Night of Judgment

Night of Judgment

A Darkwing Duck (Negaduck) Fanfic
(Inspired by the Twilight Zone episode "Judgment Night")

by Lady_Sherlock

Negaduck stood on the thirteenth floor of the St. Canard Savings & Loan, staring blindly out the window
at the approaching darkness. It was autumn of 1995; 5:00 pm on a Friday night, and so the savings and
loan would remain open for another hour.

"Attention, customers," came a voice over the public address speaker. "St. Canard Savings & Loan will be
closing at 6 o'clock tonight."

Negaduck turned slowly at the sound of the voice; then with one last glance behind him, he trudged solemnly
to the elevator and rode down to the first floor.

As he stepped out and walked slowly down the main hallway, he glanced nervously around him. This place...
it seemed so familiar. I must have been here before, thought Negaduck. But...for what? And why can't I
remember?

For some time, he had felt a strange heaviness of spirit--a deep sadness and despair. It oppressed him more
and more with every step down the hall; then finally, when his feet touched the black marble floor, the sadness
became a growing anxiety. He glanced uneasily at the other customers---wondering if they noticed his mood,
perhaps shared it. But to his surprise, few if anyone paid him attention. Those who did showed neither fear nor
hostility, though at the moment Negaduck could not remember why they should. It was as if he was just another
visitor to the building.

An attractive young she-duck and her daughter passed by him; suddenly, a rag doll the child had been carrying
slipped from her grasp and fell at Negaduck's feet. Almost mechanically, he picked up the toy and handed it
to the little girl duck.

"Here," he said, his voice an anxious whisper, and was astonished when the girl looked directly into his eyes
and smiled sweetly.

"Thank you," she said shyly.

Negaduck stared at her, trying to figure out why this beautiful blonde child seemed so familiar to him. She
showed no fear of him, nor did her mother, who smiled just as kindly. He could not tear himself away from
the small blue eyes, whose innocence seemed to pierce his heart with an anguish he could not comprehend.

"Who are you?" he asked her brokenly.

The little girl smiled again. "My name's Clarisse," she replied. "What's yours?"

"It's..." He frowned anxiously and stood up. He could not even remember who he was, even his own
name...

"Come along, Clarisse dear," the young mother declared. "Mommy has a lot to do before we go home."

"Okay. G'bye, mister," Clarisse said to Negaduck, waving as she followed her mother to line up at the
teller's window.

Negaduck watched them in a strange fascination for several moments. Why was I so kind to them?
He frowned darkly as that thought hit him. But why does that seem different for me, somehow? Why
should it be normal for people to be afraid of ME??? What kind of person am I, for Pete's sake?

He spotted a coffee bar just outside the savings and loan. As if in a trance, he walked over and seated
himself wearily, resting his head in his hands for some seconds.

"Sir? Are you feeling okay?"

Negs jumped, then glanced up to see a young man in a green apron and a friendly smile.

"Yeah, yeah...I'm okay," he answered hastily. "Just tired..."

"You came to the right place, then. Can I start up a drink for you?" the barista continued.

"Nothin' fancy. Just a tall coffee, black."

He nodded a silent thank-you when the young man set down his coffee, still smiling.

Man, what's with all the smiling tonight, people? Everybody's happy but me!

As he numbly sipped his coffee, he was startled to see a pretty lady in a blue dress come over and sit
next to him. As with the others in the building, she appeared not to mind Negaduck's company. He
also felt he had seen her before as well...

"Mind if I join you?" she said sweetly, smiling at him.

Again with the smiling?? Geez!

But he nodded. "It's okay. Er...don't I know you?"

"You might have seen me," the woman replied. "I'm Lydia, one of the tellers. I'm on break right now."

"I was just wondering," Negs said. "But I couldn't have seen you before. I don't even remember being
here..." He gazed around him, his eyes glazed.

"Are you all right?" Lydia asked gently.

He looked up at her, surprised. "Oh, yeah...I'm just a bit tired, don't worry." But he stared anxiously at Lydia,
and back at the savings and loan. "I just...feel that I know you, Miss Lydia. And that little girl inside, Clarisse--
everyone in there...it's like I've seen them before. That I've been in here before, even though I can't remember
it..."

Lydia nodded. "Deja vu, I think they call it?"

"No," Negs insisted. "I really must have been here before. Even this place, the barista...and you, Miss Lydia...
all of you...so familiar..."

The conversation and his thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a large security guard came and sat on the
other end of the bar.

"The usual, Mike? Large caramel latté with whipped cream?" the barista asked.

"You got it, kiddo! Hey, Lyddy---nice t'see youse here!" the guard called over to Lydia. "And who's yer friend,
there--ya got yerself a sweetie?" he added, grinning at Negaduck.

The teller laughed; but Negaduck, his anxiety now a gnawing fear, stared hard at Mike.

"What are you doing out here?" he demanded. "Aren't you supposed to be guarding the place?"

It was Mike's turn to stare. "I'm going back in. Gotta take a break some time...geez, lighten up, will you?"

"I...I'm sorry..." the yellow-jacketed duck put a hand to his head, as if feeling feverish. "I meant no harm..."

Lydia patted his shoulder in sympathy. "He's not feeling very well, I think," she explained to the security guard,
who nodded understandingly.

"But...is it safe for you to be away from the bank like that?" Negs couldn't help asking.

Mike laughed good-naturedly. "Aw, sure! We got a great security system---cameras, alarm, da works. Dis
place is pretty safe. They probably don't even need me, but I been here several years an' they like me. Retirin'
in two years, in fact. I'll be gettin' a nice pension too."

"Oh, my God...no!!!" Negaduck blurted, as he jumped up in sudden panic. Everyone at the bar stared at him.

"Whattaya mean?" asked Mike.

"This place is not safe!!!" Negs exclaimed, his face turning pale. "Your security system isn't worth two cents.
Any capable criminal could tamper with it--even a dumb one! All they have to do is sneak in here and hide
somewhere in the building, then cut a few wires--and even if you repair it now, it won't be working properly
by closing time!"

As though suddenly realizing what he had said, he glanced fearfully at Lydia, Mike and the barista. They were
all gaping at him, quite bewildered at his behavior. He shook his head and shut his eyes painfully.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, trembling as he sat back down.

"You poor dear," the teller said kindly. "You're not at all well, are you?"

"I guess not," Negs muttered, as he picked up his coffee with shaking hands and slowly began to gulp it.

Mike shook his head and gave a short laugh. "Tsss. If I didn't know no better, buddy, I'd say you were talkin'
like a bank robber!"

A sudden splash and a crash of bone china hitting the bar greeted his last words. Negaduck sat bolt upright,
his face sickly pale and his eyes wide open with terror.

"What the...?" Mike's jaw dropped.

"I...I'm sorry, people..." Negaduck said timorously as he stared down at the mess, then up at the teller. "I...
I hope I didn't get any coffee on you, Miss Lydia..."

Lydia shook her head, but gazed at him in genuine concern. "Why, no. But you've gotten quite a lot on yourself.
You didn't scald yourself, I hope?"

"No..."

The barista wet a towel. "Here, mister...I'll clean you off."

"No, that's all right," Negs insisted. "I can do that."

"I know, but I could--"

"I said that's all right!!!" Negs barked in sudden irritation, jumping off the stool and glaring at the barista. He
yanked the towel from the boy's hand and roughly wiped his clothes off, then threw the towel back onto the
bar. He then looked up at everyone, surprised at his outburst--and yet, somehow he wasn't surprised. It's
like...that's the way I normally am, he thought uncomfortably.

"Look...please excuse me, everyone. I think I'd better get out of here," he stammered. "I need air..."

Aware of everybody's eyes upon him, he backed away and walked quickly outside, his knees knocking. But
he could not stray far from the savings and loan building; as though compelled, he remained within its parimeter.
Passing around the corner, he stood at the alley and stared down the dark and dirty asphalt. There was something
about that alley that made him more uneasy than ever...as if...

As if something is headed down this way. Something...or somebody!!! And they're going to do something
terrible in this place...and it'll be...it'll be...

...around SIX O' CLOCK!!!

Negaduck staggered painfully, his heart nearly in his throat as the realization of what would occur hit him full force. Frantically, he ran back to the coffee bar and saw Lydia returning to the savings and loan.

"Miss Lydia? Where are you going?" he asked, trembling.

"Back to work," she replied, with a curious look.

"And that guard--Mike? Where'd he go?"

"He's back at his post. Are you all right, Mr.---?"

"Negaduck. My name is..." he stopped and stared at the teller, for with a horror he could not yet understand
he finally remembered who he was...

"I'm...I'm NEGADUCK !!!"

Everything seemed to come back to him, now and with a vengeance. And there was something about that name,
he knew, that usually struck fear in people's hearts. But when he glanced at Lydia to see her reaction, his name
seemed to have made no impact on her at all. She only patted his arm and gave her usual kind smile.

"Very well, Mr. Negaduck. I'll talk to you later. And whatever's wrong, I hope you'll be better soon."

He stared after Lydia as she went back to her window; the line at the other one had been long, and Negs saw
that the little Clarisse and her mother were still in the lobby.

"Oh, no," he groaned in dismay. "They shouldn't be here! None of these people should be here--not now!!!"

He ran up to Lydia's window, never minding the line of people. "Lydia," he begged her, forgetting the 'Miss',
"where is the manager? I need to see him, right this minute!"

"Mr. Tealsworth? He's right over there," she answered, pointing at a large desk across the lobby. "But he's
with a customer--"

But Negs had already run over to the manager's desk and was leaning on it, completely ignoring the customer
next to him. "Mr. Tealsworth??" he pleaded. "I've got to speak with you--it's urgent!!!"

"Of course, sir," Mr. Tealsworth replied pleasantly, "just as soon as I've finished with this fellow--"

"No, there's no time! Please, I've got to talk to you now!!!"

The customer Tealsworth was helping, a rather shy middle-aged man, gawked at Negs. "I...I think I'll come back
tomorrow," he stammered, rising from his chair and quickly walking away. Negaduck did not bother to take the
empty chair but remained standing.

"Please, sir--you've got to listen to me!" Negaduck begged hysterically. "Something terrible is about to happen..."

"For Heaven's sake, what?" Tealsworth said, somewhat testily. "You just drove an important customer away
from here--"

"Forget about him!!! What I have to say is more important!!!" cried the red-hatted duck. "It's a matter of life
and death, in fact!"

Every head was turned toward him now; but Negaduck's eyes were only on Tealsworth.

"The alarm--you've got to repair it, quickly!!" he insisted desperately. "Someone's tampered with it, someone
who's hidden inside of this building! And he's waiting for his gang..." he shook with fear as the impact of his
own words weighed ever deeper upon his mind. "He's waiting...for the others...they're going to rob this place,
Mr. Tealsworth! They're going to kill people! They'll cause so much chaos that no one in St. Canard
will ever forget...and it's going to happen at 6 o' clock!!!"

As Tealsworth glared incredulously at him, Negaduck glanced up at the clock. It was 5:50 pm. "For God's
sake, Tealsworth!!" he blurted. "You've got to do something! Close this place early and evacuate the building,
or call the police--but do something!!!"

"Mike!" Tealsworth called to the security guard. "Take him outside. He's drunk or doped up, or just crazy..."

"No, no !!" Negaduck yelled as Mike dragged him off. "Don't you understand?? You'll be killed, too!! For
the love of God, listen to me...listen to me!! Please, please...you've got to stop it from happening!!!"

"Mike, keep an eye on him, will you? I'll call the police after we close!" Tealsworth said irritably as Negaduck
was pushed out of the lobby. Sighing, the manager called out to the patrons. "Our apologies, everyone. Please
go about your business..."

Meanwhile, the security guard stood sternly in front of the main doors, his eyes never leaving Negaduck--who
was fairly a basket case by this time.

"Come on, buddy, try t' calm down, will ya?" Mike said in concern, as he watched Negs pace back and forth
like a caged animal. "It'll be okay..."

"No, it won't!" was Negaduck's anguished reply. "It won't be 'okay'. Before this night is over, they'll wish they
listened..."

"But how d' you know about all that stuff, anyways?" asked the security guard, narrowing his eyes dubiously.
"You know them people you're talkin' about, or somethin'?"

Negaduck gave him a look of horrified surprise. It had suddenly occured to him. "Yes...yes...I do know them..."

Before Mike could comment, the lights flickered in the building. "What's goin' on? Someone messin' with th'
'lectricity? Hey!!!" he shouted, as Negs bolted out and ran back around to the alley. But his mind was not
on escape; for he had glanced at the clock and seen the time: 5: 58 pm.

He ran down the dark alley and stared out into the street; suddenly, there was the roar of an engine and the
glare of headlights as a large van drove up and prepared to turn.

"It's happening!!" Negaduck stammered. "They're coming...they're coming!!"

He rushed toward the savings and loan building as the van sped some distance behind him. It screeched to a
halt just around the corner from the front entrance, while Negs ran into the building, wondering why Mike
wasn't there to stop him.

"The robbers--they're here!!" he cried as he burst into the lobby. However, a sight greeted his eyes that made
him stop dead in his tracks...

The savings and loan appeared completely empty. Both the employees and customers seemed to have vanished.
They couldn't have evacuated that quickly, Negaduck assumed. At the sound of shouting outside, he turned
toward the front entrance. "They're on their way here!" he blurted out. "Any minute, all Hell is going to break
loose in here!!"

But he turned back to find yet another startling vision: the entire crowd in the savings and loan--employees,
customers, even Mike the security guard and the young man from the coffee bar--all were gathered together,
shoulder to shoulder, in the middle of the lobby. Little Clarisse stood at the front, holding her doll, her mother
behind her.

They all were gazing sadly at Negaduck, their eyes seeming to accuse him...

"What the devil's going on here?" he screamed. "Why are you all standing here?? They'll be here any second
now! Get out of here, all of you--now!!!"

None of them moved.

"Don't you hear me??!" he shrieked in despair. "What do I have to do, knock you people out and drag you
off one by one?? Save yourselves, before it's too late!!!"

But they made no move to leave. They only stood staring, their gazes sadly questioning, sadly accusing...

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he cried in agony. "What have I done to you???"

He finally managed to tear his eyes away from theirs and make a run for the doors. But it was now too late;
for he could hear the voices coming closer, and the sounds of weapons loading...

They all burst through the doors, and Negaduck thought he would faint as he recognized the robbers' faces:
Megavolt, Quackerjack, Liquidator and Bushroot. Of all of them, Bushroot seemed the only person reluctant
to be there. He was actually pleading with all of them...

"Guys, please--let's not do this! Just take their money and leave!" he whined.

"Shuddup!" barked a familiar voice in the shadows. Negaduck turned...who was this other person--and why
did he seem familiar? He had to be the one who had sabotaged the security system...

"We're all here, Boss!" Quackerjack said, giggling maniacally. "You ready?"

"Yeah," said the same voice, laughing harshly. "Let's party, guys!"

Negaduck, wild now with terror, ran back into the lobby, desperate to avoid the onrush of these thugs. But
they seemed not to see him as they charged into the building; nor could he yet find their insidious colleague,
obviously their ringleader. All the employees and customers were back in their places; but now, all was chaos
as gunfire exploded and people ran about, several falling. There were harsh yells, curses and even laughter
from most of the robbers, mingling with screams and crying from the victims.

Mike the security guard was the first to fall. He had barely pulled out his revolver before machine gun fire
laid him low. Mr. Tealsworth was next, after unsuccessfully trying to set off the alarm...

Lydia, trying to be brave, had just picked up the phone to call 911 before the mysterious thug shot her down
himself . Clarisse saw her mother fall before her eyes and screamed. Hearing this, the thug turned and coldly
fired several rounds at her.

And during all this hell, Bushroot stayed in the background, crying hysterically and pleading with his fellows
to stop the carnage. None of them listened, and it went on...and on...

Meanwhile, Negaduck also tried to be heard. "Stop it!!!" he shrieked. "Don't you know what you're
doing? How can you do this horrible thing?? What kind of people are you??!"

He saw their leader, his back turned to the scene and his gun still cocked, dragging away some large sacks
of money. Negaduck ran after him, sickened and bewildered at the murderous frenzy raging through the
building--even the barista at the coffee bar had been killed. But now there was something far too familiar,
he noticed, about the mysterious robber--his clothing, his hat, his choice of weapons...and his every ruthless,
calculating move...

Negs stopped suddenly, staring in horror at this person with the cold, cruel smile who was so casually
spreading all that death and destruction to all these innocent people--and he choked back a scream of
moral anguish when the figure turned to face him, with features that might have been handsome but now
seemed ugly...

For the vicious, death-wielding gangster was himself.

"No...it can't be...that can't be me!!" Negs stammered, his heart in his throat. The thug glared at him with
eyes that were hard as steel, a defiant smirk on his lips.

"Well, surprise--it is!!!" he declared mockingly, laughing at the stunned look on Negaduck's face.

"That's enough!!!" he shouted in anger. "Don't you know what you're doing?? Don't you understand how
evil this is?? You're murdering innocent people!!"

The robber stopped laughing and sneered. "So?" he replied nonchalantly. "Since when did that bother you?"

Negaduck gaped at him in despair, then rushed up and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. "But don't you see?"
he shrieked in his face. "Can't you see yourself for the monster you are---don't you know what will become
of you? For God's sake, stop it--you mad, murdering fool!!!"

The gangster glared at him in utter contempt, then shoved his revolver into Negaduck's chest.

"Go to Hell," he hissed.

There was no time to dodge the shots. Negaduck jerked back, screaming as the bullets repeatedly struck his
body. As his alter-ego ran off, laughing sadistically, Negs fell to the cold, hard floor. As he lay in agony, he
glanced up and saw the bodies of Clarisse and her mother lying only a few feet away. With a great effort,
he rose and crawled weakly across the floor to them, staining the black marble crimson as he felt his life's
blood draining away from him.

He could hear Bushroot sobbing from his hiding place behind the potted plants, and the shrill of sirens as
police cars and ambulances arrived---but too late. He saw Darkwing Duck and Launchpad rush into the
savings and loan, only to stand in stunned silence at the heartbreaking scene before them. The robbers had
gone; only Bushroot had stayed behind, but the mutant plant-duck ran out quickly at the sight of Darkwing
and the police.

Yet Negaduck's mind was on little Clarisse, lying so still--her arms stretched toward her fallen doll as if in a
last effort to hold it. Trembling, he grabbed the toy and pressed it close to the cold, tiny body, passing his hand
over Clarisse's soft blonde curls.

"I...I'm...sorry..." he whispered in a choked voice. Then he groaned and collapsed next to the child, her
innocent blue eyes staring lifelessly into his face as his own eyes closed...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness.

Then, suddenly...

He was sitting at a desk, sorting through piles of money, jewelry and gold bullion---all the results of the murderous
robbery that had just taken place. But his mind was not on the victims or the destruction in the St. Canard Savings
and Loan...only on the end results. Nor was there remorse in his heart; only greed and smug satisfaction--followed
by anger as his thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door.

"What??!" he barked.

"N...Negaduck?" came Bushroot's tremulous voice.

The red-hatted duck's glance shot up. "Get your sorry kiester in here, dirt bag!!!" he snarled in a deadly tone.

Bushroot crept in and softly closed the door behind him. He looked pale and shaken, hardly glancing at his
boss.

Negaduck glared venomously at him. "About time you showed up here, you idiotic freak!" His frown turned
to an evil smile as he glanced back down at his stash. "We made quite a haul tonight--and no thanks to you.
If you think you're getting a share, you jerk, just guess again!"

"I...I don't care," Bushroot replied sadly. "I don't want it."

Negs raised an eyebrow at this, but gave a short bitter laugh. "Since when? What's your problem--besides
being ugly and stupid, anyway?"

The plant-duck ignored this insult, but only gazed up at Negs in grief.

"Negaduck," he said, almost crying, "there were people in that building...women and children, even. We...we
killed all of them."

His leader gave a sardonic smirk. "So what?"

Bushroot stared unbelievingly at him. " 'So what' ?? Listen to yourself!" he blurted, in spite of himself. "Don't
you care at all?"

Negs smiled coldly. "Actually, I don't. You got a problem with that, Pollen-for-Brains?"

Bushroot, trembling at his sudden tirade, stared down at the floor. "Yeah," he said softly, "I do have a problem
with that."

He was quite startled when his boss jumped over the desk and roughly grabbed his arm, getting right up in his
face.

"What's that?? I didn't quite hear you," Negs growled with a dangerous glare. "And you look at me when
you're talking to me, freako!"

Shaking with fear, but also with righteous anger, Bushroot looked straight into his leader's eyes.

"I said...I do have a problem with that," he answered, with a strange note of defiance in his voice. "You
murdered all those poor people, and those women and little kids--you never even gave them a chance!"

"A chance??? To do what?" was the angry retort. "To run off and get the cops, or maybe that moron
Darkwing Duck? Geez, you're pathetic!" Negaduck stepped away, but turned back with a contemptful
glower. "I don't know why I let you live. I should have blown up that building--with you in it!!!"

The plant-duck turned away in misery as Negaduck laughed scornfully and continued his vicious lecture.

"If you weren't such a pitiful coward, you'd use that tiny brain of yours to understand. We had to off them
all, don't you get it? It's not in our business to 'play nice' ."

"Yeah..." Bushroot replied almost bitterly, as he gazed down at the floor again. "And it makes me wonder...
if we're not damned."

Negaduck chuckled roguishly. "In the eyes of the people of St. Canard, we certainly are."

"No," Bushroot continued, shutting his eyes in anguish. "I mean, in the eyes of God."

Negaduck stared incredulously at him, then burst out with derisive laughter. "Oh, that's priceless! You're not
only a wimp, Bushbrain, but a religious one--that's even more disgusting. Maybe," he sneered, "you should
leave the gang and sign up for the priesthood!

"Just for fun, 'Reverend' Bushroot," he continued mockingly, "supposing we are 'damned' --what will happen
after that?"

Bushroot sat at the window sill, and stared outside in despair.

"I've thought about it," he said brokenly. "Maybe there will be a special Hell for people like us...maybe our
punishment would be to end up like those poor people in that building. To suffer, like they did...to die, like
they did!

"We'd walk through the ghost of that building every night," he went on, looking earnestly at Negaduck.
"Every night, for all eternity! They died once--only once. But we could die, many times over..."

Surprisingly, Negaduck did not interrupt or even comment. He only stood as if glued to the floor, staring
ahead of him in sudden and unexplainable horror...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We'd walk through the ghost of that building every night...every night, for all eternity..."

The words echoed through Negaduck's mind as he stood on the 13th floor of the St. Canard Savings and Loan,
staring blindly out the window into the darkness.

"Attention, customers," came the voice over the PA system, "St. Canard Savings & Loan will be closing at
6 o' clock tonight..."

Negaduck turned slowly toward the voice; then with one despairing glance behind him, he walked numbly
to the elevator and rode down to the ground floor. It was 5 pm on a Friday evening, in the autumn of 1995.

For Negaduck, it would always be 1995...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?"
~~~~~St. Luke 9:25 (paraphrased)

The End

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