Chapter 10 – By The Skin Of His Beak
Morgana's eyes slowly opened and she struggled to release her hands from behind her back. Everything was a blur. She could feel her body weight hanging by her arms and the last thing she could remember was frantically trying to escape four goons from the rooftop after Darkwing had been clubbed and knocked unconscious. She remembered being taken to the old prison and using her magic to transmogrify three of them before more rushed into the room she was being held in, then darkness. Now she could hear Negaduck's laughter as he stood over a smudge of purple. She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again trying to clear her vision. Slowly she was able to make out her boyfriend slumped in a chair and she heard a soft groan from her right. Gosalyn hung next to her and beside her was Launchpad.
"Da-ad?" She called and Darkwing perked up.
"Gosalyn!"
"Dad what's going on? Where are we?"
"It's okay sweetie! Just stay calm!" He called helplessly
"It's about time!" Negaduck scoffed. He moved towards them stopping in front of Launchpad and glaring up at the sleeping pilot. He grabbed him and shook him until he started to come around.
"Huh? What? Where am I? DW? Uh, Gosalyn?"
"I'm here LP! Everybody stay calm! Everything is going to be okay!" Darkwing cried out but Negaduck's evil cackle told them otherwise. Just then Taurus Bulba crossed the roof and swept up Negaduck by his jacket and lifted him so their faces were inches apart.
"Good! They're awake! Now do whatever it is you need to do so I can end this!" He shouted at the duck who frowned deeply back at him.
"Well if you'd put me down I'd get to it you over grown coffee grinder!" Taurus dropped the duck in a heap in front of him with an indignant snort and the duck uttered a string of obscenities under his breath as he stood and dusted himself off. Gosalyn stared in horror at the giant bull unable to make a sound. Not much scared the young girl, but Taurus Bulba petrified her.
"I hope you're all nice and cozy because we have quite the show to put on for you." Negaduck said with a wide grin walking over to the three dangling helplessly. "As you can see, your precious hero has been incapacitated." He said pointing at Darkwing. They looked over at him huddled over with his head hanging low staring down into his lap completely defeated. "I wouldn't expect any dramatic rescues from him. Now, note the large machine gun sitting behind him. That little baby is going to be responsible for the extermination of one you once our sappy hero chooses who will live, and who is gonna be pumped full of hot death!" He made his way over to Darkwing and snatched the remote from where it sat in his lap and held it up for all to see.
As this happened, the lid on the jack in the box slowly creaked open so the creature within could watch the show closely. Paddywack furrowed his brows with concentration, feeling himself becoming stronger as Negaduck's evil scheme unraveled before him.
"Yes…..yes! This is….delicious!" He hissed with delight.
"This remote has three buttons; one for each of you. All Darkwing has to do is hit the corresponding button to whoever he decides to execute before the time runs out, which will start it's count down once I activate this switch." He pointed to a lever on the machine gun then tossed the remote back into Darkwing's lap. "He will have 15 minutes to make his choice and if he doesn't, the gun will go off killing all three of you instead." He stalked back over to the three ducks and put his hands on his hips looking up at them merrily. "But before we get to that, why don't we all take a closer look at the man behind the mask. The duck you've all been duped into loving..."
Darkwing looked up knowing exactly what was coming next and he could feel his stomach knotting in anticipation to his brother's words.
"My dear brother Drakey…" He added and Morgana and Gosalyn gasped. Launchpad grimaced at his words. He had known this since Shadow had let it out of the bag the day they met, but to actually hear it from the mouth of Negaduck was, to say the least, shocking.
"I knew you wouldn't have told any of them." He said to Darkwing. "That's right kiddies! I've been posing as his evil double for the last three years! Why? Because it was the perfect cover since Drake here thought I was dead." He came to stand over Darkwing and slapped his hat off before ripping the mask from of his face and dropping it to the ground.
"Yes! This is most….scrumptious!" Paddywack mused to himself quietly.
"Without the mask to hide behind, Drake Mallard is nothing but a lying, deceiving, sniveling little coward." He turned back to his silent audience and stepped aside so they could see Drake. "Perhaps you'd like to tell your family why you ran off to play hero here in St. Canard?" He asked Drake who swallowed hard and looked into the eyes of Launchpad, Morgana and Gosalyn. He opened his beak to respond but Negaduck cut him off.
"Okay fine! I'll tell them!" He said quickly, rubbing his hands together. "He left his high school sweetheart to become a SHUSH agent. She tried to make him choose between being Hooter's bitch boy and going back to being a structural engineer. See, thing is he didn't know she was pregnant and she didn't want her baby growing up without her father. Turns out the little brat did anyway."
"You're lying!" Gosalyn shouted angrily fighting the tears that were trying to form in her eyes with everything she had. "He doesn't have any kids!" Negaduck laughed loudly doubling over with his hands resting on his stomach. He wiped a tear from his eye and sighed with delight.
"Oh but see, that's where your wrong little missy! By the time he found out he had a kid she was already three years old and he chose not to get involved so he could follow his own selfish dreams! He didn't want any children! He didn't want a family! He wanted to run around fighting crime and basking in the glory of his pitiful self-image!"
"That isn't how it happened Damean!" Drake shouted angrily. If he was going to expose his deepest darkest secrets he could at least get the story straight.
"Tell me something Drake, how did you really find out professor Waddlemeyer had a granddaughter?" Negaduck asked ignoring his brother's words and Gosalyn's eyes shot up to her father curiously. Drake said nothing as he could feel her watching him. "Could it be because you always knew she existed? Because you knew when her mom and dad were killed in that car accident she was sent to live with her grandfather? Maybe because you knew when Waddlemeyer died she'd been sent to the orphanage?" The dead silence on the Canard Tower rooftop was thick with tension as Negaduck paused. He walked behind Drake's chair and leaned over him sliding an arm around his neck. He grabbed a fist full of feathers on top of Drake's head with the opposite hand lifting forcing him to face Gosalyn.
"Why don't you look into her eyes and tell her Drake? Tell her how you stood by while she was sent away to that stinking orphanage to rot!" When Drake remained silent, he stood and gave his head a shove as he walked back out into the center of the roof. Tears fell from Gosalyn's piercing eyes as she glared at Negaduck.
"Don't look at me kid; I'm not the one who abandoned you." Negaduck said with a shrug.
"It's not that simple! Gosalyn, I swear to you I loved you with all my heart since the moment I found out about you. I did what I did to protect you!" Drake shouted to her but her eyes fell down and she didn't acknowledge his words.
"I don't know Drakey, sounds pretty simple to me. The kid was left with no one in the world yet you just turned the other cheek. But why? What made Darkwing Duck so much more important to you than your own flesh and blood? Hell, even that over inflated egomaniac Shadow kept his Gosalyn close by his side." He now stood waiting for an answer from Drake who sighed deeply.
In the cage, Knight watched with confusion. Shadow could see the wheels turning in his head as a million questions filled his thoughts.
"Yes, she's our kid Whitey. Question is; where's your Gosalyn?" Shadow whispered and he saw Knight tense at his words.
"I wanted to do some good in this world. There was so much evil…" Drake's words faded and his head sunk back down.
"Just say it Drake. You needed redemption. You wanted to make up for all of your mistakes!"
"No, I've always known fighting crime was what I was meant to do! I did the things that I did because of you!"
Negaduck threw his head back with a roar of laughter. "I didn't make you do anything Drake. You killed those people all on your own!" He said and turned to his victims. "So there you have it folks! The duck who left his pregnant girlfriend in the dust to pursue his visions of grandeur, went on a killing spree and finally ran off to hide behind a mask and cape to make himself feel better for his sins. Bet your wishing you had killed me now huh?"
"Negaduck that's enough!" Morgana shouted out. "Leave him alone! You've done him enough harm!"
Negaduck turned to face her and a smile spread over his face. "Ah yes, the Lovely crook turned crusader, Morgana McCawber!" He sang striding over to where she hung. "Why don't we tell your dead beat boyfriend how I managed to find the Negaverse in the first place?" He asked and suddenly she wasn't so talkative. She and Drake exchanged glances as Negaduck continued. "I bet you didn't know me and the little woman here worked together back in the good old days did you Drakey?" Silence filled the air and Drake turned his head to look away from her.
"I didn't think so. See, we got together to rob a bank and she had a portal all set up for me to escape with the money. When I jumped in I was brought to the Negaverse instead of where the portal was meant to end up back at my hideout. Too bad she had to fall for a loser like you. She made a damn fine criminal!" He ended with a cackle and Taurus snorted from the sidelines. His patience was growing very thin.
"Enough! You've had your fun duck!" He shouted moving towards the machine gun. Negaduck gaped as he lifted a metal hand and pulled the switch snapping the lever in the process.
"You knob! You've started the timer!" He seethed. Darkwing began to panic, pulling at his shackles in attempts to free himself. His loved ones gasped loudly and they too began to panic knowing that within the next fifteen minutes, someone was going to die.
"I have had enough of these games! I came here to destroy Darkwing Duck! I will let him chose who dies and then it will be my turn for revenge!" He leaned over and picked Negaduck up by the throat and lifted him as he struggled and squirmed trying to escape his grasp. "Of course, it could be arranged that you die with him!" He added with a smirk. He dropped Negaduck who landed hard on the roof coughing and gasping for air. He'd had just about enough of this crazy cow!
"Would you stop doing that!" Negaduck wheezed getting up and glowering at Bulba. "I'm the only reason you're even here to get your revenge on the little worm! If it weren't for me, you'd still be sulking in that damn cave!"
"Taurus Bulba does not sulk! I will kill you!" He shouted swinging a large metal arm at Negaduck who quickly rolled to the side.
"Ha! I'm too fast for you beef boy!"
"We'll see about that!" Bulba growled as his clawed hand switched to a canon. He fired at Negaduck who jumped over the blast and landed with a chuckle. Bulba fired several rounds at him but Negaduck was just too quick. After blowing seven holes in the roof the bull flailed his metal arms angrily and roared. He charged at Negaduck and caught his cape as he began to run and Bulba lifted him to eye level. Negaduck pulled a gun from his jacket and aimed it at the seething bull but before he could shoot, he realized Bulba had frozen in his place.
"What the…?"
"He's over loaded his circuits!" Drake called. "There isn't much time before he cools down!"
"Over loaded his circuits?" Negs repeated then chuckled. "Pah! Ain't so tough now are you?" Negaduck asked the petrified bull. He unhooked his cape and landed on the ground gracefully. He ran to the door of the roof and yelled down for Megavolt who came scurrying up right away.
"Yeah boss?" He asked and Negaduck motioned to Bulba.
"Help me push him off the side of the roof!" He said and Megavolt nodded before rushing over with him. The two knocked him over onto his back then pushed him towards the edge. He was a lot heavier than they had anticipated but eventually they inched him to the ledge.
"I always loved cow tipping!" Negaduck said with a chuckled before they gave him one last shove and peered over the side and watching him fall to the ground. He struck the side walk below and they saw one of his mechanical arms roll into the street and blood trickle out around his body while screams erupted from several civilians below as they scattered from the scene.
"Now that he's taken care of…" Negaduck said walking back to Darkwing dusting off his hands. He looked at the broken lever on the machine gun and gave a frustrated sigh. "Ten minutes." He said. "Well Dipwing, looks like you've got some thinking to do! So what's it gonna be?" He jogged over to Launchpad motioning towards him. "The trusty sidekick?" He then pointed at Morgana, "The love of your life?" He cackled and stood triumphantly in front of Gosalyn. "Or your precious brat? Times'a tickin'!"
Darkwing blinked at Negaduck. He couldn't believe he was serious. "You can't actually expect me to decide which of them dies!"
"Oh but I do! Of course, if you can't choose, you can always let them all die! Look at it this way; instead of deciding who dies, why don't you pick the two you want most to live? I bet I know the answer to that one! What do you think faithful sidekick?" He asked nudging Launchpad who swallowed hard and looked up at Drake with terror in his eyes.
"Or you know, you could always off the kid since you didn't really give a damn about her to start with." He shrugged and Drake glared at him.
"That's not true!"
"You're wasting time Drakey…" He reminded him, tapping the face of his watch.
Drake's thoughts were moving at a mile a minute. There must have been something he could do. Some way to save all three of them.
"Damean I can't choose! Please do what you want to me but let them go!" Negaduck only laughed at him and lifted his arm so Drake could see his watch and tapped it again.
Megavolt wandered up to Negaduck with a thoughtful finger to his snout. He looked from Drake to the prisoners then leaned in close to Negaduck. "You aren't actually gonna let that thing kill them all are you?" He asked and Negaduck threw a punch into his gut. The rat crumpled to the ground holding his stomach. "Never mind!" He coughed.
"We need to do something Shadow! Darkwing can't possibly choose!" Knight hissed grasping the bars tightly and watching with sweat forming on his brow.
"Well we can't do much from in here Whitey." He looked at his wife who was still sitting against the wall with her hands bound watching as Darkwing's heart was being torn into pieces. "Morgana!" He hissed and she looked at him. He motioned for her to come over to the cage and she slowly began to shuffle over.
"What are you doing? What if he sees?" Knight asked.
"Desperate times my friend.." Shadow said. Morgana finally got to the cage and pressed her back against the bars for him to untie her.
"Megavolt! Blast her!" Negaduck shouted catching the witch from the corner of his eye. Megavolt sent a bolt of electricity at her and after a long jolt she slumped against the cage.
"Morgana!" Shadow cried reaching through the bars to catch her limp body. Negaduck sniggered and turned back to Megavolt. "Now scram! I want to enjoy this!" Megavolt shrugged and left the rooftop. He didn't really want to see Gosalyn and Launchpad brutally murdered anyway.
"Seven minutes Drake." Negaduck chimed.
"Chose me Dark!" Morgana called out suddenly causing everyone to turn their attention to her. "Save Gosalyn and Launchpad!"
"What? Morgana, are you insane? I love you! I can't kill you!" Drake felt himself choking up. If it wasn't for trying to save face in front of his daughter, he would have broken down and cried right there on the spot. It was too much to bear…
"Six and a half…" Negaduck mused. He couldn't help but let out a low gruff laugh as he looked over the excruciating pain on Drake's face. Suddenly, he stumbled back a couple steps and clutched his chest above his heart. Drake watched as he groaned loudly in pain and dropped to his knees.
"D-Damean?" He called but Negaduck ignored him.
"Ack! What's happ-ening-?" He collapsed to his side wriggling in pain.
"Is he having a heart attack?" Launchpad asked but no one replied. Instead everyone watched as Negaduck stopped squirming and a final gasp escaped his bill. Everyone was silently staring in disbelief at the sudden and unexplainable death of the mighty Negaduck. Drake shook his head snapping himself back to reality.
"The timer! Shadow can you wake up Morgana?" Drake called and Shadow began to shake her limp body. She was out cold. Drake began to frantically thrash about in his seat pulling at the hand cuffs and trying to force his hands out of their tight hold.
"Dark! There's only a few minutes left! You must make a decision! It will be okay, I promise!"
Drake shook his head. "No! I can't Morgue!"
"Dark please! If you don't choose soon we'll all die! I will always love you Dark dearest…. and I forgive you!" She said through sobs and Drake finally broke down sobbing through his tears. Refusing to give up, he then got an idea and began struggling to reach his pile of weapons and gadgets for the potion Morgana had given him. He lifted it with his webbed feet to his mouth and pulled the cork with his teeth before grasping it in his bill and throwing his head back. He spat the empty vile onto the ground and wrapped his feet around one of the cuffs. He only needed to get one hand free as the cuffs were looped around the arm of the chair. He took a deep breath and pushed hard on the cuff with a twist and he could hear the bones in his hand crack loudly. Everyone winced at they watched him slip his mangled hand out of the cuff and jump out of the chair. He ran around to the gun and struggled with one good hand to turn it away from his loved ones just in time for the timer to start buzzing. It swiveled on its stand firing off what seemed like a million rounds into the night air. Finally, everything became silent again and he dashed over to Negaduck and searched his body for keys to all the handcuffs which he found in his inner jacket pocket. He ran directly for Gosalyn and fumbled with the many keys until he unlocked her and she fell into his arms. He hugged her tightly and she sobbed into his jacket. He set her down and unlocked Morgana and Launchpad who both wrapped their arms around him and Gosalyn in a warm hug.
"Dark your hand! And you're bleeding!" Morgana gasped. He looked down at the now solid red scarf tide tightly around his shoulder.
"It's nothing serious." He lied, "I'll be fine." He backed away from their embrace to let Shadow and Knight out of the cage and Launchpad scooped up Honker who was still unconscious.
Knight dashed over to the door and left to find his Morgana while Shadow fell down beside his wife gently nudging her until her eyes opened and she smiled.
"Shadow? Is everyone okay?" She asked.
"Yeah. We're all okay." He cooed brushing her face with his hand.
Drake turned to his family with a look of shame over his face. "I guess I have a lot of explaining to do." He began then knelt down beside his daughter. "Especially to you Gosalyn." He placed his good hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him momentarily before jumping back into his arms.
"Can we just go home for now?" She asked softly. "To our real home?" Drake stood scooping her up with his good arm and smiling.
"You bet kiddo." He said then turned to Morgana. "You want to come back with us Morgue? I can't bear to be away from any one of you right now." The witch nodded and glided up to him placing a soft kiss on his forehead.
"I'd like that, Dark." She smiled. And I can use a healing spell on your shoulder and hand."
Darkwing nodded to her before the jack in the box caught his eye. He went over to the cage and lifted it in one hand to look it over. It appeared lifeless. The two witches came up behind him and Shadow's Morgana took it from him looking down at it curiously.
"Is it in there?" Drake asked her.
"I don't feel anything. I can't sense it at all."
"Strange…" Drake said eyeing the box.
"We should take it and try to seal it anyway. I don't like the feeling it gave me before and I don't really want to take any chances with it."
"No, you really don't" Drake said before Launchpad interrupted them.
"Ahem, uh DW?" He peeped and Drake raised his brows at him. "Do ya think that uh- we could make a stop at Hamburger Hippo? Barely escaping death tends to get the old appetite going!" He patted his stomach as he spoke and Drake couldn't help but laugh and everyone joined in.
"I have a better idea! How about we all go home and I'll make a huge feast!" Morgana offered and everyone agreed.
"Sounds good Morgue. I'll meet everyone back at the house in a bit." He said picking up his mask, hat and weapons scattered about the chair he'd been trapped in.
"Oh Dark! If you don't want my cooking you could at least be honest with me!"
"No I'm looking forward to it. There's just something I need to do." He slipped his effects back on and held the eraser end of a pencil up to his mouth. "Darkwing Duck to Thunderquack. Code words; Let's get dangerous!" He tucked it into his jacket and turned for the roof door. "Go on I'll be right behind you."
He searched the rooms until he found White Knight sitting with Morgana and he stopped to speak with them.
"Everyone is meeting at my home. I'd like for you two to join us."
"I think I should really get back home Darkwing. There's something I need to do."
"Come on Whitey. Just grab some grub and rest up a bit." He insisted. Knight sighed deeply.
"You know, I hate it when he calls me that." He said and Drake chuckled.
"It's a lot better that Skippy." Darkwing shrugged.
"True…"
"We'd love to come Dark." Morgana said taking her boyfriend's hand and leading him towards the door. "One more day won't hurt anyone."
"Great. Everyone's on the roof waiting for the Thunderquack. It'll be snug but you should all fit." He smiled with a nod and moved further into Canard Tower. He searched the corridors until he found Megavolt unscrewing light bulbs along the corridor walls and he grabbed him and threw him up against the wall.
"Whoa! Where'd you come from?" the rat asked uneasily.
"Who knows my secret identity?" He hissed.
"Just Negaduck, Bushroot, Liquidator and me! I won't tell anyone I swear!"
"I'll be the judge of that! Where's Bushroot?"
"I-I don't know!" Darkwing eyed him closely as he shook with fear under the tight grasp he had on his jumpsuit. He reached a hand into his pocket and pulled his hypnotiser coin out and held it close to the rat's eyes.
Once he was sure his identity was safe from Megavolt he dragged him out to the roof. He eyed the ledge of the building considering throwing him over, but stopped himself. He shook his head and forced megavolt over to the chair and cuffed him to it and the villain's eyes fell on the body of Negaduck.
"You killed Negaduck?" He asked in awe.
"Close enough. You're lucky I don't kill you too!" Darkwing said and Megavolt shrunk in the chair. "Instead you'll be serving a life sentence in the super villain prison." He bent over and glared into his eyes, poking a finger into his chest. "Do not make me regret letting you live!"
"I won't! I promise!" He said nervously and Darkwing brushed passed him and dove off the side of Canard Tower.
Megavolt watched over his shoulder as he disappeared then let out a long sigh of relief. "I don't know who that guy was, but I hope I never see him again!"
Down below shortly after, Taurus Bulba's arms slowly rolled back towards the rest of him and attached itself back into place. The sea of blood surrounding him inched back towards the dead bull until every drop seemingly sucked back into his body and he became animated once again. Bulba pushed himself off of the ground and his cyborg eye flashed glowing brightly. He swung a massive arm sending three FBI agents around him running and several police officers on the scene to duck behind their cars drawing their weapons. He grinned and a laugh escaped his lips.
"Yes…..with this body I'll be able to feast like a king!" Paddywack's voice said from within Taurus' form.
"Taurus Bulba! We have you surrounded! Stand down or we will open fire!" One of the officers said over a megaphone. Paddywack chuckled and took off into the sky.
Meanwhile at the St. Canard Mental Institution in Shadow's universe;
Bushroot sat quietly staring over the lifeless body of one Damean Mallard. His leafy hands were smudged with the same blood that stained the blankets of his victim, and he silently wept as the images of the knife blade tearing in and out of the helpless ducks chest replayed over and over in his head. It wasn't until he heard one of the nurses coming to do the morning checks that he slipped back out of the window he'd broken into to head for home.