St. Canard's Catalogue of Colorful Criminals

Compromise

   The darkness hadn't been scary to Niamh since she was around 6 or so years old, but she'd never been as scared then as she was in the moments that she regained consciousness. Her heart raced as she came to realize she was restricted to a chair. She wondered if it would be a good idea or not to call out for someone.

   After several minutes of silence ringing in her ears, Niamh settled on the fact that she had nothing to lose but a few minutes of her life if she did call out. Taking a few shaky breaths, she mustered the nerve to holler out a "Hello" to the darkness. By the way that the sound bounced around the area, she found that she must have been in an ordinary room.

   Sitting anxiously, she tempted to repeat herself more loudly. "Hello!?" She cried out more unsteadily.

   She started to panic as she heard the sound of approaching feet. A door opened directly across the room from where Niamh was sitting and in came the man who'd kidnapped her. With his chainsaw in one hand, and a cloth in the other, Negaduck grinned viciously at her. Kicking the door shut behind him, he flipped a switch, allowing a dim light to brighten their surroundings.

   It had appeared as though they were in the back room of some bakery. Old, long expired packs of flours and sugars spilled out onto the floors from their metal shelves, and a ginormous cake still manage to hold its form in the corner of the moldy room. "Hello, Niamh. Did you have a nice nap?"

   Negaduck leaned against his chainsaw like it was a cane, and looked over Niamh under the flickering light. Too stunned and scared to speak, Niamh stayed silent. Scoffing, Negaduck started to walk circles around Niamh, which only added more tension to her situation.

   "I sure hope you did, because you're going to need a lot of energy to keep up with us tonight, understood?" Negaduck stopped in front of Niamh to make sure she agreed with his every word.

   Giving a little nod, Negaduck's grin grew grievously. "Good," He purred. "Now, listen up, kid, because there's two ways this could go..." Niamh nodded as though her life depended on it. "I've heard some chit-chat that you've been hanging around that dim witted broad, Sunstroke, and her little boyfriend, Bush-rot. Now, I don't know if you know this or not, but we in the crime industry don't like newcomers very well. Fan girls are for boy bands and super heroes, not super villains. So, after seeing your little display of affection for Megadunce last week, I'd say you've gotten too close, and need to be taken care of before anything dangerous happens..." Negaduck stopped again and raised a brow at Niamh. "Got that?"

   After nodding, Negaduck continued pacing around her chair.

   "I could just as easily slit your throat as I could toss you into a trash compactor, but I've got bigger issues than you if that'll be the case. That air-headed woman would burn me to a crisp if she found out that I hurt a child... so I only really have one option at the moment." Negaduck paused once more, leaning in slowly to nearly touch beaks with Niamh. In a deep, dark, almost calming voice, Negaduck softly said, "Do you want to join the most sinister gang in all of St. Canard?"

   It took Niamh a moment to answer correctly, so Negaduck raised his voice a little. "Well, do ya?"

   "Yes..." Niamh peeped, only realizing after what she had agreed to.

   "Good, that's what I thought. Well, it's your lucky day, kid, you get to be our newest member, and all it'll cost is your permanent record." Negaduck went back to pacing circles around Niamh.

   "What do you mean?" Niamh asked softly.

   "Don't act stupid, kid, you know what I mean. I can't just let a goody-two-shoes into our group, that's not how this works... you'll have to do something special to prove yourself to me..." Negaduck looked Niamh over. "And since I can tell you've never committed a crime in all your pathetic life, I'll have to come up with something for you..."