Author's Note: Hello, everyone. This here is another chapter of the current YA fanfic I'm updating weekly.
Now, this here is not only an original chapter, it's a follow up of the previous chapter. Both were meant to be one chapter, but I had very little time, so I decided to split them into two. So don't be surprised if this one is a bit short.
Anyway, let's get on with the next chapter. Enjoy the fanfic. Any and all comments are welcome.
After escaping the junkyard, the Duck family headed straight to the Sunchaser with Rocket riding alongside them. Launchpad took the pilot seat and took off into the air Behind him, Scrooge pulled out a blueprint of a large airship for the rest of his family to look at.
"Is this the ship that attacked you?" Scrooge asked Rocket.
"Oh, yeah. That's the one all right."
"So Groot was captured by this Don Cornage guy?" Howard asked.
"Actually, his name is Don Karnage." Scrooge corrected. "He's a pirate who has made his base of operations in the sky. He's also got a bit of a dramatic flair, always singing a lot."
"Is that so?" Howard asked before looking at Dewey. "Sounds like you and he would get along pretty well."
"Uh, not exactly." Dewey said nervously. "I may have stolen his spotlight and turned his crew against him."
"Yeah. Don Karnage hates him more than he hates Scrooge." Webby said.
"It's weird having someone who hates me." Dewey said.
"From what we could learn," Huey said, "Don Karnage has temporarily landed his plane on an island west of here. Probably to refuel."
"Then that's where Groot's going to be." Rocket said. "Gimme some of your best guns, and I'll rain fire on those suckers."
"Uh… We don't actually have any guns." Huey said.
"What?"
"We have children here." Della reminded.
"Then what can we use?" Rocket asked.
"Our wits, our toughness, and our sharpness." Scrooge said. "Louie, Howard, you're our sharpest. We'll be counting on you to see all the angles and get the raccoon's friend back."
"I'm not a raccoon!" Rocket hissed.
"All right, everyone!" Launchpad said. "We'll be crashing on the island in just a second."
"What?" Rocket asked. "Doesn't he mean, 'landing'?"
"No." Everyone said at once grabbing ahold of the nearest sturdy object just before they crashed.
"OF ALL THE KRUTACKIN', STAR-SPITTIN', INSANE…" Rocket ranted as he left the crashed ship with the others.
"What?" Launchpad asked. "You're acting like you've never crashed a ship before."
"You're right! I haven't!" Rocket shouted. "I was enhanced to be the greatest pilot in the galaxy! I can't crash!"
"'Can't… crash'?" Launchpad asked confused. "Now, you're just saying words that don't fit together. Must be an alien thing."
Rocket was fuming, but Howard pulled him aside to calm him down.
"Take it easy. He's always like this." Howard said.
"Don't think you're any better." Rocket said. "You said you'd have an explanation for what happened on Halfworld, so it better be a good one."
"All right then." Scrooge said facing the whole team. "Launchpad, Della, the two of you stay behind and fix the Sunchaser. The rest of us go and save this Groot fellow."
Everyone agreed. Della and Launchpad stayed at the Sunchaser while the rest followed Scrooge into the island jungle. Along the way, Howard had a curious thought and went over next to Rocket.
"So… Rocket," Howard said, "A thought kinda occurred to me. How is it possible that Groot got captured by a bunch of idiotic sky pirates? He should wipe the floor with them easily."
"You'll see in a minute." Rocket said.
"Aha! We're here." Scrooge said. He and his family reached the edge of the jungle when they heard a bunch of music and singing coming from the other side of a set of bushes. They all peeked through and saw a band of pirates dancing around and playing instruments.
All of a sudden, the music stopped when their coyote captain held his hand up and approached them all. He didn't look too happy.
"You call that a performance?" he asked. "To the esteemed ears of the beautifully talented Don Karnage, it sounds more like you were off-key! What, was everyone split into groups of five playing different songs?"
"But captain," one of the pirates said, "We were just having fun. Besides, there's no one around to listen."
"Oh, no." Don Karnage said pointing to his left. "Then what is that?"
Don Karnage pointed at a small birdcage set up on top of a tree stump. Inside of the cage was a small, wooden creature with big eyes and a mouth.
"I am Groot!"
"Yes, yes, we know who you are." Don Karnage said. "But none of that matters because I am Don Karnage, the greatest and most musically-gifted buccaneer to ever grace the skies! And as such, I demand perfection, whether or not we have an audience. So again, from the top!"
The pirates all groaned.
Howard looked outward to the cage and his mouth opened wide with shock. "Hold up! That's Groot? What happened to him?"
"Does he not always look like that?" Huey asked.
"No!" Howard replied. "The Groot I know is a hundred times bigger than that, and he's a beast! Rocket, what happened?"
"We haven't seen you in a while, Howard." Rocket said. "A lot's happened, and during that time, Groot kinda blew up. Thankfully, a piece of him was all I needed to grow him back up. So now, he's going through his own life all over again."
"So instead of a mighty oak, we're risking our necks to save a living splinter?" Louie asked. "I should've just called in sick today."
"So what do we do?" Webby asked.
"I suppose we could distract them like we did with the Beagles at the junkyard." Howard said thinking to himself. "Aha! I got an idea, but I'll need some help. Can any of you play a famous musical figure?"
Dewey gasped. "Can Dewey! Looks like it's time for the return of… DJ DAFT DUCK!" In an instant, Dewey pulled out a gold-and-black digital helmet which he put over his head. He then pulled out an electric keytar.
"You just carry that stuff around with you?" Howard asked.
To answer his question, Dewey pressed on of the keys on his keytar letting an automatic voice respond "Oh, yeah".
"Hey, you asked for it." Scrooge said.
"All right then." Howard said. "Dewey, follow me."
Howard jumped out of the bushes revealing himself to the pirates. When they all saw him, they all pointed their swords at him.
"Who are you to intrude on the rehearsal of the fantastic performer, Don Karnage?" Don Karnage asked.
"Take it easy, everyone." Howard said. "I'm merely here because I couldn't help but be mesmerized by your lovely performance. Especially you, captain. Your showmanship was five stars. I'd give you ten if I could."
"Really?" Don Karnage asked with a smile as he sheathed his sword. "Well, it's about time someone recognized my talents."
"Indeed." Howard said. "I have been following your work for some time now, Mr. Karnage. And let me just say, you've got what it takes to make it to the grandest stages of them all. In fact, I would like to be your manager."
"You would?" Don Karnage asked.
"For sure. However, I'm already the manager of another musical talent, so if you don't mind, he would need to join your crew."
Don Karnage took a minute to think. "I don't know. How do we know he has the talent needed to join us?"
"Oh, I believe he'll bring something new to your troupe." Howard said. "Allow me to present… Uh…" Dewey whispered the name into Howard's ear. "DJ Daft Duck! Hit it!"
As Howard moved out of the way, Dewey jumped out of the bushes and started playing his keytar. All the pirates were drawn into the show they were watching. Even Don Karnage was curious to know where this was going.
While the pirates were distracted, the Duck Family snuck far behind them and reached the cage. Quietly, Rocket unlocked it, and Groot then jumped into his paws.
"I am Groot!"
"It's good to see you too, little guy." Rocket said.
"I am Groot?"
"Yes, that's Howard over there." Rocket said. "Things are a little complicated right now, but for now, we're just focusing on getting you out of here. Oh, and these are Howard's friends."
Groot smiled at the Duck family and waved at them. "I am Groot."
"So we've heard." Huey said.
"No, he was just saying hi." Rocket said. "He wasn't introducing himself. That's just how it sounds every time he opens his mouth."
"I am Groot."
"Well, that's going to get old really fast." Louie said.
"Let's get out of here before these boisterous buccaneers catch onto us." Scrooge said.
At that moment, Dewey ended his music. At the long, final note, he waited for the response from the crew. They all stared at a moment before applauding. Don Karnage, though, stared suspiciously. He then approached Howard.
"Well, I've got to say, you really want your DJ to join us."
"I aim to please." Howard said.
"Well… you failed." Don Karnage said.
"What?" Howard asked.
"S-S-S-S-SAY WHAAAAAAT?!" Dewey repeated with a press of his keytar.
"You call that a performance?" Don Karnage asked. "The music was tasteless, his performance had no soul, and his moves were all sloppy. He has to be the worst performer I've ever met."
"EXCUSE ME!" Dewey yelled in his real voice after forcing the helmet off of his head. "Like you're a Broadway star!" That's when Dewey realized his mistake revealing himself to the pirates. "Uh… Whoops."
All the pirates raised their swords again pointing them at Howard and Dewey.
"Dewey Duck." Don Karnage said. "I thought that was you. And it's about time I make you pay for stealing the spotlight!"
"Come on! It's not my fault I'm a better showman than you!" Dewey said.
"That's not helping!" Howard said.
Seeing his family in trouble, Scrooge sighed. "Okay then. Now comes the part where we go for a full assault."
The Duck Family cried out as they ran after the pirates from behind. Don Karnage and his crew turned and went through a battle with them. Huey and Louie slipped around a couple of them to confuse them into tripping. Webby jumped toward a few of them kicking them in their faces. Scrooge used his cane as a sword to fight off the pirates. Meanwhile, Dewey was running from Don Karnage, who was bent on slicing him to ribbons.
Howard himself was surrounded by four pirates who was eager to kill him. That is, until a voice interrupted them.
"Hey! If anyone's killing that jerk, it's gonna be me!"
Everyone turned to see Rocket standing up to them. They then looked at each other and laughed.
"Yeah, right! Like we're really going to be scared of a little raccoon!"
Rocket glared at the pirates with murderous intent. "What did you call me?"
"Uh, oh." Howard said. "He called him a raccoon."
"What did you call me?"
"He shouldn't have done that."
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"
"Now, they're in for it."
"I… AM NOT… A RACCOOOOOOOOON!"
In his rage, Rocket leaped up from the ground and covered one of the pirate's faces with his body. He scratched at them before jumping off and moving onto the others. The pirates all screamed in fear before running off.
"Yeah, you better run!" Howard yelled.
In the middle of the battle, Groot looked around and spotted Don Karnage. He had Dewey cornered with his back to his ship. Don Karnage laughed slowly drawing the blade closer to Dewey.
"Consider this your final number, Dewey Duck!"
Groot growled before screaming and running toward them. He reached out his arms, which grew suddenly and wrapped themselves around Don Karnage's legs. He was surprised when he was pulled away from Dewey and thrown to most of the other pirates knocking them all down.
"Now, THAT is Groot." Dewey said.
"Now's our chance!" Scrooge yelled. "Let's get out of here!"
At Scrooge's command, they all raced out of the camp and headed back the way they came from. They soon found the Sunchaser almost as good as it was before.
"Wow, you fix it up quickly." Rocket said.
"You crash as many times as I have, you know how to fix everything instantly." Launchpad said.
"Come on then!" Scrooge said. "Let's get this thing in the air!"
Launchpad and Della raced to the front of the plane and started the engine. A minute later, the Sunchaser started ascending from the ground, but not before Don Karnage caught up to them and jumped into the landing platform before it could close. Nobody saw him though, so he had the right time to sneak up on them.
"Phew." Scrooge said in relief. "Glad we got out of there alive."
"Yeah." Dewey said. "I thought I was a goner."
"YOU STILL ARE!" Don Karnage shouted revealing himself as he grabbed Dewey from behind.
"DEWEY!" Della yelled getting out of her seat. She and the others confronted Don Karnage, but they couldn't move as he had Dewey in his clutches holding a sword to him.
"I don't think so." Don Karnage said. "Take another step, and Dewey Duck gets it!"
"You're lying!" Howard yelled.
"You think I wouldn't?"
"No. I know you'll just get him regardless."
"How do you know me so well?" Don carnage laughed. "Say goodbye, Dewey DuAAAAHH!"
Don Karnage was caught off-guard by Rocket, who managed to sneak behind him and bite into his ankle. His reaction caused Dewey to escape and run back over to his mom while the pirate tried to shake Rocket off.
"Launchpad, open the hanger door!" Scrooge ordered.
"Aye aye, Mr. McD!" Launchpad yelled before turning a switch. The landing mechanism opened up behind Don Karnage.
"Stupid rodent!" Don Karnage yelled throwing Rocket ahead of him.
"HEEYA!" both Howard and Della yelled as they jumped over to Howard. They both landed powerful kicks to him sending him flying backward and out the hanger door.
"CURSE YOU, DEWEY DUCK AND FAMILY!" Don Karnage yelled as he fell into the ocean. Once he was gone, the hanger door closed leaving the Ducks and their allies safe at last.
"Nice moves!" Della complimented Howard. "Where'd you learn that?"
"It's a martial art from my planet." Howard said. "It's called Quack Fu."
"I like it." Della said making herself and Howard blush.
"Well, it looks like everything is settled." Scrooge said. "Launchpad, take us back to Duckburg."
"Roger that." Launchpad said adjusting the direction of the plane.
Later that night, Howard met up with Rocket and Groot at the front of the mansion. They made sure no one was around to listen in on them.
"All right, Howard." Rocket said with his arms crossed. "You remember our deal. You promised to tell us what happened in Halfworld."
"Right. Of course." Howard said. "Yes, the scientists who experimented on you reached out to me. They told me they intended on continuing their experiments, but they needed more 'subjects' for them. But after your breakout drew the attention of the Nova Corps on them, they couldn't go to Halfworld themselves, so they called on me."
"So you abducted my own people for a quick credit?" Rocket asked.
"No. Listen to me." Howard said. "The pay was great, but I wasn't going to let a bunch of animals be used for their insane experiments. So I did the only thing I could do. I created a holographic image of the animals and put them in cages for delivery. They then paid me the agreed amount and sent me on my way. I was long gone by the time they realized I gave them phony animals. Unfortunately, the Nova Corps were still convinced that I poached them for myself, so they added that to my list of charges."
"So… you didn't abduct anyone from Halfworld?" Rocket asked.
"No. I may be a thief, but I wouldn't do anything against animals. Heck, I'm an animal myself in case you've forgotten."
"I am Groot."
"Yes, you did tell me so." Rocket replied. "Well, Howard, if what you say is true, then it looks like we came all this way for nothing. Especially since all we got was a crashed ship."
"So what are you going to do?" Howard asked.
"Believe it or not, that crash-crazy friend of yours, Launchpad, offered us a place to stay at his garage." Rocket said. "Sure, he's nuts, but it's got the tools we need to repair our ship and get out. He also said he'd introduce us to something called 'Darkwing Duck'. Should we know what that is?"
"If there's anything I learned on this planet, it's that life is like a hurricane." Howard said. "You never know what might be important."
"All right then. See you around, Howard." Rocket said. He turned around, but before he could go, Howard called out to him.
"Wait, Rocket. I just realized, you said you came all the way to Earth to look for me. How did you know I was here?"
"Oh. We followed the transmission, of course." Rocket answered.
Howard's face fell. "Transmission? What transmission?"
"You haven't heard?" Rocket asked. "There was some kind of open radio signal originating somewhere around this sector. I don't know where exactly and whoever was using it sounded like they had a squeak toy stuck in his throat. But I do know that whoever it is, he mentioned your name. So I locked onto the signal and followed it."
Howard's face look terrified. "An open signal? So anyone can pick it up and track me here?"
"Pretty much." Rocket said apologetically. "Something tells me you've got a lot coming your way."
Howard lost his breath. He looked up at the starry night sky. He hoped no one else could find him, but he knew they were going to.