Faith of the Heart

Part 1: Chapter 20
THE FEARSOME FIVE

Written by DisneyFan-01
HTML Coding by Shadow20X6

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The Thunderquack circled over the city like a eagle on the hunt.  Launchpad was piloting it impressively smooth without even shaking or rolling over during a bank.

Goofy was sitting behind him.  He chuckled and placed a hand on Launchpad's shoulder, "Gawrsh, LP.  You've really improved your flyin' skills.  You haven't even yelled out 'April-day' once."

Launchpad shrugged, "Why should I yell that out?  It's the middle of summer right now.  But thanks anyway.  Gotta fly as smoothly as possible if we're gonna sneak up on the bad guys."

Donald raised a brow, "You've improved with this Thunderquack, but you're still crashing in your biplanes and aquaplanes?"

"Well, those planes fly differently after all."

Marina had her hands and face pressed against the window gazing excitedly to the city below, "I just can't believe I'm actually riding in the famous Thunderquack!  This is so cool!  And I can't believe after all the years of being a fan of Darkwing Duck, I had a connection with him the whole time.  I am a friend of a friend of the Duck Knight himself!  My gosh!  I'm as giddy as a kid!"

"This is better than cool!" Dale jumped up and down on her shoulder.  "This is SUPER AWESOME!!  I'm going nuts here!"

"I don't blame ya!" Dewey had his hands and face pressed against the glass just like her.  "LP!  I never would've guessed that you're the one who flies this baby!  Better yet, you're the one who built it in the first place!"

"Hey!  Hey!!" Darkwing turned around in his seat, "Will you two quit smearing the glass?!  You want this plane to get a blindspot!?"

But the three of them didn't budge.  They were too excited.  Huey and Louie on the other hand were sitting on Gosalyn's sides watching her as she was cleaning her hockey stick.

"So. . . you like hockey?" Huey asked flirtatiously.

"Like it?  I LOVE it!" Gosalyn answered.  "Heck, I'm captain of my school's hockey team.  I'm like a younger version of Mallory McMallard!"

"Ex-treme!" said Louie.  "I love hockey, too.  You should see my mighty swing."

Dewey teased, "And you should see him slipping and falling on the ice. . . again and again and again."

"Look who's talking, Mr. Always-Getting-Tackled-in-Football," Louie frowned.  

"Hey," Dewey finally pried himself from the window, "I scored a touchdown once."

"Yeah.  Once!" Huey scoffed.  "And I still think it was hilarious when he was tackled by a girl while playing tag football at school."

Dewey crossed his arms, "That wasn't funny.  She was bigger than me."

"She was only ten-years-old!" Louie snorted.

Dewey crossed his arms and growled, "Are we there yet?"

Before anyone answered, Marina and Dale spotted something on a nearby skyscraper.  Since the light of the moon was coming from behind them, they knew it was suppose to be the shadow of the Thunderquack. . . but something was off.  There was another shadow in the shape of a hand behind it.  After quickly glancing at each other know that they both saw the same thing, Dale held on to Marina's shoulder as she scrambled her way to the other side of the Thunderquack not minding that she was almost trampling over the nephews and Donald.

"Hey!  What's the big idea?!" Donald yelled.

"What's wrong, Dale?" Chip asked.

"Did you see it?" Marina pressed her face against the glass to see if there was a Nightmare flying behind them.  "We saw a shadow!  There's something following us!"

"Where?!" everyone else except Darkwing tried to looked behind the Thunderquack.

"Launchpad!  Hands on the wheel!!" Darkwing shouted.

"Oops!" Launchpad jumped back to his seat and steadied the wheel.

"I don't see anything," said Goofy.

Darkwing looked at the radar on the control panel, "There's nothing blinking behind us."

Donald checked the Nightmare radar, "I don't see anything on this one either."

"But we saw a shadow on that building," said Dale.

"It's just the shadow of the Thunderquack," said Darkwing.  "Don't get so jumpy like that."

Dale yelled, "There was a giant hand shadow behind ours.  This is a big Nightmare. . . or something!"

Launchpad asked, "Maybe it's something invisible?"

Jiminy said, "If it were, it wouldn't cast a shadow.  Marina, are you sure you saw som-"

*BANG*

The Thunderquack came to a stop so sudden that everyone fell over and Darkwing's face was smashed against the windshield.

Huey sat up, "You know, LP, there's a reason seatbelts were invented."

"Launchpad!!" Darkwing pried himself off the glass.  "What was that all about?!  We have important work to do and you're playing with the brakes!"

"I'm not doing anything, DW!" Launchpad sat up with this hands not touching any of the controls.  

"Darkwing!" Gosalyn pointed out the window.

Everyone looked and saw the shadow of the Thunderquack on the wall of another building.  It was being held by the giant hand shadow.  

"See!?  I told you!" Marina sat up.

Louie looked behind the Thunderquack, "But where is it?!"

Everyone looked again, and there was no hand!

"Invisible!  I told you!" said Launchpad.

Just then, the Thunderquack was being pulled down so fast as though it were falling.  Seeing the skyline shrink and the buildings grow taller, everyone screamed to their deaths.  The screaming could be heard as the Thunderquack plummeted faster and faster to the streets.  Only a matter of seconds when the whole thing exploded on impact and the screaming was gone.  The whole block lit up from the flames after half the city resonated from the explosion.  

As the huge flames burned over two stories high, a dark figure stepped out of an alley.  His shadow grew upon the buildings as he got closer to the fire with a fiendish glare in his eyes and a smile so evil it could frighten the strongest of men.  What was most shocking was the fact of how this being resembled Darkwing without the slightest error.  The only difference was the color of his clothes.  His coat was yellow, his fedora was a deep red, and the mask over his eyes was black.  

However, up on the rooftop of the building his shadow was casting upon, the whole gang sat calming their hearts down after being saved by the teleportation made by Huey, Dewey, and Louie's weapons.

With Darkwing clutching his chest and panting and Launchpad holding what was left of the Thunderquack's wheel, Gosalyn jumped to her feet all excited.

"Keen gear!!  That was soooo awesome!!  You guys didn't tell me you can teleport with those things!  Let's do it again!!"

"NO!!  Absolutely not!" Darkwing sat up.  "I just hoping right now that I'm all here."

Marina helped him to his feet, "Don't worry, Darkwing.  You're fine.  Although, I too always hope the same thing on myself.  And. . . uh, Launch, you can let go of the wheel now."

"Sorry," Launchpad sat up and dropped the wheel.  "Just in a bit of shock.  Really didn't see that coming."

Goofy patted on Huey and Dewey's backs, "That was some good thinkin' back there boys.  You're getting as good as we are."

"Yeah," Donald sighed with relief and patted on Louie's back.  "Thanks for that."

"Wonderful work there," said Jiminy.  "But what just happened?"

"Yeah," said Chip.  "It felt like we were being yanked down."

"You saw the shadow," said Dale.  "A giant invisible hand grabbed us and pulled us down."

"Invisible things don't cast shadows," Jiminy frowned.

"Oh yeah?" Gosalyn smirked, "Ever heard of chameleons?"

"Those aren't invisible," said Jiminy.

Darkwing was looking over the ledge to see the burning Thunderquack while the argument was going on.  He whimpered, "The Thunderquack.  My beautiful Thunderquack!  It's gone."

Launchpad came to his side, "Don't worry, DW.  I can rebuild it."

Donald, Goofy, and Marina came to the ledge and gazed upon the flames of the debris.  Chip came up to Donald's shoulder and noticed the shadow of the being.

"Look there!" he pointed.  "Who is that?!"

Darkwing glared down at the being as he knew who it was.  He clinched his teeth and fist trying to keep his temper down.

"Wait a minute," Goofy scratched his head, "I didn't know you had a twin, Darkwing."

"He's not a twin," Darkwing growled.  "That is my parallel self.  My evil self.  My Doppelganger."

"You're. . . double gangster?"

"Doppelganger," Donald corrected him.

"You mean. . ." Marina gasped.  "That is Negaduck?"

"That's him," Darkwing answered.

"But what's he doing here?" asked Donald.  "Did he cause the crash?"

"Well, he's laughing like he always does when he thinks he won," said Launchpad.  "Maybe he did."

"But how?" asked Chip.

"Again!" Gosalyn cheered.

Everyone looked behind them finding the nephews and Gosalyn teleporting from one corner of the rooftop to the next.

"This is totally awesome!!" she jumped around.  "Do it again!!"

The boys touched their weapons together again and they disappeared.  When they reappeared in another corner, they found Darkwing standing in front of them with a frown on his face and his fists on his hips.

"Gosalyn!  This is no time for games!" he scolded her.  "The Thunderquack just exploded, we are about to go against Negaduck, and you're now out and about playing."

"Sorry, Dad--Da-dare-Darkwing," Gosalyn tried not to blurt.

Donald frowned, "C'mon, boys.  That goes for you too."

The four young ducks moaned and joined the others at the ledge.

"Wow, that was quite a bang," said Dewey.

"We sure were lucky," Huey nodded.  "What're we gonna do now?  Surprise him?!"

"Nah," Gosalyn answered.  "This is Negaduck we're facing.  He's never surprised."

"Yeah, but he probably thinks we're done for," Louie held up his paddle.  "Let's get him while his back is turned."

"That is what I shall do," said Darkwing as he threw his cape across his chest.  "I'll make the first move, and the rest of you surround him from behind.  But don't underestimate him.  He always has tricks up his sleeves."

"We understand, Darkwing," Donald nodded.

Marina clapped her hands excitedly and squeaked, "Hot dog!  He's gonna do his famous entry!"




Down in the streets, Negaduck gazed deeper into the flames of the debris.  The reflection of fire in his eyes made him look like a demon from the pits of Hell.  He started to circle the wreck wanted to find a smoldering body, but not even the scent of a burnt feather was found.  He gritted his teeth knowing that somehow his prey had escaped.

"It's not possible!" he growled.  "I had him!"  He zipped around and yelled, "Where are you, Darkwing?!  Show yourself!!"

"So you know your plan didn't work, eh, Negaduck," Darkwing's voice echoed through the street with a cocky tone.  "Well, I don't know how you did it, but it's no matter now.  It takes more than a few tricks to stop me. . . for--"

While Darkwing was speaking, Negaduck rolled his eyes with a scoff, "Here we go the same thing every time."

A big puff of smoke rose from the roof of a nearby convenience store as Darkwing added, "I am the terror the flaps in the night!  I am the final episode of your favorite TV show with a disappointing ending!  I am Darkwing Duck!!"

With Darkwing appearing out the smoke, Negaduck turned around not amused to see the Duck Knight leap from the roof of the store to the sidewalk.  He clapped his hands sarcastically with a smirk, "Well done, Houdini.  The same thing every time with a newer second line in the speech after appearing out of nowhere.  Now do the one that's newer to me."

Darkwing pulled out his gas gun and took aim, "Alright, Negaduck.  Where are the Nightmares?  Tell me now or suck gas!!"

Negaduck crossed his arms, "Are you hearing this, boys?  He really wants to know where the Nightmares are.  He hasn't the slightest clue of what's going on."

Darkwing looked around knowing that Negaduck was not alone.  That was when a large wave of water came up from behind the wreckage and splashed out the fire.  The water came back together and morphed into shape of a dog faced being with a big smile.  It was the Liquidator, the former businessman who mutated into a water based monstrosity.

He spoke with a TV commercial tone, "This news just in:  The infamous Darkwing Duck, hero of the city of St. Canard, has no idea what he is up against.  What do you say to that, Sparky?!"

The street was echoing the sound of a crazy laugh and all of the street lamps on the block got a little brighter.  Darkwing spotted the source of the laugh on top of the traffic light on the intersection.  It was Megavolt, the psychotic weasel dressed in an electrician's uniform with a large battery on his back and a giant plug on his head for a hat.

As he was taking out the red light of the traffic signal, he chuckled, "Completely clueless about it."

Leaping in front of Darkwing on a pogo stick was the crazed duck in a jester costume and a huge smile on his bill, Quackerjack.  He bounced around Darkwing singing, "Darkwing is clueless!  Darkwing is clueless!"




Back up on the roof, Huey gasped, "Ex-treme!!  It's the Fearsome Five!"

Louie counted, "But there's four of them.  Where's the fifth?"

Dewey tried to trace his memory, "Let's see.  I know that Negaduck is the leader.  Then there's Megavolt. . . the Liquidator. . . that's Quackerjack. . . and. . ."

Marina asked, "Isn't that Steelbeak guy the fifth?"

"Nah," Gosalyn answered.  "Steelbeak's in prison now.  Dad-- I mean, Darkwing captured him just last night before he tried to bomb some kind of black dust around the city to attract the Nightmares."

Launchpad nodded, "DW was lucky to stop him before he had the chance to finish the bombing."

"Good. . . but darn," Dale grunted.  "I was looking forward to fighting Steelbeak.  I always hear that he's pretty cool. . . for a villain, that is.  I mean, despite his metal beak, at least he's not as creepy looking as Negaduck."

Gosalyn smiled, "Hey, maybe if we're lucky, he might break out of jail and we'll get to fight him anyway."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Donald frowned.  "We shouldn't look forward to meeting a villain."  He rolled his eyes and brought out the radar.  As he pointed it down in the street he glared, "Ah-ha!  We've found our Nightmares this time.  Take a look."

Everyone looked at the screen seeing the map of the area they were in.  There were small blinking dots in the very spots Megavolt, the Liquidator, and Quackerjack were standing.  Where Negaduck was standing was a larger and brighter dot.

"What's with the bigger dot?" asked Huey.  

"It's because Negaduck's the leader, duh," Dewey answered.  

"No," Jiminy shook his head.  "It's something else.  This radar reads off the power of Nightmares, not if one is a leader."

Gosalyn asked, "So. . . does it mean Negaduck is. . . more powerful than the others?"

That was when Louie first noticed a fifth dot.  He turned and gasped, "Bushroot!"

"Yeah," said Launchpad.  "He's the fifth member of the gang."

"No!  No!" Louie pointed behind everyone.  "Bushroot is right there!"

Right as everyone turned around, a bunch of roots slithered up to them like tentacles and quickly wrapped around them like the coils of a snake.  Jiminy and the chipmunks tried to make a run for it, but smaller roots grew out of the larger ones and snatched them all.  

With everyone struggling to get out, they saw the half duck half plant villain approach them with more of a friendly smile and a large weed walking on its roots like an octopus next him which was where the coiling tentacles were coming from.  

"Oh, how exciting!" he folded his hands.  "A bunch of new friends for my plants to munch on."

Marina had an arm free and tried to pull herself out, but when she touched the roots, she found a green slime sticking to her fingers.  She gasped and freaked out, "EWW!!  Gross!!  It's slimy!  Get it off!  Get it off!!  Eww!  This is worse than the green goop we were in!"

"Let us go!" Donald shouted.

"Oh, you are gonna be so sorry about this," Gosalyn frowned.  "Let us go!"

"Oh, no can do, Sweetheart," Bushroot answered.  "I'm sure Negaduck would like to know that we have company."  He called down to street, "Oh, Negaduck!  Look what I found!!"

The walking weed stretched its roots out bringing the gang and Bushroot down to the street.  Bushroot stood up, "I found these guys hiding and ready to pounce."

"Gosalyn!" Darkwing gasped.

Negaduck laughed, "Planning on having these guys as your back-up?  Your dumb sidekick, a bunch of kids, and. . . some strangers."

"Let them go, Negaduck," Darkwing aimed his gun again.

The nephews got their hands out of the roots and brought out their weapons, but before they could do anything, Quackerjack gasped and snatched them away.

"HEY!"

Quackerjack jumped with joy, "These boys brought me some toys!  New toys!  Oh boy!  Oh boy!"

"Hey!  Give those back!" Dewey shouted.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Quackerjack handed them back, but yanked them back to himself, "Oops!  Too slow!  Mine now!"

"Ohh!  And I feel a bit of something electric coming from them!  One of you guys got something in your pockets?" Megavolt approached them holding the light from the traffic signal like a candle.  It lit up in his hand as he reached into the roots with other.

"Hey!  What are you doing?!" Donald shouted.

With Megavolt digging through the roots, the weed actually started giggling and shaking about.

"Hey, knock it off!" said Bushroot.  "He's ticklish!"

"Give me a second!" Megavolt grunted.

"Hey!" Marina gasped and managed to slap Megavolt right in the face.  

"Oww!" he pulled his hand out and held his face.  "What was that for?"

Marina growled, "You're getting frisky in there!"

"Oops, sorry," he blushed.

"You better watch what you touch, Sparky!"

"Don't call me 'Sparky'!"

"Sparky!" Marina sassed with her tongue out.

"Why you little--!"

The Liquidator came between the two of them, "Coming up next!  Megavolt vs. a Sassy Lady!  Will it turn into a maniacal pillow fight?  Stay tuned after this!"

"Hey!  Back off, Waterboy!" Megavolt stepped away to avoid a short from the water.

"Enough!" said Negaduck.  "Time for business.  I'm glad the four of you finally showed up.  It's time to put an end to this!"

"What's the deal?" asked Bushroot.  "You call us here, manage to crash Darkwing's plane, and haven't even told us what's going on."

"Wait a sec," said Gosalyn.  "You guys are teasing Darkwing for not knowing what's going on, and you don't even know yourself?"

"Kinda funny, isn't it?" Quackerjack giggled while fiddling with the nephews' weapons.

"Ah, cut out the talking," said Megavolt.  "C'mon, Negaduck.  When's the Mistress of Evil coming?  I wanna meet her and get some powers with the Nightmares."

"Me too!" said Bushroot.  "I wanna make some new plant friends with the Nightmares."

"Just think of what business I'll be able to do," said the Liquidator.

"And I'll get the best of toys!!" Quackerjack bounced.  "New Nightmare toys!  Oh what fun!!"

"The Mistress of Evil?" Jiminy whispered.

"Who's that?" Goofy asked.

Jiminy answered, "Must be an important Nightmare."

Negaduck smirked and chuckled under his breath, "Oh, you boys are too late for that.  She's already been here."

"What?!"