Remembrance
Chapter 25
Gizmoduck, Morgana, and Steggmutt carefully came outside of the structure, leaving the door open behind them so the villains could get away easily. The sun was high, and it appeared to be a beautiful day.
Once QJ and Bushroot saw their chance for escape, they took it. QJ whispered to the group, "You guys aren't so bad. Any time you wanna play, look me up! But don't think I'll go easy and let you win."
Bushroot add, "Yeah thanks for your help…and Steggmutt…I'm sorry I had the wrong impression of you."
"That's ok Reggie, I hope you grow up alright" Steggmutt said referring to the fact that the plant had been reduced to a mere flower in a pot.
"With sun like this, I'll probably grow as big as you. Well, take care guys, till next time…" And with that no other words were spoken from the villains. With them invisible, no one could tell if they slipped into the woods or lingered around.
The trio of heroes started walking, only to be stopped by a very load voice, "There ya are, ya big oaf!" A duck in a top hat come out of the woods. He used his cane to swat at the branches so he could see the group. Behind him, police cars and SHUSH agents appeared to be making arrests of all the captured eggmen.
The duck came up to Gizmoduck, "Did ya enjoy your little vacation?"
Gizmoduck was at a loss, who was this guy? "Umm….Yes?" He said not knowing what he was saying yes to.
"Well good….cause you can have all the vacation time you want when you're unemployed!!!!"
Some how that caused Giz to cringe. He was a superhero, yet this tiny duck seems to have all the power in the world over him. "B…But…But…"
Morgana stepped in, "Excuse me, you must me Mr. McDuck."
"Aye…And you must that Morgana Gizmoduck was talking about."
"Morgana McCawber and your service." She extended her hand as politely as she could.
"Sorry, I don't trust witches. Nothing personal." Scrooge remembered all the time Magica De'Spell had tried to trick him; he wasn't going to let his guard down no matter how pretty the eyes were.
Morgana went on the defensive, "May I ask why you are firing Giz?"
"He was supposed to be back from helping you, two days ago!"
"He lost his memory, if you haven't noticed, and he saved the world."
"Don't think he's getting sick pay out of this…" McDuck was on the defensive now.
Gizmoduck had been silent through this whole thing until now, "Um Morg, who is this guy?"
Scrooge made a frustration sound, if Giz didn't know any better, the old duck was turning red, "IM YOUR BOSS!"
Morgana smiled, "Good, so Giz will report back to work once his memory is back, I knew you'd understand Mr. McDuck."
"Now wait a minute lassie…I never said…"
"Oh but you did. And if you don't trust witches, you should know never to cross one." It was an innocent empty threat that she said with a half smile.
"Hmm…I suppose I could let it slide….but only this one time you see…"
"Thank you Mr. Mc.Duck, now I need a favor."
"Oh and what's that lassie," He said curious as to what the witch wanted. "If it involves a reward for your little endeavors, you can forget it."
"I need to find Giz's mother, she's the key to his memory."
"She's with Launchpad and that Arrow boy, I'll take ya to them."
Morgana look at Stegs, "Can you go look for my Dark, Stegs? I have to know if he's alright.
"Sure Morgana, say 'hi' to Launchpad for me!" And with that, the giant dinosaur began his search through the police arrests, shouting 'MR. DARKWING!" At every turn.
The two heroes and the old duck made their way to the Thunderquack.
Darkwing raced through the passageways, quickly followed by the young Quiverwing. Negaduck was in bad shape. The loss of blood mixed with physical stress he had been under in the fight had been too much. He was in shock, and could very well die unless properly treated.
Negaduck was going in and out of consciousness, he realized what was happening. He began talking, trying to force himself from the darkness. "Ironic isn't?"
"Hmm" Darkwing looked down as he was running; the villain's eyes were white, but still focused. Darkwing understood, and continued the conversation, "What do you mean?" he said making a turn, hoping it was the right way.
"I finally do something right, something good. For the first time in my entire life….and I'm going to die for it…."
"Don't say that. You'll be back trying to kill me by the end of the week." Darkwing hit a dead end, "Dang, have to try the other way." He turned around and continued looking for a way out.
Negaduck smiled, thinking of all the ways he wanted his adversary to fall. He then started to get dizzy again.
"Come on Negs…" Darkwing saw a door up ahead, this might be it.
The door burst open and the heroes ran out. Police cars were everywhere. Darkwing scanned the area, and saw what he needed, an ambulance.
The capped duck came up, barking orders at the EMTs. They placed Negaduck on the stretcher, he wasn't breathing. The EMTs went to work, using all forming of resuscitation on the duck.
Quiverwing clung to her dad, not believing what was going on. Darkwing was getting angry, and started yelling at the unconscious duck, hoping to provoke him back into the living. "You're really going to lay there, aren't you Negs!…The mighty Negaduck….fallen…at the hands of a single eggmen!"
"CLEAR!" One of the EMTs said and the used the shock pads. "Did you say Negaduck?" The EMT turned. Negaduck was still wearing Darkwing's spare costume. The technicians didn't think much of it at first, mostly because their training in saving lives kicked in. But now that everything was clear and out in the open, they were hesitant.
"Yeah! And he's dying!"
"Umm..I think I need to talk to Director Hooter…"
"No time!...Hit it!"
The EMTs looked at each other, unsure of to do.
"I said HIT IT!" Darkwing starred them down.
That scared the technicians, and they began to work again, "CLEAR!"
Darkwing started talking to his unconscious doppelganger again, "You're going to let it end like this, with a good deed on your record…..Think of all the crimes there are left to commit…."
"CLEAR!"
"Think of your friends….."
"CLEAR!"
"Think of all the fussy wazzy bunnies still alive spreading all their cuteness in the world…"
"I got something…..a heart beat, it erratic, but there. We need to get him to the hospital."
Steggmutt came charging up at that moment, "MR. DARKWING!"
"Oh Hi Steggs, just a sec…" Darkwing turned back to the technicians who were already starting to pack up the duck, "I have the same blood type as him; You'll need me…" He turned back to the dinosaur, "Stegs, take Quiverwing to Launchpad."
"Right!" The dinosaur loved it when Darkwing paid attention to him.
"But Dad…" Quiverwing looked angry. Negaduck was dying, and in her eyes, it was her fault. She had to know if he would be alright.
Before he climbed in, he turned to his daughter, "I got to go with Negaduck."
"But he could still die…"
He whispered, "Gos…I need you to be a hero right now…Not the caped kind, but the real kind. I need to you to find Hooter and explain what happened, get SHUSH to the hospital and find Launchpad."
"But Dad…"
"Sweetie, I need you to do this…"
"You want me to stale SHUSH for time…"
"Megavolt will need a head start, and 50 SHUSH agents, Hooter and Grizzlekoff are going to make his escape a lot harder than it needs to be."
"Dad, what exactly happened between you two?"
"I'll explain when we're all safe and at home, but right now, I got to go help Negs, and I need you to do this for me."
"Right!" She gave a nod and a smile.
"That's my girl" He gave her a hug, "You're getting double servings of desert for a week, you know." And then he climbed in the ambulance, starring a at fragile duck once called public enemy number 1
Gosylan looked up at Stegs, "Where's Hooter?"
Elsewhere nearby…"Here they are" The Scotsmen said with a bit of pride in his voice.
The Thunderquack had landed away from the crowd of police, in the woods where the team first disembarked. Launchpad was showing Honker the controls of the plane. While Mrs. Crackshell sat, looking alone and depressed. Mrs. Crackshell had asked to be away from the arrests that were going on. She couldn't stand to think of her son being arrested for something he wasn't responsible for….or to think of him hurt…or worse….
She heard the screech of a tire stop, and looked up, "Fenton?" The sun gleamed in his visor, making him hard to see at first. She adjusted her eyes, it was her son…
"Fenton!" She got up and hugged the giant tank.
"M….M'….M'ma?" He said not knowing for sure if this could truly be his long lost M'ma.
"Yes Fenton, It's me." She released him and smiled, "What do you remember?"
He gave a look around, at all the people around him. An old Lady in curlers who had nothing but love in her eyes for him…M'Ma. A Duck with a top and cane, smiling while taking in the moment….Mr. McDuck. A pilot, standing as tall as him, an innocent face, but one with determination…Launchpad. A young boy, looking up to everyone in world with wonder…Honker. A woman in a red dress with green eyes that begged to help him…Morg…..
"I remember….It's far in the distance….But I remember all of you…My friends!"
Morgana smiled with relief. His memory was returning. Soon he'll back to normal. Morgana would have to find someway to thank her father for telling her how to break the spell.
"I remember another thing….This suit gets itchy after being in it for a few days….BLABEREN'BLABERSKIT!" The suit dissembled, and then reassembled in a large, but portable briefcase. Fenton Crackshell remained. He looked at his hands and then felt his face. He was starting to remember everything now.
"That's my son!" MR. Crackshell looked with pride in her eye, "Now you can go home and fix the VCR."
"Aye!" Scrooge added, "And then get back to work protecting m' money and m' nephews!"
Fenton smiled, this felt so right.
Hooter gave a small sigh of relief. Darkwing had done it again, that duck never stopped to amaze the old owl, even after all these years. He gave a look inspecting all of his agents making the various arrests. The job was practically done for them. About 30 eggmen were up top side, tie up before the police even got there. He was very interested to know how the caped crusader pulled this one off. But Hooter had a feeling, with this event, no one will ever know the whole story…except for Darkwing that is.
Quiverwing ran up, dinosaur in tow. Steggmutt always did what Mr. Darkwing told him, especially when it came to Gosylan. If anything happened to the young Duckling, Steggmutt didn't know what he'd do.
She ran through the crowds, "Director!" She stopped and took a breath trying to calm her heart rate.
"Why 'hello', young Miss" Hooter smiled looking at her in her costume. At this point, it was common knowledge that the young lady would be Darkwing's successor. And she would be a fine one indeed, a natural as much as Drake was. But only a select few knew that she was in fact his adopted daughter. Of course Darkwing had no idea that the owl had this knowledge.
"Director, you have to get SHUSH agents to the hospital!"
"Agents are already there, Steelbeak was capture not to long ago, thanks to Neptunia."
"I'm sure Darkwing will want to have a few words with him." She said grumbling.
"He'll have to get through Agent Grizzlekoff, who personally escorted the villain there. He's escaped one to many times before, and Steelbeak holds a special place in that bear's vengeful heart."
"Steelbeak hurt Griz?" She asked.
Hooter hesitated, apparently Drake never told his daughter about his first in counter with the rooster. "Grizzlekoff was very found a few students that helped us out a while back. He loved showing them the facilities and all the spy procedures on how to operate….One of the students was shot…by Steelbeak. For a while we didn't think he'd make it. That's why Steelbeak is important to Grizzlekoff."
"What happened to the kid?"
Hooter smiled, "He grew up, adopted a daughter from what I've heard. One full of spirit and eagerness to match his own."
Realization hit Quiverwing. 'Dad knew SHUSH as a kid….and was shot by Steelbeak' She thought, 'I am going to have to sit him down and get some answers!'
"Now what did you need my agents for young lady?" Hooter brought her back down to earth.
"Um….Negaduck's also there…"
"Negaduck! But Darkwing said he died."
"Yeah well, he will be soon if not properly treated. The way your EMTs acted, I doubt he'll even get a basic Band-Aid and a lollypop over there."
"He's hurt…." Hooter sighed. "I'll do everything in my power to save the villain, you have my word. But I will have to arrest him on the countless crimes he has committed."
"I know, and so does Darkwing…I just don't want him to die…" Gosylan looked down, sad and ready to cry. Steggmutt came over and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's my fault he was shot. If I had been a better hero…."
"Young lady…" Hooter bent down and was face to face with her, "It takes a special kind of person to see through the actions of others….to see the reason and real person behind them. Most would want Negaduck to die, quite horribly if they had their way….but to stand up and say that's wrong….well, I didn't believe a young duckling like yourself could poses that amount of courage. I was wrong." He smiled his warm smile at her.
She hugged him, and buried her face in the old owl's jacket. For a brief moment, Hooter could swear he was in a hospital saying something quite similar to another young hero, some 15 years ago. She was so like him, in every way. He smiled as the Dejavu lasted a short moment, and he continued, "You don't have to worry about growing up to be a great hero…You're already one."
"Thanks Director." She said with a sniff pulling away.
Megavolt ran through the trees, still crying. He really couldn't blame Drake for making him escape; in fact he was quite grateful for it. He was crying because in his mind, a hero and a villain could never be friends.
He stopped to catch his breath, for the first time since he took off. There was a puddle in the ground, he starred at his reflection, and started talking to himself, "You really blew you, you know. What did you hope to accomplish by finding him….You're a villain….That's all that anyone sees…."
He sniffed as he continued to stare, "Why'd I have to get my memory back? I was happy….I had friends I cared about…and I even hurt them. Negaduck's going to die…who knows what Steelbeak did with Reggie and QJ…and Steelbeak won't stop till he gets his revenge…on me
"And Darkwing and Quiverwing will be forced to arrest me next time we meet…Everything is all wrong…All I wanted was to know who I am…..and I still don't even know that….who am I!!!!!!!!!" And with that the villain began to sob some more.
Author's Note: This chapter went through many revisions till I was happy with it…which I still am unsure about. I love Hooter btw. I missed him a lot in this story. Sorry it took so long, Feedback needed.