The day had started so well. As far as Liquidator knew, none of the others had nightmares during the night. They were allowed to go out just like normal kids, even though Drake normally discouraged that kind of thing. Everything was just fine, and then Drake and Quackerjack came back, and the younger duck started screaming and panicking, and suddenly the house was full of tension.
Liquidator didn't completely understand what had happened. Quackerjack had locked himself in their room. Bushroot seemed to be in denial about something. Megavolt was so tense that he was sending sparks everywhere. And Drake knew that something had to be seriously wrong, because Drake had spent the last several hours sitting outside their bedroom, waiting for Quackerjack. He was worried about something, which meant that there was something worth worrying about.
Everybody was on edge, but as the sun went down they started to doze off. Since Quackerjack had locked himself in the room and refused to let the others in, Megavolt and Bushroot were spending the night downstairs. Megavolt buried himself in a pile of blankets on the floor, and he soon fell asleep. Bushroot usually stayed up a little more, but he went to sleep fairly early tonight. He seemed to want to escape from his problems.
Liquidator wished he could do that.
He couldn't sleep, and his nights were usually really lonely and boring because of it. Tonight though he was fine with it for the first time since they'd escaped from Negaduck. When they'd been with the villain, Liquidator had been exhausted, but a part of him had enjoyed the reprieve he got during the hours of the early mornings.
Negaduck trained and worked with Liquidator during the night, but the villain could only go so far. Even the mighty Negaduck needed sleep, as much as he might hate it. When he eventually slept, Liquidator got a break, even if he couldn't sleep. Even though it wasn't a real rest, Liquidator had appreciated the quiet hours. Now, he found himself doing the same thing.
It had been a long day. The others were so upset, and even though Liquidator wasn't upset himself, their unease was making him feel anxious. He was glad when they were all either asleep, or nowhere near him.
Liquidator sat back on the couch and turned on the television, though he kept it muted so as to not disturb the others. There was enough variety in the shows that he didn't get bored of watching. There were game shows, cooking competitions, late night shows, horror and grown-up movies that he probably wasn't supposed to watch, and, of course, the news.
Liquidator didn't normally watch the news. Most of it was just people talking dramatically about things that he didn't think were a big deal. He and his friends had been kidnapped and trained by Negaduck. That seemed a little worse to him than food in stores getting a few cents more expensive.
When he turned on the television the news was on. He moved to change the channel, but he stopped when he saw Darkwing Duck on the screen. He knew this wasn't a live showing, because Drake was just upstairs, but seeing a clip of Darkwing Duck in action was pretty impressive.
Darkwing Duck was fighting a tall duck dressed up as a jester. Liquidator thought nothing about this, but then he saw a shock of electricity come from off screen, hitting Darkwing Duck. The camera panned over to show a rat with electric powers.
Liquidator frowned to himself and looked at the ground where Megavolt was sleeping. There was another electric rat running around the city? One who seemed to work side by side with a playful duck who had exploding toys that seemed like the exact kind of thing that Quackerjack would like.
Liquidator leaned closer to the television set and turned the sound back on, though he kept the volume quiet. Something was going on here, and just watching clips was not enough for him to figure it out.
There was news commentary being made on top of the fight recordings. The words went on about how nobody in St. Canard had seen any sign of Darkwing Duck's most notorious villains. Liquidator rubbed his hands together, dripping water all over the floor. He almost lost his form entirely when the broadcaster casually mentioned the names of the villains. Negaduck was an obvious one, but Liquidator felt like he was falling apart when he heard his own name mentioned, as well as Megavolt, Bushroot, and Quackerjack.
Keeping his eyes glued to the screen, Liquidator reached out and nudged Megavolt's shoulder. The young rat jolted awake with a shock of electricity that hurt and stunned both of them. Liquidator pulled away and shook it off. He needed to focus.
"Ow." Megavolt rubbed his head. "What was that about?" He glared at Liquidator. The dog turned him around so he was facing the T.V.
"Look." Liquidator said. Megavolt just stared in confusion for a long moment, but it wasn't long before he put together what Liquidator had. Megavolt gasped and scrambled closer to the screen. Liquidator shook Bushroot awake.
"Is that…that's not me, is it?" Megavolt started to reach out towards the screen, but he pulled back at the last second like he was scared that he would make something bad happen if he touched the image of himself on the television.
"Huh?" Bushroot rubbed his eyes. "What're you-"
"Listen." Liquidator turned the sound up. The commentary was now about past crimes that Darkwing's villains had committed. It was really weird to hear things being said about them when none of them could remember a thing about it.
"Th-they're talking about us." Bushroot looked wide awake now. "But we're not villains."
"And we're not grown-ups." Megavolt couldn't take his eyes away from his older self. He watched the screen for a long moment before his eyes narrowed. "Does Drake know?"
"No way." Bushroot said. "He would have told us." He gave them an uncertain look. "Wouldn't he have?"
"I think there's no way he doesn't know." Liquidator was also watching the screen but he was focusing on the way that Darkwing Duck was fighting against his villains. "Our names and powers are the same." And there had been a lot of moments when Drake would say something that implied that he knew things about them that they didn't know themselves.
"Y-you think he's lying to us?" Bushroot wrapped his arms around himself. "But if he's lying about this, what if he's lying about other stuff?" The plant mutant blinked and looked confused and conflicted for a long moment before he groaned and buried his face in his hands.
"Quackerjack." Bushroot said in a quiet voice. Megavolt finally looked away from the television and glanced towards the other boy.
"I don't think he's lying about Quackerjack." Megavolt said quietly.
"He's lying to him." Bushroot said. "Quackerjack said he saw Negaduck again last night. He said that Drake knew he was right, but when I asked, Drake just said that Quackerjack had a nightmare. Jackie really didn't take it well."
"I don't blame him." Megavolt scowled. His fingers were sparking. "I'm going to kill that hero." He started towards the stairs, but Liquidator grabbed his arm and pulled him back before he could get too far.
"Wait." Liquidator said. "We'll deal with Drake later. "We need to talk to Quackerjack." The boy deserved to know that Drake had been keeping secrets from them, and they might not even be children at all.
"He won't let anybody in the room." Megavolt said.
"So we'll get in another way." Liquidator smirked. "Follow me. I have an idea." He pulled Megavolt outside, with Bushroot right at their heels. Liquidator grabbed the water hose and turned it on. He handed it to Bushroot. "Try to get the water up to the bedroom window."
It took some trial and error from Bushroot, and Megavolt had to take a step back to avoid getting splashed, but eventually he figured it out. Putting his fingers over the spray of water to make it squirt further, and using a vine to give himself more height, Bushroot started spraying the window.
Liquidator told him to keep the flow up as he retreated into the kitchen. He went down the sink and into the water system. It didn't take long for him to find his way to the water hose, and he travelled through the spray, letting himself get launched at the window. Liquidator took up a physical form so he could grab the window ledge and let himself inside the room.
The room looked empty, and Liquidator had a bad feeling about it. Quackerjack wasn't someone who was good at hiding. He found some amazing hiding spots, but when he was by himself he would get lost in his head and freak out. Quackerjack would laugh, pull his feathers, and hit his head.
Quackerjack had been in here for hours, all by himself. Where were all the feathers? And the dents in the wall? The room barely looked untidy. It was only when Liquidator noticed this did he realize that he hadn't heard Quackerjack since he'd retreated upstairs. Why hadn't he heard him scream and shout?
"Quacky?" Liquidator looked in the closet and under the bed. There was no sign of his friend. He was starting to get really worried now. "Quackerjack?!"
The door was thrown open by Drake. "What's wrong? What happened?" He looked around. "Liqui, what are you doing here? Where's Quackerjack?"
Liquidator's concern for his friend fell away in an instant. Standing right in front of him was Drake, who had been lying to them this whole time. And he'd been the one who had been keeping an eye on Quackerjack. Why didn't he know where the boy was?
"You tell me." Liquidator sent out bursts of water towards Drake, solidifying the cuffs on his wrists. Drake yelped as he was held against the wall.
"Liquidator, what are you doing?" Drake didn't sound angry or concerned. He just sounded confused, which confused Liquidator. Drake knew that they were his villains. He'd already shown that he didn't believe they weren't still bad. Why should he be surprised that Liquidator was behaving more villainously?
"Where's Quackerjack?" Liquidator asked. His voice shook, and he had to really focus to keep his water firm
"He's gone?!" Now Drake sounded concerned. "But I've been outside the room the whole time. Where could he have…" He trailed off, staring over Liquidator's shoulder. "The window. He must have climbed out."
"But where did he go?" Liquidator asked.
"To prove he wasn't crazy." Bushroot said. He and Megavolt had made their way upstairs. Megavolt hurried into the bedroom and he was searching every corner for Quackerjack. Bushroot gave Drake a wary look as he came to stand next to Liquidator. They both glared at the hero in front of them. "He went after Negaduck."
Drake sighed and slumped as much as he could while Liquidator held him up. "We don't know that…but yeah, I think so too."
"We have to go after him." Megavolt said urgently when he finally admitted that the room was empty. The rat looked at Drake. "Will you help us?"
"Wh-what are you doing?" Bushroot grabbed Megavolt's arm. "We can't trust him."
Drake made an offended sound. "Of course you can. Since when don't you trust me?"
The three kids looked at each other. None of them trusted Drake. They were apparently enemies. Drake treated them nicely now, because it was part of the lie of them being children. If he knew that they knew the truth, or if they did something wrong, that kind mask could go away in an instant.
But Drake was a detective, and an experienced hero. He knew Negaduck better than any of them did, and right now he probably knew Quackerjack best too. He would be able to find their friend easier than they could on their own, and it would be much faster too. When Negaduck was out there, the faster they went the better.
Liquidator wanted to confront Drake about the lie, and ask if he knew what had happened to them. Quackerjack was more important right now though. He needed their help, which meant they needed Drake's help.
Liquidator released the water cuffs. Drake sighed and rubbed his wrists. "I don't know what's going on with you kids today, but this can be dangerous. I'll handle this."
"Not without us." Liquidator said. "He's our friend. We're not leaving him alone with Negaduck, and we're not leaving him alone with you."
"And we're not leaving him alone with himself." Megavolt said. They all knew that right now Quackerjack might be the biggest threat to himself.
Drake groaned and tilted his head back. "You're all just as much of a pain as ever." It was yet another phrase that they hadn't thought much of before, but now they knew that he was implying that he had known them before. Liquidator didn't know about the others, but he felt like a fool for not figuring it out sooner. Drake really wasn't very good at keeping a secret.
He pushed his anger down. They would deal with Drake later. Right now the priority was Quackerjack. Just like when they'd been with Negaduck. If Liquidator could put his fatigue aside for the others' sake, then he could ignore his frustrations until he knew that the others were okay.