Chapter Four
"This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween!" Megavolt caught himself singing, then groaned and clutched his plug-shaped helmet.
"Gah! That song!" the manic villain cried. "I can't get it out of my head!"
A burst of electricity from his gloved fingertips forced open the door to his lighthouse lair. Laughing wildly, Megavolt dashed up the stairs to his lab and swung his overstuffed sack off his shoulder, pulling out long tangles of decorative orange lights he'd spent the day confiscating from shop windows, rooftops, balconies, fire escapes… Even trees and shrubbery.
"Darn holiday's getting to be almost as bad as Christmas," the superpowered supervillain complained, lovingly stroking the little colored bulbs and picking away any clinging traces of polyester 'cobwebs' as he worked to untangle the wires that strung them all together. "Oh, my poor overworked babies. I know what cruel taskmasters those shopping malls can be! Just relax, now. You're safe with me. I'm gonna charge you little guys up real good. Give you the energy you need to grow up big and strong – just like your brothers and sisters!"
He gestured broadly to the vast and eclectic array of light bulbs that festooned practically every free inch of the rounded space. Bulbs of every imaginable size, shape and color dangled from the ceiling; strings of orange, blue and purple lights crisscrossed between them from wall to wall. Table lamps, standing lamps, clip-on lamps, chandeliers…the floor was a tangled mass of their interlocking wires and power strips. Megavolt danced carefully between them, searching for an empty outlet where he could plug in the spoils from his latest mission of light bulb 'liberation.'
"I know I had a spare power strip around here somewhere…" he muttered. "Ooop!"
The villain tripped and wheeled his arms, the enormous battery he wore on his back making him dramatically overbalance. Electricity crackled in blinding flashes, sparks flew, and Megavolt tumbled with an explosive, clattering crash that left the whole overlit room in darkness.
"Owww…" he groaned woozily, reaching up for the windowsill to pry himself back to his feet. Shaking the looped wire off his boot, he moaned again and fixed his goggles, blinking the spots from his eyes. "I knew I should have gotten a new surge protector… Wait – what's going on over there?"
Megavolt leaned out his lighthouse window, peering out over the glimmering evening bay at the docklands far below. A strange, old fashioned tall ship had pulled up where the fishing trawlers usually docked. But, instead of unloading fish, squid and lobsters, this ship's lumbering crew were carrying long, rectangular boxes, each of them roughly the size and shape of—
"Coffins?" Megavolt gasped, and pulled his head quickly back into his lab. Digging through the clutter and glass, the villain pulled out a surprisingly sophisticated telescope, attached a video camera, and dragged the whole thing back to the window.
"I knew it was a good idea to snatch this equipment," he said, busily adjusting and focusing. "But, outside of observing astronomical phenomena, I never thought I'd use it for... Oh my!"
One of the coffins had begun to glow...then another. The cool, bluish light seemed to spread like electric mist, crawling up the ramp to coil and smoke around the edges of the ancient wooden ship.
"That looks like..." Megavolt whispered. "But it can't be St. Elmo's Fire...!"
As Megavolt watched, a tall duck in an elegant black top hat and cape strode angrily on to the scene, waving his arms at the escaping mist. The lumbering hulks slowly unstacked the coffins and the well-dressed duck made a strange gesture. The glow faded, but Megavolt was far from satisfied.
"Coffins? Strange glowy mist? Weird vampire-looking creeps in capes!" The villain scowled and shook his head. "I may be mad, but I'm also a scientist! And, there has to to be an explanation for all this! I'm going to— Hey," he realized, and laughed. "Mad scientist! That's what I'll be this Halloween!"
Leaving his telescope and camera to keep recording, Megavolt pulled an oversized lab coat over his battery pack - "Ah! Perfect!" he cried - and sped down the stairs and out the door. Climbing the nearest telephone pole, the supervillain skated along the electric cables all the way to the docks, where he kept to the shadows like an eavesdropping bat.
—Until a pair of real bats flew from the caped duck's shoulder straight into Megavolt's face. The villain screamed and lost his balance, only to find himself in the burly arms of a very large, very frightening duck with two bolts jutting out from its neck.
"YIIIIKE!" he shrieked, and shocked the fiend with a double-fisted jolt of electricity.
The giant duck was barely phased. Glaring down at Megavolt, he released a low, threatening groan. The supervillain gulped and cringed.
"Eek! Squeak!" the cloaked duck called to the bats, his smooth voice as cold as ice. "Tell your mistress, we've found an intruder in our midst."
"I still can't believe I let you two talk me into this," Darkwing complained as he stalked the darkened streets of St. Canard with his sidekick and costumed daughter beside him. "We haven't seen a trace of Morgana all night. She hasn't even tried to contact me. Her house seemed so dark and empty..." He sighed, looking utterly dejected. "Let's face it. Morgana's decided to spend Halloween with her fiendish family and leave me out. Again. We might as well head home and..." He drooped his shoulders. "...hand out candy..."
"Aw, don't look so glum, DW," Launchpad said. "You'll see her around Thanksgiving. Just like last year!"
"That's not the point, Launchpad," Gosalyn said, adusting her Quiverwing quiver. "Don't you remember? Finding her tonight was supposed to be a surprise! Like, a romantic gesture and stuff. Whoa...and speaking of surprises... Dad!" She exclaimed, tugging at Darkwing's dejected cape. "Dad! Dad, look over there! I thought I saw lightning!"
"That's nice, Gos," Darkwing said, patting her masked head.
"Dad!" Gosalyn insisted. "How can there be lightning when the sky's completely clear! We gotta check it out." She jumped straight into her father's path and took up a heroic stance. "This is a job for Quiverwing Quack! Come on!"
Darkwing sighed again, but allowed himself to be dragged down the sharply sloping street toward the docks. As they moved closer, a heavy mist rolled in, fogging their view of the bay. An uncomfortable sense of deja-vu shivered through Darkwing's bones and he rubbed his arms.
"This doesn't feel right..." he muttered, his sharp gaze darting from shadow to shadow as he reached for his daughter. "Stay close, Gosalyn."
"It's Quiverwing Quack!" Gosalyn countered, shaking him off. "Sheesh, what's come over you? If I didn't know better, I'd say you looked scared."
"Well, it is pretty spooky," Launchpad said, shivering himself. "All this weird mist. Ooh, and what's that light? Over there, by that old haunted ship?"
"Haunted ship!" the trio chorused in alarm.
The rickety wooden ship creaked and groaned at its moorings. Giant, lumbering figures appeared through the haze, carrying and stacking long, coffin-like boxes. A tall duck with a hat and cape like Dracula stalked up the ramp after them, and Darkwing felt the feathers at the back of his neck start to rise.
"OK..." Gosalyn said, backing a little closer to Darkwing. "Maybe handing out candy's not such a bad idea..."
"Gosh, DW," Launchpad whispered. "Do you see what I see?"
"If what you see looks like a vampire unloading coffins from a wooden ship—"
"No, no, I mean there." Launchpad pointed further down the dock. "That yellowish shape. Doesn't that look like—"
"Why, it's Megavolt!" Darkwing realized.
"Looks like he's all tied up," Gosalyn said, squinting behind her mask. "Hey, that could be the lightning I saw!" she realized. "Maybe those monsters took Megavolt prisoner for some dark, diabolical scheme! They might need his powers to zap unliving corpses back to life!"
"That could explain the coffins," Launchpad said.
"Ohmygosh!" Gosalyn exclaimed, practically hopping with excitement. "This could be the start of a whole zombie apocalypse! We gotta get in there and stop whatever they're doing before—"
"DW!" Launchpad cried. "DW, something's glowing. Out there, on the water!"
Darkwing's eyes widened and his face went cold.
"It's the Ghost Cat," he realized. "The Ghost Cat of St. Canard! And it's heading straight for Megavolt!"
To Be Continued…
References Include - The Nightmare Before Christmas
Sorry for the long delays between updates, but more of this story is coming. Stay tuned, and please review! :D
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!