Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this fic are not mine, even though they should be, because it's not like Disney's doing a heck of a lot with them as of now.
Wow, look at all these Darkwing fic updates! It just proves that the classics never die! Take that current drama-and humor-lacking Disney Channel cartoons!
Rock on reviewers! Your comments mean so much to me. I love you guys!
*~*~*~*
"I don't want to be the one
Who battles always choose
Cuz inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not all right
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit tonight"
LINKIN PARK
*~*~*~*
Day or night, Audubon Bay was truly a sight to behold. By day, it sparkled like millions of sapphires morphing in a beautiful tide pattern around the bustling metropolis. By night it became a great, black field, both ominous and breathtaking. Its depths were filled with potential, and what lived beneath its surface was shrouded in mystery.
Now, however, Negaduck could care less about the bay's dazzling intrigue, as he was currently sailing over it in a perfect arc after being launched from the seat of his motorcycle.
As he whistled through the air, shock had overtaken him, making him feel unusually calm. He observed the blur of water below him silently, unable to take his eyes from it. Suddenly he felt a hand grip his ankle tightly.
"Use your cape!"
"Huh?"
"Grab your cape!"
Negaduck's brain snapped back to reality he became violently aware of the urgency as he began his downward decent. He snatched for the piece of cloth fluttering madly behind him, but he only managed to claw the air.
"GRAB YOUR STUPID CAPE!"
"I'M TRYING!"
Negaduck ground his teeth and made another wild snatch, and finally he felt the fabric between his fingers. He quickly grabbed the other end, and the cape expanded into a makeshift parachute in seconds. Aviana still clung to his ankle as their rapid plunge slowed enough to remove the fatality factor of the situation. The two ducks tensed simultaneously before breaking the shifting glass surface below with a colossal SPLASH!
Though he had taken in a great gulp of air, the impact caused all of it to be knocked forcibly out of Negaduck's lungs. For a few stunned moments he spun lazily end-over-end in the water, and he was dimly aware that the pressure had left his ankle. He opened his eyes, only to see nothing but a mass of deep black on all sides. The mallard moved his limbs, listening to the muffled gurgles they produced. It was so quiet, and he was so alone. The thought hit him like a train slamming silently into a brick wall. So alone, so very alone…
The next he knew, Negaduck exploded through the surface of the bay, and reflexively took in a raspy gasp of air. He turned about in the water, surveying the bustling, glowing city, its lights sparkling on the black water, the impressive bridge hovering ominously above, and soon he forgot his moment of enlightenment. He was surrounded by life, and nothing was missing – except his hat. Negaduck snarled and wheeled about, searching for a bit of red bobbing amongst the dark waves. However, the fedora was not the only thing missing.
"Where is she?" Negaduck wondered aloud.
He looked and listened, but saw nothing, not even a bubble. Suddenly something jolted inside him. It was getting to be a long time now, and she was a duck for Chrissake, how could she not be up by now? Where was she?
*~*~*~*
Aviana fumbled blindly with the buckles of her boots, desperate for the air that had been stolen from her. Her shoes had turned to lead attached to her feet, and she mentally cursed herself for choosing such heavy footwear.
Kicking off the left boot, she hastily began working on the other. Everything seemed so loud and fast, though she found herself wreathed in silent darkness. Despite her clumsy, water-dulled movements, she managed to fling off the remaining boot.
Aviana pushed herself through the murky blackness, but she could no longer discern up from down, left from right. She felt as though she was dashing up a hill, carrying fifty pounds of weights with her. Her body screamed for air, but her mind screamed terrible thoughts.
You'll never make it.
No, you're wrong, I'll make it…
You can't breathe again.
She could feel the hands around her neck, squeezing, choking…
There's no one to save you now.
Aviana looked around frantically, and her clouding eyes landed on two webbed feet kicking at the surface, illuminated by the city lights. With all the mental and physical power she could muster, she pushed through the water.
You're going to die alone.
No, no…
*~*~*~*
Negaduck was still treading water, his head whipping left and right. There was a strange feeling in his stomach that he could not seem to place. He had the city, he could not be alone…but he had no one in the city, no one at all.
"YAAHH!"
Just when his nerves had reached the edge of infinity, Negaduck yelped as he felt something snatch his leg and drag him under. The mallard kicked violently and pulled himself back to the surface, swallowing a large amount of Audubon Bay in the process. Aviana suddenly burst through the water directly in front of him, coughing and gasping.
Negaduck squirted out the little bay water he had not gulped down, and Aviana's hacking fit ended. Two hearts pounded rapidly and equally in the night, and two minds subconsciously sighed with relief. The duckette stared fixedly at a very interesting speck in the water, while the mallard reacted instantly.
"What were you doing down there, having a party?! Is oxygen not good enough for you? I don't think I've even seen fish spend that much time underwater for crying out loud!"
Aviana's eyes left the speck and stared into his. She was expecting herself to naturally fly off the handle, but she paused. The eyes behind the black mask were different somehow, and while his last little outburst had been sarcastic as usual, it had come out quick and panicked versus the usual suave and controlled.
"What are you looking at?" Negaduck asked uncomfortably after a prolonged silence.
"Were you scared?" Aviana questioned.
The mallard's eyes narrowed.
"Huh. You wish."
Aviana glowered back at him with equally narrow eyes and prepared to respond, but a loud whistling sound filled the air. The two looked up, and saw a large figure above the bridge hurtling towards them.
"This night just gets better and better," Negaduck spat, looking around for an escape that was missing in action.
To his surprise, Aviana turned and spoke calmly, "Listen, I need you to be quiet and stay still, okay?"
Negaduck's face contorted with anger at being told what to do. He opened his beak to utter the unspeakable, but yet again their eyes met. Negaduck saw something in her eyes that he could not describe, something meaningful and intense. For second time that night he was silenced by the duckette in front of him, a rare feat.
At length Aviana turned away form him and faced the flying cyborg. The bull was tearing towards them, his helmet weapons glowing with anticipation. Aviana took in a slow breath, allowing instinct to take over treading water as she focused on the bull's one exposed eye.
Taurus Bulba cackled maniacally. Aviana stared steadily, every fiber in her body tense with concentration. Negaduck's eyes went from Aviana to the cyborg, trying to comprehend the absurdity of the situation.
Suddenly Bulba's chuckling ceased, and his thoughts changed from homicidal glee to sheer terror.
Negaduck watched as the flying bull's face reflected extreme panic. Bulba veered wildly and began to fly away from them. Negaduck's jaw dropped.
Aviana let out the air in her lungs in a long sigh. She followed the cyborg until he disappeared into the dark night sky.
Negaduck stared blankly for a second before craning his neck to look at Aviana, who glanced at him almost ashamedly.
The mallard paused, waiting for an explanation. When he received none, he frowned and spoke up.
"Well? Care to explain what just happened?"
Aviana swallowed and made furtive glances at him. Finally she rolled her eyes and muttered, "He got scared."
"Duh. How."
"Well…because…because I, well, scared him," Aviana answered sheepishly.
Negaduck frowned, clearly puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
Suddenly Aviana's eyes became filled with pain, and she whipped around to face him square on.
"Because! It's what I can do! It's my little hidden talent! If I look at someone straight in the eye, I can make them feel fear! Isn't that something?!" Aviana snapped viciously, then turned away.
Negaduck stared. At first he was jealous and convinced he was the only being on the planet without a superpower. Soon his thoughts changed, however, as he gazed at the wet, dark hair glistening in front of him. Out of all the superpowers he had seen, and Lord knew he had seen a lot of them, this one truly intrigued him.
"Really?" he asked, interested.
"Yeah. Really."
"How long?"
"Since I was little."
"So when you gave Darkwing Dope the evil eye on the docks…" Negaduck began, remembering the event from the other night.
Aviana felt herself relax slightly and she turned to him, grinning.
"Yes. Except that one was not really intentional."
Negaduck snorted with laughter, and Aviana could feel a sense of speculation wash over her. Why was he not afraid, like all of the others?
"So, you don't think I'm like, a freak of nature or anything?"
Negaduck raised an eyebrow.
"You haven't lived in this city very long, have you?"
The duckette shook her head.
"You'll fit right in," Negaduck said confidently.
"I'd doubt it," Aviana muttered, a dark look on her face.
The two regarded each other for a few moments longer before Aviana finally broke the deep silence.
"Well, I'd love to stay here and chat, but a bay isn't really my kind of haunt. I'm freezing my kiester off," she said.
Aviana turned and began to swim toward the banks, and for lack of anything better to do, Negaduck followed.
They eventually made it to shore, each lumbering shakily on the solid ground and dripping wet. Aviana peeled off her waterlogged hoodie, observing the black-masked mallard out of the corner of her eye. She chuckled lightly to herself as he rung out his cape, griping and grumbling under his breath. He shook his head and ruffled his hair, spraying droplets everywhere. Finally he looked up to see Aviana watching him as she tied her still sopping hoodie around her waist.
"What are you looking at?" Negaduck barked grumpily.
Narrowing her eyes, Aviana answered, "You. It's like watching a cat crawl out of a bathtub. And you call yourself a duck."
"Well look who's talking, Miss-I-Think-I-Can-Breath-While-Underwater. What were you doing?"
"What the Hell do you think? I was taking off my shoes so I could swim thank you very much," she replied, lifting up a bare webbed foot.
Negaduck snickered.
"Oh, that's great! I can see the headlines now – Woman Drowns in Bay: Victim to Latest Fashion Trend!"
Aviana crossed her arms.
"He he ho ho. Let's all point and laugh," she said sarcastically.
Aviana walked over to the still sniggering Negaduck and leaned forward, their beaks close enough to sense the heat emanating from each other's bodies. Negaduck's chuckling fit stopped, and as the duckette spoke he could feel her breath upon his beak.
"You better watch your back, or your own fashion sense may come back to haunt you," Aviana whispered and reached behind the mallard's back.
Before Negaduck could utter another word Aviana pulled up his sopping wet fedora and dropped it on top of head with a wet splat!
She turned around and strolled over to the embankment, but not before adding a victorious, "Fuzzy."
The wet cloth drooped over Negaduck's beak, leaving his face drenched once again. The mallard growled and lifted up the dripping hat from in front of his eyes. Aviana was already halfway up the banks, skillfully scaling the rocks. Negaduck trudged after the duckette, silently counting the reasons why he could not stand her.
*~*~*~*
Darkwing Duck plodded down the stairs and turned into the silent kitchen. He opened the refrigerator, searching for anything to curb his appetite bred from late night Hamburger Hippo stops. As he pushed various items out of the way, he came across the TV remote. Darkwing pulled it out, slowly inspecting the small device as if he had never seen one before.
Shrugging, Darkwing reminded himself that this was the Mallard household and shut the refrigerator door.
He traveled into the dark living room. The crime fighter sighed and rubbed his temples, attempting to coax away an impending headache. He walked to the light blue couch and stopped. He could see his distorted image reflected on the blank TV screen. From his angle, Darkwing's body looked fat and squat. Grimacing, the mallard shifted slightly, and his reflection stretched into a taller, thinner one.
Darkwing grinned and flicked on the TV with the remote. It was his one salvation for an otherwise frustrating night – the news. He had done a lot of good tonight, he was sure to be top story.
"All right Lockjaw, impress me," Darkwing muttered as he shrugged off his purple jacket and plopped down onto the couch.
"Welcome to St. Canard News Early Edition. I'm Tom Lockjaw. This way too early morning's top story is the terrifying return of the infamous felon, Taurus Bulba…"
Darkwing watched Bulba's ugly mug pop up on the screen. He glared daggers at it before gently untying his mask.
The simple removal of the purple piece of cloth transformed Darkwing into his alter ego, the not-so-mild-mannered Drake Mallard. He held the mask delicately in his hands and continued to watch the broadcast.
"…Taurus Bulba rampaged through Plumage street just a few hours ago, with dozens of what have been identified as Eggmen – " a picture of an overweight Eggman chowing down on a hotdog popped up, and Drake raised his eyebrows, " – seemed to be accompanying him. Not only did the 'Eggmen' do considerable damage to St. Canard property and its citizens, but Darkwing Duck, local threat to society, aided in their frightening of the populace…"
"WHAT!" Drake roared, leaping to his feet with smoke practically pouring out of his ears.
The unknown citizen Darkwing and Launchpad had rescued earlier suddenly came up on the screen with a microphone shoved up to his mouth. His once timid demeanor was gone and replaced with anger.
"That Darkworm Duck fella started parading that gun of his, and the next thing I know I'm being flung around on a rope – no respect! No respect at all!"
"I saved you from imminent doom, you incorrect inhabitant!" Drake cried while pointing an accusing finger at the television.
"Further footage," Tom continued, "shows Darkwing leaping carelessly over an officer fallen in the line of duty…"
A short video clip was shone of Darkwing and Launchpad jumping over the robust official who had unwittingly aided them in reaching Taurus Bulba not so long ago.
"'Fallen in the line of duty', pfft," Drake grumbled in a mocking tone, "try 'fattened by a line of donuts'. What about Launchpad? He's the one who got turned into a zombie!"
"Officials inform us that all of the danger has passed, thanks to the St. Canard police force– "
Tom Lockjaw did not get a chance to finish, because Drake Mallard had already turned off the TV with disgust.
The mallard was shaking with rage, and the sound of him grinding his teeth could be heard for miles. Nightly he risked his neck for this city, and for what? To be ridiculed by those he so willingly protected.
Suddenly he stopped and looked at his hand, where he had been unknowingly squeezing the life out of his poor mask. Drake unclenched his fist and picked up the crumpled fabric, staring at it long and hard. His mind became a deluge of memories, his heart twisted and turned in every direction.
Darkworm Duck with it on, Drake the Dweeb with it off. The city did not understand him, and he did not understand the city. What was he good for? Where did he belong?
NOTE: Again, thank you my loyal reviewers. As I've said before, bear with me as I try to get out the next chapter within a reasonable time frame. The story gets more complex and I have to work out some plot issues, so I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks.