Five minutes later, Flintheart slammed the gavel down. "We will now have open debate, for or against invading the House of Mouse."
Taurus Bulba rose. "May I have the floor?" No one dissented, so he continued. "What will we do after we've occupied the nightclub? I say we follow it up with a scheme with more...permanent results."
"What kind of permanent results?" asked a puzzled Abis Mal.
"We get rid of --" Bulba tried to move, but he was too stiff to do so. "McWhirtley!"
"I'm coming!" The lackey took out an oil can and swiftly oiled the cyborg's joints.
"As I was saying," the bull continued. "We should warn our enemies, by getting rid of one of the leading men -- er, rodents of the Disney world. I say we bump off Mickey Mouse."
"That's cold-blooded murder!" commented the Evil Manta. "It's...diabolical. I like it."
Steelbeak laughed his trademark cackle. "Guess Taurus Bulba 'asn't lost 'is touch in the diabolical department." He stopped when the bull turned to glare at him. "That wasn't an insult."
"It better not be," replied the cyborg. "Or you'll end up like your bosses, who I'm coming after when I'm finished with Darkwing Duck."
Pete pounded his table with his fist. "I second the motion to bump off Mickey. That mouse has been plaguing my existence since 1928!"
"But kill an American pop icon?" McWhirtley inquired.
"McWhirtley," President Glomgold began. "May I remind you you're not a member of this coalition? And besides, so what if it goes wrong? Maybe Mickey will learn to stop being so obnoxiously cheerful."
"What if it goes right is the question," muttered the assistant.
The president addressed the group of villains. "I propose that the decision to actually invade the House be unanimous."
A cry of protest rose.
"No decision in the DVA has ever had to be unanimous and you know it!" growled Fat Cat.
"Darn it, Glomgold!" roared Lord Dragaunus. "You've just sunk us! I should have known better than to trust a duck!"
Flintheart looked the Saurian Overlord right in the eye. It nearly gave him a crick in the neck since Dragaunus was about eight feet tall. "Don't you realize that anyone against this measure will be on the side of Mickey and his friends? That we'll be split up, and that said will use that to his advantage?" Silence. "Either we all march in tandem or we stay where we are!"
"Let me get this straight," Selene said. "Either we all swim or we all sink? Makes perfect sense."
"He's right," conceded Demona. "We've got to do this rationally."
"Too bad some of us aren't used to thinking rationally," commented Quackerjack.
Megavolt scratched his head. "I used to. I just don't remember."
"Does anyone disagree?" asked Flintheart. No one answered. "Very well. We'll proceed with the voting."
McWhirtley took his position next to the tallyboard. "All delegations must vote yay for us to proceed with Operation Overload. If a delegation is divided, the majority rule holds. We'll start with the Wuzzles."
Croc flexed his rather meaty fingers. "Well, you don't hear much about the show nowadays. Not even the Wuzzles are talked about. Us Creepasaurs have practically forgotten our names. I'm for invading anything."
"Our vote--" began Flizzard.
"Is yay, I know," finished McWhirtley, sliding the W plate to the left column. "Adventures of the Gummi Bears?"
"I'll be King of Dunwyn soon," Duke Igthorn grinned smugly. "So I better brush up on my hostile takeover techniques. We vote yay."
McWhirtley slid the GB plate to the 'yay' column. "DuckTales?"
"Is yay, dah-link," announced Magica de Spell.
"Chip N' Dale--"
"Yay," interrupted Professor Nimnul.
"TaleSpin?"
"The fabulous Don Karnage--"
"Just a yay or nay would suffice," McWhirtley interrupted.
The air pirate pouted. "Yay."
"Darkwing Duck?"
"Yay!" chorused the seven delegates.
"Goof Troop and House of Mouse?"
"YAY!" shouted Pete.
"Bonkers?"
"Yay," said Al Vermin in a bored voice.
"Aladdin?"
"Well, I haven't had much luck with Agrabah," intoned Mirage. "So I'm willing to try taking over a simple nightclub."
"The Little Mermaid?"
"I'm always for a little splash of evil," Ursula laughed.
"Gargoyles?"
"Do you really have to ask me that?" asked Demona.
"The Mighty Ducks?"
"I haven't had a good takeover since Puckworld," sighed Dragaunus.
"This is folly," Wraith said in his gloomy voice. "If you ask me, which nobody ever does."
"Shut up," snapped Siege.
"Yeah!" added Chameleon.
McWhirtley slid the MD plate to the left. "One Hundred and One Dalmatians?"
Cruella waved her cigarette holder in the air. "I've considered a re-attack on the House of Mouse, but I decided to wait and see if anyone outside of the original group composed of President Hook, Jafar, Ursula, Hades, and myself was interested. Now that almost this entire coalition wants to, I cannot withhold my support. I vote yay."
"As do I," Hecate declared. Her boss glared. "Hey, you're not the only one experienced at taking over."
"Why don't you wait until I rule Olympus, then you can have the stupid Underworld," snapped Hades.
"Quack Pack?" puffed McWhirtley, getting tired.
"Why not?" asked Moltoc.
"The Proud Family?"
"Well, it beats stealing lunch money," commented Nubia. "Count us in!"
"Kim Possible?"
"A good villain never backs down from a challenge," said Signor Senior, Senior in his Spanish accent. "Put us down for yay."
"And last, but not least, Fillmore?"
"I don't want to go down in the Disney history books as the guy who prevented us from spreading our evil," answered Brad. "So I'll vote yay."
McWhirtley slid the last plate on the tallyboard and noted the time. 9:03 PM.
Everyone cheered.
"Before we begin our plans," Flintheart announced. "We'll finish nominating for our offices. The next one is Parliamentarian. This officer keeps the meetings in what passes for order and makes sure we follow the DVA's Constitution."
"Well, I'll be writing all the rules when I'm King of Dunwyn," started Igthorn. "I'd like to withdraw my nomination for Vice President. And I nominate my assistant Toadwart for the position of Secretary."
"But Dukie!" protested Toadie. "Toadie only humble servant. I can't write with style or proper etiquette." Igthorn pushed him down, so the runt ogre quieted down.
"The last office is Treasurer," Flintheart continued. "Who keeps track of our earnings. Has to be good at math. Anyone interested?"
No one spoke.
"Very well," sighed Flintheart. "We can proceed with our plans. I propose that we don't wait until midnight. Rather, we should use the time our voting ended. 9:03. By 9:03 tomorrow night, we'll have arrived and taken over the House of Mouse. Any suggestions?" Almost everyone began talking at once. "Hold your horses. One at a time. Parnassus, I saw your hand first."
"I suggest each delegation plan one phase of the total scheme. That way no one can try to take all the credit."
Flintheart smiled. "You may be the newest member of the DVA in this coalition, but you're sharp."
There was a loud buzz, indicating someone was ringing the bell on the ground floor.
McWhirtley ran toward the doors. "I'll get it!" He went down the elevator, which, luckily, didn't break again.
An elderly duck was in the middle of the lobby. He wore a blue suit, red spats, a top hat, and a pince-nez that seemed glued to his beak. He swung his cane as he spoke in an accent only slightly weaker than Flintheart Glomgold's: "Stuff and nonsense! I demand to see Glomgold!"
"Sir, Mr. Glomgold's in a meeting --" McWhirtley began. He stopped short. "Scrooge McDuck?"
Scrooge gazed at the assistant. "Johannes McWhirtley? What's a nice guy like you doing working for that whiskered weasel?"
"He pays five cents more than you would in the same position. In a world where hunger means existence, there's a feast in every cent."
Scrooge nodded. "Every penny counts." He headed for the elevator. "Now where's your boss."
"He can't see you right now!"
"Oh, pish-posh." The richest duck in the world pulled out a newspaper article. "How dare Glomgold write this garbage about me! HE'S the one who cheats people! I made my quadrillions by being tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties, and I deserve it because I earned it fair and square!" Scrooge tapped the up button with his cane.
Ding.
McWhirtley watched the Scottish duck enter the elevator. "Uh oh."
"I say my delegation should swing this way," Hades was saying. "And then the Aladdin delegation goes here." He drew crisscrossing lines on the diagram of the House of Mouse hanging upon the wall.
"You're not Vice President yet," Glomgold hissed in his ear.
The doors burst open. Scrooge McDuck went straight to the desk. "I've got a bone to pick--"
Flintheart frowned. "Can we talk about this some other time?"
"We're talking right here and --" Scrooge stopped as he glanced at the filled tables. "Am I interrupting something here?" He heard a gun cock, then ran toward the double doors, which slammed shut after him.
Negaduck blew the smoke off his bazooka. "And that was for the diamond mines."
Flintheart shrugged. "McDuck is nothing. By the way, you should have been passing around those sign-up sheets for the various committees I'll remind you that you can be on more than one committee, but no more than three. And you may be the chair of only one, and be in only one if you're running for office--"
McWhirtley ran in, nearly out of breath from climbing seventeen flights of stairs. "They finished four. The other two are still circulating." He placed three sheets of paper on the desk.
Flintheart glanced down.
They read:
Magic Committee:
Chair: Magica de Spell
Mozenrath
Asteroth
Selene
Sadira
Wraith
Ursula
Lady Bane
Hecate
Moderates Committee:
Chair: Dr. Reginald Bushroot
Toadie
Sergeant Dunder
Sadira
Chameleon
Hostile Takeovers Committee:
Chair: Dr. Drakken
Duke Igthorn
Hades
Hecate
Loki
Don Karnage
Ursula
Impersonation Committee
Chair: Chameleon
Thailog
Negaduck
******************************************************
Across Duckburg, Scrooge stormed into his office. "I know that skinflint is up to something!" He pressed up a button on the intercom. "Mrs. Featherby, bring me my address book!"
Taurus Bulba rose. "May I have the floor?" No one dissented, so he continued. "What will we do after we've occupied the nightclub? I say we follow it up with a scheme with more...permanent results."
"What kind of permanent results?" asked a puzzled Abis Mal.
"We get rid of --" Bulba tried to move, but he was too stiff to do so. "McWhirtley!"
"I'm coming!" The lackey took out an oil can and swiftly oiled the cyborg's joints.
"As I was saying," the bull continued. "We should warn our enemies, by getting rid of one of the leading men -- er, rodents of the Disney world. I say we bump off Mickey Mouse."
"That's cold-blooded murder!" commented the Evil Manta. "It's...diabolical. I like it."
Steelbeak laughed his trademark cackle. "Guess Taurus Bulba 'asn't lost 'is touch in the diabolical department." He stopped when the bull turned to glare at him. "That wasn't an insult."
"It better not be," replied the cyborg. "Or you'll end up like your bosses, who I'm coming after when I'm finished with Darkwing Duck."
Pete pounded his table with his fist. "I second the motion to bump off Mickey. That mouse has been plaguing my existence since 1928!"
"But kill an American pop icon?" McWhirtley inquired.
"McWhirtley," President Glomgold began. "May I remind you you're not a member of this coalition? And besides, so what if it goes wrong? Maybe Mickey will learn to stop being so obnoxiously cheerful."
"What if it goes right is the question," muttered the assistant.
The president addressed the group of villains. "I propose that the decision to actually invade the House be unanimous."
A cry of protest rose.
"No decision in the DVA has ever had to be unanimous and you know it!" growled Fat Cat.
"Darn it, Glomgold!" roared Lord Dragaunus. "You've just sunk us! I should have known better than to trust a duck!"
Flintheart looked the Saurian Overlord right in the eye. It nearly gave him a crick in the neck since Dragaunus was about eight feet tall. "Don't you realize that anyone against this measure will be on the side of Mickey and his friends? That we'll be split up, and that said will use that to his advantage?" Silence. "Either we all march in tandem or we stay where we are!"
"Let me get this straight," Selene said. "Either we all swim or we all sink? Makes perfect sense."
"He's right," conceded Demona. "We've got to do this rationally."
"Too bad some of us aren't used to thinking rationally," commented Quackerjack.
Megavolt scratched his head. "I used to. I just don't remember."
"Does anyone disagree?" asked Flintheart. No one answered. "Very well. We'll proceed with the voting."
McWhirtley took his position next to the tallyboard. "All delegations must vote yay for us to proceed with Operation Overload. If a delegation is divided, the majority rule holds. We'll start with the Wuzzles."
Croc flexed his rather meaty fingers. "Well, you don't hear much about the show nowadays. Not even the Wuzzles are talked about. Us Creepasaurs have practically forgotten our names. I'm for invading anything."
"Our vote--" began Flizzard.
"Is yay, I know," finished McWhirtley, sliding the W plate to the left column. "Adventures of the Gummi Bears?"
"I'll be King of Dunwyn soon," Duke Igthorn grinned smugly. "So I better brush up on my hostile takeover techniques. We vote yay."
McWhirtley slid the GB plate to the 'yay' column. "DuckTales?"
"Is yay, dah-link," announced Magica de Spell.
"Chip N' Dale--"
"Yay," interrupted Professor Nimnul.
"TaleSpin?"
"The fabulous Don Karnage--"
"Just a yay or nay would suffice," McWhirtley interrupted.
The air pirate pouted. "Yay."
"Darkwing Duck?"
"Yay!" chorused the seven delegates.
"Goof Troop and House of Mouse?"
"YAY!" shouted Pete.
"Bonkers?"
"Yay," said Al Vermin in a bored voice.
"Aladdin?"
"Well, I haven't had much luck with Agrabah," intoned Mirage. "So I'm willing to try taking over a simple nightclub."
"The Little Mermaid?"
"I'm always for a little splash of evil," Ursula laughed.
"Gargoyles?"
"Do you really have to ask me that?" asked Demona.
"The Mighty Ducks?"
"I haven't had a good takeover since Puckworld," sighed Dragaunus.
"This is folly," Wraith said in his gloomy voice. "If you ask me, which nobody ever does."
"Shut up," snapped Siege.
"Yeah!" added Chameleon.
McWhirtley slid the MD plate to the left. "One Hundred and One Dalmatians?"
Cruella waved her cigarette holder in the air. "I've considered a re-attack on the House of Mouse, but I decided to wait and see if anyone outside of the original group composed of President Hook, Jafar, Ursula, Hades, and myself was interested. Now that almost this entire coalition wants to, I cannot withhold my support. I vote yay."
"As do I," Hecate declared. Her boss glared. "Hey, you're not the only one experienced at taking over."
"Why don't you wait until I rule Olympus, then you can have the stupid Underworld," snapped Hades.
"Quack Pack?" puffed McWhirtley, getting tired.
"Why not?" asked Moltoc.
"The Proud Family?"
"Well, it beats stealing lunch money," commented Nubia. "Count us in!"
"Kim Possible?"
"A good villain never backs down from a challenge," said Signor Senior, Senior in his Spanish accent. "Put us down for yay."
"And last, but not least, Fillmore?"
"I don't want to go down in the Disney history books as the guy who prevented us from spreading our evil," answered Brad. "So I'll vote yay."
McWhirtley slid the last plate on the tallyboard and noted the time. 9:03 PM.
Everyone cheered.
"Before we begin our plans," Flintheart announced. "We'll finish nominating for our offices. The next one is Parliamentarian. This officer keeps the meetings in what passes for order and makes sure we follow the DVA's Constitution."
"Well, I'll be writing all the rules when I'm King of Dunwyn," started Igthorn. "I'd like to withdraw my nomination for Vice President. And I nominate my assistant Toadwart for the position of Secretary."
"But Dukie!" protested Toadie. "Toadie only humble servant. I can't write with style or proper etiquette." Igthorn pushed him down, so the runt ogre quieted down.
"The last office is Treasurer," Flintheart continued. "Who keeps track of our earnings. Has to be good at math. Anyone interested?"
No one spoke.
"Very well," sighed Flintheart. "We can proceed with our plans. I propose that we don't wait until midnight. Rather, we should use the time our voting ended. 9:03. By 9:03 tomorrow night, we'll have arrived and taken over the House of Mouse. Any suggestions?" Almost everyone began talking at once. "Hold your horses. One at a time. Parnassus, I saw your hand first."
"I suggest each delegation plan one phase of the total scheme. That way no one can try to take all the credit."
Flintheart smiled. "You may be the newest member of the DVA in this coalition, but you're sharp."
There was a loud buzz, indicating someone was ringing the bell on the ground floor.
McWhirtley ran toward the doors. "I'll get it!" He went down the elevator, which, luckily, didn't break again.
An elderly duck was in the middle of the lobby. He wore a blue suit, red spats, a top hat, and a pince-nez that seemed glued to his beak. He swung his cane as he spoke in an accent only slightly weaker than Flintheart Glomgold's: "Stuff and nonsense! I demand to see Glomgold!"
"Sir, Mr. Glomgold's in a meeting --" McWhirtley began. He stopped short. "Scrooge McDuck?"
Scrooge gazed at the assistant. "Johannes McWhirtley? What's a nice guy like you doing working for that whiskered weasel?"
"He pays five cents more than you would in the same position. In a world where hunger means existence, there's a feast in every cent."
Scrooge nodded. "Every penny counts." He headed for the elevator. "Now where's your boss."
"He can't see you right now!"
"Oh, pish-posh." The richest duck in the world pulled out a newspaper article. "How dare Glomgold write this garbage about me! HE'S the one who cheats people! I made my quadrillions by being tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties, and I deserve it because I earned it fair and square!" Scrooge tapped the up button with his cane.
Ding.
McWhirtley watched the Scottish duck enter the elevator. "Uh oh."
"I say my delegation should swing this way," Hades was saying. "And then the Aladdin delegation goes here." He drew crisscrossing lines on the diagram of the House of Mouse hanging upon the wall.
"You're not Vice President yet," Glomgold hissed in his ear.
The doors burst open. Scrooge McDuck went straight to the desk. "I've got a bone to pick--"
Flintheart frowned. "Can we talk about this some other time?"
"We're talking right here and --" Scrooge stopped as he glanced at the filled tables. "Am I interrupting something here?" He heard a gun cock, then ran toward the double doors, which slammed shut after him.
Negaduck blew the smoke off his bazooka. "And that was for the diamond mines."
Flintheart shrugged. "McDuck is nothing. By the way, you should have been passing around those sign-up sheets for the various committees I'll remind you that you can be on more than one committee, but no more than three. And you may be the chair of only one, and be in only one if you're running for office--"
McWhirtley ran in, nearly out of breath from climbing seventeen flights of stairs. "They finished four. The other two are still circulating." He placed three sheets of paper on the desk.
Flintheart glanced down.
They read:
Magic Committee:
Chair: Magica de Spell
Mozenrath
Asteroth
Selene
Sadira
Wraith
Ursula
Lady Bane
Hecate
Moderates Committee:
Chair: Dr. Reginald Bushroot
Toadie
Sergeant Dunder
Sadira
Chameleon
Hostile Takeovers Committee:
Chair: Dr. Drakken
Duke Igthorn
Hades
Hecate
Loki
Don Karnage
Ursula
Impersonation Committee
Chair: Chameleon
Thailog
Negaduck
******************************************************
Across Duckburg, Scrooge stormed into his office. "I know that skinflint is up to something!" He pressed up a button on the intercom. "Mrs. Featherby, bring me my address book!"