#Main Verse || {Negaduck}

[shadowzgather]

The following are just a few humanized duck verses for the sake of crossovers and will be added to or adjusted as necessary or desired. Not all muses will be in these Verse, nor are these fully fleshed out they are more like concepts but will be fleshed out as rp happens.

Persona 4/5 Verse

Drake Mallard and Jim Starling are twins that attend Shujin Acadamy as transfer students. Their parents divorced when they were still toddlers, and Drake's mom changed hers and Drake's surname to her maiden name after the split, each parent taking one of the boys. They are identical twins with blond hair and blue eyes. But they have the same personalities as their 91' cartoon counterparts.

Princapal Kobayakawa has convinced Drake to look into the Phantom Theives rumors as he is an up and coming detective, not unlike Goro Akechi. Jim is a thug that got into Shujin because his dad is loaded and has a lot of money that Kobayakawa is hoping to get a generous donation of.

Digimon Cyberslueth

Jim Mallard, Negaduck in EDEN, is the leader of a malicious Hacking group called The Fearsome Five. They are contracted and do a lot of shady work for Rie Kishibe.

His brother Drake, however, is a cyber detective working with their distant cousin Gorou Matayoshi. Darkwing dislikes hacking, but has a Digimon partner for the sake of his job.

Hazbin Hotel Sir Pentious AU from my main that is closer to canon.

More verse to be added.

[thezoe611]

Have any of the Geronimo crew (and Tim) seeker therapy for the many…MANY…traumatizing events they’ve endured?

Oh yes, unfortunately yes. This is something I couldn't put in Unstoppable, so I'll write it now^^' (lots of text, sorry)

->Gosalyn, being the main victim of everything, would start going to therapy with one of the best doctors in S.H.U.S.H. Gryzlikoff made sure to do all the paperwork for the redhead (I didn't manage to fit it into the story either, but the bear is REALLY sorry for shooting her, so he plans to help Gos in any way she needs, even though the young woman doesn't blames him for what happened)

Although, well, more than "going to therapy," they "forced her to go to therapy." Gosalyn felt very uncomfortable, saying that she should just rest, but Drake told her NO. She went through a very bad experience that month, and she didn't have to be ashamed of being treated for it. Max agreed with him, as did Launchpad. Even Negaduck would have told her that going there shouldn't hurt her, since she is the one who always says that "you should go to the doctor for any blow".

Gosalyn would no longer feel nervous being next to Launchpad, but that wouldn't take away the pain and frustration she felt every time Nega-Launchpad hurt her with the bat. She would never forgive him for being a Launchpad. Furthermore, the redhead would begin to feel a slight "aversion" to whistles, especially the children's song "Simon says…". LHearing even the first verse of that song could give her a panic attack, remembering everything they forced her to do that time…

And the scar that was left on her right arm due to Ratigan's experimentation, so deep that her yellow plumage didn't completely cover it, and that was why the redhead would now wear a black sports sleeve. Although she mostly used it for Drake and Negaduck, aware that they felt terrible knowing that she had a scar.

Not to mention the existence of "Dark Orchid". She would want to forget everything about that identity that they forced her to take… The thing is that SHUSH still wouldn't tell her about the fact that someone stole the stored belongings related to that villain…

->Max would also have a change. He would begin taking first aid courses in his free time. Why? Because he realized that he needed to learn something so basic, and not just how to defend himself, like Negaduck has been teaching him. The point that made him realize that he needed to learn that was when he saw the villain calm Gosalyn during her panic attacks, which he didn't know exactly what to do at the time.

He loves Gosalyn, and he wants to help her. He wants to be there for her, both in her best moments and in her worst, and, to support her, he wants to learn how to calm someone with a panic attack, and these courses are the basis for that (although at first the young man wanted Negaduck to teach him… but imagining the villain teaching him something like that gave him chills, so he opted for the other option^^')

Drake, Launchpad, and Goofy would focus on supporting Gosalyn as much as they could.

->Drake was still upset with himself for everything he could have avoided if he had investigated more of Gosalyn's biological family, so he would want his daughter to get enough rest, and he would take some hero cases for that. The bad thing is that the redhead would still do some activities like Quiverwing Quack to distract herself, so he and LP would accompany her to keep her safe, ignoring the archer's complaints.

->Launchpad, no longer so afraid of scaring her because of his face, would just make sure not to make any sudden movements next to her, which would make his friend smile gratefully.

->Goofy would make sure to ask if Gosalyn needed anything, keeping an eye on his own movement, as he didn't want to push too hard or bother the young woman. Gosalyn would notice that, and, thanking him, she would tell him what dish she would like to try, making her father-in-law happy.

->Negaduck doesn't go to therapy. Rather, anyone who tries to do a session with him would either faint, run away crying, or if they says something shouldn't… well, you can imagine^^'

Of course, that wouldn't change the fact that he would have become even MORE overprotective. I wouldn't be surprised if he had threatened several villains not to dare carry out a robbery without his authorization, with the intention of allowing Gosalyn to rest.

Furthermore, he would make sure to check on Nega-Duckburg several times, to make sure that there really was no trace left of the Nega-McDuck and henchmen…

Plus, there was the matter of whether or not Nega-Morgana had actually survived the massacre 15 years ago…

He had to make sure, watch, and destroy anything that dared to hurt his Baby Girl. He wouldn't let that happen again, not again.

->Tim's case is more peculiar.

The boy has been through a lot in his six years due to Mortimer's teasing and abuse. That is why Gosalyn and Max would agree that the kid, after being adopted by them thanks to all the support that McDuck gave them, would attend some child therapy sessions.

The point is that the mouse wouldn't have collaborated much. He would have remained silent, looking at the drawings in the room, and the kind doctor would have asked him why he was not cooperating or responding. Tim would just say "I don't trust adults."

The physical and emotional abuse he suffered from his uncle really made him distrust most adults. The only reason he trusted Gos and Max is because he loves them, and therefore he decided to trust their family, although, if any adult made any sudden movement, the kid would be startled and go hide behind the redhead or Max.. The mouse adores his new parents, but is not ready to call them "mom" and "dad", even though he is aware that they now are.

And since the boy would not collaborate as much with the sessions, his parents wouldn't yet know that Tim was now afraid of heights, due to having fallen from McDuck Tower when Nega-Gizmoduck threw him, and when he almost fell from the enemy ship. if Gosalyn doesn't hold him in time.

Tim preferred not to confess that, aware that Gos was going through a delicate process. He preferred to sit next to her reading comics with Max, and endure the occasional hug from the redhead, who wanted to annoy him a little, making Max laugh.

The little mouse, who distrusts adults, has as his number one priority the redhead who became so precious to him.

[scumbag-the-hedgehog]

Alright, DT17verse Headcanons Time

Directly tied to @cynicallyscorned's DuckTales Verse

Younger than main verse, around 15ish? Either way he's a kiddo

Anyway, where'd this guy come from? It's not entirely clear but he's been robbing banks and armored cars from Cape Suzette to St. Canard for a bit now.

So... Glomgold hears about how Scrooge has not-adopted a speedster vigilante, and naturally for everything that he has, Flinty has to have his own version. So obviously he reaches out and uses that obscene wealth to bring on board this obnoxious teenage self-proclaimed supervillain as his new "nephew."

Inferiority complex over the fact that there's another speedster, but takes to Cynic quickly just because... oh wow this guy's actually really cool. That attitude does not hold up as well in the Hero-verse.

Originally is just trying to fleece Glomgold but genuinely starts developing a weird attachment because 1) he's the closest thing to a proper parental figure he's ever had despite the guy being a pathetic egomaniac and 2) oh wow there's a guy you're trying to constantly one-up to the point that it's the crux of your entire life? Hit a little too close to home not to elicit some sympathy.

Would unironically think Negaduck is the coolest.

Was originally created by FOWL as an attempt to replicate the incident which turned Cynic into a speedster. Scourge's memories of his time as an experiment are spotty, but reinforce his insecurities about being nothing more than a cheap copy of someone better. Black Heron do not interact....

Because he's also involved in verse shenanigans, still also gets not-adopted by Macaque. Two Uncles for this hedgehog, and one that can actually keep his shadow safe from Magica.

[bxrningembers]

🎁🎯

Send "🎯" for the mun to talk about one of their active muses, from another fandom/community they are in;

Send "🎁" for the mun to talk about a muse they no longer write.

Negaduck from Darkwing duck 1991. I picked him up not too long ago, and he's a lot of fun to write honestly. I should probably be more active on my main, but HH/HB has a solid grip on my braincell right now. I had considered an HH verse for him, but I don't write him dark enough to fit into HH. If I was closer to the Boom comics version, maybe? 🤔

Once long, long ago, in my early Tumblr rp days, I wrote for a Marvel comics character called Heike Zemo. She was a bit divergent here and there but was one of my first tumblr muses. I no longer play her and will likely never play her again. Her blog does still exists here on tumblr, but due to personal reasons, she is permanently retired.

[ducktales-wco-oo]

"GO TO BED YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Have a very yelly, sleep deprived Drake telling Negs to go to bed. ( I need some crack rn i dun even )

- ✩ { @amarantesstars​ } ✩ 

{ ☆ }  ❝  YOU’RE NOT MY FUCKING DAD, DIPWING!  ❞  

And now the chaos has grown with the addition of a chainsaw, Negs promptly slicing a couch in half to prove the point that he can do whatever the fuck he wants regardless of the time. { ☆ } 

[tcthinecwnself-a]

@lets-get-dxngerous​ from [X]

“You’d be doing your world a favor, not mine.” A hand goes up to flick his counterpart’s beak. People in his world adored him, worshiped him even. He had everything under order by having everything out of order. What would they do without him? “Why even bother with sidekicks, Dark? Doesn’t that lump of meat slow you down? I’ve seen it happen.”

[eclipsewarrior101]

So. I’ve decided to call the au with a good negaduck

Psycho and Harmony

So, in this world everything is like the negaverse except a bit worse.

Psycho duck is drake and runs an empire of terror

His brother jim is a hero trying to stop him but is also haunted by past abuse and the line of morals

Drake actually works with shush ( they are the bad guys) he gives them prisoners to torture or the other way around. He runs the show like a boss and has many connections ( he may or may not of kidnapped a fowl high command member and the that’s why fowl is both pissed wary of him)

Fowl is good but they are more wary and timid. Yes they help others but…this world is full of SO many bad eggs it’s hard.

Now…to others

Now…these are gonna be the main bad guys for now.

So. Launchpad is called “ Blood Tracker” He’s a dangerous man known to be a killer. He is also a collector. He hunts down traitors or people.

Binky and herb “ Mama Pain & Daddy Fear (same in negaverse) except they run a ‘school’ to train kids to be fighters for drake. They also run a prisoner for captured prisoners ( or people shush deem enemies). They get help from shush too. They torture and break their prisoners to be either slaves or workers for them.

Gosalyn. Ooooh hehehe. This is gonna be good. So….she is sweet and innocent like Nega gosalyn. HOWEVER…she is a terror. Sweet blood stained smile, creepy eyes and a sickening voice…she’s a master manipulative person. She is drakes secret weapon. She is used to lure targets or interrogate people. She will use violence and your own self doubt and anxiety against you. She has broken many mentally and psychologically. That’s why she earned the name “ The mind blender” she also is able to lure kids who are abused or neglected to listen to her. She also kidnaps other kids. She has the ability to see a persons fears and insecurity.

I also might call this world the psycho verse.

Once again, if you got any questions please ask. This is a work in progress.

[terrorofthenight]

Will post more in depth post later but here’s some of Gosalyn’s verses

Gosalyn - Main Verse (2017), see pinned post

Gosylan 1991 - Gosalyn from the original Darkwing Duck tv show. 

NegaGos - Nega Gos from the original Darkwing Duck tv show. I generally write her as still Negaduck’s daughter. Very sweet, polite. Loves her dad. You can rip Negadad from my cold dead hands

 Lyn - NegaGos from Ducktales 2017. Going by Lyn, she is seperate from my NegaGos over on @negadrakemallard. She is an alternate universe version of Gos. (Note: Negadrakemallard’s Gos is Gos from the show, but kidnapped by Drake. These are the differences.) 

Foster System Gos - What it says on the tin. Gos from the show, however she was never adopted by Drake Mallard. Very science oriented rather than sports as she’s trying to bring back her grandfather. 

Human Gos - Special request au, where its a mix of 1991 and 2017 Gos

Drake only has the two verses so he doesn’t get a post 

[negadrakemallard]

so i have a verses page up

and if you cant  read it right now it says

Main - Drake Mallard was an upcoming actor for the new Darkwing Duck movie. His dream was to be as close to his idol as possible, but when Jim Starling ruined his chances, Drake became Negaduck.

He broke into Gyro's lab one night, trying to find more information on Gizmoduck. when he was caught he grabbed one of the nearest devices in an effort to defend himself and discovered it was device that could make him jump through to different dimensions. Now he's lost, unable to find his home. (makes it possible to rp with other Drake blogs)

Negaverse - the same as the top, but there is no travel device. Jim is Darkwing

Lightwing - After a run in with the Duck Avenger (x-transfcrmed), Drake found he wasn't as evil as he thought he was. Questioning why he was doing this, and if this really made him a true villain. The doubts the Duck Avenger put in his mind prevented him from being able to kill Jim, along with Jim promising to help him (soul-heart-beyond). Drake has turned around and is now trying to be a hero, under the petty name of Lightwing (to annoy Jim) due to the yellow of his costume 

anyone can play with any of the verses

[shadowzgather]

Other Muses About for Mobile

Jem And the Holograms 88’

Rory “Riot” Llewelyn, Lead singer of the Stingers. (Very Canon Divergent.) 

Personality traits: Aloof, Charming and Arrogant.

Age: 25

Gender: CIS Male He/Him

Otome inspired Historical figures.

Takeda Shingen Hybrid of Samurai Love Ballad Party and Ikemen Sengoku

Oda Nobunaga Hybrid of Destiny’s Princess and Ikemen Sengoku.

Trolls

Cloud Guy

OC Crow (Neo classical Darkwave Troll)

Age: Adult

Gender: CIS Male

Brief Bio: Crow and his tribe are a small group that branched off from both the Rock Trolls and the Classical trolls to create something new, not being satisfied with their own styles. Crow himself is stubborn, flamboyant and overconfident, He has a kind heart but a creepy but elegant demeanor.  He wears a black double breasted frock coat with tails that has black spider-web like laced over the dark red lining. He has a deep grey skin tone an drooping almost greased down black hair and dark circles around his red eyes that may or may not be makeup. (picture coming soon.)

Name: Queen Barb of the Rock Trolls.

Age: Adult

Gender: CIS Female

Follows the canon of the second movie.

Ducktales 87'/Darkwing Duck 91'

Name: Fenton Crackshell

Age: 28 DT87 - 30 DWD91

Gender: CIS Male

Fenton follows the cartoon canon but not the comics.

Name: Magica De Spell

Age: 42 *approximate*

Gender: CIS Female

Magica follows the cartoon and Darkwing Duck Boom! Comics, including the comic crossover with Ducktales.

Sing/Sing 2

Name: Miss Crowly

Age: 67

Gender: CIS Female

Follows the canon of both movies.

Name: Jimmy Crystal

Age: 45

Gender: CIS Male

Follows canon up to hiring Buster Moon and Co. then is heavily divergent.

Anime/Game Muses

Dragon Quest Builders 2

Name: Malroth, Lord and Master of Destruction

Age: Adult

Gender: CIS Male

Follows the game canon.

YU-GI-OH!

Name: Simon Muran

Age: Very Old.

Gender: CIS Male

Mainly seen in the games, Simon Muran is Pharaoh Atem's advisor, and it's implied he was his tutor and teacher as well. He occupies a role similar to Modern Yugi's Grandpa.

Fight!! Iczer - One and Adventure Iczer - Three

Name: Iczer - Two

Age appearance and maturity: Adult.

Gender: CIS Female

Follows the canon of both series. She is a bioroid created by Big Gold to kill her older sister, Iczer - One and conquer Earth for Big Gold and the Cthulu alien race.

Additional Darkwing Duck 1991 Muses

Name: Negaduck (Real name Drake Mallard or Jim Starling in Twin AU's)

Age: Same age as Darkwing.

Gender: CIS Male

Follows the canon of the Cartoon and Boom!/Joe Books Comics. Will also have a verse for Dynamite Comics that is separate from the Main. He will be very headcanon heavy, and Divergent in some respects but I hope to keep him close to at least the Cartoon Canon.

South Park muses.

The Amazing Digital Circus

Name: Gummigoo

Age: Adult

Gender: Male

Species: Athromorphic Gummy Alligator/”NPC”

Differs From canon: For mysterious reasons Gummigoo was allowed to stay at the Circus rather than being poofed at the end of episode 2. 

AU: Gummigoo is actually a human that abstracted like Kaufmo and who's data was remade into the “NPC” Gummigoo. This verse is treated as default unless more info about abstracted characters gets released in future episodes.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

Name: Lord Barok van Zeiks

Age: 33

Gender: CIS Male

Job: Prosecutor (Lawyer) in Victorian Britain/Verse dependant

How they differ from Canon:

Spoilers below!

Canonically Barok is racist against Japanese people due to the death of his older brother. I find this to be a poor reason for it. So I'm alter this portion of his character to instead be more of a "He sees his brother killer" or rather their traits in the Japanese men he meets until the second game's end where he over comes this as the truth is revealed. Other Verses may vary and completely change his backstory and will be noted as such.

Name: Enoch Drebber

Age: 35

Gender: CIS Male

Job: Engineer with background in Science and Magic (stage magic) / Former Science student / Grave robber - The Repurposers / Con Artist (Making fake inventions)

How they differ from Canon:

Minor Spoilers Below!

In canon Enoch is shown to be something of a hypocrite as he acts to avenge his hopes and dreams being crushed but has no guilt over crushing someone elses in pursuit of that revenge. My version will be more bitter by his lost dreams and see his efforts keeping others from being dreamers so they don't go through what he did rather than blatant hypocrisy.

Like with Barok, verse my alter or completely change his backstory and will be noted accordingly as separate verses.

Transformers One

Name: Megatronus Prime

Age: Adult

Gender: CIS Male

How they differ from canon: Though decapitated and having his T-cog removed by Sentinel, Megatronus lived. His spark was extracted by Sentinel and kept as a sort of trophy. Made to watch and hear within a cube that sustained him but unable to do anything about what was going on.

His spark was discovered in the remnants of Sentinel's tower post battle by the new Optimus Prime. A new body was made for him, and he was given the T-Cog of his brother, Prima Prime, which Megatron had discarded after taking his from Sentinel.

[masked-mallards]

Masked Mallards, the Multiverse, and Everything else

Back in Primeverse

Negaduck-Prime sat tapping his fingers on the table. He came into the interrogation room with questions of his own. It didn’t make sense to him. There was only one Negaverse, and only one Negaduck. The fact that Negawing had suggested otherwise angered him. There was something else to, the Negaverse, that the geezer clone mentioned, was mostly ruled by a Nega-Scrooge McDuck with Sanitatem-Negaduck's father by his side. It was much like his world. Except, Scrooge took the title of Dictator instead of King and Negaduck's father’s name was Simon not Sergei.

“I don’t buy it,” Negaduck said irritability. “The is only one Negaverse, besides if there was more than one, how come I and De Spell didn’t pass through any of them while on the trans-dimensional train?” “Simple,” Negawing answered in his 2nd personality. “The train is designed to travel to the posi-side of any given universe and skips its Negaverse. The Negaduck clones, like you, we're too caught up in their agendas to notice your presence in their world.” Negawing saw that Negaduck was still not convinced and rolled his eyes. “Come on,” he said. “You had to at least notice that some of the Darkwing clones recognized you. Darkwing Doubloon sure did.”

“The pirate?” Darkwing asked. “He sees himself as a privateer, but yes," Negawing answered. “We met him after the Darkwing Crisis. Doubloon often had run-ins with a yellow-clad pirate bearing the title Dread Pirate Negaduck.” Negaduck-Prime cut in. “Let me guess, you were there to mark off your little hit list.” The older clone smirked. “Yep,” he responded. “Sailed around with Doubloon for the better part of a year to do so. Tossed the Posi-Megavolt into the ocean, he short-circuited and drowned. Of Course, Doubloon took issue with it. He wanted Megavolt to face justice for his crimes. Still don’t see why though, The Caribbean-Verse “justice” would have him hanged him anyway.”

“Because it is a due process of law.” The 1st personality answered. “If we had waited until we got back to the mainland, they would have killed him for us, and it would have been clean.” Negawing gave himself a look of contradiction. “Look Mr. Proficient, you and I both know that we can’t take the risk that they would be stupid enough to let the rat rot in a cell. Besides, even if they did, we have to waste more time in that world sailing back with Darkwing Doufool to make sure. We had confirmed that our main target wasn’t even there”. Negawing was about to say something against his 2nd personality again but decided against it. “You might be right, but still there is a system for a reason. We must follow the law where we can.”

Darkwing Prime was confused. Negawing had talked about killing the pirate Megavolt as if it wasn’t a big deal, even though Megavolt Prime was listening to him in the other room. Yet, he wanted to wait at first to follow the laws of the land. Why would a coldhearted killer do something like that? There was something else that didn't sit right with him. Negawing's account with Darkwing Doubloon suggests that he had completed the list before, and if that is true, just how many Megavolts and other unfortunate souls did he kill up until his arrival in Primeverse? “So...” Drake started, wanting to get back on track. “Where were we...”

 /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

 Posi-Sanitatem

45 years ago

St. Canard.

  Negaduck and the soldier landed in another ally with a thud. The soldier's helmet fell off, and into Negaduck's lap. Inside, was the name Reid Talon etched in white thread. Talon got up quickly, the chicken snatched up his helmet from the duckling, put it on. He looked around for a second bewildered, then glowered at Negaduck. “Did you think that light show was going to save you?” he barked. “How did you do that anyway?” he pointed his rifle at the duckling. Negaduck laughed to himself in his head. It wasn’t common knowledge that the Multiverse existed. He tucked the small pup away in his coat pocket and reached for the chainsaw he had managed to keep hold of.

Before he got its engine running a small figure jumped up a wrapped his arms around Reid’s collar. It was another duckling, he was in a school uniform, had blue eyes, and was around the same age as Negaduck. “Don’t know who you are mister.” He said. “But having a gun in this area is strictly prohibited, but seeing how you came out of that warp hole you probably didn’t know that.” The unknown duckling removed the chicken’s helmet and bashed it against his head. Talon fell to the ground unconscious and the duckling landed on his feet.

He approached Negaduck, and Negaduck got a better look at his face. The duckling bared a striking resemblance to himself. A raven flew down from one of the building, it was Poe, Magica’s brother. “Negaduck!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here?! Magica de Spell told you explicitly not to come here!” The small raven landed on his head. “It’s not like I had much of a choice!" Negaduck said to the raven, gesturing to the incapacitated soldier on the ground. Nega- Poe flew down from his head and expected the chicken. "It is going to be a while before he comes to." He said.

The other duckling spoke up, “So you’re the yellow champion Magica De Spell was talking about, my name is Drake Mallard, your counterpart.” He went silent. “Sorry about the warp hole, I was practicing forming portals to the Negaverse, didn’t expect for something to come out the other end." Drake reached out his hand for Negaduck to shake it. The yellow-clad duckling took his offer and shook it. "So, you can form portals other worlds?” Negaduck asked. “Not exactly,” Drake answered. "Only between Posi and Nega Sanitatem, I can find them too." Poe moved and sat on Drake's head.

"Come now boys," he barked and pointed his wing toward Talon. "This isn't the place to have this conversation." Drake turned pale and started shooing Poe off his head. "Poe!” he shouted. “You know I don’t like when you sit up there, get off!" Poe flew away from Drake and landed on a nearby park bench. "Seriously this again," Poe responded in a deadpan. "Has your O.C.D turned you into a germaphobe?" Drake turned slightly red. "No, it hasn’t!” Drake said angerly. “And its C.D.O! I don’t know where your feet have been.” Drake and Negaduck exited alleyway. Poe moved to the top of Negaduck’s head and nested in his hair.

“See,” Poe said trying to prove a point. “Negaduck doesn’t complain, do you have any idea how much energy it takes to keep up with the both of you?” Negaduck reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the pup. “True,” He responded. “However, you get no free rides.” He handed the small puppy to Poe. “I need you to watch pipsqueak until I can find my way back to the Negaverse.” Poe looked at the small Doberman, he gently took the pup from Negaduck and tucked him under his wing. “Fine,” he said. “have it your way.” Now that the dog was taken care of, Negaduck took a look around, to take in the Posi- St. Canard.    

The city was a busy metropolis full of people. It was not in shambles like his own world and was still under the rule of the Anasian government. It was as if the Anasian War never happened and St. Canard went on without a care. Negaduck watched as a woman argued with a local street bender about having to pay a 1.00 for a hotdog. An elephant throwing a fit because he missed the bus. Negaduck felt a ping of disgust for it and its first world problems.

As much as Negaduck wanted to stay due to his curiosity, he needed to get back to the Nega-Sanitatem. If Poe is here, Magica de Spell can't be far. The last thing, he wanted, was a lecture from her about his disobedience. Negaduck often practice quadworth magic on his own, which angered the witch when she caught him. Magic was a strict mentor and, like Douglass, was paranoid and did like didn't like Negaduck traveling the Multiverse without her or Poe. This often led to arguments between Negaduck and De Spell. However, with an abrupt tap of her staff, the duckling would admit defeat and even sometimes apologize. The only time Negaduck backed down from a fight was with the old witch. He might be a quadworth, but he knew his limits.

He felt around his pocket for his red talisman that could help him find a way out of Posi-Sanitatem. However, it wasn’t there. Negaduck walked back into the alleyway and searched the ground for it, Drake followed. The red device was nowhere in sight. “Crap, it's gone.” Negaduck said. “What is?” Drake asked. “A red talisman De Spell gave to me to find warp holes,” Negaduck explained. “Pff, you don’t need that,” Drake said with confidence and pride. “You’ve got me, I can find warp holes remember.” Negaduck looked at his egotistical copy. He was glad he was a humble duck, then again Herb and Douglass had always told him otherwise, and he relished the praise he got as “The Yellow Devil”.  

“Can you find any?” Negaduck asked. Drake looked around, walked from one end of the alley to the other. “No, not here.” He answered. “Nega- Magic De Spell is probably at camp, maybe she can help. I'll keep an eye out for warp holes though we are unlikely to find any.” Negaduck didn’t like the idea of coming clean to Magica about having lost his talisman......again. “Let’s just look around town, we don’t need her help.” Drake frowned he didn’t approve of Negaduck avoiding the easy way back home. Poe spoke up Drake could. “No, you can’t weasel your way out of this one young man. You know as well as we do that you need to get back to the Negaverse post haste." The yellow-clad duckling glowered at the raven. Poe continued.

"Hey, don't give that look, you were being careless today, as usual, seriously one day your irresponsible behavior is going to get you killed one day." Negaduck opened his mouth to protest, but the raven was right. Going to see Magica was necessary if he wanted to get home. “Fine,” Negaduck said defeated. “So, where is this camp anyways?” Drake answered. “The camp is in the entertainment district of St. Canard. I live there with my Aunt Shera; she is the contortionist for the circus in residence Cirque Du Duck.”

Negaduck vaguely remembered Nega- Shera, Sergei’s aunt and she wanted nothing to do with her nephew’s family. She was utterly convinced that we consorted with demons to gain the power of a quadworth. Shera was half right; Sergei was working for Nega-Scrooge Mcduck after all. Before the Anasian War, Shera was a big shot actress, that spoke out against Mcduck. A few days later a plane crashed into her home, it was declared an accident but Negaduck knew better. Sergei wouldn't lift a finger to help his family, he probably even gave the order. If Drake was living with Shera, what happened to Posi – Sergei, and Ziptonia? Negaduck pushed the thought from his mind, it wasn't his business. The trio left the alley and a sleeping Reid Talon.      

On their way to the cirque camp, Drake explained his family had been in Cirque Du Duck for 3 generations. He was nothing more than a busboy for now, but when he was older, he joined the troop as an illusionist and stunt performer. Drake had a thing for theatrics, the alure of the dark and mysterious fascinated him. Shera however, wanted him to have a stable and safe life. She thought he could do better than the circus life. She and Magica De Spell often argued about his future. “Frankly, I don’t believe fate, I barely believe in magic,” Drake said. “I just want to be a performer.” Poe frowned. “You and Negaduck are going get used to the fact that you have a destiny in this Universe." He said. "Besides, your aunt and Magica only want you to get out of the business after what happened with your parents.”

Negaduck looked at is counterpart who went silent. “Dad did the right thing,” Drake responded sounding somewhat proud. “My mother... well was my mother.” his tone turned sour No one said a word for the rest of the trek to the camp. Negaduck wonder what had happened. Drake seemed to be a happy guy, yet mentioning his mother, put a damper on his mood. Sergei Mallard was apparently a good person, and Ziptonia wasn’t even in the picture. This didn’t surprise him though, the Negaverse and the Posiverse mirrored each other. The roles might be the same, but the people are not. Negaduck guess their parents and dislike of destiny was a way they were alike. After a couple of hours, they had reached the camp.

Camp Cirque Du Duck was a bustle of activity, stagehands and performers running to and froe, tents and large R.V.s, cages, and pens filled with animal Negaduck hadn't seen in a long time. At the center of the camp was a fire pit with a small fire going. A small rat sat on a log and turned to see Drake and the others. He was wearing the same uniform as Drake was and wore a large pair of glasses. He hopped off the log and made his way to them. “Drake,” he said. “I didn’t know you had a twin.” “He's not my brother Elmo, he's my cousin from out of town, Negan.” Poe had made it clear to both Drake and Negaduck, that the existence of the Negaverse is a secret. They came up with a story in case it came up. Though Negaduck would have preferred to use his name, he could see why going around as “Negaduck” was a bad idea. He certainly wasn’t to go around as Jim!

“Hello, my name is Elmo Sputterspark,” the rat introduced himself. “Your, aunt is looking for you Drake, you know how she is when your late, she’s at your trailer.” Drake looked at his watch. “Oh, I better check in with her,” Drake responded. He looked over to Negaduck, he seemed distracted by the activity in the camp. “Do you mind taking Negan to see Magica De Spell.” He continued. “We have arranged for him to stay with her while he visits for a few days.” Negaduck's wandering mind snapped back to real-time, he had forgotten why they were here in the first place. "Yes, I’d like to know where she’s set up.” Negaduck answered. “Sure,” Elmo said. He looked around for a moment then checked what looked like a phone. “Was he waiting for something?” Negaduck thought. With a wave goodbye, Drake left and made his way across the camp.

Drake entered the camper, it was empty. Elmo had said that Shera was here. So, where is she? He took this as an opportunity to change his clothes. He now sported a purple plaid shirt over a black T-shirt with blue jeans. Drake wandered to the other end of the trailer. The trailer was filled with old photos and posters. Mostly of Shera, Sergei, and Drake. There were none of his mothers. Drake sat a desk in a corner near the front seat. Aside from bills, and stray paper, a framed diploma sat on the left side. It was a doctorate awarded to Sergei D. Mallard.  Still no sign of Shera. Drake helped himself to organize her bills and notes. A small sheet of notebook paper fell to the floor. He picked it up and read it. His face grew pale, and he checked his calendar. After thumbing through and find today's date, he darted to the exit.

Elmo had lied to him, to get him to leave the firepit. Every year the beagle boys came to collect protection money. They had made it clear that they mean business 5 years ago. Unfortunately, the cirque can’t pay up this year. Drake grabbed his crossbow he had used to practice his stunts and magic. Today, someone was going to get hurt. Everyone knew the Beagles meant business target. This is probably why Elmo sent him on a goose chase back home, and why he helped Negan find Magica's tent on the east end of the camp. The Cirque does what it can to protect its own. When Magica moved in and for told of the world's end, they became increasingly protective of Drake. They were superstitious folk. He was tired of people trying to protect him, now it was his turn to return the favor.

 /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

 Ziptonia thought she married a big shot doctor, not a small-time physician. She had met Sergei in college and saw the success he could be, and a rich wife he could make her. The young Ziptonia wasted no time wooing Sergei Mallard, and by the end of the year, they were wed. Ziptonia was right, Sergei became a phenomenal doctor, and could have become a surgeon of some renown. However, once Sergei learned that Ziptonia was pregnant, he thought it would be best to stay close to home and raise their child close to family. Ziptonia was angered by this, the life she had pictured for herself was gone, because of a runt. Sergei became the Cirque Du Duck's physician.

Ziptonia became an alcoholic after Drake was born. She would have done it sooner hadn't Sergei prevented her from doing so while pregnant with Drake. The mother wanted nothing to do with the child and ignored him whenever she could, at one point she had "accidentally" almost dropped his egg off the roof of the Fun House. Ziptonia also began to spend money she didn’t have a, borrowed from Posi- F.O.W.L., and wasted it at the casino. She often stole from funds that Sergei had set aside for Drake and from the Cirque, to feed her gambling addiction. Eventually, Sergei had enough and divorced her. She left the Cirque, leaving Sergei and Drake, and never came back.

 5 years later.

 An arrow hit the target dead in the center. Drake had been practicing all morning. The boy was alone in the training yard, he just finished the mound of homework that had been given to him. Otherwise, Shera wouldn’t let him practice. She and his dad have told him that his circus life was short term. That he had a chance to be more than a sideshow act. Drake never saw eye to eye with them on it. Sergei wanted to give him the best education possible, so he had started enrolling him in a private school. He was currently taking extra shifts at the E.R. to pay for Drake’s tuition. Even with the Sanitatem Trance, there were still fatal accidents and stupid decisions made, so the facilities were necessary. Sergei often didn’t get home until late.

Drake took up archery and began to practice stage magic. Ever since Nega- Magica de Spell joined the troop as a fortune teller and spoke of his destiny. De Spell insisted that he have skills other than quadworth magic. Drake hated the idea of destiny but didn't mind learning a different skill set. He wanted to be apart of the troop, so he took up the two skills. The young duckling always felt a ping of satisfaction when performing illusions or hitting the target. Aside from that, he learned Muay Thai from Goose Lee, another member of Cirque Du Duck. Drake, try as he might, never cold fully master the martial art and Lee constantly reminded him of it. The duckling never earned his black belt.

Magica had said that he was to be Posi-St. Canard’s guardian. He intended to do so, nothing happened in St. Canard where a quadworth was needed. None the less, the witch trained him anyway. Drake could form portals to the Sanitatem Negaverse; however, he was never allowed to enter. Magic De Spell had made it clear to him that it was forbidden for him to go there. When he asked why she simply stated that he needs to stay here, for now, it wasn't time to travel to the Negaverse just yet.

Sergei was a quadworth like his son. He could warp anywhere in Posi- Sanitatem, but it did take a lot out of him the further he teleported away from St. Canard. He had told drake once, that like him he was to protect the city since the extradimensional activity was very low, he became a doctor instead, to help those who really need it. The idea of Drake being able to warp to other, dangerous worlds, put the father on edge and he became very protective. He often pestered Magica, to make sure she was doing everything in her power to prepare him to save the world. Sergei was also the one who got Goose Lee to train Drake in self-defense. He wanted nothing left to chance.  

Drake turned to the next 3 targets and fired his arrows. All landed near the center of the other their mark. Someone clapped slowly behind him. Drake turned to see a large beagle accompanied by the cirque’s owner Bart T. Ratcliff. The small elderly rat seemed nervous. The beagle approached the boy “You’re a nice shot,” he said. “Ever considered joining the Beagle Boys? We could use your skill in our numbers.” Drake stepped away from the Beagle. “No, and what idiot would go around telling a complete stranger that they are in a gang?” The Beagle did nothing, though he looked like wanted to bash the duckling’s head in. Ratcliff coughed. “Mr. Thick Beagle, you are here to talk nothing more." Thick glowered at the ringmaster but took his advice anyway.

“Sorry, gramps.” He responded. “I just wanted to meet Ziptonia’s kid, that’s all.” Drake was not surprised that the criminal knew of his mother. He never met her, she left before he hatched. Besides, she made it clear to him, that she wanted nothing to do with her son. Drake had sent her a letter when he was younger, and Ziptonia sent it back unopened. The last he heard, she was deep in debt and was a regular at the St. Canard prison for public intoxication. He only knew this because his father bailed her out once.

“Come, Drake,” Ratcliff instructed. “We are holding an emergency meeting, your father will be there, go find him.”. Drake did as he was told and made his way to the firepit. It was packed full of people and members of the Beagle Boys. Everyone in the cirque had come to attend, they looked worried. Drake found Sergei amongst the crowd with Shera, he was angry. Drake had never seen him this mad before, let alone something that would take him away from the hospital. Sergei's eyes locked on Drake as the child approached. He reached out and held him close protectively with an iron grip.  

Ratcliff was in the center of the firepit. A small young female beagle met him there, Thick was with her. "Everyone is accounted for Ma," Thick said. "Good," Ma Beagle said before she turned to speak with Ratcliff. "I've done as you asked," the elderly rat menaced. "Release my grandson." Ma Beagle motioned to the crowd; two beagles appeared with Elmo in their claws. They let him go and he ran straight to his grandfather's arms. Ma didn't understand why people would do anything to help their families. They are meant to be assets. She turned her attention to the unsettled crowd.

“I am sure you are wondering why I had you gathered around the fire pit.” She said in a loud authorize voice. “I’m here on behalf of my patron, and you will be seeing a lot more of me.” She paused. “I am sure you all remember Ziptonia,” Sergei tighten his grip on Drake’s arm as Ma beagle mentioned the gold digger. “For the past 3 years, Ziptonia amassed an enormous debt from my employer. However, instead of paying it off, she disappeared for a while." Ma Beagle walked to the other side of the pit, looking around her. "They found her two days ago in a shack dead. "the beagle continued in an annoyed tone. Murmurs rose from the crowd. Drake looked at his father. He was somewhat saddened by the news, but not enough to cry.

The small beagle waited for the talking to stop before she spoke again.” Normally, we would collect the debt from the remaining kin.” Sergei and Sheri looked at each other, then to Drake. They were worried, Ziptonia never truly left their lives. “However, my employers thought of a better way to collect their money, and put this tourist trap to good use.” Ratcliff glowered at the beagle; he didn't like where she was going. Ma Beagle ignored the rat and continued. "Your location in St. Canard is ideal for our smugglers to trade of items, have discreet meetings, and lay low for a while, etc." She turned to Ratcliff. "Give me the deed to Cirque Du Duck, the debt will be forgiven and you can go back to your lives cleaning peanut for the most part." She paused. "They are only making this offer once.”

Sergei, not wanting to lose his home to thugs, let go of Drake, and rushed to the fire pit in a huff. “Bart,” he said. “Don’t take their offer, this is our problem you don’t have to do this,” Ma peered at the Mallard. “This is between me and the rat,” she growled. “Then again we can use the service of a doctor in our mist." Sergei turned his attention to the beagle half his size. "We will pay off the debt, but we are going to do it legally!” He hissed. The two grimaced at each other and began to argue. Ratcliff motioned Elmo to join the crowd. He did so and ran to find Drake and Sheri. Elmo's and Drake's families had been friends for years.  

Ratcliff waved his hand, Ma and Sergei went silent. “I assume you have made your decision,” Ma beagle said. “Preferably the right one.” Ratcliff jabbed his cane at Ma Beagle. “Sergei is a valued member of Cirque Du Duck we take care of our own. However, he's right, and we will not perform illegal activity to pay off the debt." Ma Beagle glowered at the elderly ringmaster, who peered back to show he was not intimidated. "You can tell your employer they will not get a single penny out of me or the Mallards!” Ratcliff smirked. “Besides, Scrooge McDuck is our benefactor, and I doubt you want him on your tail! Now get off my property before I have you removed!”

Ma Beagle seemed calm about Ratcliff’s rejection of her proposal. “Your right,” she said. “but, if I had to pick between McDuck and My boss, I’d pick the ladder.” She swatted Ratcliff’s cane away and turned to address the crowd. “Since your leader has refused my patron’s offer, we have to resort to plan B.” Ma Beagle smirked as she spoke. "From this day forward, Cirque Du Duck will pay the Beagle Boys protection money every year to pay off the debt and then some." The small beagle shoved a banknote into Ratcliff's hand. Ratcliff raised an eyebrow. He and Sergei studied the note then directed their attention to Ma beagle.

“I believe I had made myself clear,” he said. “I will not change my stance on the matter.” Ma Beagle scoffed, “Stop acting like you have a choice, I am not going back to my employers with nothing. They are not the forgiving type.” Black smoke began to rise from one of the Haunted House and screams were heard from its direction. Beagles came running from the entrance with gasoline tanks and bloodied crowbars. Ratcliff and Sergei darted to the fire. The crowd began to disperse, either fleeing or going to find water to put out the fire. Drake followed Ratcliff and his father, fighting through the frightened crowd. Shera and tried to nab Drake before he could get away but grabbed Elmo who tried to follow suit.

Drake caught up with them in front of the source of the fire. The building belonged to the Macawbers, another sideshow act at the cirque who ran the haunted house. Outside the tent was Nega-Magica De Spell holding a two-year-old Morgana Macawber. Morgana was sound asleep, unaware of everything going on around her. Other residences of the cirque began to arrive with buckets of water but were blocked off by Beagle Boys with bats and crowbars. Magica turned to Ratcliff. "The thugs rushed in a battered most of the people inside!" She said. “I dispatched most of them, however, a few got away and set the house on fire in their escape.”

Orange flames rose from the building. Sergei ran toward the blaze, Drake grabbed him by his arm. “What are doing?!” Drake exclaimed. Sergei yanked his arm free of his son. “Drake!” the overprotective father yelled. “Go find Shera and stay with her, this is no place for a child.” Drake disregarded his father’s command. “It no place for you either,” he replied. Sergei grabbed the boy by the shoulders. “What would you have me do?” Sergei asked. “Not run into fire, even with Santarem Trance you could....” his voice trailed off. “If I don’t, they will," Sergei answered. Sergei pushed his son aside and ran toward the haunted house.

Magica nabbed Drake by the back of his collar with her free hand, when he began to follow Sergei into the blaze. Sergei tore of the wooden bars the Beagle Boys use to trap the family inside. Thick and Ma Beagle arrived on the scene, to watch their handy work, Ratcliff saw them and scurried over. He pleaded for them to let the cirque douse the fire, but they merely laughed at him. “I told you,” Ma Beagle said in a smug tone. “I only made the offer once”. The house exploded with Sergei and the rest of the Macawbers inside. De Spell instinctively tucked both Morgana and Drake under her cloak at the sound of the bang. Everyone was knocked to the ground by the blast.

Drake's ears rang with the sound of the explosion, and his vision became blurry. Magica was trying to tell him something, but he could not hear over the ringing. He looked around his surroundings. Ma Beagle and Thick were jumping around excitedly and hollering. Ratcliff was in a state of shock, other members of the cirque troop ran past him with buckets of water to stop the fire from spreading. Morgana had woken up and was crying. Shera and Elmo arrived, Elmo ran to his grandfather and tried to pull him together. Shera made her way to Drake and the others.

It was faint, but Drake could hear her yelling as his hearing came back.” Drake! Drake!” she said. “Are you O.K.!? Where is your father?!” Drake couldn’t speak, all he could do was look at the raging inferno. He looked at the ground, trying not to cry. His father was a hero, he was going to come out on top an save the Macawbers. Shera wrapped Drake in her arms as De spell soothed Morgana. Drake waited for what seemed like hours before he realized that his father wouldn’t be coming back. His tears burned down his cheeks, and he buried his face into Shera’s chest. The Beagles departed as the fire died done. All that remained was ash.

Ratcliff and Ma Beagle had a little chat the day after. It was clear to him now that if he didn't comply with their demands, the Beagle Boys would cause another tragedy in service to their unnamed employer. Every year on the anniversary of the Deaths of the Macawbers and Sergei Mallard, they come to collect the protection money from Ratcliff, and took anything they wanted from the cirque. Morgana was the only survivor of the Macawbers. Nega -Magica De Spell took her in. Ratcliff cut ties with McDuck. The old-timer didn't want McDuck to find out and call the police, making the situation worse.

Drake lived with Shera now, and she became more adamant about Drake leaving the cirque when he was old enough. Magica De Spell offered a safe haven, but Shera Mallard refused. His Aunt wanted him to abandon the practice of quadworth magic and have a simple safe life. She and Magica argued a lot. Shera didn't care about St. Canard or the possible end of the world. She just wanted her only remaining relative to be safe. Magica convinced her, that if Drake didn't fill the role of the Purple Champion, no one will be safe.    

As the year’s past, the cirque slowly became bankrupt without the backing of McDuck, and couldn’t meet the Beagle’s demand this year. The people of St. Canard heard rumors of Cirque Du Duck being a partner of the Beagle Boys, and its reputation suffered. Drake had enough. He was tired of everyone trying to protect him and treating him like he was helpless. He could fiend for himself and protect others. Sergei laid down his life to protect his home and he intended to do the same. No one was going to suffer at the hands of the Beagle Boys again. He was going to protect everyone, even if it meant going against Shera and Magica, and getting dangerous.

 /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

 Drake hustled to the fire pit; the Beagles always picked up the cash there. When he arrived, there wasn't a soul in sight. He let out a groan of frustration, no one was where they're supposed to be. Elmo had known Drake had planned to take action this year, he and Ratcliff would do anything to not have the repeat to the Macawber house fire. An ear-piercing scream came from the east side of the camp followed by shouts. Drake started to run in that direction. He was worried that he might be too late.

 A little earlier

 Elmo and Negaduck made their way to the east end of the camp. The rat looked over Negan. Drake never mentioned a cousin before. Elmo looked around again then to his communications device. He was nervous, the Beagle Boys hadn’t responded to him since he told them that the Cirque Du Duck couldn’t make quota this year. Elmo was considered a child genius and had the know-how to rival any electrical engineer. However, he was known to have sticky fingers, and shoplifted items to further his own projects. The Beagles took notice and put the 15-year-old on their payroll. However, Elmo only agreed to join, to be eyes and ears of Ratcliff. He never forgot the damage the caused to his family and friends. Besides, the money he gained from the Beagle Boys, helped pay them off every year.

When they made it to the east end of the camp, Thick was there with other beagles armed with guns and bats. “Thick what are you doing here?” Elmo asked. “I thought we were to meet at the fire pit like every year.” Thick left the group of Beagles “Sparky,” Thick addressed Elmo playfully. “We were wondering where you were, sorry if this is short notice,” he paused when he saw Negaduck. Thick handed a crowbar to a startled Elmo. “Ma doesn’t trust you enough you see, said you tell everyone at the cirque our plan.” Thick’s expression turned serious.

“The Cirque Du Duck didn’t pay their can’t pay their dues this year. So we are going take possession of anything we want.” This is your chance to prove her wrong. Your gonna help us reteach these clowns what happens when they don’t pay the Beagle Boys.” Elmo stared at the crowbar then back at Thick. Some of the Beagles snickered. Poe took flight with the Negaduck’s pup in his talons and vanished into the crowd. Elmo could feel the eyes of the beagles and the crowd that began to form. He began to tremble.  “I...” Sputterspark stuttered. “I support the gang...bu..but...I..ca..cant...”

Thick’s faced darkened. “Ma was wrong,” he growled. “She thought you would be a traitor, but you’re a coward.” The large beagle lowered his gaze to Negaduck. “I bet you even brought Ziptonia’s brat as a peace offering!” he barked. Elmo wanted to run, but he couldn’t abandon Negan to the mercy of the Beagles. He grabbed Negan's arm and was prepared bolt. Negan, however, didn't move an inch, when Elmo faced the duckling, he was surprised to see him looking directly at Thick. The expression on Negan's face was smug and was daring Thick. Thick scoffed. “Well, well, little Drakey has come out to play," Thick said under the impression that he was talking to Drake. "Haven't seen you in 5 years, your aunt and that witch always make sure you're not around. Come to get your revenge?"

Thick approached Negaduck and put his hand on his shoulder. “Tell me, Mallard," he said tauntingly. "Do you even have the guts to stand up to me? The rest of your cirque family sure don’t. Don’t even remember the last time someone stood up to the Beagle Boys?” The last thing Thick saw was Negaduck's pointy teeth and a metal glint before the sound of an engine starting. Negaduck pulled his chainsaw in an upward swing and severed Thick's arm from his body. Thick fell backward holding his wound. Elmo jumped back, away from Negan. “What the hell is wrong with you!” The rat exclaimed as he rushed over to Thick. “Do you have any idea of who this is?!” Thick’s panicked screams attracted the attention of the nearby beagles and startled onlookers. Negaduck walked up to Thick and Elmo, his chainsaw still running.

“Looks like someone whose mother wasn’t wrong when she named him “Thick”. Negaduck said in a superior tone. The duckling knelt to Thick's eye level. Thick glowered at the bold duck. “For starters,” Negaduck continued. “I’m not Drake Mallard, I’ am Negan. Secondly, I don’t take kindly to threats.” A large shadow rose from behind Negaduck. He dodged to the left as a crowbar came down. The other beagles formed a protective circle around Thick. Two of them scooped him up and the remaining 5 had their attention on Negaduck. “You will pay for that!” A beagle with a bat shouted. “Yeah,” another beagle responded with a rifle in his hand. “Nobody attacks Thick Beagle and gets away with it!”

The Beagle with a rifle took aim at Negaduck, Elmo tackled him causing him to miss. “No!” he shouted. The rat didn’t want blood on his hands. All hell broke loose and the beagles charged Negaduck. Negaduck blocked an incoming bat with the broadside of the chainsaw and kicked its wielder away. A medium-sized dog came at him from the side with a machete. The duckling turned his attention toward him. He sidestepped out of the way of the dog’s blade and brought down the saw diagonally upon his left shoulder. The doge’s head and right arm flew from his body. Negaduck peered at the horrified beagle to his right. The short beagle dropped his crowbar and ran. “Coward!” Negaduck yelled after him. The ducking’s attention was now on the thin beagle on the ground. He had fallen back when Negaduck had killed his comrade. He had come here unarmed and was in a state of shock.

The motor of the chainsaw died down. Negaduck tossed it aside and approached him with a wicked grin on his face. He loved the adrenal rush he got from a fight. “Don’t worry,” Negaduck said pounding his fist into his hand. “I’ll fight fair." The unarmed beagle found his courage and charged Negaduck. He balled his fist and punched with all his might. Negaduck grabbed his arm mid-swing and pulled the dog in close to kick him. The duckling stepped back but didn't let go of his victim's arm. He used his free arm to punch the beagle twice in the chest. Negaduck released the bruised beagle and he toppled over and landed with a thud. Negaduck jumped on top of the disoriented dog, the crowd stood there gaping at the small violent duckling. He had been able to take out the people who had terrorized them for years.

Negaduck began to bludgeon the beagle's face in. All that could be heard was the sound of his fist hitting the dog until the click of a rifle caught Negaduck's attention. The beagle armed with a rifle had pushed Elmo aside and aimed the yellow-clad duckling. "Die you fucking monster!!" He yelled. An arrow struck the ground near his foot resulting in the beagle ducking for cover. Negaduck looked in the direction it came from. Drake was armed with a crossbow and looked both horrified and angry. The Bludgeoned beagle took the opportunity to push Negaduck off him and retreat. He tried to grab the machete. Drake fired another arrow the nearly took off the beagle’s hand. “No," Drake said warningly.

“Burger!” Elmo shouted. He was with the beagle that carried the bat. They had gathered up Thick, who had lost a lot of blood. “We need to go!” he continued as knocked out Thick so the Sanitatem Trance could take effect. Burger abandoned the fight and ran to Elmo. The larger beagle looked at the dead dog on the ground. "Bouncer," Elmo barked. "There is nothing we can do for Luiseno now; we need to leave!" Bouncer growled and took a sleeping Thick from Elmo. "Wait until I get my hands on Big Time for running off like that!" He said. Burger shouted but his words were hard to understand with the blood splattering out his mouth. "Wi b bck ith or of us nd eww bs sorey.” Bouncer translated. “You Clowns made a big mistake; we will tear this place to the ground!” They proceeded to follow Elmo to leave the camp.

Negaduck picked up his chainsaw and darted in the direction of the Beagle Boys. “Do you think you can get away that easily?” he snarled. Drake dropped his crossbow and chased after Negaduck and tackled him to the ground. Negaduck rolled from under him and jumped to his feet. Drake stood up and was between Negaduck and the fleeing Beagle Boys. “What are you doing?!” Negaduck hissed. “They’re getting away!”. Drake stood his ground. “So, you can kill more of them!? No, you have done enough damage," he responded waving his hand over Luiseno. “This place has seen enough violence to last a lifetime!” Negaduck glowered and saw Drakes loaded crossbow on the ground.

“Oh, don’t act like a knight in shining armor,” he scoffed. “Why bring a weapon with you if you were not planning a little attack of your own? You knew they were coming. You want to tell me that I 'm the violent one?!” Drake scowled and fired back. “I want to defeat my enemies not become like them! I planned to scare them off that's all.” Negaduck rolled his eyes. “Take it from someone who deals with gangs all the time, you want to bump them off as soon when you get the first change.” Negaduck said. Besides, you can’t deny that they deserve it." Negaduck had pieced together what Thick had said when he thought Negaduck was Drake. "On that, I agree," Drake said. "But it doesn't mean I am judge, jury, and executioner."

“Boys!!” a familiar female voice rang out like a stern mother. Negaduck and Drake turned to face Nega-Magica De Spell with Poe in tow. Negaduck turned pale as a sheet. He looked at Drake who was the same color, it was nice to know the witch scared as him just as much. The ducklings looked around themselves. Drake’s arrows protruded from the ground, the beagle's weapons were scattered everywhere, and one lay dead in two pieces on the ground. The area was completely clear. The fight had scared them off. Negaduck was cover in blood and some of it got onto Drake. Normally Drake would have had a fit about it, but he had more pressing matters to worry about at the time. "Poe came and found me," she said coolly. "Come, we shall talk privately.” They followed her back to her caravan.

Magica’s caravan was old and made of wood. It had none of the modern amenities, the ancient sorceress never needed them and the iron and steel objects messed with her magic. The walls were lined with books and jars containing the remains of animals. Morgana came out of the caravan and went straight to Drake. Magica had taken the orphan under her care and raised her as an apprentice. The 5-year-old scowled at Drake. "Uncle Poe came by and took Mommy with him," she said. "He said the Beagle Meanies came by and they were gonna hurt you, but here you are safe and sound!" Morgana grabbed Drake by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to her eye level. "Now, I'm mad at you!" she exclaimed. "You made me worry if you be ok, how are you going to be my big brother if your dead?!”

Negaduck watched as Morgana lectured Drake. Drake just stood there and nodded and took it. “Look, I am sorry I made you worry,” he said. “But what do expect me to do? The Beagle Boys could have hurt someone or burn down another attraction. We can’t live like this forever; we’re going to start standing up for ourselves." Morgana looked down at her shoes "I don't want to have another reason to visit St. Canard Cemetery." She murmured. Drake hugged her. "Don't worry," he said," you won't." Negaduck rolled his eyes at the sediment and made a gagging sound. Morgana tore away from Drake and stomped over to Negaduck. She looked the chainsaw wielder up and down, quickly looked back Drake then back to Negaduck. Her expression changed from hurting anger to that of a giddy little girl.

“Your Negaduck!” she said excitedly and started to talk a mile a minute. "Mommy is always talking about the Negaverse but never lets me see it. Humm... Your taller than she said you were, but your still short like Drake...” she stopped for a moment and her face lit up “Have you met the Negaverse version of me? What is she like? Are you her big brother?” My name is Morgana Macawber by the way” Negaduck shrugged. “I haven’t met her.” He replied. Before Morgana could ask anything else, Magica cut in. "Morgana, you have chores to do," she said. "You can talk to Negaduck and Drake after they're done. Morgana opened her mouth to protest but thought better not to. "Ok, I'll go help Shera with laundry duty," she said reluctantly. Her eyes fell on Drake. "I'll tell her your home and you didn’t get into a fight.” She winked at Drake and scurried off.

Magica waited till she was out of sight then turned her attention to Drake and Negaduck. The boys stood up straight at attention. De Spell rubbed the bridge between her eyes. “ I want an explanation from the both of you as to how Negaduck got the Posiverse, why you both are covered in blood, and why Negaduck hasn’t returned to the Negaverse. Poe has already told me, but I want to hear it from you.” Magica put up her hand as the pair began to speak. “It better not start with, "I thought I could do it” or “It was a bad idea in retrospect.” She said mimicking their voices. They grew quiet, then recounted the events of the alleyway. 

Chapter 8

https://masked-mallards.tumblr.com/post/612850497304641536/masked-mallards-the-multiverse-and-everything

Chapter 6

https://masked-mallards.tumblr.com/post/190716333084/masked-mallards-the-multiverse-and-everything

Chapter1

https://masked-mallards.tumblr.com/post/190578269234/masked-mallards-the-multiverse-and-everything

[psychosistr]

Friendly Four Verse- Meetings Part 2: Bushroot

Summary: A few months into the dynamic duo’s heroic partnership, Megavolt and Quackerjack encounter a rather interesting, if a bit grumpy, plant mutant by the name of Bushroot. Is the poisonous plant-duck really as bad as he seems, or is there potential for friendship, and more, to bloom from their encounters?

Notes: As stated in the previous chapter, this one’s going to be a bit longer and go into the three character’s backstories a bit more. Enjoy!

Also, quick trigger warning because there is a scene that briefly deals with child abuse.

-First Chapter-

Megavolt and Quackerjack ran into Bushroot three times before they convinced him to join their little team.

The first time was at an old gardening supply store that had been out of business for years- thanks to the heavy pollution in the air, as well as a strict “no flowers in the city” law enforced by Negaduck and his goons, places like that were the hardest hit.

Still, even if it was a long-dead hobby, it seemed that some people still saw fit to loiter around the dilapidated building. This led to a rather noisy conflict that caught Megavolt and Quackerjack’s attention one day while they were out on patrol. When the pair followed the sounds of destruction and violence, they found a group of local thugs lying sprawled out in various states around the building- one face-first in a trashcan, one bent over an old bench, one shorter man hanging from the shop’s busted door, and another tied up with a gardening hose.

Following the noises into the building, Megavolt keeping one finger charged and Quackerjack priming one marble between his thumb and forefinger in preparation for a fight if they had to, they found another member of the gang from outside currently engaged in battle with what, to their surprise, appeared to be some sort of mutant plant creature.

The mutant plant creature was once a duck, its bill clearly giving that much away. It seemed rather thin, with thorn-covered vines for arms and a cluster of three oblong and lightly-pointed leaves of varying sizes (two large ones and one smaller) at the end of each arm to form its hands. The thorns lessened the closer they got to its shoulders until they reached its torso, which was a solid mass of green the same shade as its vines and actually seemed slightly fuzzy with fine hairs that were visible all over its upper-half. Halfway-down its torso, the green color gradually faded to brown where the fuzzy texture lessened and the texture became woodier, giving it hips and legs that looked like branching, vine-like roots woven together to form the lower appendages in a facsimile of a regular duck’s feet (if slightly more jagged due to the branching off roots here and there).

What caught the heroes’ attention the most, however, was its head: It was green like the rest of its upper body, but with surprisingly bright blue eyes. Or, rather, they assumed both eyes were blue, as one was covered by a large flower petal that fell over half of its face. Sprouting from the top of the mutant’s head was a giant flower that seemed to serve as a sort of “hair-style” for it with five main petals- one curled downward to cover its face, as well as two a little further back that were half-way between drooping at the same level as the one in the front or standing up parallel to the top of its head like the last two on the back of its head- and a cluster of much smaller yellow petals that stood straight up to cover the center of its head.

While they’d encountered quite a few mutants during both of their time as superheroes, this one definitely caught both Megavolt and Quackerjack by surprise with how colorful it looked in comparison.

“Look..this is the last warning I’m gonna give you.” The plant mutant said in a voice that spoke volumes regarding his (they could tell by the voice now) irritation. “Turn around, walk back out to your friends, and LEAVE. ME. ALONE.” Oh yeah, he was definitely irritated and ready to hurt whatever set him off next.

Which, unfortunately, seemed to be the punk currently trying to pick a fight with him. “Ha! You think THOSE chumps are my friends?! Those losers ain’t got nothin’ on me!” He flicked open the knife in his hand and charged at the mutant plant-duck with clear intent.

Quackerjack and Megavolt were about to intervene and break up the fight, when, with a tired and irritated sigh, the plant-duck raised one of his leafy hands and made a snapping motion (no snap came of it, though, because of the texture of his hand, merely a rustling sound). “Spot.”

All three other occupants in the room were briefly confused by the gesture and the seemingly out-of-nowhere word…until they heard a barking sound and the heavy “thump thump thump” of something approaching on multiple limbs.

When the sound got close enough, everyone but the plant mutant was shocked to see a giant purple pitcher plant the size of a mini-van running around on four vines like a large dog. Actually, comparing it to a dog seemed to be pretty accurate, since it opened the top-leaf that served as the upper portion of its mouth and let out a barking sound when it arrived at its master’s side. “Woof! Woof!” As it ran in a circle around its master, Quackerjack and Megavolt could even see a happily wagging “tail’ covered in small white flowers growing out of a green spot on its back.

The plant-duck gave the overly excited pitcher plant a pat on the head before pointing a leafy finger at the current source of his irritation. “Go play, Spot.”

The pitcher plant let out another happy bark before running towards the punk that tried to pick a fight with its master. “Woof!”

Seeing he was clearly outmatched by the giant plant monster, the thug screamed and ran away in fear. “AAAAAH!”

“Uh, Quackerjack..we should probably do something to stop this, huh..?” Megavolt finally asked once the bizarreness of the situation had a chance to settle in his mind.

“Huh?” Quackerjack blinked, finally being brought out of his own state of disbelief. “Oh! Yeah, right, right! You take Dr.Plant-little and I’ll go play with the dog, deal?”

“Works for me.” Megavolt nodded his agreement, the two doing a quick back-handed version of a fist-bump before running off to face their chosen enemies. Megavolt ran over to where the mutated duck was now grabbing a wheelbarrow and filling it with dusty old bags of plant food. “Hold it right there!” He pointed dramatically at the frustrated foliage-themed fiend.

The response he got was an irritated groan when the mutant allowed the plant food in his arms to drop roughly into the wheelbarrow. “What?” He shot Megavolt a glare that, were it tangible, would probably strangle him or set him on fire.

“Acts of violence and thievery are not welcome in this town!” Megavolt pointed at the wheelbarrow accusingly.

“Gee, could’ve fooled me. You DO realize you’re in Saint Canard, right?” The irritated mutant asked sarcastically with a cocked brow and a scowl on his face.

Megavolt scowled slightly himself when the plant-duck brushed him off after that comment and went back to filling his wheelbarrow. “Just because a few people choose to commit crimes doesn’t make it right! If you don’t surrender now, we WILL be forced to subdue you!” He shot a small spark of electricity at the ground near the rooted-feet of his enemy to show he was serious.

Blue eyes momentarily glanced down at where the spark hit before vine-shoulders shrugged indifferently as the rest of the arms continued their work. “You can try- won’t make a difference.” He finished his task and turned his head to call his pet. “Spot, let’s go!” When he didn’t receive a response right away, he started looking around for the giant plant. “Spot?”

Megavolt smirked triumphantly and folded his arms over his chest. “My partner is taking care of your wicked weed as we speak, villain!”

He received a glare from that comment, the irritated plant-person about to say something back to him, but they were interrupted by the loud “thump thump” of the approaching plant-beast.

“Down, boy! Heel!” He heard Quackerjack shout over the thunderously loud footsteps.

Tilting his head to get a better view, Megavolt spotted the clown-hero being dragged behind the pitcher plant by a length of neon-green jump rope tied to the beast’s legs. He could also see that the dog-like mutant’s other feet sported similar ropes of varying colors that had apparently been broken off from whatever they were tied to before.

Megavolt managed to grab onto Quackerjack when the excited plant ran by, helping him up onto his feet. “You okay?”

Quackerjack shook himself briefly to get rid of some of the dirt and dust that had coated the front of his costume. “Yeah..gotta say, I prefer walking the dog with a yo-yo…”

Their attention returned to the pair of purloining plants when the pitcher-dog leaned down and opened its large mouth expectantly. “Try not to eat all of it, okay? Save some for the others.” When the plant nodded to show it understood, the smaller mutant rolled the wheelbarrow directly into its gaping maw. “Alright, let’s head home.” He patted the beast’s head once it closed its mouth. Just as they were about to leave, though, their path was blocked by the colorful heroes, making the former-duck roll his eyes. “Seriously? What are you even gonna do? Arrest me? If you haven’t noticed, there aren’t any prisons around here…well, except for the ones Negaduck uses..”

Megavolt and Quackerjack picked up a bit of loathing in the way the mutant spoke of their town’s dictator, but didn’t have time to question it as the giant dog-like pitcher plant tried to run past them.

Pointing a finger at the plant’s path, Megavolt fired of a bolt of electricity that startled the giant mutant and made it back up a few feet. “!!”

Megavolt stood in the pair’s way, his voice strong and full of conviction while his face was set in a determined glare. “We may have nowhere to send you..but that doesn’t mean we can just let criminals continue to do as they please.”

“This town won’t change unless guys like us MAKE IT change.” Quackerjack was instantly at his side, his baseball bat gripped firmly in his hand and clearly ready for a fight.

The plant-duck looked down slightly after they delivered their lines, a bitter scowl on his face that felt…kind of sad, honestly. “Hmph..what a bunch of sentimental garbage..” He did the snapping motion again. “Spot, head home- I’ll catch up with you.” The pitcher plant started to whine at him, but he gave it a firm glare. “NOW, Spot.”

The plant whimpered, but did as it was told and tried to run past the heroes again.

Once again they prepared to stop it, but, this time, they were the ones who were stopped. Specifically, they were stopped by a pair of leafy hands that stretched over and grabbed each of them by one of their arms, tossing them aside as if they weighed nothing at all.

Megavolt landed on top of some old planting pots (plastic, thankfully, not clay or ceramic) and garden hoses, while Quackerjack managed to right himself in the air and flip over on top of an old gardening tool stand. “!!”

Since Megavolt was a bit disoriented from hitting the pots and tangled in the rubber hoses, Quackerjack was the first one to fight back. He reached into his handy toy-pouch and pulled out a handful of his brightly colored exploding marbles. “So, what should we call you?” He asked while jumping off of the stand and shooting the marbles at the plant mutant one after another using his thumb. “Flower Power? Creep Vine? Poison Ivy- wait, that last one feels copy-righted-”

“Don’t you ever stop talking?” To his credit, the plant man was pretty quick on his feet. He was able to dodge all of Quackerjack’s attacks by running serpentine through the store. What was even more impressive was that, when he ran into obstacles, the roots that formed his feet would detangle and spread out to allow him to climb over anything with ease. At one point, he vanished from sight behind an old shelf full of seed packets. “And I already have a name..” His voice echoed through the store, making it hard for Quackerjack to pinpoint his exact location…until the voice came from directly above him with an irritated sneer. “It’s Bushroot.”

“!!” Quackerjack looked up in alarm to see the plant duck hanging from the rafters by his completely unraveled lower half. He brought his hand back, a different colored marble situated between each finger, and prepared to throw them. However, before he had the chance, something green wrapped around his wrist and restrained it. “Huh?!”

Turning his head, Quackerjack saw that he was being held back by what appeared to be a bunch of dandelions. Following the trail of long stems and flowers, he saw that they originated from a torn-open packet of seeds by the shelf that Bushroot had vanished behind earlier.

“Quackerjack! Look out!” He heard Megavolt calling to him from the other side of the store.

Looking up, he saw Bushroot dropping down from the ceiling as his legs reformed. He landed right in front of Quackerjack and managed to smack the bat out of his other hand before the clown had time to react. With his main weapon gone and his other hand unable to access his backups, Bushroot was able to hold Quackerjack still long enough for more dandelions and various other plants now growing from the wall of seeds to wrap around Quackerjack and fully restrain him.

“Never was a fan of clowns.” Bushroot mused as he looked over the tied-up harlequin. “Except for mimes since, you know, they don’t talk.” He pinched Quackerjack’s beak shut with one leafy hand to prove his point and a tomato vine wrapped around his mouth to effectively muzzle him. And, apparently because either Bushroot, the plant, or both had a sense of humor, the vine sprouted a big red tomato right on the tip of his beak in a mocking gesture. “There, much better.” He grabbed the vines around Quackerjack’s torso and tossed him behind the long-unused register counter. Right afterwards, though, he had to duck to avoid a bolt of electricity that nearly hit him in the face. “Oh yeah..almost forgot about you..”

Megavolt glared at him, now standing up and free of the rubber hoses that had bound him earlier. “This ends now, Bushroot.”

“Wow, talk about cliché.” Bushroot scoffed with a roll of his eyes, one hand resting on his hip and the other doing a lazy “come on” gesture. “Alright, Sparky, let’s get this over with.”

“Don’t call me Sparky.” Megavolt charged electricity down to his hands to prepare his attack, opting for a close-range assault since Quackerjack’s distance strategy offered too many ways for the sneaky creature to escape or hide. “The name’s Megavolt!” He clenched his hands into fists and ran at the plant-hybrid, swinging the charged appendages at the surprisingly agile duck.

Much to Megavolt’s annoyance (and mild amazement), Bushroot was able to dodge every single one of his punches by either using his agile feet to side-step away, or by bending his body at unnatural angles since he seemed to lack bones that would hinder his movements. “You guys are really serious about this whole ‘hero’ thing, huh?” His upper body bent and twisted sideways to avoid a blow to his head. “Word of advice-”

Megavolt felt something wrap around his ankle and looked down briefly to investigate. “Wha-?!” He saw plants, similar to the ones that had caught Quackerjack earlier, grabbing his leg.

“In this world, nice guys ALWAYS finish last.” Bushroot finished his sentence right as the dandelions lifted Megavolt off of the ground and started taking him up towards the rafters.

“Dang it!” Megavolt turned his still mildly-charged hands on the vines and reached up to grab them. Passing the current in his hands into the green stems and leaves, he freed himself by burning the plants holding him captive. That, unfortunately, caused him to start plummeting to the ground. “Woah!” Thinking quickly, he magnetized his shoes and was able to catch himself on a rickety old rack of chicken-wire- the springiness of the light-weight wires able to cushion his landing.

Recovering from the fall, Megavolt rushed to get back up onto his feet, preparing himself for whatever attack was about to come next. To his surprise, though, there was no attack waiting for him.

Instead, he saw Bushroot holding out his hands so that the burned plants could fall down from the ceiling into his waiting grasp. “Shh..it’s okay..” He soothed the slightly quivering flowers by patting them gently with two of his leafy fingers. He then carefully started pinching off the burned pieces of the plants until only the green was left. Once it was clear, he rubbed the raw edges of the stems to soothe them further. “There we go..little water, some food, and you’ll be good to go..” He moved the flowers up onto his shoulders, where they curled around him like some sort of scarf or a pet snake.

“……” Megavolt was…well, for lack of a better word, SHOCKED by the surprisingly tender display. He’d never seen a villain act so caring or paternal towards their weapons and/or minions before.

While he was caught in that stunned state of trying to process what he’d just seen, Bushroot stretched one of his already long arms so that it could reach the area of garden hoses that Megavolt had fallen in earlier. “Alright, I’m bored. Let’s wrap this up.” He brought the hose over to himself and gripped it in both hands while glaring at Megavolt.

Still a bit thrown off from the villainous vegetation’s previous demeanor, Megavolt clenched his hands into fists again. “Y-Yeah..right..” He charged a little electricity into them, but it was nowhere near the amount he’d used before- his heart just wasn’t in it this time.

The two rushed at each other again, Megavolt throwing punches while Bushroot evaded. Only, this time, Bushroot looked for openings and, when he found them, bound Megavolt’s hands one after the other by catching them mid-strike with the rubber hose. This was a sound strategy, as the rubber was not only difficult to break out of, but it also cut off the flow of Megavolt’s electricity.

Soon enough, Bushroot had both of Megavolt’s hands tied behind his back and had even tied them to his feet for good measure. “There..” He let out an exhausted sigh when he finished and lifted Megavolt easily by his arm, tossing him behind the counter next to the still bound and squirming Quackerjack. “Do me a favor next time you see me-” Bushroot leaned over the register-counter to glare down at the pair of heroes, a stern, warning tone to his voice. “Leave me ALONE.” Having said his piece, he turned and walked away, but not before calling one last message over his shoulder. “Oh, and for the record- THEY started it.”

After Bushroot left, it took about twenty minutes of Megavolt biting through the vines tying up Quackerjack for the clown to finally break free and untie the electrical rodent as well.

“Sooo…” Quackerjack began, leaning back on his hands and stretching his legs out in front of him. “We just got our butt’s handed to us by a talking thorn bush, huh?”

“Yeah.” Megavolt rubbed at his sore wrists under his gloves. “Yeah, we did..”

Neither of them were strangers to losing battles- it kind of came with the hero territory, especially in a city of so many super-powerful beings in a place like Saint Canard- but, since they’d teamed up, the two of them were usually able to handle whatever adversary they came across with varying degrees of ease or difficulty.

In the months since the two had known each other, aside from Negaduck and his lackeys they had NEVER fought someone that was both strong and clever enough to beat them so effortlessly and it was, honestly, a bit unnerving.

Quackerjack jumped up to his feet, offering Megavolt a hand up. “Wanna track him back to his lair?” Megavolt pulled himself up with Quackerjack’s help, but, before he could answer, something on the counter caught the jester’s eye. “Huh? Hold the phone, Megs..” He reached over with his free hand and grabbed the object he’d spotted by the register, showing it to Megavolt. “Check this out..”

Megavolt’s eyes widened when he saw the crumpled up wad of fifty dollar bills in Quackerjack’s hand. “He PAYED?!!!”

“Yeah..” Quackerjack looked down at the money as well. “If he’s supposed to be a villain, he sure doesn’t make a lot of CENTS.”

Megavolt rolled his eyes slightly at the pun, but was too busy processing everything they’d just witnessed.

Maybe there was more to the moody plant mutant than there appeared to be…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second time they ran into Bushroot, Megavolt and Quackerjack were responding to a shrill scream and had gone to investigate.

When they arrived, they saw Bushroot lifting a crying little dog girl with white fur up onto the back of his pitcher plant pet while a woman, clearly the girl’s mother, shouted at him.

“You put her down this instant, you disgusting freak!” The woman shouted, seething with anger but keeping her distance since she clearly understood that attacking him would be unwise. “Give her back RIGHT NOW!”

Bushroot just scowled at her and folded his thorny arms over his chest with a cocked brow. “Oh yeah? And what if I say no? What are YOU gonna do about it? Hit me?” When her only answer was to glare and fume silently, the corner of Bushroot���s beak lifted slightly in a smirk. “Uh huh. That’s what I thought.” He turned back to the girl and his pet and patted Spot on his side. “C’mon, Spot, let’s go.”

“Not so fast, Bushroot!” Megavolt shouted, sending a warning spark from the tip of his finger to land near the plant mutant’s feet and get his attention.

Bushroot turned to look at the heroic duo and glared. “You two? Seriously?”

“Yep. Us two. Seriously.” Quackerjack replied sarcastically with a grin before sticking his tongue out at the grumpy plant man childishly.

“Return that girl to her mother right now!” Megavolt commanded while pointing another electrically-charged finger at Bushroot.

Bushroot didn’t flinch or even bat an eye at the tone of Megavolt’s voice or the clear but unspoken threat of physical violence. “Yeah- not gonna happen.” He folded his arms over his chest, eyes narrowed in a silent warning of his own. “You couldn’t stop me last time- this won’t be that different.” He unfolded one arm and patted Spot on his side. “Get her out of here, Spot- go.”

“Woof!” Spot let out a loud bark and ran off, bounding past the heroes and the girl’s mother thanks to Bushroot reaching his long arms over to shove all three of them aside roughly.

“No!” Megavolt scrambled to his feet and ran after the pitcher plant. “I’ll get the girl!”

“I don’t think so.” Bushroot tried to grab him again to prevent his pursuit, but his long arm was suddenly pinned to the ground by the tip of Quackerjack’s bat.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Quackerjack wagged one finger at Bushroot in a scolding manner. “You get to play with me first, Bush-brain.” Quackerjack flicked his bat, sending the green appendage back in the direction of its owner and standing in Bushroot’s path with a challenging grin on his face. “You won our game of hide and seek last time, so I think I should get to choose the game this time. Sound like fun?”

Bushroot glared at him with an irritated scowl. “Sounds like something, but fun’s not the word I’d choose..”

“Awww, c’moooonn- this one’s a classic!” Quackerjack gave him a fake pout and reached into his toy pouch to grab something. “It was one of my FAVORITE games for recess.” He pulled out a small red sphere that, when he pressed a button on the bottom, inflated into a big red ball. “Dodgeball!!” The excited clown shouted as he threw the ball at Bushroot.

Bushroot easily dodged the ball by leaning to the side. “Eh, never really saw the appeal of dodgeball..the ‘dodge’ part’s fine-” He suddenly ducked, narrowly avoiding the ball when it rebounded off of a wall behind him and nearly hit him in the head. “It’s the ‘ball’ part I’m not a fan of…” He glared at the ball that was now faintly flashing red.

Quackerjack held out his hand and the ball returned to it as if it were magnetic. “What? Seriously? But half the game’s only half the fun!” He tossed the ball again with a chuckle. “Why don’t you try and catch it!”

Bushroot dodged the ball again both times- the first time when it was thrown at him and then again when it rebounded back to Quackerjack. “Gee, thanks, but…no.” He replied sarcastically. “It probably explodes or something, right?”

“Or something.” Quackerjack answered vaguely with a mischievous grin and a giggle. “You’ll see when you lose!” He reached into the pouch again and pulled out a handful of the little red balls, tossing them on the ground to activate them.

Meanwhile, Megavolt was in hot pursuit of the pitcher plant and the girl clinging fearfully to its back. He had magnetized his shoes and was now skating across the tops of the power lines, using the electrical currents running through them to go even faster.

Finally seeing an opening, he jumped over to another set of cables and slid down to the ground so that he ended up ahead of Spot and the girl. “Sit!” He commanded, holding a hand out to stop the plant in its tracks.

“Woof!” Instantly, the puppy-minded plant skidded to a halt and sat down on the ground in front of Megavolt, its tail wagging excitedly.

“Good boy.” Megavolt praised, slowly walking closer. “Now..just give me the girl..”

When he made a move to reach for her, however, the large plant suddenly stood up again and growled, even shaking its “head” back and forth in a negative motion. “Rrrrh!” It backed up, squatting slightly on its front legs like a dog ready to attack.

“Easy, boy..” Megavolt tried to soothe it with one hand, discretely charging electricity into his other hand while hiding it behind his back just in case. It appeared to be working at first, so Megavolt took a step closer. “That’s it..just relax..I just want to-”

“Camilla, you get off of that disgusting thing THIS INSTANT!!” The voice of the woman from earlier suddenly shouted, making Megavolt turn his head to see her running up to them from down the street and looking rather winded.

Whatever progress he’d been making with Spot was suddenly and rudely shattered when the pet plant let out a decidedly darker and more vicious growl, backing away from Megavolt and the approaching woman. “!!!!!”

“AAAAAAH!” The girl, still clinging to Spot’s back, screamed and held onto it tighter when it began to move. “No!!”

The plant took off running again and Megavolt chased after it, firing off the electrical charge from his hand in an attempt to scorch one of its feet just badly enough to trip it.

The attack worked, but it sent the girl flying into the air. “!!” Megavolt ran as fast as he could, then, at the last second, he charged two blasts of energy to his feet and used them to propel himself up into the air. He managed to grab the girl and magnetized his shoes to some metal siding on a nearby building so they could slide down safely. “Whew..that was a close one..”

To his surprise, the girl in his arms started crying again and struggled in his grasp once they were on the ground. “No! Let me go! Let me go!”

“W-Woah, there! It’s okay! You’re safe now! I’m one of the good guys, promise!” He tried to calm her down and keep her from running away. However, in the process of doing so, and thanks to his closer proximity to her now, he saw something dark under her white far that he’d missed earlier. “Huh? Wait..” He carefully pushed some of the fur on her cheek aside and it confirmed what he thought he’d seen: Bruises. Large bruises of varying shapes and colors scattered between her face and her neck that were far too big, and some far too old, to have been caused by Bushroot with his leafy hands just a few minutes ago. “Who did this to you..?” He asked with a frown, his confusion replaced with concern and righteous fury for the poor girl’s state.

His question was quickly answered when the girl’s mother started to catch up to them. The girl saw her coming and gasped, a panicked look in her eyes. “Ah!” She squirmed out of Megavolt’s grasp and ran back over to the pitcher plant. “Help me! Please!”

Spot whimpered as it stood back up on its vines properly, but it lowered itself enough that the girl could climb onto it again. “Woof!”

As Megavolt watched the girl interacting with the pitcher plant- as he saw the fear in her eyes looking at her own mother and the way the injured giant waited until she was clinging to it securely to move again- he finally understood the truth of what happened.

“……” With a strong stride that spoke of firm convictions, Megavolt stepped out in front of the pitcher plant while facing the approaching woman. He raised a single finger and pointed it at her, firing a spark that hit the ground near her feet. “That’s far enough!”

The woman gasped in surprise and nearly fell back to avoid the warning shot. “Wha-?! What are you doing?! That beast has my daughter! Aren’t you supposed to be a hero or something?! Do the right thing and BRING. HER. TO. ME!” The indignation and rage was clear in her voice, but Megavolt chose to ignore her.

“I am doing the right thing.” Megavolt turned around to face Spot, holding one hand out by way of a peace offering and keeping the other one visible this time to show he wasn’t planning anything. “Sorry about earlier. Can you take me back to Bushroot?”

“……” Spot was quiet for a moment before barking and nuzzling Megavolt’s out-stretched hand. “Woof!” Spot kneeled down so that Megavolt could climb on too, its tail wagging happily behind it.

“Thanks, Spot.” Megavolt gave it a gentle pat on its head before climbing on behind the girl, holding onto Spot with one hand and her with the other to help steady her.

With an excited bark the plant took off running back the way they’d come from, though not without bowling over the indignant and enraged mother and knocking her into a pile of very old and disgusting trash bags along the way.

By the time they’d returned to where they’d left Quackerjack and Bushroot fighting, the tide had certainly turned in Quackerjack’s favor.

While he’d gone down from five flashing red balls to two, the sacrifice of his toys had been worth it: All across the impromptu battlefield were globs of a red putty-like substance that seemed very sticky and squishy at the same time.

Bushroot looked exceptionally irritated, as he was currently stuck in one of the globs. Specifically, his arm was stuck in one on the side of a building, leaving him pinned in place. “……” He glared silently at the giggling jester in front of him.

“Looks like you’ve gotten yourself in a pretty STICKY SITUATION, eh, Bushy?” Quackerjack teased while idly balancing the two remaining balls on the tip of his bat. “Maybe it’s time for you make like a tree and LEAF.” He laughed at his own joke, ignoring the way Bushroot rolled his eyes. “Unless you’d rather STICK AROUND!”

Bushroot scowled at him. “Do you EVER stop talking?”

“Hmmm…” Quackerjack tilted his head in mock-thought before shrugging. “Who knows? It’s a MYS-TREE to me!”

Bushroot groaned and looked down with a shake of his head. “That one barely even works…”

Their bantering was interrupted by the noisy return of Spot and his passengers. “Woof!”

“Spot?!” Bushroot stared at his pet in shock. “What are you doing?! I told you to get out of here!” The dog-like plant started to bark something at him, but it only seemed to rile him up more. “HE BURNED YOU?!!” Bushroot’s earlier shock turned into rage and he started pulling against the putty holding his arm to the wall.

“Hey, take it easy there, Bush-brain.” Quackerjack let one of the balls drop back into his other hand, preparing to throw it. “Don’t make me-” Whatever he was about to say died on his tongue when he saw the upper half of Bushroot’s trapped arm start to tear and green liquid ooze out. “H-Hey, take it easy! You don’t have to-!”

“!!!” With a pained hiss and a clenching of his teeth, Bushroot tore his own arm off to escape. “Out of my way!” He tried to run past Quackerjack, shoving the shocked clown out of his path with his remaining hand.

Still startled by the plant-duck’s act of self-mutilation, Quackerjack ended up dropping his bat and the remaining red balls he had. Regardless, he caught his balance and tried to grab Bushroot by his more in-tact arm. “Wait a sec-OW!” He winced when his bare hand met the various sizes of thorns on the viney appendage.

“Wha-?!” Bushroot’s anger turned to shock once more as he tried to snatch his arm away. “Are you an idiot?! Don’t touch me!!”

The warning seemed to come too late, though, and Quackerjack started to sway on his feet right as Megavolt finally reached them on Spot’s back. “Quackerjack?!” He jumped down and ran over just in time to catch his partner when he fell over. “Quackerjack!!”

“Sparky..?” Quackerjack wheezed out, his gaze hazy and unfocused. “I..I feel funny- not haha funny…why are you green…?” His eyes began to close and Megavolt felt a surge of dread creep into him.

“H-Hey! Come on, Quackerjack! Stay with me!” He patted the duck’s face a few times in an attempt to wake him up.

“Dang it..!” Bushroot scowled and snapped his leafy fingers at Spot. “Open up!” Spot did as it was asked and kneeled down low to the ground with its mouth wide open. Bushroot then walked over to the pair of heroes and grabbed Quackerjack’s hand to examine the thorns that had broken off into his skin. “We need to get him to my green house.” He tugged Megavolt along roughly by his elbow and pointed at Spot’s mouth. “Put him in there- head first.”

“……” Megavolt looked at the sticky interior of the purple plant, feeling reasonably hesitant about placing his partner in crime-fighting inside of a carnivorous plant.

“Oh, for the love of-!” Bushroot rubbed his hand over his face in annoyance. “We don’t have time for this! Look, Spot’s insides are sticky, so that’ll keep him from moving around! Plus he can start leeching out some of the toxins and thorns on the way there!” When Megavolt still hesitated, Bushroot snapped at him. “Do you want him to live or not?!!”

Megavolt blinked in surprise at the tone of the other man’s voice.

Yes, it was definitely frustrated, but it was a frustration born of something else…

Worry?

Desperation?

Concern?

Guilt?

He couldn’t tell at the moment, but, as he took one look from the frustrated expression on Bushroot’s face, to Quackerjack in his arms, then finally to the little girl still seated on Spot’s back, he made a decision he felt was the right one in that moment.

“Alright. I trust you.” Megavolt said as he carefully placed his friend into the large plant’s waiting mouth.

“……” Bushroot’s brows knit together for a brief moment at the other’s choice of words, but he ignored it with a shake of his head and reached in with his elongated arm to help settle Quackerjack properly- even making sure that his injured hand was palm-down against the area at the bottom of the plant’s body near a pool of liquid. “Get on.” He commanded with a jerk of his head as he followed his own advice and climbed on top of Spot.

Megavolt did as requested after grabbing Quackerjack’s bat and took his place from earlier behind the girl to help hold her in place.

The whole time they were riding on Spot’s back, Megavolt quietly prayed that his friend would be okay- that they would get to the greenhouse Bushroot spoke of in time. And that he really was making the right decision…

They reached their destination around sunset, the last of the light dwindling by the time they arrived at the surprisingly well-maintained greenhouse.

Bushroot was the first one to jump off of Spot’s back and he was already motioning for the pitcher plant to open up once again. “We don’t have much time left- carry him inside.” He directed the order to Megavolt once Spot opened its mouth enough for them to retrieve Quackerjack from inside. “Spot, take the girl and, I don’t know, go play with the petunias or something.”

Spot barked happily and ran off with the girl, taking her over to a small patch of dancing flowers just outside of the greenhouse. “Woof!”

Bushroot then led Megavolt inside, the various trees, shrubs, and flowers swaying and reacting to their master’s presence immediately. “Yeah, yeah, hey..” He grumbled as he made his way to an open patch of grass. With a wave of his hand, the patch of grass sprouted new plants that grew surprisingly quickly and smelled strongly of-

“Green tea leaves?” Megavolt questioned while sniffing the air.

“They can help stop bleeding.” Bushroot explained with a waving gesture indicating he wanted Megavolt to set Quackerjack down in the fragrant patch while he busied himself with going to various herbs and flowers around the green house. “Hey, guys..yeah, sorry, I hate to ask this..really? Okay, thanks, I appreciate it.” He went to an equipment locker against one of the walls and pulled out a bottle of water, a bowl, a jar of black powder, a pair of scissors, and, oddly enough, some surgical tubing and alcohol.

In a hurry, he carelessly dropped most of the gathered equipment on the floor, leaving only the bowl and scissors in his hand. As he started going around to the various plants he’d spoken with before, he carefully clipped off different pieces- seed pods, leaves, roots, even whole stalks or flowers- and collecting them in the bowl.

“Is there anything I can do?” Megavolt asked, feeling bad that he was just standing there doing nothing while his friend was dying –heck, even the tea leaves were helping out by removing the thorns still embedded in Quackerjack’s hand!

Bushroot paused a second to think over the question before pointing at the bottle with his scissors, keeping the bowl propped against his torso with his damaged arm. “Heat that up for me.”

Megavolt nodded while Bushroot continued gathering the ingredients he needed. “Got it.” He picked up the bottle and opened it before concentrating a small electrical current into the container. Minding his powers and controlling them could be difficult at times, but he kept his mind focused by reminding himself how important it was not to mess up. “For Quackerjack..” He muttered, closing his eyes and maintaining the current just enough to cause heat but trying not to warp or damage the plastic and spill the liquid inside.

“That’s good enough.” Bushroot’s voice cut through his thoughts and Megavolt opened his eyes to see the plant duck seated beside him on the ground with the bowl of plant parts in his lap. However long he’d been focusing on the bottle had apparently been enough time for Bushroot to chop up the various plants he’d gathered into tiny pieces. “Pour it in.” He instructed while managing to open the jar of black powder and pouring a fair amount of it into the bowl as well.

Megavolt did as he was told and poured the hot water into the bowl with the other ingredients, watching as Bushroot summoned a series of vines that rotated quickly like beaters for a mixer to combine the bowl’s contents accordingly. “What is that stuff anyway?”

“A few aromatic flowers to open up his airway, some herbs to restore any lost nutrients and boost his immune system, and some activated charcoal to absorb the toxins in his bloodstream.” Bushroot explained, checking the consistency of the mixture to make sure it was thin enough before dismissing the vines.

“Charcoal?” Megavolt questioned disbelievingly at the idea of putting charcoal into someone’s body. “Is that safe??”

“It’s a centuries-old, well-proven method for treating deadly nightshade poisoning.” Bushroot assured him while grabbing the surgical tubing. “Roll up his sleeve so I can find a vein.” Once Megavolt did as the plant-duck asked, Bushroot took the scissors from earlier and used them to cut a small incision into Quackerjack’s arm after finding the proper vein. “Good. Now, hold him still.”

Megavolt moved to the other side of Quackerjack’s unconscious body and held his arms down. “Just hold on a little longer, Quacky..” He said softly, looking down at the duck’s flushed and sweat-dampened feathered face as he remained completely unaware of what was going on around him.

Bushroot carefully inserted one end of the surgical tubing into the open wound, a large leaf-bearing plant sprouting up beside him and curling into the other end of the tube to act as a funnel. “Alright..here goes nothing…” He brought the bowl up to the make-shift funnel and began to pour in the freshly made medicine.

Quackerjack remained still at first…but that didn’t last long.

A few seconds after the mixture began to enter his veins, the duck’s eyes flew open and he stared ahead unseeingly. “!!!!” His mouth opened in a silent scream and he began to thrash against Megavolt’s hold in a panic.

“Quackerjack! Quackerjack, calm down!” Megavolt held his friend down harder, not wanting to hurt him but not being given much choice in the matter.

The silent screaming soon gave way to ACTUAL screaming once Bushroot finished pouring the mixture in. “Just hold him a little longer!” Once the bowl was empty, he tossed it aside and used his hand to hold the tube in place while the last of it entered Quackerjack’s bloodstream.

“Spiders! They’re crawling on me! In my brain! In my veins!” Quackerjack’s screaming began to form words, but they were all nonsense and he seemed deaf to Megavolt’s voice. “Ahahahaha! It tickles! I see it! Rainbows- so many colors! I can taste them! I-!” His eyes rolled back into his head and he gasped sharply before going still again, his eyes shutting.

Megavolt reached up to check the pulse on Quackerjack’s neck, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt the tell-tale thump of a heartbeat beneath his fingertips. “Is he gonna be okay? What was all that?” He questioned while looking at Bushroot with concern.

Bushroot took a seat and began carefully removing the tube from the clown’s arm. “He’ll be fine. Hallucinations and delirium are common side-effects of solanum carolinense poisoning, but his breathing is stable now and the poison’s moving out of his body thanks to the charcoal.” Once the tube was out, he held out his hand and another leafy plant grew so he could pluck the leaf and wrap it around the spot the tube had just occupied with some tea leaves underneath to help stop the bleeding.

“Good…” Megavolt said simply as they sat there and watched over Quackerjack. Unfortunately, now that the threat to his partner’s life was gone, things felt…awkward. “Um..thanks for helping him-”

“Don’t thank me.” Bushroot replied automatically without even looking at him.

They sat there in a tense silence for a few minutes while Megavolt tried to think of what else he could say.

“Sorry..about blasting Spot..and about your arm-” He began, feeling that would be an appropriate conversation starter.

Apparently Bushroot disagreed, however, because he cut Megavolt off once again. “We’re plants. We’ll heal. It’s fine.”

This was getting painful. Seriously, what do you say to someone you had pegged for a villain after they’ve saved your friend’s life?

“Is there..uh..something we can do to repay yo-” He tried to start another conversation, but was interrupted yet again.

“Just leave.” Bushroot said firmly, finally getting back up to gather his equipment. “And take the girl with you- you two can probably find a better place for her.” He turned away from Megavolt, using the bowl to hold everything he’d used that evening.

“Fine..” Megavolt conceded, carefully picking up Quackerjack’s unconscious body and making his way to the door.

When he was close to the exit, however, he heard Bushroot speak one more time. “He’s gonna feel nauseous when he wakes up- that’s normal. Make sure he stays hydrated, but no ice water or he’ll feel worse. If his fever comes back..just…I don’t know, bring him here or something…”

Megavolt couldn’t help but smile slightly at the plant-duck’s tone of voice. He was trying to come off as cold and clinical, like a doctor giving a diagnosis. But, beneath the harsh exterior and forced neutrality of his tone of voice, Megavolt could hear the genuine worry and caring nature hidden deep down that the odd creature was trying so hard to hide.

“I will. Thanks.” He replied without turning around.

“I told you not to thank-” Bushroot turned to snap at the hero, but it was his turn to be cut off- this time by the closing of the door after the two heroes were already gone.

Finally alone once more in his greenhouse (well, alone aside from his plants, of course), Bushroot allowed himself to heave a sigh, the tension releasing from his hunched shoulders all at once.

He looked oddly relieved..yet..sad…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The third time they ran into Bushroot was on purpose.

Bushroot was busy tending to his greenhouse when, much to his startled surprise, there was a knock at his front door. “?!” He glared suspiciously at the door, preparing for a fight, when Spot ran up to it and started barking excitedly. “Huh..?” Deciding to investigate, he walked to the door and squinted through the glass to see two very familiar color combinations standing outside. “Ugggh..” He rolled his eyes and opened the door to see a pair of heroes standing there “WHAT?” He asked with a clearly irritated expression, folding his thorned arms over his chest.

“Good to see you too, Bushy.” Quackerjack grinned at the clearly annoyed flower-headed duck, keeping one hand held behind his back. He looked at Bushroot’s arm and his smile softened slightly. “Your arm feeling okay?”

Bushroot spared a glance down at it and shrugged. “It grew back after a couple days.” He glanced over to Quackerjack’s hand- the one that had been pierced by his thorns and was now currently wrapped in bandages. “Your hand…?”

“Like almost-new.” Quackerjack noticed the look of poorly concealed concern and raised the wrapped hand up to wiggle each of the fingers in demonstration. “See?” He pointed his thumb at Megavolt with a childish pout. “The only reason I’m still wearing these is because Sparky here’s a worry-wart.”

“Don’t call me Sparky.” Megavolt replied automatically, but there wasn’t any real annoyance behind his words. “Can we come in for a bit?” He directed his attention back to Bushroot.

Bushroot eyed them skeptically, one brow cocked. “You’re not here to arrest me or something, right?”

“No, but that is part of what we wanted to talk to you about.” Megavolt’s answer was elusive, but his tone was straight-forward and honest- something Bushroot could appreciate.

“Fine..” The perpetually-grumpy plant-duck led them further into the green house. Not having any real furniture (due to not needing any), Bushroot had to wave his hand to summon soft, gigantic flowers for them to sit on- one by itself for him and two across from it for the others. “So..” He began while taking his seat. “What do you want?”

Quackerjack and Megavolt took their seats across from him, Quackerjack being the first one to speak after hiding whatever it was he’d brought in behind his back. “Gee, right to the point. Not even gonna offer us a drink first?” He teased.

“All I’ve got is water and pesticide.” Bushroot responded dryly. “Now, are you gonna tell me why you’re here, or should I just cut to the part where I throw you out?”

Megavolt sighed in mild annoyance and rubbed his eyes under his safety-glasses. “Ignore Quackerjack, he can’t be serious to save his life…literally.”

“Aw, it was one time!” Quackerjack pretended to pout before bursting into a fit of giggles. “Besides, the look on that witch’s face was priceless!”

Bushroot got the feeling that was supposed to be a pun of some sort, but one that was more situational humor that he wouldn’t understand without a story that he really wasn’t in the mood for. So, instead, he just did a “hurry up” gesture with his hand to move the conversation along.

“We wanted to apologize for how we treated you.” Megavolt began, the frown on his face clearly showing the guilt he felt. “We judged you way too harshly, and we know that you’re not a bad guy now.”

“Yes I am.” Bushroot insisted with a scowl, leaning back in his flower-chair with his arms crossed defiantly. “I’m a poisonous species of plant mutant that can kill anything I touch. I stay out here so I don’t have to deal with the stupid people in town because I HATE everyone. The closest thing I have to ‘friends’ are my plants- plants that I create and control.”

“Plants like Spot?” Quackerjack questioned with a quirked brow while casting a poignant look in the direction of the large pitcher plant that was currently chasing its own flowery tail in circles. “Because that’s really not helping your case, Bushy.”

“He’s a carnivorous plant that can dissolve people with acid if he swallows them.” Bushroot glared at the overly cheerful and sarcastic clown.

Quackerjack smirked at the frustrated plant in amusement. “Funny, I don’t FEEL digested.”

“That can be changed.” Bushroot warned him, growing more frustrated with the clown by the minute. “EASILY.”

“Like I said, ignore him.” Megavolt reached over and lightly smacked Quackerjack on the back of his head before looking at Bushroot with a serious expression again. “And we know you’re not a bad guy. Honestly, I don’t think you ever were, even before..” He gestured to Bushroot’s body as a whole. “THAT.”

Bushroot scowled slightly and looked away, his arms wrapping tighter around himself. “You don’t know anything about me…”

Megavolt frowned, easily able to see through the mutant’s façade now that he knew what to look for. “We know that you’re a better person than you pretend to be. Those guys at the gardening store started the fight with you, but you didn’t kill or seriously injure any of them. You easily could’ve killed US, but you let us live. You didn’t have to pay for the things you took, but you did, even though no one even worked at that store anymore.”

Quackerjack nodded in agreement, finally allowing himself to be slightly more serious. “Not to mention the whole ‘saving my life’ thing.”

“I was the one that poisoned you.” Bushroot tried to retort, but it was half-hearted at best.

“No, I poisoned MYSELF when I grabbed you.” Quackerjack reached behind himself and finally revealed the large but flat box that he’d carried in with him, holding it out towards Bushroot expectantly. “Which reminds me- this is my way of saying thanks.”

Bushroot glared at the box, refusing to touch it. “I don’t want it- I told you not to thank me.”

“Bushroot..” Megavolt cut in before Quackerjack could say something about the plant-duck’s attitude. “Whether you want to admit it or not..you’re a hero. You’re a good person that wants to help others- we can tell. You saved Quackerjack’s life, even though you didn’t have to.”

“I just didn’t want you to come looking for ‘heroic vengeance’ or something..” Bushroot scowled, clearly uncomfortable with being called a ‘hero’.

“And what about the girl?” Megavolt questioned, eyes narrowed behind his glasses.

Bushroot frowned and glared at the floor, not having a comeback for that one. “…….”

Megavolt’s gaze softened slightly as he continued. “She told us everything. About her mother hurting her, about you stepping in and yelling at her mom, and about you saving her. You didn’t HAVE to do any of that. She was a complete stranger. You could have just ignored it and walked away and nothing would’ve happened-”

“What was I supposed to do?!” Bushroot snapped, finally uncrossing his arms and glaring at them. “Just stand by and do nothing?!”

“Only if you were as cold and mean as you pretend to be.” Quackerjack commented with a smile that was slightly teasing, but mostly just understanding.

Bushroot’s eyes widened and his mouth hung open for a moment when he realized exactly what he’d said. “!!”

Megavolt’s smile matched Quackerjack’s. “You act tough and scary but, deep down, you’re a good man that just wants to help people- like us. The only thing we don’t know is WHY you try to hide it.”

“…‘Why’?” Bushroot asked once his shock turned to frustration once again. “You REALLY wanna know why?” His leafy hands clenched at his sides, a scowl on his face. “It’s because this world takes ‘good men’, chews them up, and spits them out when they’ve got nothing left to give. I TRIED being a good person. I TRIED helping the world…and look what it got me..” He uncurled one of his hands and looked at it, the anger that had started to creep into his voice slowly being replaced with sadness. “I was a botanist, you know..probably not the best, but I was still good at my job. I was coming up with a way for people to feed off of sunlight and water like plants, thinking that would be a way for me to solve world hunger and get me everything I ever wanted- fame, glory, money…love…but Negaduck’s ‘no plants’ law made being a botanist impossible unless you found a way to make him money or weapons. When he found out about my research, he threatened to close down my whole department. My so called ‘colleagues’ kicked me to the curb without a second thought.” His eyes drifted over to the remains of some long-damaged machinery in the corner of the greenhouse that looked like they once contained a pair of raising platforms. “I figured my life was over anyway, so why not go all-or-nothing? I tried my experiment on myself and..well…” He held his arms out for emphasis. “You can see how well that turned out.” He lowered his arms again to look down at his twisted root-feet. “It was..surprising..but my research ACTUALLY worked! I ran back to show the others and they said that they were..they were actually..impressed with me…” He choked back a bubble of some sort of emotion on the word “impressed”, unintentionally letting the other two know how much that meant to him. “Rho- I mean, Dr.Dendron, one of my co-workers, asked me to meet with her that night. I thought I was finally getting everything I ever wanted…” The next expression they saw on his face looked…heartbroken. “But..it was all a trap…they went behind my back and called Negaduck. When I went to meet Dr.Dendron, he was waiting there instead and he gave me an option: Make an army of plant mutants for him, or let my colleagues dissect me so they could figure out how to do it themselves. I barely escaped with my head…” He shuddered painfully at the memory, wrapping his arms around himself in a subconscious need for safety and comfort. “So..that’s why I’d rather stay out here…why I’d rather make people think that I’m a horrible monster…it’s better than letting them think I’m just another sap they can take advantage of.” He looked back up at them, a bitter frown on his face. “Do you two get it now? Being ‘nice’ or ‘good’ in this world..it’s pointless..you’ll just be a loser in the end…”

Megavolt was silent for a while, absorbing everything Bushroot just told him. With everything he’d said, he could definitely understand why he felt so betrayed and disheartened with the world and its people. But, even still, he had to-

“Boy, do I know how that story goes.” Surprisingly, it was Quackerjack that spoke up first. Both Megavolt and Bushroot looked to see him reclining back as far as his floral seat would allow, the box he’d brought with him sitting in his lap. “You know, I used to work at a toy company.” He began with a wistful smile. “That’s actually where I got the name from- it was called ‘Quackerjack Toys’, and we were one of the biggest toy companies in the world for a while. I was PRETTY high up there on the corporate ladder, too. I tried to be a role model for other big-shots like me and started all sorts of things like orphanages and children’s hospitals and charities. I thought I could use my money to make a difference in the world.” His smile fell slightly, looking much sadder than his usual grins. “But..then Negaduck started to change things in the city…I tried speaking out. I tried rallying people together to stand against him..and he decided to silence me for it. He teamed up with one of my company’s biggest enemies- Whiffle Co. Video Games- and they framed me for embezzlement and grand-larceny. I went to prison because Negaduck had the judge in his pocket and spent years in there..most of it in solitary..” His fingers fidgeted slightly and he brought one of his bells around to the front so he could give his hands something to occupy themselves with. “It was..well…it was terrible, not gonna lie. I kept trying to find a way out, or find a reason why what happened wasn’t so bad, but half the time I just wound up stuck in solitary confinement again. I..went pretty crazy for a while there. I started to hate other people...and hate myself even more. I started to wonder if anything I ever did mattered at all. I mean, I dedicated so much of my life to helping other people, but where were they when I needed help? There was no one…” His smile lifted slightly after he took a deep breath. “But..then I met someone really sweet while I was there..she helped me out and I decided that I wanted to help other people, too. She tried to talk me out of it- she said I’d spent enough time trying to help others and that I should just worry about myself for a change.” He shook his head with a sad chuckle. “I tried to do what she said, I really did..but..I couldn’t fight it- helping people is just a part of who I am. No matter how mad I get at the world, I feel like I have to try and smile so the rest of the world can learn to smile back.” He looked at Bushroot with an understanding smile, handing him the box again and looking relieved when Bushroot actually took it that time. “So..I get it. This world is really messed up and it makes it hard to be nice sometimes..but I think that’s just a bigger reason to fight bullies like Negaduck even harder- otherwise, they win and that’s the end of it all…and I know I can’t just sit back and let that happen.”

Bushroot looked down at the box in his hands for a while, clearly debating about what to say in response, when both he and Quackerjack were startled by a muffled sniffle. “???” They turned their heads towards the sound and saw Megavolt holding his face in one hand and his safety glasses in the other, his shoulders shaking as if he were…crying?

“Megs?” Quackerjack frowned and placed a hand on the rat’s shoulder. “You okay there, buddy?”

Concern was clear on his face and in his voice, and for good reason: He’d never seen Megavolt cry before, over ANYTHING. No matter how badly injured he’d seen the electrifying hero, or how dejected he’d looked after a lost fight with Negaduck and his goons, the rodent had stayed as bright as the lightning bolt on his cape.

Now, though, when he removed his hand from his face and looked down at the glasses in his other hand with his glistening shrunken pupils, he looked so..small..and frail…and so, so very tired..

“I…I’m sorry…” Megavolt took a few deep breaths to try calming himself down, but the pained frown remained on his face. “It’s just..when I hear about good people like the two of you that had their lives ruined by Negaduck, it reminds me of how much I’ve messed up…and…how it’s all MY fault…”

“Your fault?” Bushroot questioned the miserable rodent. “How the heck is any of that YOUR fault?”

“Because I haven’t been able to stop Negaduck, no matter how many times I’ve tried.” Megavolt’s frown turned bitter, his empty hand clenching into a fist.

Bushroot stared at him in mild surprise. “Wait, wait, back up- you’ve fought that psycho before?”

“And on your OWN?” Quackerjack’s look matched Bushroot’s as the pair stared at Megavolt in clear expectation of an answer. The pair of heroes had gone up against Negaduck more than once, sure, but he’d never said anything about previous fights with the chainsaw wielding psychopath from before the two of them had teamed up. Quackerjack sure as heck wouldn’t have tried to do that by himself, even with his questionable sanity!

Megavolt gave a half-hearted smile and rubbed his thumb along the edge of the glasses in his hand. “You guys already told your stories, guess it’s only fair for me to do the same.” He took another deep breath before looking up at them again. “This probably comes as a BIG surprise, but I was pretty much the class nerd back in high school.” He gave a light chuckle at that, one that was echoed by the other two since they were the same way back then. “In my senior year, I was more focused on inventing things than on relationships or dances..so, when it was time for prom, I decided I’d rather spend the time working on my new static generator. It was going to be my big breakthrough in electrical engineering that would help solve the world’s energy crisis! Just think about it- a generator that produces electricity using nothing more than simple kinetic motion and naturally occurring static electricity found in mammals and shag carpeting! It would have reduced the carbon footprint of a city like Saint Canard by at least 40%!” His face had lit up with an excited smile as he described his machine and what it would have been able to do, but he quickly reigned it back in with a slight flush to his cheeks and a clearing of his throat to get back on track. “A-Anyway…some bullies came to make fun of me for ‘hanging out with the wrong kind of electric hottie’ that night and overloaded my machine.” He held up one finger on his free hand and caused a spark of electricity to dance along the tip. “The accident gave me my powers, which was pretty cool, even if it did mess up my hair..and my eyes…and gave me some nasty scars…” He trailed off on that part, subconsciously touching one of his hands with the other. “It was scary..but..also really cool..I spent hours testing out my new powers and figuring out what I could do. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them yet, but I knew I wanted to impress people.” His smile fell into a slight frown. “Then…I heard the screaming..” He shuddered, drawing his arms in closer to himself. “I went to the gym where they were holding prom…and I saw Negaduck attacking my classmates.”

“!!!!” Both ducks stared at him with equal levels of shock, experiencing the same revelation of just HOW LONG Megavolt had been fighting against Negaduck by himself.

“I didn’t really know what I was doing.” Megavolt continued, sparks flickering around his fingertips as he remembered that night so clearly, even after all these years. “I’d only just gotten my powers..but..I had to do SOMETHING, right? After all, I-I was the only one that could, so I fought him off while everyone else tried to escape.” He set his glasses down in his lap and started to remove his gloves. “But…he still won..” With the gloves removed, he held up his hands to give the other two a clear view of his injuries: A jagged gash that lined up perfectly across both palms, two-thirds of his right pinky finger missing, and a nasty split between his left pointer and middle finger that had long since scabbed over but was clearly never stitched back together properly. “I barely escaped in one piece and Negaduck still managed to send half of my senior class to the hospital with serious injuries, but at least I kept him from actually..well, you know..” Megavolt sighed heavily while putting his gloves back on. “I gave everything I could to beat him and I still came up short…and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING.” With his gloves back on, he reached up and gave his head a light tap. “Turns out using too much electricity messes with the electrical field around my brain, causing all sorts of memory problems. After the fight, I forgot where I lived and I even forgot who I was for a few months. I haven’t seen my family in over twenty years and I hardly remember what they even look like anymore..but..that’s probably for the best- if Negaduck found out who I was, he’d definitely go after them to get to me..and I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me..” He looked at his hands, that earlier look of pain and guilt on his face returning once again. “But..it seems like no matter what I do, there are people who still get hurt because of Negaduck: Poor people who don’t have the money to pay off Negaduck’s goons. Sick people dying in the streets because of the pollution he forces into the air. Children that had to grow up never knowing the feeling of sunlight and fresh air. Guys like you who were just trying to live your lives and make the world a better place until HE came along and ruined everything for you…” The last comment was directed at the other two with a sad, apologetic half-smile before he looked back down at the safety glasses in his lap. “Sometimes I wonder if these powers should’ve gone to someone else. That, maybe if someone smarter, or stronger, or braver had them, then Negaduck would’ve been stopped years ago..before he had the chance to ruin so many people’s lives. But…it’s just me. I’m the one who has the power, so I’m the one that has to do something.” He finally put his glasses back on for the first time since he started his story, taking one last deep breath and letting it out slowly. “I know there’s not much I can do on my own, and I’m probably insane for not giving up yet..but, if I don’t do something, then I feel like no one else will. It HAS to be me. This town needs a hero to save it, and, even if I have to sacrifice everything I am, I’ll be the one to save it one day.”

A light slap to the back of the hero’s head made the ending of his monologue fall flat and he turned in confusion to look at his colorful companion. “Geez, listen to this guy, would ya, Bushy? Getting all over-dramatic and junk- honestly makes me wish I had some popcorn and a soda.” Quackerjack offered Megavolt a sympathetic smile and moved his hand down so it could rest on the rat’s shoulder. “Would you quit with the lone-hero routine already? In case you haven’t noticed, you’re not the only superhero in this greenhouse!”

Megavolt had the decency to look embarrassed at that comment, rubbing the back of his head and glancing away. “O-Oh. Right. Sorry, that really isn’t fair to you two, huh?”

“Why are you bringing ME into this?” Bushroot asked with a frown that was trying to show irritation, but just came off as confused. “I’m no hero.”

“Yes, you are.” Megavolt returned his attention to the plant mutant with a confidant and kind smile. “You can fight it all you want, but, deep down, there’s a full-fledged hero waiting to bloom- all you have to do is let him out.” He stood up, smiling down at the still seated ex-botanist, and placed a hand on his shoulder (careful to avoid the thorns, of course). “We won’t force you into anything, but we just wanted you to know that we understand how hard it is trying to be a good person in this world, and, if you ever want to help make a difference in this town, or just want someone to talk to, you can come find us- we’ll have your back, no matter what.”

Quackerjack stood as well, giving Bushroot a grin of his own accompanied with a wink. “You can keep the gift no matter what you choose, by the way- it’s my way of saying thanks.” Quackerjack turned towards the door and walked out, petting Spot along the way. “We’ll show ourselves out- don’t wanna wear out our welcome, so we’ll be taking our LEAF now.” He chuckled at his own pun, grinning even when Megavolt shoved him out the door for it.

The pair of heroes waved a final farewell over their shoulders to Bushroot and did as Quackerjack said and took their leave (no, Megavolt wouldn’t let him get away with the pun twice, even if it did make him chuckle under his breath).

Bushroot sat there for a long time after they left, silently thinking over their parting words to him.

After a while, his curiosity finally got the better of him and he opened the box that Quackerjack gave him. Inside, he saw dark fabric that was mainly two colors- extremely dark brown and a slightly less dark green. He squeezed the green part with his thin “fingers”, feeling how thick the padding was for the green parts.

Staring intently at the fabric, Bushroot frowned and set the box down on the ground, stubbornly crossing his arms and looking away from it. “Couple of sentimental fools full of more sap than a maple tree…”

Still, despite his words, his eyes ended up being drawn back towards the fabric…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later, Quackerjack and Megavolt were locked in a fierce battle against an old foe they’d bested before: Morgana Macawber, the sorceress of St.Canard.

The dark and demented duck was a towering witch of a woman with long, curly dark hair streaked with red highlights. What would normally be an imposing figure thanks to her tall stature, beautiful face, and glowing magical aura, was slightly diminished by the fact that she was wearing a red sweet-lolita style dress with a long, puffy skirt accented with white lace along with a matching head piece, white stockings, and red shoes with more lace around the buckles. All-in-all, it was an…interesting set of contradictions that certainly showed in her personality when she spoke.

“I have you this time, foolish heroes!” Morgana giggled with twisted glee as she floated in the air in front of the roughed-up pair of heroes. “You two will be the PERFECT gifts for my beloved Lord Negaduck!”

Quackerjack picked up his bat from where it had been knocked out of his hands on the ground and used it to help hoist his battered body back up to its feet. “Yeeeaah, no thanks- I’d rather not become one of your creepy chocolate-covered valentine gifts…” He glanced at the various people around the town square that had been immobilized and frozen solid by different flavors and colors of chocolate.

“That goes double for me..” Megavolt pulled himself up as well with Quackerjack’s help. “Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s gay…”

“No he’s not!” Morgana stamped her foot in the air like a petulant child.

“Gotta go with Megs on this one.” Quackerjack chuckled at the sorceress’s immature temper tantrum, ignoring their impending doom in favor of teasing her a bit more. “Kinda hard to say he’s not after all the times he’s grabbed that big bodyguard of his and shoved his tongue down his-”

“SHUT UP!!” Morgana screamed and blasted the pair of already injured heroes with a burst of red magic. “My sweet Lord Negaduck loves me! He does! He just doesn’t know it yet!” She continued blasting them, hitting them again anytime they started to get close to the ground to keep them airborne. “We’re perfect for each other! You’ll see! EVERYONE WILL SEE! I’ll get rid of you two and then he’ll see that I’m the better partner- not that smelly brute Launchpad!” She hit them with one more powerful blast, leaving them prone and injured on the ground of what was once a thriving park but was now filled with nothing but dirt and dead trees. “Now..” She glared at them and her whole body glowed with a menacing red aura as she prepared to finish them off. “Say goodbye, heroes!!”

“Alright.” A voice that definitely didn’t belong to either of them spoke up. “Goodbye.”

Before Morgana had a chance to find out where the voice was coming from, she suddenly found herself being tied up by a patch of living daisies that sprung to life beneath her, seemingly out of nowhere. “What?! Let go of me! Grrr, stupid flowers!!” She struggled against the surprisingly strong flowers as they dragged her down towards the ground.

When Quackerjack and Megavolt had the strength to lift their heads again, they saw someone wearing a dark brown coat with puffy dark green sleeves standing in front of them- the image of a purple flower with a yellow center on the coat’s back matching that of its wearer’s head perfectly. The person wearing the coat had his back turned to them with his hands in the coat’s pockets, but they instantly knew who it was.

“Bushroot?!” They said at the same time with equally mixed feelings of surprise and relief.

Bushroot looked back at them over his shoulder, eyeing them up and down with a neutral expression. “Wow..you guys look like fertilizer right now.” He looked back to the struggling sorceress calmly. “Why don’t you two take a breather- I’ve got this one.” He took one hand out of his pockets and waved it back in their direction, causing a variety of fragrant plants such as lavender, peppermint, rosemary, and green tea leaves to sprout beneath the injured heroes and begin wrapping around them- secreting oils to help heal and soothe their wounds.

By the time he’d turned back to Morgana, the sorceress had managed to free herself from the debilitating daisies and was kneeling in the dirt. She got to her feet and looked at her dirtied dress with an angry expression. “Ooooh..you’ll pay for that, you overgrown weed!!”

Bushroot took both hands out of his pockets and did a slow clapping gesture that didn’t produce much sound. “Wooooow.” He said sarcastically. “You just won the award for the most UN-original insult I’ve ever heard. Seriously, like I haven’t been called a weed a million times already.” He walked towards her with no hesitation or fear visible anywhere in his voice or in his body language. “Besides, I technically AM a weed, so it’s not even that much of an insult, it’s just a fact. That’s like calling YOU a duck- it’s not really an insult..well, unless you’re trying to say it’s an insult to BE one, in which case, wow, that’s just racist and you DESERVE to go to jail just for saying that.”

“W..What..?” By the end of his comeback, Bushroot had reached a now very confused Morgana who just stared at him, unsure of what else to say.

“Here, let me give you the shorter version-” Bushroot stretched his torso so that he could look the sorceress in the eyes and smirk at her properly. “You’re an idiot.”

Capitalizing on the witch’s confusion, Bushroot had one of his legs detangle and grabbed her by the foot while she was distracted. He then latched onto the ground with his other foot and spun around in a circle, sending the startled sorceress flying when he let her go.

“!!!” Morgana’s eyes widened as she was sent careening through the air, trying to regain some control of her magic.

Not giving her a moment to catch herself, though, Bushroot brought his leafy digits to his mouth and whistled, making one of the nearby nearly-dead trees come to life and reel back one branch before slamming it right into Morgana’s head like a baseball bat. This rendered the Lolita-themed lady unconscious and sent her sprawling into the dirt below.

With the source of the curse unconscious, the people who had previously been frozen were suddenly granted their freedom and began to move around again. They were left sticky and stained from the quickly melting confection that had imprisoned them, but no worse for wear.

Speaking of no worse for wear, Quackerjack and Megavolt had watched the whole scene with their jaws dropped. Bushroot made beating one of the most magical ducks in the world look like child’s play!

Bushroot walked back over to the slightly less injured heroes and offered them each a hand up. “You guys just gonna sit there all day or actually pick your jaws and butts up off the ground?”

Quackerjack grinned and grabbed the offered appendage to pull himself up. “Considering you already saved these butts, guess we should do something with ‘em, huh?”

Megavolt pulled himself up next, giving Bushroot an equally big smile. “You really saved us, Bushroot- we owe you one!”

Bushroot let go of their hands and shoved his own digits back into his pockets. “Eh, don’t worry about it. I was just in the area and thought I’d lend a leaf.”

“You just happened to be in the area around the same time we were fighting a super villain?” Quackerjack asked with a cocked brow and a knowing grin.

“Yeah. That’s right.” Bushroot avoided eye contact with the grinning clown in a desperate ploy to appear aloof and uncaring, but, when he glanced back over, he saw that Megavolt was giving him the exact same grin. “What?” He glared at them, but they could easily tell how half-hearted it really was.

“Just glad to see you finally came around and decided to join us, Bushy.” Quackerjack teased while looping one arm around Bushroot’s shoulders,

“Welcome to the team!” Megavolt said while looping his own arm around Bushroot’s- the padding on the sleeve preventing the thorns from harming him at all.

Bushroot sputtered for a bit, looking between the grinning heroes with an expression of disbelief on his face. “Wh-Wha-?! I didn’t-! Who said-! I-!” He tried to shake and shove them off with an annoyed grunt. “I never said I was joining your stupid team! I told you before- I’m not a hero!”

“Scoreboard says otherwise, Bushy.” Quackerjack gave him that same infuriating grin that made Bushroot scowl at him.

“He’s right, you know.” Bushroot turned his head to the other side to look at Megavolt- the rat giving him a much kinder smile than his partner was. “You’re our hero, Bushroot..and we’d be happy to have you on our team.”

It was hard to tell with his pigmentation, but it looked like Bushroot’s cheeks turned a shade darker when he looked down to avoid seeing either of their faces. “Hmph..sappy idiots- both of you.” He tucked his hands back into his pockets, but didn’t try to shake off their grip on him like last time. “I’m not a hero, no matter what you two try to say.” He paused for a moment, only continuing when they looked ready to argue with him. “But..” He looked back up with the corners of his beak lifted in a half-smirk half-smile as he glanced between them. “You two would probably get yourselves killed without me, so I guess I’ll stick around to keep you out of trouble.”

Quackerjack and Megavolt stared at him for a minute, stunned into surprised silence from seeing a rare smile on the moody plant-duck’s face.

Then they grinned and cheered, celebrating their team’s newest member (even if he denied it), and jokingly started coming up with names for their little group- Bushroot giving Quackerjack an annoyed roll of his eyes but an undeniably fond smile whenever he tried coming back to the name “Thunderous Threesome” and saying it somehow sounded inappropriate.

Despite everything he said to the contrary, the reluctant smile on Bushroot’s face told his new friends exactly how happy he was to be there.

<-First Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: Warned you guys that one would be long. Heads up, the next one’s gonna be about as long as this one ^^”

By the way, for Morgana’s design in this, I decided that since her original version was based off of the Bride of Frankenstein with some influences from Dracula’s brides (and a little Morticia Adams), that the horror movie inspiration for her Negaverse-version would be Claudia and her Lolita style from Interview With a Vampire. I liked the idea of trying to appear sweet (here’s an image reference for the sort of outfit I saw Morgana wearing but with red shoes) while actually being an adult and her flipping back and forth between childish tantrums and psychotic obsessions. Also, it should be obvious, but I also based parts of her personality off of the classic yandere style characters from a few Japanese anime and games.

Oh, and Spot is essentially this universe’s version of Spike, and he’s based off of pitcher plants, another type of carnivorous plant like venus flytraps. In particular, I based the design off of Australian pitcher plants because I thought the vibrant purple color would coordinate with Bushroot’s purple petals nicely.

[chxinsxwed]

Da Rules:

Hi, this is a bit lengthy - but first, thank you for checking out this post! It means a lot to me and I hope we can interact! <3

1. Themes might vary with this blog. I’m typically SFW, but keep in mind this is NEGADUCK. He’s not morally sound and will certainly not be nice to everyone who has the unfortunate opportunity to come across him. Be prepared for dark themes of that nature.

Things will be tagged! I’ll try my best, anyways. If you want something in particular tagged, please let me know. The format I use for tagging is, for example, tw: swearing.

I don’t have any triggers but I do ask you tag all of your NSFW content.

That said, I won’t do anything NSFW - gore is okay, though.

I’m of age.

2. I’m a little selective, so I might be a pretty picky when it comes to who I interact with. I’ll interact with anyone, including canon, AU, Crossover, and original characters - as long as they’re literate/write para.

If it’s a crossover, I have to know the fandom and be at least a little bit confident with it. This is so I’m able to work with you, our thread and have muse for it.

No godmodding or Mary-Sues, please.

This is bound to happen given Negaduck’s character, but this rule goes especially in fights. I will tread carefully in these and give partners fighting chances, so obviously I expect the same. i.e, don’t assume all attacks hit, keep dodging, etc; all that. Keep in mind Negs does not put up an easy fight, though.

Please don’t be offended if I don’t want to interact with you (and please don’t try to guilt me into doing so!).

As for following back, I usually take a week tops to do so - but if you’ve hit up my promo, I go through that eventually.

I’ve worked through a majority of Negs’ media, including his episodes, comics, and even small comics. That said, there are a couple I’ve missed (that are in another language) - so if I miss anything in reference to them, forgive me.

I haven’t completely finished Darkwing Duck, either, so as far as unrelated references ago, I might miss a few things.

3. Please don’t rush me for starters or responses.

I have a lot of blogs. Pretty much an understatement - so I’m pretty busy with stuff, and it’s all dependent on what muse I have. Motivation and life also exist.

Please note the mun deals with anxiety and depression - this might affect how frequently she roleplays.

Chances are, I’ve probably has seen that bit of interactivity and just haven’t gotten around to responding yet.

My roleplaying style being para/multi-para, I may take a while to respond. I hoard drafts like a dragon - it’s really just the motivation to write and ship those out.

Additionally, if I don’t end up responding to an ask or something, the case might just be I don’t have the muse for it, or I’m not interested in the thread. Apologies!

4. Shippings? Eeeeh, with Negaduck, I’m picky about them, depends on the muse and/or proposed relationship. Long story short: he’s an outright jerk so don’t expect much from him.

If I don’t happen to be interested, don’t force anything on my character.

I do not ship incestuous ships. Do NOT follow/interact if you do.

The ship has to have chemistry; I’m generally shipping trash, but if they don’t click, they don’t click, sorry.

This is a multi-ship blog, meaning there will be more than one ship without them conflicting with eachother.

If you want to ship and I already have a ship of your choosing going with a duplicate, please don’t hesitate to hmu! My ships aren’t exclusive and each character/relationship portrayal is unique to me!

Relationships are eternal until you deem otherwise.

5. Whilst I am of age, I’m not aiming for sexual content on this blog (and will not be dealing with fetishes). That stuff makes me uncomfortable, and I typically don’t recommend pulling it with my characters if you’re interacting with me. Nonetheless, should it arise, I will tag it appropriately.

6. About reblogs…

I am not a meme source, and reblogs clog up my activity. Please reblog any memes you find on this blog from their SOURCE. The exception to this rule is if there is no source; go ahead.

I don’t feel comfortable with Personals reblogging my IC posts, so please don’t do that.

A few times is fine, as it happens, but repeatedly breaking these rules will result in me soft blocking you.

I try to participate in reblog karma as much as I can, but always reblog from the source/a meme source.

If a post or ask is for you, you’re free to reblog it to save it though - but only if you’re an rp blog!

7. I’m a para / multi-para blog, novella if I’m adventurous and have time. Whilst I may roleplay crack threads with shorter responses, this does not apply to all threads I write. This means:

I write my replies as detailed as I can muster.

Short responses (such as one-liners) in more serious threads where I’ve written a decent deal can instantly kill my muse for that thread.

Whilst I’d prefer for partners to at least somewhat match my length, it’s entirely up to you - just try your best and make sure you give me enough to work with. ♡

If my muse happens to go nuts out of nowhere - like, overboard - don’t stress too much about matching them.

If para roleplays are not your forte at all, it’s not recommended you roleplay with me seriously. Anything else outside that is fine, though - we can still have fun outside of proper threads.

8. Threads typically happen naturally with me, but if you’re looking for interaction opportunities:

I’ll have a permanent starter call somewhere for you to hit up; honestly though, if you’re a mutual? Pls feel free to hit it up.

I reblogged a starter meme? Send something! If I’m interested, I’ll answer it!

If there’s a verse you’re interested in, please specify.

If you want to turn an ask into a thread, go ahead!

I may not roleplay with every starter I am given - I’ll do a ‘background check’ if you’re a new blog on the block. If I don’t feel your writing style/length matches mine, I might not respond. Apologies. ;__;

In that sense, I don’t recommend writing starters for me unless we’ve discussed something. I really don’t like to leave anyone hanging.

IMs are open to mutuals, if you want to do any in-depth plotting.

9. Guidelines on mains and relationships:

If we’re mutuals and we interact a lot, you’re welcome to ask me if I’d like to be your main!

Please don’t be offended if I deny, though; I typically want to pick those I trust to be my mains as well as people I can comfortably write with.

Not limited to them! I roleplay with duplicates galore so don’t be afraid to hit me up if you want to interact!

Pre-established relationships are a-okay in my book; if you have an idea for a relationship between our muses we can work towards, hit me up! I reblog those pre-established relationship memes every so often too. Romantic relationships link back to the shipping guidelines.

Also, friendship/family/rivalry relationships are EXTREMELY valid to me - Negaduck is generally a terrible person, but if you hmu, I’ll see what I can do.

10. If you have any issues, please let me know and hopefully we can resolve it!

Unlike the evil duck, Mun is actually super nice, so don’t be afraid to hit her up!

IM-ed me and I haven’t responded? Social anxiety is a jerk and it’s exhausting for me to communicate sometimes. Know that I’ve seen your message and will get around to it eventually!

Please leave me out of drama; I’m here to have a good time, as is everyone else, and it pains me to see people arguing.

11. It’s easier with a clean dash for me, so I’m more likely to follow people who:

Trim their posts.

Don’t spam reblog memes.

Have rules and about pages! I always read those before interacting or following!

12. On threads…

If you’re not interested in a thread anymore, and would like to drop it, please let me know! I’d feel terrible if we’re both not having fun with it or if partners feel overwhelmed with the amount of threads we have.

Honestly, unless I let you know, our threads have no expiry date - so no need to worry about me dropping them without telling you. I can just be quite slow sometimes.

13. Mun does not equal muse! Anything Negs might say does not reflect on how I think unless I explicitly say so. He’s a chainsaw crazy villain; mun is not.

14. The mun is TERRIBLE at breaking the ice. If she follows you, she’d like to interact - but she’s super nervous about approaching people.

15. These rules may be subject to change.

Please like this post if you’ve read the rules! You don’t have to, but it’s of personal reassurance to me if you have.

[gamblealifearchived1]

bitofthisandthat said:{ For Mark, Heron } 💊🔅💔

@bitofthisandthat​ || More & More! Headcanons

( Heron’s is under the cut ) 

💊: Have they ever dabbled in drugs? If so, what kinds?

Oh, yes. But not to be associated with addicts of course. Mark HAS used Provigil. & Still occasionally uses it to this day. That’s about the only one, though. So nothing major. 

🔅: What’s a place that holds special meaning to them? Why?

His old school grounds. Not for the bullies, but because it’s where he met/befriended & crushed hard on Gyro. ( main verse. )  As for Mark & Gabs, ANYWHERE with her is special. ( he’s a sap with her :’3 ) 

💔: Have they ever had their heart broken? If so, why or how did it happen?

Mmhmm. You’d assume HE would be the one doing the heartbreaking, but nope. It all happened when Della disappeared. Gyro had cut ties with him & it hurt him deeply. He doesn’t like thinking about it much, honestly.  

💊: Have they ever dabbled in drugs? If so, what kinds?

Naw. Besides, she’s got a step-brother that she’s trying to keep his respect by avoiding them. Alcohol, though, is another story. 

🔅: What’s a place that holds special meaning to them? Why? 

St. Canard. It’s where she first spotted her ‘soul mate’. She’s literally been stalking Negaduck ever since. 

💔: Have they ever had their heart broken? If so, why or how did it happen? 

Nope. At least, not yet. She considers herself to be the heartbreaker here. :|| 

[tcthinecwnself-a]

"I hate you, and the yellow and red combo is so tacky." @NEGSY

Wow. Rude.

“Ya know what else is tacky, Dorkwing? Your tie.” And up goes his hand to YANK that tie down so that Darkwing is below him. “Who even wears ties anymore?” 

[raeloganthesonic06fangirl]

I have no idea other than perhaps there wasn't much attention to the sizing of the characters, or someone really wanted to establish that this QuackerJack varient is definitely a different one than our OG boy, by establishing a few different characteristics (much like how Nega-QuackerJack is optimistic and friendly while still maintaining the penchant for making unreasonably dangerous dolls for no reason, or that the Darkwing Doubloon universe has a QuackerJack who looks 1-to-1 identical to the main universe QuackerJack but seems to be teamed off with Bushroot), so it's probably not unreasonable to have a few QuackerJacks who deviate from the base style, as we know there's a confirm "infinite" number of Darkwing AUs thanks to that one comic arc, so it makes sense that this also affects the other core element characters in backstory, design and overall history

Since DT17 established that thier version of DWD is an old TV show within the series itself, as thier variation of "live action" (Since Jim insisted on doing his own stunts, that cements that the characters are actors and not just cartoons in this setting), with thier version of the DWD universe being familiar enough to us, but different enough for us to keep pointing out perceived inconsistencies.

This can by further cemeted by the DT17!Fearsome's reaction to seeing Drake stand outside the door of the building, with them expressing initial confusion at this variation of Darkwing simply "stand there" instead of barreling his way through the door. DT17!QuackerJack even gives an expression while stating this that really seems like he's becoming aware that not only does he not properly belong in this universe that they've been pulled into, but the Darkwing they're going to be facing off with is not the Darkwing they're used to

((Despite the visual inconsistencies, I do like this clip because the combination of QuackerJack's observation and expression really just makes me wonder if this was intentional, because darn it, he looks mildly disturbed by whatever theory might be crossing his mind at the moment))

But it's definitely clear that DT17 QuackerJack is definitely a manlet compared to his OG counterpart, who is roughly taller than Drake but shorter than Launchpad, but exact size difference fluctuates between episodes

That said, I also have quite liked @pharaoh-ink's observations that QuackerJack bares a closer resemblance to a Shoebill Stork than a Duck

Big bill, tall gangly stature, slim feet, wierd posture...

QuackerJack's shoes in comparison to the size of feet on a Duck like Drake, Negaduck, or Launchpad indicates that QuackerJack's feet are too small and slim to be webbed Duck feet, and QuackerJack doesn't seem to be able to swim as shown in "Stressed to Kill" (in the same current of water, Darkwing was floating just fine on his back, but QuackerJack was clearly struggling to keep his head above the surface), despite being a presumed Duck.

However, as we know that mixed Bird families are a thing in the Duck-verse (the Muddlefoots, for example), and that names aren't always indicative of the species. Gosalyn's adopted surname is Mallard, for example, but her first and original last name, Waddlemeyer, as well as the visual appearance of her grandfather, indicates that she may be more of a Goose than a Duck, but as she's adopted, her last name is explainable.

St. Canard also has a rather large orphanage for whatever reason, so either its very common for accidents to befall families enough in the city to have to warrant such a large building, or the children are also from other neighboring towns. Either way, there is a LOT of adoptable children in St. Canard, and chances are, that place was up for decades.

So, what's the likelihood of QuackerJack having actually been an orphaned young bird of lesser known species who was adopted by a lovely Duck family and raised in a predominantly Duck environment?

Or maybe he has Duck parents and he just managed to resemble one of his grandparents because gene pools are an interesting thing (for the record, I have blue eyes while my parents have green and hazel, so I'm that little wierd corner of the Punnett Square that was the rarity, so what I'm talking about is genes that skip a generation or two, or just happens to hit those unique odds that one time)

No concrete history means we can get a little creative with our portrayals. My AU version of him is a Crested Duck. I've seen people envision him as other types of Duck, like a Harlequin or Magpie. It's really cool to see how many ways we can remix this character

... Still don't know why they had to make him so short, tho

Probably to dial back his power level, since we know OG QuackerJack has an unreasonable amount of lower body strength for his build, so this might be so QuackerJack didn't cave in Drake's skull with that roundhouse kick to the back of his head. </joke>

good afternoon, morning or evening, I don't know what time of day it is😅

I recently came across your blog about Quackerjack and ... I will really tell you that I am ABSOLUTELY amazed at how thorough and meticulous you are in analyzing this character, who is also my favorite character in Darkwing Duck

I was very sympathetic to this character, and after your theories, now I REALLY LOVE him, just like you❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thank you so much for opening my eyes to this nice and incredibly cute jester❤️❤️❤️❤️

Aww, thank you~ 💜

I had a much bigger, more thought out thing written out here, but Tumblr ate the whole post and really discouraged me from trying that effort again right now after I kept getting distracted by outside things while trying to answer this, but essentially, I was saying that he's a really fun character to have fun with. 😁