Chapter 2: Good Ol' Megsy
2:08
That's what her clock read in bold, taunting red numbers. Gosalyn couldn't take waiting. It was so long. So boring. So- so…. time consuming.
"Hey, ghost," she sang softly. "Think you could show up soon? You know, I am an 11-year-old girl. I've got places to go, people to see, homework not to do, vases in need of breaking…you get the point."
2:11
"I can't believe I'm being stood up by a ghost," Gosalyn grumbled, resting her chin grumpily in her cupped wings.
"I? Stand someone up?" A voice rang out from behind her and suddenly the room was filled with a blinding light. "That sort of behavior is far below me, for I am the streetlight that shines in the night, I am the blackout that ruins your dinner party, I am—"
"Megavolt!" Gosalyn exclaimed, taking in the sight of the deranged rat in a yellow jumpsuit with a plug for a hat. "Hang on a sec, you're not a ghost. What are you doing here and why…why do you have wings?" His extra appendages shivered and shimmered with electricity, and Gosalyn found herself mesmerized.
"Yeah, well…They weren't exactly part of the job description," Megavolt mumbled sheepishly. "Actually, I'm not really sure I signed up for this job." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "At least, I don't remember signing up for this job. I don't remember how I got here either…"
"Do you remember why you're here?" Gosalyn asked.
"Uh…to wish you a Merry Christmas?" Megavolt suggested tentatively.
"Well…thanks! Merry Christmas to you, too! But Redmond Gore specifically said that you were coming to answer my question." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Or is this all some big ruse to capture Darkwing Duck?"
"Darkwing Duck! Ooooh, I hate that guy! But what's he got to do with you?"
"Well he's…" Gosalyn stopped. This was all so utterly bizarre that it could only be a dream, meaning telling Megavolt that Darkwing Duck was her dad wouldn't really matter. And if for some unexplainable reason it turned out this wasn't a dream, she could just resort to pouring a glass of water on him, and he'd short out and forget the whole thing.
"Yes?" Megavolt emphasized impatiently.
"He's my dad," Gosalyn blurted before she could change her mind.
"Your dad? Hey, wait a second…aren't I supposed to answer some question? Like…like what would have happened if Dorkwing had never adopted you, or something like that?" Megavolt's dawning comprehension was like a lightbulb blinking above his head.
"Yup!" Gosalyn felt a rush of relief. Maybe ol' Megsy's brain wasn't completely fried after all.
"Yeah…yeah. Okay, come with me little girl. We got some things to see." Megavolt offered her a gloved hand and a rare smile.
Gosalyn cautiously took it. This was a perfect Kodak moment: her holding hands with a supervillian. If only her dad were here to see, he'd blow a gasket!
"Okay, first stop — to the past! Oh, and this might sting a little," Megavolt added.
Before Gosalyn could ask what he meant, a jolting zing of electricity shuddered through her body and the room began to spin. Blurs of daylight and darkness from the window in her bedroom caused a sensational haze of shadows and sunbeams to swirl around her until Gosalyn started to feel pleasantly sick. Her grip on Megavolt's hand tightened, an inaudible question: when this delightful but nauseating roller coaster ride would be over? He gave a squeeze in return and, unexpectedly, the endless cycle came to a circling halt.
"Thanks for the warning," Gosalyn gasped, bending over and clutching her stomach.
"Hey, I think you handled that well. Most people throw up the first time," Megavolt grinned, his own face a mild shade of green.
"Where are we?" Gosalyn asked, glancing around the room that was undeniably hers but with several flaws, like a puzzle missing pieces. You can still make out the picture, but something isn't quite right. She walked over to the window and peered out at her surroundings. The sun was barely waking, shaking golden rays in the sky like flyaway hair in a summer breeze.
"We're in your room, approximately 3 years ago. You're eight years old and it's your first Christmas morning with Darkwing Duck," Megavolt recited, as if from a textbook. "Whoa." He clutched his head, sounding dazed. "Where'd that come from?"
"Cool beans! C'mon, lets go downstairs and watch my past self open presents." Gosalyn grabbed Megavolt's hand and dragged him out of her room and down the steps.
Voices emanated from the living room. Gosalyn scampered breathlessly towards her father's voice but stumbled a grinding halt in the doorway. Something about the scene playing out on the living room floor made her heart pound in her ears, wild with anticipation. Her past-self, wearing a ghastly (was there any other kind?) Christmas sweater and stubby red pigtails, was holding out a badly wrapped present to a curious but startled looking Darkwing Duck.
"Ah, Gos," her dad said with forced composure, hesitantly taking the gift, "you didn't have to get me anything. It's not something that would be, um…hazardous to Daddy's heath now would it?"
"Ah, Dad," her younger self mimicked, "stop being such a baby and open it!"
Gosalyn recalled the feeling of anxiety that had squirmed in her stomach when she gave her father that gift. They had been together for something like five months at the time, and things were going smoothly, but still…giving her new guardian a 1# Dad mug felt like a huge step in their relationship. He had been a 1# Dad to her over the past few months, but Gosalyn remembered feeling shy (something she never was) about tell Darkwing this. Everything was still too new, still too unsure, still too breakable.
She watched with fascination as her memory-dad tore of the paper with a flourish, his eyes widening as they roamed over the message inscribed on the mug. A warm, fuzzy puppy-like sensation nestled in her chest when Darkwing scooped up her past-self in a hug, his eyes glistening with something more than just joy.
"Gos, I hope with all my heart that I can live up to this mug. Just-just having you here with me is the best present I could ever have wished for," Darkwing murmured into her eight-year-old self's flaming hair. "I love you, sweetheart,"
"I love you too, Dad. Now stop being all mushy. We've got presents to open!" Past-Gosalyn declared with gusto, leaping on the stacks of presents like the athlete she was.
A soft sniffling noise caught Gosalyn off guard. She turned to find Megavolt blowing his nose into a handkerchief. "That was- sniff- the most beautiful- sniff – thing I've ever –sniff- seen!"
"Yeah. It kinda was," Gosalyn agreed softly, her eyes still glued to her younger self tearing through mounds of presents. And to the adoring expression her father was giving her behind her back.
"Do you really want to know what it would be like if that had never happened? If you were still Gosalyn Waddlemeyer?" Megavolt asked, his tone indecipherable through the stuffiness of his nose.
Gosalyn thought about it for split second. Then, with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, she nodded. "I've gone this far. Why not?"
Megavolt held out his hand. "Okay. But the next guy's a wacko, just warning you."
"I think anyone who's in this line of business has a few screws loose," Gosalyn muttered, willingly accepting his hand.
"This might—"
"Sting a little. Got it."
She meant that in more ways than one.