Chapter 9: Renewed Purpose
Darkwing sat up, causing a small flurry of snow to fall off his hat brim and bill onto his lap. He shook his head and jumped to his feet, dusting off his suit. He turned his head and saw a familiar-looking duck in white.
Darkwing stood to meet Jacob's pale blue eyes. "What do you mean? I thought..."
Jacob's eyes crinkled in a smile. "You thought you were doomed to live in this world?"
"Well...not exactly, but something along those lines." Calming down now that he knew all of this would be over soon, Darkwing cast one last look at the dreary city, cringing as his gaze settled on Canard Tower. "All of this was just an elaborate nightmare... Right?"
"It goes a little deeper than that, my friend. It will continue as long as it is needed."
"But why? What do I need from all of..." he gestured to the cityscape. "This?!" His voice got slightly hysterical as he thought again of the terrible things he had witnessed.
"Drake..." Jacob wrapped an arm around the shivering duck's shoulders. "The point of this was not to torture you but to reveal what could have been. This is how your world would look without you."
Darkwing started to reply when he suddenly recalled what he had said prior to going to bed earlier. He had said everyone would be better off if he had never existed. He gulped. "I...I really made that much of a difference?"
Jacob pulled a mirror out of his robe and stretched it out, standing it upright so they could watch its surface. The two mallards' reflections changed to show them numerous cases Darkwing had been on and how they would have resulted without him.
Isis Vanderchill succeeded in coating St. Canard in gold, making it too hot for anyone to live in. Under Professor Moliarty's instruction, the moles collected the pieces for the satellite made from the St. Canard stadium and set it off, using its powerful gravitational pull to move the moon in front of the sun. The surface temperature was tolerable again, but as darkness fell across the city, moles, giant pill bugs, and slugs rose up from holes in the ground, invading the city.
As had happened before, the law enforcers were helpless to stop the giant creatures. Doctor Slug moved onto the scene. At first it seemed like he was there to drive the intruders away, but, after feeding some handouts to a few slugs and convincing them he was on their side, Dr. Slug enlisted the slugs and bugs as his own army. He turned the tables on the moles, forcing them to flee back to their underground home.
With St. Canard free of law enforcement and overrun by a destructive army, Bulba was forced to respond. Using his resources, he had a fleet of trucks drive in with loads of road salt, spreading it all over the city streets. The salt destroyed all the slugs, including Dr. Slug, while making life uncomfortable for the pill bugs. The bugs retreated and the city was free from aggressors. For now. There was still the matter of Isis Vanderchill's initial scheme.
The gold coating had already burned most of the area's plants and driven the few remaining honest citizens away. And although Moliarty's satellite was still keeping the moon in place, the sun had long since risen above the moon and was heating up the surface again.
Bulba exercised his pull in the city's government by having Splatter Phoenix freed from jail. She was given back her paintbrush on one condition. She was required to paint over the gold with her magic paint brush.
Splatter followed through with her orders, painting the city back to normal while Bulba's men destroyed Moliarty's satellite. After fulfilling her duty, Splatter thought she was free to go back to painting but she was arrested again before she could complete any of her wild creations. Once again her brush was confiscated.
Splatter was sent to an island downstream with other nonconformists and mutants. Quackerjack, Tuskernini, Camille Chameleon, Lilliput, Cement Head, the Rubber Chicken, Glue Girl, Banana Boy, and many others were trapped there for various reasons. Mainly because Bulba found them too annoying to tolerate their presence in, what he considered, [i]His [/i]city.
The prisoners banded together to escape. Dr. Fossil offered them shelter in his lab. Not knowing what the Pteranodon was up to, the escapees agreed and used their various talents to help clear the way. However, once they arrived, Dr. Fossil locked them in and transformed all of them into dinosaurs. Delighted with his success, Dr. Fossil attempted to turn everyone else on the planet into dinosaurs, but his lab was stormed by Bulba's security team. None of the saurians walked away.
Bianca Beakley covered the whole story but was fired for being too opinionated about Flintheart Glomgold, who owned the TV station. She turned into the Bug Master for revenge and succeeded in attacking Glomgold at home.
Seeing an opportunity, Bulba sent his new head lackey, the Liquidator, out to Duckburg to handle the Bugmaster. Liquidator destroyed the Bugmaster's weapons and threw her, and a sputtering Flintheart Glomgold, into jail.
Seeing his own unique opportunity for success, Liquidator stayed in Glomgold's mansion, seizing all of Glomgold's assets for himself. Since it was impossible to destroy water, Bulba agreed to leave Liquidator alone in his new financial capital. For now...
Neptunia arrived in St. Canard, determined to carry out her plan of drowning the city for littering and poisoning her ocean. She was stopped by Liquidator, who kept her conch shell for himself and presented the dead mutant to Bulba via the television station he now owned.
Irritated with the Liquidator's flaunting, Bulba started laying plans for getting rid of the watery villain.
Darkwing gawked at the whirlwind of information. "This is madness! I've stopped every single one of those villains!"
"Not in this world," Jacob reminded him. "Nobody stopped Bulba. With him in power, the other villains had to either work more aggressively or lay low to carry out their own agendas. Eventually, the whole Earth will be destroyed."
"How do you figure that?" Darkwing inquired. Most of his rogues were selfish enough and powerful enough to destroy the world, but he had a hard time imagining anyone who would actually be stupid and mad enough to do it!
Jacob showed him two more scenes.
The alien hats arrived to take over the planet. Without Honker there to figure out their weakness, they took over most of Bulba's army. Instead of tricking the aliens, Bulba simply fired at them, taking out most of his army with them. With nothing left to build his empire on, Bulba left St. Canard.
"But...I didn't defeat the hats, or any other weird alien life form, myself..." Darkwing admitted in bewilderment.
"No, but you saved Gosalyn. By giving her a home, you saved Honker Muddlefoot. By giving Honker acceptance and encouragement, you gave him the courage to stay home and face his brother and classmates. You stopped Bulba, Steelbeak, Moliarty, Lilliput, Isis Vanderchill, Phineas Sharp, and others on your own, and you have ensured that there will always be heroes to stand up against adversity. You have already changed your world for the better, Drake Mallard. And you are still shaping the future. Through Gosalyn..."
Darkwing thought this over, pondering everything he had seen. His eyes glistened as he went over all the lives he had touched. Gosalyn, Launchpad, Morgana, Honker, S.H.U.S.H., the princess of Oilrabia, the Muddlefoots, Gizmoduck, Neptunia... Even movie stars like Derek Blunt. All of them, one way or another, were indebted to him. And he to them, for helping him even when he didn't deserve it.
"I really am a hero..." he whispered in awe.
"And a father..." Jacob reminded him before he could start building on his ego. "You have taken on a great load of responsibility by being both a crime fighter and a parent. Both of these roles have shaped you into who you are, and both roles are equally important to the city's future."
"Yes! Because... no matter where evil lurks, Darkwing Duck will be on the job!" Darkwing struck a dramatic pose with his finger pointed to the sky.
"Darkwing..." Jacob warned, crossing his arms.
"What?" He turned to face him. Seeing his expression, Darkwing held up his arms. "What?!"
"Remember: being a parent is the greatest gift AND the greatest responsibility. It is your job to ensure that Gosalyn reaches her potential, and to be there for her when she needs help. Insuring the city's safety is one way of protecting her but..." he paused for emphasis. "Showing her how much you love her, and showing her how to love and accept others, is your greatest responsibility. As long as you remember to love, you will be fulfilling your purpose."
"My purpose..." Darkwing whispered. As he was caught up in his thoughts, the other mallard started to walk away. Darkwing shook himself and hurried after Jacob. "Hey! Where are you going?"
Jacob turned to face him, bearing a striking semblance to the other mallard with prominent cheeks, long broad bill, and big blue eyes. "It is time for us both to go our respective homes, Drake."
"Oh." Darkwing stopped. "Right. Until next time, then..."
"Actually, the next time you see me, you probably won't recognize me."
"Well, it might be easier if you stayed in one form or another and quit changing around..."
Jacob shook his head. "No, what I mean is, your mind is incapable of holding and processing this much information at once. When you return to your world, your memory of this encounter will be little more than fleeting images. All of this will be nothing more than a dream."
"What? But that hardly seems fair! After all I did to save the world...!" Darkwing was letting his ego talk again.
Jacob held up a hand to stave off further protest. "You will remember what I've shown you, just not the journey. Trust me, it is better to go back to your normal life without the knowledge that someone like me is hanging around. But, know this... No matter what, you will never be alone. You will always have someone on your side. And..." Jacob took out a small mirror, showing Gosalyn sleeping soundly in her bed. "Your greatest gift is her."
A soft smile spread across Darkwing's face at the sight of his little girl.
Jacob smiled approvingly and placed his hands on the caped mallard's shoulders. "Goodbye, Drake, and Godspeed." With that parting greeting, the world around Darkwing whirled into a kaleidoscope of color before everything went still and dark...