#fearsomefive

“So...what do they think of me?” She whispered.

“Tch. Who cares what they think?” He spat. “The only thing that matters is what I think.”

“And what do you think, O Mighty One?” He ignored the mockery in her tone.

“I think you fit in with us just fine. Although the Fearsome Six really doesn’t work.”

“I am thinking…” She paused, and he watched her face. Her index finger tapped her beak. The FF was his gang, he made all the decisions. But when Magica was making up her mind to do something, it was unwise to cross her. He had a handful of times already. And he regretted it. He chose to let her have her own way. For now.

“What about...the Fearsome Five...Plus One.”

“Plus One? Isn’t that a teeny bopper boy band? We can’t call ourselves that!”

“Well, you decide then.” She brushed her hand through his cheek again. He stood perfectly still, feeling his muscles melt to jelly. He hated it when she did that. And he loved it. It was complicated. He was starting to enjoy this little witch like she was part of his arsenal. He loved her like he loved exploding things. It was a very dangerous, fierce emotion. And now, she was part of his arsenal. The fact that he could use someone so powerful made him tingle. Sure, he couldn’t bend her to his will. He didn’t really want to. She was the one person he didn’t find the need to control. He shook his head at the thought. Stepping away from her, he snapped back into focus.

“Doesn’t matter right now. What’s in a name, right? Now. Let’s see the map again.” He smiled at her, his razor teeth clenched with greed. Magica looked around (only for show, she already knew there was nobody in the room) then pulled the piece of parchment out of her hand bag. That bag made Negaduck both excited and a little queasy. It contained a whole universe inside of it. Sort of like the dimensional room he used to contain his weapons, but much more mysterious. He didn’t like it when he couldn’t figure things out. And Magica was definitely one of those things.

They both stared as she unrolled the map onto the table. This was the same map that they had unrolled before the Fearsome Four twenty minutes earlier...only it wasn’t. Magica waved her hand over it, and new, secret roads and markings appeared. They were the leaders of this outfit. They were the ones with the True Map. He rubbed his hands together with glee and snickered. This woman was the only one he’d ever shared leadership with. A few time already, things had gone hideously wrong. But he kind of liked hideously wrong. He still had fun, and that was the point. And Magica DeSpell knew where all the good treasure was.

As she showed him a secret passageway in the map, Magica’s heart raced. She loved treasure and adventure. She was like her adversary that way. Scrooge McDuck lived for this sort of thing. But, -she smiled to herself perversely- he didn’t have this map. She had retrieved this one through interdimensional travel, something she still did with Negaduck. That wasn’t the only thing she did with him… She blinked back into focus, realizing that he was talking to her. When she looked up, he had that impatient look on his face, though he was still grinning with those jagged shark teeth of his. Then she realized it was more of a grimace than a grin. His tone had ended on a question, but she hadn’t heard any of it. To save face, she looked at where his finger was pointing on the map. It jammed into the place underground. She noticed that it trembled very slightly. Under his finger lay an entire cavern filled with water. When she looked back up, he was on the verge of bellowing the question again.

“What, are you claustrophobic?” She taunted him.

“No, I’m...what kind of a stupid question…” He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. She could feel a wave of fear rippling off of him.

“Oh, I think you are…” She arched her eyebrow dramatically.

“Okay fine, witch! I am...But mostly with water.”

“A duck that can’t swim?” She teased.

“You know I can swim, woman. That’s not what this is about.” She came around the table, standing next to him. He flinched away, prepared for more verbal barbs.

“That is only one of the ways to get to the Gem. There are many others…” She whispered this last part into his ear. Then she playfully nipped at his neck. He jerked away with a gruff laugh.

“I didn’t know you were afraid of anythink…”

“Everyone’s got something…” He muttered. His dark red eyes met hers, and suddenly she felt his hands on her shoulders. She felt that strange feeling she got from him when he let his guard down. He was doing that more and more around her. He never admit to anyone else that he was afraid of something.

“I’m thinking you are...afraid of me? Just a little?” She smiled darkly, leaning into his beak.