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Gosalyn's Gambit	By : MrFanFIction Category: +1 through F > Darkwing Duck Views: 4402 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Darkwing Duck, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 1 - FAST FORWARD
St. Canard. A lovely city to live in, oh sure it had it's fair share... well maybe more than its fair share of calamities what with the various nefarious Rogue Super-villains and Evil Organizations mucking about. Yes, it was certainly a city with understandably high premiums on what was almost mandatory insurance.
Nevertheless, the city had its upsides as well: a thriving economy, many scenic locales, diversions, thriving tourist industry and of course one of the best police forces and emergency medical services around. It also had superheroes. One of the best, though not particularly popular, was Darkwing Duck, the caped crusader, the masked mallard, the scourge of villains. For years now, he had protected the city from all manner of fiends. First as a solo vigilante, then he had a partner in one Launchpad McQuack. Seven years later, he would have a young Sidekick in the form of one Quiverwing Quack and her own sidekick the Arrow Kid. Between the four of them and the various other superheroes, local and visiting, St. Canard was never a dull place to live.
Darkwing himself had always been reluctant to work with others, especially with young Quiverwing, the Ascendant Archer. Part was his own ego and pride, which were not insignificant but the biggest reason being that Quiverwing was none other than his own adopted Daughter; Gosalyn Mallard. At first, he forbade it... and that worked about as well as could be expected, precocious spitfire that she was. He would eventually relent and let her work with him. He figured with some gentle advice from his own sweetheart and resident Mistress of Dark Magic, Morgana DeSpelle. She had provided a pearl of wisdom:
***
"Dark darling..." she said in a soft voice as they enjoyed a bit of 'personal' time together, "...you know if you forbid her she'll do it anyway, you know if you try to stop her she'll just get more creative about it; and you know how ‘creative' she can get. So why not let her?"
She put a finger to his beak to silence the protests she knew would come, "Uh, uh, uh. Let me finish Dark dear." she continued, "If she's with you while she's out super-heroing, you can at least keep an eye on her and perhaps guide her with your experience so that she grows into a truly splendid Crime Fighter. After all it's no wonder she'd want to be a crime fighter."
He heard her out and immediately began to object again. He did not get past the first ‘But Morgue...’ before she spoke again.
“The apple doesn't fall far from the tree Dark darling. She was a fiery spirit before she met you and honestly, she might have been disaster if you had not come along to give her a home and be a father and a role model. Seeing you as Darkwing gave her a direction for all her energy." She then paused to give him a chance to finish what he had started saying.
She knew he would not. She knew the exact mix of logic, observation, commonsense and ego stroking to get past her love's knee jerk objections and counter arguments.
"So here's the idea, you give her permission but with very strict rules as to when, where and what she can do. You will be able to keep an eye on her and train her. Moreover, if she happens to lose the spark of super-heroism since it would no longer be an outlet for rebellion but not unlike extra study lessons. Well so be it."
He liked that last part. If he could make it less exciting and more drudge and grind, she might very well get bored of it. The next day once he returned home and Gosalyn had come back from school. He sat her down and told her the news. Her jaw hit the table. Then she jumped for joy and then he delivered the caveats. There was grumbling but she agreed. Realizing, as Morgana had predicted, that she would at least have a chance to do stuff and the hope that with time she would prove herself capable to be solo.
***
Quiverwing Quack made her second debut. At first, it was only quiet patrol drills; no actual fighting or stuff, just routine scouting and lots, and lots and lots of boring stuff like equipment maintenance, vehicle upkeep plus base chores that mostly involved any boring stuff Darkwing could think of. Then there was the physical training, which was gruelling. She came close to breaking after two months of very little sleep, extra work when she got home from school and training for hours and, she had to keep up with her school grades and activities.
To her credit, she figured out what her father's game was after the first two weeks, though she had a strong suspicion from day three, and knowing he was trying to bore and break her out of it only fired up her stubborn streak and made her more determined to beat him. Stubbornness and fire can only carry a girl so far though and she really was about to admit defeat but then she noticed something on what she'd planned to be her last night of patrol before quitting, at first she wasn't sure but yes it was there in her father's eyes; pride. At some point during his plan to break his daughter out of her crime fighting fantasies, he had come to see her as astoundingly resolute. She was determined and he knew that she knew what he was trying to do and that she was simply trying to outlast him and that she kept it up for so long, well, no father could help but be proud and though he tried to hide it. It was apparent to anyone who knew him. Morgana saw it from the third week; even Launchpad could spot it after the first month. Every time they game back from a boring night patrol and he had sent her off to bed at two in the morning, he was practically glowing with parental pride.
Now Gosalyn could see it, and once she saw it she thought back and wondered how she missed it. She kept on with it. Stubbornness is a strong motivator but seeing the look of pride in a parent's eyes is an even more powerful driving force for any kid.
***
With time, he did indeed give her more freedom. They went on genuine patrols, He had apprehensions about letting her do the light patrols alone but she of course had a solution. One Honker Muddlefoot became, once again, her sidekick - The Arrow kid. It was surprising to think he actually agreed but most could guess why the terrified gosling would go into such, young puppy love. Again, at first, he objected but then he thought.
He did not need Morgana this time to bring up the pros of the arrangement. Aside from giving him an excuse to delay her solo patrols by another few months to get little Honker properly trained... which even Gosalyn did not argue against. Her best friend was precious to her and she really did not want to see him hurt, and Honker, for all his smarts was the sort of boy who could hurt himself walking down the street. That tied into the second and best Pro. Honker was by his nature a bit of a shy, nerdy, coward; well not so much 'a bit’, as he practically defined the term 'shy, nerdy, coward'. However, he did well to overcome those flaws; through training, caution replaced cowardice. He knew Honker would serve as the best safety switch for Gosalyn's adventurous and daring nature. The added fact that he had no where near her physical prowess and natural talent, talent which honestly amazed even him, would force her to be less daring so as not to put her friend in too perilous a situation.
The duo of Quiverwing Quack and Arrowkid was born. With time they actually became worthy of the title crime fighters in their own rights. Arrowkid even developed his own style, assisting Quiverwing by always having handy trajectories for trick shots and his encyclopaedic knowledge, which when applied to things like pressure points and basic martial arts made him surprisingly capable at self-defence. He also turned his clumsiness into dexterity. Rather than resist his stumbles and trips he would simply 'go with the flow' which added an almost 'Drunken Master' quality to his movements, and the limber physique he had built up through training only enhanced this. Though he was not much on offence, young honker could prove a frustratingly difficult target to hit.
So things went, Gosalyn's dream of being a real crime fighter was a work in progress and progress was good, but there was another dream... another desire that grew with her over the years.
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Gosalyn's Gambit