The Pyromaniac Chemist (Louie x Oc)

15: The Shadow War (part 3)

The menacing shadows continued to circle around Scrooge's devastated money bin. The sky glowed red; the wind howled and blowed. Raylan shuddered fearfully as she took in the fateful sight in front of her, but she stood with confidence masked on her face nonetheless. The unnerved girl knew she had to fight for Duckburg.

Her father took the center stage, displaying nothing but courage.

"Tonight," the determined scientist began, "we seek revenge on those who destroyed our lab. And whoever defeats the most shadows, will win the most elusive prize of all: my respect. Oh, and the loser is fired. Good luck!"

"Wait, Dad! I'm your daughter! You can't just-"

And with that, Gyro Gearloose was gone, completely ignoring that fact that he just threatened to fire his own child. Manny stomped his hoof at Raylan and Lil Bulb, signaling something in Morse Code. All Raylan responded with was an apathetic eye roll, while Lil Bulb buzzed his light in agreement with the tall horseman.

~~(small time skip)~~

Being chased by the malevolent umbras, Raylan was left to do nothing but avoid the shadows. Her dad wielded a ray gun, which gave him a slight advantage against the shaded fiends. Raylan had nothing. She was just an innocent ten year old girl left unprotected and expected to be a hero without any ability to actually get the upper hand against these shadows.

As Raylan was trying to comprehend how she would be able to vanquish these shadowy beasts, a bundle of the shadows grabbed Gyro and lifted him towards the bin.

"You'll never take me alive!" the stubborn man in distress cried. "Wait, no. Please take me alive!"

"Dad!" Raylan worriedly called.

How could she let this happen? Raylan just watched her father get swept away by the villains because she couldn't stop them. Her futility in combat basically cost them the mission and could very well cost her father's life.

It seemed like Lil Bulb and Manny's attempts at fending off the shadows proved to be ineffective, as well. They were outnumbered; they were surrounded. The three of them backed up until they reached the wall of the bridge — this was the end of the line.

Manny clomped his hoof and turned to look at his two companions on either of his sides.

Raylan just stared back at him, appearing more sluggish than anything. "You do realize I have absolutely no idea what you're saying, right?"

"Blathering Blatherskite!" a familiar voice cried from the shadows.

Just in time, Fenton blasted his way through the crowd of shadows to get to the group in jeopardy. He tossed one of the two guns in his current possession to Raylan and placed the petite light bulb in the barrel of the second gun.

"Illumination, lady and gentlemen! If we increase Lil Bulb's wattage output and optimize the lazer's spatial coherence..."

Almost on cue, Lil Bulb radiated a new blue color, unlike his usual yellow.

"Yes!" Fenton eagerly exclaimed, obliterating multiple shadows at once.

"Cool!" Raylan proclaimed, astounded.

"Manny! We ride!" Fenton declared, grabbing Raylan. They both mounted their friend who now raced on all fours.