Chapter 3: Rise of the Bull
((A.N. Warning: Character death ahead))
The ramp to Bulba's airship was lowered and Darkwing boarded with Bulba's lackeys. He watched the treacherous trio roll the Waddlemeyer ramrod into position on top of the tower. Now what? He was the one who had activated it. If he wasn't the one who figured out the code, who...?
"I am weary of playing these games, little girl," a deep accented voice growled over the sound of weak grunts.
Darkwing squeaked in alarm and clasped his bill to keep from screaming. Gosalyn was in Bulba's grasp again, tied up and squirming, but she wasn't squirming in rebellion. She was in pain! Her eyes were puffy with tears and bruises. Her cheeks had hand prints on them from being struck, and there were small cuts all over her arms and legs. Her hair had come loose from her pig tails and covered part of her face.
Darkwing had seen enough. He rushed over to the hulking tyrant, begging him to free her, offering him the code, screaming to Gosalyn to give it to him, and frantically clawing at Gosalyn's bindings. He did everything he could think of to save her. But it was impossible. He didn't exist in the same plane as the people living in this horrid alternate world... This was just an alternate, right?
"Your grandfather would not have given the army a useless weapon!" Bulba dangled Gosalyn over the ramrod's control panel, letting her get a good look. "He gave the code to you somehow, now give it to me!"
"I don't know the code! I swear on everything! He never told me!" Gosalyn's voice was growing increasing frantic. Every trace of her old spirit seemed to have evaporated.
Darkwing scooted over to the ramrod and tried pressing the keys. "I know it! It's right here! See!" He punched the yellow button. Nothing. "Come on, come on! Work, you stupid thing!" Glancing frantically back at Bulba and Gosalyn, Darkwing yelled. "Jacob, do something! He's gonna kill her! Help me! Give me a solid finger to work with! Anything!"
"I can't..." Jacob materialized on top of the ramrod, still in turtle form. "Neither one of us exist in this reality..."
"Then make us exist! Come on! Do the little thing with your hands! Do something! You've got power of some kind! Use it!"
Jacob sadly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Drake. I wish I could. But you have made it impossible for both of us."
"What do you mean?!"
"You'll understand, soon enough..." Jacob the turtle sighed and ducked back into his shell, turning into a cloud of twinkling dust and whipping away with the wind.
"NO!" Darkwing scrambled after him, trying to grab the bits of dust. "Jacob! Get back here! HELP ME!"
Gosalyn's scream jerked him back to the present. Darkwing spun around and saw the condor, Tantalus, hovering in open air. His talons were empty.
"NOOO!" Darkwing screamed. He rushed to the edge and was just about to jump off after Gosalyn when the last thing he would have expected happened. A sudden gust of air, the sound of rotor blades, and Gosalyn's screaming stopped.
"There's no need to fear," a familiar voice exclaimed. "GIZMODUCK is here!"
"Gizmoduck! My hero!" Gosalyn cried as she hugged the hero's neck.
Darkwing instinctively fired his grappling hook onto Gizmo's tire, and surprisingly it held on instead of going through like the gas canister had earlier; he briefly smiled as the armored duck carried him and Gosalyn to a safe landing.
"Gizmoduck! What are YOU doing here?" Darkwing asked, even though Gizmo couldn't hear him.
Gosalyn had the same question. Gizmo gladly answered Gosalyn. "Well, I was enlisted by the army to retrieve the missing ramrod. I ran into some slight difficulties in tracking it down—"
"Hmph. More like didn't have the brains to figure it out!" Darkwing muttered as his initial relief faded to his usual annoyance.
Gizmo continued. "—But when I saw that airship, I knew there was trouble somewhere to be found! Lucky for you, I was in the general vicinity with my new sidekick, Launchpad McQuack!" he gestured to an approaching plane.
"SIDEKICK!?" Darkwing exclaimed incredulously. He turned and saw the familiar silhouette of his trusty pal in the pilot's seat but the plane itself looked...Odd. It was like the Thunderquack in that it was still in the shape of a duck's head, but the bill resembled Gizmoduck's, complete with a goofy grin instead of a fierce grimace. It was painted white with a red stripe on the hood. Why would Launchpad make a plane for a guy who could already fly...? For that matter, why was he working for Gizmoduck when they both worked for Scrooge McDuck?
Suddenly a laser cannon shot through the air, taking out one of the plane's wings. Darkwing heard Launchpad's voice over Gizmoduck's speaker saying "Mayday! Mayday! I'm going down!"
They all heard the horrible sound of crunching metal and breaking glass. Gizmo spoke frantically into his radio but didn't receive an answer... Gulping, he zoomed down to the street level, setting Gosalyn safely on the sidewalk.
"Stay here and keep out of sight, Little Gizmobuddy. If I'm not back here in fifteen minutes, call the police and hide!"
"Yeah right. I don't even have a quarter!" Gosalyn replied, turning her pockets inside out. Gizmo frowned and fished around for some change in his suit while Gosalyn continued. "Take me with you! I won't get in the way and I'll help you keep an eye out for the bad guys."
"Sorry, Little Gizmobuddy, but I'm afraid it's too dangerous for any ordinary citizen. Ah, here's a quarter. Thought I had one in here somewhere... Now stay near here and keep out of sight and do everything I said! I'll be back soon!" He started his propeller and took off just as Gosalyn darted back to where he had been.
She yelled up to him. "Wait! You can't leave me here alone...! And...you just did..." She watched as he flew off, unable to hear her over the noise of the propeller and the engine powering it in his helmet. Darkwing was surprised to see Gosalyn sit down on the sidewalk curb, grumbling to herself but otherwise doing what she had been told.
Darkwing was just wondering if her injuries were more than superficial when a ray of blue light shot up from the streets, slamming into Bulba's airship and sending currents dancing across its surface. The airship slowly spun out of control and crashed into the bay.
Darkwing whirled around and saw...Megavolt! The rat practically glowed with power as he zapped everything electrical within sight. That included frying the Gizmosuit when Gizmoduck flew in to confront him. The power behind the blast sent Gizmoduck flying through a wall, rendering him and his suit powerless.
Darkwing started to go check on his rival but then he noticed Megavolt pausing to look at something. Darkwing turned to see what had caught his attention.
The "Gizmoquack" had landed on its beak, standing straight up in an electronics store. The clerk peered nervously up at the plane from behind the desk. Launchpad popped the hatch and hopped down, completely unharmed. Darkwing smiled and shook his head, not the least bit surprised. If anyone could walk away from a crash, it was Launchpad.
Launchpad grinned sheepishly when he saw the bewildered clerk. "Whoops. Sorry about that, Ma'am. I, uh, have good insurance?"
"Forget insurance! I'm outta here!" the woman whimpered, snatching her purse and scrambling out the shattered door.
Darkwing squinted at her, recognizing her voice. She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place her. She nearly ran smack into Megavolt. He started to apologize but she was too upset to return the curtesy. "Get out of my way!"
Darkwing was starting to remember where he'd seen this woman before, but unfortunately Megavolt recognized her first. He straightened and pointed at her incredulously. "You! You...!"
He zapped the sidewalk in front of her several times.
She squealed, backing up against the building's side.
"How did you escape?!" Megavolt demanded angrily.
"E...escape what?" the clerk replied. "The plane didn't hit me..."
"It's coming back to me..." Megavolt rubbed his head. His whiskers sparked. "Ah, yes! The electricity! You! You and that... Hamm, whatever his name was, did THIS to me!" He shot another bolt of electricity from his fingers, nearly hitting the woman's legs.
"NO!" she yelped, dodging. "I don't know you! Please!"
"Hey! Watch it!" Launchpad yelled as he hurried out of the ruined store to stand protectively in front of the woman. "You could hurt someone like that!"
"You're right! I can! And I will...!" Megavolt shot another bolt.
Launchpad dove behind a fire hydrant, pulling the clerk down beside him. Megavolt melted the bolts securing the fire hydrant to the sidewalk. The hydrant rolled onto its side as water shot up in the air.
Launchpad led the clerk back into the electronics store for shelter and paused to wipe his wet bangs out of his eyes. "Phew! That guy is one nut shy of a nutcase! You okay—" he paused to read her name tag. "'Preena'?"
"How can I be okay?!" Preena exclaimed, pointing around her. "My workplace is ruined, my clothes are soaked, I was nearly squashed by a plane and fried by a madman!" She shakily wiped her hair off of her face.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you, or my name isn't Launchpad McQuack!" he smiled confidently.
"'Protect' me?!" Preena started to exclaim before another bolt of electricity slammed into the wall behind them, causing them to duck behind the cashier's desk.
"So, you thought you could hide from the mighty Megavolt, huh? Well it'll take more than that to... to, uh... What was I doing again?" Megavolt rubbed his chin in confusion.
"You were going to..." Launchpad started to blurt out that Megavolt was going to zap them but he paused in time, glancing thoughtfully at Preena. "Uh...you were going to let us go peacefully." He ad-libbed.
"Yes! I was going to... Wait a second, that doesn't sound right..."
While Megavolt was trying to figure out his intentions, Launchpad turned to Preena Lot. "Now's your chance! Go out the back door! I'll hold him off!"
Preena managed a grateful smile. "Thank you." She kissed his chin before grabbing her purse and sneaking around the desk toward the back door.
"Good going, LP!" Darkwing jumped up and punched the air excitedly.
Launchpad blushed and fiddled with his cap. Straightening, he cleared his throat and stood. "Hey, what's your name?"
"Me?" Megavolt pointed to himself.
"Yeah! I'm new in town, so I'm not real familiar with what's here." Glancing back nervously, he saw Preena reaching for the handle to the back door. He tried to keep Megavolt's attention focused on him. "So, do you know where I can find some plane parts?"
"Hmm... You might get lucky at the scrap heap, but I'd check with the airport first," Megavolt answered as he looked around. He saw his target trying to escape and growled. "That's no fair! You can't get away that easily! Not after what you've done!"
Preena shrieked and covered her head.
"That's right! Cower before me! You...! You...! What's your name again?" Megavolt asked in a surprisingly polite tone as he cornered her.
"Preena... Preena Lot..." she answered shakily. "Please...let me go!"
"'Preena Lott'?" Darkwing exclaimed incredulously, "my old high school classmate?"
"Why? Why should I show you mercy when you gave me none?! You and that Hamm String bullied me and left me for dead! Which is what you should be!"
Megavolt fired again, but an airborne mop bucket caught the blast instead. Megavolt whirled around. Launchpad was still holding the mop.
"Leave her alone or I'll... I'll..." Launchpad looked around, suddenly realizing he had nothing to fight with.
"You'll what...?" Megavolt goaded with a sneer.
"Hold on, I'm thinking..." Launchpad replied, concentrating hard to come up with an idea.
"Run, Launchpad!" Darkwing yelled, sensing what was about to happen, but again he had no way of helping his friend. He flung himself at the pilot to protect him, but he flew right through his friend.
Darkwing felt his feathers stand on end as a tremendous bolt of electricity passed through him, plowing straight into Launchpad's chest. The pilot's jacket was left with a charred, smoking hole in the middle. Launchpad slowly sank to the floor. Darkwing gaped at the extent of the damage. He'd taken some pretty powerful hits from Megavolt before, but this was different. Megavolt had aimed to kill and had put more voltage into the blast than he normally would have used. Darkwing gulped as he knelt next to his friend. Launchpad was still alive, but he wouldn't be much longer.
"Hold on, Buddy! I'll get help! Just hold on!" Darkwing cried irrationally, trying to press his hand on the wound and comfort his friend, but Launchpad couldn't feel or hear him.
A crackling Scottish voice suddenly came out of Launchpad's pocket. "Launchpad! I just saw your crash on the news! Are ye all right, Lad?"
Launchpad weakly reached into his pocket, and pulled out a radio. "Sorry...Mr. McD...I guess...I'm not...—cough, cough— cut out...to be...a... side...kick..." He choked, sounding full of regret and despair.
"No, no, no! You're the best sidekick there ever was!" Darkwing tried to console him. "And best pal..."
Launchpad sighed and passed out, dropping the radio. Scrooge McDuck's worried voice faded with the static. "Launchpad! Can ye hear me? Come in, Launchpad!"
Darkwing sat there, numb with grief and shock.
Preena Lot threw open the back door and ran out without a backwards glance at the brave man who had sacrificed so much to protect her. Darkwing saw her leave and felt his heart sink a little further from the added grief. So much for gratitude.
Megavolt left the store, but Darkwing barely had enough energy to stand, let alone give chase. Feeling drained and empty inside, he leaned against the wall for support, hearing a few horrified screams outside as Megavolt's rampage took its toll on the rest of the city. He couldn't help those innocent people any more than he could help his best friend.
"Why...? Why did this happen?" he asked softly around the lump in his throat. "Why was Launchpad working for Gizmoduck? And what did he mean when he said he wasn't cut out to be a sidekick! He's MY sidekick! This doesn't make any sense!"
"Actually, it does, when you see things from his perspective..." Jacob materialized nearby. "Why did Launchpad come to St. Canard?"
"Pfft! That's easy. He came here to be a sidekick!"
"But if you didn't exist, who would he help?"
"Well... He'd still be a pilot. He could fly commercial..." Pausing for a moment, Darkwing scratched his head. "Then again, with that crash record, nobody in their right minds would hire him. He could work at a grocery store, or fast food or a cab driver or mechanic..." Darkwing frowned as he tried to imagine his best friend as anything other than a pilot and sidekick. He was running out of ideas...
He shook his head and turned back to Jacob. "I still don't understand... Why was he Gizmoduck's sidekick? What did he do?"
"Fly around Duckburg, looking for people in need of help. He airlifted victims from car wrecks and fights, took crooks to jail after Gizmoduck arrested them, listened to the police radio, and provided back up in the few instances where it was needed. Mainly that was protecting the money bin." Jacob answered as he made the surroundings fade around them.
"But Duckburg hardly has any crime to control!" Darkwing exclaimed, still struggling to comprehend. "Most of the hard time crooks and super villains are here! Why would Launchpad team up with someone, who doesn't need his help in the first place, to fight crime in a place where crime is minimal!"
"He applied to work for the police here, but he couldn't pass any of the tests. Same with government positions."
"Poor LP..." Darkwing shook his head. "He was the nicest guy in St. Canard... He didn't deserve this."
After a few moments of thoughtful silence, he walked toward Jacob.