The Prince of Darkness
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 Nine:
The Job Offer
Negaduck and Faith were unsure of how to handle Steelbeak's confession. The Prince of Darkness may have lusted after the rooster, but he didn't expect the rooster to love him in return. After all he was the domineering bastard who had raped him when he was unconscious and forced non-consensual intercourse with him. Not to mention, threatening him at knifepoint and murdering his lover just so that he could get at him. How could someone come to love another that had hurt and scared them so much?
A twinge of guilt hit Negaduck. He shrugged it off, but it came right back, just like a boomerang. Never before had Negaduck felt bad for hurting someone. It's what he lived for, more or less, aside from his love for Faith. So what was it that made him feel bad for the way he treated Steelbeak? He didn't know himself. Maybe it was the rooster's soul, so scarred from abuse, still yearning for love, even if he wasn't into that "sappy" stuff. Maybe it was because he lived through so much in his childhood, just like he did, and still became a successful villain -- with a heart that is breakable. Sometimes, he just couldn't figure himself out.
You've got to be harder on him, Negs. Be tough. Ya can't go soft, it'll kill your reputation.
"I . . . Don't know what to say . . . " Negaduck spoke after remaining silent for so long, looking down at the kneeling rooster who still held onto his cape. He looked up at Faith as he knelt down by his side, as if asking her silently for an answer.
"You needn't say anything," Faith placed a hand on Negaduck's back, smiling a little. "You have a magnetic attractiveness about you, Drake. A strong, domineering, presence that cannot be resisted. You know how *I* can't resist it . . . " When it came to hinting at her love for the public enemy, she wasn't subtle about it. "Plus, you aren't hard on the eyes . . . "
"Ooooh, don't I know it?" The white drake mallard gloated, shuddering with pleasure as Faith slipped a hand down the back of his jacket.
"It's just that, well, I've never - "
"So dat's yer real name!" Steelbeak said with a grin, smacking Negaduck on the back. The duck swayed a little, but kept his ground, glaring down at the rooster with a look that meant 'do that again, punk, I dare you.'
"Not what I expected, of course, but it kinda suits yas!"
"Faith!" Negaduck said through clenched teeth, making her back away with a nervously apologetic grin. His anger was feigned, and she knew it. "Remember what I told you about going around saying my real name in public? You know what it'd do to my image as public enemy number one . . . "
"Sorry, Featherbuns!" Faith laughed, kissing him on his bill to play along with his 'anger'. "It completely slipped my mind. Won't happen again!"
"You better make sure it won't happen again!" Negaduck said in a 'threatening' tone, hooking an arm around her waist. Taking Steelbeak by surprise, he hooked his other arm around the rooster's thickly muscled neck.
"As for you . . . " He growled, tightening his hold. His voice was dead serious. "If you go and tell anyone else about my real name, I'm gonna eat you for dinner!"
"Got it, Negs . . . " Steelbeak replied, gasping for breath.
With a smirk, the mallard released him with a rough scritch to the neck. "Good."
Affectionately, Steelbeak leaned up against Negaduck -- and knocked him over the process. "Heyyyy, it's not a bad name! Better den mine.."
"What is your real name, anyways?" Faith asked Steelbeak curiously, helping her husband to get back up onto his webbed feet.
"Yeah . . . Tell us!" Negaduck demanded, leaning up against the big lug to get back at him. "Or else, I'll have to . . . "
"It's . . . Valentino. Valentino Volatili!" Steelbeak answered, quietly but abruptly. "It's not de most villainous name, isn't it?"
"It's not too bad," Faith answered with a light shrug, twirling a strand of her blonde hair. "I think it has a rather romantic edge to it."
"I'll second that!" Negaduck said, sitting on the edge of the bed with Faith now in his lap. "Strange, though, your old lady gave you a name that had something to with love, and yet, she hated you so much. Then again, she sounds as if she had a few screws loose." He clasped his hands around his wife's sides, slightly sinking his fingers into her skin and causing her to emit a soft coo of contentment.
The mention of his cruel mother sent a chill down Steelbeak's spine. Doing up his pants, he hugged his bony knees up against his chest. Negaduck motioned him to sit on the bed, but he didn't.
"Yeah, it is strange . . . " He said, his voice a little lost sounding. "It's really a wondah she named me ta begin wit'. "
Faith couldn't help but to overlook the need for a change of subject, and she chirped up to lighten the mood. "I'm not sure what you'd think of this, but . . . Would you be willing to take Bushroot's place in the Fearsome Five?"
Steelbeak was torn. Perhaps Bushroot would be proud of him to take his place, but he hated the feeling that he was replacing him. He got up to his feet and wandered over to the window, feeling Negaduck's cold eyes look right through him.
I can't take de job. I just . . . Can't.
"I'll 'ave to t'ink about it," Steelbeak said with unease, hearing the duck approach him from behind. "Kin ya give me a coupla days to decide? I was kinda t'inkin' about goin' back ta bein' an independent villain, like I was back in my car theivin' days."
"No . . . " Negaduck growled, pointing a handgun into the small of his back. He was dangerously close to pulling the trigger.
"There's no "t'inking", you will take his place!"
The sudden change of attitude alarmed Steelbeak, and by habit he reached for his gun -- only remembering that he was practically naked. He made a dash for the nearest door, only to be tripped up by Faith.
Wondaful.
"Going somewhere?" Faith sneered, folding her arms across her chest. "My Drake doesn't like people walking out on him when he needs them . . . " With a sneer, she stepped aside, letting Negaduck pin Steelbeak down to the ground.
There wasn't too much fight in the rooster. He was overwrought emotionally, but he used his last strength to halfheartedly shove Negaduck off him and finally make a an escape, running out into the street and down a narrow alleyway. Rain was pouring down, but he didn't care, not even if muddy puddles of it slashed on his expensive black trousers. All that mattered was that he was finally out of that rotten warehouse.
The enraged mallard took off after him with a snarl, stopping to look back at his wife. "He's not going to get away from me again!"
Faith sighed, watching her husband take off into the streets before she followed out herself. "Well . . . That went well."
Most characters mentioned in this chapter are © Disney. However, Faith Mallard belongs to Tammy Wraight. If you steal or copy her, expect to die a horrid death.