the overturned table in the dining area and answered as normally as he could, "Hello?"
Gosalyn's voice came over the phone filled with her usual energy but also a lot of anxiety. "LAUNCHPAD! I AM sooo glad you finally answered."
Her voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper as she continued, "Listen, I don't have a lot of time…Morgana is really hard to get around and I KNOW Dad sent her here but, what with Archie and all I haven't had a chance and…. Honker's phone isn't answering and…."
Launchpad paled but before he could say anything he heard the distinctive sound of the Ratcatcher pulling up and parking outside on the street. Darkwing leaped off his motorcycle and took a deep breath before straightening his cape and sweeping up to the Muddlefoot's door after replacing his helmet with his usual slouch hat. The agent's inside the nondescript car parked on the street between the two houses looked up but they made no move to interfere with the caped and masked figure.
Instead the senior agent waved the crime fighter inside saying, "Your partner is already inside and we have our orders."
Darkwing was surprised at this unprecedented recognition and cooperation since he noticed that these were D.I.A. agents not regular S.H.U.S.H. operatives. Not being stupid, Darkwing got a hold of his temper and managed to nod politely before bracing himself and stepping over the threshold of the Muddlefoot's house. Dealing with Bianca had proven to be a lot more of a challenge than he'd expected…why the station had hired her again was beyond him.
Personally he suspected she was still nuts, but there was nothing he could do about it now; although he HAD made a preliminary verbal report and sent it to the tower in a flash quack to look into later…IF there was a later in all this mess. Darkwing was just in time to see LP coming into the shambles of the living room from the kitchen.
Darkwing thought he had dealt with the news crew fairly well; but the encounter had strained his patience considerably. He heard Gosalyn's voice coming out of Launchpad's phone and winced before putting all these distractions aside. He smiled encouragingly at his sidekick as Launchpad tried to offer Gosalyn something to keep her in Duckburg and Duckburg in one piece.
Launchpad cleared his throat and offered, "Heh he…well Gos, your Dad and I are still getting ourselves organized here so I'm not sure when Honker will be able to answer his phone."
Launchpad realized he had accidentally said too much and winced as he tried to think of a way to divert Gosalyn. Darkwing's heart gave a sick lurch as he realized that Gosalyn was trying to contact Honker. He was going to have to call Morg once they were on the way to Duckburg.
Borrowing the phone from his grateful sidekick and making sure to keep his voice as calm as possible; Darkwing suffered a desperate burst of inspiration and said, "Gos, sweetie Launchpad will have to call you back. I need him to help me with some data before we fly to Duckburg to get you. We will be using the Thunderquack and I'll be sure to call you so you and Morg can meet us when we land."
Distracted temporarily by the thought of being Quiverwing Quack and figuring from Launchpad's slip that Honker was already helping Gosalyn gasped, "Keen GEAR! I'll need my spare costume bag. Don't forget okay Dad? And tell Honk that I'll be ready so he won't be having this adventure all to himself for long okay?"
Drake's heart stuttered in his chest but before he could say anything else his Spell Chain tingled and he heard the voice of his dark angel Morgana Macabre on the line. Her dulcet tones usually made his knees buckle from delight but he was jolted out of his usual trancelike reaction since he also heard weird shrieking and moaning in the background.
In spite of himself he felt a moments panic as the distant conversation continued and he recognized the sounds of Scrooge McDuck's great nephews and little Webbigail as well as the other two ducklings laughing and shrieking while Mrs. Beakley stuttered, "Oh MY! ACK!"
Sounding a little harried herself, Morgana's voice came over the line a little louder since she had most likely moved closer, "Gosalyn dear, I made some frozen eye scream for everyone and I thought you might want to catch the Amazonian Army Ant cookies for me….I used some fresh dragon melons and wild fruit for texture and I'm afraid the other duckling's need a little help to get into the spirit of things."
Guiltily Gosalyn said, "I gotta go Dad but we'll be ready. Keen GEAR! Can I lick the icing off at least ONE once I catch it? Pleeaase?! Come on Archie, you can help me okay?"
Gratefully Darkwing hung up as he heard his rambunctious little darling leap into the fray. Thanking the powers that be he knew that, for the moment at least; Gosalyn and Morg were fine. Now all he had to do was get a hold of himself.
Moving carefully into the guestroom he and LP examined the luggage that Frank had brought with him and most of it certainly looked ordinary enough, but there were inconsistencies. Most of Frank Muddlefoot's clothes were ordinary enough and certainly worn and it wasn't that unusual for there to be several newer items but what set off his crime fighter instincts was the cache of receipts and papers stuffed into the shoe compartment of the larger suitcase.
As he searched he also found small, hidden compartments in two of the suitcases and the things inside them made no sense. Drake knew that he was well…inexperienced, but WHO traveled with this kind of thing? Suddenly realizing that the padded restraints and silk ties were most likely used for…personal applications and remembering Honker's injuries it was all he could do not to throw up or destroy the entire bedroom.
What cooled his anger to an icy rage was a tiny memory card and a little plastic bag that held a frighteningly familiar vial. DW carefully scanned the vial's contents with his hand held analyzer attachment. He swallowed hard as he recognized the chemical signature as being identical to the one Scrooge had given him. Even in his distracted state, his keen mind was screaming that this wasn't a coincidence.
Darkwing contacted G.E.E.K. and S.H.U.S.H. about reevaluating the evidence in light of this strange connection. The G.E.E.K. 's had already wired him electronic copies of the search warrants and as a S.H.U.S.H. operative he and Launchpad had been included in the task force on the paperwork.
Swallowing hard as he realized that this vial held less of the chemicals inside than the one he had at the lair, he carefully sealed the vial back into an evidence bag before turning his attention to the memory card. It was a standard sized card but his new phone had several slots and it fit into one of them. There were several files but what pulled up wasn't data on the substance in the vial, these files were jpegs.
For a split second when he activated the viewer his mind refused to see what they were and he actually dropped the device as though it was white hot and this got Launchpad's attention. After a single shocked and outraged glance at the other newest entries Darkwing shuddered.
Swallowing hard he held himself together somehow and managed to gasp. "I need to let Dr. Bellum know what she is up against LP; we can't take the chance that someone will be caught off guard and let those boys get hurt any more."
Launchpad winced as he saw the pictures looking as though he might faint. Resolutely they began documenting their finds, even though neither one of them wanted to touch any of this, it was vital to build the case based on hard evidence and they were both already wearing latex gloves.
Darkwing was in a haze of rage as he waited for LP to finish washing up in the bathroom but he couldn't fault his sidekick….He had already washed twice and he STILL felt filthy. Darkwing shuddered and admitted something really scary to himself, 'he'd rather face the Fearsome Five than a monster like this any day. Granted they all had serious issues and Quackerjack was entirely certifiable AND violent while the others were usually just one or the other but when he dealt with them at least his soul didn't feel violated.' DW winced at his choice of words even to himself, and resolutely turned for the door.
He hated to hurry LP but they really did need to get going, "I'm sorry LP. I'll go reattach the sidecar and meet you in the driveway."
Just then his phone buzzed and even though he'd removed that foul memory card he hesitated to touch the phone for just a second at the renewed memory of the pictures of Honker and his brother that had been on the screen. Seeing that it was Director Hooter, he spoke quietly into the receiver and quickly decided they were running out of time.
Herb wasn't a trained operative but he WAS an outraged parent and the last thing his family needed was for Herb to go to jail for murder. They HAD to catch up to this scumbag before Herb's family lost him too.
---
Gizmoduck wheeled himself around and finished circumventing Duckburg park. Then he headed down one of the smaller side streets that connected the central area of downtown Duckburg with the more residential areas. The dark visor that concealed his face didn't conceal the rage in his breast as he moved. Gizmoduck didn't realize that his expression was giving so much away until he saw several people move rapidly to the side of the walkway to give him the right of way with cautious and worried expressions on their faces.
Fenton shook himself out of his funk and thought, 'This won't do, I can't let people see me like this…. I am a hero and I have to be approachable to the public.' but truthfully he was glad no one dared to come up to him at the moment. His onboard systems chirped and updated the address he was headed for and informed him that the D.I.A. and F.B.I. were now assigned to both of the addresses that Darkwing had uploaded from S.H.U.S.H. Central.
Gizmoduck frowned as he realized that this Frank Muddlefoot was somehow able to afford more than one address and then sighed, he was nearly to the original one so it was smart to check in with the agents there and make sure they and the local police were cooperating before checking this new one out. He fervently hoped that Wingy was holding it together better than he was, when he'd spoken to DW earlier though; something about his tone had sent shivers up Fenton's spine. As soon as possible he'd have to check in with Wingy and maybe he'd have the chance to have a word with Launchpad about it, LP was sure to know particulars.
Fenton sternly suppressed a groan as he took in the sight of the local Duckburg police standing on the sidewalk in plain sight of the front door of the small brownstone walkup that had Frank Muddlefoot listed as one of the tenants. They were noisily refusing to let a little old duck lady who looked to be even older than Mrs. Featherstone and her puff ball of a Pomeranian into the building.
The dog was noisily defending his mistress from these intruders and his yaps were only slightly quieter than the yelps of pain from the police officer who had just attempted to put a hand on the old lady duck's arm. Now from what Giz could see, the officer had just done so in order to try and steer her to the bench beside the tiny, raised flowerbed in front of the door but she had reacted with a fairly bloodthirsty shriek of outrage and had used her purse to good effect.
After bashing him on the head with it she demanded, "Unhand me this INSTANT you lout! I am a respectable, law abiding citizen and I DEMAND you get out of my way. Poor Mr. Peoples hasn't had his afternoon treat today and I can't very well give it to him out here! His special doggie biscuits are in my apartment."
Deciding to try and intervene before things got worse, Gizmoduck wheeled his way politely through the small, gathering crowd, and asked in his most heroic and kindly voice as his helmet feed beeped again, "Well, I can certainly see where you would be upset for your pet Mrs.…."
The lady turned as though to admonish him with her purse as well but Gizmoduck had a small bag of gourmet doggie treats handy and offered one from one of the compartment of his suit to the Pomeranian who was now entranced by the bag.
Seeing the armored hero gave the lady pause and shyly she gasped, "I'm Miss Petunia Duck and THIS is Mr. Peoples."
Noticing a pair of D.I.A. agents hurrying up the sidewalk Gizmoduck continued soothingly, "Well then, these are peanut butter flavored biscuits from the den of doggie delights right here in Duckburg and I'll just leave them with you to make sure Mr. Peoples has his proper snack time."
Smoothly escorting Miss Duck to the bench he gestured to the D.I.A. agent's who took over from the harried policeman. After shooing the crowd away he had a few words with the officers and started to head for the other address but his phone line beeped insistently again and this time Director hooter's face appeared in a tiny window projected onto the inside of his visor display.
Looking slightly upset, which for Director Hooter was the equivalent of having hysterics; the tiny Avian said, "Gizmoduck, I need you to be on the alert for Herb Muddlefoot."
At this, a small image of Herb appeared next to Hooter's and the director continued, "We have reason to believe that Mr. Muddlefoot is currently attempting to find the suspect and I fear that he is intent on murder."
Hooter admitted, "I can't say I blame him at all you understand, but we can't allow a civilian to try and circumvent the justice system. And of course, we must try and prevent him from committing murder; his family won't be served if they lose their father to that after all."
Gizmoduck nodded even though the gesture was invisible to Hooter and answered in as close to his usual heroic voice as possible, "Never fear I shall do my duty Director; after all I am sworn to protect civilians. You can rely on Gizmoduck!"
Director Hooter nodded and said before his image disappeared from the visor display, "please keep me informed of the situation. Darkwing should be there shortly. Hooter out."
---
Herb Muddlefoot had gotten his car from the hotel and was driving like a maniac toward Duckburg. Herb knew Frank had two places he had mail delivered to there. When Frank went out of the country, his mail was usually forwarded to them in St. canard and they had sent it on to wherever Frank had told them he was. Herb HAD gone home and driven quietly past his house since there was a strange car parked outside.
Herb wasn't really unobservant and he had figured that the car parked outside his house with two people in it were some kind of protective observers. Frank would have been picked up if he'd come back, and Herb was betting he hadn't bothered to return there. So Duckburg was where he needed to go, Frank wasn't going to get away with this!
Frank Muddlefoot was actually feeling pretty good even though Flintheart Glomgold hadn't met him in person at the Velvet Rope as he had promised. Instead he had sent a high priced lawyer named Barrister Beagle who had tried to tell him all sorts of nonsense about cooperating with the law to keep them from investigating any further than the break-ins. Frank snorted through his beak as he recalled how he had quickly set the lawyer straight.
He settled back against the luxurious leather seat of the limo that was talking him to his apartment in Duckburg. Flintheart had provided transportation and the lawyer as well as the promise of a plane ticket to Borneo since that country had favorable extradition laws that would keep him safely out of jail as long as he stated in Brazil.
Frank's only problem with this plan was that he didn't want to leave his collection permanently. If he was going to leave the country, he was taking his personal things with him! It wouldn't take long to pack and the plane ticket should be already waiting at Duckburg International Airport.
Once he was on the ground in South America, he was supposed to see one of Glomgold's associates about his new condo and the payment to provide income while he established himself. He was going to have to give up his French contacts but Spain was still an option and with his insider information the wealthy duck was sure to come through unless he wanted to be exposed as the force behind the smuggling. Frank grinned nastily as he decided to keep his options open, after all…even if McDuck was too stubborn to cut a deal, Kahn Industries would be interested in his information if things went south with Glomgold; all he needed was to get safely out of the country.
Ignoring his brownstone apartment; he directed the driver to his second address; this one was just past the industrial area of town. Frank got out of the car and told the driver to be back in an hour, he was only going to grab his spar luggage and of course his collection; and then he'd be off to the airport. The driver remained professionally silent and neutral and pulled the car away. He would return in forty-five minutes and so be waiting for the client.
Frank quickly got his second set of luggage out and threw a few of the outfits he used in his role as a photographer into his bag and a designer suit as well as his extra traveling clothes. Then he turned to get his personal photos. These were the reason he had come here instead of taking a plane from St. Canard after all. Frank knew he could replace his other special props and equipment easily enough but these photo's were a unique set of…mementos.
With Francis getting so old and loosing his appeal there wasn't going to be any chance to replace these, but it should be fairly easy to find an appealing model or two among the poor slum residents in Borneo…. It wouldn't be anything like the intimate connection he had had with his nephews, but it would do for now. He pulled the loose board up and pulled a lock box out.
After putting the negatives from his earliest work into a water and light proof case, he tucked the digital file cards in his pocket with them. He glanced at his watch and saw he still had a few minutes and unable to resist the temptation; he began looking through his prints. Ignoring the more recent ones, he started having trouble concentrating on anything else as he gazed at several of his favorite ones.
The forced expressions on Francis' and Honker's faces did nothing to detract from the provocative effects of their poses and the restraints visible in the prints were even more of a turn on than usual. The tactile memory of actually having interacted with the boys so recently made his blood race. He was breathing hard, and reaching for the next set of pictures when he was suddenly jolted out of his trance by the sound of his door breaking.
Herb Muddlefoot charged inside and demanded, "You have just about one minute to give me a reason to keep you breathing FRANK!"
Caught completely by surprise, Frank dropped the pictures he had been holding and Herb happened to see part of them. Ignoring anything Frank might have said Herb went insane with rage and grabbed the creature who used to be his brother by the neck and began to squeeze.
Desperate Frank stomped as hard as he could on Herb's feet and stiff armed the butterball in his substantial gut. Managing to free himself he tried to pull away but Herb had already recovered and lunged for Frank again. His heart was pounding and the rage in his heart blinded him to his sudden dizziness. He landed a hard hit on Frank's ribs and heard a sharp crack but he made no attempt to slow himself or pull his punches as he screamed incoherently and kept beating away at his enemy.
Meanwhile Gizmoduck was rolling along on his tire, he HAD taken a moment to connect to Scrooge McDuck's phone line and checked in with the Billionaire just to ensure that Drake's little girl was still accounted for. Granted, Morgana was a lot of female and far more likely to keep Gosalyn distracted than any of the other adults aside from her father. But Fenton's instincts were really on edge and he didn't want to take any chances. After checking in and promising to let Mr. McDuck know when Darkwing was on his way, Gizmoduck moved towards the building that held a fairly eclectic floor plan.
Pausing, to download the construction blueprints and update the floor plan from the database of city permits and planning he saw that there were actually several leases in this building. He was trying to decide which one to investigate first when the issue was decided for him by the sounds of a violent fight behind a smashed in door as he turned the corner to head for the nearest one. Rushing inside he saw none other than Herb Muddlefoot pummeling away on a slightly thinner Avian struggling amid a bunch of little squares of paper and an open lockbox with a hole in the floor.
Recognizing Frank Muddlefoot as well as Herb, he started to pull the combatants apart. Frank had a severely cracked bill, and from the looks of the feathers scattered around most of the feathers that had been pulled out were his as well. Herb struggled against the armored hero for a second before clutching at his head and chest and sagging limply in Gizmoduck's grip. Frank took the opportunity to run for the door and the only reason he got past Gizmoduck was that the hero didn't dare reach for the criminal. He was too busy calling for medical help and performing CPR on Herb Muddlefoot. As the emergency crew from D.I.A. arrived, Gizmoduck moved aside since they were observing HERO protocols and realized what the little squares were. Poor Fenton lost his lunch and hurled into an airsick bag he had the presence of mind to grab from his suit. Wingy would be proud their training sessions were paying off, even with THIS Fenton had remembered not to contaminate the evidence.
This slightly hysterical line of thought was the last thing he thought as his emotions overcame him and the armored hero fainted. One of the D.I.A. agents realized what was happening and called for S.H.U.S.H. backup and this went out over the H.E.R.O. lines since it directly involved a H.E.R.O. operative. Since Darkwing was the founder of the HERO team Gizmoduck was on and technically Gizmoduck's direct field commander, the signal also went out to him and the rest of his team.
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Just about this time, Darkwing and Launchpad were landing at Duckburg International Airport. After unloading the Ratcatcher, and engaging the plane's security system they started to head for Gizmoduck's position and encountered the last thing they expected. A small group of paparazzi that had evidently staked out the airport as their territory surged around the team of hero's and began trying to get answers to various questions.
Struggling to get past the reporters they managed to stay on the motorcycle and ease their way toward the main terminal but they couldn't get any further than the VIP entrance where private jets loaded and unloaded. A black limo pulled rapidly up to the private terminal as a small jet taxied toward one of the nearby runways. Darkwing was distracted by the reporters, but as the limo disgorged it's passenger his Spell Chain tingled a little causing him to look toward the doorway past the reporters and see Frank Muddlefoot staggering hurriedly toward the terminal.
Granted, the pictures they had seen of Frank Muddlefoot had never included him bleeding, with a cracked bill, blackened eyes and staggering holding his ribs but DW still realized who he saw. Snarling in rage he performed a Herculean leap from the seat of the Ratcatcher over the reporters and ran for the animal that had injured his family. Launchpad realized at almost the same time who DW was going after and frantically tried to follow Drake to keep him from killing that creature on camera. Granted, killing that thing would be a public service and LP wanted his own piece of that action for the little Honkman and even poor Tank. But even with S.H.U.S.H. 's help it would be hard for DW to avoid jail time if he killed Frank Muddlefoot in front of all these reporters.
Just as Darkwing pulled his gas gun and growled. "I hope you choke!" sounding completely like his alter ego DarkWarrior Duck and fired a gas canister at Frank Muddlefoot; his H.E.R.O. protocol alarm went off and he instantly recognized the signal that had been programmed for when Gizmoduck was in trouble.
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Here is the next bit, I hope everyone who reads this likes it. I know I went pretty narrative at the end, but I didn't want to drag out the bits with the poor Muddlefoots the next bit should be up before new years and hopefully everyone will enjoy this. Please e mail or PM me with any suggestions or comments and Merry Christmas to all. Your friend Irual