#i need to draw megavolt next
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toiooioiooiioys
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Fearsome Foursome
Moonrise! So I had this dumb idea. This is more of a shitpost but I thought it would be funny. It would be a comic strip but I can't draw. So little drabble it is. The Poly Four. As a fandom, we need to come up with a better ship name for them. Tw: S3xual innuendos, swearing.
The bank alarm was going off as the Fearsome Four ran off, each with a bag or two of loot. They kept in close formation while they escaped, making sure nobody fell behind or got lost. The group was blocked by a cloud of blue smoke in front of them. They slowed to a stop.
"I am the terror that flaps in the night..."
Liquidator splashed to be closer to Bushroot, also putting more distance between himself and his electric companion should a fight break out. Quackerjack and Megavolt jumped close together, getting into a fighting stance.
"I am the family disappointment that doesn't bring anything to the potluck."
Bushroot looked over at Quackerjack, who was looking at him as well with an amused face. They shared a small snicker at the bad line.
"I am... Darkwing Duck!!" The short duck spread his cape in what he must have thought to be a menacing manner. He then whipped out his gas gun and pointed it at the gang. He smirked, already amused by his next line. "Hello, Fearsome Foursome!"
Liquidator rolled his eyes, about to make a comment about how mature that was, when Megavolt spoke up.
"How did you know about that?"
In an instant, all eyes were on the electric rodent. He was staring at Darkwing in genuine confusion. His brain had stalled when he heard the remark, and he'd spat out the first thing that came to his mind.
Darkwing lowered his gun and cocked his head. "Know about wha-" He cut himself off, eyes widening as he realized what Megavolt implied. "Wait what the fu-"
"BAHAHAHAHOOHOO!" Quackerjack dropped his bags and burst out laughing, falling out of his defensive position. He put his hands on his knees and failed to collect himself. "He didn't mean it literally!" he pointed out to his partner.
A zap ran up the rat's spine as he realized, flying off his hat. "Oh-"
"Megavolt!" Bushroot yelled, hiding his face in his leaves. He let the one bag he was holding fall to the ground. His face turned dark green from the chlorophyll flooding his cheeks. Little red flowers sprouted up through his hair, a mixture of marigolds, chrysanthemums, and white peonies. He groaned into his hands, muttering something about his teammate.
If Liquidator could blush, he would have. "Three out of four supervillains agree that that was very embarrassing." He slowly sank down into a puddle so that his face couldn't be seen. The two bags he was holding just sat on top of the water. Quackerjack continued to laugh his ass off, clutching his side and falling to his knees.
"How would that even work?!" Darkwing exclaimed. "One of you is water and one is a vegetable. Can Liquidator and Megavolt even touch?"
"That's not your business," Megavolt said, crossing his arms and glaring.
Darkwing threw his hands up. "Seriously, you're together? How did that happen?"
Bushroot looked up from his hands, glowering. "It's a long story that's none of your business, dammit."
Quackerjack looked up at Darkwing and wiped tears from his eyes. "You- you can at least say you called it, ha!"
Bushroot glared at his partner. "Quackerjack, this isn't funny! What about this is funny?"
"The chrysanthemums in your hair, for one-"
"Shut up," Bushroot warned, pointing a finger at him.
Quakcerjack pulled the strings of his hat in a cross. "That and this must make him feel so alone! Unless that sidekick of yours is-"
"What?!" Darkwing exclaimed. "No! Nonono! Launchpad and I are partners in crime fighting. Nothing more. He's my pilot."
"Uh-huh," Megavolt said, lifting the bag he'd been holding over his shoulder. He was blushing furiously. "I've known you for a decade. And I know you're gayer than a bucket of wings."
Liquidator rose his head, chest, and arms out of the puddle. "Did you just quote The Prom?"
Megavolt nodded. "Yeah."
The masked mallard stuttered. "I am not gay! I have a girlfriend!"
"Is it your sidekick?" Quackerjack asked.
"No!"
Liquidator rose up all the way and flowed over to Megavolt, putting a careful arm around his shoulder. His other hand gestured grandly to the hero. "That, my dears, is a genuine homosexual in denial!"
"I'm not gay!"
"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Quackerjack teased. He pulled a match out of nowhere and struck it on the street. He threw it at Darkwing and snagged up one of his bags. "Let's go!"
Darkwing's cape caught on fire. He shrieked and tried to take it off to stomp out, only succeeding in tripping himself. The rest of the villains grabbed their bags and ran out of the area, down an alleyway. They came upon an empty parking lot where Megavolt had left his car. They were quick to jump in, dropping the loot on the floor in the back. Megavolt got in the driver's seat and Quackerjack leaped in shotgun. Bushroot wound up behind the jester, Liquidator sitting in his own seat behind the driver's. It was covered in plastic wrap so he didn't short out the whole car. There was a moment of silence from them as Megavolt started the car and began high-tailing it out.
Liquidator looked over at Bushroot, smiling a bit. "Marigolds?"
The plant-duck plucked a couple of the flowers from his hair. They were an annoying trait he'd developed. When feeling extremely emotional, he'd blossom flowers. It was embarrassing, and often a dead giveaway his boyfriends used to read him. "Yeah, what of it?"
Megavolt glanced at him in the mirror, snickering. "What are the white ones? Peonies?"
Bushroot glared, crossing his arms and looking out the window. "Liq, tell Megavolt I'm not going to talk to him after he outed us to Darkwing Duck!"
"It was an accident!"
Bud rolled his eyes at his lovers. "It's not like we're entirely subtle about it. Especially Megavolt and Quackerjack."
Quackerjack looked at him in the rear-view mirror. "We gave him a crisis to even it out. Fair play. Besides, we got away with the loot."
"Yeah, when you set him on fire," Bushroot said bitterly.
Megavolt glanced at his jester. "Isn't that your second account of arson?"
"Second. Third. Fourth. Not sure at this point," the clown admitted.
Bushroot groaned and rubbed the bridge of his beak with his hand. "Sweet Gaia, what is your problem?"
"Us," Liquidator answered smugly.
"They're our problem," Bushroot quipped.
"Come on. You're not gonna stay mad at him, are you Reggie?" Quackerjack asked, turning around to look at the plant-duck.
Bushroot turned so he was looking out the window and not at his boyfriends. He kept his vines crossed in contempt.
Megavolt looked back at him, frowning. "Aw. I'm sorry, my precious orchid."
Megavolt's new nickname for him made Bushroot reconsider his anger. He sighed and turned back a bit to look at them. "Fine. We'll talk about this when we get home."
Quackerjack grinned in satisfaction and turned back to face forward. "Good! Hey, can we get takeout on the way home?"
Liquidator nodded, smiling at the jester. "Of course. That sounds like a lovely idea."
Megavolt made a sudden jerk to the steering wheel, turning a corner to go to a different destination in that case. "Sounds great. Come to think of it, it sounds really good. I might not have eaten today."
"It's almost midnight, babe," Liquidator noted aloud.
"I know. I had some orange juice this morning."
"I guess chow mein or something sounds tasty right now," Bushroot said. It wasn't often he actually ate, being able to photosynthesize. But hey, tasting was still an ability he had. Might as well use it.
That's it. Bad ending. This ended up way longer than it was supposed to. It was supposed to be just Megavolt outing them but hey. Fluff. So I'd rate this as suggestive crack fluff. Farewell, best of luck, avoid roasted cabbages, don't eat earwax, and look on the bright side of life!
Moonset!
#darkwing duck#fearsome four#megavolt#quackerjack#liquidator#bushroot#poly four#quackervolt#quackeroot#liquiroot#liquijack#liquivolt#megaroot#bushvolt#bushjack#playthyme#drakepad
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MORE megavolt headcannons
i love giving hcs to silly darkwing duck characters
especially a certain electric rat also gonna do the little dot thingy for this post to see if i like it lolz!
i put more stim hcs i have for him [evil grin] /hj
btw sorry for any typos or anything it’s super late while writing this
megavolt has echoalia, he repeats what people say as a vocal stim sometimes (most of the time he repeats darkwing and quackerjack)
megs special interest is electricity (i think that’s super duper obvious) and he had a hyperfixation on jesters for a bit because of QJ
megs fidgets with his tail sometimes! he usually accidentally makes a knot into his tail
megs developed a stim where he says “YEOWWWCHHH” because he said it so many times as a joke and it’s become a massive joke between the f4 (projecting here)
megs has a odd sleep schedule he tries his bed to sleep on time but forgets the time so he usually heads to bed around 2-3am when he means to go to bed around 9-10pm
megs body is always tense due to his electricity and his bad posture and desperately needs a massage or something
when megs doesn’t have his gloves on he often chews his nails
megs enjoys reading a book or two while in bed when it’s raining, he can’t go out when it’s raining so he decides to to try and relax while he can
megs is a heater he’s always very warm but even so he feels like he’s cold
megs draws ALLLOT when he’s bored
he has a robo-cat named thunder
he acts like thunder is his kid
when megs and QJ hang out they sometimes dress up in costumes and joke around
he has a stim where he just wiggles his fingers
he falls asleep at his work desk a lot and sometimes if quackerjack is staying at megs place and sees him asleep at the desk he puts a blanket on megs
more hcs of megavolt woowoo! you can take the megavolt and quackerjack ones platonic or romantic
comment what darkwing character hcs should i post abt next (please i need some ideas)
#🎉clownssilyhcs#darkwing#darkwing duck#darkwing hcs#dwd hcs#megavolt#fearsome four#quackerjack#quackervolt
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Belle Quacks-Chapter 11
(TW: Mentions of abuse, violence)
“Those idiots should’ve found that note by now.” He growled, causing Belle to whimper again. Morgana glared daggers towards the evil duck and captor while Camellia scooted closer to Belle to comfort her. ”I’m positive they’ll show up, not that they have much of a reason to.” She stated, trying to keep Jack’s identity safe. Negaduck clearly didn’t like that, pulling Camellia’s hair to force her to look at him. The fox shut her eyes tightly, gritting her teeth to stop herself from screaming. He kept tugging, screaming at her to look him in the eyes. Reluctantly, she did, her usually warm and loving golden eyes burning with hatred, hotter than hellfire. Strangely, Negaduck seemed to enjoy this sight, chuckling at the way Camellia glared deep into his eyes. “Don’t play dumb with me, beautiful, you know why they would show up. Especially the jester.” He jerked his head toward Belle. Strangely, Darkwing’s doppelganger was fascinated by the fox in front of him. She was strong, intelligent and he actually found her pretty. This must’ve been how Bushroot felt about that scientist he had a thing for. It was pathetic in his case but Negaduck saw potential. Until she laughed straight in his face. “Why, I would be flattered to be called beautiful. From anyone else that is! And, unfortunately for you-“ She leaned closer to him, practically hissing in his ear. “I don’t feel shit like that. No one’s attractive, especially not you.” Oh, she was going to suffer. Did he care about her? No. Did she matter and did her thoughts about him? No. But how dare she.
He punched her in the throat, causing her to cough and wheeze. Still, she laughed, mostly in defiance and to help Belle know she was okay even if that wasn’t one hundred percent true. A swift kick to the side soon knocked it out of her, causing her to cough and wheeze harder. Belle screamed again, her throat dry. Camellia was hurt. Hurt because of her. Hurt in a similar way to Jacky all those years ago. Even the way she looked at her was the same. “I-I’m okay, B-B-Belle, it w-was only a-a small h-h-hit.” A lie. Neither of them would be this hunched over and crying this way if they were fine. And yet, she wanted to believe them. She wanted to think everything was fine and that this was a bad dream. Morgana warned against aggravating him further, shaking herself. According to her, he enjoyed seeing suffering and pain, meaning he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt them, possibly even kill them. Quacky must be terrified of this guy, likely having to relive trauma at his hands. The villain sat down not too far from them, cleaning his various weapons while they waited. Belle and Camellia actually hoped the rest of the fearsome five wouldn’t show, leaving them in favour of their safety. Wishful thinking on their parts, knowing how Quacky just got his sister back. He was likely willing to die for her to be safe, the past made that clear. Negaduck must’ve known that too, exploiting that to suit his twisted needs. The smallest duck’s eyes were heavily bloodshot, her vision clouded with tears. It was her worst nightmare and she wished she wasn’t so weak and cowardly in this situation. The door suddenly flew off the hinges, flying to the side.
“Let them go Negaduck, they’re no use to you.” The electrified rodent pronounced, standing in front of the others. His hands were still glowing with electricity, his whiskers had sparks and bolts emanating from them. Liquidator surged forward, bubbling like a pot of boiling water and a bright, almost luminescent red, steaming. Bushroot strode over to his side, thorns completely covering his arms and leg-roots, his eyes hollow save for vines coming from his sockets. “You’re really not playing nice, these three have done nothing wrong!” Quackerjack exclaimed, rushing towards the sadistic villain with a giant hammer in hand. Negaduck stopped him by holding a knife to Belle’s throat, drawing a squeak and another sob from her. The jester froze in place, focused on his sister’s face. His worst nightmare was unfolding before him, causing a deep feeling of dread and failure in his stomach. He’d seen her sob like this many times before but this was worse. Jack was the one getting hurt physically, not her, all in his goal to protect her. “Why do they do this to us?!” He remembers hearing so vividly. “I don’ know. They’re big meanies, evil. But they’ll never hurt you, no one will.” He was such a fool. Falling to his knees, Quackerjack watched in horror. Who was he kidding, he couldn’t protect her. His boss had a knife to her neck and a good grip on her hair, he couldn’t help her. “Come any closer and I promise she’ll suffer horribly. Now, you’ll do what I say right? No more detours and slacking off?” The deranged mallard asked, his voice a sing-song tone. Bushroot practically screamed at his colourful friend to get up and do something, Liquidator and Megavolt cheering him on. Instead he stayed there. Watching.
Their boss finally released her but only to grab her brother by the neck. “Right?!” Still frozen, Quackerjack didn’t respond, fighting the urge to panic. Negaduck slammed his head straight into the floor, causing the toymaker to feel dizzier. He sobbed out a yes, repeating it over and over, soobing and coughing hard. Bushroot returned to normal, save for his arms, his angered expression now one of worry and sadness. Megavolt channelled the electrical charges to near nothing, rushing over to his partner. “Jack, why?” He asked, holding his weeping lover. The mismatching eyes were red and cloudy, the male duck shaking in his hold. Liquidator simmered down too, bowing his head. The water dog felt the urge to take this into his own hands once again, not wanting to stand on the side lines. “... Can you let them go now, boss? They don’t deserve this.” Negaduck chuckled a dark chuckle, kicking both Megavolt and Quackerjack. “L-L-Likky’s right. The s-small duck a-a-and lovely f-fox aren’t trouble and Ms. Macawber h-has been busy recently.” Reggie stammered out, moving slowly towards the women, causing Negaduck to throw a knife into his arm. That was an obvious no. Clearly Negs as going to hold them over their heads as ransom, using them to manipulate the guys into submission. Megavolt began to start sparking at the whiskers again, holding his boyfriend close in a protective manner. The duck sobbed into his shoulder, tightly gripping onto him. Bushroot sat next to Camellia, rubbing her back to comfort her. She clearly enjoyed his company in this situation.
“You bastard. You motherfucKING SOCIOPATHIC BASTARD!” Megavolt yelled, nearly blowing a fuse. This was crossing a line he never thought would be crossed and pissed him off beyond comprehension. Negaduck stood there, unamused at the various colourful insults Megavolt was spewing in his direction. It got Liquidator riled back up into joining him, swinging at the Darkwing-clone’s direction, only to be dodged. Even Morgana and Bushroot piped back up, the sorceress cursing his name and general curses toward him and Bushroot causing plants to try and attack him. Once again he dodged, taking up post by the now unconscious short duck. “You’re all pathetic, caring so much about some girl.” Without warning, purple smoke filled the room.
#megavolt#bushroot#quackervolt#quackerjack#liquidator#negaduck#morgana macawber#darkwing duck oc#darkwing duck ocs#oc fic
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Just some stuff about my crazy dirt lady. I feel like I should have something about her love of arts and crafts, her sweet tooth, exploring the world of normals, or the times she met Quackerjack and Bushroot (though, in all honesty, her fight with QJ at the crafts store that ended with them both getting banned would require several doodles of its own, and I have several different options for Bushroot that I can’t decide on). Buuuuuut, there’s already a bunch here, so maybe next time.
Just some ramblings on the drawings below (it gets long):
~ I intially meant for only some of these to be colored, but I got carried away.
~ Her hair does a weird tentacle thing when it’s unbraided; I mean, Rosella is Morgana’s cousin, there needs to be something weird and monster-y about her. She’s also got teeth that are... selectively sharp, usually when she’s mad.
~ And here, we meet Rosie’s rock cat, Tuffy! Basically, she wanted a familiar like her classmates, and so she brought several rocks together and shot some life force into them to create a cat. She drained herself in the process and took some time to recover, but she at least got a friend.
~ So, how Darkwing and co. meet Rosella is that they’re in Transylvania for some reason, and they have a problem that someone states that cousin Rosella could help solve (cue groans from other Macawbers).
So, they walk to her place, speculating on who this Rosella is and why the others aren’t too fond of her, and then they come upon a garden. It’s not even a monster garden with cackling dead-looking trees, giant carnivorous plants, pumpkins that are already jack o’lanterns, ghostly flowers, etc. Just a completely normal, green, healthy garden like a normal gardener would do.
As they’re looking around in confusion (and Gosalyn in disappointment, this wasn’t the weird she thought it would be), Rosie pops out of the ground, excited to have visitors. She was just burrowing around grabbing grubs before they could do damage, and plans to cook them. And catches a fly with her tongue (which Gos thinks is cool while it freaks out Darkwing and Launchpad).
~ Got a weird lineup with the canon Macawbers and my OC’s (Rosie, her sisters, and her father); there could be more relatives, but I didn’t want to draw beyond those ones. Rosie’s the black sheep of the family, since she doesn’t really act like any other ghoul in Transylvania. Some even speculate that the real Rosie was replaced with a fairy changeling. Whatever the case, even if she’s not formally disowned (didn’t really do anything to warrant it), she is still often excluded.
~ I think Rosie would get along well with Launchpad. Also, I think he’d be introducing Hamburger Hippo to her.
~ Oh, yeah, she has a petrifying glare, though she doesn’t like using it. She’s probably having a bad day and a seagull stealing her food was the last straw.
~ Weird thing, it’s like Rosie and Gosalyn are both kindred spirits and yet practically the opposite at the same time. The former in that they’re spirited individuals who defy their respective societies’ stereotypes, and the latter in they have very different tastes. I imagine them butting heads quite a bit, though they’re in agreement that mud is awesome.
~ Heheheheh, literally dirty references.
~ I think of Rosie having a sisterly relationship with Morgana (better than with her actual sisters). Sometimes they get along, sometimes Morg has to be a nag with her, especially when Rosie’s pouting about her work uniform while being a waitress at the Shadow Chateau (I don’t know if that restaurant’s still around, it was the final episode in my Darkwing marathon, but let’s pretend it’s still a thing).
~ Had to draw Rosie showing off some of her earth magic.
~ Obligatory Negaverse counterpart and small child version.
~ When showing Rosie around town, Darkwing came across Megavolt committing a crime. Rosie decided to help out. Cue argument.
~ Obligatory formal wear and flower crown doodles. Her favorite color may be green, but she also loves pink and purple.
~ Knowing her rocks and dirt helps Rosie with her earth magic and her gardening... though, most people don’t eat dirt.
~ Rosie is not a fan of water (aside from drinking it and watering plants)--she’s terrified of the ocean, feels nervous crossing rivers, doesn’t like swimming (oh, the irony, she’s a duck), etc. so, imagine her trying being a solo hero (to spite Darkwing after their argument), and she fares well against Megavolt and Quackerjack. Then, she meets the Liquidator.
Anyway, that’s my nonsense.
#darkwing duck#oc#rosella macawber#morgana macawber#launchpad mcquack#gosalyn mallard#tuffy#macawber family#negaduck#megavolt#liquidator#negaverse counterpart#nega rosella#lyssa draws
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Probably the last Hana-Barbera monster writeup
The Cyclops Creature
Neutral Mystical Bipedal Crustacean-like Monster
Television Appearances: Godzilla Ep. 8: "The Horror of Forgotten Island"
Height: 58 m
Weight: 31,000 metric tons
Television Appearances: Godzilla Ep. 8: "The Horror of Forgotten Island"
Eye: The Cyclops can rotate its eyestalk like a periscope
Eye-Beam: The Cyclops can fire a silver-colored beam that makes objects jump into the air or airborne objects lose all acceleration and drop straight down. On kaiju it can temporarily disrupt their balance, making them stumble.
Claws: The Cyclops has two pincers which it can use with great dexterity or for combat.
Invisibility: The Cyclops can turn invisible
Intelligence: The Cyclops is intelligent enough to create rock walls to cut off means of escape, trick foes into thinking it's retreating, and set up ambushes using its invisibility and creating misleading footprint trails.
Swimming: The Cyclops is capable of swimming at speeds fast enough to ambush Godzilla.
Weakness: Paint and similar substances can thwart the Cyclop's invisibility.
Personal Primal Number and Special Rule
Personal Primal Number- 09- Silvery beams- The cyclops draws upon its power and intelligence to use its eye-beams creatively, deflecting attacks and making foes stumble. Its foe loses its next attack roll, and loses its cover bonuses the next turn. The cyclops is also also allowed to re-roll its next failed defense roll.
Special Rule:-Invisibilty- After three rounds or sustaining two wounds, the cyclops turns invisible. From that point on in the fight it will be treated as having an Extreme (+20) cover bonus no matter the cover. It will trick its foe into thinking its retreating, then make a FREE Attack Roll for which there is no defense roll.
If HIT by a kaiju with silk, ink, glue or a similar substance: roll a d6. If 1-3, the Cyclop's cover bonus from invisibility is reduced by -5. This d6 check can continue repeatedly with each time Cyclops's is hit by such a foe, until the Cyclops is reduced to having the normal cover bonus of the battlefield.
(This rule has no effect on opponents with echolocation, without eyes or some other senses of thwarting the invisibility. The Cyclops does not get the Extreme cover bonus against them. The free attack by the Cyclops will instead be allowed a defense roll, and the opponents allowed to counterattack.
The cyclops is intelligent enough to not try invisibility sneak attacks against foes that clearly lack eyes such as Eleking)
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I still need to figure out how to rework the Energy Beast’s energy draining powers into their rules, but this is the last of any new monsters not in previous tourney years that drew my eye as having enough to work with.
(Except maybe the Megavolt monster, but my inspiration dried up halfway while attempting that one.)
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Friendly Four Concepts
Had a bit of a rough day a little while ago and, to make myself feel better, I started looking through the various designs that people have come up with for the Negaverse versions of Quackerjack, Megavolt, Liquidator, and Bushroot- AKA, the Friendly Four. My favorite versions are the ones by @thefriendlyfour, @kaguyamadoka, and @sandyferal - seriously go check them out, they’re all amazingly talented and creative people!
Unfortunately, I can’t draw like they can, but I like designing outfits and creating characters and writing, so I made some outfits and bios for my own versions of the Friendly Four that I’ll be writing stories for soon. Bios are below the cut, I hope you guys like them.
Megavolt
Appearance: Being inspired by superheroes in comic books, Megavolt decided he wanted to look like the classic hero that anyone could look up to. The lightning bolts and spark-stars on his outfit are reflective, so they catch the light when he uses his powers. The belt around his waist is actually a cable connected to the large battery in the middle that channels power up through a secret port on his back hidden by his cape (The pockets on the back actually hold his back-up batteries for when his main one needs to recharge). He also wears elbow-length gloves that are the same color as his cape with little metal lightning bolt emblems on the back, wrap-around safety glasses to both protect his eyes from the light he constantly puts off during his attacks as well as to serve as a mask, and blue boots that match the trim of his sleeves with metal plates along the bottoms and the toes. He doesn’t wear any hats or anything, but his powers still make his hair frizzy, so he keeps it cut fairly short so it’s more manageable.
History & Personality: Elmo Sputterspark was very intelligent and always loved inventing things, especially machines that would help the world solve energy and fuel cost-related problems. Similar to the regular universe, a bullying accident with one of his machines gave him amazing electricity-based powers. He spent the day testing out his powers to learn what he could do, when, late at night, he heard screaming coming from the area of the school their prom was being held in. He rushed over and found Negaduck there, terrorizing and attacking their classmates. Elmo fought back to protect them, making sure everyone got away safely. From that moment on, he decided that he wanted to be a hero and fight injustice- especially when it came to tyrants and bullies like Negaduck.
He’s very kind and selfless, often putting the comfort and safety of others far above his own, and enjoys talking about his hobbies and studies for long periods of time with people who are willing to listen. He’s also very cautious with how he uses his powers, both because he doesn’t want to risk draining himself too much and because he is always nervous about hurting someone irreparably (happened early in his hero career and scarred him mentally- does not EVER want to do that again). He does still have memory problems, but he tries to compartmentalize everything in his life into “must remember” “should remember” and “okay not to remember” so that he won’t lose the people and things that are most important to him- namely his three partners.
Inspiration: As a kid, I loved playing with plasma balls. I always thought they were a fun way to learn about electricity and loved the colors. So, I thought it’d be cool to give Megavolt an outfit with plasma-inspired colors and lightning bolt accents.
Quackerjack
Appearance: While his costume isn’t as puffy as his regular-world counterpart’s, he makes up for it by being even more colorful! Still following a sort of clown-theme, Quackerjack’s shoes and cowl are the same style, but the shoes are pink like his belt (almost making them look like ballet slippers but darker) with a big golden bell on the top of each shoe and his cowl is yellow on his right side and blue on his left (going opposite the colors of the fabric around his waist) and still has one large bell on the end of each side. The metal baseball bat he carries is his signature weapon (though that blue pouch on his belt also holds an impressive arsenal of toys and gadgets that seems almost bottomless sometimes and he hides things like jump ropes and larger weapons under the fabric around his hips), and is painted in a diamond tessellation of his outfit’s colors all the way around. The heart-shaped piece of metal on the bat’s hilt at first looks like a magnet meant to hold the red tail-ribbon in place, but, when pressed, it activates propulsion-rockets hidden within the bat that give him extra speed and force when swinging it. Also, Quackerjack enjoys sewing and added the toy-patches on the back of his shirt himself to cover up the holes in his costume from a fight, and gladly adds patches to his teammates’ outfits when they need a repair job done.
History & Personality: Jackson Bell, CEO and founder of Quackerjack Toys, was a well-respected businessman and beloved figure to many for years- he was a community activist, ran many notable charities, and even helped establish several orphanages and children’s hospitals using the proceeds from his company. Unfortunately, when Negaduck’s rule began, he was one of the prominent figureheads in the city that openly spoke out against him. To get him out of the way, Negaduck struck a deal with one the toy company’s biggest competitors and the two managed to frame the CEO for a crime he didn’t commit, locking him away for years and dissolving his company. Jack went a bit crazy in prison, constantly trying to find the brighter side of things, even when one wasn’t really there. At one point he entered a prison-penpal program and met a girl he became very close to- they even started living together when Jack was released from prison. His then-girlfriend helped Jack get his life back in order and helped him find his confidence and sanity again, inspiring him to go out and help others like she helped him. Unfortunately, some rather dark facts about his girlfriend came to light and the two broke up, but Jack still holds out hope that one day they can work things out and she can find a way to be a part of his life again alongside his three new partners.
There are two sides to the toy-loving ex-businessman. When he wears his cowl and hero outfit, Quackerjack is a bright and bubbly individual that loves making puns and laughing about all sorts of things. Outside of the costume, though, Jack is a surprisingly mellow guy with an almost monotone speech pattern- he’ll still crack jokes, but they’ll be said with more sarcasm and dead-pan humor that’ll often make people do a double-take to make sure they heard him right. Despite the glaring differences in his personality, at his core Quackerjack is a very compassionate person that wants to help anyone that seems frightened, lonely, sad, or lost (in any sense of the word). He’s very open and vocal about his feelings, often wearing his heart on his sleeve to varying degrees depending on what state of mind he’s in at the moment.
Inspiration: I went to an art school from 6th-12th grade where I was a theater and musical theater major. During that time, I studied Commedia dell'arte, an early form of Italian theater, and learned about the Harlequin clown character. I decided to base Quackerjack’s outfit off of the classical theater clown’s bright color scheme and more stream-lined clothing style.
Bushroot
Appearance: Similar to how his regular-world counterpart fused with a plant, Dr.Reginald Bushroot in this world infused himself with a Solanum carolinense. The viney nature of the plant gave him a slightly different appearance with thorn-covered vine-arms, three slightly-pointed oblong leaves for each hand (two longer ones and one shorter one to act as a thumb), an upper body covered in fine hairs that make his green torso a bit fuzzier, legs made of woven vine-roots that he can disassemble and reassemble at will to help him climb objects, and a purple flower on his head like the plant he fused with (one large petal curls downward and covers half of his face like a long set of bangs, the back two petals stick up parallel to the top of his head, and the middle two are halfway between the two levels of elevation, along with a few smaller yellow petals that stick straight up to cover the top of his head in the middle of the larger petals). The jacket he wears was actually a gift hand-sewn by Quackerjack- the sleeves have extra-thick padding so Bushroot doesn’t accidentally stab anyone with his arms and the flower-patch sewn into the back was meant to be a parody of the flower on his head. Bushroot won’t say it out loud, but he really loves that jacket and refuses to take it off unless absolutely necessary, so he often wears it completely unbuttoned to stay cool unless he’s trying to blend in with a crowd.
History & Personality: Dr.Reginald Bushroot was a brilliant botanist at the local university, always striving to make the next big discovery that would improve the lives of those around him. Living in a town run by Negaduck, however, made conducting his research even harder legally, and he was forced to quit his job at the institute to avoid getting his coworkers fired as well. With nothing else to lose, Bushroot experimented on himself in a fit of self-destructive behavior and ended up as a plant-duck mutant. He excitedly showed the results of his research to his former coworkers, only for them to sell him out to Negaduck to save their own jobs (and lives). Barely escaping Negaduck’s clutches, Bushroot grew bitter towards humanity and decided to live away from everyone in the solitary safe-haven of his greenhouse on the outskirts of town where he could be hidden away in the woods.
At first glance, Bushroot seems like a cynical nihilist that hates being around people in any capacity. After opening up to Quackerjack and Megavolt, though, it turns out that he’s really just lonely and tired of being emotionally trampled on by society just for trying to be a good person. With their encouragement, he decides to try helping humanity again as part of their team, though he still maintains that he doesn’t really care what happens to the world. He’s actually a pretty big tsundere and has trouble admitting that he likes (or loves) anyone/anything in his life, but his actions always speak louder than his words and he shows he cares for his partners in little ways like making flowers grow around their rooms and bugging them to take care of themselves when they’re working too hard.
Influence: I actually live in the Carolina’s, where solanum carolinense (otherwise known as Carolina Horsenettle) grows and thought it would be a cool plant for Bushroot to fuse with. Those weeds are nightmares to deal with: The thorns hurt like heck to grab, even with gloves, but you NEED the gloves because the toxins in the thorns make the wounds hurt worse and can even get them infected if you’re not careful. They’re also very tough to pull out because of their strong roots and, worst of all, they grow fruit that looks JUST LIKE tomatoes. That last part may not sound so bad, but, down here, wild tomatoes can occasionally sprout up and kids and pets love them as snacks, and Carolina Horesenettles are actually members of the DEADLY NIGHTSHADE family, so their fruit can be LETHAL. It’s a pretty but deadly plant and really quite fascinating to study.
Liquidator
Appearance: Bud Flood in the negaverse is quite a bit shyer than his regular-world version, so he actually changes the water around his body to look like he’s wearing clothes to feel more confidant. The outfit is similar to what he wore before his mutation, except back then it was black and white with a long-sleeved white shirt beneath the button-up vest and he had shoes instead of a big puddle at the ends of his legs. He can change the hue of his “clothes” by messing with their chemical composition (like how he can turn water hard or move pollutants around in it). The metal accents such as his buttons and belt buckle are actually small bits of ice that he allows to float in place along his body, but he can quickly melt and dissolve them at a moments notice when his body needs to change and reform them instantly when his body returns to its normal state. Also, the bow around his neck is actually a ruffled cravat tied into a bow and the water ripples along it to make little waves at the ends of the bow’s ties.
History & Personality: Along with Jackson Bell, Buddy Flood was one of the other influential figureheads that opposed Negaduck, though he was far less vocal about it. Still, Buddy cared about peoples’ health and well-being and used proceeds from his company to open non-profit free clinics and hospitals as well as soup kitchens for the poor so people could always have access to fresh water and food when they needed it because, sadly, most of the town’s water sources had become polluted, meaning that many people had trouble finding sustenance that wasn’t pre-packaged/bottled. Negaduck grew irritated at Buddy’s continued meddling in his plans to ruin the city so, to get him out of the way, he called in a fake warning that someone was going to poison his company’s water supply. Buddy went with a few guards and officers to investigate, but, when they saw who it was poisoning the water, they all ran away and left Buddy alone. Negaduck caught him and threw him into the contaminated water in hopes of killing him- he even tied weights to his legs to make sure he’d sink. While he didn’t die and instead became a water-based mutant, the incident left Buddy quite scared to face people directly for a while.
Although he is extremely shy and anxious when dealing with other people, Liquidator swallows down his nerves for the sake of helping others in need. As a sort of coping mechanism, Liquidator goes into “salesman mode” when talking to people he doesn’t know or just when he feels nervous in general- by pretending everything he says is for the sake of pitching a sale to someone, Liquidator feels less nervous and is able to get through a sentence without the stuttering that would normally accompany his words. In a way, his manner of speaking serves as a great indicator for how he feels about other people: If he can talk to you like a normal person then he feels comfortable around you, but if he can talk to you like that AND not stutter at all then you’re probably one of his three partners and he loves you with all his heart.
Influence: I honestly just liked the idea of having Liquidator create his own clothes out of water since he seems to know so much about changing its properties and chemical make-up. I feel like in this world, the flow of his water would go upwards from the base of water at his feet rather than the other way around, which is why his pants are darker than his vest- giving him a reverse waterfall effect.
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The Vacation part 5
A short part that was supposed to be an intro and then just turned into a few pages so I decided to just post it.
Don’t commit any major crimes. Don’t be recognized. That was the objective. At least for the first few days. Of course that objective was much easier in a town where the police weren’t called every time a citizen saw them outside of their hideouts.
After about an hour of bickering, and after they recruited the two mutants in their mission to swipe a decent amount of money without drawing too much attention, Quackerjack and Megavolt decided on a hotel room to stay in, which would become their base of operations.
“Are we all going to be staying here though?” Megavolt asked once they arrived at the room. “This place only has two beds.”
The group all looked at each other. After a moment Quackerjack finally cracked, letting out a snicker, and they all burst out into laughter.
“Right!” Quackerjack said, cackling with laughter. “As if any of us care about that!”
“Aside from Megavolt’s aquaphobia, eight times out of ten the fearsome four has no problem invading each other’s privacy or personal space!” Liquidator said, still chuckling.
“Not as if any of us have something to hide right?” Bushroot said, though he had a nervous edge to his laughter.
“The Liquidator has nothing to hide! Even if I tried to hide something, in this close proximity you could see right through me!” At this a grinning Liquidator gestured to his clear body and elbowed Bushroot lightly, causing the plant to grimace at the pun.
“Well, enough about where we’re going to sleep, what are we going to do first?” Quackerjack asked, rubbing his hands together.
“Well remember,” Bushroot began. “We can’t-”
“Yeah, yeah, no big crimes, no wearing my costume, I get it! You don’t have to tell me a million times.” Quackerjack pouted. “What do you think I am, insane?”
Bushroot shot a glance at Liquidator who gave a small shrug in response.
“Ok, we all know he is, but I think he gets the idea,” Megavolt said.
“Yeah, there’s gotta be some fun we can have in this place. At there very least I’m going off to get some new clothes, the stuff I nabbed off that tourist is so boring,” Quackerjack said, tugging at his shirt and sticking out his tongue.
“I’d love to go out, just to do anything.” Bushroot sighed. “Unfortunately I don’t think it’d go over very well without a good disguise.”
“I have to side with Reggie here!” Liquidator said. “Only half of our group is able to blend in with the average citizens of this city! And though the Liquidator can easily navigate undetected, the walking plant may be a little harder to miss.”
“That’s fine!” Quackerjack, said, jumping up. “You two can wait here while I grab us all some new outfits! Never a bad time for a shopping spree!” He grabbed Megavolt by the arm and dragged him to the door. “C’mon Sparky!”
“Why do I have to come?” Megavolt protested
“Do you want me to pick out all your clothes for you all on my own?”
“Oh. Good point,” Megavolt conceded as he was dragged out the door.
“Uh, are we just going to let a jester, and the guy who straps a battery to his bad pick out our clothing?” Bushroot asked once the pair were gone.
“Actually, I can get around in nothing but a water bottle if I need to,” Liquidator said. “I think you’re the one who’s going to have to rely on those two to dress you.”
Bushroot sighed. “Great. So much for people not staring at me.”
…
It was almost three and a half hours later when Megavolt and Quackerjack walked back into the hotel room.
Bushroot was lying on the floor in a patch of sun from the open window, but immediately sat up when the two returned. “What took you two so long?”
“He got distracted,” Megavolt said. He paused before amending his statement. “We both got distracted.”
“How distracted?” Bushroot asked, his eyes darting to one of the bags.
“Don’t worry Petalhead, I said we’d get you clothes, we got you some clothes.” Quackerjack tossed one of the bags in Bushroot’s direction and let out a giggle when it smacked into the unsuspecting plant in the face. “I tried my best but it might not fit, I’m not sure most stores carry clothes in twig size.”
“Harhar,” Bushroot said dryly as he opened the bag.
“Hey where’s Liquidator?” Megavolt asked.
“Trying to map out his way through the plumbing,” Bushroot replied. “Turn on the sink and he should be back soon.”
Megavolt glanced at Bushroot, then at a nearby sink. Reaching over very cautiously, Megavolt pushed one of the sink’s handles, then scampered a few steps back as the water started flowing. Sure enough, the water soon began to form the Liquidator’s familiar shape.
“The Liquidator can work well in most conditions,” Liquidator said and he turned off the water and stepped out of the sink. “Which is why I didn’t feel the need to input any requirements when we were choosing a place to spend our time away from home.” The watery dog shook himself slightly, causing Megavolt to flinch. “In retrospect a place with a cleaner plumbing system would have been nice.”
“Yuck! I can imagine.” Quackerjack’s face scrunched up at the idea.
“So is there a reason that trip took so long or…?” Liquidator gestured to Quackerjack.
“While we were out we thought we’d get a few other things,” Megavolt said.
At this, Quackerjack pulled out another back and dumped it on the floor. About a dozen toys spilled out.
“Oh of course,” Liquidator said.
“We’ll all my own toys are still in Saint Canard,” Quackerjack said. “I’ve gotta entertain myself somehow.”
“I thought you only liked your own toys,” Bushroot said.
“Yeah for the most part.” Quackerjack picked up one of the toys on the floor and violently ripped its head off so he could peer inside. “But without the proper tools it’s better to use parts from these than start from scratch.”
Bushroot gulped. “Right. And I assume you’ll be buying knives and gunpowder next.”
“That’d be ideal, but if I can’t get those I know how to improvise.”
Bushroot had no idea what that meant and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Trying to distract himself from those confusing thoughts, Bushroot opened the bag to inspect the clothes Quackerjack had bought for him.
There were actually a decent variety of tops and bottoms in there, and to Bushroot’s surprise, most of them didn’t look too bad. When he looked at them all, he actually found himself thinking that he might actually have picked out some of this himself. There was the standard trench coat and hat, a turtleneck sweater, a jacket with a flower pattern on it, a couple of hats, and even a lab coat.
“Wow, you actually brought back some wearable stuff,” Bushroot mused, more to himself than to Quackerjack.
“Yeah. What’d you think I’d bring you?” Quackerjack asked.
“I don’t know. I-I guess I just didn’t think you’d get me stuff I might wear. I didn’t think you’d actually know what I liked.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Quackerjack said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “For your information, I can guess what you like. You’re not exactly the closed off type, and I pay attention a little. I don’t know why you’re surprised that I actually tried to get you stuff you’d like.”
Bushroot smiled, mostly just relieved that he wouldn’t look like-well- like a clown. “Th-thanks for-”
“Besides I’ve had to buy stuff for Sparky before, I know a little bit about shopping for a huge nerd!” Quackerjack said.
Bushroot’s smile disappeared. “Gee, thanks.”
“I also got you this!”
Quackerjack plopped down a large brown pot in front of him, causing the plant to flinch.
“You got me a flower pot?” Bushroot asked.
“Yeah, so you could plant yourself,” Quackerjack said. “Y’know, for when you sleep.”
“I don’t sleep in a flower pot...” Bushroot said. “But, uh, thanks. I’m sure I’ll find some use for it.”
“You’re welcome Bushbrain,” Quackerjack responded with a smirk.
Even the insulting nickname and the smug look of Quackerjack’s face couldn’t get rid of the small bit of happiness that lingered in Bushroot’s mind afterwards at the thought that the insane duck seemed to actually cared about him, at least a tiny bit.
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FOWL Facets- Chapter 4
Summary: While Loony remembers Liquidator’s time on the team fondly, Domino’s memories of the canine are far from pleasant...
Notes: More backstory in this one with a side of Domino and Gandra being snarky with each other x3
-First Chapter-
“We went on a bunch more missions together after that.” Loony finishes her story with a bright smile. “Liqui always had to go back to Blue Diamond afterwards, but anytime Dommy and Steely called him, he was happy to come play with us!”
“Then what happened?” Gandra asks from her spot on the floor across from Loony. “If you were all such good friends, then why’d he stop tagging along on missions and leave the crew?”
Loony’s smile falls, turning into a slight frown. “I….don’t know.” She looks away, chin propped against her crossed arms where they rest on her raised knees. “We went on a couple of missions after he was done fighting in the gem war for Blue Diamond…but..he was different..”
“Different?” Gandra asks with a tilt of her head. “How?”
“He said he met someone on Earth. He was always in a rush to get back to homeworld after we were done- he didn’t want to hang out and play with us like he used to…” Loony’s frown deepens the more she speaks. “Then, one day, I went out to get supplies after a mission…when I got back, Liqui was gone, Steely looked different, and Dommy & Steely said Liqui wasn’t coming back again…” She wraps her arms around herself a few times. “They said they were okay with it, but I felt bad things from them for a while after he left…”
Before Gandra has the chance to ask for any more information, the door opens and Domino walks into the room. “We’re on course, but there’s still some time left before we reach the mile marker.” He looks between the two other gems and notices Loony’s posture and the expression on her face. “……” He walks over and kneels down next to her. “How about you take the next break, Loony? You can go sit in the control room, if you want- we’re over the ocean right now and the sun is setting, so the view is nice.”
Loony’s mood brightens instantly as she looks at Domino with an excited smile. “Really?”
He nods with a fond smile of his own. “Just don’t touch the controls- the autopilot’s already been set in the right direction. Come get us when it says we’ve reached 500 miles.”
“Okie dokie!” She jumps up and over him, stretching herself to the door and out of the room. “Thanks, Dommy!”
Once the door closes behind her, Domino summons a small oval-shaped white barrier on the ground below him and sits on it- the barrier having quite a bit of elasticity to it, letting it act as a cushion. “Depression doesn’t suit Loony at all.” He looks over to Gandra as she adjusts her legs to be more comfortable as well. “What were you two talking about?”
“Liquidator.” Gandra’s answer is straightforward, as expected of the star-sapphire. “I wanted to know what we were up against.” She glances at the door Loony left through a moment ago. “I didn’t know he was an old friend of y-”
“We weren’t friends.” Domino cuts her off before she can continue. “Loony may have seen him as a friend, but he was merely a coworker- and barely that.” He tries to sound calm and clinical, but the hardened look in his eyes and the way his hands clench from their crossed position in his lap doesn’t go unnoticed by his crew-member.
“Oh yeah?” Gandra gives him a skeptical look. “From what Loony told me, it sounds like you and Steelbeak liked having this Liquidator guy around as much as she did and now you’re bitter that he left all of you behind.”
“We are not ‘bitter’, we were just…inconvenienced.” Domino’s voice remains unchanged, but he doesn’t make eye contact with Gandra. “He was a useful tool to bring with us on missions to planets with large bodies of water- not having him around made certain jobs a bit more challenging.”
Gandra’s skeptical look doesn’t go away- if anything it turns a bit cocky with the smirk on her beak. “Really? That door down the hall tells a different story.”
He gives the star-sapphire an annoyed frown coupled with a mildly irritated glare. “I thought you were a star-sapphire, not a padparadscha.”
“I don’t need to see the past to understand the present.” She only smirks more from his glare, that look serving as all the proof she needs to know she’s right. “You guys gave him a room on the ship, and you don’t just GIVE those away.” She gestures towards herself as she speaks. “You didn’t bother giving ME a room until I’d been on the crew for at least two thousand years, so he must have been with you guys for a while.” She nods in the direction Loony left in. “Plus Loony said she felt ‘bad things’ from you two after he left.”
“Loony was just worrying too much.” Domino glances in the same direction. “As I said, we were inconvenienced and irritated, that’s it.”
“Alright, then why didn’t you just get rid of him?” She counters. “You two aren’t exactly known for your mercy and generosity. Just letting a gem that ‘irritated’ you walk away without a scratch- especially one that could be considered a potential threat to F.O.W.L.- is out of character for you AND Steelbeak.”
“Liquidator is an elite gem with a high-standing on homeworld- his disappearance would be hard to cover up.” Domino’s argument sounds logical enough, but the star-sapphire’s expression never falters.
“You two have done cover-ups before. Would he really be that different from the other elite gems you’ve made ‘disappear’?” She arches a brow at him with a smirk.
“He is stronger than most elites.” Domino tries to stand his ground, despite knowing that he’s losing this argument already.
“Too strong for you two to handle?” Gandra questions with mock-surprise. “Or do you just not want to fight him?”
“We haven’t had a REASON to fight him before.” Domino adjusts his legs, looking for something to stare at besides the cocky engineer across from him. “I already told you, his leaving was an inconvenience and an irritation- we had no reason to hold a grudge against him for his decision, so why bother?”
“Then what happened to the door?” Gandra grins confidently at the snowflake obsidian. “Because THAT looks like someone holding a grudge, to me.”
“Steelbeak lost his temper, nothing new.” He tries to wave off her argument, but she doesn’t budge.
“Funny. Last I checked, Steelbeak doesn’t use incendiary ammo.” She gives his gem, where he would normally draw his pistols, a poignant stare.
“……” Domino’s scowl slowly turns into a frown as he looks down at his empty hands, his fingers flexing as if they itched to hold his familiar weapons. Or maybe it was his light-construct body remembering the feeling of holding them…and how he’d hesitated four thousand years ago…
“OUT?” Steelbeak’s voice was incredulous as he stared at Liquidator, beak agape in disbelief. “Whattaya mean you want OUT?!”
Liquidator leaned against the wall of his room with a frustrated frown on his face. “I mean exactly what I said: I want out of the crew.”
Domino was calmer about the whole ordeal than his partner was, though he didn’t look any less put out by it. Before he could raise his voice again, the snowflake obsidian raised a hand to silence him. The melanite crossed his arms and glared at Liquidator, but did as his partner silently asked of him.
“This is about that sapphire you met, isn’t it?” Domino watched as the lapis lazuli’s expression softened at the mere mention of the odd little gem he’d met on Earth. “What happened this time?”
“……” Liquidator’s frown gradually changed from frustration to regret. “Some garnets tried to start a fight with him while I was gone..Megavolt scared them off, but he’s not enough…” He sighed, his frown only deepening. “I have to stay with him..I promised I’d look after him- he’s MY responsibility…”
“Oh, so you’re just gonna leave us high an’ dry ‘cause of some pretty little blue-eyed Earth rock?” Steelbeak had no trace of sympathy in his voice for the watery gem. He crossed the room over to Liquidator, looking down at him threateningly. “You ain’t walkin’ out on us that easy- not after all we did for you, not after all we’ve SEEN you do. Or don’t ya remember why you started taggin’ along with us in the first place?”
“He does have a point.” Domino moved to his partner’s side to talk with Liquidator, standing closer to eye-level with the canine. “What are you going to do if you leave? You joined us because you needed an outlet for your aggression- do you think that’s just going to go away on its own? What if you get built up again? Or worse: What if you let that side out in front of HIM?”
“……” Liquidator looked at the ground, his walls starting to come down as they always did when the pair of bird-gems preyed on his weaknesses.
“Dom’s right, Liq.” Steelbeak’s voice lacked its earlier aggression, trying to come across as sympathetic. “We’ve seen what happens when ya lose control. Do ya REALLY wanna snap like that in front of your sweet little sapphire? What if he got hurt? You know how you get after a few centuries dealin’ with Blue Diamond’s court..”
“……” Liquidator deflated more at the melanite’s words, his posture losing all traces of its previous defensiveness. “I know..but…he NEEDS me…”
His defenses were broken, they could see it in his eyes. After a couple thousand years of the same routine, they knew how to pick Liquidator apart. They knew what buttons to push and when to go in for the kill.
“ ‘Ey, we need ya too, Liq’s.” Steelbeak put an arm around the blue gem’s wet shoulders in a friendly gesture, giving him a reassuring smile. “You’re part of our crew, so we look out for each other. We wouldn’t want anything happenin’ to our friend, right?”
Ah, the classic routine: Remind him of his troubles and insecurities, drive the point home about how he needs them, then act sympathetic and friendly to take advantage of his loneliness. It worked like a charm every-
“ ‘FRIEND’?” Liquidator repeated the word back, a growl working its way into his voice. “You expect me to believe that we’re FRIENDS?”
Wait, he was starting to stand up straighter again. He was…was glaring at them? That wasn’t his usual reaction- he was supposed to cave in and do what they wanted like he always did! Where was this coming from?!
“Wha-?” Steelbeak looked down at the lapis lazuli in surprise when a chill went through the arm that was still around the aquatic gem’s shoulders. “O-Of course we’re friends, right, Deedee?”
“Right.” Domino nodded in agreement, though he kept a cautious eye on the other gem and his odd new behavior. “We’ve helped you out countless times since you joined us-”
“Oh, is THAT what you’re calling it now?” Liquidator growled, forcefully removing Steelbeak’s arm from his shoulders while glaring at Domino. “You call manipulating me helpful? You call using me helpful?” He subconsciously called the water from the pool over to him, the liquid adding to the size of his body to make him taller and more imposing- allowing him to look down on not only Domino, but Steelbeak as well. “Friends don’t use each other’s mental problems against them! Friends don’t think of you as a tool to make their jobs easier! Friends don’t LIE TO YOUR FACE!”
“Woah, woah, bud, calm down!” Steelbeak held his hands up in a placating gesture, trying to defuse the situation. “We ain’t-”
“Oh, save your lies for someone who will listen, because I am DONE!” Liquidator cut the melanite off, not allowing a single excuse to get past his beak. “You two must really think I’m stupid, huh? You think I didn’t figure out what scam you were selling me on? Well, guess what, I’m not as uninformed of a customer as you think because I KNOW.” He continued to loom over them threateningly, both in height and now in mass as he fully incorporated the water from the pool into his usual form. “The only thing you’ve ever cared about when it comes to me is my strength- you never once cared about ME!”
“That’s not true!” Domino frowned up at the now-taller gem, looking him in the eyes with what he hoped was a believable amount of sincerity. “We’ve only ever had your best interests in mind. What will it take to make you believe us?”
“Oh, so we’re bartering now, are we?” The extra liquid left the lapis lazuli’s body and returned to its proper place in the pool. He folded his arms over his chest, his posture less threatening now but his walls were back up and reinforced stronger than ever. Seriously, where was this newfound confidence and aggression even COMING from? “Alright, I’m a reasonable businessman, so let’s see if we can strike a deal.” He tapped his chin in thought, but the gesture was clearly just for show. “Oh, I know!” He even snapped his fingers to pretend the idea had suddenly come to him. “Just let me bring him along and there won’t be any problems.”
“You got sediment in your stone?!” Steelbeak’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Takin’ YOU along is already breakin’ protocol! We can’t-!” A white barrier appeared around the taller bird’s metallic beak, muffling his words.
“What he’s trying to say,” Domino ignored the side-eyed glare he got from his partner, dismissing the barrier once he was sure the other bird wouldn’t say anything else. “Is that we’re already risking a lot by bringing you with us. If High Command found out, we could at least justify bringing someone of your status and strength on missions. We can’t justify bringing a non-combative gem with us.”
“Funny, I didn’t think SPINELS were combative gems.” Liquidator’s glare from earlier returned.
Domino returned the look in kind, barely restraining himself from striking the other gem for his words. “Loony can fight and defend herself…unlike that sapphire of yours.”
“He’s still developing.” Liquidator growled. “He’s barely been out of the dirt for two centuries, he can get stronger- he can LEARN to fight.” He took a deep breath, trying to regain his earlier façade. “But..that sort of thing can take time. So, how about this limited-time offer: Give me a couple thousand years to train him and see if he can become a fighter. If he can, then he can come along, right?”
“So, what, we’re just supposed t’ leave you alone while you TRY t’ teach some puny sapphire to fight?” Steelbeak scoffed.
“I didn’t say you had to leave me alone.” Liquidator eyed the taller gem, anger still clear in his eyes despite his amicable tone. “After all, if we really ARE friends, then you’d still want to see me, even if it wasn’t for missions, right?”
“That’s unreasonable, and you know it.” Domino huffed, easily seeing through the blue gem’s baiting. “You know how much time we spend away from homeworld for traveling and assignments.”
“Then I guess we’ve reached an impasse.” Liquidator easily slipped between the darker gems and headed for the door. “Until I can bring my sapphire with me or he’s strong enough to look after himself, this is goodbye.”
“Hmph, that sapphire’s made ya soft, drippy.” Steelbeak rolled his eyes at the dog’s retreating figure. “Might be best for everyone if he ‘disappeared’…”
That last line was nothing more than a mumble. A thought that found its way to the melanite’s mouth before he had time to filter it. At most, it was an annoyed, off-handed comment meant only for his partner’s acknowledgement and nothing more.
But it was just loud enough that the lapis lazuli heard it.
He’d had his hand on the panel for the door, his exit already opened, when his ears perked up at the other gem’s words. “……” He was back on the other side of the room before any of them had even had time to blink, his arm extended as he picked the taller bird up off of the floor with ease. “Don’t you dare go ANYWHERE near my sapphire!”
“!!” Steelbeak tried to regain his footing, but chains of water rose out of the pool to restrain his hands and prevent any movement from them. He was pinned with no way to fight back- unable to grab his guns or even summon a platform to stand on.
“Steelbeak!” Domino summoned one of his pistols from his own gem and pointed it at Liquidator without hesitation. “Drop him now or I’ll-!”
“You won’t do anything.” Liquidator’s free arm warped into a deadly-sharp icicle that he pressed right against Steelbeak’s gemstone. “You won’t put your partner’s life on the line like that.” He turned his head, looking the snowflake obsidian over with a smirk that spoke of both the confidence and certainty he had in his words, as well as the dark, murderous intent he held within him in that moment. “After all, you wouldn’t want to lose another one, would you?”
“?!!” Domino’s red eyes widened and he froze in place at those words. “How..How did you-?!”
“I’ve been in your room before, remember? I’ve seen the pictures.” The liquid-bodied gem’s words were cold, full of bitterness and resentment that had undoubtedly been stewing within him for countless centuries. “All of these years you two spent learning how to manipulate me, did you really think I wouldn’t learn how to do the same to you?” His earlier glare returned as he redirected his attention back up towards Steelbeak, though he was clearly speaking to both of them. “I know how to pick you apart. I know what buttons to push to BREAK YOU.” He scratched the melanite’s stone with the tip of his frozen arm, his glare only growing more intense alongside the growl that steadily laced itself further into his voice. “I’ve spent my whole life doing what I’m told, going along with what everyone else expects from me…I thought you two were different…I thought you would understand me…but you’re just like Blue Diamond and all the other elites: You only want me around as long as I play the role you want to see and jump at your command. Now I’ve finally got a chance to be happy with someone who actually cares about me for who I am instead of what I can do for him, and I’m taking it.” He roughly dropped Steelbeak to the ground, but did not release his hands just yet. “Maybe you’re right..maybe I AM making a mistake by walking away from the best source of ‘stress relief’ I’ve had in ages…but, even if it’s the wrong one, it’s still my choice to make. I’m tired of being angry all the time…I want to try being happy for a change…” He turned his back on the melanite and snowflake obsidian. “Oh, and just in case you had any doubts about me being SERIOUS…”
Without even looking back at the pair, he gave a snap of his fingers and the watery chains wrapped around Steelbeak’s hands suddenly rumbled and burst with slender but sharp icicles that pierced his body in multiple locations.
“Friggin’ stars-!” Steelbeak swore with a hiss of pain right before his body disappeared with a poof, leaving behind nothing but his gemstone which was quickly becoming cold and frozen from the icicles still trying to pierce it.
“STEELBEAK!” Domino rushed over to his fallen partner’s stone and picked it up, a thick white barrier appearing around his hand like a glove to protect it from the sharpened ice. He held the black stone close to himself while turning to point his gun at the retreating gem’s back, instinctively trying to protect the melanite from further damage.
Liquidator showed no signs of fear at all in either his voice or his body language as he turned his head just enough to glance back at the loon over his shoulder. “That was a warning. Come anywhere near me or my sapphire and next time I will break him…and I’ll make you watch the whole thing.” And, with that, he finally walked out of the room.
If looks could kill, then the heated glare Domino gave Liquidator would have shattered him instantly. He held his partner’s gem tighter, his other hand still poised to shoot at the lapis lazuli. His finger rested on the trigger, the barrel of the gun glowing a subtle, light blue color. He had a clear shot…
……
…but he didn’t take it…
“Darn it…” With a frustrated scowl on his face, he pointed the gun off to the side and fired the loaded bullet at the small pool, instantly freezing the entire body of water with one shot.
He stood in place for a while, listening to the far off sounds of the exit hatch opening and closing. Once he was completely alone in the ship, the snowflake obsidian walked out into the hall, closing the door behind himself. He sat down on the floor outside of the room, making a small, round barrier-cushion to set Steelbeak’s gem on, but not bothering to make one for himself. The barrel of his gun turned orange and he used a small, controlled burst of fire from it to melt the frost off of the melanite beside him.
Aware of how much his partner hated to be kept waiting, Steelbeak was quick to regain his physical form. Only a few more minutes after thawing out the stone, Domino watched as the ball-cut gem rose up into the air. The stone glowed with a black aura around it that slowly spread out into the rooster’s familiar outline. After settling and making a few minor adjustments, the black light settled and Steelbeak stood beside Domino with sharper features, a longer and more jagged beak, and a darker bowtie then what he’d worn previously.
“That ungrateful CLOD!” Unsurprisingly, Steelbeak’s first act after reforming his body was to lash out in anger and punch the wall beside him. He began to pace up and down the hall in front of Domino, his hands moving as he vented his frustrations. “After everything we’ve done for that stupid drip-brain, he decides to just..just DITCH US for some dirt-covered, off-color sapphire?! Who does he think he is?!”
“……” Domino didn’t say a word, he simply got to his feet and walked down the hall so that he was standing in front of the door to the blue gem’s room instead of beside it.
“More than two thousand years we gave that ingrate a way to blow off some steam!” Unaware of his partner’s change in position, Steelbeak continued his pacing, throwing his hands up in the air or clenching them into fists now and then as he vented his frustrations. “We gave him a ROOM! We gave him a spot on the CREW! What more does he WANT?!” Finding himself back in front of the lapis lazuli’s door, he glares at the emblem on it and gives the offending door a kick. “If I see that loser again, I’m gonna-!”
“Move.” The one word command startled Steelbeak out of his rant, making him turn to see Domino standing behind him with his pistol pointed straight ahead.
“Woah!” He got out of the way just in time, narrowly avoiding the powerful burst of flames from the snowflake obsidian’s gun. “Geez, Dom- give a guy a warnin’ next time!”
“I did.” Instead of looking at his partner, Domino brought out his other gun and both barrels turned black. He aimed the pistols at the door and opened fire on it with regular, solid bullets that pierced it and left several holes in the rock.
Steelbeak took a moment to merely stand there and watch his partner glare at and vandalize the door with the now-charred but still-visible lapis lazuli emblem. He saw something in those red eyes- something he knew and understood far too well after working with the other gem for more than three thousand years.
When Domino had to pause for a moment to change the type of ammo in his guns, he felt something tap him on the shoulder. Looking to the source, he saw his partner standing beside him with a knowing grin. The object that had touched him was the butt of the melanite’s tommy-gun, which Steelbeak held out to him in offering. “Think this’ll be a bit more satisfyin’ for ya, short fuse.”
Domino was caught momentarily off guard by the offer, but he soon recovered and took the machine gun with a brief but meaningful look into the other gem’s dark eyes. “You may have a point.”
It was bigger than the weaponry he was used to, but it wasn’t the first time he’d been allowed to shoot the larger bird’s gun. He easily compensated for the weight and kickback before opening fire on the door in a much more devastating- and satisfying- way than before.
He wasn’t alone in his destructive vandalism, either- Steelbeak summoned his own long-barreled pistol and joined him in putting as many holes in the offending rectangle as possible. They spent several hours soothing themselves with the senseless violence and destruction. Sometimes they would shoot together, sometimes they would take turns and make a game out of it. They would change tactics and use every weapon they had at their disposal, even tossing a bomb into the room itself for a controlled explosion. At one point Steelbeak even used his namesake to take bites out of the material, leaving several deep gouges in it.
By the time they were done, the pair of gems were exhausted but sated.
As they sat next to each other on the floor facing the ruined door, Steelbeak with one leg raised to prop his arm up on his knee while the other lay straight out in front of him and Domino to his left sitting with both legs out in front of him, the melanite finally spoke for the first time since they’d started.
“We made a rookie mistake.” He didn’t need to look at the other gem to know his partner was listening. “Got too close t’ the help- got too attached.” He closed his eyes for a moment, letting an annoyed sigh cross his beak. “That ain’t gonna happen again.” Opening his eyes once more, his dark gaze landed right on the desecrated emblem- only slivers of its once vibrant blue color visible between the holes and soot. “You, me, and Loony- from now on, those are the only gems on this ship that matter. Anyone else wants a ride, they’re disposable.” His left arm shifted from its previous spot on his lap, moving to lie between the two of them instead with his palm face-up.
Domino still didn’t look at the melanite. He didn’t need to. He could tell what expression the taller gem had on his face, just like he could tell that the other’s hand was now right next to him. “Agreed.” He closed his eyes, his own hand moving down next to the lighter-feathered one on the floor. “The three of us are more than enough.”
Domino is pulled from his reminiscing when the door to the room opens, Loony stretching over to him before the door is even half-way open. “The computer beeped, Dommy!”
“Thanks, Loony.” He rises to his feet, ignoring the curious look he receives from Gandra. Walking over to a panel on the wall, he dims the lights once again and gets into position in front of their prisoner. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath to calm himself, then opens his eyes again- his gaze as hardened as it was the first time they interrogated the impostor. “Wake him up.”
<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->
End Notes: Sooo..the relationship between Liquidator and Domino & Steelbeak is a bit...complicated, to say the least. While they did end up seeing each other as friends by the time Liquidator left, it wasn’t exactly a healthy friendship:
Like Domino said, he and Steelbeak were essentially using Liquidator as a way to make their missions easier- he was a tool. They recognized that he was unhappy with his role in the Diamonds’ hierarchy and that he had a lot of deep-seated mental and emotional issues that they could exploit by “letting him” unleash take out his frustrations on whatever planet they were sent to conquer. They also capitalized on the feelings of isolation that came from his superior title by offering him companionship that he was VERY desperate to receive.
Like Liquidator said, though, he wasn’t an idiot- he knew logically that he was being used and he was using them in return as a way to release his pent up frustrations, but, deep down, a part of him really did want to believe that they also enjoyed his company and that they could still be friends. By the time the war ended, though, he’d not only met Bushroot, he’d also started developing a closer friendship with Megavolt and it gave him a clearer picture of what real friendship is like versus what he was getting from Steelbeak and Domino.
Domino and Steelbeak DID end up liking him enough to want to keep him around, and Liquidator didn’t mind coming with them for missions since it was great stress-relief, but a relationship built on a foundation of manipulation and lies is bound to crumble eventually.
#ducktales#darkwing duck#dt17#FOWL Facets#Steelbeak#Dominic Domino#gandra dee#Loony Toony#liquidator#steeldomino#liquiroot#(implied)#not my oc#100 follower giveaway!
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