Headcanon-based roleplay/ask blog for Darkwing Duck character Honker Muddlefoot in DuckTales (2017) continuity. Header image from sputtersparky-tm via commission.
Honker took a few breaths, pressing his hands together as he mentally rewalked his day so far.
"This morning, I went to check of Gos and Drake at their house. Their door was unlocked, but nobody was inside... No obvious signs of struggle... Car in the garage... WANDA said she hasn't seen them since the other night when I asked her... I tried calling Launchpad thrice; once after I left their house, once outside your gate, and once inside; voice mail every time..."
"Alright lad" said Scrooge as he puts his hand back on his cane."Dad? We're here" said Webby behind them with the family.
"Honker" started Scrooge as he turns around towards his family. "Meet Huey, Dewey, Louie, Donald, and Della Duck. Oh and of course Webbigal McDuck. Family, meet Honker."
Honker took a step forward, taking a steadying breath as he surveyed the audience he now had. He had seen every one of these people at least once each on photographs Launchpad would show off on his phone. Dewey, the blue-clad one, stood out in his mind the most; he and Launchpad seemed to have the closest bond. Nonetheless, the team pilot seemed to have some level of fondness for everybody in Clan McDuck.
Clearing his throat, Honker reached up to adjust his glasses as he said. "...I'm a friend and ally of the Mallards and of Launchpad, and I've actively assisted them in their line of work since sometime back during the incident involving a rash of seemingly random blackouts throughout downtown St. Canard. Right now, my friends appear to have gone missing, and given our mutual friendships involved, I hoped I could find help here in finding them."
Scrooge saw Honker did the voicemail. He knew how he felt... He knew how it felt to lose someone that you were really close to. Scrooge stood up, walk up to Honker and put his hand over Honker's shoulder.
"We're going ta help ya Honker." said Scrooge, giving him a gently smile. "Nothing will stop us when we are together."
Honker stopped when he felt the weight on his shoulder, lowering his phone to turn his gaze around to the manor's patriarch. His wide, uncertain eyes met the other's worldly and confident ones. There was something about Mr. McDuck that carried such a weight of wisdom and experience that when he made any kind of assurances, you just had to believe him.
With a slow but reassured nod, Honker let his beak form the first real smile he felt on it all day. "OK..."
Scrooge sat there watching Honker pacing back and forth then he notice something. Then he whispered.
"Hi Webbigal" whispered Scrooge to Webby without looking at her.
"H-Hi Dad" whispered Webby sitting behind the seat. "Why are you're not following the plan? We all are confused!!!"
"I know Webby..." whispered Scrooge. "This lad looks worry about Launchpad, the purple guy and Gosalyn. I think he is not evil. We should accept and help him. Oh and that reminds me!" whispered Scrooge.
"Have ya seen Launchpad anywhere?"
"No... I haven't."
"Then there is something wrong..."
"What do you mean by that?!?!" asked Webby.
"It means it's time ta help Honker and present the family to him. Webby, go get the family! "
Still pacing on spot, Honker had everything else tuned out. He held his breath as the phone continued to ring...before the same voice mail notice in typical Launchpad lighthearted goofiness played...yet again.
Honker sighed, waiting for the tone to beep before speaking. "Launchpad, it's me...again... Still have no idea where you, Gos, or Drake are. I'm at McDuck Manor. If you get this, please call me back."
Hanging up and locking his phone, he pressed his forehead against the blank screen and gathered his thoughts. Sure, it's entirely possible that Launchpad just lost track of his phone and would come across it later with the messages Honker left. But with both Darkwing and Gosalyn nowhere to be found and their house just left unlocked, Honker had reason to doubt it was that simple.
Scrooge looked at Honker. "Just once?" said Scrooge unimpressed. Then he puts his phone away. "What dont ya try again lad and I mean right now. Maybe he will answer it this time." said Scrooge as he sits on the couch. "Go ahead. Try it again".
Of course Scrooge knows he should help Honker but he knows Launchpad. He found him, took him to the mansion, and gaved him a job! Also he had to follow the plan he establish with his family to know if this boy is evil or not or this will be confusing for them. He already confused Webby already so he wont try to risk it again. He already know that Honker IS a friend of Launchpad but he wants make sure.... He doesnt want to make mistakes.
Honker glanced up from his phone screen, watching as Mr. McDuck stepped aside to have a seat. He frowned, glancing down at his phone again and then back up towards the elderly duck. He had his doubts, though Honker did suppose Mr. McDuck did know Launchpad longer than he has.
"Third time's the charm, I guess..." he mumbled to himself, tapping one of the instances of Launchpad's name in his call history list. The cheerfully confident photo he had taken of the pilot flashed onto the screen, with a calling notice and hang-up button imposed over it.
Holding his cell to his ear, Honker waited, pacing the floor again as he heard the ring tone play.
Scrooge looks back at Honker. When he looks back, he sees him afraid of Webby. Honker looks towards her, backing up by little by little.
"Honker" said Scrooge walking up where is Honker standing. "Meet Webbigal McDuck, my daughter! Ya dont have ta be afraid of her lad." said Scrooge as he presents Webby to Honker. "Webby, meet Honker. He is a friend of Launchpad."
Webby looks at Honker head to toe. "Why Dad is not going with the plan?" thought Webby to herself. Then Webby waved akwardly and left in a hurry to Scrooge's office.
"Well..." said Scrooge confused of why Webby ran in a hurry. "Back to the conversation..... Ya do know that ya dont have ta wait 24 hours to report someone missing, Right?" asked Scrooge to Honker. "If ya didnt knew about it, dont worry. I can call the police for ya so they can find the purple guy and the lass." said Scrooge as he takes out his phone out of his pocket.
Honker gazed back just as awkwardly as Webbigail waved and then hurried deeper into the upper floor. He'd barely managed to get in a small, stiff wave of his own before the girl was gone. It seemed like people around here weren't sure what to make of him. Which, he supposed, was understandable: he was still somewhat of a stranger, only joining Team Darkwing relatively recently.
He hadn't been around for earlier events, such as the Ramrod Incident (though he definitely witnessed the citywide consequences) and the Battle of the Library of Alexandria. Still, from everything Launchpad had told him about the Duck family, these people were his best bet at finding his missing friends.
Honker's attention snapped back to Mr. McDuck and the old-fashioned flip phone he'd pulled out of his pocket. He pressed his forefingers under his beak contemplatively at his offer. "Well...good luck with that, sir. As for Launchpad..." Reaching into his pants pocket, Honker pulled out his own red smartphone and stared at his call history. "I tried again once...while I was waiting outside... No dice."
When Honker was explaning why he came the McDuck McManor, Scrooge could see the worry that Honker felt. Now that he is thinking about it, he havent seen Launchpad since last night when he came to pick up Scrooge from the Money Bin. Something must be wrong, but at the same time it might not.
"Well Honker" said Scrooge as he begans to speak. "Have ya tried calling him again? Ya did say your a friend of his so maybe he didnt heard the call..." said Scrooge as he taps his fingers on his cane. "Ya know how he is... He gets distracted easily. Also, have ya tried calling the police?" asked Scrooge looking at Honker as he cocks up an eyebrow. "Ya know, Ta know what happened ta the purple guy and the lass? There must be an explanation why they disappear..."
When Scrooge finished he caught his daughter, Webby, up at the stairs with her grappling hook, about to jump Honker but Scrooge gived her look that made her stop that.
Honker's beak skewed awkwardly at the mention of the police, with a hem and a haw at the back of his throat. Truth be told, he didn't exactly have that much faith in the police to handle whatever could so easily catch Darkwing by surprise. Nonethless, however, he did do what he could to cover his bases. Where he could.
"The...SCPD, um...kinda has their hands pretty full as of late..." he slowly remarked on the matter. "Plus, they have that whole 'wait 24 hours' thing for missing cases, so..."
He trailed off as he caught Mr. McDuck flash a pointed look towards the grand stairway, following his line of sight. Up at the top, just around a corner was a girl Honker recognized as appearing in a number of Launchpad's photos. She seemed poised to pounce at any moment, a grappling hook in her free hand. Honker clenched up slightly, not sure if he should be worried. But the girl appeared to ease up on Mr. McDuck's nonverbal cue.
Scrooge was the one who opened the door. He was the bait. He was the one who had to sacrifice himself for his family just in case the boy was evil. Scrooge looks down at the young boy with a serious face, looking at him head to toe. Then he grin, seeing him as an innocent lad.
"A friend of Launchpad ya say? Why dont ya come in?" said Scrooge as he steps aside. "You came ta the right place AND into the right person."
The boy took a deep, steadying breath before stepping into the large manor and taking a look around the foyer. The home of the world's richest duck was almost overwhelming to see when approaching it, and just the foyer alone gave a pretty strong taste of just how grand it was from the inside as well.
But he was there for a reason, and it was time to get down to business. "So, uh...first off, my name is Honker, and I live next door to the Mallards' suburban residence. As Gosalyn's best friend, I help her and her family out with...well, a lot of things."
Honker had begun pacing back and forth on the foyer floor, clearly worried, as he went on to explain, "So this morning, I stopped by their house to check in on them. The door was unlocked, but I found nobody inside. I didn't see any signs of struggle--I mean, the house is kinda messy, but not in a signs-of-struggle kind of way. I checked at Drake Mallard's, uh, place of work, but WANDA says they haven't been there since the previous night... Gos would normally text me if she had to leave somewhere in a hurry; tell me to keep an eye on things on the home front... The car was in the garage... None of our other neighbors saw anything... I called Launchpad and got voice mail..."
Some moments after the front gates opened, a knock came at the door, which would repeat every so often until it was answered. A boy stood at the doorway, appearing to be a hybrid gosling-duckling wearing round-lensed glasses with red frames as well as a teal polo shirt under a gray vest, khaki cargo shorts, red laceless orthopedic shoes, and a brown laptop backpack. There was a red motor scooter parked at the edge of the front porch with a helmet hanging from one of the handlebars.
The boy quickly spoke up the moment there was someone on the other side of an open door, his expression and posture showing his worry. "I-I'm sorry for showing up unannounced, but when I couldn't reach Launchpad by phone when the situation came up, I next thought was to seek out someone I knew he'd trust."
((I delayed on this long enough. Here's a general concept of how the plotline of "Jurassic Jumble" would go in the DT17 universe with my Honker, featuring my takes on the characters Stegmutt and Dr. Fossil as well as the reboot versions of Darkwing and Gosalyn/Quiverwing, who I will be writing out the parts of myself.))
There's been a rash of computer components stolen across multiple parts of Saint Canard, with witnesses from every crime scene claiming to have been distracted by the sight of a giant figure stomping around just out of sight in the shadows, slipping away just before anyone can get on the scene and get a good enough look at it to see what it is. Those distractions had apparently been enough for an unseen party to slip in and grab the goods and then hightail it by the time anyone was looking again.
Honker working with WANDA manages to build up a solid hypothesis of what the unknown burglar may be attempting to build with the stolen parts and where they may strike next. Team Darkwing have a stakeout to catch the criminal(s) in the act. When something causes a ruckus outside, DW and LP go to confront the source while the kids stay behind to guard the module predicted to be the target.
While the adults end up confronting what they get just a good enough look at to identify as seemingly a bipedal stegosaurus before it runs off and loses them, someone unseen knocks out the kids with sleeping gas and has already made off with the module piece by the time they wake up. Darkwing, however, had planted a tracer on the module just in case. Honker, back at base, runs a GPS scan for the tracer and is shocked that it pings underground at the coordinates of the St. Canard Natural History Museum.
The team infiltrates the museum after hours, eventually finding the secret passage to an underground base and split up for clues. Gos and Honk end up finding a collection of artifacts, including one in the forefront held in a clear biohazard-marked container: a glowing blue piece of rock. Gosalyn immediately recognizes it as the missing piece of the Stone of What Was, one of numerous artifacts from FOWL's Library of Alexandria base that SHUSH failed to locate during the post-battle raid.
The two are caught by a large, talking bipetal stegosaurus. But as soon as he starts talking--both due to the familiar voice and the stegosaurus seemingly recognizing Honker and becoming awkward at seeing him there under these circumstances--Honker realizes that the anthropomorphic dinosaur is the museum custodian Mutt, whom he'd met a few months back during a visit with an elf friend from Duckburg. Upon being identified, Mutt claims that he goes by Stegmutt now, vaguely gesturing to his current form as the reason why.
A pterodactyl in a snug-fitting lab coat and relatively small square glasses appears behind Stegmutt, harshly chastising him for not locking away the intruders on the spot. Stegmutt, crumbling to the other dinosaur's authority, very reluctantly pushes the kids into a holding cell (virtually identical to the ones FOWL used in the Library of Alexandria) and locks them in with an apologetic look. Honker also recognizes the pterodactyl, as he was once the elderly chicken scientist named Dr. Barnabas Klykos, who corrects him by saying the Klykos is no more and identifying himself in dramatic fashion as Doctor Fossil. Both he and Stegmutt had apparently come in contact with the Stone Fragment of What Was while holding a piece of fossil; the latter accidentally and the former on purpose after seeing the effects.
Dr. Fossil proceeds to go into a big rant about how the scientific community scoffed at his dream of bringing humanity back to its prehistoric roots, yet he had everything he could've needed to make his vision a reality except a form of genetic bonding agent (The Stone Fragment of What Was, which he recently acquired on the black market from a former FOWL Egghead) and the proper relay antenna to broadcast the signal far and wide (just built from all the stolen parts). Just as he's boasting there's no one to stop him at this stage of his plan, cue the purple smoke bomb and an "I am the terror..." speech.
While the adults confront Dr. Fossil, Honker sympathetically reaches out Stegmutt, who he recognizes deep down doesn't really want any part in this. Stegmutt, however, feels he has no say in the matter, as Dr. Fossil seems to have convinced him he'll have nothing left outside of servitude to him, especially considering what he's now become. Honker, with Gosalyn quickly joining in, try to encourage him to find a better life for himself with people who respect him and his feelings, something that surprises and touches Stegmutt.
Dr. Fossil, however, quickly barks at him to come handle Darkwing and Launchpad, and Stegmutt quickly folds to his authority again. As he leaves to do that, Stegmutt looks back at the kids and assures them that, while Dr. Fossil maybe has been acting nuttier than usual lately, nobody's gonna get hurt too badly from this; people are just gonna become cool new prehistoric versions of themselves. But he's clearly trying to convince himself in the moment just as much.
As Stegmutt reluctantly fights back against the Masked Mallard and the pilot, Dr. Fossil rushes to the next room where his relay antenna is completed and carefully slots the Stone Fragment of What Was into its place before powering up the machine. Once the antenna powers up and connects to a satellite network above, random people all over are hit by the effects and start devolving into prehistoric versions of themselves.
The kids have a good view of what's happening from the vantage point of their holding cell, and Honker starts talking to Fossil as he runs his equipment over concerns that dinosaurs and such wouldn't exactly fit in with the current era. The mad scientist laughs it off by claiming that the current era is about at an end anyway. Humans are already priming their planet for an extinction-level event as it is with their various environmental crimes as deforestation and greenhouse gasses; the meteor scheduled to pass by will finish the job once the hacked satellite network draws it in.
Honker's horrified at what he spells out is Dr. Fossil's attempt to artificially generate a mass extinction-level event that'll kill off anyone that doesn't get affected by the devolution ray. Someone else is also horrified, as it turns out the fight between the two older ducks and the stegosaurus got close enough that Stegmutt heard everything. Stegmutt calls his mentor out on using him for such a cruel and genocidal scheme, but Dr. Fossil insults him back by saying the young janitor was clearly too stupid to see it for himself and that he has no life for himself away from him. Fossil also claims that it's too late to stop him anyway.
Feeling hurt and betrayed, Stegmutt challenges that notion by stepping aside to let DW and LP tackle him and then turns to smash the controls of the kids' holding cell with his tail, freeing them. Honker has just enough time to rush to the controls of the relay antenna to have the satellite network repel the meteor it had just latched onto and then reverse the effects of the outgoing devolution rays. Dr. Fossil is taken down, and SHUSH is called in to clean up.
While Darkwing and SHUSH works to accommodate for Stegmutt's living conditions, as he's effectively homeless due to Dr. Klykos having provided his apartment space (which probably wouldn't be able to accommodate a stegosaurus man anyway), the agency's scientists determine that while those affected by the ray could be returned to normal, physical contact with any part of the Stone of What Was resulted in what was (for the foreseeable future, as they were still studying the artifact) an essentially permanent transformation.
Team Darkwing comfort Stegmutt, who's feeling lost and unsure of his future now. Uplifted by their assurance that they'll help him find a place for himself, Stegmutt decides he wants to use his new dinosaur form for the greater good and help those in need. By the end of this adventure, there's a new hero in St. Canard. Stegmutt gets his superhero origin story, and Dr. Fossil gets jailtime.
((I delayed on this long enough. Here's a general concept of how the plotline of "Jurassic Jumble" would go in the DT17 universe with my Honker, featuring my takes on the characters Stegmutt and Dr. Fossil as well as the reboot versions of Darkwing and Gosalyn/Quiverwing, who I will be writing out the parts of myself.))
There's been a rash of computer components stolen across multiple parts of Saint Canard, with witnesses from every crime scene claiming to have been distracted by the sight of a giant figure stomping around just out of sight in the shadows, slipping away just before anyone can get on the scene and get a good enough look at it to see what it is. Those distractions had apparently been enough for an unseen party to slip in and grab the goods and then hightail it by the time anyone was looking again.
Honker working with WANDA manages to build up a solid hypothesis of what the unknown burglar may be attempting to build with the stolen parts and where they may strike next. Team Darkwing have a stakeout to catch the criminal(s) in the act. When something causes a ruckus outside, DW and LP go to confront the source while the kids stay behind to guard the module predicted to be the target.
While the adults end up confronting what they get just a good enough look at to identify as seemingly a bipedal stegosaurus before it runs off and loses them, someone unseen knocks out the kids with sleeping gas and has already made off with the module piece by the time they wake up. Darkwing, however, had planted a tracer on the module just in case. Honker, back at base, runs a GPS scan for the tracer and is shocked that it pings underground at the coordinates of the St. Canard Natural History Museum.
The team infiltrates the museum after hours, eventually finding the secret passage to an underground base and split up for clues. Gos and Honk end up finding a collection of artifacts, including one in the forefront held in a clear biohazard-marked container: a glowing blue piece of rock. Gosalyn immediately recognizes it as the missing piece of the Stone of What Was, one of numerous artifacts from FOWL's Library of Alexandria base that SHUSH failed to locate during the post-battle raid.
The two are caught by a large, talking bipetal stegosaurus. But as soon as he starts talking--both due to the familiar voice and the stegosaurus seemingly recognizing Honker and becoming awkward at seeing him there under these circumstances--Honker realizes that the anthropomorphic dinosaur is the museum custodian Mutt, whom he'd met a few months back during a visit with an elf friend from Duckburg. Upon being identified, Mutt claims that he goes by Stegmutt now, vaguely gesturing to his current form as the reason why.
A pterodactyl in a snug-fitting lab coat and relatively small square glasses appears behind Stegmutt, harshly chastising him for not locking away the intruders on the spot. Stegmutt, crumbling to the other dinosaur's authority, very reluctantly pushes the kids into a holding cell (virtually identical to the ones FOWL used in the Library of Alexandria) and locks them in with an apologetic look. Honker also recognizes the pterodactyl, as he was once the elderly chicken scientist named Dr. Barnabas Klykos, who corrects him by saying the Klykos is no more and identifying himself in dramatic fashion as Doctor Fossil. Both he and Stegmutt had apparently come in contact with the Stone Fragment of What Was while holding a piece of fossil; the latter accidentally and the former on purpose after seeing the effects.
Dr. Fossil proceeds to go into a big rant about how the scientific community scoffed at his dream of bringing humanity back to its prehistoric roots, yet he had everything he could've needed to make his vision a reality except a form of genetic bonding agent (The Stone Fragment of What Was, which he recently acquired on the black market from a former FOWL Egghead) and the proper relay antenna to broadcast the signal far and wide (just built from all the stolen parts). Just as he's boasting there's no one to stop him at this stage of his plan, cue the purple smoke bomb and an "I am the terror..." speech.
While the adults confront Dr. Fossil, Honker sympathetically reaches out Stegmutt, who he recognizes deep down doesn't really want any part in this. Stegmutt, however, feels he has no say in the matter, as Dr. Fossil seems to have convinced him he'll have nothing left outside of servitude to him, especially considering what he's now become. Honker, with Gosalyn quickly joining in, try to encourage him to find a better life for himself with people who respect him and his feelings, something that surprises and touches Stegmutt.
Dr. Fossil, however, quickly barks at him to come handle Darkwing and Launchpad, and Stegmutt quickly folds to his authority again. As he leaves to do that, Stegmutt looks back at the kids and assures them that, while Dr. Fossil maybe has been acting nuttier than usual lately, nobody's gonna get hurt too badly from this; people are just gonna become cool new prehistoric versions of themselves. But he's clearly trying to convince himself in the moment just as much.
As Stegmutt reluctantly fights back against the Masked Mallard and the pilot, Dr. Fossil rushes to the next room where his relay antenna is completed and carefully slots the Stone Fragment of What Was into its place before powering up the machine. Once the antenna powers up and connects to a satellite network above, random people all over are hit by the effects and start devolving into prehistoric versions of themselves.
The kids have a good view of what's happening from the vantage point of their holding cell, and Honker starts talking to Fossil as he runs his equipment over concerns that dinosaurs and such wouldn't exactly fit in with the current era. The mad scientist laughs it off by claiming that the current era is about at an end anyway. Humans are already priming their planet for an extinction-level event as it is with their various environmental crimes as deforestation and greenhouse gasses; the meteor scheduled to pass by will finish the job once the hacked satellite network draws it in.
Honker's horrified at what he spells out is Dr. Fossil's attempt to artificially generate a mass extinction-level event that'll kill off anyone that doesn't get affected by the devolution ray. Someone else is also horrified, as it turns out the fight between the two older ducks and the stegosaurus got close enough that Stegmutt heard everything. Stegmutt calls his mentor out on using him for such a cruel and genocidal scheme, but Dr. Fossil insults him back by saying the young janitor was clearly too stupid to see it for himself and that he has no life for himself away from him. Fossil also claims that it's too late to stop him anyway.
Feeling hurt and betrayed, Stegmutt challenges that notion by stepping aside to let DW and LP tackle him and then turns to smash the controls of the kids' holding cell with his tail, freeing them. Honker has just enough time to rush to the controls of the relay antenna to have the satellite network repel the meteor it had just latched onto and then reverse the effects of the outgoing devolution rays. Dr. Fossil is taken down, and SHUSH is called in to clean up.
While Darkwing and SHUSH works to accommodate for Stegmutt's living conditions, as he's effectively homeless due to Dr. Klykos having provided his apartment space (which probably wouldn't be able to accommodate a stegosaurus man anyway), the agency's scientists determine that while those affected by the ray could be returned to normal, physical contact with any part of the Stone of What Was resulted in what was (for the foreseeable future, as they were still studying the artifact) an essentially permanent transformation.
Team Darkwing comfort Stegmutt, who's feeling lost and unsure of his future now. Uplifted by their assurance that they'll help him find a place for himself, Stegmutt decides he wants to use his new dinosaur form for the greater good and help those in need. By the end of this adventure, there's a new hero in St. Canard. Stegmutt gets his superhero origin story, and Dr. Fossil gets jailtime.
((I delayed on this long enough. Here's a general concept of how the plotline of "Jurassic Jumble" would go in the DT17 universe with my Honker, featuring my takes on the characters Stegmutt and Dr. Fossil as well as the reboot versions of Darkwing and Gosalyn/Quiverwing, who I will be writing out the parts of myself.))
There's been a rash of computer components stolen across multiple parts of Saint Canard, with witnesses from every crime scene claiming to have been distracted by the sight of a giant figure stomping around just out of sight in the shadows, slipping away just before anyone can get on the scene and get a good enough look at it to see what it is. Those distractions had apparently been enough for an unseen party to slip in and grab the goods and then hightail it by the time anyone was looking again.
Honker working with WANDA manages to build up a solid hypothesis of what the unknown burglar may be attempting to build with the stolen parts and where they may strike next. Team Darkwing have a stakeout to catch the criminal(s) in the act. When something causes a ruckus outside, DW and LP go to confront the source while the kids stay behind to guard the module predicted to be the target.
While the adults end up confronting what they get just a good enough look at to identify as seemingly a bipedal stegosaurus before it runs off and loses them, someone unseen knocks out the kids with sleeping gas and has already made off with the module piece by the time they wake up. Darkwing, however, had planted a tracer on the module just in case. Honker, back at base, runs a GPS scan for the tracer and is shocked that it pings underground at the coordinates of the St. Canard Natural History Museum.
The team infiltrates the museum after hours, eventually finding the secret passage to an underground base and split up for clues. Gos and Honk end up finding a collection of artifacts, including one in the forefront held in a clear biohazard-marked container: a glowing blue piece of rock. Gosalyn immediately recognizes it as the missing piece of the Stone of What Was, one of numerous artifacts from FOWL's Library of Alexandria base that SHUSH failed to locate during the post-battle raid.
The two are caught by a large, talking bipetal stegosaurus. But as soon as he starts talking--both due to the familiar voice and the stegosaurus seemingly recognizing Honker and becoming awkward at seeing him there under these circumstances--Honker realizes that the anthropomorphic dinosaur is the museum custodian Mutt, whom he'd met a few months back during a visit with an elf friend from Duckburg. Upon being identified, Mutt claims that he goes by Stegmutt now, vaguely gesturing to his current form as the reason why.
A pterodactyl in a snug-fitting lab coat and relatively small square glasses appears behind Stegmutt, harshly chastising him for not locking away the intruders on the spot. Stegmutt, crumbling to the other dinosaur's authority, very reluctantly pushes the kids into a holding cell (virtually identical to the ones FOWL used in the Library of Alexandria) and locks them in with an apologetic look. Honker also recognizes the pterodactyl, as he was once the elderly chicken scientist named Dr. Barnabas Klykos, who corrects him by saying the Klykos is no more and identifying himself in dramatic fashion as Doctor Fossil. Both he and Stegmutt had apparently come in contact with the Stone Fragment of What Was while holding a piece of fossil; the latter accidentally and the former on purpose after seeing the effects.
Dr. Fossil proceeds to go into a big rant about how the scientific community scoffed at his dream of bringing humanity back to its prehistoric roots, yet he had everything he could've needed to make his vision a reality except a form of genetic bonding agent (The Stone Fragment of What Was, which he recently acquired on the black market from a former FOWL Egghead) and the proper relay antenna to broadcast the signal far and wide (just built from all the stolen parts). Just as he's boasting there's no one to stop him at this stage of his plan, cue the purple smoke bomb and an "I am the terror..." speech.
While the adults confront Dr. Fossil, Honker sympathetically reaches out Stegmutt, who he recognizes deep down doesn't really want any part in this. Stegmutt, however, feels he has no say in the matter, as Dr. Fossil seems to have convinced him he'll have nothing left outside of servitude to him, especially considering what he's now become. Honker, with Gosalyn quickly joining in, try to encourage him to find a better life for himself with people who respect him and his feelings, something that surprises and touches Stegmutt.
Dr. Fossil, however, quickly barks at him to come handle Darkwing and Launchpad, and Stegmutt quickly folds to his authority again. As he leaves to do that, Stegmutt looks back at the kids and assures them that, while Dr. Fossil maybe has been acting nuttier than usual lately, nobody's gonna get hurt too badly from this; people are just gonna become cool new prehistoric versions of themselves. But he's clearly trying to convince himself in the moment just as much.
As Stegmutt reluctantly fights back against the Masked Mallard and the pilot, Dr. Fossil rushes to the next room where his relay antenna is completed and carefully slots the Stone Fragment of What Was into its place before powering up the machine. Once the antenna powers up and connects to a satellite network above, random people all over are hit by the effects and start devolving into prehistoric versions of themselves.
The kids have a good view of what's happening from the vantage point of their holding cell, and Honker starts talking to Fossil as he runs his equipment over concerns that dinosaurs and such wouldn't exactly fit in with the current era. The mad scientist laughs it off by claiming that the current era is about at an end anyway. Humans are already priming their planet for an extinction-level event as it is with their various environmental crimes as deforestation and greenhouse gasses; the meteor scheduled to pass by will finish the job once the hacked satellite network draws it in.
Honker's horrified at what he spells out is Dr. Fossil's attempt to artificially generate a mass extinction-level event that'll kill off anyone that doesn't get affected by the devolution ray. Someone else is also horrified, as it turns out the fight between the two older ducks and the stegosaurus got close enough that Stegmutt heard everything. Stegmutt calls his mentor out on using him for such a cruel and genocidal scheme, but Dr. Fossil insults him back by saying the young janitor was clearly too stupid to see it for himself and that he has no life for himself away from him. Fossil also claims that it's too late to stop him anyway.
Feeling hurt and betrayed, Stegmutt challenges that notion by stepping aside to let DW and LP tackle him and then turns to smash the controls of the kids' holding cell with his tail, freeing them. Honker has just enough time to rush to the controls of the relay antenna to have the satellite network repel the meteor it had just latched onto and then reverse the effects of the outgoing devolution rays. Dr. Fossil is taken down, and SHUSH is called in to clean up.
While Darkwing and SHUSH works to accommodate for Stegmutt's living conditions, as he's effectively homeless due to Dr. Klykos having provided his apartment space (which probably wouldn't be able to accommodate a stegosaurus man anyway), the agency's scientists determine that while those affected by the ray could be returned to normal, physical contact with any part of the Stone of What Was resulted in what was (for the foreseeable future, as they were still studying the artifact) an essentially permanent transformation.
Team Darkwing comfort Stegmutt, who's feeling lost and unsure of his future now. Uplifted by their assurance that they'll help him find a place for himself, Stegmutt decides he wants to use his new dinosaur form for the greater good and help those in need. By the end of this adventure, there's a new hero in St. Canard. Stegmutt gets his superhero origin story, and Dr. Fossil gets jailtime.
So for my planned storyline roughly adapting the plot of "Jurassic Jumble" to the DT17 'verse with my own reboot reimagining of Stegmutt and Dr. Fossil, should I...
...keep looking for a DT17 Gosalyn and/or Darkwing player to play this out with?
...just forget about RPing it at this point and write the whole thing myself?
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