CHAPTER 2

"Alright, you knobs, listen up." Negaduck paced up and down in front of Megavolt, Quackerjack, Bushroot, and the Liquidator. "Where's Luminas?"

"She got detained," Megavolt informed him.

The duck scowled. "Then that's her loss. I'm not waiting." He paused then and glared at each of them in turn before stating, "I'm leaving."

Four sixths of the Sinister Six looked at each other in surprise. So much for expecting the worst.

"W-where are you going?" Bushroot stammered meekly.

"Somewhere far away from you morons."

"I always thought you should take a vacation, boss," Quackerjack piped up.

"The time is now," the Liquidator added.

"Shutup," Negaduck snapped. "Do you think I'm an idiot? I know perfectly well you freaks have been waiting for the chance to get rid of me since day one. Well, I'm not giving any of you that chance." A distant look entered his eyes, then fled as quickly as it had come. "Don't try to find me," he warned ominously. "Believe me, you'll be sorry. And I might be back if any of you losers ever makes it big so I can take what's rightfully yours." Without so much as a good-bye (not that that was particularly surprising), Negaduck stalked out of his (former) hideout.

Bushroot, Quackerjack, the Liquidator, and Megavolt looked at each other again, still in shock. "You guys..." the jester began, "...do you realize what just happened?"

"Negaduck chewed us out?" Megavolt asked.

"Mildly," Bushroot reminded him.

"No. Negaduck's gone!"

"Oh yeah, that too," the rat shrugged.

"So let's party!"

Rolling his eyes, Megavolt remarked, "That's all you ever do."

"You're just jealous. You're too uptight. You should lighten--"

"It's old, Quacky," Bushroot cut in.

The duck blinked. "Well...just...um...fine! Be that way!" Looking to Megavolt, he asked, "Where is Luminas, anyway?"

Megavolt grinned. "Babysitting."

~

"Gosalyn, your lunch is ready!"

There was no answer from the young girl, and Cinder ground her teeth together in frustration. It had been like this all morning. In fact, it was almost as if the kid was afraid of her--as if she recognized her from the brief meeting the two had had a couple months ago. She was out of costume now, but...out of costume only meant that she wore conventional clothing and no make-up. She glanced at herself in the toaster. Her appearance was altered enough so that instead of being a dead-ringer for the notorious Luminas, there was merely a strong resemblance. And, of course, there was a reason she was careful to avoid being photographed.

"Gosalyn!" she called again.

A door opened reluctantly upstairs. "What?"

"Lunch! Your lunch!"

"Oh."

A blur shot down the staircase and into the kitchen, then came to rest on a chair at the table. "So what didja make, Miss Litress?" Gosalyn asked in a deceptively polite tone.

Glancing at her, the babysitter replied, "Pizza. And you can call me Cinder."

"Oh, okay, Cinder. I s'pose you probably feel old when people call you 'Miss Litress', right?" Gosalyn smiled sweetly. "At least that's what they always say on T.V."

Cinder removed the pizza from the oven and set it in front of her charge. "Well, no, not exactly. I just think we should be on first name terms. Don't you?"

"Sure, I guess." The girl wolfed down the pizza in a record-breaking forty-five seconds, then rose from the table. "Well, that was great; gotta run; bye!"

Without another word, she ran back up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door. Silence again reigned in the house.

Then the phone rang.

"I just love taking messages," Cinder mumbled, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

She rolled her eyes. "Why are you calling me here?"

"Well, you gave me the number. How long did you think I could hold out? Geez."

"That was in case something important came up, Sparky," she hissed. "Really important. Life or death important."

"This is pretty important."

"Yeah?"

"Negaduck's gone. He said he's leaving and that we shouldn't try to find him...not that we'd want to, anyway..."

"Then it's the Fearsome Five again? No, that would be too confusing. We can still be the Sinister Six. We're just...missing a member."

"Yeah, I had that same thought."

"You did?"

"No." Megavolt paused briefly. "Can I call you Cindy?"

"No!"

"Just checking. Anyway, I thought you should know. I'd better let you get back to your babysitting. Plus I wouldn't wanna tie up the phone line in case an urgent call from the diaper service came in."

Cinder didn't dignify that comment by replying and instead just hung up. When she turned around, Gosalyn was standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Y'know, the time you spend talking to your boyfriend is deductible from your pay," she said darkly.

Cinder didn't dignify that comment with a "that wasn't my boyfriend", either. "I'll keep that in mind."

The two faced off for a couple seconds before Gosalyn asked speciously, "Can I have a friend over?"

"I don't think your dad would--"

"Oh, my dad doesn't care. Honker comes over all the time."

"Well," Cinder began, "if you're sure..."

With a winning smile, Gosalyn replied, "I'm sure. Trust me."

~

Drake Mallard sighed as he pulled his old station wagon into the driveway. First day on a new job. And a horrible day at that. He just hoped the babysitter had been able to control Gosalyn. If not... He shuddered.

The house was sparkling when he entered, and Cinder was sitting on the couch in the living room, calmly reading The Great Batsby. "Oh, Mr. Mallard, you're home."

"Where's Gosalyn?" he asked her curiously.

"Upstairs in her room."

"Did she give you any trouble?"

"No, she was like an angel."

"Oh. Well, that's...that's great!"

"Same time tomorrow, then?"

"Yes. Absolutely. Same time," Drake replied, stunned.

Cinder have him a wide smile. "Okey-dokey, neighbor."

When she was gone, Drake said to himself, "She seems nice."

~

"This is the police. You are surrounded. Come out with your hands up and you won't be harmed."

Megavolt took a bite of pizza and shot a bolt of electricity at the wall, scorching a black mark into the paneling. "Four this week," he observed idly to himself. "This is getting bo-ring." Sighing and walking over to the window, he yelled to the cops, "I'm not coming out; you're not coming in; so can't we just coexist peacefully?"

"If you don't--"

Megavolt simply stopped listening at this point--he'd heard the whole spiel before. "Guess not. Oh well." He cracked his knuckles, shot a couple bolts out the window, and watched, amused, as the police force scattered. A few of the braver members fired their guns several times, but the bullets deflected harmlessly off the lighthouse walls.

Quite suddenly, one of the squad cars exploded. "I didn't do it!" Megavolt shouted.

There was a hysterical giggle, and then, "No, I did!" Quackerjack bounced into view and struck a pose. "Take your best shot, coppers!"

They did.

The duck screamed in terror and dove behind a squad car that was still intact while bullets whizzed by over his head.

Another of the vehicles blew up, and from the lighthouse window, Megavolt announced, "That was me!"

"Hey, I'm perfectly capable of handling this!" Quackerjack complained loudly.

"Whaddaya mean you're capable of handling this? They showed up here--my lighthouse--and therefore, I am the only one here who should be capable of handling anything!" To prove that this was so, Megavolt magnetized the only remaining squad car, and the police, due to the large amount of metal on their uniforms, were drawn to it.

Quackerjack strolled past the now harmless law enforcers, threw open the lighthouse door, and bounded up the steps two at a time. When he reached the top, he whined plaintively to Megavolt, "I have nothing to do!"

"So?"

"I'm bored!"

"Call Luminas. I bet she'd be happy to fight with you."

"Nah." The duck plopped down on the floor. "You ever heard of chairs, Megs?"

"Sure," Megavolt replied with a shrug. "I just don't use 'em."

"Well, you should.""

"For your convenience?"

"Yeah, obviously." Quackerjack fell silent for a second, then said, "Y'know how we thought we were done with superheroes?"

Megavolt stared at the duck. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"No, I didn't do anything! But there's this new hero on the loose."

Letting out a melancholy sigh, Megavolt lamented, "Why is it so hard to be a supervillain these days? Why can't we just be left alone to create mass destruction?"

Quackerjack didn't seem to be paying all that much attention. Not that that was unusual, but he had started the conversation; the rat felt that he should at least offer a nod or something.

"Well, listen," the jester finally began. "If you run into this hero, be careful."

Megavolt gave him an odd look and backed up a couple of steps. "Don't show concern for me. It's creepy."

"I'm not, moron."

"Oh, then never mind."

"Just don't hurt her."

The rat pondered this request for a moment and then did a double take. "Her?" The implications only took a couple seconds to sink in, and then Megavolt broke into hysterical laughter. "So, there's a lady in you life now? And I say 'now', of course, because last year doesn't count."

"Last year?"

"Yeah, the Christmas party? You and Ammonia Pine? You were drunk."

"Oh god." Quackerjack looked slightly ill before he scowled at his companion. "You've got a really selective memory, don't you?"

"Actually, I had to write that one down. It seemed like the kind of thing that would come in handy if I ever wanted to blackmail you."

With a smirk, Quackerjack remarked, "You probably imagined it."

"I got pictures, too."

"Ew, never mind!" Quackerjack squealed.

Megavolt grinned wickedly and commented, "So this time it's a heroine, huh? When's the wedding?"

"I'm not getting married, battery breath!" Quackerjack snapped. "I just don't have a weird attraction to inanimate objects!"

The rat shrugged. "They listen."

"Yeah, they do, but you can't date them. Anyway, I came here for some moral support."

"Moral support? For dating?"

"Or some advice would work."

Megavolt snorted. "Well, you came to the wrong villain. I'm pretty sure I've never been on a single date."

"Wow, that's sad."

"So I don't waste my time with women. Big deal."

With a thoughtful expression on his face, Quackerjack remarked, "Y'know, that's kind of weird. Luminas has this aversion to men." He gasped dramatically. "You two would be perfect for each other!"

There was silence, and then, "Don't even joke about that."

"Hey, wouldn't'cha know, that was almost exactly what she said when we had this conversation! Only she got really violent about it..."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"You are?"

"No."

Quackerjack twirled one of the tassels of his jester cap around his finger. "So what should I do?"

Rolling his eyes, Megavolt suggested, "Ask her out."

The duck's eyes widened. "Is that all there is to it?"

"Don't ask me, I was just giving you some advice."

"Then doesn't logic dictate that I should ask you to explain your advice? I guess it doesn't really matter, though."

Megavolt watched as the duck ran for the door, then called, "Hey, Quacky?"

Pausing in mid-sprint, Quackerjack questioned, "What?"

"If she's a superhero, you don't have a chance."

Quackerjack smirked. "Well, I guess we'll see about that, won't we?"

"I guess we will."

The door slammed shut, and Megavolt turned away in disgust. If he ever got to be that way... The rat shuddered. What a waste of time that conversation had been.

~

For about the five-hundredth time that night, Cinder turned over in her bed and let her arm dangle over the edge of the mattress. Insomnia really got old after the first two hours. She stared at the opposite wall of her bedroom, and then her blue eyes flickered towards the phone on her bedside table.

"Good god; this is childish," she muttered to herself as she picked up the receiver and dialed.

After the twenty-fifth ring, a groggy voice answered the phone with a rude, "Whaddaya want?"

"It's me."

"So? Same question."

She sighed. "I can't sleep."

There was a pause, and then, sarcastically, Megavolt said, "Aw, honey, I'm sorry. Try a glass of warm milk and leave me alone."

"No, wait."

"What?"

Cinder laid back down on her bed. "Can't we...I don't know...talk? Or something?"

"Is something bothering you?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? It was kind of a yes or no question." After a second, he acquiesced reluctantly, "Look, I'll come over there, okay?"

"You'll come--uh, you don't have to..."

"Don't mess with a good thing, Luminas. I'm feeling unusually nice."

With another sigh, Cinder said helplessly, "Okay..."

This was odd. What had possessed her to call him? And then to actually allow him back into her house? Weird, weird, weird.

While she waited for her--dare she say--friend, Cinder rose from her bed and padded downstairs to the kitchen, where she prepared a pot of coffee and leaned against the counter, watching the microwave's clock in fascination. Was something bothering her? She didn't feel particularly depressed, but then again...

"Hindsight is always twenty/twenty," she mumbled, recalling with ease now that every bad thing that had happened in recent years had come about due to a feeling of malaise.

Maybe it was just the fact that she'd felt the need to call someone...and talk. Talk? She hadn't "talked" for four years. To start again probably wouldn't be the best thing. And to...talk...to Megavolt?

"Why'd I call him?" she asked the microwave.

The appliance didn't answer, but a small part of her consciousness supplied, "Because you have a crush on him. Ooh!"

"Shutup," Cinder told it. Then, disgustedly, she buried her face in her hands. "My subconscious is taunting me about things I don't know about...and don't want to know about...and I am responding. Pitiful. I need a shrink."

There came a soft knocking at the front door just then, but even that small sound caused her to jump. Then, regaining her composure, she rushed to the door, throwing it open and leaning against the frame somewhat neurotically. "Megs! Do I look as insane as I feel?"

He gave her a perplexed look. "Uh..."

"Never mind, just come in!"

"Are you okay?" Megavolt questioned as she led him into the kitchen.

"Okay? Yeah, I'm fine." She poured herself a cup of coffee, then asked, "Want some?"

"Um, yeah, sure." The villain carefully took both the mug and the coffee pot from her. "Maybe you shouldn't have any, though? You're acting kind of wired..."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?"

Megavolt rolled his eyes. "No. How about you sit down."

With a deep breath, she said, "That's a good idea."

Seating himself across the table from her, he took a sip of his coffee and observed, "You're jumpy tonight."

"Am I?"

"Uh huh."

There was silence for a minute, and then Megavolt remarked, "There's something I've always wondered about you."

Cinder blinked at him. "What's that?"

"How do you know when you've...er...combusted...too much?"

"That's a morbid subject, isn't it?"

"I don't know, is it? You wanted to talk, so let's talk about that."

Sighing and placing her hands on the table, Cinder answered, "I die."

"I guess that is pretty morbid."

She gave him a humorless smile. "Yeah. I burn up from the inside out."

Megavolt made a disgusted face, which became confusion as something hit him. "If you die, then how exactly is it that you're still around to tell me about it?"

"I thought that was obvious."

"No..."

"I've never done it."

He nodded. "That expla--no, it doesn't."

With a yawn, Cinder agreed, "No, it really doesn't. But neither does 'I just know'. Which is what I would have said. Sorry."

The two regarded each other for a minute before Megavolt inquired, "Sleepy yet?"

With a wan smile, the cat replied, "Yeah, you can go if you want."

Rising and giving her a suspicious look, he said, "You sure?"

"Positive."

She walked him to the door, but there he halted and began in a tone surprisingly serious, "Cinder...y'know when you told me about how you...got like this?"

"Mm hmm..."

Megavolt looked directly into her eyes. "Did you lie?"

She didn't so much as twitch. "You think I made all that up?"

"Um...kind of."

"Why would I do that?"

"Well, let's see." Megavolt raised his hand and began ticking off reasons on his fingers. "You hardly knew me. You didn't trust me. I mean, you tried to kill me, so..." He paused. "I don't know anything about you, Cinder, and you know practically everything about me."

Scowling, she responded, "That was intentional, Sparky."

"Don't call me that," he sighed. "And I don't see why you can't tell me. We're pals."

"Simple. You don't want to know, and I don't want to tell you."

Megavolt stared at her for several seconds. "I think you're wrong."

"I don't think you're in any position to be lecturing me."

"Maybe not, but that's still what I think."

Cinder came close to pushing him outside and slamming the door in his face, but the rat beat her to it, exiting and shutting the door gently behind him. After a moment, the sound of an engine reached her ears, then gradually faded as Megavolt's car shot down the street and tore around the corner.

Disquieted, she turned and leaned against the door, then murmured, "He'll forget it by tomorrow."

~

Across the street, Gosalyn watched as a strangely familiar car pulled out of Cinder Litress's driveway. In the darkness, it was hard to make out any details, but the girl knew she'd seen it before. "Oh, Dad," she whispered, "why'd you have to give up crime-fighting?"

~

Quackerjack sighed boredly. Nothing to do. How typical. Committing a crime would be nice, but these days, what with the sudden increase of members of the National Guard in St. Canard, that was a tad difficult. It was wise to have at least one other villain along. Preferably one with superpowers. Though that basically went without saying, the duck supposed.

"At least Negaduck isn't here to yell at us," he remarked to Mr. Banana Brain.

"I never liked him," the puppet agreed. "You should have given him a piece of your mind!"

Quackerjack shivered. "It's too soon to think about that."

"You're a big baby."

Scowling, the duck retorted, "Well, he was my boss, not yours, so you shouldn't even talk."

Mr. Banana Brain didn't reply.

"There's a name for people like you," Quackerjack muttered.

Suddenly, he spotted the phonebook. His eyes widened and his mouth formed a giant 'oh' before he jumped to his feet and rushed to a monolithic pile of publications. The one he desired was on the bottom.

"Umm..." The villain deliberated for a minute, then shrugged and pulled the book out. Predictably, the entire stack toppled over and buried him, but after several seconds of submersion, he popped his head and arms out of the clutter, set the phone book in front of his face, and flipped to the F's.

"She won't be in there!" Mr. Banana Brain yelled spitefully.

"Shutup, you," Quackerjack shot back.

This time, Mr. Banana Brain gasped, then fell silent in a rather sulky manner.

The duck pointed and laughed briefly, then returned quite seriously to the matter at hand.

And there it was! "Ooh, goody!" Quackerjack exclaimed gleefully, jotting the number down where he'd be sure to find it again--his hand. Another thought occurred to him, and he glanced at the clock, which read 2:38 A.M. "That late already?" he wondered aloud. "Is that too late to call?" He looked around the warehouse hopefully, anticipating an answer, but Mr. Banana Brain was still ignoring him. "Oh, fiddlesticks," the duck grumbled. "I have to figure this out on my own? Maybe I'll go over there tomorrow. Yeah. That's what I'll do." With this decision made, he scribbled onto his hand the address given.

This time, he looked around again helplessly and asked, "Now how do I get out of here?"

~