Reformation
Chapter Seven
It was still the early hours of the morning, and the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. While the hard workers of Saint Canard were just contemplating getting out of bed, one mallard was already in his office. The SHUSH facility was still quiet, but it would be alive with the usual daily hubbub within the next couple of hours.
His stone-hard black eyes passed over the old photograph which he held gently in his hands. The edges of the parchment were creased and torn, a sign that the photo had been handled frequently throughout the past decade. Not a day went by when Jacob Mallard wouldn't pause in his duties to look at the faces of his since departed family. The gentle eyes of his deceased wife seemed to sparkle up at him, temporarily softening his hard exterior. God, how he missed her. But along with the warm feelings of reminiscing came the angry feelings of guilt and regret. If only there had been some way to go back and prevent it all from happening, then maybe he would still be with his family instead of becoming the bitter old agent he was now.
He stared at the face of the young mallard in the photograph, who was a spitting image of Jacob when he had been the same age. His son was still alive, that was true. But Jacob was dead to the crime fighter. Darkwing Duck still believed that his father was the reason for everything that had happened to their family, which was far from the truth. And Jake Mallard was the one to thank for that misunderstanding.
The morning, which had been silent up to that point, was interrupted by the digital ringing of Jacob's private phone line. He gave a short start, a bit perturbed from being interrupted, and he picked up the receiver of the telephone on his desk.
"Yes?"
"Sir? We have a problem. A big problem."
The streets of downtown Saint Canard were congested with the morning rush hour traffic. Even the sidewalks were crowded with citizens walking their daily route to work, so none took notice of the mallard who walked briskly by them. Drake kept his gaze fixed forward, not making eye contact with anyone. In one hand he clutched the brown paper bag with its contents hidden inside. His brows were narrowed over his eyes, determined not to stop until he reached his destination.
Drake was so entrenched with his mission that he didn't notice that he caught someone's attention--the last person whom he'd want to see him.
At a corner gas station, Jake had just finished up refueling his black BMW and was about to be on his way to SHUSH. But just as he was about to get into the car, he saw something out of the corner of his eye, forcing him to do a double take. There, on the opposite side of the street. A young mallard in a black turtleneck striding down street. His physical appearance, his features, set something off inside of the agent's sharp mind. It took only a few seconds for him to make the connection.
Negaduck.
Even Jake knew his own son, with or without the mask.
His green eyes narrowed angrily. So, the villain hadn't been executed. For some reason, Jake had a strong sense that Negaduck had still been alive, and his suspicions proved to be right. And he knew who was to blame.
But a confrontation with Jacob Mallard would have to wait. Jake got into his car, and then he pulled out into traffic to discretely follow the ex-con.
"How did he get by the agent on duty?"
"Sleeping Pills. He slipped the medications into Terry's drink."
Jacob growled angrily and ran his fingers through the slicked back feathers on his hand. He began to pace back and forth inside of the apartment which Drake had fled from a couple of hours ago. There was nothing left behind to draw any conclusions as to where he planned to go.
"Do we have a transmission on the tracer yet?" Jacob asked curtly.
And agent stood hunched over a laptop on the tabletop. With a few key strokes, a map of the city popped up onto the screen. The screen zoomed in on a small red dot that was slowly moving across the map. The transmitter that had been locked onto Drake's ankle was relaying a signal back to the computer.
"We've got him," the agent announced. He punched in a few more codes into the computer, but then his brows furrowed into a perplexed expression. "Hmm. That can't be right."
"What is it?" Jacob asked in an alert tone. In three strides he was across the room and standing behind the agent.
"According to the transmitter, he just stopped." There was a pause, waiting for any change on the screen. There was none. "He's stopped."
Jacob's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Where?"
"Uh..." the agent paused to get the coordinates on the screen. "On the corner of Sixth and Feather. The Sugar 'N Spice and Everything Nice Bakery. Heh, went through a lot for an early morning sweet tooth."
But Jacob was far less than amused. Instead, he shoved the agents aside in a panic. "Let me see," he demanded. After seeing for himself, his eyes went wide. "Dammit!" he cursed angrily. He spun around and hurriedly made his way toward the door.
"Sir! Why the concern?" another agent called after him while everyone else watched in confusion. "It's not as if he's leaving the city!"
Jacob stopped in the doorway and glanced over his shoulder with a grim frown. "Oh, he's leaving the city..."
The Negaverse.
It definitely wasn't how he remembered. The Friendly Four have been following through with their vows to keep the city clean and safe while it's villainous overlord was away. Most of the buildings had been revamped, the polluting factories had been shut down, and the local criminal scum had been driven out of town. Now it was nearly identical to its parallel counterpart.
But the city's transformation seemed to have very little effect on Drake as he wandered down the street. Instead of reacting in a violent outrage, he continued down the sidewalk and took in the surroundings with a sense of silent awe. If he didn't know any better, he'd think he was still in the Normalverse. To think that he once ruled this city with an iron fist and reduced it to desolate ruin. He was convinced he could easily do it again, but right now, he had a different purpose for being back in his homeworld.
No one gave him a second glance as he headed out of the city and into the suburbs. Not one person recognized as he passed, which was astounding to him. Instead of people cowering and bowing down to Negaduck, the friendly faces would smile and nod at their fellow every day citizen.
Finally, Drake reached his destination in the suburbs. There were children playing catch and hopscotch in the middle of Avian Way, paying him no mind as he continued down the sidewalk. He turned into the driveway of 537 Avian Way. On the outside, the house had gone through some renovations. It had been repainted, the lawn was green and mowed, there were even rows of flowers lining the pathway. Drake made a disgusted face to see that his once dark abode had also undergone a cheerful transformation. He stepped up to the white door and turned the doorknob. Not surprisingly, it was unlocked. Drake stepped inside, part of him hoping that the interior of the house had remained a mess with Launchpad's arsenal lying all over the floor. But to his dismay, it was spotless. Nothing was out of place, and the old worn furniture had since been replaced with new chairs and couches. The entire place was nearly unrecognizable.
There was no sign of his lumbering lackey, Launchpad. The only sounds he heard were those of the children playing outside. Drake wandered over to the window and looked out in the direction of the neighbors. From the looks of things, the Muddlefoots must have left down. Their usual yard decorations which made the place resemble a cannibalistic voodoo scene from a horror movie were gone, replaced with lawn gnomes and plastic pink flamingos.
Drake let out an involuntary shudder. These new surroundings were beginning to make his insides twist. But even though he wanted to leave, he had a job to do. He needed to find her. From the looks of the house, there appeared to be no one home. It was quite possible that she was no longer residing at 537 Avian Way. But that wouldn't stop him from tracking her down.
Just as he was about to leave the home and continue his search, he heard a startled gasp from behind.
"Oh! I'm sorry! If you knocked, I apologize that I didn't hear you! I was upstairs dusting my room."
Drake spun around to see the young girl descending the stairs with an apologetic expression on her innocent face. Unlike everything else in the Negaverse, he appearance hadn't changed. She still wore the pink dress with a pair of black shoes, and her curly red locks were pulled back in pink ribbons to match her outfit. The very sight of her sweetness made the mallard want to pull his teeth out.
Gosalyn bounded up to her new guest, whom she did not recognize. "Are you looking for the Friendly Four? They're at the Convention Center heading the 'Save the Squirrels' rally! But I'm Gosalyn Mallard, and I'd be glad to be of service," she offered cheerfully with a dainty curtsy.
Drake groaned silently to himself, momentarily questioning his reasons for being back in his abode. But his motives were stronger, and he focus all of his attention on his ward. "I didn't come by to see them," he said in a calm, non-threatening tone. "I actually came to see you."
The child's eyes seemed to light up in surprise. "Really? You came to see me?" Then Gosalyn tilted her head and she stared at him wonderingly. "And who are you? You kind of look familiar."
"I knew Lord Negaduck," Drake stated, having no intention of revealing his identity to her. "You could say that he and I were good friends."
"You knew Lord Negaduck?" Gosalyn gasped excitedly. She eagerly took Drake by the hand and led him over to the couch. Completely enthralled by this new information, she hopped onto the couch, her expression showing that she was eager for more. "Do you know where he is? Have you seen him? Did he say when he was coming back?"
Drake sat down on the opposite side of the couch, and he set the brown paper bag on the floor next to his webbed feet. He found himself baffled by her questions. Why was she so eager to find out where he was, or if he was returning? After all, Negaduck had always treated her like a slave, a pest, and took the time to remind her that she was a waste of space. Could it be that she actually missed him? After the way he treated her? Images from his nightmares began to come back to him right then, and he was reminded of the purpose of his visit. To rid himself of those haunting nightmares.
"He, uh..." Drake began, searching for the right words to make his story believable. "He's been really busy in the Normalverse, kid. He doesn't know when, or if, he'll be coming back."
Gosalyn's face fell in disappointment, her spirit deluded for the moment. "Oh. I wish he were coming back. I miss him."
Drake could barely believe his ears. Gosalyn did care for him, and missed him, even after the way he had treated. The realization sent a tremor through him, and he felt his throat constricting his breaths. He brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his neck where he could feel his feathers standing on end.
The redhead noticed his sudden discomfort and leaned forward with a concerned frown. "Are you all right, mister?"
"Yeah," Drake quickly responded. He took a moment to swallow the lump in his throat and lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Look, kid. I've come on his behalf. Like I said, he's a busy felon, but he needed to relay a message to you."
"He wanted to tell me something?" Gosalyn reiterated questionably, remaining completely oblivious to the situation. "What did he need to tell me?"
Drake remembered his dreams again. The scenes of him murdering the young girl's parents, scolding her while she stood defenseless, locking her away in the dungeon of her room. All of the cruelness he inflicted upon her played before him like a movie projector. Looking down at his hands clutched together on his knees, he knew he couldn't take it anymore.
"He..." Drake began and already felt himself beginning to choke on his words. He cleared his throat and kept his eyes lowered to his hands. "He's done a lot of things to you, Gosalyn. Things that he shouldn't have done to you. You didn't deserve to be continuously hurt by him."
"But he never laid a hand on me," Gosalyn pointed out.
For some reason, when she came to his defense, in made him gnash his teeth together. It only made this more difficult. "That's not what I mean. The abuse he inflicted on you wasn't physical, kid. All of the things he said to you, all of those things that hurt your feelings? Well...he does regret doing that to you. And the way he treated you? He knows it was wrong, Gos. He told me himself. And..." Drake trailed off, struggling to spit the words out that were choking him. He lifted his eyes to stare at her large green irises. "And he's sorry, Gosalyn. He really wishes he could take it all back."
Gosalyn silently regarded him for a moment. And to his dismay, Drake could see the forgiveness in her sparkling eyes. "I forgive him. I had a feeling deep down that he didn't mean it. I know he's been through a lot, and I know he's not as bad as everyone thinks. And I always forgave him. It's okay," she reassured in a gentle, genuine voice.
But it wasn't the answer he had expected, and Drake shook his head in disgrace. "No, it's not..." he muttered quietly. "It's not."
His blue eyes wandered to the paper bag at his feet and they seemed to flash sinisterly for only an instant. Then he returned his stare back to the unsuspecting, innocent child sitting patiently on the soft cushions of the couch. "I...got something for ya, kid..."
"You brought something? For me?" Gosalyn asked in bewilderment that this stranger was generous to bring her a gift.
"Yeah, just for you..."
Drake picked up the bag and she watched anxiously. He opened it and reached inside. His hand wrapped around the object inside...
Gosalyn's eyes went wide and her little hands came up to her bill. She gasped loudly.
"Oh! Thank you!"
The girl reached out and gingerly took the Quackeypatch doll from his hands and hugged it close to her body as if it were the most precious thing in the world to her. Gosalyn lifted her eyes to him, which were brimmed with tears of gratitude, and then leapt forward to wrap her arms around Drake. At first, he looked a little less than thrilled. Deep inside, the maniacal blood-thirst maniac was fighting to get out of its cell in which the drugs had locked him away. And for an instant, it felt as if he would break free. But Drake let out a deep exhale, and then reluctantly lifted his hands to pat her on the back.
It was a strange sensation. It was almost like a cleansing feeling was sweeping through his body, ridding his veins of the villains poison they had been pumping for many years. In confronting Gosalyn, the one innocent who probably had endured the most torture from the villain, his recently revived conscience had been cleared. Even if he hadn't directly identified his new identity to her, at least now she knew. She knew of the guilt he had beenkept hidden. And he was able to compromise with the overwhelming remorse and take the pain away.
Drake wasn't even aware that he was embracing the child until the quiet was interrupted by an insistent knock on the door. Both his and Gosalyn's head turned, and she climbed out of his arms with a wondering expression.
"I wonder who that could be," she mused aloud.
But before she could hop down from the couch to answer, the door was suddenly kicked in. Gosalyn yelped in surprise as a tall, older mallard in a black suit lunged inside of the house with a Glock aimed directly at the other duck sitting on the couch. Drake's eyes went wide and he jumped to his feet. Upon seeing his son more closely in his new identity, Jake's eyes also widened, but his sparkled in amused malice.
"Well, Drake Mallard. I haven't seen you in a good twenty years," Jake hissed, his words thick with jeering deviousness.
Seeing the gun in the newcomer's hand, Gosalyn gasped and jumped off of the couch to stand worriedly beside Drake. "Who are you? What do you want? Please, put the gun down before someone gets hurt!"
Despite the little girl's pleas, Jake kept his focus, and his aim, on the villain. "Step away from the child. You're coming back to the Normalverse with me to face real justice, Negaduck!"
"What...?" Gosalyn gasped in disbelief. She looked up at the mallard standing beside her, now scrutinizing his features more closely. He did look strikingly familiar...And then the realization hit her. "L-Lord Negaduck? Is it really you?" Her voice was a mixture of fear, confusion...and hope. "You said all of those things...?"
Instead of answering her questions, Drake took Gosalyn by the shoulder and pulled her behind him so that he was now standing between her and his murderous father. "You're really going to open fire on an innocent civilian, Agent?" he challenged.
"You're anything but innocent, Negaduck. And to think that you could actually become a citizen is nothing but a false hope," Jake seethed coldly as he took a few cautious steps forward. "You'll never be anything but a heartless scoundrel who feeds off of the pain and suffering of others."
"Just like you," Drake quickly retorted spitefully.
Jake didn't even flinch from Drake's cruel, yet respectfully true accusation. Instead, the comment rolled right off of his back and he tightened his finger around the trigger. "Young lady, come over here with me, away from him. Right now."
"But...But I..."
Gosalyn looked up at Drake, waiting for him to give her another order of his own. She was used to taking orders from Negaduck. Drake stared down at her, then slowly nodded once before looking back toward Jake with a threatening glower. "Go ahead, kid."
She looked hesitant, but Gosalyn obeyed the duck she had seen as the only father-figure she knew, and she slowly crossed the room to stand beside the SHUSH agent. Jake kept his sharp eyes on Drake, a triumphant sneer coming to his bill.
"You know, it's silly to have the city's taxpayers pay for another execution of the public enemy. I don't think they will impressed in the slightest. So I think we'll do the citizens in both universes a favor and just get rid of you right here..." And with a twisted grin, Jake began to squeeze the trigger.
Drake braced himself, prepared to dodge the bullets just like he had done in the past. But Gosalyn acted first. In a swift motion, one of her shiny black shoes shot out and kicked Jake directly in the shin.
"Yeeoww!"
Gosalyn immediately looked apologetic, but her distraction had caused the agent to drop his aim and grab his shin in agony.
"Run!" she urged to Drake.
And Drake took advantage of this distraction. Before Jake could regain himself, he turned and bolted out of the living room, through the kitchen, and out the back door through the garage.
Once the stinging sensation faded from his left leg, Jake let out a loud growl and sprinted out the front door in pursuit. He ran as fast as his webbed feet could carry him. As a wanted felon, he had been used to fleeing in such haste, but for some reason this time was different. He didn't have the confidence that he was going to escape. His heart was pounding at a rate that threatened to make his chest explode. He constantly looked over his shoulder to see if he was following him, but there was no one.
Drake turned down a small alley, which was of course a clean alley. He leaned forward and placed his palms on the brick wall, panting to catch his breath and calm his pounding heart. He couldn't remember running so hard, not even from Darkwing Duck. And while he struggled to regain his composure, it gave him the opportunity to reflect on what had just happened. His confrontation with Gosalyn. Never in his life had he, the terrifying Negaduck, imagined himself apologizing to anyone, let alone his 9-year-old ward. But then he reminded himself of the pills he was being fed, and justified his actions. He wasn't Negaduck anymore, after all. He was no longer a heartless criminal. He was Drake Mallard again.
He took in a deep breath and exhaled. The pulsing in his legs died away, and Drake felt himself able to continue on his way to the bakery only a block away. He had to get back to the Normalverse before someone discovered him missing.
But as he turned to leave the alley, he was met with a pair of icy green eyes.
"Ahh!" Drake exclaimed and stumbled backward.
"It's not so easy to run anymore, is it Drake?" Jake sneered as he stepped forward to close the distance between them. "You really can't run forever."
Drake continued to back up as Jake continued to advance. His back bumped into the brick wall of the alley, trapping him. He narrowed his blue eyes at his father, remaining defiant and determined not to give up so easily. But there was a flicker of something in his eyes that couldn't escape Jake's attention.
Fear.
"What are you gonna do? Kill me?" Drake challenged. "What will the city think of you blowing away Drake Mallard, a normal citizen? And your reputation couldn't survive the truth about me getting out to the public!"
"You think so?" Jake fired back coolly.
Suddenly he leapt forward, grabbing Drake by the shoulders and pulling him around. Both mallards struggled with one another, and for a moment, it looked as if Drake would escape. But Jake managed to keep the upper hand by pulling his son's arms behind his back and face-planting him into the hard wall. Drake let out a painful grunt as the pain shot through the side of his face and his arms were kept behind him.
"If I reveal this whole secret fiasco of SHUSH, there will be a public outcry demanding a reformation of the organization!" Jake seethed into his ear. "And if I'm the one who brings the notorious Negaduck to justice, I'll be SHUSH's new director, Jacob Mallard won't be able to get work as a veterinarian in Africa, and you will finally die for the last time!"
Drake twisted his bill into an angry snarl. His hands clenched into fists that were eager to slam into the agent's bill. But Jake still held his wrists tight.
"Haven't you learned yet, old man?" Drake hissed in his deep, gravelly voice. "You couldn't kill me when I was eight, you couldn't kill me during these past two years, and you won't be able to kill me now!"
Then Drake suddenly threw his head back and forcefully head-butted Jake directly in his bill. Jake instantly let go and howled in pain as his hands shot up to cradle his throbbing bill. Drake sprinted past him and out of the alley, but the SHUSH agent wouldn't allow him to escape so easily. Pulling his gun out of his pocket, he ran out of the alley after Drake, but was met with a round of gunfire. The bullets shot by his face, and he could feel them brush the tips of his feathers as he barely managed to dodge them all. The ex-con continued to fire his recently acquired revolver in Jake's direction until it was empty, which he then carelessly discarded on the sidewalk.
When Drake had ceased fire, Jake jumped out from his cover in the alley and began to fire his own weapon. But by that time, the mallard was too far away. Jake clenched his free fist and bared his teeth in disappointment. But he silently vowed that the bow would not get away...
In the Normalverse, the door marked 'Private' at the back of the Sugar and Spice 'N Everything Nice Bakery silently opened. Drake quietly backed out of the backroom and secretly closed the door after him. But as he turned around, he found himself staring down the barrels of several guns being held by SHUSH agents. He gasped sharply and pressed his back against the door.
"Nice 'Welcome Back' party, boys..." Drake muttered half-heartedly.
But then Jacob pushed his way through, looking a lot less amused. In fact, he looked like an enraged father who was prepared to discipline his son for taking the family car for a joy ride.
"What were you thinking?" Jacob demanded, cutting right to the chase. "Why did you go back to the Negaverse? Planning on making a smooth getaway? Did you think that we would not follow you? If someone finds out who you are, you'll be back on death row within the hour! Do you want that?"
A couple of the SHUSH agents lowered their guns so they could rush forward and pull Drake's arms behind his back. "No! I had to go take care of something!" he insisted.
Jacob rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Take care of something? You mean take care of someone!"
"No!" Drake argued as he was being held captive. He exhaled deeply, not wanting to be open about his real reason for making a visit to the Negaverse. But thee was no way around it this time. "I had to go see her. I had to set things straight. I needed to...apologize."
His confession made Jacob's accusing glower falter. At first, he didn't believe in what he heard. But Drake's expression was verification enough. Jacob could see in his eyes just how difficult it must have been for the felon. And he could also see the pain that had been leviated from his conscience.
"Sir? What would you like us to do?" one of the other agents asked after a moment.
Jacob looked from the agent, to Drake, and then nodded at the agent. "Take him back to his residence. Watch him until I get there."
As the agents led Drake out of the closed bakery, he looked at Jacob, and locked eyes with him. And then the old agent immediately knew. Something else had happened. And it was bound to happen again.