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 Twelve:
In the Lion's Den
Negaduck had always admired Steelbeak's way of handling a criminal life, but now that he had taken him under his wing, he wanted him to get even better at it. After fifteen years of being the leader of the Fearsome Five, he has had it with wimpy lackeys. Negaduck wanted a three-hundred pound weapon of mass destruction working for him, not a cringing, nervous wreck. Understandably after being exiled by F.O.W.L and what came after that, the rooster's had softened, but the Prince of Darkness wouldn't have any of it. He was bent on toughening him while still maintaining his position as "top bird."
"There's one more step into joining The Four, and that's boot camp!" Negaduck announced, straightening out his lopsided fedora. "I want to see what you are really made out of, so expect me to be tougher than any those sissy sergeants."
This took Steelbeak back twenty-six years ago, when he joined F.O.W.L for the first time. Boot camp was all part of becoming a fully fledged agent of the organization. Back den it was rough enough, jus' 'ow much woise could Negaduck be at it? Eh, well, yer a masochist. Ya only live twice or so dey say, so go fer it! 'Sides, if 'e wants to see what I'm all about, I'll show 'em!
"Wondaful," Steelbeak replied sarcastically, still not pistol-whipped enough to not remain a smart alec. "Be sure ta throw in plen'y of backbreakin' twen'y foot fence climbs. Dey're my favorite!"
The rooster had intended on ticking Negaduck off with his sarcastic comment, but it ended up delighting him instead. Swinging an arm around Faith's shoulder, Negaduck glanced back at Steelbeak with a sinister sneer.
"Oooooh don't you worry. There'll be plenty of that and then some!" His voice was unusually gravelly and growly, but neither his wife nor his captured cockerel took any special notice of it. Just part of the Negaduck attitude, they thought.
"Eh-heh-heh! Ya know, I've always like a good woikout, so go 'head -- dish out yer woist!" Steelbeak cheerfully challenged, giving the mallard a taunting poke.
"If you insist . . . " Negaduck answered, poking him back and speaking in that strange tone again. "Your wish is my command!"
Steelbeak watched in sheer terror as two horns -- devil horns -- came poking through the top of Negaduck's classy red-and-black fedora, so frightened that he visibly shook as he slowly recoiled from the sight. He was peeved at himself for being this scared, blaming it all on his mess of a mind. Pull yourself together already, jeesh. It's jus' Negaduck!
Or was it?
The rooster's mind wasn't playing tricks on him, as it so often did when his past crept back to haunt him -- Negaduck really was in a demonized state. How he got into that way was anyone's guess, for it was a secret known only to the dreaded mallard of the night. At the moment, he was the stuff nightmares were made out of, and living proof that Satan really does exist.
You can go ahead and run away, Roosterboy. There's no place to hide! Negaduck stared so intently at his 'victim' that the poor guy was on the brink of fleeing just to get away from it. With his cape billowing behind him, he stood as still as a statue.
"Whatever is the matter, S.B? You aren't still frightened of me, are you?" Faith asked with confusement, looking back at Steelbeak's expression. It looked as if he had seen a ghost, or more appropriately, the devil himself. She seemed oblivious to the way her beloved was. Perhaps she had seen him like this before and either liked it or wasn't frightened, or perhaps she wasn't paying enough attention.
"It's all in yer 'ead . . . It's all in yer 'ead, Steels . . . " The rooster muttered to himself, smacking his forehead hard. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them, the horns had gone and Negaduck was back to his usual self.
"Remind me ta book an appointment wit' de psychologist." Steelbeak felt as if he had awoken from a very bad dream, relieved, but still shaken.
"Pardon?" She asked again, hearing him mutter to himself and acting disoriented about something. "Are you feeling poorly?"
"Eh, nah, just a 'eadache," Steelbeak replied, snapping out his shocked state. "Dey tend ta make me a bit dizzy." He followed the two back to the Fearsome Five Headquarters as if nothing had happened.
"Now, Steelbeak, this is your chance to prove your worth!" Negaduck exclaimed, bringing a riding crop out of his jacket and smacking it hard against his palm. "You won't find the typical military exercises here, just the nitty-gritty. We like the skip the pleasantries and get back to business!" With Faith by his side, he lead Steelbeak down the basement.
"Dat's what I like, a guy who gets right down to it!" Steelbeak replied with anxious anticipation, noticing blood splattered on the rails of the staircase. Dat could be my blood!
Negaduck opened the basement's door, revealing a pacing, caged lion. "If you can kill him with only your bare hands and beak, you're one more step in the game. If not, it was nice meeting you!" He shoved Steelbeak inside, quickly locking the door the moment it was slammed shut.
The big cat, a male in his prime with a thick blonde mane, stopped his pacing to look at what he viewed as a possible meal. Negaduck had stolen the lion from the St. Canard Park Zoo last night after their failed attempt to get Steelbeak, and he intended on setting him free on an elementary school yard at lunchtime. As enjoyable as the idea of sitting back and watching children get mauled was, he got a better idea. Negaduck figured that thinking if the rooster could take on a fully-grown lion, he would be willing to take on anything.
"It's just youse and me, kitty-cat!" Steelbeak growled, approaching the feline with his adrenaline pumping. While out on his missions to Africa and India he had various violent run-ins with the local wildlife, including big cats, but in each of those cases he had a gun with him, making defense easy. He had never had an unarmed encounter of the wild kind, but he was always one to try out something new, especially if it was something dangerous.
He teased the lion by sticking a hand an inch from the cage and pulling it away just before it got shredded by the cat's enormous claws, firing him up for a good fight. "Yeah, youse want a piece of me, don'tcha? Youse jus' wanna 'ave me fer dinner!" Steelbeak laughed, pushing the lion's anger even more by prodding and hitting it with an iron pipe he had found on the floor.
"Well, I don't hear any screaming," Faith remarked, pressing the side of her head against the door. "I saw on TV that a lion can kill its prey with just one smack of its paw. Maybe it got Steelbeak already." She was morbidly fascinated, reaching for the door handle to see how things were going.
Knowing just what she wanted to do, Negaduck swatted her hand away. "Faith, would you really want to miss a bloodbath while on your way the hospital?" He asked, twirling a strand of her hair with his finger. "Just be patient."
"Having said that, I'll just be patient . . . " Faith smiled, slipping a hand down the front of his jacket and tracing a finger up and down his pecs. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt his chest vibrate as he let out a deep, contented growl. She loved this feeling, and kept at it all the more.
"Good . . . " Negaduck murmured relaxedly, leaning up against her while still trying listening into what was going on in the basement. He didn't hear much, aside from the distinctive grunt of the lion. The heavy door had prevented him from hearing much else.
"Ahhhh, here we go, Featherbuns!" Faith said with excitement, pressing her head up against the door again. There was some more grunting, some growling, Steelbeak shouting something in Italiano, and finally, a loud roar that was followed by a deadly silence.
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.