Two Darkwing Duck Adventures for the Post of One!

[flapsin]

[For Morgana]

[Drake's quest to find answers about the missing Professor Waddlemeyer was full of dead ends. He had made no progress, and he felt bad about the effect that had on Gosalyn. She was still her normal chipper self most of the time, but he had learned to see the cracks in that. And he wanted to do everything he could to help her feel better until he could reunite her with her real family.

These days, it seems the thing she got most excited for was a band. To Drake's relief, it's not like other music of the youths which register just as noise for him. This actually sounds like the kind of thing he'd listen to in high school! And the singing is just great... but this is about Gosalyn! In a spot of bad timing, Gosalyn's fallen sick while the band's has come to St. Canard for a concert. And so Drake's claimed to be out for a night of quiet patrolling while Launchpad tends to the sick kid, but in actuality he's doing something as Drake Mallard. If she can't attend the concert, maybe he can at least get an autograph for her or something. Maybe that will raise her spirits!

And so, Drake Mallard sneaks around backstage at the concert, for any sign of mysterious melodist...]

[For Della]

[It was a long night of fighting crime in Avalon for one Darkwing Duck. Some sort of magical monsters were on the loose, and he didn't get out of it without a comical number of bruises on his head. He was also left somewhat disoriented...

So when he slinked back home in the wee hours of the morning and tried to clamber into his bedroom through the window, he did not realize that he was going through the completely wrong window, into the room of the one person who didn't yet know his secret!]

Comments

[flapsin]

[O-oh, she stretched her arm over him, and without even yawning! Truly this is his most formidable foe yet.

He grins meekly at her lets out a chuckle just as nervous. She's very effective at this whole shtick!]

Y- Y'know, I'd like for us to get to something like that naturally...!

[He weakly attempts to quip back! But he's soon distracted, as he's starting to realize those buzzing noises aren't his heart beating. They're a little off-tempo. Looking over, he sees Eek and Squeak struggling with the phone.]

Um. Is that your phone...?

[lovebites_sodoi]

[ But this is natural, as far as she sees it! How long does one expect a spider to starve when a juicy fly is in the net? She'd been leaning in more and more like a hunter with its prey - only for Drake to kill the mood, albeit with good intentions.

Morgana pulls back, sighing heavily. ]

That... would be my father.

[ Wordlessly and without looking back, she holds up the palm of her hand. Obediently, Eek and Squeak pick up the still-buzzing device and drop it into her hand. She flashes it a glare before trying to find the block button.]

I guess I should warn you, he's not going to approve of you. ... Not that he's approved of anything I've ever done.

[flapsin]

[Now he's frozen with a different kind of fear as he tries to imagine the most intimidating father in the world.]

F-father?!

[Drake looks on uneasily as Morgana does her thing with the phone.]

B-but I haven't even met the guy yet! How can you know for sure? ...Is it because I'm a real bad boy type?

[lovebites_sodoi]

[ Think Cthulhu but with more fangs and tentacles.

She straightens up, shaking her head.]

It's less about who you are, but what you are, and what I am, and...

[ She trails off. There's really no other way to explain than to... well, explain! She opens up her photos, at last ready to reveal the Traumatic Origin Story - with some magic mixed in the phone to capture memories and angles the phone wasn't there for. On with the show. ]

... Where I grew up, it's very... traditional. They hate anything new and different - they're still using flip-phones! So I was always expected to be the same. To do what I was told, and to never think different, act different, speak different...

[ The first photo is a family portrait - full of ghouls and monsters, vampires and mummies, ogres and trolls, but riiiight in the front center is Little Morgana, roughly the same age as when Little Drake was watching his very first episode of Darkwing Duck. She looks rather miserable among all the smiling fangs, like a morose Wednesday Addams. ]

I was never given choices about anything. What I wore, who I played with, even my whole future was decided for me. I felt less like a person and more like some doll. For a long time, I thought no one would ever want the real me... and when you grow up in a family who steals from the people they scare, you don't feel great about the "real you".

[ Next up is Little Morgana with an improvised guitar made out of cardboard and string, jamming to a radio from the 90s. With this, Morgana's voice goes from somber to sweet, recollecting one of her happiest days. ]

... But then one day, I heard music that had never been played in my house before. Rock and roll. It was absolutely amazing! It was like they were reaching out to me and telling me I mattered! And it made me want to share that feeling with everyone in the world - that there are people who understand you, and want you for who you are!

[flapsin]

[He leans forward and watches, completely captivated, as she leads him through her backstory.]

Flip-phones? It's worse than I thought...

[He mutters severely as she goes through her story. His eyes widen as he beholds that family! Now he's really thinking her fangs must ve real... Is she related to the whole monster universe?? ...Still, at least Kid Morgana is adorable among it all. And that makes him feel even more for her story. He places a comforting hand on her shoulder.]

Wow. So rock and roll is your Darkwing Duck... [He muses aloud as he makes the connection.] It sounds like a rough childhood. I'm sorry.

[lovebites_sodoi]

[ She's not exactly sure what connection he made, but she'll put that aside for now. Alas, the next photo shows her childhood didn't get any easier - a Disappointed Dad looking over the trashed remains of the radio and guitar, no doubt smashed by the man himself, as Little Morgana hangs her head in defeat. ]

Unfortunately, father didn't exactly approve of my taste in music... but I kept hoping that as long as I kept trying, someone would listen to me. So I kept playing, and kept writing, and kept hoping... but when they started making plans for my future wedding, that's when I decided to give up and get out.

[ Less Than A Year Ago Morgana is seen frantically jimmying a window open whole an oblivious Aunt Ant is showing off a newly made wedding dress. Next is a photo of Morgana and the Ghoulies version 1.0 - while decked in goth attire and black face-paint, they're clearly normal mortals, just enjoying a good beat.]

At first I thought I found people who were just like me, and my first real friends. We had so much fun together, and the music we shared was incredible... so I thought I could let my guard down, and show them who and what I was. When they realized everything about me was my real, they... didn't exactly feel the love anymore.

[ Who knew torches and pitchforks were still a thing in 2022?! Again, Morgana is frantically running away. That leads to the final photo - Morgana and the Ghoulies 2.0, with the monsters Darkwing had helped put away the night before. ]

... So I went back to my hometown, and got desperate. I knew the only way I'd get these kind of people to join me was to do... things I wasn't proud of. Things I regret. By then, I was so... lost in the desire for fame, fortune, and revenge on everyone who rejected me... I lost sight of why I wanted to play music in the first place.

[flapsin]

[The imagery is tragic, and Drake offers her another comforting gesture. Even if he had to deal with bullies, at the very least Drake feels lucky to have had nice and supportive family. Not... This. It's even easier to sympathetize with her when he imagines every rock and roll thing as being things that are Darkwing Duck-related.]

I... I see. So you lost your way. [It's a very good backstory! But it's hard to appreciate that when he's seeing her pain firsthand.] But now, now you found it again.

[lovebites_sodoi]

... I just hope I can keep it this time.

[ Now he knows everything - her past, present, and the threat of her future. Plus that she's, y'know, definitely some kind of monster. She places her phone aside to meet his eyes, and takes one of his hands in both of hers. ]

After hearing all that... I wouldn't blame you if you thought it was all... too much. That I'm too much. I really do like you, and I've never felt this way about anyone before - [ besides darkwing apparently ] - but I'd... understand if you thought I'm too... dangerous to be around.

[flapsin]

[And he puts his other hanf over hers as he gazes back at her.]

You are too much. ... Affectionately! In a - in a good way.

[A gentle smile.]

I haven't seen anything that would turn me away. I'm not even sure there is such a thing! I only feel... even more stronger about you. It's like I said before... [He clears his throat.] Let's get dangerous!

[lovebites_sodoi]

[ And just like that, the rest of her worries are washed away. She will become a hero - or at least, a better person than she was before, if only to earn her place beside him. She leans in to kiss his cheek - and grab her guitar from the other side. ]

Do you remember what you said to me when we first met? Something about me making beautiful music while you sing along? I think I have just the tune in mind...

[ With the guitar in her lap, she leans shoulder-to-shoulder with him, and after a few strumming notes, it should be obvious what the song is - the only song it could be! ]

Daring duck of mystery,
Champion of right,
Swoops out of the shadows,
Darkwing owns the night!

[ To quote the bard, "If music be the food of love, play on!" ]

[flapsin]

[His heart surges the moment she starts playing! Now it's even more cemented that he has found a Real One! He'd kiss her right here and now, but that would disrupt her beautiful singing!

So he just sings along eagerly and excitedly, shoulder to shoulder, looking into her eyes... until he eventually just dozes off on her shoulder.]

[lovebites_sodoi]

[ This isn't quite how she thought the day would go... but she can't say she's complaining. Chuckling and shaking her head, she takes off her guitar and places it aside. ]

Sweet dreams, Drake Darling.

[ She kisses his forehead and... pauses? ... Why did this feel so very familiar? Puzzled, she looks at his sleeping face... like she'd seen this somewhere before...?

... Oh.

Her eyes widen, and she manages to suppress a surprised gasp. It answered so many questions... while raising so many more. But... for now. She'll keep this secret. He'll tell her when he's ready. They have a whole lifetime ahead of them to learn everything about each other.

She leans back into the loveseat, holding him gently to her, and decides they're both probably overdue for a long nap after so many exciting nights. She strokes his head fondly before closing her eyes, hoping maybe she can see the "both" of them in dreamland. With one last sleepy sigh, she dreamily purrs... ]

My hero ♥.