Negaduck's Return (closed)

[Negaduck]

The images glowed brightly on the computer monitor, the light of good shining in the darkest of places. The brave faces of the Dream League super team were staring out at the cold, compassionless gaze of one of the most destructive villains of all time. Concealed within his domain, the master of the Negaverse Negaduck was flipping through the various profiles of the Dream League members, idle comments flying from his beak as he browsed.

“Bird with lasers… lame, Prince Charming and a sword… typical, balloon artist… find a birthday party, pal…, telekinetic twerp, flying puppy… Oooo, I’m shaking, …an old geezer who knows magic? Been there, seen that. … … A unicycling bear with super strength?! … What a freak show. Knob, boob, lame, loser… and they even have Dingbat Duck in their family circus! But ooo, no mention of that arrow slinging brat that trots after him. Interesting…”

Negaduck zoomed in on a picture of the heroine Sunshine, his brow creasing behind his mask. “I think I’ve seen her in St Canard before.” It was then that the villain’s calm demeanor broke, a sinister snarl rushing up his throat as he tried to contain the boiling rage within by clenching his fists. Closed hands were nothing against Negaduck’s anger however and with the swoop of his arm he sent the laptop sailing across the room and was stomping on top of it seconds afterward.

“Stupid show-stealing do-gooders!” he yelled, computer debris popping out beneath his weight. “Think they own the joint do they? Think they can enter my St Canard? Well I think it’s time those Dream Dweebs met a real nightmare. His hopping fit ceased and Negaduck stepped away from the mess.

“Say, that’s not a bad idea…” A psychotic giggle escaped him and he pulled down a map of Duckburg and Epcot city. “If the Dream League feels like they can branch out, then why not me? These cities are ripe for the picking! Scrooge’s money bin, the banks of Epcot! These towns won’t even know what hit ‘em! I’ll have to order a few more nuclear warheads of course… and it wouldn’t hurt to have a couple of allies…”

Stroking his bill, Negaduck turned towards the four most wanted pictures hanging on the opposite wall; after deftly removing copious amounts of darts, the pictures of Quackerjack, The Liquidator, Megavolt, and Bushroot were revealed.

“It’s time the Fearsome Five made a comeback. And in a very big way…”

[Negaduck]

~~~~~~~~

Jagged tendrils forked in every direction, travelling through a depressing sky so thick with pregnant clouds it was claustrophobia inducing. A beat or two skipped before the promised drumming of thunder rolled through as if sounding a charge to open up the bleak heavens above. It came slowly at first, as if even the rain itself dreaded descending on to the city below, the lightning also seemingly content to remain as a beacon concealed within its cloudy casings. Down below the dulled green leaves- for nothing bright ever grew here- drifted lazily toward the earth but kept getting swept up in the nighttime chill before ever reaching the ground; even they were spared the fate of making contact with this land.

While most wild animals found shelter from the beginning of a storm that was surely to come (the sounds of strays scrapping for the same hiding spots in an alley could be heard) one loan butterfly fought fearlessly through the wind, allowing the air currents to carry it away. Up, up it went, orange and beautiful with flecks of magenta and blue splashed throughout its wings. It didn’t stand a chance against the feathered hand that curled around it. Bent and broken the tiny creature was forced to stare into coal black eyes peering down at it from behind an ebony mask. It was too battered to writhe as its captor’s other hand came up to mercilessly tear the wings from its frail body, an act done with a cruel twist. And in the next second it was nothing but a gooey mess against the palm of the murderer’s hand, easily disposed of with a wipe against the concrete lip found at the top of the building the heartless Negaduck stood upon.

The skyscraper in the downtown core towered above the other buildings and from it Negaduck could see for miles around. The streets were empty, everyone using the rain as an excuse to be indoors, but Negaduck knew better. No doubt they were all inside and glued to a television set, waiting to hear if he had in fact left the city- this was the longest he had ever stayed inside the Negaverse in quite some time. But even if he had gone they knew better, his citizens; the fear he instilled in every creature was poisonous; they stayed in line even when he was out- to them, Darkwing Duck was nothing but a legend, a ghost who once visited but was now long forgotten. Negaduck was all that existed in this world and he was able to turn even the humblest little sap into a thug to do his bidding. He sighed happily at the thought. Ah, Paradise.

“Come on,” he challenged, beak to the sky as the drizzled down. “Cleanse my city.” In response a much brighter flesh of lightning went off, crackling beams skipping beneath the bellies of the clouds, and a resounding clap of thunder followed. The pouring rain could not drown out Negaduck’s malicious cackles; as the rain washed down manhole covers and grates latched on to the sidewalks, the stench of sewage beneath rose.

Stepping inside the rooftop elevator, the canary clad duck waited calmly as the lift dropped a floor to the spacious penthouse office at the top. It was furnished with the most expensive décor although there were still the undertones of a menacing atmosphere, what with the medieval weaponry plastered along the walls and wildebeest antlers up on top of the ornate chair behind his desk…

Along one of the walls running the length of the room, was a large map of Calisota with all the major cities brightly flagged; beside it a map of St Canard and on the adjacent wall were portraits of his Fearsome Five members. Many in the Negaverse wondered if Lord- yes, Lord Negaduck- would ever leave again and the answer was… yes he would. Negaduck had every intention to return to the other side and bring about his wrath once again. Already he had pinpointed Quackerjack in D’Arque Aslyum and if the twisted toymaker couldn’t get himself out, Negaduck would make plans to drop by. The Liquadtor had pursued a few wishy-washy schemes in Negaduck’s absence but as usual, Darkwing had found him, wrung him, and left him out to dry. Bushroot and Megavolt had been quiet as of late but no doubt they were off somewhere cooking up outrageous schemes.

Pacing in front of the portraits, Negaduck glanced at the sinister faces before him; most wanted criminals they were. Who to contact first, who would have that privilege to know he was coming back… They’d join with him again, of this he was sure. It was an on/off relationship they had; the Fearsome Five was more like a club of super villains that occasionally got together and did evil deeds. Of course for Negaduck that worked out perfectly and each and every one of them would like to see Darkwing Duck roasted on a spit; so if he could promise them that and a significant amount of wealth to tide them over, everything would be just fine. Besides with his ambitious mind, the payoff would be far greater this time…

Grabbing a handful of hatchets with oversized blades from an umbrella stand, Negaduck leapt on to his desk and launched them over his shoulder one by one.

“Eeny. Meeny. Miny. Mo.”

Whipping around he found all of the hatchets buried into the face of The Liquidator. So he was the lucky one. Excellent.

[Negaduck]

~~~~~~~~

The front page of the St Canard Gazette featured a picture of a jail located at the pinnacle of a cliff sticking out of Audubon Bay; beside it were two square mug shots of the notorious criminals Megavolt and Bushroot. Above the photographs were the bolded words Foiled Super Villains to Toil in Slammer. The article went on to describe how Quiverwing Quack ’hacked Bushroot’s Tree Farm Squad into mulch,’ and how she ’sapped the zap out of Megavolt during the duo’s latest raid on St Canard.’ While the citizens of St Canard rejoiced in the knowledge that they would be able to sleep safely tonight, over in the Negaverse, Negaduck wondered if his days of rest and relaxation were over.

While he reigned supreme in a world of terror and destruction that was the Negaverse, his dream of bringing about a similar fate to St Canard and its neighbouring cities was quickly crumbling. Once, he had divided up the city of St Canard amongst the Fearsome Five, and he was counting on each member to help regain this kind of control again, but this time over multiple cities. Of course it didn’t help if those idiots got themselves arrested in the process! Crumpling the newspaper into a ball and torching it with the flamethrower he kept under his desk, Negaduck jumped over the piece of furniture, snatching up a pen in the process and drew bright red slashes across the faces of his captured cohorts from their portraits hanging on the wall, ‘x-ing’ them out of his plans. The reeking stench of permanent marker penetrated his nostrils as he stared at the graffiti, his attention quickly turning to the unsullied portraits of Quackerjack and the Liquidator. For now the Fearsome Five was out of commission but that didn’t mean he was out of luck! A new group could be formed in its place, not the Fearsome Five but… The Terrible Trio? That might work. Granted, Quackerjack was still locked up in D’Arque Asylum but knowing him, he wouldn’t be for long. Besides, Negaduck was too irked with Bushroot and Megavolt to waste his time springing them out of jail.

A buzzer sounded in his office and glanced at a security monitor to see a mole standing at the entrance down below, holding a package.

“WHAT?!” he screamed into the intercom, annoyed at being interrupted while he was scheming.

”I- I have the package you ordered, Lord Negaduck Sir,” the timid creature answered.

As if he could forget! Without another word Negaduck dashed down the flight of stairs, snatching the package from the mole’s hands and booting him to the curb before running back up, tearing at the parcel paper along the way. With a breathless chuckle he held up the box he’d ordered, a border of skulls running along it. Ripping open the top of the box, Negaduck pulled back the flaps and removed what looked like neon green bullets. The malicious mallard stuffed one into his gas gun and stepped out into the hall, combing the corridor for a piece of easy prey.

Oh how he missed the days of lone heroes and avengers; the days of Gizmo Duck and Darkwing Duck who had egos enough for an entire superhero team. But now superheroes were popping up all over the place, like some new fashion trend, and super villains were also becoming increasingly popular. Popular yes, but there were only an elite few that actually had it in them to be true super villains; the rest were just wannabes and the heroes could easily do away them. It would be most amusing indeed to watch the egos of ‘heroes’ inflate as they dealt with petty crimes, only to see their faces when they came across the real deal like Negaduck. They would be nothing more than thorns in his side, thorns that could be easily plucked.

A mouse was spotted running down the hall and Negaduck quickly took aim and fired; in a matter of seconds the rodent had disappeared behind a shroud of green smoke and when it cleared the creature was lying motionless on the ground. Negaduck lowered his weapon and walked over to it, treating the dying animal disrespectfully by picking it up by the tail and dangling it in the air as he turned back towards his office, not paying attention to the struggling last breaths of the mouse. By the time he reached his door, the body had gone stiff.

Yes, the Dream League would be a nuisance, he had read enough to be sure of that already, but they too could be dealt with. Heroes were all the same and heroes could all be squashed. As far as the Dream League was concerned, well… all he would have to do was take them out- Negaduck dropped the deceased mouse into a trash can- one by one. As he passed by his desk, the small rustle of his cape disturbed a file sitting on top. A single piece of paper containing both a picture and information on Justice: The Cloaked Cavalier drifted down to the floor.

[Negaduck]

~~~~~~~~

“PULL!” Negaduck tapped his foot impatiently on the ground and marched over to the cannon on the other side of the tennis court. He grabbed a quaking dog by his shirt collar and yanked him close. “I said ‘pull’ or it’ll be you I’m stuffing into that cannon.” The peon was roughly shoved back to his post and he returned to his own, hoisting a studded mace above his shoulder.

“PULL!”

Bending his knees and adjusting his grip on the mace like he would a baseball bat, Negaduck watched with hungry eyes as the trembling lackey launched a grenade. He dug his heels into the ground, tail feathers wiggling, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth and - CRACK! The pin attached to the grenade made a soft clink against the concrete as the rest of it went sailing, exploding in mid air seconds later. Negaduck watched the explosion entranced, while his cowardly assistant dove for cover beneath the cannon.

Four more grenades were launched.

“PULL!”

A small red sphere came shooting towards him on the fifth cry and the villain took an instinctive swing. Instead of arcing up into the air, it orbited the mace in a dizzy blur, dropping sharply when gravity seized it. Unhooking a tiny plastic ring from a protruding spike, Negaduck watched the yo-yo slowly return to him on its string.

“Quackerjack,” he murmured.

A noticeable ticking sound could be heard once the toy had been wound up and quickly understanding, Negaduck tossed it into the air and thwacked it with his mace. The yo-yo ended up tangled in the wiry branches of a tree that was left in nothing but ash and smoke after blowing up.

Negaduck gazed thoughtfully upon the remains, placing his hands on his waist.

“You know,” he mused impressed, “For a guy who has a banana for half a brain, he sure has a touch for flare.”

With Quackerjack out of D'Arque and back on the streets, it might be time to reconnect.