Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It felt like he was submerged.

The world around him, so much colder than it used to be, as the light slowly faded into nothing. The darkness swallowed him whole as everything seemed to freeze up.

And for a while it was just that, absolutely nothing.

Eventually after a bit, the feelings numbed out and he was no longer cold.

—————

Light.

The sound of weird mechanical whirs and people chattering, the feeling of cold returning only to lessen within mere seconds. The noises got louder until it was too much and then silence.

——————

Daffy sat up with a loud gasp, cold sweat running down his forehead as he looked around to see new surroundings, his heart racing.

It was dark in the room he sat in, the plush mattress underneath him sinking down lower underneath his weight, as he glanced around warily trying to find anything that he could possibly recognize.

The only issue being he didn’t recognize a single thing.

The room had blue walls, but they seemed much more futuristic, with neon patterns across them, almost as if they were veins causing him to shudder. The floor below consisted of a bunch of white tiles, as he moved to place his webbed feet on them.

The tiles lit up when he did, before the glow died down. Daffy raised a brow before shaking it off as he stood up, now walking across them, and with each and every step they continued lighting up before dying down once again. 

Eventually he made his way over to a vanity, as he took one look in the mirror and quickly recoiled away in shock, before slowly stepping forward again as he looked at himself.

I mean..he looked the same for the most part, the same teal eyes, the same three strands of hair on his head, although a bit longer now..and his same orange bill. However now he seemed to have bandages on his forearms, and he donned a weird blue jumpsuit of sorts, with a dog tag around his neck. 

Of course he reached to touch the thing before he got a slight shock and he yelped, shaking his hand in pain. 

It didn’t make any sense at all, and he supposed that should’ve bothered him more. Except the issue was put aside quickly as he glanced down to see his legs having bandages too, and his webbed feet now stuck to the floor in ice as his eyes widened and he flailed back the ice below him retracting, before he started tumbling downwards, before ice shot from his hand to catch himself. As he did, he slowly stood back up as he looked at his hands in quiet shock. Before a knock came at the door as he froze up slightly and quite literally when his feet got trapped in ice again, before calming himself down as he shook off the ice and moved to the door and opened it just a bit.

“H-hello?”

He greeted shyly, peeking out as he saw a man just around his height, wearing a strange metal doodad on his head, with red curly hair on the sides of his head. 

“ Ah, you’re finally awake..though, I suppose we both already know this seeing as how you are standing here, and I watched you awaken. ”

The Duck immediately, looking around the room again, before seeing in a corner of the ceiling a camera that was clearly on. As he felt his feathers stand up before turning to look back at the man in confusion and fear.

“U-uh..ok..that’s a bit..weird.”

He replied as the man chuckled a bit and scratched the back of his neck

“ Ah yes, sorry about that..you see, you were in a coma after we pulled you from the ice we found you in and we needed to monitor you to make sure you were alright. ”

“Ice?!”

The Duck exclaimed as he stared at him in disbelief and horror

“ Yes, ice..you’ve been cryogenically frozen for quite some time now, Daffy Duck. ”

“H-how do you-“

“ I know a lot of things, but before we can get into that we have lots to discuss. So if you could, please follow me.”

Daffy frowning as he stepped back

“I don’t think so bub! I don’t even know your name I mean- for all I know this is just some really elaborate prank or-“

“I assure you it’s not, but if you’re really that paranoid then fine, My name is IQ, and let me be the first to welcome you Duck.”

“Welcome me to what..?”

He asked stepping forward now, as ‘IQ’ started walking off, Daffy quickly following after him, as they made their way down a hallway to a door as IQ opened it to reveal an outside into what seemed to be a really big dome in space, a whole city with spaceships and hoverboards and aliens alike going about. The view absolutely astonishing as Daffy’s eyes widened significantly and the man smirked

“ The 24th and a half century. ”

Chapter Text

It had been a month since he was welcomed into that new world and with as hectic as it was getting settled in and getting a crash course lesson in what had happened, Daffy didn’t actually get a chance to breathe yet. 

But then again, how could he?

—————-

He had been given a new name though temporary, as D10z. Odd as it was, he didn’t bother questioning since according to IQ, he was under government protection. Apparently having been the only sole survivor of his time on earth, before the planet itself had been completely frozen over. 

It had taken getting used to…

Well, living in the future I mean, because as cool as the movies back then had made it seem, he was astonished by the actual future being so much more than he could have ever hoped.

However at the same time upon hearing about all of his friends long gone, it had been really hard on the Duck because admittedly he hadn’t had been the kindest to them. Most of his life on earth before this…rather unpleasant. 

He supposed now was his second chance, a fresh start to it all and yet it felt like something was missing.

————

He sighed as he sat there in that very same room he first woke up in, as he glanced around and stretched before looking at his bandages which he had finally been given a chance to take off. See, the thing is despite it being the future, Daffy when unfrozen was in a rather delicate state at the time, and so, the scientists fearing that any extreme tampering might destroy him, decided it was best to go really old school on him and let his body do the rest before even considering introducing it to the strange new chemicals of their time.

And underneath those bandages?

Well, despite being whole when finally discovered by them, he hadn’t gotten completely unscathed.

For his arms and legs mostly were covered in blueish scars, littered across his forearms and legs, according to the doctors it had been some futuristic virus that tried to seep through and kill him, but thanks to the low temperature it had quickly died off, only leaving these marks in turn. Unfortunately the marks were permanent and needed to be covered at all times, due to being highly sensitive.

So, as the toon pulled on some gloves, and boots, he found himself adding a belt which had little pockets on it that contained instant medical supplies just in case. The other reason for getting dressed besides protection being that he was going to meet up with IQ again, the few moments of quiet being few for that reason alone.

After all of that he felt himself fall back more onto the bed as he stared at the ceiling as his heart ached in his chest a bit, longing to go back home. Yet he knew it was impossible as he sighed and started closing his eyes for a little bit of rest..

That is until his new high tech phone rang startling him from his thoughts, the phone itself set up to play the Looney Tunes theme as the Duck sat up slowly, and glanced at the device before taking it in his hands and answering 

“Hello?”

“ You know, you’re a very hard toon to contact. ”

Came a very familiar voice as Daffy froze up and felt his chest swell with a lot of emotions at once before he quickly responded

“M-Marvin??”

 He sputtered out, relief and joy flooding into his voice immediately, as a chuckle was heard from the other side

“ Correct .”

“How did you find me? What happened to you? How have you been? I have so many questions!”

“ I figured as such, but simply put..I just happened to have stumbled upon reports of a certain Duck from the earlier 20th century being discovered.. ”

A pause

“ And to think I was the only true Warner Brother’s character left. Though, I’m very pleased to hear you have survived somehow miraculously to this point. ”

“Um..Thank you..?”

He replied feeling a bit awkward, before shaking his head as he stood up 

“So, the reason for the call?”

“ Ah yes, I suppose I was just curious on how you’re adjusting, that’s all.. ”

“Oh! Well I’ve been great actually, sure it’s a bit..much, but I’m getting the hang of most of the things IQ has taught me so far!”

“ Oh goody, goody, that’s wonderful to hear! It makes me very happy that you seem to like the world of space as much as I. ”

“Yeah..”

He said trailing off before he paused slightly and impulsively asked 

“Do..Do you want to hang out sometime? I-If you’re not too busy that is!”

Marvin going silent on his end for a few moments, before eventually answering 

“ I suppose it could be fun…yes, I do suppose it could, very well I think I shall, farewell for now, Dodgers ”

“Yeah..you too, eight ball.” He said before hanging up and losing his smile as he felt himself think, before looking towards his vanity and headed towards it, as he smoothed back his hair and took a deep breath 

“Dodgers..”

He whispered looking at himself now as he grinned.

“Duck..Dodgers.”

Chapter Text

Daffy did end up meeting with Marvin as the two had spent their time together reminiscing and exploring. The meetup had left the duck feeling all warm and fuzzy inside as he smiled, it had brought up a lot of memories and honestly it was really nice.

However after all of that, Daffy found himself being summoned by IQ, the older man requesting his presence for something seemingly important, however before the two of them could even greet each other, Cadet came running in.

“ S-S-S-Sir! S-sir! There’s an ongoing attack happening in quadrant 3! ”

The pig said, eyes wide and fearful, the Duck watching him before turning to see the redhead deep in thought

“I see, D10z we shall continue this later .”

He said before walking away as the pig left with him, Daffy watching as he felt his heart drop.

Alone again.

The feeling and word itself sickening as he watched his new companions go, the knot in his stomach beginning to form as worry took over him. He didn’t want to lose everything again! He barely even had gotten used to his brand new life.

Eventually Daffy deciding rather than to sit back like he had done before on earth he quickly rushed off and put on some test rocket boots he found, a neat wristwatch and ran after them determined to actually help, unlike before.

The duck eventually wandering over the the quadrant in question as he saw multiple fires forming because of the attacks as he flew over with the rockets boots and froze the burning buildings over, before turning to the attacker in question and blasting it with ice as it was knocked back and flew off in retreat, before he quickly unfroze the buildings and they returned to normal, mostly undamaged as he landed and sighed in relief before suddenly people were cheering as they scooped him up and to see him in the air up and down cheering 

“ Duck! Duck! Duck !”

Daffy’s heart racing as he smiled shyly until being whisked away by cadet and IQ. So, after what seemed to be an eternity waiting for the results, IQ came out and sat with Daffy. IQ being the most concerned before sighing as he smiled and gave in, giving Daffy a new rank

And it felt good

Daffy felt good

Like a hero.

Chapter Text

A YEAR LATER

--------------------------------

" S-So what happened? "

Dodgers snapping out of his thoughts as he glanced over curiously towards the pig.

He really did look a lot like Porky.

"What do you mean?"

He asked, raising a brow. The two of them were on their way to find and to gather materials, the ship on a steady path towards the mysterious faraway planet, as they had a bit of time to themselves.

"I mean, y-you never really t-talked about h-how you ended up g-g-getting frozen in the first place."

The duck frowning as he turned away and crossed his arms sighing

"Cadet, how close are we to our destination?"

He asked, quickly changing the subject causing his partner to look away from him in disappointment.

"I-In f-few minutes n-now captain."

"Good."

The two stayed quiet for the rest of the trip as Dodgers felt his chest tighten. His mind went to static as he closed his eyes leaning back in his chair.

------------------------

So...

What happened?

Well, whatever did, Daffy never talked about it.

For the first year of his brand new life as Duck Dodgers, he had slowly learned to slip into this alter ego, Daffy Duck having been cast to the side as someone who died along with all the other Looney Tunes. Most people refer to him as Dodgers anyway.

Still, even after a year of building up somewhat of a reputation and being given a new job of sorts, he still found himself spending nights at his home lying awake in bed and missing his friends. An interesting thing that he discovered being a museum of the past, including that of earth.

As he walked around he eventually found a section dedicated to him and his friends.

Needless to say, Cadet had to drag him out of there while the duck had been in tears.

It was..rather embarrassing having to explain what had happened, when a few news reporters had caught him, having become a bit of a celebrity in the future.

However, we're getting off-topic from the original question.

--------------------------

Burbank, California.

2:18 pm

When it happened, it was a bright and sunny day. The gentle breeze, causing the leaves to sway. The world around them, beautiful. The birds flying above chirping and the squirrels below chittering. Laughter having filled a few parts of the lot, people bustling about in small crowds.

Daffy and Bugs in particular going over lines together underneath a tree, as Porky supervised, sitting atop a crate.

"What kind of idiot thinks I'm about to swoon over you?"

He huffed, his webbed foot tapping on the ground as he crossed his arms and glanced at his watch, before looking back to the script the rabbit had snatched from him.

Bugs eyeing the smaller toon smiling a bit.

" Eh, probably the interns who ship us " He laughed 

Daffy only rolled his eyes as he grabbed the script back, face heating up a bit as he watched Bugs laugh and smiled a bit, a few cartoon hearts floating above his head before they popped as the rabbit glanced back over. 

"Hardy har har" The raven feathered duck muttered sarcastically as he looked up into the rabbit's golden eyes, having hidden any previous signs of him being in love with his co-worker.

The thing being Daffy had the biggest crush on the rabbit for decades, never once acting upon his feelings. Only Porky having known because of catching the duck rambling in his dressing room about how stupid his feelings were.

So as the two bantered the Pig only rolled his eyes smiling, for it was rather endearing when the two did because he could tell how much both of them enjoyed being with the other.

Until suddenly a loud sound caught the attention of the trio as alarms started blaring in the distance, usually for tornadoes.

Bugs smile fading as he and the other two walked over to see Marvin packing up his bags, a small crowd around him, as Bugs parted the crowd, the rabbit going over curiously.

" Marv? What are you doing? " He asked, eyes now filled with concern.

The small martian glancing up before he picked up his bags, walking past him

" I am getting out of here before the earth is destroyed, and I suggest you do the same, rabbit. "

He said simply as he rushed to get to his ship, Toons and people alike looking at him confused, some even fearful.

"What are you talking about eightball?" Daffy asked now running over after the martian and grabbing his wrist

Marvin at that pausing his walk

" Dodgers, there’s no easy way to say this, but last night I found myself studying the stars and space like I do every night and on that particular evening I saw a meteorite that is not too far from hitting the earth, upon impact, it’ll freeze over the entire planet, and I’ve calculated it to arrive today.”

he said quietly hands shaking

The toon stepped back eyes wide as Marvin continued onward, before the panic set in his eyes wide in horror.

People started to evacuate, as Toons fled the lot. 

Daffy watched silently, as he felt a small tug on his hand before seeing Bugs hand in his as he looked at the rabbit, his mind just dazed. The rabbit’s expression was full of fear as he tugged at him. 

“ Daff! Come on, we need to go. ”

The duck pulled his hand away as his brow furrowed and he glared.

“Go? Go where?! We’re screwed either way! We can’t hide anywhere on this dumb planet! When that meteorite hits, all of us will be goners!”

He shouted as he felt his chest tighten, fear finally taking over him as the static turned into panic and rage.

“ You don’t know that Doc! W-we can- I-I mean there’s gotta be a way out!”

“And how would you know?! This is it, pal! We’re all going to be frozen over with the earth!”

“ No, we’re not! ”

“YES, WE ARE!”

“ NO! ”

“YES!”

“ NO! ”

“Bugsth! Yes, WE ARE! J-just let it go already!”

Daffy yelled exasperated.

Bugs ears lowered behind his back as his nose twitched and he felt his eyes water and his breathing became shorter, faster, and much more desperate. The poor thing, starting to hyperventilate.

“Why are you giving up so easily?! ”

“Because there’s no way out!”

“ There has to be! We j-just haven’t looked everywhere I mean- You can’t just stand there and tell me you’re ready to go!”

“Well, what do you suggest, wise guy?!”

The duo’s eyes locked now as tension grew.
The rabbit’s facial expressions went through several different emotions before...

“ I DON’T KNOW, OK?!”

He shouted as the tears in his eyes finally slipped out, the rabbit shaking rather violently, hands up in the air in exasperation before he dropped his arms to his side, looking the most defeated the duck had ever seen him. The shorter toon went completely quiet, as his eyes widened at the sight.

Bugs never cried.

Daffy biting his lower bill as he looked away and crossing his arms over his chest taking a few steps back.

“B-Bugsth..”

He whispered, the guilt starting to take over as Bugs simply turned away wiping his eyes. Bugs kneeling down as he knocked on the ground twice and it opened up as he jumped into the hole.

The rabbit, departing as the atmosphere then proceeded to get much colder, as Daffy’s heart raced and within that one instant, his life flashing before his eyes he felt his face heat up in hot shame as he went to go after Bugs before everything went dark.

-----------------------------------------------

Present Day.
3 centuries later..

A gasp for breath, and Dodgers sat up, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. His eyes darting around before he paused, taking in his surroundings

“Where..?”

He whispered aloud as his eyes adjusted to the light and he squinted before taking in a figure, a silhouette of someone as they approached slowly, At first Daffy not paying attention until he noticed he was in a hospital of sorts where a futuristic heart monitor beeped, and he felt the figure get closer, his eyes finally adjusting before he saw them and his heart stopping.

A rabbit?

Chapter Text

Dodgers backed away in slight fear in his bed, the heart monitor showing his heart rate speeding up, as he quietly panicked, because he hadn’t seen any rabbits in the 24 ½ century at all  and what if the universe decided to play a cruel joke and it was Bugs?

What if it was him?
What would he do, what would he even say?
He wasn’t ready! He couldn’t face him, his heart rate going faster as the figure got closer and closer, the duck squeezing his eyes tightly as he felt his eyes sting.

His whole body shaking as he waited, the silence dragging on, besides the steady beep of his heart monitor.

The anticipation absolutely killed him.

Until there was a gentle hand placed on his shoulder, warm and soft.
The Duck opened one eye as he looked to the face in front of him before both eyes shot wide open and he gawked.

There right in front of him was Lola, or at least a rabbit who resembled her a lot. Dodgers staring at her like an idiot as she offered a gentle smile.

“ You alright there space boy? ” She asked with a chuckle

Daffy only nodding as he opened his bill before she spoke again

“ Well, glad to hear it. I’m Nova by the way, though you must’ve mistaken me for Lola ”

“But h-how-”

“ I know a lot about you Dodgers, everyone who’s a part of the Protectorate does .”

“S-so you’re a descendant of h-her then..I thought Porky was the only one.”
He mumbled taking in this new info, as she sat down on the bed with him.

Eventually after collecting his thoughts he put a hand to his head, taking deep breaths.
“I-is there anyone else?” He asked, looking at her hopefully.

Nova’s smile disappeared, as she simply shook her head. “‘ Fraid not Dodgers, it’s just me and Cadet. ”

The duck only glancing away in quiet disappointment as he nodded

“O-oh.. alright then” he mumbled as he shifted so his feet touched the ground as he got ready to stand before a shooting pain made its way to his side as he groaned, Nova immediately pulling him back down gently as she rubbed his back gently

“ I suppose I should’ve mentioned that you were administered here for a reason ”

She added sheepishly a nervous grin on her face as he huffed and rolled his eyes.

“T-That would’ve been nice” he muttered through gritted teeth.

The two went quiet before Daffy looked down to see himself wearing a hospital gown, his arms still wrapped up in bandages,as he removed the hand from his side to see the gown itself a bit red.

“Can I ask what happened?”

Nova nodding as she guiltily looked away scratching the back of her neck

“ Right, well..I was gonna tell you after you healed properly, but I suppose I should give some explanation as to what happened .” she mumbled

Nova quickly pressed on her gauntlets as Dodgers took in her outfit, now actually examining her. The rabbit’s general physique, the same stature as Lola, her eyes a bright blue and her ears in a ponytail, she donned a blue jumpsuit, and had mechanical rocket boots and gauntlets on her arms. She didn’t look much different from her ancestor at all.

“ So you and Cadet went out to Planet Z for some rare materials, but something went wrong .”

She said her gauntlet projecting the events as she described them

“ When you arrived, Commander X-2 came by and you two battled to claim the planet as per usual, but suddenly in the middle of the fight you stumbled over a rock and fell off the cliff you were battling near, but before you fell off the commander grabbed you to make sure you didn’t. Which I personally thought was a little odd, before remembering that you two are frenemies. Anyways, as he had just started to pull you up you seemed to space out, before your eyes went completely white and you let go. Thankfully you only scraped your side against one of the sharp rocks below .”

The duck went silent as he felt his chest tighten in worry, his thoughts immediately going back to him focusing way too much on what had happened with Bugs in the past to even notice the present moment. To top it off he was mostly worried about his eyes apparently going white and him letting go. Partially Daffy wondered if he had by chance when fighting had been exposed to something on the planet, but knowing that Cadet had already examined the planet prior to make sure it was safe, he knew it was unlikely.

Still it was rather worrying regardless.

Nova, watching the captain sighed, before looking at her gauntlet watch, the bunny shifting as she went to stand now, looking back at the injured duck.

“ Alright, well I think that’s enough for today. You need to get some rest Dodgers ”

She said softly

Dodgers pausing as he looked at her, now out of his thoughts.

“Will I be seeing you around again?”

At that, the rabbit let out a chuckle as she smiled warmly at him.

“ Of course ”

----------------------------------

12:00 am

—————

Fading in and out of consciousness wasn’t exactly what Dodgers would refer to as a pleasant evening. 

Though to be fair, being in a hospital wasn’t exactly on his list of ‘fun things to do’ either.

The duck sighing as he winced slightly in pain when he shifted, as he glanced towards the window.

His eyes squinted before he closed his eyes and felt his eyes water for a second, before finally he just quietly broke down.

Strong as he may have seemed, or whatever ego he put up, it didn’t matter.He noted that on quiet nights like this, he found himself thinking over all of what had happened. Especially of his friends, and while he had gotten better at hiding it, he still had his moments.

He supposed the silence had that effect on him, when it wasn’t filled with laughter, or idle chit chat.

He missed it, of course he did.

He missed everyone, and he missed the sunlight on the lot, the trees, the corny jokes.

But most of all he missed Bugs.

He wanted to hear the rabbit’s voice again, he wanted to see him.

He wanted to hear his laugh and see his smile. The cute way his nose twitched and his ears flicked, the way his eyes lit up.

But he knew he wouldn’t.

And that’s what killed him

Chapter Text

As soon as Nova left the room, she headed back towards her ship, getting inside, and turning it to autopilot as she leaned backward in her chair as a transmission signal started beeping loudly as she answered with the flick of a lever.

the window in front of her turned towards a video screen as Dodger’s loyal cadet and frenemy Commander X2 appeared as the three glanced at each other before the shortest of the three-spoke.

“H-How is he?”

came the concern of the pig. 

Nova’s icy blue eyes gazed towards him as she let out a quiet sigh, running a hand through her hair 

“As you’d expect him to be..injured and restless.”

she mumbled glancing away, her expression hard to read. 

A pause amongst the three before it was broken again by Marvin 

“I’d expect that. With everything that’s happened to him, I can’t blame his response. In fact, when he worked for Warner Brothers on earth he did a similar script to the mission he was assigned to, Clearly, he was having a PTSD-type response when we fought and that’s why he fell.”

”and y-yet that doesn’t explain his eyes glowing! Y-you two definitely know more about my captain than me, b-but I..don't"

Nova nodded solemnly in agreement, her heart sinking as they sat there quietly the rest of the night and the hours passed.

----------------------------

Meanwhile somewhere else

Mechanical arms grabbed forwards towards an unsuspecting victim as they screamed out only for the mysterious killer to end their suffering.