Toymaker Madness

Chapter 1

Summary: After watching a new Whiffle Boy commercial which makes fun of his toys, Quackerjack finally slips further into insanity and madness. Will Megavolt be able to help him before it's too late? Quackerjack/Megavolt.

Author's Note: This story takes place after Electrifying Memories, yet you don't have to know that story or any of my other stories to understand this one. This fic is more a stand-alone than anything else. This is pretty much my take on Quackerjack's past. Lots of flashbacks and such. Hope you like it! Read and review!

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The light in the large domain wasn't very bright. There was just enough light in there for someone to see what they were doing, but not quite enough. This was actually how the occupant of the room preferred it though. Over the years his eyes had grown used to dim litted areas. He loved light and wished for it to be on, bright and shining all of the time, however, while he was working hard, sweating away, he figured he may as well let the poor 64 watt light bulbs save their energy until the fateful day when all his luminaries would be liberated.

A young, thin rodent stared intently at his work in front of him, his gloved fingers working their way around each light bulb which he was currently setting up around the large mirror in front of him. He leaned back into the white chair he was sitting in, seething at the light bulb before him. It refused to go into the light socket properly. No matter which way he turned it or how many times he tried, it wouldn't work. He even tried switching the light bulb with another one, seeing if the reluctant light bulb would go somewhere else. It wouldn't. And it frustrated him to no end.

"Why....won't...you…. go in!?" hissed Megavolt, trying to control his furious anger. He knew his luminaries got scared of his temper.

He brought the light bulb up to his face and examined it carefully. "What's wrong with you?" he inquired a moment later. He placed the light bulb up to his ear, waiting for an answer. None was given. "Oh! Now you're not talking to me, eh? First, you refuse to go into the perfect little socket I have for you and now you won't even tell me what's wrong!?"

A moment passed where Megavolt just stared unblinkingly at the light bulb. He then tried once more to place the light bulb into the socket. He turned it this way and that, and he was scarcely aware of the fact that he was holding his breath. The light bulb slid into the socket as he continued to turn it. The light bulb fit into the socket perfectly.

Megavolt gave a cry of success and happiness as he saw that it was inside the socket. "Excellent! Now all the light bulbs are where they are supposed to be!!" He stood slightly from his chair and reached his long thin arm over to a switch on the side of the mirror. Suddenly the room was lit up by all the light bulbs that now surrounded the mirror.

The mirror looked exactly like the kind that would be find behind the set of a Broadway show, where the actors and actresses put their make-up and wigs on, making sure everything was perfect.

"Quacky will be thrill---" his words were cut off with a note of disbelief. He looked down at the bottom of the mirror to see that the same light bulb which refused to be placed into the socket was not lit up. Megavolt's jaw dropped open. "Now what's wrong with you!?" he shrieked with fury. He eyed the defiant light bulb, leaning up closed to it, not caring if the other light bulbs were blinding his side vision. He reached up and turned off all the lights. Now all that was on where the dim lights in the background once again.

Megavolt was about to open his mouth to say something when he heard the large metallic doors to his right creak open and slam shut. He glanced over at the doors briefly, then back at the deviant light bulb. "Fine, be that way. But you're the one who has to tell Quacky! He was looking forward to seeing this mirror work!!" He glared at the light bulb with his arms crossed a moment later and when he didn't receive an answer he scoffed and walked away, heading towards the metal doors.

Megavolt's mood quickly changed from frustrated to excited as he walked closer to Quackerjack, who had just walked through the metallic doors to his hideout. There was a large bag over his left shoulder. Megavolt was about to greet him, but stopped, seeing the expression on his face. He stopped walking, watching Quackerjack with wide eyes as the duck walked past him, the jester's crazed eyes focused on the floor.

Megavolt began mumbling about what he was seeing, not believing any of it even though he was saying it in his own, nasal voice. "He walked in.....instead of skipped....He didn't scream "hello" to me....He said nothing. He isn't babbling about his day......He's not talking, period. Mr. Banana Brain is no where in sight. Everyone panic.....He has a sad frown on his face.....Dear Lord…..." Megavolt immediately sprung into action, forcing his stunned body to run up to his partner in crime.

"Quacky! What's wrong!?" he demanded tenderly, getting into step with Quackerjack beside him.

Quackerjack turned his gaze from the floor and up to Megavolt, who's eyes where filled with concern behind his large purple goggles. He returned his gaze to the floor and continued walking further into the hideout, ignoring the pleas from Megavolt to tell him what was wrong.

"Please, Quacky, tell me what's wrong?" insisted Megavolt, leaning forward a bit as he walked so he could see the jester's face.

"Bad day…." were the two pathetic little words the jester finally managed to say, sounding like the most depressed duck in the world.

"I can tell" sniffed Megavolt, trying not to seem rude, but that much was obvious. Just by looking at Quackerjack you could tell it hadn't been his day.

"Darkwing ruined my day…." pouted the jester at last.

Megavolt blinked at what he just heard. Then, without wanting to, he blurted out,

"Drake got in your way again, huh?" He winced, knowing what was coming next.

Quackerjack growled in frustration has be balled his free hand into a fist and shut his eyes tightly. "If you don't stop calling him Drake, I'll announce to every villain alive who he really is!!"

Megavolt frowned, tensing a bit. It had become a habit for him to refer Darkwing as Drake, who Megavolt, or should he say, Elmo, knew him better as. It had been two weeks since Megavolt got his memory back and was now back to being Megavolt again.

Quackerjack was beyond thrilled to watch as each day went by that his partner became less and less like Elmo and more like Megavolt. His fried memory made the process all the easier.

But it was true, Quackerjack was very aware of who Darkwing's secret identity, and had it not been for Megavolt's constant insistence that the jester tell no one, Quackerjack would have gone and done it by now. But Quackerjack cared for his Megsy too much not to do as he wished.

"Quacky….Cheer up, I hate seeing you like this. It just isn't….you"

Quackerjack couldn't help but grin at that. He knew his Megsy was only trying to cheer him up and what was he doing? Yelling at him. Without warning the jester dropped the bag he was carrying and wrapped his right arm around Megavolt's shoulders, pulling him in closer.

Megavolt took this as a good sign. Quackerjack was feeling better already.

"So, what has my electrically charged friend been doing while I was gone?" asked Quackerjack jovially, his previous depression quickly vanishing.

Megavolt looked over and glared at the mirror that he had been working on before Quackerjack had entered the lair. "Been trying to finish your mirror, you know, the one with all the enslaved light bulbs?" This was said with terribly hidden anger.

Quackerjack's once sober eyes from his depression quickly livened back to their crazed appearance. "Ooooh, right! And how did it come out?"

Megavolt grabbed the jester's hand without a word, dragging him over to the mirror. He flipped the switch and on came all the lights save for the one that had been giving the electric rodent trouble earlier.

Quackerjack looked at the mirror, grinning, then innocently looked back at Megavolt, pointing to the unlit light bulb. "This one isn't lit…"

Megavolt grumbled. "I know it isn't! And he refuses to tell me what is wrong!!"

Quackerjack giggled. "It's okay, I guess." He wrapped his arms around Megavolt, suddenly behind him. "I noticed, all your light bulbs these days are guys….." He tickled Megavolt under the chin, making the rodent squirm. "Am I going to be replaced by a light bulb?"

Megavolt turned red and turned himself around, the jester's arms still around him. "No! You'd never be replaced."

Quackerjack seemed satisfied with that answer and turned to leave.

"Quacky…..What is it we're doing tonight, again?" asked Megavolt, scratching the back of his head.

Quackerjack frowned, unable to think of anything that they were doing. He looked back at his friend. "I don't know what you're talking about Megsy. We have no plans for tonight.."

Megavolt blinked, very confused. The rodent could have sworn that there was something going on tonight. "Then what am I thinking of?"

Quackerjack, who at this point was clear on the other side of the lair, chuckled, his wide grin on his beak. He moved aside several of his newest toys and placed what was in his bag on the table. "I have no idea what goes on in that frazzled mind of yours, Sparky" he giggled. He then yelped when a shot of electricity hit him straight in the back. "Youch!"

"Don't call me Sparky!!!!" he shouted in fury, glaring at the jester in front of his as he walked closer.

"Oh, pardon me…" mocked the jester with a shrug, giggling insanely.

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11 years ago…..

The sound of a bell ringing caught all the hard working students off guard since they had been working extra hard in trying to get their projects finished. The room didn't have very many students in it, let alone much at all. There were a few empty desks, which were long and could hold three students.

It was a sewing class. The projects that everyone was working on were stuffed animals of some kind. Some seemed a little more advanced than a stuffed animal and looked like an actual moving toy.

In the middle of the classroom, two boys were still trying their hardest to get their work done, despite the fact that class was already over. The teacher in front of the class didn't seem at all fazed that the two boys were still working while everyone else was leaving.

One of the boys had short red hair with long bangs coming down into his face. He was a duck, with a large beak and a wide grin. His eyes were a startling green. The boy beside him had very little hair, but what he had was blonde. He too was a duck and slightly shorter than his friend. They were both of the same build.

"Michael, how did you do that?" asked the blonde duck. He pointed to some of the stitching on his friend's stuffed dog. "How did make the sewing so even? I can't do that?"

Michael, the duck with red hair, grinned. "Simple. You have to overlap them, so that when you take the needle back through, no matter how uneven it is, it covers it up. See?" And he showed his friend how he was doing it by demonstrating.

"You make it look so easy!" grumbled his friend.

Michael laughed. "That's cause it is easy, Derek, you're just not trying hard enough!" There was another chortle of laughter from him. Derek just glared at his friend.

Michael grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the extra thread that he didn't need. He then started cleaning up his work area. "Come on, we'd better get going. Gotta go to work in a hour."

The two of them started to putting everything away and said goodbye to the teacher. Once they were out in the hallway, their hands filled with their project supplies, they began talking.

"What should we do before work?" asked Derek, nearly dropping his box of thread.

Michael shrugged, not really caring or paying attention. "I don't know. I just know I hate school." "College, you mean…" corrected Derek.

"College IS school!" growled Michael. They reached the school doors, going through them and being blinded by the bright light. They both had to wince since it was so bright outside.

"Oh, great! Now I'm blind!!' whined Michael in a high voice.

Derek blinked a whole bunch of times, trying to get used to the light. "I know, let's go to get some ice cream" offered Derek. "You know how hyper ice cream makes us. It'll truly piss off Mr. Henderson!" chuckled the duck.

Michael grinned, his eyes finally used to the light as he glanced over at his closest friend. They both had mischievous grins on their beaks.

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"I'll have a Banana milkshake" Derek told the cashier on the other side of the counter.

Michael leaned over towards Derek's ear. "You always get banana" he pointed out. He was on his tip toes since he was behind his friend as they waited. They were in the town's ice cream parlor, with the tiled floors black and white checkered and a wooden horse sitting beside the entrance. The decorations were done so that it looked like a circus.

Derek sighed after he finished paying and turned to Michael, who was sipping at his chocolate milkshake innocently. "I always get banana because banana is my favorite. Besides, you're one to talk, you always get chocolate!"

Michael stopped sipping for a moment, "Unless when I want vanilla."

Derek shook his head, taking his shake that the worker behind the counter offered him. The two friends went back out to the car they had driven in. It was Derek's, only because Michael had lost his license card somewhere in his room and would be driving illegally without it.

"Do you really think you'll be able to get that job, Mike? I mean, if you can get that job, you're life will be set!" Derek spoke up, sitting on the hood of his car. Michael nodded, his big buck teeth showing. He pushed the long strands of hair out of his face.

"I think I can" he mumbled, playing with the large sleeve of his colorful shirt.

"You'd be working at a toy factory. It would be like a dream come true for you!" continued Derek, knowing his friend's love for toys. Michael continued to stare out in front of him, nodding as his friend spoke. He sipped some more of his milkshake. "Hopefully I'll be able to get a job there as well. But its hard to say. I doubt they'll hire us both, seeing as how they're so tight with workers."

Michael grinned like a fool. "No matter what though, I'll always make my toys!!" He then threw his head back and laughed.

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Present

Quackerjack sighed as he glanced down at all his demented toys. He knew they hadn't always been demented. But thinking of times like that made his head hurt. He frowned. Time to change his focus.

He glanced over at Megavolt, who was back struggling with the reluctant light bulb that refused to work for him. He bounced his way over to the rodent, scaring him.

Megavolt flinched as his friend came over to him. "Megsy…I'm booored" drawled the clown in a whiny voice. Megavolt gulped. He knew what that meant. "Oooh, come on Megsy! let's do something fun!! Let's go paint the town RED!!" He bounced at the thought.

Megavolt gave him a wry smile, the light bulb in his hand. "Red? Why red?"

"Cause I like red!! That's why!' retorted Quackerjack, sounding insulted.

Megavolt hissed at the light bulb and dropped it on the table, finally fed up. Out of irritation, he clicked his fingers, only to be stunned when Quackerjack's half broken television set turned on.

Megavolt, his eyes wide, looked at it. "Cool!!"

Quackerjack walked up to the television, watching the commercial that was on it. It was a candy commercial. It then changed to a different commercial, one that made Quackerjack's blood boil.

"Come and help Whiffle Boy destroy the bad guys!" said the unseen announcer as the screen showed the Whiffle Boy toy being handled by a kid playing with the figurine, knocking down the little toy bad guys. It then changed to the video game itself. "Blast through each level with new excitement!! Forget those old dangerous Quackerjack toys and get your hands on the new hot-selling Whiffle Boy action figure and video game!!! In stores now!!"

Quackerjack balled his hands into fists. Megavolt blinked at the commercial he had just seen, it taking a moment for its relevance to Quackerjack to sink in. When it finally did, Megavolt's arms were suddenly around Quackerjack, knowing the jester was pissed.

"Just calm down, Quacky!! don't listen to them!" he insisted nervously.

"Old toys!? ….Dangerous toys!?" he seethed with fury, still staring at the TV, which was now on a different commercial. "My toys are not dangerous!! Just highly misunderstood!!!"

"I know that! I love your toys!" cried Megavolt, hoping that by restraining his friend, less would get damaged.

This didn't seem to help Quackerjack's mood in the least. "Well of course you do!!!" He untangled himself easily from Megavolt's weak grip and turned on his friend. "You're as insane as I am, maybe even more!! So of course you'd like my toys!!"

Megavolt couldn't help but agree with that as he writhed his hands together. Quackerjack's anger soon melted into a depression. "I remember when my toys were the biggest hit ever. I remember when kids would come to my factory and want my toys…" He sniffed, moving close to Megavolt and giving him a hug, which surprised the rodent, but he accepted it nonetheless. "They never used to be hated. They were once popular." His voice changed as he frowned, getting angry. "Until Whiffle Boy came along." He spat.

Megavolt nodded, still in the hug. Quackerjack didn't talk about his past very much. He would always claim that it depressed him to think about it. Now he knew why.

"Well, that's life for you" commented Megavolt, jolting Quackerjack out of his muse. " I mean….look at me…I….I think I was once valedictorian for my class in high school and now I'm a villain who controls electricity. Wait….I might be thinking of being the drum major…."

"Drum major has nothing to do with education. That's being head of the school band and directing them" mumbled Quackerjack, knowing his friend was confused again.

"No…..It…..Yes…." Megavolt thought hard. "I think my name was Drake."

"Drake was your best friend back then. Your real name is Elmo" was the dull reply. Quackerjack's voice was low and minus any enthusiasm.

"Riiiiiiiight!" smiled Megavolt, remembering at last. Quackerjack shook his head.

Megavolt shook his head. "Well, Quacky, I guess that only means one thing!!"

Quackerjack gave him a confusion and interested look. "We have to go and sabotage the Whiffle Boy factory, because no stupid video game is making my Quacky depressed!!" he declared. Quackerjack grinned widely at this, his mood entirely changed.

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AN: This is my newest fic. Its going to be focused on Quackerjack and his past. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter!! I hope to have the 2nd chapter up soon! R&R!!