"Auntie Belle didn't come home last night."
Reggie briefly wondered who was talking, but decided to just listen, seeing as his eyelids were too heavy to open at this point in time.
"Marcus," said The Kid, "Don't panic. Grown-ups have personal lives too, you know."
"But she's still not home," whined Marcus. "And she usually tells me if she's staying out all night. Besides, the things she wore out last night weren't work-suitable, so even if nothing's happened to her, she's going to be late to work. Can I come in?"
"Look, just go to school, or go next door and talk to Honker. I'm running late, I still need to make my lunch, among other things."
There was a noise remarkably like somebody shoving their way through a partly-open door, and a feminine yell of protest.
"Why is there a supervillain on your sofa?" asked Marcus, sounding bewildered. Reggie thought he should probably continue to feign sleep.
"He's not a supervillain anymore, you know. Look, he wanted protection from Negaduck, so he went to Darkwing for help. Negaduck escaped from jail yesterday, and Darkwing asked Dad if Bushroot could stay here, since apparently he didn't want to be alone last night, and he couldn't go on patrol with Darkwing."
"Why here?"
"You know the goofy-looking guy, the one with the red hair? Launchpad McQuack? You might have seen him, he lives here. He's Darkwing's sidekick, and I assume Darkwing needed somewhere for Bushroot to stay that he'd feel safe."
"So that's how you and Honker know Darkwing Duck."
"Yeah."
"Sidekick's house-mate's daughter's best friend seems a rather tenuous connection to me, Goslyn. Sidekick's house-mate's daughter's best friend's boyfriend even more so. If Darkwing is willing to trust people on those terms, why wasn't your dad there? He's only sidekick's house-mate."
"He was busy." 'What a lame excuse,' thought Reggie blearily.
"While the whole city was under the control of the Fearsome Five?"
"Four," Reggie found himself correcting the boy. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, which opened reluctantly. "Once I left, there were only four of them."
"Why did you leave?" asked Marcus.
"Negaduck."
"That'll be all you get, unless he thinks the two extra years you have on me make you mature enough for the whole truth, what ever that is," said The Kid.
"McQuack doesn't know either, since I doubt Darkwing betrayed my trust by telling him." Reggie said.
"What on Earth did Negaduck *do* to you?" asked Marcus, incredulously.
"He's not going to tell you, that's the point," said The Kid. "Look, just go and visit Honker. I wasn't kidding when I said I'm running late."
Marcus shrugged. "I'm not actually ready for school yet, I should probably go home and finish."
"You do that," said The Kid, shutting the door after him. "You going back up to the Tower now?" she asked Reggie.
"I probably should. After the lecture I gave your father last night about keeping his two identities separated, it would be hypocritical to risk being seen here again."
Back at the Tower, Darkwing was fiddling with the computer.
"Morning Bushroot," he called over his shoulder. "How'd you sleep?"
"Better than I have for ages. No nightmares, or anything. How was your night?"
"Negaduck's replaced you, at least operationally. They're calling themselves the Fearsome *Five* again. Your 'replacement' is a female swan, quite old for a first time villain, calls herself 'The Lady'. Damn near blew me up," Darkwing said, pointing to a nasty-looking scorch-mark on his cape.
"So what did they try?" asked Reggie, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Simple bank robbery. They left most of it to The Lady, I think it was more about putting her through her paces than the money. She did quite well, too. As I said, she nearly blew me up. And got away with the money."
"Female swan did you say?"
"Yeah."
"This may be complete coincidence, but Marcus Swan's aunt was out all last night. He was panicking at Goslyn about it not long ago."
"You think Belle Swan could be a supervillain? After what you said about an up-and-coming supervillain living across the street last night, I don't quite trust you enough to believe you're not making it up, given she's exactly opposite from my house."
"I didn't know she lives across the street from you. I don't know where you live, I didn't know Ms Swan's given name, and you can verify with Goslyn what Marcus said."
Darkwing sighed. "I'll check it out, Bushroot, but I'm not expecting to find anything."
"I did say it might just be a coincidence, Darkwing."
***
"So, why did Bushroot leave?" Belle asked, while counting out the money. Since all eyes were on her to ensure she counted out 'fairly' (and looking for opportunities to swipe some from the others), she decided this was probably the time to ask.
"Who?" said Megavolt, before Quackerjack elbowed him in the ribs.
"Does it matter?" Negaduck growled at her.
"Probably not, but I would like to know," Belle said sweetly. Under the cover of the vague distraction of her question, she levitated a few hundred dollars from each pile into her bra.
The Liquidator, who had been leaning damply over her shoulder to watch, leaned over further, and whispered "Three out of five supervillains agree that you'd be better off asking when Negaduck isn't listening," in her ear.
Belle blinked, and after a beat kept counting.
***
"So, why did he leave?" Belle asked, after Negaduck left to go to bed, taking his cut with him.
"Two out of three supervillains are thinking lover's tiff."
"That's an awfully big decision to make based a fight with one's significant other. He'll never steal in this town again. I saw the news. He didn't just disappear, he turned on you, helped Darkwing Duck."
"I know he was with Negaduck, Lady -- it was obvious, but he never seemed happy. In fact, he was downright miserable. I think he didn't just leave Negaduck, he left Negaduck for Darkwing.
"Oh. Is that all you've got?"
"One out of two supervillains think this conversation is over."
"Make that two out of two, Liquidator. I'm going home to bed."
***
"You know Spike, it hurt when he said he didn't trust me enough to believe I wasn't making up what I overheard about the Swan woman. I wasn't expecting it to. I am turning into a do-gooder, aren't I?"
Reggie briefly wondered who was talking, but decided to just listen, seeing as his eyelids were too heavy to open at this point in time.
"Marcus," said The Kid, "Don't panic. Grown-ups have personal lives too, you know."
"But she's still not home," whined Marcus. "And she usually tells me if she's staying out all night. Besides, the things she wore out last night weren't work-suitable, so even if nothing's happened to her, she's going to be late to work. Can I come in?"
"Look, just go to school, or go next door and talk to Honker. I'm running late, I still need to make my lunch, among other things."
There was a noise remarkably like somebody shoving their way through a partly-open door, and a feminine yell of protest.
"Why is there a supervillain on your sofa?" asked Marcus, sounding bewildered. Reggie thought he should probably continue to feign sleep.
"He's not a supervillain anymore, you know. Look, he wanted protection from Negaduck, so he went to Darkwing for help. Negaduck escaped from jail yesterday, and Darkwing asked Dad if Bushroot could stay here, since apparently he didn't want to be alone last night, and he couldn't go on patrol with Darkwing."
"Why here?"
"You know the goofy-looking guy, the one with the red hair? Launchpad McQuack? You might have seen him, he lives here. He's Darkwing's sidekick, and I assume Darkwing needed somewhere for Bushroot to stay that he'd feel safe."
"So that's how you and Honker know Darkwing Duck."
"Yeah."
"Sidekick's house-mate's daughter's best friend seems a rather tenuous connection to me, Goslyn. Sidekick's house-mate's daughter's best friend's boyfriend even more so. If Darkwing is willing to trust people on those terms, why wasn't your dad there? He's only sidekick's house-mate."
"He was busy." 'What a lame excuse,' thought Reggie blearily.
"While the whole city was under the control of the Fearsome Five?"
"Four," Reggie found himself correcting the boy. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, which opened reluctantly. "Once I left, there were only four of them."
"Why did you leave?" asked Marcus.
"Negaduck."
"That'll be all you get, unless he thinks the two extra years you have on me make you mature enough for the whole truth, what ever that is," said The Kid.
"McQuack doesn't know either, since I doubt Darkwing betrayed my trust by telling him." Reggie said.
"What on Earth did Negaduck *do* to you?" asked Marcus, incredulously.
"He's not going to tell you, that's the point," said The Kid. "Look, just go and visit Honker. I wasn't kidding when I said I'm running late."
Marcus shrugged. "I'm not actually ready for school yet, I should probably go home and finish."
"You do that," said The Kid, shutting the door after him. "You going back up to the Tower now?" she asked Reggie.
"I probably should. After the lecture I gave your father last night about keeping his two identities separated, it would be hypocritical to risk being seen here again."
Back at the Tower, Darkwing was fiddling with the computer.
"Morning Bushroot," he called over his shoulder. "How'd you sleep?"
"Better than I have for ages. No nightmares, or anything. How was your night?"
"Negaduck's replaced you, at least operationally. They're calling themselves the Fearsome *Five* again. Your 'replacement' is a female swan, quite old for a first time villain, calls herself 'The Lady'. Damn near blew me up," Darkwing said, pointing to a nasty-looking scorch-mark on his cape.
"So what did they try?" asked Reggie, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Simple bank robbery. They left most of it to The Lady, I think it was more about putting her through her paces than the money. She did quite well, too. As I said, she nearly blew me up. And got away with the money."
"Female swan did you say?"
"Yeah."
"This may be complete coincidence, but Marcus Swan's aunt was out all last night. He was panicking at Goslyn about it not long ago."
"You think Belle Swan could be a supervillain? After what you said about an up-and-coming supervillain living across the street last night, I don't quite trust you enough to believe you're not making it up, given she's exactly opposite from my house."
"I didn't know she lives across the street from you. I don't know where you live, I didn't know Ms Swan's given name, and you can verify with Goslyn what Marcus said."
Darkwing sighed. "I'll check it out, Bushroot, but I'm not expecting to find anything."
"I did say it might just be a coincidence, Darkwing."
***
"So, why did Bushroot leave?" Belle asked, while counting out the money. Since all eyes were on her to ensure she counted out 'fairly' (and looking for opportunities to swipe some from the others), she decided this was probably the time to ask.
"Who?" said Megavolt, before Quackerjack elbowed him in the ribs.
"Does it matter?" Negaduck growled at her.
"Probably not, but I would like to know," Belle said sweetly. Under the cover of the vague distraction of her question, she levitated a few hundred dollars from each pile into her bra.
The Liquidator, who had been leaning damply over her shoulder to watch, leaned over further, and whispered "Three out of five supervillains agree that you'd be better off asking when Negaduck isn't listening," in her ear.
Belle blinked, and after a beat kept counting.
***
"So, why did he leave?" Belle asked, after Negaduck left to go to bed, taking his cut with him.
"Two out of three supervillains are thinking lover's tiff."
"That's an awfully big decision to make based a fight with one's significant other. He'll never steal in this town again. I saw the news. He didn't just disappear, he turned on you, helped Darkwing Duck."
"I know he was with Negaduck, Lady -- it was obvious, but he never seemed happy. In fact, he was downright miserable. I think he didn't just leave Negaduck, he left Negaduck for Darkwing.
"Oh. Is that all you've got?"
"One out of two supervillains think this conversation is over."
"Make that two out of two, Liquidator. I'm going home to bed."
***
"You know Spike, it hurt when he said he didn't trust me enough to believe I wasn't making up what I overheard about the Swan woman. I wasn't expecting it to. I am turning into a do-gooder, aren't I?"