A Knight in Shining Armor || A DuckTales Story

The Making of a Hero

Dylan stood in an empty room, completely without windows, but with the same light as the rest of the lab. He was without his hoodie, only his tank top, shorts, and his sword. Gizmoduck stood next to him, working tech on his armored forearm. Dylan did side jogs in place to warm up, wondering how this training was going to begin.

"Alright," said Gizmoduck, "we're almost ready!"

"Uh-huh," Dylan breathed, now jogging back and forth in place.

Gizmoduck finished working with the tech, then looked at Dylan with a smile.

"Well, I love the enthusiasm!" he said, raising a fist. "First, all we're going to do is test your powers. Dr. Gearloose and your uncle are currently working on your suit, and once it's fitted, we'll run some more tests with it."

"Sounds good!" Dylan said excitedly, now stretching a little bit.

"In the meantime," Gizmoduck continued, "here's the first test!"

A small circular trap door opened in the middle of the floor, and rising on a platform was a training robot with a similar build to the Red Raven, similarly wielding a staff.

"This training bot has been programmed to mimic the Red Raven's moves," Gizmoduck explained. "Except his powers, which we're saving for another test."

Dylan became a bit nervous, readying a fist with his free hand on the hilt of his sword. The training bot stared him down, mimicking the Red Raven's flawless staff twirl.

"Ready," said Gizmoduck, "a-and fight!"

The training bot was almost as quick and agile as the Red Raven, running at Dylan with the same speed, with the same force behind it. Dylan drew his sword to block the coming staff, which the training bot twirled once more, quickly swinging at Dylan, who blocked as quickly as he could with his sword. Acting on the block, the training bot quickly spun around, bringing the staff with him. It swung the staff hard into Dylan's side, knocking him off his feet, and into the ground. Dylan groaned in pain, rubbing his side with his free hand. He still held his sword, but now it hung at his side as he got back up. The bot was not as tireable. It ran at Dylan as soon as he stood up, and Dylan ran to avoid its next attack, his side throbbing as he did. He resorted to running until the pain left, but the training bot was so quick, he couldn't keep up with it forever.

"You need to fight back!" Gizmoduck called from the other side of the room. "You can't just run and wait for a wound to heal in a battle, fight back!"

The pain in Dylan's side had slightly subsided as he flipped over the training bot, but as it ran at him once more, he raised his sword, knowing Gizmoduck was right. He blocked the staff once more as it came close to his face, and wasted no time waiting for the bot to attack again. He swung his sword up and around the staff, pushing its tip into the ground and successfully parrying. He put his foot on the tip of the staff, and the training bot tried to pry it out of the ground. Dylan took this as an opportunity to strike, and kicked the bot in the chest, pushing him and the staff far from him.

"Nice one!" said Gizmoduck, raising a fist.

"Thanks," Dylan quickly breathed.

Then he swung his sword around once, readying it for its next move. The training bot promptly got up from that kick, twirling the staff yet again. It ran at Dylan, who ran back with his sword! The training battle went on for quite a while, and Dylan had used his powers for a few moves as well, to keep them in check. Soon enough, Dylan had managed to get the training bot's staff away from it with a swing of his sword and a ball of fire, finally kicking the bot to the ground. And to that, it yielded.

Dylan was very much out of breath, as he sheathed his sword, and Gizmoduck proceeded to shut the training bot down for the time being. He wheeled over to Dylan, and placed a giant robotic hand on his shoulder.