S1: E2: Pilot Part Two (Back In The Hood)

Chapter 4: Act Two

It still hurt to be back in the park, even if she could no longer hear the screams plants. At least she'd gotten Thornroot out, though she wished she could've saved more.

"We have to be careful, don't want anyone to find us snooping around a crime scene." Quiverhood whispered, her voice different with her proper mutant wooden beak, scratchier. It, coupled with her appearance, made it harder for villains to tell her gender -- a fact she'd exploited more than once, even if her androgynous mutated self had bothered her at first.

GWEN (Gravity-defying Wireless Environment Navigator), Arrowhead's drone, flew above them, taking pictures and scans.

Quiverhood crouched in the dirt by the burnt, broken heart, tasting it. She moved on to the surrounding area, tracking the path the fire took. It had started at the heart, probably to make sure it wasn't put out before the symbol formed. Or as a sick joke.

"GWEN's picking up machine remnants." Arrowhead read the drone's signal on his mask's eye lenses. "The way the fire was controlled -- I hate to say it, but it's impressive."

"She's better at fire than Negaduck." Quiverhood muttered. She'd found evidence that some of the plants had been hacked apart before being burned, though she couldn't tell the purpose of it; to further direct the fire? To leave false clues? As a way to annoy her? A random whim?

More worryingly, it didn't look like Lynn had done it herself. The person had been sloppy, which she never was, leaving a half-melted machete behind. Lynn had minions.

"Mreow?" Screech pawed at the ground at the center of the heart, digging. "Mreow!"

"There's something there." Arrowhead said, having GWEN scan it. "Looks metal, maybe just smaller than a hand?"

"Good boy." Quiverhood patted Screech and knelt at the spot, using her gloves to shovel dirt out of the way. It wasn't too deep in the ground, just enough to not be accidentally found. Quiverhood pulled it out.

It was a metal heart, black on one side with jagged pink lines splitting it into four uneven pieces. The other side was split much more cleanly into four colored sections, each with a different symbol.

Clockwise, she studied them. White with a black outline of a chess rook. Silver with a grey etching of a small object bouncing zig-zagged off a wall and ceiling. Red with a gold circle, connected by lines to eight smaller circles, each with two lines going off the borders. Black with BK scratched in white.

"No machinery or unusual energy signatures." Arrowhead reported. "What are those symbols?"

"I have no idea." Quiverhood shrugged. She'd never seen anything like it, not connected to Lynn at least. "But I don't think Blackheart's working alone." Lynn's codename tasted like ash in her mouth. Fitting, considering the circumstances.

Quiverhood stood up, about to say more, when Arrowhead stifled a small gasp. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, um, nothing, really." Arrowhead tapped the side of his mask. "Just caught something on a police scanner."

"Yeah, well the police can handle it." Quiverhood said firmly. She wasn't going off and playing superhero, she had to had to stop her cousin. A supervillain. Well, she wasn't playing superhero anymore than she absolutely had to, anyways.

"Yeah, totally, Q." Arrowhead agreed quickly. "I'm sure they can handle a, um- "

"A what?" Quiverhood asked curiously reluctantly.

"Well, from the looks of it," Arrowhead was watching something on his lenses, cringing slightly, "a giant made of living fire?"

Quiverhood blinked. It was with the utmost reluctance and sense of duty that she yelled "Woah, really?! Let's go!"

"Wait, I thought-" Arrowhead squawked, being pulled along by Quiverhood.

"We can't just let the city get burned down, Head!" Quiverhood said in a tone that made it seem obvious. "We'll fight this one bad guy, kick his butt, and stop my cousin -- then it's no more super stuff, just calm, normal lives."

Being pulled in the direction of a fire giant by an overexcited goose, Arrowhead wasn't inclined to believe her.

The thing was at least twenty feet tall, a living flame tearing through buildings as easily as a child knocking down sandcastles. If the sandcastles exploded when kicked, it would be a perfect analogy.

Rubble littered the ground, small fires lit here and there, smoke filling the air. Luckily, most of the civilians were already out of the area, with the rest quickly following them. Quiverhood ducked behind a particularly large hunk of rubble.

"What is it with this town and fire?" Quiverhood asked into her earpiece, flicking her expanding bow off her wrist and taking aim at the creature. "What do you think, Hydrarrow or Vacarrow?"

"Neither!" Arrowhead responded over the comms. She could hear him frantically clicking at a keyboard.

"The Foamarrow, then?" Quiverhood asked, narrowing her eyes as the creature hit into another building. It looked like the building has started exploding just before it was hit.

"No, that one's still experimental." Arrowhead said quickly. "Q, that things only giving off too minor a heat signature -- I don't think it's actually made of fire."

"I think you're right, Head." Quiverhood watched as another just-slightly-mistimed explosion went off. Someone was doing a good job of faking this thing's rampage, but she'd been trained to spot the smallest of details. "Have GWEN take some scans, figure out what it really is. I can't stop it if I don't know-"

"Help!" A voice called out. "Help me, please!"

Quiverhood whipped her head around, but she couldn't see anyone. "Familiar, find him!"

"Mreow!" Screech jumped off her shoulder, zigzagging through the rubble. The not-fire giant didn't notice him, flailing it's arms and roaring, but... It wasn't really doing much else anymore.

Quiverhood followed Screech, careful to stay out of the giant's line of sight. The cat led her to where a small form, like that of a child, was stuck under the rubble. "Don't worry, stay calm. Help is here."

"Ooooh." The form gave a pained groan. Quiverhood reached in and started pulling him out, using her back to prop up the stone.

"Can you tell if anything's broken?" Quiverhood asked, looking into the face of an adult -- but extremely short -- Cayuga duck. He had black feathers with a bright green shine, a grey beak, and dark brown eyes. His headfeathers were messy and he was wearing an orange T-shirt.

"Notin', far's I c'n tell." The duck grunted in a New Donkey accent. "Tanks for pullin' me outta dere, bu' we gotta be runnin' before Infernos Projection gets us!"

"Infernos Projection?" Quiverhood asked. "You mean the giant? He doesn't really seem to be doing anything right now, but better safe than sorry I suppose. Can you walk?"

"I tink so." The duck replied, limping to his feet.

"Okay, follow me." Quiverhood led him past the rubble, towards a clear area where he could get away safely.

"Q, I got something." Arrowhead's voice came through the comms. "GWEN picked a weird fluctuation coming from 'Infernos Projection's' form, along with a particular signal -- I think it's a hologram, albeit a very sophisticated one."

"Ahh!" The duck squawked, falling flat on his face. At the same moment, Infernos turned towards them, roaring. He -- it? -- swiftly moved forward.

"Eggshells." Quiverhood cursed quietly, slipping her bow back on her wrist in Crossbow Mode. She grabbed the duck, fired an arrow into a nearby building, and pulled them both up just as a fireball the size of a car flew past them, though no heat grazed her feathers. It exploded right where they had been but moments ago.

"Ya saved me again!" The duck hugged her. "Ya're a real hee-ro!"

Quiverhood froze. Between the orphanage and babysitting the kids of supervillains, she had long ago learned to tell the difference between two very important things -- a hug, and someone picking your pockets.

The duck went to move away, but Quiverhood grab him quick as a viper. She growled. "What did you just take?"

"I- I didn' take notin'!" The duck protested, flailing in the air as she lifted him by the back of his shirt. "Pu' me down! Help!"

Pressing a nerve, Quiverhood forced his hand open, watching as one of her poison pellets fell to the ground. "Wanna try that again?"

"Q, GWEN just picked up a signal coming from that duck!" Arrowhead's warning came too late to do anything as Quiverhood was violently rammed to the side, dropping the duck.

"Maybe dat'll teach ya' ta manhandle a genius!" The duck smirked, hopping onto the back of what looked like a smaller, metal version of the fire giant. "Move it, Golem!"

"Have a nice day!" The 'Golem' said in a deep metallic voice and waved to Quiverhood before speeding away, bags of most-probably-stolen goods in its - his? - grip.

"Head!" Quiverhood growled, jumping up and giving chase across the rooftops, Screech going ahead of her. "Who is this creep?!"

"Running facial recognition now." Arrowhead reported. "Wesley Ashfeathers, used to be a technological innovator in New Yolk, before his funding got cut after a series of legal issues. Disappeared a few years ago, a year before 'Infernos Projection' first showed in Firebird. Get this, he specialized in pyrotechnics and AI."

"Because of course that's something a sane person would combine!" Quiverhood muttered. She followed Screech for maybe an hour before he stopped, meowing -- he'd lost the scent.

Quiverhood had some very colorful swears for the night, and Arrowhead, to hear. Finally, she had give up the search, reluctantly retiring to rest.

Goz was sinking, drowning, melting. Everything burned, Darkwing was right there and just letting it happen, he didn't care. Why would he? He'd done this. He'd done this! He'd just let her melt, and didn't even care...

She was frying from the inside out. Her legs burned, she'd ran for hours. Her lungs burned from how long she'd screamed for help, but no help had come. She couldn't think straight, her brain felt like it'd been rewired by an incompetent plumber. And they'd get away with it -- they always did...

Everything she'd worked for was crumbling around her. Her creations called dangerous when all she'd wanted was to make people happy! They weren't dangerous, she wasn't dangerous. Those fools just didn't understand! They never understood! It was enough to drive someone crazy to desperate measures...

She'd felt nothing, it hadn't worked, she was a failure. But then something did happen! She'd changed, it was weird, but it was wonderful. Then they laughed, and she was a failure all over again, never to be noticed. Not by people, but who needed people anyways? After all, she'd always have her plants...

She'd always be alone. They wouldn't care, they wouldn't help, they wouldn't understand, they wouldn't notice. She was better off alone.

Goz awoke not with a scream, but with a sob. The nightmare was still so fresh, but it was hardly the only reason she'd curled up on her bed, letting the tears fall freely.

"Red, ya're late for break-" Tank opened the door, then rushed over to her. "What's wrong?"

"I- I didn't..." Goz choked. The memories, both real and dreamt, swarmed in her head, confusing her. "I didn't even think about them! I just forgot! I just forgot..."

"Forgot who? Red?" Tank shook her gently. "Gosalyn, it was just a nightmare. I know it seemed real, but-"

"Honker! I need-" Goz had started hyperventilating. "Get Honker!"

But Screech was already running into the room, Honker's glasses clutched in his mouth, said rooster right behind him.

"Bad cat! Give those- Goz?" Honker blinked. "Goz, what-"

"She had a nightmare." Tank explained. "She says she forgot someone."

"Who did you forget, Gosalyn?" Honker asked, holding her face to look her in the eye.

"The kids." Goz whispered. "Honk, I didn't even think about them! What if she got them? Their parents aren't answering, who's watching them? How could I not even..." She broke into crying again, the dream rattling her brain too much to calm down.

"What's she talkin' about?" Tank asked.

"I'll explain later, but I think we need some time alone." Honker didn't look away from Goz, didn't speak again until the door shut behind his brother. "Gosalyn, listen to me. With everything going on, some things are bound to be forgotten. It sucks, but you did nothing wrong. The most we can do for them is to rescue everyone, then either they'll be there or we'll have the Four to help us find them."

Screech purred loudly, meowing in agreement.

Even with Honker's reassurances, it was a while before she was calm enough to move from her room. Long enough for Tank, worried as he was, to have gone to bed.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I freaked out that badly." Goz sighed. "It's just... How could I not even think of them?"

"You aren't the only one who forgot." Honker said quietly. "Neither of us thought of it. There's nothing we can do, Q. Either they're fine, or they aren't. We can't know until we find everyone."

"Yeah, and how do we do that?" Goz asked, taking the metal heart they'd found out of her pocket. She stared at it. "Where do we investigate next, Honk? Any ideas? Any clue at all? We already scoured the park, there's nothing more there. We've got nothing."

"Goz, that's not-" Honker paused. She was right, they didn't even know where to begin searching next. "The Coven. We still haven't tried them."

"So we're just supposed to wait for two days?" Goz hissed. "Sit here and wait for someone else to help us? Do nothing, while everyone we care about is missing, captured -- who knows what else?" Goz stood, pacing.

"Goz..." Honker sighed. "What else can we do?"

"I... I need some air." Goz muttered, marching out and the door. She didn't slam it, she was too angry to do so.

"Mreow." Screech got a weird, faraway look in his eyes, before racing out the window to catch up to her.

"I guess I'll just stay here, then." Honker muttered, putting his head in his hands with a groan.

--

Goz didn't know why, but being around Melody calmed her. Sitting at the Starduck's counter during a slow period, she just chatted with the leopard. And Melody just chatted back, petting Screech and swapping dumb little childhood stories.

It was nice. Calming. Until a news report came on the television propped on the wall behind the counter.

Hello, I'm Rebecca Robinson, reporting for Burning Hot News.

"Ugh, that snoop." Melody muttered. It was the first time Goz had seen her look even mildly angry. "Wonder whose name she's dragging through the mud this time?"

Once again, Infernos Projection has attacked our fair city, putting the 'fire' in 'Firebird'.

Goz looked up, watching video of last night's attack. It was impossible to tell that the explosions weren't perfectly timed on the screen.

Though there were no casualties, dozens of poor civilians were trapped under rubble as they tried to escape, but one was saved by a mysterious newcomer.

Video played of Go- Quiverhood, pulling that blasted runt out of a place he almost-certainly wasn't actually stuck in. She still had scratches on her back from lifting that stone.

Some are calling them a hero, but is this a savior or another mutant menace here to destroy the foundations of our society?

"Pfff, the dame don' know wha' she's squawkin' about!" An old dog barked. "He' ain't no mutant, I know a hero when I sees one."

"And why can't she be both?" Melody growled, to Goz's surprise, both because of the tone and the words.

"Pro-mutant trash." The man muttered, walking out rather than causing a fight. No one caused a fight in Melody's Starduck's.

"How you know they're a she?" Goz asked, for lack of something better to say, as Rebecca Robinson friend in the background.

"Those hips, that face -- it's obvious." Melody smirked. "I hope she really is a hero, Firebird could use one."

"You don't mind that she's a mutant?" Goz sipped her coffee, watching as the report played on.

"Of course not." Melody replied, perhaps a bit too quickly. Her voice was weary when she asked "Do you?"

"No." Goz shrugged. Further conversation was halted by a loud gasp from the TV.

This just in, breaking news! Another Infernos attack at the Firebird Museum Of Really-Dangerous-Why-Was-This-Even-Made-The-Creator-Was-Definitely-Evil Technologies and Biscuit Theater!

"Two Infernos attacks in as many days, that's a new-" Melody turned, but Goz and Screech were gone, money for the coffee left on the counter. "Record..."

Quiverhood watched Infernos rob the museum, sneaking out bags of loot under the distraction of the 'fire giant'. She watched civilians flee in panic, helped them escape. But she didn't stop him, didn't even try, just kept herself hidden.

When she was a kid, she'd rush in to danger without a second thought, dragging her best friend behind her. Then it would get too big for her, she'd have to wait for Dad and Launchpad to save the day, save her. She could do nothing.

Now she was an adult, waiting for someone else to come save her family. There was nothing she could do to speed it up, all she had was a stupid box of photos and a hunk of heart-shaped metal.

But this? This she could do. This she could change. This she could make better. But only if she was careful, patient. Only if she gave a thought to her actions, for once in her life, and didn't drag anyone else into it.

"Mreow." Screech sniffed the air, slowly following the Golem. Quiverhood slunk quietly behind him.

Infernos Projection's lair was an old abandoned mine, just outside town. He stood there in a makeshift lab, cackling over his horde. He had goggles, welders gloves, boots, a red jacket and pants to protect him from the heat as he worked on some spiky bomb-like machine.

"Infernos happy?" Golem asked, sorting the ill-gotten gains into neat little piles.

"Infernos very happy, Golem." The duck smiled, stopping in his work to pat his creation's head affectionately. "Ya did good, my Golem. Da pah'fect accompaniment ta my genius!"

"Some genius." Quiverhood casually stepped out from where she was hiding, grabbing Infernos and hooking a pair of cuffs on him before he even had time to react. "Heya, Wesley. Tell your pet to come quietly, or I'll let you get a closer look at those poison pellets you were so interested in."

"He's naht a pet!" Infernos protested, to Quiverhood's surprise. Then he grumbled. "Golem, do as da liddle hee-ro says."

"Of course." Golem nodded, turning to Quiverhood and allowing himself to be cuffed. "Golem is happy to meet you again, hero. Has hero had a nice day?"

"Not really, but it's gotten better." Quiverhood chuckled, marching out of the lair while carrying Infernos, Golem following. "And the name's Quiverhood."

"Golem is glad Quiverhood's day is getting better." Golem made a happy sound, then noticed his Creator's sour expression. "Infernos not happy?"

"No, Golem, Infernos is naht happy." Infernos snapped. "We jus' gaht caught."

"Golem did poorly?" The -- robot? -- asked, his single eye twisting sadly.

"No, Golem did well." Infernos reassured quickly. He turned to Quiverhood. "Seems I didn' take propah accoun' of ya, Quivahhood. I won' make dat mistake twice."

"Sure you won't, Wes." Quiverhood grinned. It wasn't her cousin, but she did catch a bad guy. She actually did something. And if she could do this?

Maybe she could do what really needed to be done.