Reformation
Chapter Three
Negaduck groaned from where the agents had dropped his body: right back on the cheap bed in his cell. He had been unconscious for at least twelve hours and was finally beginning to awaken. His head was pounding and his eyelids felt as if they had been stapled together. As he sat up, slowly so as not to feel dizzy to the point of vomiting, he brought his hands to hs face to rub his eyes. The feathers on his face felt flat and damp with sweat...
Wait a minute...
His eyes instantly snapped open. The first thing he noticed was that his costume had been replaced with a simple black t-shirt. His yellow jacket, his cape, his fedora, all were gone.
"What the--!" Negaduck exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. He stared forward into the two-way mirror at his reflection, and saw that his menacing outfit hadn't been the only thing removed.
His black mask, the center of his being, was gone.
The villain's bottom jaw dropped open and for a moment, all he could do was stare back at his reflection and stutter. He didn't recognize the mallard looking back at him. Negaduck had worn the mask for so long that he had forgotten who he had once been.
"Hey! Hey!" Negaduck hollered at the two-way mirror where he knew Jacob and his associates were watching. He even slammed his fists against the strong plexiglass. "What's going on here?"
Jacob's calm yet taunting voice came over the intercom. "Relax, Negaduck. Take a chill pill."
"What happened?" Negaduck demanded, almost frantically. "What happened to my clothes? Where's my mask?"
"Removed. Just like your past. While the drug continues to change you on the inside, we'll work on changing your appearance to that of a law abiding citizen."
"Are you crazy!" the villain argued defiantly as he glared through the mirror. "After what you idiots did to me, you should be taking these 'anti-aggression' pills!"
There was a short pause before Jacob replied cheerily. "Okay, whatever you say. But you first."
Negaduck clenched his fists together and they visibly shook with his anger. Still, he snatched the little paper cup holding the single pill and popped it into his mouth. Once he swallow, he crushed the cup in his hand and tossed it over his shoulder before passing Jacob a stubborn, concluding glower.
"Good boy," Jacob chided. The only response he received was the raising of the criminal's middle finger.
"Oh, please, please let me pick apart his brain," Dr. Bellum begged in response to Negaduck's rude gesture.
But Jacob was unaffected by the insult and shook his head. "No. We still have many tests to run."
A day went by. And then another. The tests and the pill-popping continued.
Down on the main level of the laboratory, the recently unmasked Negaduck sat in front of a large television screen which was equipped with a gaming console. He gripped the gun for the simulator game tightly in his hand and shot repeatedly at the 'armed thugs' that popped up on the screen. Hooked up to his arms, chest, and forehead were monitoring strips to feed his vitals to scientists watching from the control room above.
Negaduck would cackle madly as the digital blood would explode on screen with each bad guy he shot down. He never missed one.
"Darn," the young Dr. Grodin said disappointedly. "He beat my high score."
"What are his levels?" Jacob asked Dr. Bellum.
She tapped a few keys on her keyboard and her brows furrowed as she shook her head. "They're barely registering."
They continued to watch as Negaduck continued with the game, letting out a maniacal laugh every time the blood would splash.
"This guy is a textbook sociopath," Dr. Grodin observed with disgust.
"Which is exactly why we chose him," Jacob reminded with a cunning smile. "Increase the game difficulty. Let's see what affect that will have."
Dr. Grodin displayed the same smile and used the computer in front of him to increase the game level. "Increasing the game speed to Mach 5."
The game immediately began to speed up, and the thugs appeared on the screen at a rate of three times the previous level. Negaduck's eyes went wide as he was suddenly overwhelmed.
"Hey! What's going on?" he snarled as he continued to shoot whatever came into his path. It was not good enough, however, and within seconds, the screen went red with the words 'GAME OVER' flashing in front of him.
Negaduck roared angrily and jumped to his feet. He threw the gun to the ground before he grabbed the chair and hurled it across the lab. He then stormed forward and pushed the large flat-screen television over in his fit of rage.
"This thing is rigged!" Negaduck shouted accusingly and pointed at the shattered television just as guards began to swarm around him. "You rigged this thing! Fix your stupid machine!"
While he continued to rant and rave, Jacob groaned and ran his hand down his face.
"There goes ten grand," Dr. Bellum pointed out morbidly with a glum expression. "J. Gander won't be too happy."
"He'll take it out of my paycheck," Jacob muttered reassuringly.
Jacob sat on one side of the white desk while Negaduck sat on the opposite side. While Jacob looked through a file in his hand, a small screen sitting on the desk would show the picture of one person after another. The thing all of these people had in common: they had all been victims of the public enemy.
"Clyde Burlap," Jacob identified the brutish bulldog who appeared on the screen next. "Do you ever regret doing what you did to him?"
Negaduck smirked as he stared at the picture. "Yeah, whatever. Serves the punk right for spreading rumors around the Old Haunt that my hat was compensating for something," he informed spitefully, but then added in an eerily playful tone, "Besides, it was fun."
Jacob raised a brow inquiringly. "You stapled him to the dartboard before tying him to the back your motorcycle and dragging him up and down Elm Street."
The villain only smiled. Even without his black mask, the malic was still clear in his eyes. Jacob sighed and shook his head before switching to the next picture, which was a suave looking young canine in a suite. "Agent Juan Romero of FOWL. Do you feel bad about taking his life?"
Now Negaduck was growing bored. He leaned forward and lazily rested his cheek in the palm of one hand. "You don't know what it's like on the wrong side of the law, do you? Us hard-time criminals aren't only battling you do-gooders, but we're constantly fighting one another. Last year, FOWL began to see me as a threat to their own criminal empire. So they put Steelbeak in charge of getting me out of the picture. Too chicken to go after me himself, he send ol' Romero out as his mercenary. This chump had no idea what he was going up against, and I decided to send FOWL a brutal message of my own."
"So you felt justified in what you did?" Jacob asked.
"Hell yes I felt justified!" he snapped defensively. "I felt very justified! What am I, on trial?"
"Alright, let's move on," Jacob said, dismissing the criminal's outburst. He moved on, and switched to the next photograph. But this one was a bit different from the others. This time they were faced with the bright green eyes of a young girl with curly red locks. She wore a pink dress and was smiling widely. Immediately, Negaduck did a double-take, and this didn't go unnoticed.
"Ah, so you know her well."
Negaduck quickly regained his glower and accusingly stared down the mallard across from him. "What's this about?"
"Gosalyn Mallard," Jacob pointed toward the screen.
Up in the observatory room, one of the computers monitoring the villain's vitals let out an alert, low-pitched beep. Dr. Bellum and Dr. Grodin both looked at the computer with a sense of awe.
"We've got a minor bump..." Dr. Bellum concluded quietly.
"So? She's alive, last time I checked" Negaduck shrugged carelessly. "What does she have to do with this?"
"She's a victim, too, Negaduck. And you know it. You were the one who killed her parents, isn't that right? During a robbery in the Negaverse?"
The mallard menace scoffed and rolled his eyes impatiently. "Give me a break. Yeah, I did. And the only reason I took that little brat in was to have someone to order around. So what?"
Jacob tilted his head before asking the question he already knew the answer to. "So you don't feel any remorse at all?"
Negaduck narrowed his dark blue eyes. He stared coldly at Jacob before he slowly leaned forward over the desk toward him and growled lowly. "None."
With an defeated exhale, Jacob sat back in his chair. His eyes passed over the file in front of him, and he realized he wasn't finished with this hardened criminal yet. He picked up the folder and began thumbing through the papers. "Let's see. You were...what, eleven years old when your mother died?"
Now Negaduck's temper was quickly on the rise. "You know exactly how old I was!"
"These files have their discrepencies. I just want to make sure I've got it all right," Jacob quickly informed in his defense. But he already knew the whole story behind the questions he was asking, and Negaduck was aware of this. "It says here that she was attacked by your father and that you witnessed the murder. Is that right?"
"Just give me the pills and let's get on with it!" Negaduck snarled as he slammed a fist down on the desk. "You never mentioned anything about answering these questions!"
Jacob remained firm and defiant against the strong argument he was facing. "You and the other test subjects are all answering the same questions. It's part of the procedure, so just answer the question."
"To Hell with it!" Negaduck continued to be defiant. "I don't have to answer any of your stupid questions! And don't talk down to me like that, got it? I'm not your kid!" he demanded and pointed a finger assertively at him to prove his point.
But Jacob's calmness and sincerity beat down the angry criminal, and he didn't falter for even an instant. "Look, if you won't answer the questions, then you are of no use to me. I'm the only reason you are still alive, so you can either answer the questions and allow me to help you, or I will turn you over to the custody of the warden right now."
His firm words left Negaduck at a loss for words and unable to continue his verbal resistence. He locked his jaw firmly and turned his head away for a moment. When he returned his gaze to Jacob, there was a spark of something in his deep blue irises.
Pain.
"I was nine," Negaduck finally answered reluctantly. "Not eleven. I was nine. And yes, I saw her flailing around while he pummeled her mercilessly in front of me," he continued, and even though he tried with all his might to keep his strong, villainous demeanor, Jacob was able to hear the wavering in his voice. "And you know what else he did? He tied me to a kitchen chair, and after he was done beating her to a bloody pulp, he did the same to me. He beat me until I was a punch away from dying. Then he ran off like the coward he really is, believing I was dead."
Jacob didn't shift his gaze away from the public enemy. His eyes stayed lock with his while he told his story.
"And then you know what happened next?" Negaduck continued in a sarcastically cheerful tone. "While I was forced to suffer in an orphanage, that bastard went on to become leading agent of SHUSH here in St. Canard. How ironic, huh? If only the people of this pathetic city knew what kind of a person Agent Jake Mallard really was! Why don't you write that in your little report, huh?"
Sensing the hostility on the rise once again, Jacob closed the file and stood up. "We're done for today."
"You're damn right we're done!" Negaduck snapped as Jacob walked away from him without a second glance. He scoffed and rolled his eyes as one of the agents stopped at his side with another small paper cup containing a pill. He handed it to the mallard, who roughly swiped it away and angrily tossed the pill into his throat. He threw the paper cup over his shoulder and slouched down in the chair with a scowl on his face. His eyes traveled to the screen on the desk again to be met with those kind green eyes of the Gosalyn Mallard he knew in the Negaverse.
That night, Negaduck found himself unable to sleep. He kept tossing and turning on the uncomfortable bed. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face, and he saw those eyes...
The next morning, Jacob Mallard ceremoniously strutted into the observation room, twirling his cane in his hand, and was immediately greeted by the scientists with updates.
"He seems to have really mellowed out," Dr. Grodin informed. "He's been relatively calm all morning with little signs of aggression."
"Is that so?" Jacob questioned curiously. He looked through the two-way mirror to see Negaduck lounging on the bed, calmly flipping through a Playduck magazine that had been provided to him. "When is his next CATSCAN?"
"Not until tomorrow morning."
Jacob looked at Negaduck once more, who seemed to pay them no mind despite knowing that he was being watched. Then he turned to Dr. Bellum and smiled. "Let's do it now."
A few minutes later, Jacob braved the lion's cage and stepped into Negaduck's cell, completely at ease and optimistic. "Negaduck," he greeted as he stepped over to the small table inside the cell to set down his clipboard of the experiment's logs.
"Hey, Agent Mallard," Negaduck replied without looking up from his dirty magazine. "Hello, gorgeous..." he whistled.
Jacob blinked and did a double-take. He had to notice the magazine to realize just what Negaduck had been complimenting. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked, returning to the purpose of his visit.
Negaduck looked up from the magazine and tilted his head, as if confused about something. "Actually, not too bad," he concluded as he slowly sat up. "Everything seemed a little...different when I woke up this morning. I seemed a bit more reflective, and everything seemed...clearer." He paused then, thinking over what he had just said, and then gave a disbelieving smirk. "It really works, doesn't it...?"
Jacob smiled, even returning a light laugh, clearly proud of himself. "That's good, Negaduck. That's exactly what we want to hear. Now what we're going to do this morning--" he began to explain as he turned his back on the villain.
Big mistake.
Negaduck leapt to his feet and pounced the unsuspecting agent. His arm looped around Jacob's neck and he snatched the pen off of the table. Jacob let out a startled yell and his eyes went wide when he saw the pen being held dangerously close to his eye.
"What are you doing?" Jacob gasped as his cane clattered to the floor. He hadn't expected this sudden turn of events.
Everyone in the observation room immediately jumped to their feet and Dr. Bellum's voice immediately came over the PA system.
"We've got a Code Red! All security to Unit 3!"
Within seconds, security agents were surrounding the cell with their weapons drawn. But it was a useless effort as long as Jacob was being held hostage.
"Everyone back off!" Negaduck barked as he stepped out of the door, holding Jacob in front of him as a shield with the point of the pen held just centimeters from his eye. "Put your guns down or I swear this thing is going in his eye and then in his neck!"
The next sixty seconds was filled with angry and panicked shouts.
"Let him go!"
"Put it down!"
"Drop your guns or he's dead!"
"Do what he says!"
Negaduck glared threateningly at all the guards, many who still held their aim toward him. "Tell them to put their guns down!" he snarled at Jacob.
"Put them down!" Jacob ordered hurriedly.
The guards reluctantly lowered their weapons and were forced to step aside so that Negaduck could push his way through with Jacob held prisoner in his grasp. He kept the pen dangerously close to his face and his eyes darted wildly around him should anyone make a sudden move toward him.
"Tell me how to get outta here!" he demanded while he blindly continued to lead Jacob forward. The older mallard's feet shuffled forward the best he could manage without his cane.
"You're not going to make it out of here, Negaduck!" Jacob assured despite his current situation. "Let me go, boy!"
"Tell me how to get out of here!" Negaduck shouted again, more impatiently and more dangerously this time.
He had been so focused on the guards around him and looking for a way to escape that he didn't notice the flight of stairs leading down to the main floor of the laboratory in front of him. But Jacob did, and he intentionally tripped over the first step. both mallards lost their balance, but Negaduck had been caught off guard. Jacob managed to catch himself on the railing, but Negaduck stumbled forward and fell head over heels down the dozen steps. He crashed head-first into a lab table at the bottom, which left his disoriented for several seconds. It was just enough time for Jacob to hobble his way down the stairs after him. But instead of coming to the villain's aid, Jacob grabbed Negaduck by the collar of his black shirt, lifted him off of the ground, and began punching him repeatedly in the face.
"Mallard! No!"
"Someone get him!"
Jacob managed to get in five good punches before his associates managed to pull him off of Negaduck. Two others pulled the now bleeding and bruised felon to his feet, barely managing to keep him from rushing forward toward Jacob.
"You're just as screwed up as I am, old man!" Negaduck spat insultingly at Jacob, who was glowering and still being held back. "Fancy suit or not, you're just as screwed up as I am!" he shouted again as he was hauled out of the lab to be shut away in his cell once again.
Jacob panted heavily, trying to catch his breath and regain himself from the adrenaline rush. He vainly tried to adjust his now wrinkled and messed suit--he could still hear Negaduck shouting angrily in the distance.
"Are you alright?" Dr. Bellum asked frantically as she came up alongside him.
Despite the situation, Jacob brushed the feathers on his head back into place. "Increase his dosage to six milligrams."
The scientists looked to one another, puzzled and shocked.
"Sir, that's three times the normal amount," Dr. Grodin pointed out.
Jacob narrowed his eyes and growled lowly, "Just do it."