Much Ado About Negawing: Stalk the Dad, Part 3 - Darkwing Duck (1991)

"Fearsome Three— I think we just found a clue!" Bushroot declares. He turns his gaze back onto the three cornered birds, crossing his arms. "You're not the only ones missing a duck."

"…" Gosalyn is about to ask if their "missing duck" is Quackerjack, and then remembers that they'd been talking about Negaduck only a few minutes ago.

"I can't believe Negaduck forgot we had all agreed to rob the St. Canard Museum of Questionable Art!"

"Wait… if both Darkwing and Negaduck are missing, then that means…" Gosalyn snaps her fingers. "He might notseeing someone! He might be going to fight Negaduck!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Bushroot pauses for a moment. "I have an idea… what if we work together, and try to track them down?"

"You mean… you're not going to fry us, drown us, and then bury us six feet under the ground?" Launchpad asks, his eyes flicking about nervously.

"Well, do you want us to do that?" Megavolt rubs his hands together excitedly. "Because we still can!"

"Tired of breathing?" the Liquidator starts up now. "Do you ever wish your lungs would just—"

"So let me get this straight," Honker interrupts, adjusting his glasses when they start to slide down his beak. "You guys want to team up with us to find Darkwing Duck and Negaduck?"

"Yes!" Bushroot facepalms. "Or at least I do. You're the closest thing to a clue we've found so far. The sooner we find Negaduck, the sooner we can rob the St. Canard Museum of Questionable Art!"

"… why would you wanna rob a museum full of ugly artwork, anyway?" Gosalyn asks. Her frown deepens and then she mutters, "Wait, why would someone fill a museum with ugly art in the first place?"

"That's none of your business," Bushroot shoots back, growing impatient. "Look, are we all agreed or not?"

"Hmmm… let me think," Gosalyn tells him, a smirk spreading across her beak.

Bushroot groans and facepalms again.

. . . .

Back to the present…

There's a loud, all-too familiar whirr from the backseat of the Thunderquack.

"Uh oh…" Gosalyn is on her feet in an instant, whirling around to see what's going on. Negaduck stands on the faux leather seat, his back slightly hunched over due to the Thunderquack's low ceiling. And he is not happy.

"Your Dad's not the only one with buzzsaw cufflinks, little missy," Negaduck growls, his body trembling with barely masked rage. "Now, if you don't want me to pump this thing full of lead, Launchpad will land in the next thirty seconds and let me out of here… or it's bye-bye Thunderquack!"

Gosalyn catches the sound of Launchpad gulping, and then the pilot says, "We'd better do what he says, Gos— I think he's serious."

Eek and Squeak chatter fearfully, and Archie backs up into a shady corner of the aircraft's dashboard.

"Let me explain," Gosalyn starts.

"I don't want an explanation!" Negaduck snarls. "I just want to be left alone! And by the way, you're down to twenty seconds. Tick tock. Better make up your mind soon, while this thing's still in the air."

"I'm trying to get you and Dad back together!"

How do I make him understand? How do I get him to realise I'm telling the truth?

"Ten seconds," Negaduck interrupts, pulling his shotgun out from his jacket. "Nine… eight…"

"It's my fault, okay?!" Desperation seeps into Gosalyn's voice as she shouts at him. "What do you want me to say, huh!? It's my fault you guys broke up and it's my fault Dad is so depressed that he hasn't moved from the couch since we got home last night!" She shudders, looking away. She can still remember that brief glimpse she got of her father's… darkerside, last night. It was months ago now, but the shadow of that memory still lurks in the back of her mind. "I'm trying to make things right," she says, her voice lowering back to normal volume.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Gosalyn looks up, surprised at the drastic change in Negaduck's tone. His hands clench tightly around the shotgun, and his scowl grows heavier with each passing second. "I don't get to have what I want. And when I do, I lose it. That's how it always been, that's how it is now, and that's how it always will be! Why can't you just accept that, you little brat?!"

Gosalyn scoffs, earning a warning scowl from the villain. "So you're gonna give up just because you're afraid of losing Dad? The Negaduck I know never gives up! No matter how many times you lose a battle, you always get back up and come up with another evil plot! I can't tell you what the future will be. Maybe things will work out, maybe they won't. But I do know this— you will lose Dad anyway if you give up now. If you don't want that, you have to try!"

"And what do you want?" Negaduck glares at her suspiciously.

"I want my Dad back," Gosalyn tells him firmly, crossing her arms. "I'm not ready to forgive you for all the things you've done. Not yet. But… I'm willing to accept that my Dad loves you. And he needs you right now."

Negaduck is silent for a minute, his expression unreadable. Doubt and fear start to slip back into Gosalyn's chest, gripping at her lungs. What if he still refuses? What are they doing to do then? What if—

"Yeah? Well, I'm not ready to forgive you for hitting me on the head with a frying pan," Negaduck snarls, though the look in his eyes doesn't quite match his harsh tone. "So I'm doing this for him. Not you."

Gosalyn allows herself a little smile.

"Great," Launchpad pipes up, wiping the sweat off his forehead now that it seems their passenger won't be carrying out his threat of shooting up the Thunderquack. "Now you have maybe around two and a half minutes to get into the disguise before we need to land."

"Disguise?" Negaduck repeats, eyes narrowing slightly. "What disguise?"

"Oh, right!" Gosalyn whirls around and reaches underneath her seat. She pulls out a small suitcase, and lifts it up for Negaduck to see. "We needed some help in getting Dad out of the house, and we kinda… well, we left some details out and changed the rest."

Negaduck's frown only deepens. "Something tells me I'm not gonna like this…"

. . . .

Meanwhile…

They're halfway to the meeting place, the very silent Darkwing in the back with Honker and Tank, when Binkie pipes up from the passenger side, "I wonder how Darkwing Duck ended up in their house? Until today, I didn't even know that they, well… knew each other!"

"… Uhhh…"

Quick, Honker! You gotta think of something fast!

At that moment, Herb slams on the brakes and points out his window excitedly. "Oooh, look at that nice grill! And all those pretty vases!"

Honker peers out his own window, and sees that his father had slammed on the brakes… over stuff from a garage sale.

"Ohh! They would look so lovely in the living room!" Binkie gushes, admiring the shiny, colourful pieces of pottery as well. "And those cute little pots over there would be perfect for my petunias!"

"When are we gonna get to the park already?!" Tank pipes up, his hands curling into fists. "I'm starving!"

Honker covers his ears in a futile attempt to drown out his brother's shouting.

This is going to be a loooong ride…

. . . .

"Don't you think this plan is a little over-complicated?" Negaduck asks, tugging at the collar of the wretched pink shirt he's now wearing. The green sweater that Gosalyn forced him to put on as well only makes it worse. "And this getup is so… so…"

"Dorky?" Gosalyn offers. "That's nothing compared to some of the outfits Dad apparently wore growing up." She frowns as she studies Negaduck's face for a moment— a fact that he doesn't seem to appreciate.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"I was gonna say we should probably shave off your eyebrows too—"

"You what!?"

"— but on second thought, we don't really need to." When the now-disguised villain opens his beak, Gosalyn adds, "I'll explain later. Right now, you need to get into character!"

Negaduck turns his head towards the cockpit window, looking out at nothing in particular. "I'm taking orders from a nine year-old. Just how much lower can I possibly get?"

"Hey, I heard that! And stop talking to the sky!" Gosalyn snaps her fingers, trying to draw his attention back to her. "Like I said, you need to get in character!"

"I'm about to land, you guys," Launchpad cuts in. "Make sure you're all strapped in!"

. . . .

Elsewhere…

Firetrucks slam on the brakes upon reaching the burning remnants of the prison.

Three villains stand atop a cliff overlooking the scene, watching as the blaze continues to incinerate what little is left of the building and the area surrounding it.

"I can see it now!" Megavolt adds, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "'Darkwing Duck Puts Villains in Prison, Villains Burn it to the Ground!' Ohh, I can't wait to see the angry mob that comes after him!"

"But… we didn't start that fire," Bushroot tells him, frowning.

Megavolt whips around, eyes wide. "Wait, we didn't?!"

Bushroot and the Liquidator stare at him for several seconds, and then share a blank look.

. . . .

The walk to the park ends far too quickly. Negaduck has never been a fan of the place. Too many plants (especially flowers), too many noisy birds— and not enough trash or rotten smells.

"Drake! How nice to see you!" Negaduck scowls as Herb pats him amicably on the back. He can already tell he's going to hate these Muddlefoots. "It was awfully nice of you to offer Darkwing Duck a date to help cheer him up."

"Remember," Gosalyn whispers to Negaduck, "stay. In. Character."

Negaduck releases a low growl, clenching his fists. "Right," he replies through his teeth. He's not sure if he can last five minutes in Herb's presence without pulling out his chainsaw. Or his bazooka. It's been a little while since he's blown something up and—

"He's right over there on that bench!" Herb waves his hand towards the aforementioned bench, completely unaware of what thoughts had been running through the shorter bird's head. Negaduck's eyes widen at the sight of his double. He looks… catatonic.

Negaduck starts to make his approach, when Tank suddenly steps in his way. "You're the reason I didn't get to eat until one-thirty!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I don't care," Negaduck hisses threateningly. "In case you didn't notice, I have other priorities. So unless you want your spleen carved out, I suggest you get out of my way—"

"Ahaha, he's just kidding." Launchpad pats Negaduck on the shoulder, smiling sheepishly. "He wouldn't really do that to you." Tank's now wary expression doesn't change. "How about we go talk to DW now, okay Drake?"

Gosalyn chuckles nervously at the looks on Herb's and Binkie's faces. "Dad hasn't had his coffee this morning, so he's a little grumpy today." She tries not to smile when she sees Honker is now struggling not to burst out laughing.

"I… I see," Binkie says uncertainly. Somehow, she's not so sure about that. And come to think of it… "Please don't take this the wrong way… but… don't they look a little, well… alike?"

"Uhh… but, do they really?" Gosalyn asks, in the hopes that Binkie will say no.

"Yes…?"

Dangit.

"I'll… leave you two alone," Launchpad tells Negaduck and Darkwing, rubbing his neck awkwardly— before turning around and heading back over to the others. The disguised villain settles onto the spot on the bench next to the other, still-unresponsive duck.

"Hey," Negaduck greets awkwardly. Darkwing doesn't even look at him— he's just staring down at his hands, his face now unreadable. "Look, I know I screwed up pretty badly." Negaduck reaches out and settles a hand on the other's, curling his fingers loosely around the warmth. "I can't promise that I won't again in the future. But I… was just… you need to know that I…" Words. He hates— no, he loathes words with a burning passion. They're so cumbersome. Not to mention that there are certain words he is… not particularly fond of using.

Negaduck inhales sharply. "… I… well…" He growls, screwing his eyes shut and whipping both hands up to press against his now pounding head. "Arghh! I don't know why your kid thought that this stupid plan could ever work—"

Two hands have curled around his own, gently pulling them down. Negaduck opens his eyes. Darkwing is sitting closer now— much closer, and he's holding the other duck's hands. Neither of them say anything for a full minute.

And then the next words out of Negaduck's beak are, "I hate your Muddlefoots."

Darkwing snorts, but doesn't even try to hide the amused smile spreading across his beak.

. . . .

"How dare she! Who does she think I am? Her Dad?!"

"Well, EXCUSE me! Mr. 'I'm going to wear a leather jacket with flames sown all over it when I'm supposed to be in disguise!'"

"Hey! I'll have you know that jacket is considered the height of fashion where I come from!"

Drake snorts at that, thinking to himself, Yeah, and I bet I know why. He decides just to drop it though— instead opting to cuddle up to the villain, settling his head on the other's bare chest. Drake runs a hand over the other's stomach, before settling his arm over it. He closes his eyes, releasing a soft sigh.

Today is still a blur to him. He vaguely remembers some things, like Gosalyn and Launchpad leaving this morning, the Muddlefoots dragging him out of the house against his will (not that he'd put up much of a fight in the first place), and then the park.

When Negaduck, Gos, and L.P. explained it all to him on the way home, the plan sounded… a lot more complicated than it needed to be. At least it hadn't involved that love potion stuff. That's something none of them needed a repeat of. It feels… strange, to finally be able to cuddle up like this in bed and not worry about getting caught.

It feels right.

"Hang on." Drake lifts his head to look at Negaduck, who's features are now riddled with puzzlement. "How do people keep finding my secret hideouts?"

Drake snorts again, shaking his head and settling himself back down on top of the other. "Go to sleep, Negs."