Chapter Seven: A Mallard's Worst Enemy, Is His Self
(Alternative Title: The Electromagnetic Storm Cloud)
I don't know what to do.
That's not right; I know exactly what is right in my mind. Gos, Launchpad... and even Morg... he'll be after all of them. I can't let anything happen to them. Drake had thought about it all night. Whether he was in the Tower or not, he couldn't put 'work' out of his mind. The mallard paced up and down his living room floor, tortured by the thought of anything happening to the ones he cared most about in the world. To fuel his anxiety further, it had been hours since he'd run into Launchpad. Thoughts like: What if NegaDuck already made well of his threats? What if Launchpad is in danger at this very moment? Questions that Drake shuttered to think about altogether.
"Father are you all right?" Asked a frail voice behind him, it was clearly his daughter. Drake whirled around to meet her eyes, prepared to give a faux reason for his disturbed behavior, but as he faced her he noticed that something was amiss. His daughter, Gosayln Mallard, was in the pastel pink dress Drake had bought her last year. Her hair was still in its natural unruly state, but the sight of her in something other than her usual purple jersey was shocking to Drake. His mouth hung open, he couldn't say anything. Perhaps sensing her father's mood the young duckling asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"You're... wearing your Easter dress?" His mouth still ajar slightly.
"I found it last night in the attic, isn't it the greatest? I'm so glad you bought it for me!" She smiled, not at all caring Drake changed the subject. "You're the best father ever!"
With those words the duckling moved forward to give her father a strong hug, closing her eyes affectionately as she did. Her father slowly returned the gesture, holding onto her tightly, "I'm-m... er... glad you think so. But if I remember correctly didn't you hate that dress so much you told me you'd rather be eaten by Slug-Men from Mars than caught in it?"
"Oh forget what I said, father, it was a mistake! After all, you wanted to see me in it right?" She insisted, letting her confused father free from the embrace. Her eyes lighting up as she explained to Drake: "I'm going next door to talk to Honker about the Science Fair, okay? We're making a volcano out of cookies and mayonnaise! Er... I was just worried about you..."
Drake stared. Everything he thought about asking his daughter wouldn't have made sense. He knew something was terribly wrong. His daughter was beginning to remind him of the little girl he'd met only once but felt like he knew so well... NegaGosalyn. NegaDuck's adopted child, from the Negaverse. Everything about her was just the opposite of Drake's own daughter. What shocked him the most was that NegaGosayln was able to live so long with NegaDuck--after all NegaDuck despised anything gentle or kind. It was beyond Drake's comprehension. And now his daughter was beginning to resemble someone she was not. Drake forced himself to dismiss any odd feelings he had about his daughter's strange actions. It must be the way all preteens act.
Before his daughter could leave the house Drake called out to her, "Do you know where Launchpad is, Gos?"
She was in the front corridor by this time, she turned back nodding her head, "He's next door helping Mrs. Muddlefoot uproot all of her flowers... it's sad really..."
"Binky? Her prize-winning flowers?" His voice was almost a squeak at this point. It was like nothing he'd ever heard of. The Muddlefoots were insanely good at lawn decorating. Binky Muddlefoot would even sing to her flowers before going to bed every night.
Drake felt a tight knot in his stomach. "All... all right, Gos."
Then she left her bewildered father standing in the living room.
Megavolt barely remembered how he got home. He knew Quackerjack and Bushroot had taken him into the city, mostly to help him recharge his battery after they had to throw water on him to wake him up. But once he got his barings back he sprung up demanding to know what had happened.
"You picked a fight with a doberman." Was the only explanation that he got from Quackerjack. He knew of course that it was NegaDuck who was the cause of his pain. What he really wanted Quackerjack to say was that they knew where NegaDuck was at that very moment, but neither of the other villains knew.
NegaDuck drifted. The fastest way to find the raging duck was to find out where the latest crime took place.
"We've got to stop NegaDuck!" Megavolt proclaimed to the two villains (who looked mostly tired from having to carry their companion home). The rodent blinked, "Woah. That had a ring of deja vu to it."
Quackerjack growled, pulling at his hat, "Great! NegaDuck knocked all the remaining common sense from him!"
"Stop him from what exactly?" Bushroot questioned cocking one of his eyebrows in confusion.
"From causing this universe to collapse!" Insisted Megavolt, shouting and flauling his arms.
"... I'm going home." Bushroot pinched the area between his eyes; he had given up on trying to understand Megavolt.
"You don't understand!" Megavolt, who was sitting on his living room couch still, slowly rose to a stand. Pulling out the device he had been using all that day, "I found the location! I mean... it's not a location, it's NegaDuck himself! He's got an unstable amount of electric energy circulating around him... it's almost..."
This got both of the villain's attention. Bushroot didn't understand exactly the danger but he could tell that Megavolt was not bluffing about it being unhealthy for 'the universe'.
Quackerjack interrupted, "Are you saying he's got an energy field around him, Megs?"
"No... it's like he is the field, itself. I don't understand it, it's like he's been Galvanized or maybe..." Megavolt's mood turned dark as he began hypothesizing where the negative version of Darkwing would get such a 'power'. Closing his eyes he began to remember all of the details of what happened before NegaDuck knocked him unconscious:
When he came around the corner following the radar on the Electomagifield Finder he run into several trees, a rock... a shrub... then he came to a clearing in the greenhouse.
NegaDuck was standing there, his hands on his hips as he watched Megavolt approaching. Megavolt was more interested in finding the field than his former leader, but he gave him a small gesture of hello but kept his eyes on the machine. "That thing is giving me a headache, you knucklehead!" NegaDuck hissed lowly, his eyes narrowed. The needle was fluctuating rapidly. Almost as NegaDuck spoke the frequency grew. That was strange. It wasn't making any noise at all to Megavolt. But Megavolt replied, "Hold on I'm almost done... its around here somewhere..." "Get..." Up two marks... "That..." Up five... "Away from me!" It was spinning uncontrollably. Then... that's when Megavolt realized he was in trouble. Quackerjack and Bushroot were staring at the villain, "Are you okay?" Asked one of them.
"It's something like radio waves..." He bit his lip, looking at the super villains before him, "He's like an electrical wave... NegaDuck might not even really be here at all..."
AN: Sorry for the "cliffhanger" ending. I have a special place in my heart for drama. In (the extreme) case I don't update before thanksgiving--I hope everyone has a very happy turkey day. And eats lots of pie!
