A/N: I can hear the klaxons calling!

A/N: ... Can you?


A Particular Someone


Phantom got to the high-rise penthouse apartment and rang the doorbell.

"Aye, I'm coming!"

He'd expected the watery canine to answer but instead he heard the sound of a middle aged woman's voice.

She opened the door and something furry leapt out at Phantom, jumping on top of his head and over, scampering on down the corridor.

"Speck, get back here!" the woman hollered "or there'll be no dinner for you tonight, yeh ken!" Phantom watched the black and brown speckled cat peer its head around the corridor. After a momentary pause for consideration of this information it yawned, stretching its paws just within view and then turned around, flicking its tail along the wall before that too disappeared.

"That little upstart." The woman shook her head. "What can I do for you, me lad?"
"Um ..." Phantom blinked at the red headed woman with the vibrant brogue. She was dressed as if she'd just come from watching the races, minus the hat. "I was looking for someone called Liquidator."
"Nay, I doon't have anyone in my house by that name, lad." She patted his shoulder and then grasped it, digging her fingers into his feathers beneath his clothes. "Look at you; well built, aren't yah? You doon a bit of wrestlin' in your time, I can see that." Her eyes roved down his body, making him instinctively tense up.
"Well, y-yes ... I do consider myself ... w-well ... I-I mean th-that is ... heh ..."
"Why doon't yah come inside, 'ey? Aye, it's been years since I've had a decent chin wag with somebody new."
"I-uh, no, thank you." He cleared his throat nervously, "I'd better be getting home to my wife." The duck hurried back up the corridor almost as fast as Speck had.


Phantom stepped into the lift and the doors closed behind him. The feeling of sheer relief filled him as the lift went down and stopped at the ground floor. "Geez, I thought I was just going to pay a nice quiet visit to a super villain." He muttered. "Why don't they put labels on things to warn people? I seriously could've gotten hurt up there."

He rubbed his head as he stepped out of the building. "I need a new lead." He looked up and saw a neon light flashing and bouncers on the footpath across the road.

"Bingo. This used to be his apartment so this probably used to be his bar, and someone may be still around who knows where he's gone." He stepped off the curb and dashed across the road before the next car passed.


The Duck stepped into the pub, gazing around at the clientele. After dark, weren't people supposed to be panicking?

"You're new."
"I'm looking for someone."
"Oh, they all say that." The barmaid grinned slyly at him.

Phantom stared at her, "what is with this town?" he muttered. Then louder to her: "I think you're mistaken, see, I'm looking for someone else. A particular someone."
"Oh yeah?" She leaned in forwards conspiratorially, "Does this someone have a name, and does it happen to be 'Rosy'?"
"He has a couple of names, neither of which are 'Rosy'." He replied with a straight face. "The last I heard of him, he was going by the name of Liquidator."

"Dude, that's low." She straightened, finally put off. "Our business here is totally viable. Nobody's coming in here to liquidate us any time soon."
"I ... what?" He blinked at her in confusion. "No, that's his actual name. He's made of water; he used to be a bottled water salesman, his name's Bud Flood ..."
"Bud Flood?"
Phantom turned around to the person who repeated the name.

"Bud Flood!" Someone else chimed.
"We're missing it!"
Clientele suddenly crowded around the television sets in the area. The barmaid picked up the remote and changed the channels from the customary horse races to...

"That's right! You're on 'Wheel or Deal'!"

Phantom stared in disbelief at the screen up on the wall in front of him, watching the game show program. There was Liquidator, and he was having a very good time, whether he was chortling out a penalty or a prize. The Duck suspected that with this particular job the Liquidator would be in a far bigger penthouse apartment with not just a Jacuzzi but also a pool.

Phantom sank onto his elbows on the bar and sighed, staring at the different coloured beer taps in front of him.
"You look outta luck, fellah." Someone commented, his back against the bar as the advertisements came on.
"It isn't that." He said to the undersized pig. "I just thought he might have given me some answer to all this. I don't know. I guess I was expecting something a bit more ... unusual."

"I heard he used to be a criminal."
"Really? But he's such a nice boy."
Phantom Duck jerked in his seat and stared at the people around him. "He's a salesman; of course he comes across as nice!" He exclaimed loudly. He jumped down off his stool and abruptly stormed out of the pub. The door slammed open as he shoved at it.


Phantom Duck took two steps down the sidewalk, before a gang of police officers began to advance across the road to him.

"Freeze!"

"Not again!" Phantom glanced up the pathway as a group of criminals came charging towards him as well. "What is this? Do I have a tracking bug on me or do you all just crawl around like cockroaches all night as a normal thing?"

"Get the vampire!"
"Sorry, not this time!" He bellowed at them, and shifted into shadow.


Phantom swept on down the street and out of harm's way. He paused in a quieter stretch and reformed into duck form. "Thank goodness for those Vespers," he breathed, "saved once again."

"Hey, guy." A dainty voice cooed in the night.
Phantom turned towards her. "Miss, you shouldn't be out on the streets at night, it is absolutely not safe."

As she approached him he could see her blonde hair flowing softly to her shoulders and her clothes were of the naive peaches and cream sort. "In that case would you like to walk me home?" She moved in even closer to him. "Keep me safe away from all those cops and robbers?"
"That would be best." He shook his head at her foolishness.

"You poor thing, you've gotten hurt."
"I'm alright." He turned away from her but she snatched his arm and dragged him back with un-duck-like strength.
The woman pushed him against the wall. "Aw, let me have a look." She said, her voice just as disarming as before.

A shiver ran through him as her fingers explored the bandages Bushroot had fixed to his shoulder. His feathers prickled where she touched him.

"You're a vampire."
"Mm-hmmm." Her gaze dragged up from his injury to his eyes. "You'll let me take a little blood from you, won't you? Please? I promise I don't want to hurt you. Not like those nasty people wanted to." She traced her fingers lightly over the wound again.

His feathers were curling as she trailed her fingers up to his neck. A wrecking shiver overtook him. If it wasn't for her pinning him against the wall he could've fallen down from the sudden weakness in his knees. He opened his eyes as she leaned slowly in, and he watched her fangs slide out of their sheaths.

A twinge of pain came with the two sharp needle pricks in his neck and the sound of gulping followed. After a few swallows she pulled away. "Mmm." She looked up into his eyes. "Thank you."
"How ..." He gazed, still completely helpless against her tender expression. "How could I resist you?"

"I didn't use any hypnosis on you." She disagreed in a plaintive tone as she set him free from the wall.
"Sweetheart," he took her arm; "you're an angel."

He returned to work mode without missing a beat. "Now, which way's your home? I want to make sure you get there safely. Those cops and robbers are after vampires."

"That's why I'm wearing this dress." She gestured to her Sunday outfit. "I'm a lot more careful these days." She smiled at him.

"These days?" He repeated, thinking back along the conversations he'd had this night. "Now I think I know who you are."
"You do?"
"I even know where you live." He took her arm.