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A loud voice boomed from outside the garage door. “Dewey! I have our food!” Launchpad burst through the door carrying two large bags from Hamburger Hippo. “You ready for marathon night?”
Dewey wished he could share in Launchpad’s excitement. The similarly excitable duckling was feeling anything but. “Sure, Launchpad.” His mood matched his favorite color: blue.
Taking no notice of Dewey’s resigned tone, his best friend shoved the bag of food into the duckling’s hands. “What do you want to watch tonight? It’s your turn for movie night since I had the last one! I wouldn’t mind Darkwing Duck!” He flopped down onto the ratty couch. His weight sent Dewey slightly airborne.
Dewey reached into his hand into the bag and pulled out a burrito. “Weird how burger restaurants can serve burritos and tacos, huh? Launchpad this is your bag.” He handed his bag back to him and took his own out of Launchpad's lap.
“Heh! Sorry about that! These burritos don’t compare to Sal’s sashimi quesadillas or his spicy tuna rolls. Anyway, what do you want to watch?”
Dewey nervously smiled. He tried to hide his worries from Launchpad. “Darkwing Duck is fine.”
Launchpad beamed. He nearly jumped from the couch all the way to a partially packed box and pulled out a tape. Rushing over to the VCR, he put the tape in. Returning to the couch in the same hurried fashion, he flopped down sending Dewey airborne again.
The boxes are what made Dewey so worried. Taped boxes, partially filled boxes, and collapsed boxes lay strewn and stacked adding to the chaos of Launchpad’s pad. His best friend was moving to St. Canard to be with his other best friend. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to not be able to see his friend everyday.
“So Dewey, I heard you guys are on your way to the Amazon tomorrow? Going to find some kind of Scepter? That sounds so fun. Oh! I’m sorry! I’m talking over the theme song!” He glanced at the TV. Sure enough, it was about half way through the saxophone heavy tune.
“Yeah, even Mrs. Beakey is going with us. Something about wanting to try to meet someone from her old spy days? I don’t know.”
They watch the first episode in unusual silence. Launchpad had a tendency to talk over the show, revealing a variety of secrets and trivia. It was like Dewey had his own personal director’s commentary of the show. The quiet shared between them was louder than Megavolt declaring freedom for all kitchen appliances.
After the episode ended, the tape paused. Launchpad looked at Dewey. “Hey buddy?”
“Let’s watch the next episode.”
Another loud silence drowned out Darkwing fighting one of Bushroot’s overgrown plants. The crinkling of food wrapping paper back broke up the silence along with Darkwing Duck’s plant based puns as Launchpad ate his meal. Dewey’s sat untouched.
“Hey, Dewey.” Launchpad tried again.
“So what is Bushroot trying to do again here?” Dewey pointed vaguely at the TV.
Without having to think, Launchpad answered immediately, “Oh! He’s trying to create a super fertilizer that will make plants grow anywhere! Even through concrete.”
Dewey opened his bag of food. It had cooled off significantly. Opening his burger, he felt the heavy grease from the patty had oozed into the bun. It seemed that the bun was falling apart. “Just like this friendship”, he though. He could not stomach biting into the mushy bun. “Oh, okay, cool.”
Now Launchpad was beginning to realize something was wrong. When he had paused the tape the first time, it was to just ask if he wanted to watch a different season of Darkwing Duck. He paused the tape again. “So…. How is the family doing after… everything?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Is Mr. McDee okay?”
“Yeah, they’re fine.” Dewey, the courageous child he is, decided to take his chance and finally confront Launchpad. “Why do you need to leave us? Everyday I hear Webby talk about how she’s so excited her family board is growing. I saw you put Darkwing or Drake or whatever and Gosalyn up there. Huey keeps going on and on about looking for a new troop leader. I thought we were your family.” Though Dewey is confident and fearless, he is just a kid. A kid feeling threatened by his best friend leaving.
Sure, Dewey had his brothers. Webby and her friends. Uncle Donald and Uncle Scrooge. His mom. But nothing compares to spending time with your best friend. Late night movie marathons. The greasiest of fast foods. Shared jokes and shared memories. Launchpad’s carefree and somewhat reckless behavior satisfied Dewey’s cravings for high-stakes adventure. Where is he going to find such unplanned chaos now?
Launchpad sucked in air through his teeth. He had learned the hard way how to handle people leaving him. Filled with an overwhelming amount of love for each and every person in his life, dealing with separation was difficult. ‘Goodbye’ is not and never will be in Launchpad's dictionary. If he has any chance to visit his previous flames or anyone he’s ever loved, he would jump on the chance without an ounce of reservation.
“Well Dewey…” Launchpad wasn’t too sure where or even how to begin. “Our family is growing! We had an adventure when we went to St. Canard together, right? Hm. You got to meet Darkwing officially and he’s my family. Now Gosalyn is too. Webby now has them on her board right? That makes them your family too.” He hoped this would be the best answer. It was not.
“A new family doesn’t make it okay to ditch this one!” Dewey snapped.
“Wait, what?” The ever so carefree Launchpad was offended. Uncharacteristically so. With a slight hint of anger in his voice, he corrected the duckling. “I’m not ditching you. You of all people should know that family is everywhere. Webby’s board proves it. A new family doesn’t mean you leave the old one behind.” His tone then softened. “There are people in my life who I think are my family and I see them so little. Remember that time in Macaw when I went to see an old girlfriend? That was three years ago!”
“It’s hard when you love your family so much. It’s hard to see them go.” He placed his hand on Dewey’s shoulder. “Friends and family moving can be like a crash. Hard and scary the first few times! Maybe unexpected. But they’re still your family and that’s the greatest adventure,” he finished. A quiet moment settled in between the two before Launchpad spoke again.
“Speaking of crashing, don’t think that Gos didn’t tell me about your crash at the Lost Library.” He playfully nudged Dewey.
Dewey had started to feel better as Launchpad talked about family. Best friends know what’s best, right? When he mentioned the crash, Dewey’s mood changed entirely. He told the pilot about his first time flying the Sunchaser without his mom’s guidance. Launchpad sat with rapt attention as Dewey regaled him with his tale.
“... so then we all climbed out of the sand. Boyd lost his head, but he was fine!” Dewey was panting slightly. He may have tried to tell the story in one breath.
Launchpad was speechless. He had never felt so proud. It even eclipsed the pride he felt for Darkwing when they defeated Taurus Bulba. "Don’t ever let DW find out about that", he vowed internally. Dewey continued to talk.
“Mom taught me how to fly! You inspired me. And I think that’s what I want to do: be a pilot. That’s what will make me special! And I dedicate my first crash.... to you.”
Launchpad had tears running down his face throughout the whole story. “Aw! Dewey! Thank you! My family, the Flying McQuacks, are pretty amazing pilots. I have to take you flying with them! Oh! We can fly back and forth between Duckburg and St. Canard anytime! It’s like we won’t even be apart.” He picked Dewey up and wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug.
Hugging him back, Dewey teased Launchpad. “Hey, so is Darkwing going to be your new boyfriend? Kinda like the ninja girl?”
“What? Noooo.” he quickly answered. He muttered the truth under his breath, “I can’t believe Dewey knows I like DW.”
“I knew it!” Dewey cheered, throwing his hands up in the air.
Launchpad nearly dropped Dewey out of shock mixed with a little fear. “How can you still hear my thoughts?!”
Unperturbed over being dropped, Dewey was standing on the couch. “I have an idea! Let’s go fly the Sunchaser right now!” Launchpad didn’t need to be told twice. He threw Dewey up onto his shoulders. Running out of the garage, they shouted in unison. “Flying at night together is fun!”