"You know, maybe if you weren't such a smart-ass all the time we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Oh well then excuse me, Mister 'I-know-everything' but I don't see you contributing to this conundrum!"

"That's because I know that conversing with the enemy like that is sure to lead us in to trouble, which, in case you haven't noticed, is what we're currently in right now!"

"Oh, really? Well, then-"

"Both of you, cut it out!" The sudden voice interrupting the duo's argument made everyone jump in surprise. "Maybe you could use those voices of yours to suggest some ideas of how to escape?!" The pair both muttered an apology before falling quiet, leaving their surroundings silent . If you minus the bubbling sounds coming from below them.

Currently, the room was occupied by Darkwing Duck, his sidekick Launchpad, two newly discovered heroes and a vat of boiling lava. The quartet were tied together by a fraying rope directly over the lava. A chuckle from the shadows alerted them their captor had returned. "Trouble in paradise, eh?" A chicken with a metal beak smirked, leaning against some metal railing. Darkwing glared at the chicken.

"Steelbeak..." He muttered darkly, grinding his teeth in fustration.

"Wing-a Ding-ding! Give Darkwing Doofus his prize! What's the prize I hear you ask? It's this delightful vat of lava! Guarunteed to get rid of those pesky heroes or their remains back!" Steelbeak gave a cruel snicker as he watched his captives struggle.

"Don't even bother! Movement just makes it worse! You see that rope? One false move and then SPLASH! The end of Darkwing Dork and his little gang of merry men."

The villainous poultry began to walk out of the room. "So long losers! Have fun boiling! Oh, and I know what'cha gonna say but trust me. I've gotten away with it this time." With one last laugh, Steelbeak sauntered from the room, leaving the heroes to weigh out their options even more frantically.

"C'mon, DW! You've gotta have some sorta plan, like always, right?" Launchpad asked nervously, eyeing the lava beneath with discomfort. Darkwing looked around the room, panicking.

"Yep, yep,yep! I-I'll have us out in an instant. Just as soon as I get a plan..."

"Can't you think a little faster?!" A female voice complained, feeling the rope sag closer to the vat.

"Apologies for not being used to the extra baggage." Darkwing snapped back .

"Extra baggage?!"

"Now's not the time to worry about insults, Sis." A male voice chided. The rope sagged again and everyone yelped.

"Hurry, DW!"

"I'm trying!" The rope frayed one last time before breaking. The heroes screamed in horror as they plummeted towards the lava. They fell faster and faster, screeching all the while. They advanced closer and closer and -

"HOLD IT!" Darkwing Duck commanded with all his might. The scene came to an abrupt halt. "Is this really how we're starting the story?!" Darkwing criticized. The others groaned.

"Not now Boss.."

"Really?! Of all the possible times you could have interrupted with your magical forth-wall powers, you chose now. You could have interrupted during Steelbeak's monologue. Oh no. You had to be an overdramatic idiot and wait until we were plummeting to our doom. Congratulations!" The female hero snarkly spat at the masked duck who clicked his tongue in frustration.

"Now, now. Hear me out. How are we supposed to start a story like this? The audience has no context of what's going on here. All they know is that Steelbeak has captured us and we're falling to our deaths. Not only that but Launchpad and I are teaming up with two new heroes they've never seen but they are somehow supposed to care about." Darkwing hastily explained. The others slowly digested this information. The female spoke first.

"He has a point. How can we start a story when the audience are unaware of the events leading up to this. Like how did Steelbeak capture us and what does he want?" Her companions gave firm nods of agreement.

"Yeah! There's also the question of who we are and how we met Darkwing and Launchpad?" The unnamed male hero motioned his head to his female counterpart who looked annoyed.

"If it's any constellation, I have no clue what's going on here either! One minute we're on a new case and BAM! We're falling to our doom." Launchpad spoke up. He then frowned.

"Say, where'd Gos and Honker go?" He questioned. Darkwing's brow furrowed in concern.

"They were with us before we were captured... D'OH! Look Storyteller, either you go back and tell this story from the beginning or face the terrifing and imposing wrath of Darkwing Duck!"

"Pfft, yeah. I'm sure you're REAL terrifying and imposing all tied up..." The female sarcastically moaned, rolling her eyes dramatically. Darkwing shot her one of his infamous glares (the kind that send shivers down most spines). She kept quiet after that. A message appeared before the heroes. Launchpad read it aloud.

" 'Out of the kindness of her heart, the storyteller has decided to restart the story from its true beginning for the pure benefit of her audience. Heeey, whaddya know? The Storyteller is gonna fill everyone in!" There were a few sighs of relief.

"At last..." Darkwing muttered.

Without warning, the scene completely paused and blurred away in a mess of colours. Voices and sounds merged together, coming and going as fast as the images that were moulded together. Slowly, a scene began to be painted in. The noises stopped. Before the audience, Drake Mallard's neighbourhood came in to focus and a busy, bustling scene came to life.