Darkwing Duck stared down the barrel of the gun that the muscular duck was pointing at him and his sidekick and hiked his hands into the air. Whose side was this guy on, anyway? Muddlefoot’s smile turned quickly to an ugly scowl when the communicator he wore on his utility belt started beeping frantically at him.

“Unless you want to get blown into tiny pieces along with the rest of the building, I suggest you follow me.” Pocketing the firearm, he sprinted to the corridor and hit the fire alarm. Darkwing shrugged at Launchpad and followed suit. He didn’t like what was going on in the least bit, but he had no particular desire to be incinerated either. Muddlefoot swore, drawing his head around the corner and back again as a bullet whizzed by. “Guess he remembered how much I distrust him. Okay, we gotta do this the hard way. How are you at molecular transportation?” Launchpad’s jaw dropped as the implications of what he said sunk in.

“Three.......two.....one!” The world abruptly shimmered and melted while they stood unchanged, watching their surroundings distort themselves. Darkwing barely had time to gasp before the world went dark.

“DW? You okay?” Darkwing groaned and rolled on his side.

“What?” Darkwing rubbed his forehead.

“Not the most brilliant comment perhaps, but it expresses our situation well.” Agent Muddlefoot said dryly. He rose to his feet without any apparent sign of injury and glanced at Darkwing and Launchpad. “Looks like you’ll be okay. We’ve gotta get back to the building before my dear brother writes me out of the security system.” Darkwing lost all semblance of being calm.

“I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!” Muddlefoot sighed.

“Very well. Can we get to a safe house first, by any chance?” Darkwing helped Launchpad up and shrugged. “Follow me.” Muddlefoot led them to a small, dingy apartment that was in the area in which they’d landed.He gestured to a pair of nearby seats. Darkwing stood.

“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me, Darkwing. Surely living next door to someone for three years earns a bit of recognition.” Darkwing narrowed his eyes. Something about the way he’d said that............

“Tank Muddlefoot?” Tank made a slight bow. “You’re kidding, right?” Tank slowly shook his head, plainly enjoying the shocked look on their faces.

“Nope, I’m afraid not. Although I believe you’ll be surprised more by what has happened to your daughter than my appearance here.” Darkwing grabbed Tank by the collar.
“You have two seconds to explain that before I will have to physically hurt you.” Tank blanched slightly at the anger on his face.

“Uh, yeah. Gosalyn is.....” Darkwing tightened his grip on Tank’s security uniform. “A criminal.”

“WHAT!” Launchpad gained a shocked expression on his face as Drake turned a curious shade of purple and said a word that his sidekick had never heard him use before.

“Wait, wait, let me explain! It’s a little different than what you think. You see, Darkwing Duck and Launchpad McQuack died thirty years ago when an accidental explosion occurred in SHUSH headquarters.” Darkwing blanched slightly as what he said sank in.

“You mean......”

“You were supposed to die when we appeared, courtesy of Emerald Systems. And acting on President Mallard’s orders.”

“Gosalyn.” Darkwing said flatly.

“Exactly. She’s really very powerful, you know. ETS’s estimated worth is about five hundred trillion dollars. Gosalyn’s wealth alone is enough to buy and sell a solar system several times over. Some of it is legitimate wealth, but much of those dollars are gained from smuggling, drug dealing, side businesses that the government is paid to overlook.”

“Paid?” Launchpad said incredulously.

“Things have changed a great deal in thirty years. Money always made things run smoother, but now half the government is on Gosalyn’s payroll.” Tank’s smile was more than a little sad. “And Honker’s. You met him, you know, Lord Xavier. He’s not a fool any more than I am. He knows that if your disappearance could turn Gosalyn into a criminal, your survival would just as easily stop it. I don’t know how much she trusts him. Probably further than she should, but he’s the only one she does trust.” Darkwing took a deep breath.

“Are they.....?” Tank shook his head.

“I don’t really think their relationship goes beyond that. Gosalyn is not exactly emotionally stable. You see, the supervillains really just ravaged St. Canard after, well, after you didn’t die, I suppose. She was a thirteen year old that didn’t exactly have a good record with the villains, and everyone else was too busy fighting them to bother with her.” Darkwing closed his eyes. “She finally wound up in Megavolt’s gang, believe it or not- his brain was probably too fried to remember her. She had quite a bit of ambition and the experience to back it up, and she eventually clawed her way to the top. My parents died in a raid on our home, and so we hooked up with her, forming a sort of triad. Gosalyn was the driving force, Honker was the brains, and I was the brawn. When she was thirty, we had control over half the globe. Now, we basically rule the planet. I guess, when she saw that time machine......” Launchpad spoke.

“This is crazy.” Tank shrugged.

“I know. Are you okay?” he asked, seeing Darkwing had collapsed onto a chair.

“No. I’m not. I need to see her.”

“But-”

“Now!” Tank opened his mouth as if to protest, but stopped.

“Follow me.” He pulled out a small device and briefly fiddled with the controls. “Okay, we’ll walk two blocks, and then some of my personal guard will bring us through the back door. And please, whatever you do, don’t draw attention to yourselves. We’re in deep now.” He pulled the door open and strode out. Launchpad helped Drake up and followed.

“Should we run?” Launchpad asked, hurrying after him.

“No,” Tank said, fingering his gun. “But we can walk fast.”

“I’m sorry, Gosalyn,” Xavier said to the slender woman whose red hair featured streaks of gray similar to the fashion of Morgana McCawber. He idly wondered what had happened to the witch after Negaduck had risen to power. Probably had gone back to her family’s castle in Translyvania. Gosalyn closed her green eyes tightly, allowing a single tear to trickle down her cheek.

“It was worth trying.” she said flatly, releasing her grip on the hardwood desk. Xavier grimly nodded, determined to see the interview through without laughing hysterically. “Honker-” He winced, just noticeably, at her use of his birth name. “Sorry.” She paused, rethinking what she had been about to say. “Have the Dellorian contacts arrived yet?” If he was surprised by her abrupt change of manner, Xavier didn’t show it.

“No. I think they may be testing our limits as to the timetable.” Gosalyn frowned slightly.

“Arrange for Kos’la to show them our.....displeasure.” Xavier said nothing, smiling inwardly at the sheer luck. He had had a disagreement with one of the Dellorian leaders a few years back, but knew that if he moved to slap him down himself, several other leaders would protest. Having Gosalyn do it not only increased the hurt the other would feel, but would cover him in the process. The communicator beeped.

“President Mallard, we have a message for you on line one, code alpha blue seven.” Gosalyn leaned forward and sighed.

“I’ll take it now. Xavier, please inform Kos’la of the new arrangements.” He nodded and left, fuming inwardly at the interruption. Just one of the many reasons I should be running this place, he thought. Sighing, he suppressed the notion. Gosalyn may be weak emotionally, but she controlled the empire without dissent. She was privately referred to as the Iron Glove. Ha, he thought. He smiled privately. Things always change. Briefly, he wondered at the call that had summoned Gosalyn. Alpha was a pretty high code, usable by only a few. He shrugged and turned into his office.

Darkwing Duck took a deep breath and twisted the door knob. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,” he murmured.

To be continued...............

This sucks! Get me out of here!
Wow! This is pretty cool! Take me back to the fic page!
I want to read Part One again!