Prologue
My name is Marissa Mallard. I am sixteen years old and I'm a brilliant young girl. I had a great life with my father, Officer John Mallard, until a tragedy left me scarred emotionally. I have nobody else left but my uncle Drake Mallard to call my family now. Although he and I got along great when I was a child, he was always hiding a secret away from me recently, and we've been having a bit of a riff in our relationship. Little does he know, I have a secret of my own.
Marissa looked outside the window of the taxi cab she was riding in, staring in deep thought as she ran her fingers over her emerald necklace. It had been over a week since the family tragedy she suffered. Without her parents to look after her for the next few years, she had to move in with her Uncle Drake. She used to visit him a lot with her parents since she was a child, but when she turned 11, she rarely saw him at all. Everytime her family called him, he would always say the same thing; 'I've got a night shift tonight, so I won't be available for a while.'.
She remembered a few Christmases she spent with him and the family picnics she and her parents had with him, and those times he went to her martial arts recitals and school concerts. But that was long ago. Now he just spends his time doing work and more work, and never has time for his brother, sister-in-law, or niece anymore. Marissa thought to herself, Why do I have to live with him? He's a total nobody, and he cares about work more than his own family.
Marissa snapped out of her daydream when the driver said to her, "We're here, ma'am." She looked outside and saw her uncle's house near the car, and her uncle was waiting for her on the doorstep. Marissa paid her fee to the cab driver and thanked him for the ride. Then she got out of the cab, went to the trunk of the car, and took out her two suitcases. She made her way towards the house, and Drake Mallard smiled as he came over to her and hugged her.
"Hey! If it ain't my favourite niece! Great to see you Marissa!" Drake smiled as he hugged her. Marissa returned the hug and smiled back at him, "Hi, Uncle Drake. Happy to see you, too."
"How did the ride go? Any bad roads on the way?" Drake asked.
Marissa replied, "No. Everything went well."
"Well, come inside, kiddo. Make yourself at home." Drake smiled as he led Marissa into the house. "I got your room set up, and your stuff arrived this morning and it's ready to be unpacked. I even got you a larger bed" He muttered to himself under his breath, "That thing costed a fortune."
"Thanks, Uncle Drake." Marissa smiled as she made her way up to her new room with her bags. As she was halfway up the stares, Drake called to her, "If you don't mind, I can make you some dinner after you're finished packing. You must be a bit hungry from the ride! Rides like that work up quite an appetite." Marissa rolled her eyes at what he was saying. She always wondered why he kept saying things like that. She reached her new room and opened the door.
She looked around and sighed in comfort. The walls used to have a brown colouring in them, but now they were a shade of light green like her room back at her old house was. Drake must have spent all morning painting that room for his niece. There was a queen sized bed without the sheets on it, a bookshelf, a study desk, and a dresser with a vanity. Marissa said to herself, "Well, it doesn't look bad so far." She rubbed her hands together and smiled, "Let's get started."
She opened up the boxes of clothes, books, and other stuff and started sorting them. She started with the books; she held a bunch of them in her arms and placed each one alphabetically on the shelves. Then she got started on the clothes. She went to her dresser and sorted her shirts, pants, undergarments, and shoes in each of the drawers. After that, she brought out some calendars and science and movie posters and placed them on the wall.
She took out a photo in a frame and looked at it with a sad smile; the picture was of her when she was a young duckling with her mother Sarah and her father John together. She sighed sadly, "Wish me luck in this new life, guys." She place the frame on her dresser and started making her bed. She covered it with white sheets and placed a dark blue blanket over it, then she placed the big quilt that Drake had left for her over it, and she finished it off by placing some blue pillows and a teddy bear she had since she was little on it.
By the time she was done, Drake called to her from the kitchen, "Marissa! Chow time." She went downstairs to the kitchen and found him sitting at a table with a mug of coffee and a plate of sandwiches. Marissa sat down at the table after grabbing a glass of milk, and when she grabbed one of the sandwiches, she noticed they were grilled cheese.
Drake said to her after taking a sip of coffee, "Just wanted to make those for old times sake. Remember when you and I used to eat these together all the time when you were little and came to visit me?" Marissa nodded as she took a bite out of her sandwich. She remembered a lot of the good times she and her uncle used to have, but now those days were over. As they ate, Drake said to her, "So I just got you into St. Canard High School, and you'll be ready to start on Monday. Your father and I used to go to that school together when I was around your age."
"Okay." Marissa replied before sipping her milk.
After they finished up the sandwiches, Drake got up from his spot and said to Marissa, "Listen, kiddo, I know you just got here, but I gotta work the night shift tonight and I won't be back until later tomorrow morning."
Marissa asked him, "Why are you always this busy? Do you have some plans for a business trip or something?" Drake thought for a moment, trying to come up with something, then he said to her, "We're working on some special... top secret work. It'll take a while for us to get it right, and that's why I've been working these shifts." Marissa looked at him as if she thought he was lying, then she sighed and said to him, "Alright, but if you're home by noon tomorrow, I was hoping we'd do some uncle and niece time together."
"Y-yeah, sure. I guess we could do that." Drake said to her, nervously. He grabbed a coat from the closet and said to her, "Well, I gotta go. Gonna be late for work." He grabbed his keys and dashed out the door. Marissa went over to the window and watched as Drake drove the car out of the driveway at a fast pace. After Drake left, Marissa looked around the house and sat down on the couch. She grabbed the TV remote and surfed through the channels, but after a little while and seeing nothing that she liked to watch, she got up from her spot and went to her bedroom. Next to her bed was one more unopened box.
Grabbing a box opening knife, she cut the tape holding the box together on the top and opened it. In it was a wrapped up in brown paper and she noticed a note on it. She picked it up from the box and read it;
Your mother and I would want you to wear this when you were older. When the time is right, put this on whenever you visit St. Canard when you're an adult. Be sure to use it for good and not evil.
Love, Dad.
P.S. If you're going to jump off buildings, be sure to press the buttons on the sides of the gloves.
Marissa said to herself, "I guess now's the time to put this this to good use."
And soon, my new life in St. Canard began...
What did you guys think of the beginning? I know Drake doesn't live as a citizen before he meets Gosalyn, but I thought it'd be interesting if he led a double life and kept the secret from his relatives, so bear with me. I just started watching Darkwing Duck, and I wondered what it would be like if Darkwing/Drake had a niece who is also a crime fighter.
Darkwing Duck belongs to Disney, and Marissa belongs to me.
