[dictated, calmly] Y'know ... I'm all for people discovering the perils of parenting. It kinda makes you a better person if you do it right. I speak from experience. But ... all the same ...

IT MAKES IT REALLY HARD TO CONCENTRATE ON IMPORTANT STUFF WHEN ALL YOU CAN HEAR IS BABY TALK!

[sigh. ahem.] Right. I'm going out for a drive, so I can get some peace. And quiet. And maybe even do some proper deductive thinking. We may know who's behind it all, but those residents aren't gonna come back by themselves.

[yeah, no one's clued the duck in that they're probably all dead. whoops. he puts on his hat and heads for the doors, then down to the garage. revving up the Ratcatcher, he drives it down through town, making a cursory lap, and then heads out toward the forest on a whim. it'll be quiet out there, for sure. parking the motorcycle out at the edge of the woods, he gets out, stashes his helmet in the sidecar, and ventures down the path]

Huh. Gotta say, I haven't been out here since they burned down all the creepy trees. It's ... actually kinda nice out here. Calm. Tranquil. ... Amazing how much I can appreciate a forest without Bushroot around turning the deciduous into delinquents.

[he sticks his hands in his pockets and wanders, even starting to hum quietly to himself as the sunlight dapples down through the leaves. all in all, it's a gorgeous day, and a moment's peace is just what the doctor ordered. soon, he's cleared his mind, and has started lining up everything he knows about the disappearances, neatly, for comparison.

but that all gets thrown to the back of his mind as he sees a trail of wrecked foliage and churned up earth.]

Hark! What's this that my keen eyes spy? Looks like the site of some sort of crash! [he whips out his magnifying glass and starts following it deeper into the trees, off the path. pretty soon, he finds a half-bent tree, the branches and leaves JUST BARELY covering a small, round, magenta craft - Zim's "ingeniously hidden" voot cruiser]

Well well WELL, what! Have! We. Here. An alien ship, I trust! This is GREAT! Yet again, Darkwing Duck proves without a doubt that he is THE pinnacle and paragon of perception, the visionary of ... of ... er ... VISION. Ahem.

Good thing I've got my hat on. That's sure not happening again. But just in case ... [he looks around surreptitiously, then pulls a pepper shaker from the folds of his coat before uncovering the cruiser] There. Now, let's see what we can find out about your ominous occupant, and which way he's gooone... [he steps gingerly up and into the open cockpit. instantly, Something Happens.]

MALFUNCTION.

[an immense number of things that are somehow a cross between tentacles and armor plating snake up out of the seat and pin Darkwing to it. two round panels descend from the roof and hover just over his head. his beak and the tips of his fedora are the only things poking out from the mess, for a moment, and he grits his teeth]

Well this is cozy.

[he'll be here for a little while. eventually he'll get out, but in the meantime...? enjoy your fail!mallard. again.]