#Supervillians working badly with each other

[gamlain]

Ficpost

The prisoner was almost painfully nondescript - brown haired, brown eyed, average of face, slightly built but not terribly so.   He had good posture. Prison clothes of course, didn't help, but somehow the impression was that nothing would have.

The newly 'elected' President of the Union (Of everything, of course. Eventually) wasn't: aristocratic looks, piercing blue eyes, well decorated uniform - the picture of the stylish modern dictator.

He'd moved past the need to pretend to be something he wasn't /completely/.

  But the prisoner had only given him a sarcastically raised eyebrow that said: I am unimpressed by your airs, and this, in fact, annoyed the President.

"I do not think you quite understand your situation." He told the prisoner only to get a bemused and unimpressed smile in return.

"Same. You want my power." The president wasn't so much as impressed as..gratified. It seemed the prisoner wasn't /mute/ or /impaired/ at least.

"I do." The dictator stated calmly. "And I can do /anything/ to get it. Cooperate and well. You should cooperate."  The Menace was there, tastefully understated - for now, but somehow..neither it, nor the armed guards no anything else seemed to be especially creating any impression of /fear/ in the prisoner.

That person shook his head slightly and continued to give off that bemused smile, but what he said was, "Fair enough. Sure.   I'll work for you."

And that was..surprising.  The Dictator had expected a /bit/ more resistance.  "You will?  Even though you are working for my..regime, I think people call it now?  Why should I trust your willingness so easily?" He asked and that slight smile increased slightly.

"Your mistake is asking for my help at all." The Prisoner told him. "They didn't put me in this place because I make things /better/.   So I'll work and I'll use my power for you."   The prisoner spread his hands - and there was a ratcheting little /click/ as the handcuffs came apart while he did so.

"You can blame me when things get worse, too.   I've tried..a lot of things to stop that.  Even dying."  The prisoner stopped then, ignoring the ten or so guns already trained on him and the men shielding the Dictator from his unexpected freedom.

"I suppose that didn't work?" The dictator asked sarcastically.  "Claiming immortality as the reason why the previous jailers didn't get rid of you."

"Oh no." The prisoner shook his head.    "It worked.   And then it got worse, too. Everything I use my power on gets worse.  Don't worry. You'll find out.  After all, I've already said yes. It's too late for you to say no."

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Cartoon Network era of shows, who is your favorite character from each of late 2000s-early 2010 era shows (I included the final 3 that began before the big logo change in May 29, 2010 and rebrand to make the next one less heavy since a lot premiered in 2010-11) you've seen like: Chowder, Transformers Animated, Ben 10 Alien Force, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, The Secret Saturdays, Adventure Time, Ben 10 Ultimate Alien, and Generator Rex?

I"m also going to throw a brucey bonus one in here that wasn't produced by Cartoon Network, and i'm making an exception for. (Transformers Animated was it turns out so it wasn't needed but I incldued it in the teaser just inc ase) I als oonce again thank you for doing this

Chowder: A hard choice but the boy himself is such a fleshed out and hilarous character and i'ts a shame his actor retired, though I respect it. CH Greenblat's first show stilll holds up: intensely silly, whimsically creative and deeply hilaroius. Outside of the nightmare that was panini, this show is still a great time and well worth yours.. and one I go back to frquently

Transformers Animated: It's been a while so i'm not firmly sure so i'll go with Wreck Gar, he dares to be stupid. Also having Weird Al voice him was too brilliant and the concpet work. But the show itself is amazing, a creative reboot that found new ways to do the autobots war against the evil force sof the deceiptcons by making optimus a rookie, having the tick be his asshole superior, and our heroes a ragtag bunch against a far stronger deciptcon army and delightful supervillians. I love this so much.

Ben 10 Alien Force: Julie: Sh'es a well done love intrest with a pet blob dog thing. Easy pick. Alien wise it's jetfire. As for alien force itself.. it's my faviorite of the four ben 10 shows i've seen (i.e. everything but the reboot). Or at least seasons 1 and 2 are, season 3 is a bit of a mess. It's clear they had a solid intresting if retcon heavy plan for seasons 1 and 2, giving us an intresting and horrifying meanace in the high breed, the glory that is parodox and a great main trio. Though as I said season 3 is a hot mess. But compared to the not terrible but still messy things to follow it's at least more consitent.

Flapjack: Peppermint Larry whose the right mix of hilarious and creepy. As for the show itself.. i'm not a fan. I respect it's impact on animation, top notch vocal cast, and gorgeous animation.. but it's too much of a gross out show and deeply disturbing for my taste. It's a me thing, but yeah the show lost me after a while, but i'ts not bad just not my forte.

The Secret Saturdays: Doyle. You combine will fredle's Terry McGuinnis voice with a badass bounty hunter , bad influence and fun uncle and you got a stew going. The series itself I badly need to revisit and is a fun adventure show with a well built cast, world and twist. Criminally underated and canceled before it's time, though still at least managing a satisfying finale.

Total Drama Island: The Brucey Bonus that's been on my mind since the reboot is currently airing in the us and i've watched half of it. (Need to go back and finish it that's on me etc). But while it wasn't made by cn so I wasn't going to obligate you to include it, I had to as before our next entry it was the big breakout for CN for a while. Flapjack was good and got praise over time and Chowder was well loved, but Total Drama was the big star for a bit. Faviorite is hard to pick, but for this season i'll go with gwen. Time would not be kind to her but teenage me couldn't get enough. And adult me can't get enough of the show, as it's well done, with only a few rough edges and season 1 is so good few other seasons have competed. It's got a great cast, great challenges and a lot of good jokes. And farts but that's Total Drama for you, you get numb to it.

Total Drama Action: Harold because he' smy boy, but really no one was on top game this season. This season is bad.. not as bad as some later seasons, but it's clear they had no real direction for it, gave up on their first antagonist halfway through, and derailed trent. While I was never big on trent and gwen, that whole fiasco leaves a bad taste in the mouth for the rest of the season and courtney's derailment, while not a stretch is a waste of a good villian turn by making her invincible. The film themeing is okay, but it's clear they were not ready for the sequel.

Adventure Time:Jake. I know same name and all that, but the guy just has chill dumbass energy for days, one of the best scenes in teh show (Jake , your president now), and is easily John DiMaggio's best performance. The show itself is excellent: it did stumble a bit after rebecca sugar left for something i'm sure we'll get to next time, but while I left the show after a while, it recovered and has since gone on to have two excellent spinoffs with more coming and a movie. The show wasn't perfect, but damn if it wasn't important to animation as a whole, saved cartoon network and generally just... slaps.

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: This one's.. a bit more mixed. Character wise, Julie looses it, but Sir George picks it up as one of the franchises best villian, a knight who simply hasn't adapted to a far less simple world. Ultimate Alien itself.. is a mixed bag. The villian for the first half of season 1 is generic as fuck, though Kevin's return to evil was brilliant and while it had some weird bits (gee ben your really gonna kill your best friend huh?), it worked far better than it had any right too. The second arc likewise followed the pattern: started messy as hell, picked up well after with the forever knights ressurgence. It's not as messy as omniverse to a point, but it's just kinda okay overall. The ultimate transformation was a neat idea, Sir George is great but it has a lot of bad one offs, questionable decisions and a general lack of direction at times.

Generator Rex: Now bringing me the oppsite of the above, Generator Rex. Breach is my faviorite , from her creepy design , to her creepily perfect voice acting and redepemption arc (and weird chemistry with rex). The show itself though is underated: while it has minor tonal issues here and there (Having wacky shenanigans episode ina fairly horrifying setting and the rock soundtrack sometimes clashes), it compensates with a brilliant horrifying concept, a dumptruck of memorable characters too big to list here, and really going hard, exploring the implications of this fucked up world with whole cities turned evo, rex's parental substitue and secret agent buddy given orders to kill, and Rex struggling to find SOME normalcy. It's an underated classic that badly deserves a reboot at some point.

[your-brilliant-lady-m]

Part 1 - Basic Concepts of Miraculous Ladybug: Miraculous Jewels

Alright! I promised you meta and now I deliver!

I feel like people mostly watch Miraculous for the romance these days. Shipping is all everyone cares about. I wonder why? Probably because writers themselves don't take their worldbuilding very seriously and because they don't put much effort into making the audience care about something other than Love Square, like the mythology behind the Miraculous, or motivations of the main villain, or some pretty heavy topics for a kid's show that they bring up and then refuse to touch again. You know, all the good things. And this is coming from someone who is a passionate multishipper. I have lived through several shipping wars in different fandoms and came out victorious after all.

I am probably the only person out there who cares about the big picture, the overall storyline and the worldbuilding of Miraculous in addition to all details and implications that could develop into fascinating plotlines relevant to the main story. It is a rather lonely fandom experience, I must confess. But, hey? Who cares? I am here to have fun and bring to the table discussions no one wants to have.

So, let's talk about the basics.

If you, as the writing team, are capable of keeping only 1 thing consistent, then please, I beg you, let it be the basic concepts of your universe. Because in this case, one has to actively put effort into writing characters and conflict resolutions badly. And also because nothing can save bad worldbuilding.

I don't have high worldbuilding standards for Miraculous. They certainly aren't as high as the ones I had for Legend of Korra (which was a badly written trainwreck, that ATLA doesn't deserve as a sequel) or the ones I currently have for Dragon Prince. Therefore I won't be too harsh in my criticisms. Granted, I think that Miraculous has better worldbuilding and lore consistency than Winx Club for example (I haven't seen the reboot yet, so writers might have fixed their worldbuilding at least a little bit). Even though I enjoyed Winx when I was younger and some elements of this story still attract me.

Both serialised and episodic shows as well as movies to the lesser extent must have some flexibility in worldbuilding and plot because you can never be 100% sure where your story is going. Maybe, you'll get money for more seasons, maybe not. However, you must never lose sight of your basic concepts. They have to stay the same no matter what, because rewriting lore and retconning major developments every new season is not and never will be called good writing.

Forgive me for using architectural metaphors, but you need a solid foundation to build any kind of structure. Otherwise, everything falls apart.

I like to apply this logic to writing as well. When designing a world where your story takes place, you must lay a few ground rules. It's especially important if you have a magic system. What kind of ideas absolutely must exist? What kind of conclusion do you want your story to have? Does your magic system has limitations? Where is the grey area? Could you introduce new elements later on?

And I feel like the writing team of Miraculous Ladybug did not ask these questions. This may feel like I am nit-picking canon material and looking for problems that simply aren't there, but I promise that I am not. You see, things that I am about to point out only seem small at first glance. But these details are actually the source of the largest plotholes in the series. And their presence negatively affects character development, conflicts and resolutions of said conflicts.

That doesn't mean that I have nothing good to say about the magic system of the show and its elements. There are a lot of great ideas and concepts. And some of them have the potential to contribute to the delightful story.

Let's dive right into it, shall we?

Camouflage

I have to give credit where it's due because the idea of camouflage and shapeshifting for Miraculouses is brilliant. It seems like Miraculous can't fundamentally change its type of jewellery or accessory. The ring will always be the ring but with a different ornament, colour or shape. This is true most of the time (Monkey Miraculous is an exception since it transformed into earplugs/headphones/headband/circlet) It makes sense and avoids plotholes. Grimoire doesn't have the pictures of each Miraculous in disguise for identity protection. That was very neat too. I have no comments. This concept was very good.

Also, since Marinette wore a nose ring of the Ox in "Kwamibuster" without any problem and Adrien wore Ladybug's earrings in "Reflekdoll", we can assume that you don't need to have piercings to wear a Miraculous. Miraculous just magically passes through your skin.

I'm interested to know the following. Can Kwamis recognise a camouflaged Miraculous on a person? Can the holder order them to confess the identity of this person? This shouldn't be possible for identity protection just like with Kwamis sensing each other. But more on that in later posts.

Power Levels

For a long time, we assume that there are only 7 Miraculouses. Turtle belongs to Master Fu, Gabriel has Butterfly and Peacock, Marinette and Adrien have Ladybug and Black Cat. Everything is pretty straightforward. Then it's revealed that there are more jewels and more boxes. It makes the worldbuilding interesting, but it also majorly complicates things, making them inconsistent.

Their position in the Miracle Box implies their power levels. Creation and destruction are the most powerful forces in existence, therefore they are at the top. Moreover, it makes this Box the most important, the most powerful out of all others. Su Han in "Furious Fu" calls it "Mother Miracle Box". Fox, Turtle, Bee, Butterfly and Peacock have less power than the main pair, but more than the Miraculous of the lower Zodiac tier (since they correspond with animals of the Chinese Zodiac).

1. Ladybug can create anything out of nothing (Lucky Charm, which gives what you need the most at the moment). This Miraculous can resurrect the dead, reverse the effects of the Cataclysm. The power of Miraculous Cure or Miraculous Ladybug can work in several ways:

it simply repairs the damage (puts stuff back together, heals injuries and so on)

it reverses time for the matter, restoring things back to the state they were before the destruction occurred (however, the Cure doesn't erase people's memories of everything that happened unless they were mind-controlled, frozen in place or transformed by Akuma into something else - this is an important point that I'll discuss some other time)

How does Miraculous Cure work when there are no supervillians? In NY Special Marinette just says this.

Excuse me, what? What was that? You can't do anything when the villain is gone? What the hell?

*insert here every scene where Ladybug fixed Paris after destroying akumatized/amokized object (this action causes the Akuma victim to detransform/sentimonster to disappear - villain is gone) and purifying butterfly and feather*

It was such cheap angst. I couldn't even be upset when Adrien gave up his Miraculous, because that whole situation is just stupid. But, never mind. We aren't talking about that today.

Apparently, Lucky Charm and Miraculous Cure only work when summoned to battle a specific villain. What is the point then? Huh? You can't tell me that Ladybug has the power of unlimited creation and then say that she can't repair the damage without a special Lucky Charm that was magically synchronised with specific big bad of the week.

Ladybug also can purify Akumas. It makes sense for Ladybug to have the ability to reverse the magic of less powerful Miraculous. But this power can't be applied universally. How does this power of reversal apply to different situations where there is no evil Butterfly holder? Can Ladybug reverse the magic of any Miraculous?

The unlimited power of creation introduced in season 4 ("Mr. Pidgeon 72") is another fascinating thing. On one hand, it's logical and proves the status of this Miraculous as the most powerful. On the other hand, by introducing this power, you have created a plothole. Look, Marinette can create the charm which repels Akumas. If Ladybug can create anything then what stops her from creating a tool for finding Hawkmoth (like special glasses for discovering identities or a compass)? I mean, the show says that the power of creation is unlimited, it means that the creation of such tool is possible.

2. Black Cat can destroy anything with Cataclysm, even other Miraculous. He can kill living things and turn them into ash, but not himself. This Miraculous is supposed to have other special abilities that we don't see. And they should be equal to powers of Ladybug, both in number and in potency. Unfortunately, after 3 seasons writers didn't give us anything. It makes laughable the idea of balance between Ladybug and Black Cat.

Now, to the second tier. These Miraculouses have a singular ability, but they need a second one to keep the power balanced between Zodiac and the main pair.

3. Butterfly creates champions with different superpowers. But how does the time limit of children work for Butterfly? In theory, the countdown should start right after the creation of the Akuma since for Ladybug and Chat Noir countdown starts after activation of their powers even if they don't use them. However, if the countdown of the Butterfly begins after Akuma creation then there's no point because the holder has to stay transformed to guide their champion. The charged butterfly won't have time to even grant powers before the transformation of the child-holder drops. This issue is never explored because Gabriel doesn't have a time limit. However, I feel like it should be addressed in flashbacks of past Butterfly holders for example.

This Miraculous should be less powerful than Ladybug and Black Cat. It's often not. Some Akumas are too overpowered. Stormy Weather can move the Earth away from the Sun, Timetagger can send people through time and jump through time as well, Chat Blanc destroyed the world with a single energy blast, Miraculer could steal powers of those more powerful than her by default. These are the most notable examples. One could argue that Chat Blanc was a different case. Hawkmoth simply gave the most powerful Miraculous a boost. However, we know that even without a holder (the wildest and the most powerful form of uncontrolled Miraculous magic) Plagg's Cataclysm can't destroy the universe just like that (he presumably wiped out dinosaurs and sunk Atlantis on his own without a holder). I think that the less powerful Miraculous (Butterfly) shouldn't be able to increase the power of destruction to such a degree and give Black Cat the power to destroy celestial bodies and galaxies.

Writers want us to see Hawkmoth as the formidable villain. But it's not easy because he is less powerful than your main heroes by default of your worldbuilding. Sometimes writers make the Butterfly more powerful than creation and destruction to raise the stakes, breaking the laws of their magic system. So, how do you solve this? Let Ladybug and Black Cat keep their status as the most powerful and instead of giving Hawkmoth more magical power, make him smarter, more cunning, inventive. Gabriel is a fashion designer, whose creativity makes him a very good Butterfly holder. He has a life full of experience, he knows much more about things than the main teenage characters. Catalyst was very interesting for this very reason. Gabriel sort of discovered a cheat code to boost his powers. Show us how he experiments with his powers, how he analyses his past Akumas and tries to find the most effective ones. Maybe Gabriel tries to design Akumas that can specifically neutralise Ladybug and Chat Noir. This exploration could also give writers an opportunity to explain how the powers of Butterfly work. Can he control the type of powers he grants? Can he control the appearance of Akumas? There are many things to be explored.

4. Peacock creates sentimonsters. I remember that fans were very disappointed when the power of the Peacock was revealed at the end of season 2. I was one of them. The concept of Amoks is far too similar to akumatized butterflies. Other Miraculouses have unique abilities and keywords for their powers, while Peacock just looks like Butterfly 2.0. That glowing mask effect just adds insult to injury.

You have to start by figuring out the powers of the Peacock in a normal situation. If a holder is a good person, then how does their power work? For example, make them related to sight (because of the "eye" pattern on feathers). Maybe, Peacock grants the ability to see the several possibilities of the future, but only a few minutes ahead. Maybe, this Miraculous gives you the ability to see through someone's eyes for a few minutes (and the victim is completely unaware of the intrusion). Perhaps, Peacock allows the holder to use feathers (or tiny peacocks) as cameras one at a time and be all-seeing. These feather-spies can be destroyed by the holder or disappear on their own after some time. Such power could be devastating when used against heroes in canon.

5. Bee can paralyze. This power is pretty straightforward. Once I read a fanfiction focused on very vell done Chloe Redemption, where she fights alongside Ladybug and Chat Noir. Eventually, she grows and becomes a better person. This fic ends with an Akuma battle, where LB and CN are trapped and Akuma is ready to kill them. But Chloe uses a second power of the Bee on the villain - Miraculous Stinger. It's deadly both for the holder and for the victim (because bees die when they sting someone). Chloe kills the Akuma with a Stinger before it can get LB and CN, but she too dies making the ultimate irreversible sacrifice. I will add a link if I find it again.

6. Turtle can create a shield. I don't have much to say on this either. It feels underpowered compared to others in the second tier. Maybe Turtle can also slow down opponents (because turtles aren't the fasters animals out there).

7. Fox creates illusions and acts as their puppeteer. In order to create a balance between other powers, these illusions must hold for as long as the holder needs them to. I propose this mostly because we see that Venom of the Bee lasts very long, the shield of the Turtle lasts either until it's destroyed or the holder wants to remove it, same goes for Akumas and sentimonsters who disappear only when the holder wants them to or their affected object is destroyed.

Let's talk about Zodiac tier. Miraculous of the third tier shouldn't have the second ability like more powerful ones. These powers are the most inconsistent. Even if we haven't seen all of them yet.

8. Mouse can create many small clones of the holder. It is unclear how these clones communicate with each other and how many of them this Miraculous can create. The holder can control the number of clones. This power was very convenient in "Kwamibuster" and it makes sense symbolically for the mouse. What activates the time-limit for children? Marinette didn't have any problems with it when she became Multimouse.

9. Snake can create a 5-minute time loop and has the ability to come back in time. This Miraculous feels a bit overpowered for the Miraculous of the Zodiac Tier. The holder can reset the time as many times as he/she needs to. It's was a good source of drama and trauma in "Desperada". I was honestly surprised that Adrien was capable of fighting after spending months in a loop. But this doesn't change the fact that Snake is overpowered. You can give this Miraculous the power to hypnotise or keep the time ability but place a limit on the number of resets. How does the lyre work as a weapon? Who knows? No one!

10. Dragon can shapeshift into elements: water, wind and lightning. It has the coolest transformation words hands down (Bring the Storm and Open Sky). Apparently this Miraculous doesn't have the time limit.

11. Rabbit can time travel or jump through alternative realities, even writers aren't sure. Time-travel in this show is so badly written it gives me a headache. This Miraculous shouldn't exist just like its powers. Snake belongs to the same tier, but 5 minutes and whole centuries of time jumps aren't comparable in power levels. They are not and this is the hill I will die on. Give the Rabbit powers related to its symbolism in China like an ability to de-age people, heal them or give them a speed boost in contrast with Turtle who might have the ability to slow down.

This Miraculous is so special that its Kwami - Fluff can live separately from his Miraculous in a Miracle Box for millennia (Fluff lives in the Box in "Sandboy", but his Miraculous, pocket watch, was passed down for generations in Alix's family). This is a discussion for a separate post, however. There's a lot to unpack. We'll do that some other time. You will suffer with me but at a later date.

12. Horse can create portals. They could lead anywhere, which is pretty cool. On the other hand, this power is not very useful in direct combat, especially when it's used by a child since we can have only one portal per transformation.

13. Monkey can cause a malfunction in powers of other people. What is the point of this? This power was specifically created by writers to defeat Akuma in "Party Crasher". That's it. What if your target is not magical? How does this Miraculous work in different circumstances?

14. Pig shows people their greatest desire. Both the holder and the recipient of this power can see this desire. Chat Noir wasn't impressed in "Guiltrip" and neither was I. It's underpowered compared to other Miraculous in this tier. Also, why does the tambourine can shoot energy beams? Why?

That's all I have to say on the matter. I'll update the power analysis as needed.

[oceanicstarss]

Unpopular opinion probably but also hot take-

FUCK absolutely anybody who worked on or participated in Split, Glass, or Unbreakable. Split and Glass especially are some of the worst movies to “make an example” of mental illnesses because it demonizes those of us (like me) with DID or anything else like that!!

We’re not fucking monsters, we’re not horrible people that can shift and mutate into “”superheroes”” or “”supervillians”” and will just kill people with absolutely no disregard for what might happen to us/our body, or just the law in general

We’re all our own personalities, yes. And sometimes we’re not able to communicate to each other which can lead to some of us abusing each other, but almost rarely anybody outside of the body (my own system has never personally abused someone outside of our own selves). You would never know I had nearly 70 different “personalities” if I just walked by you on the street unless I had told you, and even then you would barely even know who was fronting with me at the time.

Fuck, all of us have entirely different genders/sexualities/romantic orientations that I personally do. It leads to the body feeling really weird, and sometimes really fucking horrible or dysphoria sometimes. We even have different music tastes. And sometimes arguing about what song to listen to, what thing to watch, what to eat, etc., is the biggest argument we all have.

Thi all just shows that we’re just... people still... We’re all living in one body, and some of us get very badly abused by others in this same body. But at the end of the day, we’re not a monster. Please stop making us seem that way because you think it’s cool...

[hyperpsychomaniac]

Who Says You Can't Go Home - Chapter 9

Darkwing Duck (90s series) fanfiction

Sequel to my recent fanfic The Other Side of Me

Summary: Down on his luck, the Negaverse Launchpad crashes at Launchpad’s parents looking for help. Launchpad, who has avoided visiting his family since he started working with Darkwing, returns in a panic to ensure his double isn’t causing trouble. And then it gets awkward.

Chapter 1

***

Ripcord stalked towards the hanger, his shotgun cradled in his arms. His emotions were in tatters after his conversation with Launchpad. Reliving the night he had nearly lost his son had been taxing, and had hurt as deeply as he knew it would. Yet Launchpad hadn’t reacted the way he’d expected. Ripcord had almost wanted his anger, or disappointment, or at the very least have him question how his father could let that happen to him. It would justify keeping his failure bottled up for so long. Instead, Launchpad had straight up forgiven him. Despite how badly he’d mucked up he’d been there for him as he struggled his way through the story. After all his son had done for his Negaverse double, and how much he was helping Drake and Gosalyn, Ripcord shouldn’t have expected anything less.

On top of all that, Negaduck had shown up. He’d come into his family’s home and attacked them. Thinking about his daughter getting chased by that maniac, and actually standing up to him enough to deal some real damage had Ripcord equally parts shaken and proud. Who knew how that would’ve turned out if Darkwing Duck hadn’t been there to protect her. His house was trashed. But Loopey had only a scratch and his family was safe. That had almost been enough for Ripcord to accept they’d defeated the so-called supervillian.

Until the Negaverse Launchpad had come crashing through their front door and collapsed at Birdie’s feet. He’d told them enough stories for Ripcord to know what Negaduck was capable of doing, even to the man he trusted to look after his daughter. Ripcord had felt him shaking against him when he’d hugged him. Negaduck had hurt him; he’d probably tortured him. And Ripcord could not let that stand.

The night he and Birdie had brought their son’s double home from hospital, after setting him up in Launchpad’s old room where he’d collapsed into a deep sleep, they’d sat down at the dining table and discussed well into the night what they were going to do with him. They’d decided he could stay. And they’d committed to being there for him the same as they would their own two children, had they been in a similar position, even though they were adults.

This was no longer because the Negaverse Launchpad reminded Ripcord of his son. Negaduck had hurt the young man Ripcord had spent the last two months getting to know. Whether it was helping him out in the hanger, or helping Birdie make dinner and trying not to break too many plates, which had him both annoyed at the crockery and apologetic. Or even the strange fit he’d got in over the rosebushes and Birdie had to talk him down from. He was a mix of aggression and vulnerability, but he’d always tried his hardest, in his own way, to do everything the McQuack’s asked of him. Seeing him trussed up, and hurt, and all a mess because he thought they’d be mad at him for something he had no control over broke Ripcord’s heart.

That was Negaduck’s fault. And this time he’d made the mistake of abusing Launchpad on the McQuack’s property. As far as Ripcord was concerned that meant he was well within his rights to do something about it.

The hanger lights were on. Negaduck was here alright. Ripcord hefted his shotgun and approached the open doors cautiously. He had only fired the gun once in its capacity for protecting his property and family and in that instance a blast up into the air had been enough. But Negaduck didn’t sound like the type of guy who’d be spooked by a bluff. He’d give him the option of walking out, sure. But if it came down to it, and the only way to protect his family was to use the gun, properly, he wouldn’t lose any sleep. Ripcord shook his head. “Supervillain. Hah. Let’s see how super he feels with a belly full of shot.”

Negaduck sat up on the workbench with the hanger’s first aid kid. A nearby cupboard was flung open, tools scattered about, despite the fact the first aid kid had been in the next one over with its door very clearly labeled. “Stupid Darkwing Duck has to be everywhere! Should’ve just slaughtered them where they stood, but no, I had to taunt the Pink Baroness’ mousy little double.” Negaduck wrapped a bandage around his shoulder as he griped. It was already stained pink. Loopey had stuck him good.

Ripcord raised the gun. “Negaduck.”

Negaduck looked up, eyed the shotgun, then grinned. “Oh look, it’s daddy. What do you want?”

Ripcord cocked the gun. “Stay away from my family, and Launchpad, and get the hell off my property!”

“So aggressive.” Negaduck tied off the bandage, taking his time, flexed his arm, then slid off the workbench. He patted the chainsaw where it sat beside him. “I’d hoped to stay a bit longer, do some redecorating. After that fiasco back at your house I was starting to think I’d have to resort to burning some planes to teach my Launchpad a lesson. Really don’t think that’s going to be as effective as it used to be.”

“What did you do to him?”

“Worried about your precious second son are you?”

“He’s back at the house. He’s safe now. But he was all trussed up, and…”

“What, and you care? Don’t waste your time worrying about that idiot. If you have to know, I strung him up and stuck him on a crate, then left him to see if he’d be game enough to do himself in. You know, whilst he wondered what I was doing over here to the family who’d been foolish enough to take in such a waste of space.”

Ripcord trigger finger twitched. Strung him up. That rope burn around his neck. “You bastard. You don’t get to touch that boy ever again, not whilst I have something to say about it. You hear me?”

“Please. That little trick wasn’t even my idea. That was something Launchpad came up with, back in the Negaverse. You know, when he was on my payroll and liked to torture people for fun. The guy he did it to actually swung. We left him for his family to find. So before you get all self-righteous on his behalf, ask him about that guy. Ask him about the guy he gutted because he tried to hurt my daughter, or the time I left him to deal with a half dozen Beagle Boys with nothing but a crowbar and he came back to me grinning and covered in blood.”

Ripcord’s stomach turned. “I… I’ve seen nothing like that in him.”

“Maybe all you want to see is your son. Ask him, I dare you. Actually, scratch that. I’ve got to teach that ungrateful bastard a lesson. Even if I can’t get him back to the Negaverse where he belongs, I’ve still got to make sure he knows who’s boss.” Negaduck yanked the chainsaw’s starter cord and it roared to life. It startled Ripcord out of his thoughts that, of course, there had to be some pretty terrible things Launchpad had done for Negaduck. “And guess who was fool enough to put himself in a position where I can do just that?”

Ripcord swung the shotgun so it pointed at Negaduck’s chest. “I’m giving you a chance! Get off our property.” He was going to have to use the gun. Properly. And even though this was the guy who’d hurt Launchpad, and he was dangerous, it hit him like a slam to the guts that he’d never had to do that before. And Negaduck was coming right for him.

The shotgun bucked as Ripcord squeezed the trigger. Negaduck swung the chainsaw straight into the shotgun’s barrel, and the two connected in a grinding flurry of sparks. The shot flew over Negaduck’s shoulder and the gun clattered from Ripcord’s hands. Ripcord snatched his hand back to his chest, he stepped back, stumbled, then sat down hard on the hanger floor. His breath came in ragged gasps as Negaduck towered over him, chainsaw idling between them.

Negaduck laughed. “Oh, sweetheart. You brought a shotgun to a chainsaw massacre? Big mistake.”

***

There was no time to argue. But everyone decided to do just that.

“Gosalyn, stay here with Birdie.”

“Dad!”

“My husband is being an idiot; I’m coming too.”

“We don’t even know where Negaduck’s gone. Dad probably doesn’t either.”

Amidst the chaos, the Negaverse Launchpad made eye contact with his counterpart. “He’s been trying to mess with me. If he can’t hurt your family, he’ll go for the planes.” They both bolted out the kitchen door.

“Launchpad, wait!” Darkwing yelled, probably after his Launchpad, but it was fair to assume his aggravation was directed at both of them.

“I don’t understand,” the Negaverse Launchpad said through chugging breaths as they ran for the hanger. “I told your dad Negaduck was dangerous. He always seemed so level-headed.” If Mr McQuack got hurt because of him. No. He couldn’t let that happen.

“Most of the time,” Launchpad shot back. They exploded through the hanger doors.

Negaduck stood over Ripcord, chainsaw raised. His beak split into a toothy grin. “Launchpad! Just in time to see what happens when you’re stupid enough to betray me.” He swiped the buzzing chainsaw down towards Ripcord’s arm, raised to shield his body from the blow.

The Negaverse Launchpad’s guts tightened, his muscles froze, and his leaden body jerked to an impotent halt. Negaduck was going to hurt hurt Mr McQuack. But it was Negaduck. He couldn’t stop him; he wasn’t strong enough.

“Don’t touch my dad!” Launchpad barreled past him and ploughed into Negaduck, chainsaw and all. Both men crashed into the maintenance desk and smashed it clean in two. Papers went flying, as well as fabric and feathers, and the chainsaw let out a horrible grating whine and stalled. Negaduck and Launchpad collapsed on top of each other. Neither of them moved.

The Negaverse Launchpad muscles loosened and he dropped to Ripcord’s side. “Mr McQuack, are you okay?”

Launchpad couldn’t see any blood or damage on the older man. But Ripcord’s breath came in ragged gasps and he all but hung off Launchpad’s arm, staggering as he dragged himself to his feet.

“Mr McQuack?”

Ripcord clung to him, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from his son. His voice cracked. “Launchpad?”

The crumpled pile of ducks heaved and Negaduck extricated himself. “Ow?” He hefted his chainsaw. Scraps of pale material were wrapped up around the blade, clogging up the works. The smell of burnt metal wafted into the air.

Launchpad supported Ripcord as he lurched over and collapsed at his son’s side, then he turned to Negaduck. “Back off.” Even though his voice shook, Negaduck glared at him and took a couple steps back.

Ripcord shook his son’s shoulders as tears filled his eyes. “Launchpad? Kiddo, come on. Don’t do this to me again, please.”

Launchpad groaned and sat up, a hand to his chest. His scarf was all but obliterated. His jacket was torn down the middle and a line of red speckled his exposed chest. Ripcord pawed at the jacket, pulling off scraps of material as he checked for further damage. “Dad, ow!” Launchpad looked down and winced. “Oh.”

“Son, I’m sorry. I was just trying to protect Launchpad.”

“That’s alright. Look, it’s only a scratch. Relatively speaking, you know, for a chainsaw.”

Ripcord choked over a sob and buried his face against Launchpad’s shoulder.

“Dad… hey, it’s alright, I’m still here.” Launchpad wrapped his arms around him and rubbed his back.

Birdie, Loopey, Darkwing and Gosalyn rushed into the hanger. Birdie took the Negaverse Launchpad’s place at her husband’s shoulder. “Rip? Babe, what were you thinking?”

“It’s okay, Mom,” said Launchpad. “He’s not hurt.”

Loopey placed herself in front of her parents and brother, as did Gosalyn, who then tried to stand in front of Loopey. Loopey yanked her firmly back to her side. Negaduck still fought with the chainsaw. He couldn’t even get the starter cord to pull. The Negaverse Launchpad swallowed hard, and stepped in front of Loopey and Gosalyn.

A hand squeezed his arm. Darkwing Duck met his gaze. “Need back up?”

“Oh yeah. So bad.”

Darkwing nodded. “You got it, buddy.”

“Stupid piece of trash!” Negaduck hurled the burnt out chainsaw aside.

“Get out of here, Negaduck,” said the Negaverse Launchpad. “You’re done.”

“Oh no. I’ve still got to teach you a lesson. Don’t think because Darkwing is here he’ll…”

Launchpad lunged forward, grabbed Negaduck by the collar, and slammed him up against the nearest support column. He leaned his weight into him, his broad arms crushing Negaduck’s chest, and arms, and not giving him a chance to get his hands around his throat, or get in a kick, or grab for a knife. The act of finally standing up to him loosened the knot in his throat and sent a surge of pride through his chest. “I told you I wasn’t going to let you hurt the McQuacks,” he growled out, and his voice no longer shook.

Even completely immobile, even struggling to chug oxygen into his crumpled lungs, Negaduck’s eyes held no fear. “You. Are going. To pay.”

“No. I’m going to stop you.”

A grin crept onto Negaduck’s face. “Go on then. Show the McQuacks who you really are.”

“Yeah, alright.” Launchpad glanced over his shoulder. “Hey, Darkwing, you still got that knockout gas gun thing?”

Darkwing pulled the gun out of his jacket. “Yup.”

Negaduck choked out a ragged laugh. “You really have gone soft. What you going to do? Let Darkwing put me in jail? That won’t stop me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’ll get out again in no time. But I don’t care. It’ll give me enough time to really make you pay.”

“You won’t even kill me now you have the chance. Soft.”

“Fine. I’ve gone soft. I like me better this way. But let me tell you what ‘soft’ is going to look like. While you’re in jail, I’m going back to the Negaverse. First thing I’m going to do is find Gosalyn, and…”

“Find Gosalyn? You idiot. You half killed yourself from exhaustion trying to find her when she left. You. Failed.”

A grin slowly crept onto Launchpad’s face. “That’s right. I told you I couldn’t find her. And you believed me.”

“What?!” Negaduck jerked in his grip, and Launchpad had to lean into him to keep him pinned. “Where’s my daughter? Tell me. She’s mine!”

“You don’t own her. But yeah, I found her. And I was all ready to slaughter the guys who had her. But, then, I realised, she was actually happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen her. And I couldn’t take that away from her. Because I knew they would take better care of her than I ever could, and certainly better than you did.”

“You know I never touched her!”

“You think because you used me as her whipping boy that made you a good dad? You found every other way you could to hurt her!” Launchpad fists tightened in Negaduck’s collar. “My biggest regret is I never had the guts to stand up to you and protect her. Well, not anymore. So, yeah, I’m going to find Gosalyn. And I’m going to ask for her forgiveness.”

Negaduck snorted and rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah, that’s really going to teach me a lesson.”

“And then I’m going to track down the so called Pink Baroness.”

“Who told you… She’s a hack, a nothing! She’s not a threat to me. But she hates your guts. She’ll kill you.”

Launchpad laughed. “Nah. Not my sister. She’ll probably beat the crap out of me, but you know, after that, she might be ready to listen. I’m going to find her and I’m going to join her resistance. I don’t know what she’s doing over there, but I know she’s got you scared.”

Negaduck’s maniac grin had fallen from his face. He was no longer laughing. “You’re making a big mistake.”

Launchpad shook his head. “No. For once I’m thinking straight. You’re not going to be able to enjoy causing havoc over in Darkwing’s Saint Canard. Because all the time you spend here, you’re going to be worrying what we’re doing over there. Inch by inch we’re going to pry the Negaverse from your grip. I’m going home, Negs. And I’m booting you out.”

Launchpad hurled Negaduck roughly onto the ground. Darkwing fired his gas canister. Within seconds, the man Launchpad had feared ever since he’d made him burn his planes to the ground slumped into unconscious, for the moment at least, no longer a threat.

***

The super potent knockout gas kept Negaduck unconscious long enough for an armored truck to make its way out to the small town to collect the supervillian. Still, when the burly guards hauled him into the back of the truck, metal shackles binding his wrists and beak, he somehow managed to turn a groggy glare onto whomever his limp neck allowed his gaze to fall on. Darkwing decided he’d lob another canister in there before they left. A double dose would not leave Negaduck feeling too good. But he’d put the McQuack’s through hell last night, and so Darkwing did not really care.

Standing beside him at the McQuack’s porch railing, Launchpad shifted his weight and rubbed at his chest.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Darkwing asked.

Launchpad rolled his eyes. “You’re as bad as my parents. At least them fussing and calling an ambulance probably worked out okay, especially as they seemed more worried about Dad.”

Unlike the armored car, the ambulance had arrived almost immediately. Ripcord had insisted they call them, and Darkwing was fairly certain Birdie had given in so quickly because not doing so would have worked up her husband even more. When they’d arrived, they’d taken one look at how pale Ripcord was and told him to sit down in the back of the vehicle where they could keep an eye on him. They’d patched up Launchpad in the meantime. Not that they’d actually done much for Ripcord, apart from give him a blanket and left him sitting with the Negaverse Launchpad and Loopey on either side of him. He’d been visibly shaking, and it wasn’t from the cold. Once they’d decided both Launchpad and Ripcord were okay the ambulance had left and Birdie had taken her husband to bed.

“Is he okay? He looked really shook up.”

Launchpad gave a half-hearted shrug. “I think I scared him.”

“LP, you threw yourself on Negaduck’s chainsaw. I know I always say ‘let’s get dangerous’. But first you take on the other Launchpad by yourself, then Negaduck… and his chainsaw.” Darkwing repressed a shudder. Apart from being a ridiculous sharp power tool… “Who knows where that things been.”

Launchpad groaned. “Don’t remind me. Mom says she’s going to take me into town for a tetanus shot in the morning. So I’m really looking forward to that. But it wasn’t just because I jumped on the chainsaw. Dad and me, we talked, out in the canyon. DW, I nearly died as a kid. Dad only just told me. He blamed himself and I think it almost broke up our family. And then I go and throw myself at Negaduck and I think it was just too much for him in one day.”

Darkwing swallowed hard. Sure, that explained Ripcord’s reaction. But the thought that Launchpad could have been gone before he’d even had a chance to know him? He reached out and squeezed his sidekick’s arm. “Launchpad, I’m sorry. Do you need to talk about it?”

“At some stage? Yeah, maybe. But right now…” Launchpad gulped and then went on in a rush. “I know you need me for flying the Thunderquack and everything, but I’m really worried about Dad. I can’t just leave him, and I should spend some time with my parents anyway, and…”

“Hey, it’s okay, buddy. I’ll escort Negaduck back to Saint Canard. I already spoke to your double. We agreed once I’ve got Negaduck safely locked up he’ll bring back the Thunderquack and Gosalyn. You can take as long as you need.”

Launchpad rubbed at the corner of his eye. “You gonna trust him with Gosalyn?”

Darkwing winced. “I’m not sure I trust Gosalyn with him. I don’t know what those two are going to get up to on a long plane ride together. But it doesn’t matter. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to stay here as long as you need.”

***

Chapter 10