Previously: The Fearsome Three teamed up with Ammonia Pine to create a marketable 'cleaning solution' that eats through metal, allowing them to easily rob banks and such. Gosalyn, after losing her memory in a plane crash at the beginning of the story, was seen snooping outside the warehouse the villains are stationed in and has been taken captive.
Alternate Chapter 10
As Gosalyn watched Ammonia running her vacuum cleaner attachment, she came up with an idea.
"Oh yoo hoo! Ms. Clean! There's a dirty spot over here…"
"Where!" Ammonia looked around frantically.
Gosalyn gestured with her head.
"Here! This chair is absolutely filthy!"
"Let me at it…"
Ammonia activated the crane, swinging the chair toward the platform while she grabbed a dust cloth and spray. Gosalyn stayed still while the villainess inspected the chair, spraying it, and Gosalyn's bindings with it. As she rubbed at the chair back, Gosalyn felt the rope loosen.
Counting to five, Gosalyn glanced around to double-check the other villains' locations. Throwing her head back, she swung the chair into Ammonia's face, stunning her, while she wriggled furiously. She slipped out of the rope and used the pendulum action of the chair to swing onto the platform, landing a kick in the hen's gut for good measure.
Running down the stairs, she wasn't surprised when she met up with Liquidator. As he grabbed for her, she jumped onto the hand rail. She started to slide down, but she saw Megavolt coming up the stairs and Quackerjack reaching into his toy bag.
Changing her mind, Gosalyn climbed back up and scrambled on top of Ammonia, covering her eyes with her red bandana. Ammonia cried out and groped for the girl, but Gosalyn dodged her flailing hands, taking advantage of Ammonia's struggles to avoid both Liquidator' and Megavolt's attempts to recapture her. They couldn't strike without risking Ammonia.
However Quackerjack had no such inhibitions. He gladly set his teeth after both females, laughing with delight when Ammonia yelped in pain. Gosalyn kicked the teeth away. Ammonia got her bandanna out of her eyes and grabbed one of the toys in her broad palm. Scowling fiercely, she stuffed her dust rag in its hinges and threw the windup toy back at its inventor.
Quackerjack giggled all the more merrily and used a collapsible baseball bat he drew from somewhere on his person to knock the toy into the vat of cleaner. It sizzled and crackled as it slowly dissolved and Gosalyn grimaced, her attention diverted. Ammonia grabbed her ankles.
"Gotcha now, Squirt! Got any more bright ideas?"
"Um, not exactly…" Gosalyn admitted as Megavolt and Liquidator reached the top steps. Seeing that they were standing close together, Gosalyn vaguely recalled what happens when the two cross paths. Ammonia bent down to let Megavolt pull Gosalyn off her shoulders and Gosalyn acted.
Yanking off a sneaker, she yelled "Hey Megavolt, catch!"
"Huh?" he asked before fumbling to catch the tumbling shoe.
As he subconsciously stepped back, he missed a step and fell backwards, right into Liquidator. Both villains shrieked and fell the rest of the way.
Caught off balance, Ammonia flailed to steady herself, loosening her grip. Gosalyn slugged her and stood up on her shoulders, using her height to scramble for a window. Taking off her other shoe, she swung it by the laces into the glass and turned her face away from the falling fragments.
She didn't stop to think that maybe there was a reason the glass had broken so easily under the soft rubber. As she crawled through, she found herself teetering over a steep fall with no ledge to hold onto and no way up or down. Yelping, she backed up and was snatched by a toy helicopter with a robotic arm. She was brought, protesting, back into the villains' reach.
"Why you! You're gonna regret this!" Gosalyn spouted, hoping she sounder braver than she felt.
"Oh, and who's going to make me?" Quackerjack smiled calmly at her.
The doors swung open and a figure stood stoically in a swirling cape and a broad hat.
"Who are you?" Quackerjack asked in confusion, squinting and scratching his hat. The voice didn't sound like the person he was expecting.
"I am the terror that sprouts in the night!" the shadowed figure exclaimed with a dramatic hand pointed upward.
"Uh, don't you mean "flaps"?" Megavolt asked.
"I am the dandelion in your flowerbed!"
"I think that duck's been hit on the head too many times..." Liquidator confided to Megavolt.
"I AM...!" The figure moved under a light and tipped his head up, revealing his identity.
All four villains' jaws dropped. "BUSHROOT?"
The former con smirked and dramatically pulled a corner of his cape around himself, crouching slightly.
"Not just Bushroot anymore! I am Nightshade! And I insist you stop polluting the bay!"
Gosalyn kicked at Quackerjack, drawing attention to herself.
"Oh, and free the girl too.." Bushroot added.
"Have you lost your marbles? You supposed to play on our side!" Quackerjack shouted.
"Not anymore I don't!" Bushroot drew an improvised spray gun from his cape and pointed it at the villains. "Say hello to my newest invention! The new improved itching powder! Completely organic, all natural poison ivy; blisters can be expected..."
"What are you doing!? This isn't how the game is played!"
The homemade canister burst and Quackerjack, Megavolt, and Ammonia were soon scratching their faces. Liquidator drew himself upright and loomed over his "friend" and new nemesis.
"Silly Plant! You forget, the Liquidator has no weaknesses!"
"Oh yeah?" Bushroot grinned. Gesturing over his shoulder to the doorway, he yelled. "Sic him, Spike!"
The flytrap panted at sight of the living water fountain and raced up to him, followed by several other thirsty plants. Realizing that was one form water wouldn't be able to escape from, Licky fled. The crew zoomed around the warehouse while Bushroot wrapped a gentle arm around Gosalyn.
"You're safe now, Little One." Bushroot whispered encouragingly as he nudged her closer.
"Uh, thanks, Nightshade, is it?" she peered cautiously up at him.
"Sounds more heroic than "belladonna," don't you think? I wanted a poisonous plant name and that fit the bill better than oak, ivy, or sumac." Glancing back at his lackeys he called out. "Hey, easy boys! We don't really want to catch Licky. Just keep him out of the way 'til I figure out a way to get rid of all this…" he gestured to the vat.
"Errr!" Quackerjack snarled in frustration as he rolled on the floor in itching agony. "Liquidator! Make yourself useful and dump that vat!"
"Your wish is my command!" Licky said breezily, not having any other ideas until he neared the amber liquid. Then again, maybe he did have something. Rearing up and barely avoiding a lunging oak branch, he poured himself over the edge into the vat.
"Oh, no! That's not good! Not good at all!" Bushroot exclaimed nervously. "Nightshade" was running low on courage and schemes and he really wished he could just run and hide now. He pushed Gosalyn toward the door.
Inside the vat, a monstrous amber shape arose. The trees and Spike stood still in amazement. Liquidator grinned devilishly and splashed onto the floor, splattering the three plants with toxic droplets. Spike yelped and ran toward his master while the trees tried wiping themselves off with their leaves and needles.
"Step away! It's the Liquidator's game, now!"
"No it's not! It's my game! I'm the rule maker!" Quackerjack protested.
"Oh no you're not!" Liquidator swiped a finger across Quackerjack's hat.
One of the jingle bells fell to the floor, partially melted.
"My hat! This isn't over, Dripface!" Quackerjack shouted.
"Sorry, but it is for now," the power-drunk mutant batted a sprinkler overhead, activating the sprinkler system. The shower momentarily soothed the poison ivy breakout for the villains, but then Licky added Pinescrub to the mix and everyone scrambled for cover.
"Got any more tricks in that cape?" Gosalyn asked Bushroot as they hunkered under a computer desk with a cowering Spike.
"Nothing useful against that…Oh, what was I thinking? I'm just a scientist, not a hero. What I wouldn't give for Darkwing Duck to show up right now!"
Conveniently, the aforementioned spoke from the broken window above.
"Did somebody mention me?"
Bushroot cheered. "Darkwing Duck's come to save us! Yay!"
Darkwing focused on the scene below. Swinging out on his grappling hook, he plugged the hole in the sprinkler system with a cork he'd conveniently brought along and zapped it with water-resistant glue. The Pinescrub started melting through and the pipes were corroding.
Darkwing gave up on stopping the water and dropped down to the desk Gosaln and Bushroot were under.
"Don't worry. I'll distract Licky so you two can get to the door. Nice outfit, by the way, Bushers!"
"Thankyou! But be careful! That stuff Liquidator's made up of now is dangerous!"
"Believe me, I know…" Darkwing growled.
Gosalyn wavered a little. She was so relieved to see him. Bushroot put a hand on her shoulder in concern.
"Are you alright? Oh, they didn't hurt you, did they?"
"No. I'm fine…" Gosalyn said a little woozily.
"It's probably the fumes. Come on, let's go." Bushroot gently tugged on her hand and led her to the door. She glanced back at the desk.
Darkwing had moved on and was now dragging a tied up Ammonia Pine over to the staircase, where he secured her. She, in the meantime, was still distracted by the horrendous itching and was begging for it to stop.
Megavolt was peeling off his gloves, hat, and goggles to try to clean off his face.
Darkwing grimaced when he saw the familiar features of his old high school classmate Elmo Sputterspark, but refused to let himself dwell on the past. They hadn't exactly been friends then and they certainly weren't now.
Quackerjack was occupying most of his attention as the jester was making his way toward a bag laying next to the computer tower and control panel. Darkwing fired a gas canister in his path and ran after him. Darkwing loaded his gas gun with another canister and aimed.
Gosalyn watched breathlessly, temporarily forgetting she was supposed to be getting away. Bushroot pulled on her arm and they continued out the door. A huge translucent hand blocked them.
"GOING so soon!" Liquidator taunted. He caught hold of Bushroot's cape.
"GO! Get help!" Bushroot yelled to her as he quickly unlatched the chain holding the cape around his throat. Licky easily grabbed him, making him yell from the contact.
"Call the police! Call the EPA! Call anyone!" Bushroot choked.
"Now now. You've had your fun. Now it's my turn!" Licky teased. "First, you need a dousing!" Pulling his arm back, Licky aimed for a pond in the forest nearby. He threw Bushroot over the trees toward the water.
Bushroot was caught by the trees and lowered gently into his bath, although he protested getting Pinescrub mixed in with the clean water.
"As for you," Licky pooled under Gosalyn's feet and lifted her up on a watery pedestal. "You're my backup plan! DARKWING DUCK! Come and join the party!"
"I believe the party you're referring to is back inside." Darkwing's sarcastic voice came from behind Licky.
Liquidator spun around and there was the mallard himself, striking a proud, and bored-looking, pose. His calm demeanor was the opposite of the inner turmoil he was facing though as he kept a worried eye on his bewildered baby.
Liquidator started to reply, but the sound of helicopters distracted him.
The S.H.U.S.H. and the Forest Service choppers hauled in buckets of clean water and dumped them on Liquidator. Darkwing fired his grappling hook and snagged Gosalyn by the waist, pulling her back into shelter of the warehouse.
The water didn't bother Liquidator, but it diluted the Pinescrub a little. Choppers from the Armed Forces also flew in fire buckets but a second S.H.U.S.H. one showed up on the scene. It hung back while the others bombarded Liquidator.
As the angry mutant pulled the water into himself to face the onslaught, the waiting chopper dropped its contents on him. The Liquidator started to spout a sassy slogan, but the InstaFreeze powder soon took hold of his mouth and worked its way down to his limbs. As the Liquidator lost control, he also shrank back to normal size and was surrounded by the time he was frozen solid
"Eh, eh, eh. As I always say, crime doesn't pay." Darkwing brushed his hands together arrogantly as he turned his head to glance at his work.
The armed forces were leading Ammonia, Megavolt, and Quackerjack out of the warehouse in manacles. Quackerjack was raving mad.
"I'll get you yet, Darkwing Duck! You haven't seen the last of me!"
Activating the coiled springs in his shoes suddenly, Quackerjack bounced right out of his captors' hands.
Darkwing leapt after him.
"Oh no you don't!" he caught hold of the springs.
Quackerjack looked down and grinned.
"Not this time, Ducky!"
He released a toy on a parachute while his momentum carried both him and Darkwing eight feet up in the air.
"Improved the tensile strength and rebound, I see." Darkwing commented flatly, although he was struggling to keep his grip on both the clown and his gas gun.
"Of course! Just because I'm a jokester doesn't mean I'm a dummy! You, on the other hand…"
Darkwing shot a gas can at the toy, knocking it a safe distance away and setting off the explosive in it.
"Ooh!" Quackerjack fumed. "When I get my hands on you..."
"That'll be a while, considering..." Darkwing grinned at the hand cuffs still on the villain's wrists.
Quackerjack bared his teeth in a scowl as the ground rushed up on them. Quackerjack stopped mid bounce by flipping both himself and Darkwing upside down, crashing hard in a shrub. The jester recovered his feet first by clicking his heels together, shedding the springs from his shoes and leaving a confused Darkwing still tangled in the bush. Quackerjack then pulled a chattering teeth toy from under his shirt and used that to chomp through the chain connecting his wrists.
A/N: From here, we have DW catching Quackerjack and end the story with DW's triumph and a brief summary of how Honker figured out how to counter the Pinescrub stuff. Megavolt and Liquidator would have been arrested along with Quackerjack and Ammonia. Bushroot and Spike would have had a few last words with DW and Gos and gone home and that would have been it. There would have been no need for the Justice Ducks to show up. Bushroot had no real reason to be there other than to show up to help Gosalyn, and I was originally going to leave him out of the end entirely. DW would have been the one to rescue Gosalyn with Laucnhpad's help. Things changed quite a bit when Bushroot showed up in a Darkwing costume in my imagination, hehe. After I added Bushroot, I ended up bringing in Gizmoduck and Morgana and added a few more scenes to give them some screen time. That completely changed the original ending of the story.