Reformation
Chapter Nine
"We found this ditched in the dumpster in the alley."
Jacob reluctantly turned his head away from the window to see the cut tracking bracelet in the agent's hand. He, J. Gander, and the rest of the experiment's security staff were all gathered in Drake's abandoned apartment. And there was no sign of the ex-con anywhere.
"Jacob?" came J. Gander's voice.
Jacob looked up, then shook his head and looked down at the floor again. He couldn't believe it was happening. After everything had bee going so well, he had truly believed that Negaduck had made a complete turn-around--that his experiment had been a success. The old agent sighed and leaned heavily on his came. "I just can't believe that he could--"
"Don't you see how he has played you??" one of the agents interrupted, who had always been skeptical from the beginning. "He's a confirmed psychopath. He could fool a lie detector! And he fooled you. What made you think that he couldn't?"
His hollow black eyes gave an empty stare as he replied in defeat. "I don't know."
"What more evidence do you need, Jacob?" J. Gander jumped in even as the agents continued to sweep the apartment. "Witnesses saw him disappear into the alley and then heard the gunshots. Even the surveillance tape has been taken from the monitors down the hall."
"He's trying to cover his tracks," the lead security agent pointed out arrogantly. "But we've gotten statements from the witnesses who saw which way he fled. He won't get far. We have authorization to terminate."
Jacob's head instantly perked up, and he pivoted around on his good leg with a surprised yet puzzled stare. "What?"
"You know the protocol, Jacob," J. Gander answered firmly. He began to pace back and forth in distress, his arms folded behind his back and his gaze lowered to the floor. "When a subject commits a violent offense during Phase 2 of the experiment, we have no choice but to terminate the experiment...and the subject."
Jacob stared, his jaw agape in response to what he was hearing. Of course he knew the protocol, but he still felt that Drake was innocent. "I can't believe this...There is no soli proof that he has made any violation and you can justify hunting him down??"
The security agent scoffed. "You're damn right, it does."
At that moment, Jacob wanted to take his cane and shove it down the agent's throat. But Director Hooter interrupted before the thought could be put into action. "We'll perform an autopsy once he's brought in to determine what happened with the drugs."
"John, please--"
"I knew this would be a bad idea," the old gander sighed. He stressfully shook his head with a forlorn frown. "This experiment was a disaster from the beginning."
Jacob passed him a scrutinizing glare. "That is strange, John. Because when I came to you with this proposal a year ago, I had your full support."
"I gave you my full support because you assured me that you would have everything under control. Do not undermine my judgment, Jacob!" J. Gander snapped defensively. When his authority was questioned, his temper would come out of his calm, professional exterior. He took in a deep breath, calming himself, and then looked up at his friend with disappointed eyes. "I trusted your judgment, Jacob. I believed that you knew what you were doing when you decided to experiment on one of the world's most dangerous criminals."
Jacob stared back at him with firm, unmoving black eyes. But his fingers curled tightly over the crescent handle of his cane. J. Gander's statements made him feel as if he had failed--failed at something he had put so much of his time and effort into. Something that he truly believed would be a success. And J. Gander's words were beginning to make him believe that perhaps he really did fail--something which was not in Jacob Mallard's nature.
Director Hooter heaved his shoulders and started in a slow stride toward the door. "I must get back to headquarters. More agents will have to be sent out before Negaduck strikes again."
But Jacob was not about to give in so easy. "John, wait--"
But a cloud of blue smoke suddenly billowed in the center of the room, blocking his path.
"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the speed bump in the getaway road of crime!" The smoke cleared to revealed the purple masked vigilante, who took a dramatic pose. "I am Darkwiiiiiing Duck!"
None of the other SHUSH agents seemed to noticed the hero's appearance, or they just did not care. Jacob looked worried, but J. Gander looked relieved.
"Ah, Darkwing Duck. I was going to send a Flashquack for your assistance once I returned to SHUSH," J. Gander said, momentarily putting off his exit to approach him.
"Yep, yep, yep. Whenever your agents fail to perform, you know you can only depend on my, J. Gander," Darkwing said smugly. It was then that he met the eyes of Jacob--his estranged father. Other than these types of chance confrontations through SHUSH business, the two of them never communicated. "Hello, Agent Mallard."
"Darkwing," Jacob responded rigidly.
There was a short, awkward silence. "Soooo, tell me what crisis is upon you this time, J. Gander."
"Darkwing, this is a crisis of the utmost importance and reason for great concern. This is not something I am proud to report, but one of our agents has been murdered by a dangerous felon. By...Negaduck."
The caped crime fighter feigned his surprise with a loud gasp. He didn't want it known that Jake had informed him of the villain's survival from execution. "What?? That nefarious Negaduck?? He's supposed to be dead!"
"It is a long story. Not one I would like to explain in detail right now. In short, a scientific experiment has gone terribly wrong and its failure resulted in that maniacal murderer being let loose on the city once again," J. Gander explained hurriedly. "Now I am sending my best men out in pursuit of that madman, but I would feel more confident if you were also on the case. You are more familiar with Negaduck and his motives than anyone else."
"You can count on me, J. Gander!" Darkwing announced in his dramatic tenor. "That trigger-happy hooligan may have escaped death once, but he certainly won't escape the wrath of Darkwiiiing Duck!"
"Excellent, Darkwing," J. Gander said, already feeling more relieved although his stoic face would never make it known. "You can report to myself or Agent Jake Mallard. He is also on this case as we speak."
With that said, the authoritative gander made his leave out of the apartment door with the other agents in tow. Only Jacob and Darkwing were left in the room, which was just what the hero wanted. Jacob, on the other hand, was filled with discomfort the minute those accusing blue eyes were on him.
"I'm sure we can handle this just fine without your assistance, Darkwing," Jacob rumbled lowly, eager to remove himself from this suddenly uncomfortable situation.
But Darkwing scoffed. He was not about to let what had happened slide. He still held a strong grudge toward his father, whom he was convinced abandoned him as a child. And now he stared back at the mallard who was his father by blood only with angry, disappointed eyes. "Some prestigious SHUSH agent. Who'da thought that the 'honorable' Agent Jacob Mallard would stoop so low as to allow the Public Enemy #1 to escape execution and roam free to terrorize the innocent."
"Now is not the time for foolish assumptions, boy," Jacob retorted sharply. He was still burning from his unsuccessful talk with J. Gander. "Especially when you do not know any of the facts aside from the ones Jake Mallard has given you."
"Agent Mallard wasn't the one who rescued a murderous psychopath from a much deserved death penalty. Perhaps you should focus your good intentions on those more deserving, such as those who do not have mugshots!"
There was a sharp thunk that echoed through the small apartment as Jacob's cane forcefully came down on the worn wooden floor. His hollow black eyes stared back at his son, unfeeling and cold. But instead of erupting into an aggressive tirade of shouts, his voice remained even and firm as he spoke. "You listen to me, Drake. Whether you choose to take anything from these words is your prerogative, but you're going to hear me out." He took a few uneven steps forward and stared down at him. "I am starting to believe that there is nothing I can to or say that will repair your trust in me. We can both have your surrogate father Jake to thank for that. And once again, he is playing the puppetmaster and you are one of his marionettes among countless others. He is playing you as the perfect role in his tragedy."
"Oh yeah?" Darkwing challenged stubbornly. He folded his arms over his chest, remaining unconvinced. "And why, pray tell, would he do that? Hmm??"
"You are a master of deduction, yet you fail to yield to the simplest answers," Jacob sneered in return, in no mood for the masked mallard's cynicism. "Jake hates me, and he despises his son. He knows that if he doesn't get rid of Negaduck, it will be vice-versa. He is such a coward that he would rather annihilate his own son."
"Oh, I see. So that justifies you freeing Negaduck from prison so he can kill Jake first, am I right?"
Even though it wasn't such a far-fetched thought, Jacob was quickly growing tired of this argument which he knew would not go anywhere. Besides, he had to find Negaduck before SHUSH, or worse, Jake found him. "Never you mind, boy. This is a SHUSH affair which is really none of your concern."
"Pah! That is my diabolical double out there on the rampage. And you heard J. Gander. SHUSH needs me to bring him back in," Darkwing reminded him with an arrogant smile on his long bill. He turned with a flourish of his purple cape and began to strut away. But he stopped just in front of the door, and turned his head to look back at his father. "And when I catch that heinous hooligan, I'm not going to take my eyes off of him until his body is cold and in the ground."
There was a short pause, and Darkwing's blue eyes drilled into Jacob's ebony irises. Then the younger mallard hissed in a spiteful voice filled with regret. "I wish you really were KIA. At least then I'd still have the memories of you being a hero, however untrue they were. I'd rather my father be dead than be a corrupt agent who works with criminals."
Darkwing turned his back, and made a swift exit out the door. He was too consumed in his anger to even make a dramatic trademark exit. Jacob was left in the apartment, and for a long moment, he just stood there, listening to the silence. What if everyone else was right? What if Negaduck really did have a violent relapse? Of course it was a possibility, Jacob knew that. But he couldn't stand the thought of being wrong. Then he turned and slowly trudged over to the window to brood to himself. He set his cane against the wall, and leaned forward with his palms on the dusty windowsill. Darkwing's words has stabbed him through his heart, which had already been beaten and bruised over the past two decades. His statements were so hurtful, that not even Jacob's wit could come up with a retort. He had lost his wife and his daughter to cruel fate--the death card which Jake had laid out for them. Upon discovering that his son had survived, Jacob had hoped for nothing more than to reconcile with Darkwing and re-establish their relationship. But Jake had taken that from him, too. He had taken everything from him.
Well, almost everything. Even though Jacob had lost his birthright son, he had gained something else over the past several weeks. The relationship Jacob had formed with Negaduck during the experiment seemed to fill a bit of the dark void that existed inside of his wounded heart. He felt a certain responsibility for the reformed criminal beyond the realm of science. Just recalling the progress of the experiment and the conversations the two of them had shared put the faintest smile on the old mallard's bill. It was almost as if Negaduck wasn't Jake's son, but--
Jacob shook his head clear, and his aged face once again took on its determined glare. There was no time for soft thoughts. He knew he had to find Negaduck before Jake or Darkwing Duck. Before he could be terminated.