'Goodbye, Drake...'

Wow, it;s been so long that I forgot where the 'Submit' button was--two and a half years since my last deviation, to be exact. Hopefully I haven't lost my touch.

This illustrates one of my favorite scenes from an RPG. To try and make the story short, Negaduck had lost his memory. For a short time he believed he was an honest citizen as Drake Mallard, and during such period he and Ariana began to develop feelings for one another. But confrontations with his old enemies (Darkwing, Jake) jarred his memory and he returns to his psychopathic criminal ways. He confronts Ariana in her home after donning the mask and cape once again.

Anyway, enjoy the narrative from the RPG:


Her heart admittedly sank a little when her eyes focused on him and she realized what he was wearing. It didn't surprise her much after what had happened, but she couldn't help but be the least bit disappointed that he had chosen to return to a life of crime.

"Drake..." she breathed softly, the tension draining from her. She moved gracefully toward him until she was standing only a couple of feet away. "What are you doing here...?"

"Just thought I'd let you know before you read about it in the papers," Negaduck replied lowly. In the dark, a smirk could be seen on his bill. "Can you believe those media meatheads actually began to believe that I was dead? Pah. They're about to get a real wake-up call..."

She was quiet for a long moment, not really sharing in his humor. Instead she was filled with a sense of guilt, and she looked at him with sad eyes.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

He locked his dark eyes with hers, then he slowly rose to his feet.

"I know it's not what you want. I know it's not what everybody else wants. Everybody else was content with lying to me so that I'd be who *they* wanted me to be. Who *you* wanted me to be. It was all a charade, hiding from me who I *really* was."

She shook her head. Though she could see the reason in his argument, she knew he didn't completely understand.

"Don't you understand?" she whispered. "This isn't who you are...it's who you've chosen to be. It's always been your choice...but the Drake Mallard inside of you is still there. I've seen him. I cared a lot for him, once. It's you who've buried him...I think this mask is the real charade. It's what lets you forget all the things you can be."

"It reminds me of who I'm *supposed* to be," Negaduck corrected her assertively. He continued to keep his voice low, not wanting to wake anyone else in the house, and he took another step closer to Ariana. Their faces were only inches apart.

"This is who I'm supposed to be. I was never meant to be Drake Mallard. That was decided a long time ago."

She opened her bill, but hesitated. She could see there was no reasoning with him, and that she would have to accept his fate just as he had accepted it.

She stared into his dark blue eyes, trying to find that piece of himself that had once been so obvious on the surface.

"Then...before he's gone forever...may I say goodbye to him?"

He stared back at her and scoffed, trying to play himself off as not caring. "Whatever floats your boat, sweetheart."

Ignoring his cold comment, she slowly lifted her arms to remove the red fedora. Once that was set aside her lithe fingers traveled behind his head, and she gently untied the mask from around his face. The black strip of cloth joined the fedora, and she gazed into his naked eyes with bittersweet sadness in her own. Tears soon filmed over her gray irises, making them shine in the moonlight, and she cupped his chin in both of her tiny hands.

Staring into his face only a few moments longer, she leaned forward and brought her bill against his in a tender, loving kiss that expressed her feelings more than any words ever could.


Ariana is (c)