It was absolute pandemonium. Steelbeak only just managed to tuck himself away from the chaos before he got any stains on his suit.

For being so fearsome, the four didn't have much finesse.

Bushroot had the entire forest at his command, hoards of trees stomping on Eggmen or hurtling them away. Bushes tripped groups of agents or wrapped them up in their leafy tendrils.

Megavolt's raw energy and electrical currents illuminated the area with flickers of light as he electrocuted dozens of Eggmen in one swoop. Or overcharged their electronics, rendering some weapons useless. Every now and then, he shot over a blast of electricity to Quackerjack's toys, the charged tanks and toy soldiers shooting down Eggmen left and right.

Quackerjack bounced around the chaos, cackling and loosing more toys to take down unsuspecting agents. Of all the ways to go, by toy was definitely the most embarrassing.

Liquidator, though, was easily the most impressive of the group, swelling up to the size of a monsoon and utilizing the snow to wipe out whole sections of agents. He shifted the ice so the Eggmen had no traction as they ran by or buried them in several tons of snow. Steelbeak had never been sure if Liquidator was apart of the water himself, or if he was able to control it from afar. Regardless, he was working wonders against F.O.W.L..

Steelbeak hadn't really been prepared to actually fight, but he did trip an occasional Eggman when they ran by. And he gave bad directions to one squadron so they ran headlong into Liquidator's avalanche.

So, see?

He was helping.

And it was important he be seen helping out the Four when Negs arrived; he wanted to make his loyalty clear.

F.O.W.L. was out.

Negaduck was in.

Sure, when they realized his betrayal, F.O.W.L. would put him on their hit list. Send agents to kill him. But most of the agents now were dunderheads. The whole place had really gone to hell since the organization had fallen and relocated to the Negaverse. Their best agents had either gone underground, moved away and were never heard from again, or had joined Negaduck's ranks. So it was safe to say that the remaining agents weren't of a very high caliber. Steelbeak was confident that he could handle F.O.W.L. if and when they came after him.

But Negaduck.

The mallard wouldn't hesitate if he crossed him. Steelbeak would be dead, there was no question.

So here he was, very clearly in Negaduck's camp as a veritable war waged around him.

He felt good about his decision, though.

Even if their victory looked grim. The Four weren't cohesive, nor did they seem to know what they were doing. They just focused on taking out any Eggmen they saw.

The Eggmen, on the other hand, were executing strikes and deploying teams with precision. They were fixated on their mission: to capture Gosalyn.

She'd been F.O.W.L.'s main target for a while. Even before revealing her secret identity, when they had only known her as Quiverwing Quack. It, truthfully, went as far back as when F.O.W.L. had lost everything in the Prime Universe. When S.H.U.S.H. — one agent in particular named Stellar — had dismantled their organization.

So F.O.W.L. had relocated to the Negaverse and had set their sights on taking over that universe. But the only way F.O.W.L. would be able to take control was if they removed Negaduck from power.

Negaduck had fought back (and won) every time they tried to dethrone him.

So, they'd moved on to another tactic. Bargaining. (Or blackmail, which was really very similar.)

Gosalyn was the only thing Negaduck cared about.

Therefore, the only way to control Negaduck — or to destroy him — and, thus, gain control of the Negaverse rested with the girl.

This surprise attack in some wayward forest seemed to have all the indications that the odds would finally fall in F.O.W.L.'s favor.

And the longer the battle waged, the more apparent it seemed the organization was going to overpower the Fearsome Four.

Bushroot's trees were toppled and chopped up or set ablaze. And Bushroot himself was soon running away from agents wielding hedge clippers.

Quackerjack's toys were disintegrated underfoot or by a wayward grenade as the toy maker was restrained with ropes.

Some genius remembered that all Megavolt needed was water to incapacitate him, so they threw a bucket of water over his head, shorting out the villain.

Liquidator seemed unstoppable until Isis Vanderchill arrived on the scene. With one touch, she froze Liquidator solid.

Maybe Steelbeak had played his hand too hastily. Negaduck was the biggest — and scariest — bully on the playground, sure, but he wasn't even here. And all his cronies were reduced to nothing. Steelbeak couldn't prove himself if there was no one around to impress.

He wasn't gonna flip loyalties.

He just wasn't gonna get captured.

In the long run, that was more useful to Negaduck anyway. Steelbeak was an eyewitness to the Four's capture and had insider information for F.O.W.L..

"Well, hello there, handsome," said Isis, suddenly standing in front of Steelbeak's hiding place and grabbing ahold of his suit, icicles forming along the fabric instantly. She tossed him to the ground. "What're you doin' here?"

Feeling as though he'd been frozen from the inside out, Steelbeak curled into a ball, hoping he'd generate some heat if he was scrunched up tight enough. "N-nothin'," he said through his chattering beak.

Isis raised a delicate frozen eyebrow. "Seems like you were avoiding the fight. Like you were trying to decide which side to join?"

Steelbeak shuddered. He'd never be rid of this cold; it was down in his very bones.

Leaning down, Isis smiled at him sweetly and reached for his cheek.

Steelbeak braced himself for death by hypothermia.

But Isis never reached him.

Before her hand made contact, she screamed and stumbled backwards. Tumbling to the ground, she disintegrated into icy dust that scattered across the snow.

Steelbeak sat up, still shivering. But the temperature was not as frigid without that harpy looming over him.

Something — or someone — landed in front of him, black and fluttering in the wind, a stain on the otherwise pristine white landscape.

The movement was a cape.

The figure straightened and Steelbeak caught sight of a red fedora.

Negaduck.

Flames blasted out of a device in his hands, effectively sending the Eggmen running while also thawing out Liquidator. He lost no time in tossing the flamethrower to the side in favor of a shotgun and fired off a few rounds, hitting the agents who had been chasing Bushroot with the hedge clippers.

See? Biggest bully on the playground.

But Steelbeak didn't get a chance to think beyond that before Negaduck had rounded on him, murder on his face and the barrel of the gun fixed between Steelbeak's eyes.

Throwing up his hands, Steelbeak cried, "No! I'm on your side!"

"Conveniently," Negaduck sneered. "Now that you're cornered."

"I swore loyalty when I came here! Ask any o' dem," he gestured to the Fearsome Four, who were recuperating after the help that had arrived. "I warned 'em of F.O.W.L.'s arrival."

Negaduck narrowed his eyes, the barrel of the gun unwavering.

A pine tree stomped by, scooping up Eggmen before they could attack Negaduck. The mallard glanced over his shoulder at the battle still being waged. He swapped his rifle for a chainsaw.

"I see you waver for even a second, and the only way you'll leave here is in a body bag." Negaduck waited just long enough to see Steelbeak nod shakily before he leapt into the fray. Using his chainsaw to cut Quackerjack loose, he gave chase to a group of Eggmen who immediately turned tail and ran.

Steelbeak took a moment to gather his thoughts before standing. Spying Negaduck's abandoned flamethrower in the snow, he scooped it up and studied the controls.

He'd officially chosen a side. Time to prove himself to his new group.

Firing off a blast of flames, he ran down the mountain, searching for the obnoxious yellow of the Eggmen suits.

If it was just for the fashion alone, Steelbeak would never go back to F.O.W.L. again.