A Continuation of The Slash Saga: My Funny Friend and Me and Birds of A Feather
By Roaming Tigress and Tammy Wraight who gave permission to use the character of Faith Mallard
Chapter Seven:
Murder in The Morning
At the crack of dawn, Quackerjack was in the mood to give his boss a rude awakening. He poked his jester-hatted head in the bedroom and incessantly poked at Negaduck with the end of a pogo stick. Faith and Steelbeak slept through this disturbance, but the black-masked mallard simply couldn't. He tossed and turned, trying to ignore him and catch up on the sleep he had missed.
"Wakey-wakey! You wouldn't believe who's still around!" Quackerjack whispered loudly, keeping up with the prodding while making sure not to awake the other two.
Negaduck quickly grew tired of his annoyance, and grabbed hold of the toy. "Keep up with the poking, and *you* won't be around!"
Stepping back in fear, Quackerjack motioned Negaduck to follow him into the hallway. Sure enough, he got what he wanted for. As Negaduck came out, he quietly shut the door and whispered.
"Bushroot's still around! I spotted him around here, looking around for Steelbeak!"
"Ooooh is he now?" Negaduck asked, rubbing his hands together in typical diabolical villain fashion. There was a sinister glare in his eyes as he took out his handgun to polish. He took a look out the windows to see if Bushroot was around, and when he didn't see him he knew he was in one of two places at this time of the day; the park, or the greenhouse.
"Most of my victims can't get away from me! In any case, I'll finish off what I started . . ." With that, he disappeared in a puff of blood-red smoke, reappearing in the darkness of St. Canard park's forest.
Bushroot was on his way to the greenhouse when he spotted a tree with a knife gash in it. Concerned for the tree's welfare, he scrambled over it. There was a dark shadow moving in on him from the forest, but what he didn't see didn't hurt him -- yet.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Maple," Bushroot sighed, running a hand down the gash and healing it with his touch. "I don't know what it is with kids these days. Whatever did a harmless tree to do them?"
The "shadow" stepped on a branch, loudly cracking it. Bushroot looked to were the sound came from, but paid no attention to it. He figured it was just a deer, and as long as it wasn't hungry, he had nothing to worry about. Regardless, he kept alert, for he knew all too well about a herbivore's ways.
With Steelbeak on his mind, Bushroot turned his back to return to the Fearsome Five Headquarters. What he didn't know was that he had turned his back to a dangerous foe.
In a cloud of red smoke, the silhouette of Negaduck stood behind the hybrid. He held a axe over his head, and before Bushroot had the chance to get away, he was decapitated in one swift move.
"I should have done that years ago!" He sneered, tossing aside his axe and revving his chainsaw. "One victim down, many more to go!"
After severing the limbs and mutilating the thin torso beyond recognition, Negaduck stuffed the remains in a burlap bag. What was left of the sad, misunderstood plant-duck was tossed into the duck pond. Sooner than later, the body parts would be turned into a green mush. Even if someone found the bag and opened it, no one would suspect a murder.
It had been some time since Negaduck was involved in the killing of a infamous citizen. After wiping the oozing green blood from his jacket, he arrogantly tipped his head up and disappeared with the cloud trick. Today just couldn't get better, or can it? I still have to get Steelbeak to tell his story . . .
In the short time it took the murderous mallard to kill Bushroot and dispose of the remains, Faith and Steelbeak woke from their sleep. The hungry rooster started to eat his way out of the cell, only to come face-to-face with a enraged Negaduck. He blinked once, and continued to keep chewing as if he wasn't there.
"Mind if I ask you something, Roosterboy?" Negaduck asked with a low growl, crossing his arms. He brought out The Knife -- the infamous implement he used to cut Steelbeak with. Instead of threatening his 'victim' with it, he filed down an uneven nail.
"Mf?" Steelbeak grunted with a mouthful of metal, swallowing loudly. "D'ya t'ink it can wait? I need my breakfast. Gotta 'ave my iron intake!"
"Did I ever give you the okay to escape?" Negaduck asked with mock annoyance.
Steelbeak thought about this for a few seconds, then shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't remember the tyrant telling him this.
"Eh, I don't t'ink ya did. 'Course, I could be wrong."
"I didn't, did I?" With a sinister smile, Negaduck reached a hand through the bars and grabbed the rooster by the crotch. As before, he crowed loudly in response.
"When in doubt, don't do anything unless I give the word."
"I'll keep dat in mind!" Steelbeak nodded, casting his eyes down on Negaduck's hand which was still fastened around his groin.
Hearing the distinct voice of Negaduck, Faith stepped out of the shower with a red and black towel wrapped around her torso. She took a look at the scandalous situation her spouse and Steelbeak had gotten into, and couldn't help but to make a comment on it.
"Looks like you got the cock by the cock again!" She smirked, leaning up against the wall. Just as she stepped up towards him, the towel came undone -- revealing her athletically-built nude form to the gawking male avians.
Now dat is a fine female fanny! With a playful glint in his eyes, Steelbeak reached out and gave the she-duck's firm rear a light swat. She smacked his hand in response, and he feigned a childish pout for being scolded.
"Sorry! My bottom's for my Fluffybutt's hands only!" She winked, not the least bit offended by his little bit of flirting. She figured that with having the nice bum that she had, she couldn't blame him for giving it a little spank. She changed into the clothes she had set aside for the day and handed her husband a length of chain she pulled out from under the bed.
Negaduck on the other hand, took it a tad more seriously, or at least acted like he did. He cast Steelbeak a stern glare that clearly meant "she's mine". From that, he motioned the rooster to sit on the unmade bed, and he wisely obeyed.
"What'cha fixin' to do wit' me now?" Steelbeak asked with a coy smile, seeing Faith hand Negaduck a horse whip. He offered no resistance to Negaduck removing his tattered white jacket, and in fact felt a little better with having the grubby thing off his body.
"First of all, I'm going to punish you for flirting with my girl . . . " Negaduck growled, hitting the whip's handle against his palm for emphasis.
"Secondly, I'm going to find out about your past even if I have to kill ya!" Negaduck laughed, suddenly lashing the whip across Steelbeak's muscular back.
Before the rooster could even react in surprise from the sudden sharp and stinging sensation, he tackled him onto his stomach. From there, Negaduck tortured him further by tightly wrapping the chain around his legs. Crimson liquid dripped down from his calves and stained the bed sheets.
"It'd be a blessin' if yas would kill me!" Steelbeak muttered under his breath, feeling the cold metal rub up against the scabbing wound. With all that was going on with him lately, he had forgotten about his injury -- until now. He desperately tried to take the chain off, first with his hands and then with his beak, but his aggressor wouldn't have any of it.
For daring to escape from The Prince of Darkness, poor Steelbeak once again became the whipping boy. When Negaduck was through with whipping his tender neck and lower back, his pants were torn off and his rear end was given the whipping treatment. Instead of cringing away from the pain as he did initially, he grew to enjoy it.
"Oh, be careful of what you wish for, especially when it comes to dealing with him!" Faith winked, running a finger around the back of her husband's neck. She sat at the edge of the bed, watching the torture with amusement.
"Or you may just get it!" Negaduck added, raising his hackles in arousal from her touch. He gave Steelbeak one last lash to his pinkened posterior before kicking the whip under the bed.
Faith unchained Steelbeak's legs, and with a blank expression he checked to see if his wound was worsened. Luckily, it wasn't, but it sure felt like it was. The bullet was lodged into the flesh, and with a finger he was able to fish it out.
"Now, are you going to tell us your story or am I going to have to bring out The Knife and show you what your liver looks like?" He sneered, kissing his wife on the neck and placing an arm around her waist. She leaned into him, melting into the affection.
Steelbeak was torn between saving his life and sacrificing his secrecy. Reluctantly, he decided on the latter and he motioned the two to sit next to him. He never liked retelling his tale, for it had always revoked bad memories of times past.
"Okay, okay . . . " He said quietly, lying on his side to make himself more comfortable. "I was born in Italy some forty years ago. My mom was an artist an' my father was a wheat farmer. I 'ad two twin brothers, and I was de result of an unplanned pregnancy."
"And you were sold to FOWL to become their top agent?" Faith asked curiously, not knowing he was finished. Her question came off sounding corny, but it was the first thing that sprang to her mind.
If only it were dat. Steelbeak smiled very briefly before looking away distantly. "When I was born, I was really, really ugly."
"I can't picture you being . . . Anything but ugly!" Negaduck commented, taking a good look at his dashing confirmation. He comfortably leaned up against Faith, whom massaged his chest and enjoyed the foot massage the rooster was starting to give him.
"It was my beak, mostly," Steelbeak continued with a shiver. "Huge underbite, wit' a hare lip ta match and a split down my lower mandible. Ontop of dat, I was skinny, always sickly, cried a lot . . . Not de picture of an adorable baby yas would wanna pick up and hug to de ends of de earth. Pop wanted ta kill me, but my mother couldn't 'cause she didn't wanna get arrested. So 'e walked out on de family, and my mom took all 'er anger out on me, blamin' me fer de breakup of 'er marriage and de breakdown of 'er sanity. She abused me to a point were nothin' could ever fix de wounds she gave me. I wanted to love 'er, but she never loved me."
"Nobody deserves that . . . " Faith said with sadness, giving him a gentle hug while giving her husband a near suffocating one with her other arm.
"Faithy? Negaduck can't breath . . . " He gasped, causing her to loosen her hold. In spite of his cruel nature, Negaduck did feel bad for what happened to Steelbeak. He had a bad upbringing himself, and could understand (and even secretly sympathize) with what he had been through. With softened eyes, he sat up and touched the side of his face.
"Steelbeak? I was just bullying you. You don't have to continue on with this, if it makes you upset . . . " Negaduck whispered, feeling tears on the tips of his fingers. He was genuinely moved by Steelbeak showing emotion, and shocked himself for not mocking him.
"Nah, it's okay," Steelbeak answered, trying to shrug off his sadness. "As I got older, I got bolder. I toined ta life of crime in stealin' cars and was quite good at it if I do say so myself! One day, I wasn't so lucky. I skidded on some ice, totaled de car and foither ruined my deformity. F.O.W.L took me in when de 'ospital messed me up more, and de rest is 'istory."
Faith opened her bill to speak, but no words came out. She was too mad at what had happened to him to say anything. How could a parent do such a thing to their child?
Negaduck, noticing her angered silence, decided to speak for her. He cupped a hand under that dangerous beak and looked deep into his glassy eyes. For once he, The Prince of Darkness, was kind to the rooster.
"It took a lot of courage for you to tell us that."
All characters mentioned in this
chapter are © Disney. Faith Mallard belongs to Tammy Wraight.
If you steal or copy her, expect
to die a horrid death.