This was inspired by Malicia's like of video game creepypastas.
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1998
Channel: #TheGameRoom
(17:29:45) Gamer_Chick joined #TheGameRoom
(17:30:15) i_pwn_noobs joined #TheGameRoom
(17:33:00) epicninja: hey guys
(17:33:10) Gamer_Chick: sup?
(17:33:25) i_pwn_noobs: did u guys know they're remaking whiffle boy for quacktendo 3ds?
(17:35:45) epicninja: old news, dude.
(17:36:10) i_pwn_noobs: well i just heard about it
(17:39:00) u_lost_it joined #TheGameRoom
(17:40:15) Gamer_Chick: hey lost :D
(17:40:20) u_lost_it: hey there!
(17:44:00) u_lost_it: hey, have you guys heard about that game thats supposed to make you go crazy if you play it?
(17:44:20) i_pwn_noobs: thats fucking stupid. a game can't do that.
(17:44:55) u_lost_it: no, man, it happened to some guy my cousin works with.
(17:45:15) i_pwn_noobs: right, and my neighbors hairdresser saw big web foot.
(17:45:30) u_lost_it: im serious. its supposed to be posessed or something.
(17:45:45) Gamer_Chick: posessed by what?
(17:50:00) u_lost_it: i dunno some ghost girl or something.
(17:50:25) epicninja: thats fucking lame.
(17:51:15) Gamer_Chick: ok so where did the game come from then?
(17:51:35) u_lost_it: it was a download on some website. just a file called game.exe
(17:51:45) epicninja: never heard of it
(17:52:05) i_pwn_noobs: hes fucking with u guys. theres no such thing as a possessed video game
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Anabelle
It was a simple idea, really. So simple in fact, that Quackerjack wondered how he'd never thought of it before. Of course, the idea hadn't come to him of its own accord, he had the news and the video game industry itself to thank for that.
The article had appeared in Sundays issue of the St. Canard Tribune. It was hardly noticeable at first, tucked down at the bottom of the World News page.
'Seizures in Japanese Children Linked to Video Game'
Of course! How had he not seen it before? The children had been fine, but a few bright lights weren't enough to really bring the video game industry to its knees. Still, it was a start, and it gave the toymaker what he believed to be the most ingenious idea.
He couldn't do it alone, however.
"You want me to do what now?" Megavolts eyes scanned the article Quackerjack had shoved into his hands.
"Rewrite the code in a video game."
"To do what, cause nine year olds in Japan to have fits?"
"Whatever it takes."
Megavolt thought for a moment, before laying the paper aside. "Well, I could probably do it, but unless I know what I'm supposed to be adding, or taking away, then I don't think I can help much."
Quackerjack was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "You ever read one of those stories on the internet about those supposed cursed images and videos that when viewed make a person go insane?"
"You mean like... smile dog?"
"Smile dog is lame."
"Its fucking terrifying is what it is!" Megavolt shuddered. "Liz sent it to me in an email. I had nightmares for a week."
"You're really pathetic, you know that? What we need is something that will make people really sick. Something that would cause a severe backlash at the entire gaming industry."
"Hmm..." Having momentarily forgotten his previous fear over the idea of smile dog, Megavolt shrugged. "Well, there are a number of things that could potentially do that, but I don't think any of them have been proven."
"Only one way to find out," Quackerjack grinned.
"It won't be easy, you know," Megavolt informed him. "Well, the rewrite will be, but finding the right insanity inducing code will be a little trickier. Your best bet would be to go with a combination of sound and image. I read something in a magazine once, or maybe it was in a book... could have been a cheesy 50's B-Movie." He paused in thought, then shrugged. "Anyway, it was about these Russian scientists that had discovered a high frequency sound that caused severe paranoia in anyone that heard it."
"Perfect."
-------------------------
"Where have you been slipping out to every night for the last week?"
Quackerjack jumped, spinning around and leaning back against the front door. Liz stood in the hall, arms cross over her chest, waiting for him to answer. "No where," he replied. "Just... hanging out with Sparky."
"Oh," Liz moved across the room toward him, "not doing anything illegal, I hope."
Quackerjack blinked, "What kind of a person do you take me for?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"Its nothing," he assured her, "we're just working on a project together. A new toy actually."
"Oh! Well, thats fine," she turned and headed into the kitchen. "You know he can come over here too. You don't have to keep going out."
"I'll keep that in mind," Quackerjack replied, following behind her. "But look, I already told him I'd be over tonight, so... I'm gonna go."
"Okay," Liz smiled. "Don't stay out too late."
"I won't," the jester hurried back to the front door. "Love you," he called over his shoulder, before slipping out into the night.
"I love you too," Liz mumbled. "I swear it better not be anything illegal or I'll kill him."
Quackerjack had to admit he felt bad lying to Liz like that, but the less she knew, the better. She never was keen on his whole revenge thing. It was probably the only thing they ever argued about. It would all be over soon, though, providing Megavolt was successful.
----------------
"Its done!"
"What," Quackerjack stood, hurrying over to where Megavolt sat at the computer, "already? Its only been a week."
"Told you the code would be easy. So... do we test it now or what?"
"At the risk of my sanity?"
Megavolt raised a brow, "What sanity?"
Quackerjack huffed, "I will have you know that Liz thinks I'm perfectly sane."
"Liz thinks you're a loon, she told me so herself."
The jester frowned slightly before speaking again, "Well, what if we view it in parts. Didn't you say it only works when the images and sound are combined?"
"Yes... in theory," Megavolt replied. "But the flashing images have a chance of causing frontal lobe seizures. Better just play the sound." He reached over, clicking on a file on the desktop, before turning the monitor off. All at once, the room was filled with a horrible, high pitch screaming noise. It was like a womans scream, overlaid with the sound of a cat with its tail caught under a rocking chair.
"Okay, okay!" Quackerjack covered his ears, "turn it off!"
Megavolt unplugged his speakers, "So, what do you think?"
"I won't know until I get it uploaded and see what happens."
"Heres the file," Megavolt handed him a plastic CD case. "Whatever you do, don't watch it yourself... just in case."
"I'll keep that in mind. I better get back home before Liz has a fit. I'll let you know how the file turns out. See ya, Sparky."
"See ya, Quacky... and don't call me Sparky!"
--------------------
The room was a mess. Toys scattered everywhere and boxes stacked against the walls. It had once been Quackerjacks room, before he and Liz began dating, and was now used more as a store room than anything. The only clean thing in the room was the small bed that sat against the far wall. This was where Megavolt slept when he spent the night.
Liz hated cleaning that room, mostly because Quackerjacks toys scared the hell out of her, but also because it was always such a hassle. Bending down, she began to gather up the novelty teeth and toy soldiers, tossing them into one of the boxes. "It wouldn't be so bad, if he didn't have so many of them," Liz spoke, glancing up at where the Dreary Mr. History doll sat against the headboard of the bed.
Once the floor was cleared, she moved on to the desk. It was just as messy. Random toys and parts all over the place, stacks of blueprints for even more toys. Grabbing the stack of papers, Liz shuffled them. As she did so, something fell out from between the pages and hit the floor at her feet. It was a plastic CD case. Laying the blueprints aside, Liz retrieved the case and flipped it over. There was a CD in it. Scrawled across the front of it in black marker was the word "GAME".
"What the..." Well that was an odd thing to find among Quackys things. "What the hell is this?" She held the disc up, once again addressing the doll. It took her a moment to realize what she was doing and she shook her head sadly, "My god... that loon is finally rubbing off on me."
Leaving the room, she hurried down the hall, disc in hand. It didn't look like one of hers, hers were always neatly labled. Still, she had to admit she was more than a little curious. Flopping down at her computer, she put the disc into the CD tray. "It better not be porn."
A file titled game.exe popped up. Liz shrugged and clicked on it. The screen flickered for a moment, before a blue dialog box appeared.
DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME?
[YES] [NO]
The "No" was greyed out, leaving "Yes" as the only available option. Liz clicked it.
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
[...........]
Liz.
HELLO, LIZ. MY NAME IS ANABELLE.
"Liz?" Quackerjack slipped through the front door and glanced around the living room. "Liz, I'm home." No answer. Maybe she was out. As he turned to hang up his brown trenchcoat by the door, a sound caught his ears. A horrible, high pitched scream that seemed to be coming from the back of the house. "Oh no... LIZ!"
Quackerajck tore down the hall and into the bedroom. Liz sat at the computer, frozen in place, her eyes wide and full of fear. "Liz, no, don't look at it!" Grabbing the girl, the jester pulled her from the chair, wrapping his arms around her. "Don't look, Liz..." The girl tensed, before shaking violently, as if having a seizure. This wasn't supposed to happen. "Liz.. Liz, I'm sorry."
All at once, the shaking stopped, and Liz went limp in his arms. Quackerjack held her tightly, one hand unclipping the phone from the girls belt, he flipped it open and dialed three numbers; 9-1-1. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry..."
---------------
Liz slowly opened her eyes and was immediately struck by a horrible sense of foreboding. Something was wrong. Scrambling to her feet, the girl glanced around at her surroundings in a panic.
The last thing she could remember was sitting at her computer. There was a disc with some sort of file on it... now she was standing in the middle of a ruined and deserted street.
Could the disc have been a portal or gateway of some kind? The idea seemed ridiculous, but Liz had seen first hand the Time Tops ability to transport people to other places in time, and she had heard stories of the Negaverse, so maybe the idea wasn't so odd after all.
"Hello?" Her voice sounded weak and timid. "Is there anyone there? I need help." Taking a hesitant step forward, her eyes darted around at the crumbled buildings lining the street. She didn't recognize this place at all.
There didn't seem to be any other forms of life in this strange place. Liz couldn't even hear any birds. The sky was grey and a low fog clung to the ground around the girls feet. It was all giving her a very eerie feeling of dread.
"I'm dreaming," she told herself. "I'll just wake myself up." She pinched her arm as hard as she could. Nothing happened and that served only to make her more paranoid. It wasn't a dream. She really was alone in this strange place.
Willing herself to move, she continued down the street in search of something or someone that might be able to help her. There didn't seem to be anything here... except for her. It was like being the last person on Earth. What a horribly depressing feeling.
As she moved on, something caught her attention, and she turned her head to glance at one of the buildings to her right. Scrawled crudely in red spray paint across the side of the building were the words "They hunt at night."
The feeling of elation Liz felt at finding an obvious sign of life quickly faded, replaced once again by that sickening sense of dread. Who was "they" and what did they hunt? Tearing her eyes away from the words on the wall, Liz glanced around again. It was starting to get dark out, and she wasn't sure she really wanted to know what "they" were.
Moving quickly, the girl slipped through a gap in the boards that covered the buildings doorway. It wasn't until she was inside the building that she realized what a stupid move it had been. What if there had been something in there that could have attacked her? She didn't have any sort of weapon to defend herself with.
Straining her eyes in the darkness, she stood perfectly still as she took in everything around her. Nothing but a few pieces of broken office furniture. Relaxing a bit, she moved toward the front window and slid down the wall to sit in the floor. The window, like the door, was boarded up, but there were enough cracks and gaps between the wood to allow the girl to peer outside.
The sky had grown even darker and the fog seemed thicker than it had been a moment before. How long would she be here? Where was here? What was going to happen to her? She felt so alone and hopeless. Afraid to sit there in the dark, but afraid of venturing outside again.
As she kept watch out the window, movement on the other side of the street caught her eyes. It was a man, at least it looked like a man, shuffling out from between two of the buildings. At first Liz felt her heart leap at the sight of another living person, but then it sank, like a rock into the pit of her stomach. Something was not right about this "man".
The way he walked was off, like he could barely keep himself up right. As he drew closer to her hiding spot, Liz could see why. His right leg was horribly mangled, and he dragged it behind him, giving him a lopsided gait. His arms hung limply at his sides and his face was contorted in fear and agony.
He made a noise, like a pitiful moan, that chilled Liz to her very core. The man didn't seem to be able to speak, and as Liz squinted through the cracks in the window, she could just barely make out thin vertical lines around the mans mouth. His lips had been sewn shut.
Liz felt her stomach turn. Who would do this to a person? All of a sudden one word came back to her... "they". She barely had time to register this thought when she heard a low, guttural growl from somewhere to the left side of the window.
Unable to tear her eyes away, the girl watched in absolute horror as the wounded man was pounced on by some nightmarish creature. Liz had never seen anything like it before in her life, not even in the most horrific slasher film.
The creature was thin, abnormally so, its white skin pulled taut over its bones. The arms and legs were far too long to be a persons and the way it couched over the man reminded Liz of a cat. She couldn't see the things face, but she could see the man underneath it struggle, and hear his attempt to scream, but the stitches in his mouth wouldn't let more than a strained whine out.
Suddenly, the thing dipped its head, and Liz heard a horrifying crunch. It was EATING him! The thought alone was enough to cause a scream to rise up in the girls throat, and she quickly clamped her beak shut to keep it from escaping. As horrible as the scene was, she couldn't tear herself away from it.
The creature brought a clawed hand up, then swung it violently, slashing at the mans stomach. There was a sickening "squish squish" sound as the being began to pull the mans intestines out. Blood pooled on the pavement underneath them.
Liz felt her stomach lurch and it was all she could do to keep herself from throwing up. She'd seen horror films before, even the most graphic had never bothered her, but those were movies. This was so real... and so close.
The man had stopped struggling now, save for the occasional twitch of his good leg. The creature that crouched over him continued its mutilation of the mans body, stopping occasionally to lap at the gaping hole in the mans stomach with a "slurping" sound.
Tears filled her eyes as Liz watched this thing devour the man, before dragging what was left of his body out of her view. Leaning back against the wall, Liz hugged herself as she sobbed uncontrollably. I wanna go home... I wanna go home... please, I wanna go home.
----------
The sound of an alarm startled Quackerjack out of his restless slumber, and he scrambled to his feet as a nurse rushed into the room. "What... whats happening?"
"Her heart rates going up," the nurse replied. "I... don't understand. Her brainwaves say shes wide awake, but she appears to be having a nightmare."
Quackerjack could only watch helplessly as the nurse attempted to stabilize the girl. Something was injected into the IV in Liz's arm, and the girl appeared to relax, her heart rate dropping back down to normal.
The nurse left again, and Quackerjack sank back into his chair, burying his face in his hands. He sat there for a moment, feeling lost and helpless, before raising his head and fishing something from one of his pockets. Liz's cell phone. He'd completely forgotten about it.
Flipping the device open, he scrolled through the girls contact list, hoping beyond hope that the girl had the number he was looking for. There it was, first name under "D"... "Darky".
Standing up, he slipped out of the room and down the hall. Hitting the call button, he pressed the phone to his ear and waited. It rang several times before Darkwings voice answered from the other end, "Hey, Liz."
"Darkwing... its... its Quackerjack."
There was a brief pause and then, "Oh... hey, Quackers, whats up?"
"I need help."
"Yeah, I've been saying that for a long time now."
"No," Quackerjack replied, "you don't understand. Its Liz, somethings wrong. I didn't know who else to call."
"Whats wrong with Liz?" The panic was evident in the heros voice.
"I don't... I don't know. Can you come to the hospital? And... bring Morgana with you."
"Yeah, yeah, of course. We'll be there as soon as we can." The phone clicked.
Quackerjack stared at the phone in his hand, before sinking into one of the chairs in the waiting room. He knew he should have called Liz's mother, but the thought of facing the woman terrified him. How would he explain to her what had happened to her daughter? It was only a year ago that Mrs. DeQuacka had learned of his relationship with Liz, and she had struggled with trusting him. This would only make it worse.
He wasn't sure how long he'd sat there, tired but unable to rest, but it felt like a life time before he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He jumped like he'd been shot, raising his head to meet the equally tired gaze of Darkwing Duck. Morgana stood behind the hero, a look of concern on her face. "Where is she?" Darkwing asked.
Pushing himself off the chair, Quackerjack motioned for them to follow him down the hall. Liz was just as he'd left her, laying perfectly still with her eyes closed. The monitors around her beeped occasionally, but other than that there was no sign of life from the girl.
Quackerjack moved aside as Darkwing and Morgana approached the girls bed. "What happened to her?" Morgana cast a glance in Quackerjacks direction.
"I... It was an accident," Quackerjack mumbled. "I never meant for-" that was all he managed to get out before Darkwing was on him.
"YOU did this?!" the hero shouted, grabbing Quackerack by the front of his clothes and slamming him against the wall. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"Dark!" Morgana rushed toward the two men. "Dark, stop... please!"
Slowly, Darkwing released the clown, taking a step backward. Quackerjack pulled himself up straight, his eyes moving from Darkwing to Morgana, and then to where Liz lay. "There was this game," he whispered, "Sparky and I rewrote the code in it... it wasn't supposed to do this..."
"What the heck are you talking about?" Darkwing was still seething.
"I just wanted to make people sick," Quackerjack replied, "just to bring that stupid company to its knees. The code was only meant to cause nausea and paranoia, thats all!"
"You put Liz into a coma just to satisfy your messed up sense of revenge?!"
"I didn't mean it!"
Turning away from the toymaker, Darkwing glanced at the woman beside him, "Morg... can you help her?"
"I'm... I'm not sure," the witch replied. She moved toward the bed and peered down at the girl. Liz appeared to be sleeping. Reaching out, Morgana pressed her hand against the girls forehead and closed her eyes.
Quackerjack and Darkwing watched her with baited breath. All of a sudden, Morganas eyes snapped open and she gasped, before stumbling backwards. Darkwing rushed forward, "Morg?! What happened, whats wrong?"
"Shes gone," Morgana replied.
"Gone?" Quackerjack felt his heart sink, "What do you mean gone?"
"Shes not dead," Morgana told him, "shes just... not here anymore."
"Well where is she?"
"I don't know. Some place else. Its almost as if her spirit is trapped there."
"Can you bring her back?" Darkwing asked.
Morgana shook her head. "Not like this," she replied. "If we try to force her back, it could sever what little tie her spirit still has to her body. If that happens... She'll never wake up."
-------------------
Liz wasn't sure how long she'd sat in the same position near the window, but it felt like forever. Only when the faint traces of daylight began filtering through the cracks did she dare to move from her hiding spot.
As terrified as she was, her only thought was getting the hell out of this place and finding a way back home. If that warning on the wall had been correct, she would be safe from "them" in the daylight. Slipping slowly through the gap in the doorway, the girl glanced cautiously up and down the street.
The same eerie silence greeted her as she moved on, searching for anything that might tell her where she was or how to get home. She had spent all night wide awake and crying, wondering how long she might be stuck in this place, and it had occurred to her that if she did get stuck here a while, she needed to find something to protect herself with.
She suddenly felt herself wishing Negaduck was there, despite the fact that he more than likely would have left her to die. Still, the man wasn't afraid of anything, and he always had some sort of weapon on him.
As Liz was contemplating what she might use as a weapon, something caught her ears. It was faint and just barely noticeable, and at first she thought it might have been the wind, until she realized there was no wind. The sound grew steadily louder... laughter. A childs laughter to be exact.
Spinning around, Liz searched the area in a panic. Nothing. There was no one there. Turning back around again, the girl froze, barely able to suppress the scream of shock that tore itself from her throat. There in the road, not five feet from where she stood, was a little girl.
She was clad in a thin, white dress, and her long dark hair hung over her pale face. Liz was too afraid to move. The girl didn't seem to be looking at her though, and was instead focused on something to the side of where Liz stood. Slowly, she raised an arm and pointed at something.
Despite the fear that was rising in her, Liz tore her eyes away from the girl to look at where she was pointing. Something in the drain along the street glinted in the faint sunlight. Looking back again, Liz found the street empty. The little girl was gone.
Moving slowly toward the drain, Liz peered inside. What she found filled her with a tiny shred of hope. It was a gun. Reaching inside, Liz grabbed the weapon and pulled it out to examine it. It was real. Her sense of hope quickly faded, however, when she found the chamber empty. No bullets.
That little girl had obviously wanted her to find the gun... maybe she could help her find some ammo for it too. Standing up again, Liz tucked the gun into her pants and continued on her way. If nothing else, she could at least throw the gun at whatever tried to attack her.
She glanced around as she walked, searching for some sign of that strange little girl, but finding nothing but empty windows and doorways staring back at her. She was starting to get hungry.
A broken door caught her attention, more words were hastily written across it. "Get high in the dark." Liz blinked. Get high? This whole thing was already like some kind of horrible drug trip, and now something was telling her to get high? Yeah fucking right! She moved on.
More words and warnings started to appear now, sprayed across buildings and even in the middle of the street. "Get high" "Get high". Just the same thing over and over again. Pausing for a moment, Liz tilted her head to the side as she stared at the red words on the pavement at her feet.
"High?" She asked, of no one in particular, as there was no one around to ask, "You mean... get higher? Like, higher ground?" No answer came, of course, and Liz continued making her way down the deserted street. As she hesitantly rounded a corner, fulling expecting to run into some horrible monster, she found herself staring at something far more horrific... at least in her mind.
"No!" The girl shook her head. "It... it CAN'T be!" She hadn't recognized the place before, having never seen it ruined and abandoned, but now, as she found herself staring across a muddied bay, she recognized the ruins of the Audubon Bay Bridge. "I...am home." The thought filled her with a horrible sadness, the likes of which she'd never felt before in her life.
This place. This horrible, HORRIBLE place full of flesh eating monsters... this was St. Canard.
------------------
"Let me get this straight," Darkwing stood in Liz and Quackerjacks bedroom with Morgana, Quackerjack, and Megavolt, staring down at a normal looking CD in his hands, "THIS thing put Liz in a coma?"
"I think so," Quackerjack replied.
The hero raised his head. "How?"
"I don't know! Its only supposed to flash some colors and make noise."
Darkwing glanced back down at the disc, before shoving it at the toymaker. "Play it!"
"Wha...what? Why, so we can all be in comas too?"
"It won't effect us if we turn the sound off..." Megavolt spoke up meekly from where he sat on the edge of the bed. "Unplug the speakers."
Quackerjack nodded, before reaching around to unplug the sound from the computer, then popping the disc into the CD drive. A folder popped up with one file in it; game.exe He clicked on it.
DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME?
[YES] [NO]
Yes.
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
[...........]
Jack.
HELLO, JACK. MY NAME IS ANABELLE.
"Its... not supposed to do that," Quackerjack whispered.
Darkwing, Megavolt, and Morgana all gathered around and waited. Nothing seemed to happen for several moments, before the computer screen began to flicker, slowly at first, then faster and faster. The monitor went black, then white, then red, then yellow, then blue. The colors were flashing by so fast it was as if they were melding together into one image.
There was something else, it looked like a picture, but it blinked by so quickly that none of them really had time to register it. It blinked again, and again, and again. The image was cycling by much faster now. The flashing colors began to slow, finally stopping on the image that had been blinking across the screen.
It was a pale faced girl with long dark hair that hung over her face. Her eyes were pitch black and her mouth hung open in a frozen scream. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the image faded, replaced by another one. This one was of what was quite obviously a body wrapped in a bloodied sheet.
Another image. This time a blood stained bathtub. Tearing his eyes away from the screen, Darkwing glared at Megavolt, "What kind of sick shit goes on in that head of yours?"
"I didn't do this," Megavolt replied, frantically shaking his head. "Those images weren't there when I wrote the code, I swear!"
"I've seen enough," Darkwing turned his attention back to the computer, "turn it off."
Quackerjack reached over and hit the eject button. The CD popped out and the monitor went black, save for a blinking white cursor in the upper left corner.
THAT WASN'T VERY NICE, JACK.
The four of them blinked as the words began appearing across the screen as if by their own accord. "Its uhh... not supposed to do that either," Megavolt spoke up again.
DON'T YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME?
Slowly, hesitantly, Quackerjack reached toward the keyboard and poked out a response. 'Who are you?'
ANABELLE.
'Wheres Liz?'
There was no response for a full minute, and then the words began appearing again.
SHE CRIES A LOT. ITS NO FUN.
Quackerjack growled, shouting at the computer, "Damn it, you stupid piece of... if you hurt her, so help me!"
"Quackerjack, stop!" Darkwing grabbed the jesters arm before he could shove the monitor off the desk. "You realize you're screaming at a computer, right?" He picked the CD up again and studied it. It looked normal enough. "Morg," he handed the disc off to the woman, "what the hell is this thing?"
Taking the disc from the hero, Morgana turned it over in her hands. There was really nothing out of the ordinary about it. It was just a normal writable CD. "I don't know, it doesn't look evil, but..." Morganas words trailed off and she gasped, before shrieking in terror and dropping the CD at her feet.
"Morg? What happened?"
Raising her head, Morgana stared at Megavolt with wide eyes. "Where did you get this?"
"I found it in a dumpster," Megavolt replied. "There was nothing on it, so Quacky told me to put the game file on it after I'd rewritten it."
"It wasn't blank," Morgana shook her head, "it was Anabelle."
"What," Darkwing raised an eyebrow, "that creepy little girl was ON the CD?"
"Yes," Morgana replied, as if the idea wasn't completely insane. "I only saw it for a moment when I was holding the disc, but... that little girl is on there."
"You mean just her picture, right?" Quackerjack asked.
"No, I mean her, her... spirit. Its written to the disc along with your game file."
"Wait... wait wait wait," Darkwing held a hand up, "you're trying to tell me that some freaky little ghost kid is possessing a CD?"
"Yes."
"Hoookay, fine, I'll buy that I guess. So what do we do to get Liz back?"
"Anabelle wants to play the game," Morgana replied. "I think we have to play."
"You mean... in there... with that thing?" Megavolt obviously wasn't a fan of this idea.
"I told you video games were evil," Quackerjack mumbled.
"No ones playing that damn thing until I know exactly what we're up against," Darkwing told them. He glanced back at the computer. "Looks like Anabelle got bored."
The black screen was gone now, replaced by Liz's normal cheery desktop. Moving back over to the desk, Darkwing nudged Quackerjack. "Move," he told him, "I'm gonna see what I can find out about this Anabelle." Quackerjack stood up and Darkwing slipped into the computer chair.
"I'll make some coffee," Quackerjack said as he hurried out of the room.
------------------
Liz was starting to feel dizzy. She hadn't eaten anything in quite some time now and the hunger pangs were starting to take their toll. Oh what she wouldn't give for a nice juicy... "Hamburger!" It was a Hamburger Hippo stand. The sight filled the girl with hope and she broke out into a run toward the restaurant. "Oh please... PLEASE let there be food."
Climbing over the counter, Liz began to rifle through anything she could find in search of something to eat. Nothing. It looked like someone had already cleaned the place out. Sitting down in the floor, the girl felt her eyes mist up. It wasn't fair. As she started to stand up again, she saw it, in between the fryer and the grill. A package of saltine crackers.
It wasn't much, but it may as well have been a four course meal, the way Liz tore into it. The crackers were dry and stale, but she didn't care, shoving them into her mouth like she hadn't eaten in days. For all she knew, she hadn't.
Even having something as small as crackers in her stomach made the girl feel much better, and she sighed in relief as she leaned back against the counter. Glancing around, she noticed, once again, the red spray painted words written across the back door. "Under" was all it said.
Under? Under what? Pushing herself onto her hands and knees, Liz began to crawl across the greasy floor, peering under the fryer, and the grill, and the freezer. What was she supposed to be looking for? Her hand brushed against something under the freezer and she paused, leaning over to get a better look. There appeared to be a small box under there. Straining, Liz reached for the box and pulled it out.
She couldn't help but laugh. It was a box of bullets. "Well," she said to herself as she retrieved the gun from the back of her pants and began to load it, "at least now I have protection... or a means to kill myself at any rate."
Wait, what? Liz blinked. Where had that thought come from? She'd NEVER even think of killing herself. I must be losing my mind. "Come on, Liz, keep it together. QJ's probably worried sick about you. What would he do if you killed yourself, you idiot?"
She managed to find a couple more packets of crackers, which she stuffed into her pockets, before climbing back over the counter and moving away from the hippo stand. It would be getting dark soon, and she needed to find higher ground... if, of course, thats what the warnings were trying to tell her.
She was about two or three blocks past the point where she had first seen the bridge, when a thought suddenly popped into her head. Of course, the bridge! Turning, Liz began to run back the way she'd just come from. If she could somehow find a way into the tower, she might be okay.
Thankfully, most of the bridge was still intact, but the climb to the tower wasn't easy. Still, Liz managed and after what felt like a life time of struggling, finally pulled herself through one of the towers windows.
It was dark, but Liz could make out what appeared to be computer equipment and other devices scattered across the large room. It only made her feel worse. She hadn't expected to find him, not at this point, but still, she had to admit some small part of her wanted so badly to hear one of his cheesy introductions. "Where are you when I need you?" She whispered.
The sun had gone down now and dark shadows danced across the city. Pulling herself, up, Liz glanced out of the window, wondering what sort of horrors waited down below. Something was moving across the bridge below the tower. Ducking down, Liz peered silently over the edge. It was one of those creatures she'd seen the night before. The way it moved, walking on all fours, reminded the girl of something... a Landstrider from the movie The Dark Crystal. Except Landstriders were gentle and these things were anything but.
Moving away from the window, Liz looked around the room. Nothing but broken equipment and smashed computer monitors. Maybe this was the end of the world. Maybe the Apocalypse had come and she was the only survivor. Or maybe she was dead and this was Hell. What did it matter? She was alone. Darkwing Duck wasn't coming to save her this time.
With a sob, she sank to her knees, dust billowing out around her as she did so. "Help me," she whispered to the air around her, "Help me, please."
---------------------
"I think I found something," Darkwing called over his shoulder. The other three gathered around, peering at the computer with curiosity. "About ten years ago several little girls went missing in Duckburg. Most of their bodies were recovered, but one little girl... Anabelle Pinfeather was never found."
"Thats terrible," Megavolt shook his head.
Morgana was absolutely agast. "That poor little girl..."
"Yeah well," Quackerjack snorted, "that poor little girl has Liz, and I want her back."
Darkwing ignored him, instead focusing his attention on the rest of the article. "They never caught the person that did it, but shortly after recovering most of the bodies they also recovered a laptop from the bay. The contents of the harddrive revealed homemade videos the murderer had made of his victims. There were seven girls in all."
"Let me guess," Morgana spoke up, "the police burned the movies to a CD for evidence."
"It doesn't say, but I'm willing to bet thats what happened."
"But that doesn't explain how the blank CD got in the trash."
"Who knows," Darkwing shrugged. "It also doesn't explain how or why this kids ghost got trapped on it."
"Its an old legend," Morgana told him, "that when you take a picture of someone, you capture part of their soul on the film. I'd assume a video camera would work the same way. Somehow, when her killer was video taping her, Anabelles soul became trapped, and when she died, it was transferred to the disc the police made. I see it a lot, actually. Restless spirits, unable to move on for one reason or another."
"I don't think we're gonna find anything else tonight," Darkwing stood up, "its late and we've all gone too long without sleep."
"The couch is a pull out," Quackerjack told him, "you know... if you and Morgana wanna stay. I know Liz would want you guys to."
"Thanks, Quackers," Darkwing gave the jester a half hearted smile. "We'll find a way to bring her back."
It was about 3am when Quackerjack found himself awake once again. Though, he honestly couldn't tell if he'd ever been asleep. The house was dark and silent, the others having been asleep for hours. Pulling himself out of bed, he stared at the computer on the other side of the room. Maybe Morgana was right. Maybe Anabelle wanted them to play the game.
Slowly, he moved toward the desk, retrieving the disc from where it lay near the keyboard. Well, if Anabelle wanted a game, he'd give her one. He popped the disc into the computer, and shut the bedroom door.
Down the hall, Morganas opened her eyes and sat up. "Dark," she nudged the sleeping man next to her, "Dark, wake up."
"Huh.. whazzat?" Darkwing opened his eyes, blinking at the woman in confusion.
"Somethings wrong."
Darkwing yawned, "You're dreaming, honey, go back to sleep." He fell forward, nuzzling his face against the pillow and closing his eyes once more. He'd only lay there for a moment before a high pitched scream issued from the back of the house. "What the hell is that?!" The hero was up in a flash and hurrying down the hall with Morgana right behind him.
The noise had woken Megavolt as well, and he peeked out from the spare bedroom. "Its the CD," he yelled over the noise.
"That idiots playing the damn thing!" Darkwing threw himself against the bedroom door. It wouldn't budge. "Quackerjack, open the door! Quackerjack! Morg," the hero turned to the woman. "Get this thing open."
Raising her arms over her head, Morgana mumbled an incantation and the bedroom door burst into flames, before disintegrating into a pile of ash. The sound stopped just as the three of them rushed into the room. Quackerjack lay in the floor near the computer. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.
"Shit! Quackers!" Darkwing grabbed the jester and shook him, "Damn it, Quackers, wake up!"
"Hes gone," Morgana whispered. "Hes wherever Liz is now."
"Why'd you do it, Quackers?" Darkwing released the toymaker and sat back, shaking his head. "Why?"
"What would you have done?" Morgana asked him. "If it was me?"
Darkwing sighed, "I... I'd have done anything I could to bring you back."
"What do we do now?" Megavolt asked from the doorway.
"Wait," Darkwing replied, "Wait and pray that Quackerjack can find Liz."
-------------------
"Liz!" Quackerjack made his way down the deserted street, not caring where he was or what he might find. The only thing he was thinking about was Liz. "Are you here?! LIZ!"
It was still dark out, but there didn't appear to be any other signs of life in this place... whatever this place was. Everything appeared to be in ruin. What the hell was this place anyway? It was like... a movie he'd seen once about the end of the world. Is this where Liz had been trapped for the last couple of days, alone and scared. "Oh, Lizzy... honey, I'm so sorry."
High in the tower of the bridge, Liz opened her eyes and sat up. She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, but something had woken her up. She sat there for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, before slowly standing up and making her way toward the window. It was if some outside force was pulling at her, telling her to leave the safety of the tower. But... it was still dark out, and those things were down there.
Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to go out there. Whatever it was, it was important. She had a gun, but what if that wasn't enough? Glancing around, the girl began searching through the equipment in the tower, hoping there might be something of use there.
After several minutes of searching, Liz had managed to find a backpack, a working flashlight, a long piece of rope, a large knife, and a bow and arrow set. The last item stuck her as particularly odd, as she had never seen Darky use such things before. Still, she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and she quickly swung the bow over her shoulder along with the backpack.
Making her way back to the window, she began the slow climb back down to the street. Landing on the pavement in a couching position, the girl stood up and flipped the flashlight on, shining it up and down the bridge. Nothing. Pulling the gun from her pants, she slowly made her way toward the dark city.
As Quackerjack made his way up the street, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He passed it off as nerves and paid no attention to it. That is, until he heard it. A low, guttural growl from somewhere behind him. Slowly, he turned, unsure he wanted to know what was making such an inhuman sound.
There were no words to describe the creature Quackerjack found himself looking at. At least, no words in his mind. "Horrifying" didn't seem to do it justice. Its body was almost human in a way, but abnormally thin and boney. It sat crouched on all fours, like a cat ready to pounce. Its white eyes were fixed intently on the jester, as if it were trying to figure out what to make of him.
The creatures face was perhaps the most horrible thing about it. It was elongated, like a dogs, and almost skeletal in a way. Its mouth was wide, impossibly so. It seemed to split the creatures head completely in half, revealing two rows of huge, human like teeth.
As terrified as he was, Quackerjack couldn't help but think back to what Megavolt had said once... "You mean like smile dog?" The creature reared back momentarily, before pouncing. Quackerjack closed his eyes, opening them again as the sound of a gun shot rang in his ears. The creature let out a horrible scream, before slumping to the ground, mere inches from where the jester stood.
Spinning around, Quackerjack felt his heart leap at the sight before him. Liz stood at the end of the street, gun in hand, looking just as relieved as he was. "Liz!" Rushing forward, he grabbed the girl, throwing his arms around her and holding tightly.
"QJ..." Liz's voice cracked, as she began to cry, clinging to him as if her life depended on it. "I was so scared... I was alone... and those things..."
"Shhh, its okay Liz," Pulling away, Quackerjack brushed the tears from the girls face. "Say, where'd you learn to shoot like that?"
Liz smiled through her tears, "What do you think Negs and I do all the time?"
Quackerjack laughed, hugging her tightly again, "I thought I'd lost you. I came to take you home."
"We are home," Liz told him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean this is St. Canard."
Quackerjack shook his head, "It might look like St. Canard, but this isn't home, Liz. You're trapped in some kind of game."
Game? Thats right. "That CD!"
"Yeah... I'm so sorry. Megavolt and I... we tried to rewrite the code in a video game. I just wanted something that would cause a backlash at the game industry. I never meant for this to happen."
Liz pulled away suddenly. "You did this?"
"No, Anabelle did this."
"Anabelle? That little girl? I've seen her. Here," she shoved the gun into his hands, "you know how to use one, right?"
"Well, yeah... But what about you?"
Liz pulled the bow off her shoulder, then reached into the backpack and pulled out an arrow. "So... do you know how we get home?"
"No, but Anabelle said she wanted to play a game."
Well that didn't help much. "Okay... Anabelle! Anabelle, where are you?! You wanted to play, well here we are!"
Silence. And then, a soft giggle. "The end is the beginning," the ghostly voice seemed to come from all around them. "Play the game."
Quackerjack blinked, "The end is the beginning, what does that mean?"
Liz thought for a moment. "QJ, whats the end?"
Without even thinking, Quackerjack replied, "death."
"It scares me how quickly that answer came, but yes, dear. Death is the end."
"Wait, you mean we gotta die to get outta here?!"
"I hope not," Liz shook her head. "Where did Anabelle die?"
"No clue," Quackerjack shrugged, "all I know is they found a laptop in the bay full of movies her killer had made. They never found the girls body."
"Well that doesn't help." A low growl caused Liz to tense, and she glanced around, squinting into the dark. "We need to go."
"Yes, please."
The two of them slowly made their way down the street, weapons at the ready least some horrible monster leap out of the shadows at them. As they neared the corner, Liz saw it. Not a creature, but a person, laying off to the side of the street. It was a woman, and she appeared to be struggling against something. "QJ... look."
Quackerjack stopped, "She needs help." He started forward, but Liz caught him, pulling him behind a dumpster. "What are you doing, we have to help her."
"Don't you dare go hero on me," Liz hissed, "somethings not right."
Quackerjack didn't need to wait for the girl to elaborate, for as the woman on the street struggled, something moved in the shadows behind her. It was one of those creatures. It pawed at the woman, and she tried to scream, but didn't seem to be able to. The creature sniffed at her, like a cat playing with a mouse, before turning and glancing up and down the street. It appeared to be waiting for something. After a moment, it sank back into the shadows.
"They set a trap... those things set a trap."
"This isn't good," Liz whispered. "If those things are smart enough to set a trap, we're in serious trouble." She stood slightly, and slowly moved away from where the woman lay.
"Wait," Quackerjack followed after her, "we're not just gonna leave her there, are we?"
"You want to be a midnight snack for that thing?"
"Well... no, but..."
Liz paused, "We can't help her. She'd just slow us down."
"So what, we just leave her to get eaten?"
The girl sighed heavily. "You wanna help her? Fine, go back there and shoot her so she doesn't have to suffer."
"Liz..."
"I'm serious. Put her out of her misery."
Quackerjack turned slowly and crept back over to the dumpster. Peering around it, he watched the woman in the street struggle. Behind her, the faint outline of the creature was just barely visible in the darkness. Raising the gun in his hands, Quackerjack aimed it at the woman... but did nothing.
"Whats wrong?" Liz was at his side, "I thought you were a villain."
"I use toys," Quackerjack glared, "I've never actually shot anyone with a gun before."
"You said you wanted to help her."
"Well, yeah... but this just seems cruel."
"Not nearly as cruel as what those things will do to her, trust me. Are you gonna shoot her or not?"
Quackerjack lowered his gun and shook his head, "I... I can't do it."
"Fine," Aiming her bow and arrow at the woman, Liz pulled the string back, then released it. The arrow flew through the air with a swishing sound, before planting itself right between the womans eyes. The womans body went rigid, before slumping limply to the ground. The creature behind her roared in anger, before charging from the shadows, straight toward where Liz and Quackerjack were hiding.
Quackerjack froze, unable to move, but Liz was up in a flash, pulling another arrow out, she aimed it at the creature. Swish! The arrow hit it and the creature fell. "Okay," Quackerjack stood up, "where'd you learn to do THAT?"
"Bow hunting with my uncle Morty. Any more questions, or can we move on?"
"You know, I feel kinda weird saying this, but... you could be a superhero if you wanted to be."
Liz smirked, "How do you know I'm not one?"
"What? Well... you'd... you'd tell me if you were, right?"
"What part of 'secret identity' do you not get?"
"Thats cute... funny."
They continued down the street toward the bridge. "You know, I gotta wonder what the hell was wrong with this Anabelle kid," Liz commented as they walked. "I mean, look at this place. What kind of sick mind dreams up this shit?"
"Well, Morgana said something about restless spirits. Maybe this is just a representation of whatever pent up anger shes feeling."
"Anger? This is not how people release their anger. Even if they are dead. Horrible, flesh eating monsters? This shit makes Negaduck look like a cuddly teddy bear."
"I really am sorry I got you into this mess."
"Its not your fault," Liz told him. "Not entirely. I mean, yeah this need for revenge you have really needs to stop, but you didn't know this would happen. Its my own fault for being curious. I never should have looked at that CD."
"I shouldn't have left it laying around where you could find it."
Liz chuckled, "Yeah, but you have to admit, finding a CD marked 'Game' among your things was pretty damn funny."
Quackerjack giggled, "Yeah, I guess it would be."
"I honestly thought I was gonna find porn on it."
"Seriously? Have you EVER seen me look at porn?"
"I dunno what you do when I'm not around."
He shook his head, "I don't look at porn. But you should see the stuff Negaduck keeps on his computer."
"I've seen it. The man has issues."
"So uhh...," Quackerjack paused a moment, "Where are we going anyway?"
"To the bay," Liz replied. "You said thats where they found the the laptop, maybe we can find a clue there."
-----------------
"Hows he doing?" Darkwing appeared in the bedroom doorway, cup of coffee in hand, his eyes glancing between Quackerjack and Morgana.
"He seems okay," Morgana replied, pushing herself off the side of the bed. "His eyes keep moving... they call it R.E.M."
"Like the band?" Megavolt asked.
"No, R.E.M. It means rapid eye movement. It happens when people dream. Only..." the woman trailed off, casting a glance back at where the jester lay. "I don't think hes actually asleep."
Darkwing sighed heavily as he sat his cup on the table beside the bed, "Are you sure hes wherever Liz is?"
"Pretty sure," Morgana told him. "I sense they're together at any rate."
"It should have been me," Darkwing said, to no one in particular, "I should have been the one to go in there. Saving people is my job."
----------------
The sun was starting to come up just as Liz and Quackerjack reached the edge of the water, just under the bridge. "Are you sure those things won't come out during the day?" Quackerjack asked as he hesitantly put the gun away.
"I'm sure," Liz replied. "They only hunt at night."
"What are we looking for?"
"I dunno... anything that might help." Liz scanned the rocky land edge, and then the water. Nothing seemed to stand out to her. No signs, no messages, nothing of significance. Quackerjack was also scanning the area in vain.
"Well, I don't see any..." the jester trailed off, raising his head and squinting up at the bridge above them. "Liz... look."
Raising her gaze, Liz gasped at what she saw. Standing on the edge of the bridge was the little girl. "Anabelle!"
The girl slowly turned her head toward where Liz and Quackerjack were standing, before stepping off the edge and plummeting into the water below. She didn't appear to make a sound as she hit the water, even though both of them saw her hit and disappear into the murky depths. Quackerjack waded out a ways, eyes searching for some sign of the girl. "I think she wants us to follow her down there."
"No way!" Liz took a step back, "I don't do water."
"You sound like Sparky."
Liz glared, "You know damn good and well I'm terrified of open water. I'm not going in there!"
"Fine, I'll go... but I'll need something to tether myself to."
"I've... I've got some rope, but I dunno if its long enough."
"Only one way to find out."
Pulling her bag off her shoulders, Liz opened it and retrieved the rope, which Quackerjack took and tied around his waist. The other end was tied around Liz. "How long can you hold your breath?" She asked him.
"Dunno, minute and a half, two minutes tops." Peering into the bag, Quackerjack reached in and pulled out the large knife, which he then handed to the girl. "If I'm not back up in two minutes, cut the rope." With that, he turned and began to swim toward the area where Anabelle had vanished.
"Be careful," Liz called out to him. Quackerjack waved at her, before taking a deep breath and disappearing below the surface of the water. Liz began to count. "One thousand one. One thousand two. One thousand three. One thousand four..."
The water was dark, too dark to see in, and every time Quackerjack tried to open his eyes the mud and silt burned. He'd have to work blinded. Kicking as hard as he could, he pushed himself further and further down, his hands moving around in search of... something. He felt something soft and slick, like wet sand, he'd reached the bottom of the bay.
"One thousand forty. One thousand forty-one. One thousand forty-two. One thousand forty-three..."
Quackerjack was starting to feel light headed now, his chest tightening. He wouldn't be able to stay down there much longer. Suddenly, he felt his hand hit something in the mud. At first he thought it was a rock, but it was smooth and square shaped, like a box of some sort. Grabbing onto it, he tugged. The box wouldn't move.
"One thousand ninty-eight. One thousand ninty-nine. One thousand one hundred..." Liz was starting to panic now. "One thousand one hundred-two. One thousand one hundred-three. One thousand one hundred-four..." Come on, QJ... please.
Tugging the box as hard as he could, Quackerjack pulled it free from the mud, and not a moment too soon either. He wouldn't be able to hold his breath much longer. Kicking off from the soft bottom of the bay, he began the swim back up to the surface.
"One thousand one hundred-fifteen. One thousand one hundred-sixteen." Liz's hand trembled as she brought the knife up to the rope around her waist. Please, please, God. She'd never been particularly religious, despite her mothers insistence that she attend Holy Mass every Sunday, but now, all she could do was pray. God, please... please don't take him away from me. She felt the tears stinging her cheeks, as she prepared herself to severe the rope.
Just as the knife was about to slice through, movement in the water caught her attention. She looked up as Quackerjack resurfaced about two yards out from where she stood. Dropping the knife at her feet, Liz rushed forward with a cry of glee, wading through the water toward him. "Oh thank, God... thank, God!" She threw her arms around him, hugging him as tightly as she could and showering him with kisses. "I was so scared I'd lost you."
"Nah," Quackerjack grinned, "you think I'm gonna go out like that? Pfft! When I go, its gonna be really big and flashy."
Liz couldn't help but laugh. "I swear, if you EVER scare me like that again, I will kill you myself. Whats that?" She nodded toward the box in his hands.
"No clue," he replied as they made their way back to the rocky bank. Kneeling in the gravel, Quackerjack picked up the knife Liz had dropped there, and began prying the small box open. Despite having been in the water for what may have been years, the interior of the box was completely dry, its only contents being a flat, black square.
"Looks like some kind of... floppy disk," Liz remarked.
"Yeah..." Quackerjack glanced up at her, "wouldn't happen to have a computer on you somewhere, would you?"
"No... but I know where we might find one, though the odds of it working are pretty slim."
------------
"Why does this place look so familiar?" Quackerjack asked as he hauled himself through the window of the bridge tower.
Liz shrugged, "I dunno," she lied. "I think maybe its just a product of that kids fucked up imagination. I found it yesterday, but didn't really look around much."
"I swear... I've been here before, but its fuzzy."
Flipping her flashlight on, Liz did a sweep of the room. Most of the equipment was in various states of disrepair, but one computer in the corner appeared to be completely intact. Hurrying over to it, the girl examined the device. "Well... there doesn't look like theres anything wrong with it." She pressed the power button. Nothing happened.
"Maybe theres no power," Quackerjack mumbled from behind her.
"Hmm... wheres El, when you need him, huh?" As if on cue, the computer suddenly sprang to life, its monitor filling the room with an eerie light. "Thats handy," Liz gently shoved the disk into the computer and waited. After a moment, a folder popped up, full of image files. Liz clicked on the first one. It was a young girl, bound and gagged. "Oh my God..."
The next few images were the same, random girls, most of them no older than ten years old. All of them bound and gagged. As the images progressed, however, they began to take on a darker twist. Bodies wrapped in sheets, dismembered body parts, bloodied tools... Liz felt like she was going to be sick. She started to close the folder, when Quackerjack stopped her. "Wait," he said, "go back."
Liz clicked back to the previous image. It was a small metal shack in the middle of the woods. "I know that place," she told him. "I've seen it once, when uncle Morty took me and my brother hunting. I was only about twelve at the time."
"Do you know where it is?"
"Umm, I think so. I'm not sure. Somewhere between here and Duckburg."
"Thats gonna be a long walk."
"Yeah, but we still have plenty of daylight left." Standing up, Liz removed the disk from the computer and turned toward the window. "We should get going of we want..." She stopped. Anabelle stood just beyond the light of the computer monitor. All of a sudden, Liz felt angry, and she took a step toward the girl. "What do you want from us?"
Anabelle didn't reply.
"Look, kid, I'm sorry about whatever happened to you, but you need to let us go home."
"The game isn't over," Anabelle spoke at last.
Now Liz was really angry. "Game? You think this is a game?!" A ghostly giggle filled the room and the image of Anabelle blinked out of existence. Liz sighed, "Well shit... I guess we're walking then."
Climbing down from the tower, Liz and Quackerjack made their way across the vast bridge toward Duckburg. "What do you think we'll find?" Quackerjack asked.
"A way home, I hope..." The sun was directly overhead by the time they made it to the edge of the forest between St. Canard and Duckburg, and Liz hoped the shack wasn't too much further. Reaching into her pocket, she produced the two cracker packages, handing one to Quackerjack. "Sorry I don't have anything to wash them down with."
They walked in silence, eyes scanning the trees around them, just in case they might run into something not so friendly. After a few minutes, a small metal shack came into view. "Finally!" Quackerjack started forward, stopping only when a low growl caught his ears. Something moved in the shadow of the doorway.
Slowly, so as to not draw attention to herself, Liz pulled the bow off her shoulder. Pulling an arrow from her bag, she aimed it at the door of the shack. "Whos there," she called.
The figure in the door moved into the light, and Liz almost relaxed. It was an old man, bent over a makeshift cane. He wobbled slightly as he took a few steps toward them. "Its just some old guy," Quackerjack breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, old man, do you know a way outta here?"
The old man didn't seem to be paying any attention to them, instead he continued to wobble, mumbling to himself. "Look what she did... look what she did..."
Liz lowered her bow slightly, still keeping it ready in case the man tried something. Quackerjack took another step forward and gently touched the mans arm. "Hey," he said, "we need to get out of-" His words were cut off and the old man shoved him aside, display far more strength than a man of his size should. Quackerjack hit the ground with a "Omph!" and scrambled to get up.
The old man straightened up, his form stretching in impossible ways as his bones shifted and snapped. "LOOK WHAT SHE DID!"
"Oh, fuck," Liz took aim and fired. The arrow hit the mans leg and he howled, but otherwise didn't seem effected. By now the old man was no longer a man, but some hideously deformed creature, quite similar to the creatures roaming the city at night only much larger. Liz drew another arrow as the creature moved over Quackerjack. "Hey, get away from him!"
The creature ignored the girl, instead focusing on where the jester was desperately trying to scramble away. Liz fired another shot. It hit the creatures side, causing it to turn toward her. Growling, the creature moved toward the girl, and Liz frantically pulled out another arrow. This one hit its chest, but it didn't slow it down at all.
Reaching into the bag, Liz felt her blood run cold as she realized she'd just used her last arrow. The creature was dangerously close to her now and ready to pounce. It lept and Liz screamed. BANG! A gun shot echoed through the still forest. Thick, black blood, splattered across Liz's face and clothes as the creature fell, landing with a thud at her feet. Raising her head, she glanced up at Quackerjack.
"I figured it was about time I saved you for once," He said, dropping the gun at his feet. Liz rushed forward, throwing her arms around him. As they embraced, the world around them began to shift, swirling in a myriad of colors.
"QJ? Whats happening?"
"I don't know..."
"Don't leave me, okay?"
"I won't... I promise."
----------------
"Hes waking up," Darkwing peered over at Quackerjack. "Hey, Quackers... you okay?"
"Huh?" Quackerjack slowly opened his eyes, blinking up at the figures standing over him. "What happened... wheres Liz?" He sat up, glancing around frantically.
"Still at the hospital," Morgana replied.
"I need to see her," pushing himself off the bed, Quackerjack rushed from the room, with the others right behind him.
Liz opened her eyes, blinking in confusion for a moment before struggling to sit up. It took her a moment to realize where she was and she frowned. Where was Quackerjack?
"Oh my, you're awake!" A nurse had appeared to change out the girls IV drip. "Doctor," she called out into the hallway, "shes awake!"
A man of about 50 in a long white coat appeared in the room, blinking in wonder at the girl in the bed. "Well, welcome back, sleepy head." He moved over to her, pulling a small light from his pocket and shining it in Liz's eyes. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Elizabeth DeQuacka."
"Do you know where you are, Elizabeth?"
"A hospital, from the looks of it. Do you know where my boyfriend is?"
"That fellow dressed as a clown?" The nurse asked. "He was here last night. He must have gone home, the poor dear."
Liz sighed, leaning back against the pillows behind her. What if Quackerjack hadn't made it back? What would she do without him?
"Liz!"
Sitting up again, the girl turned toward the door. "Quacky!"
Rushing into the room, Quackerjack threw his arms around the girl. "I'm sorry, Lizzy..."
"It wasn't your fault," Liz replied, returning his hug.
"Doctor Faulk?" Another nurse appeared in the doorway, "that John Doe just passed."
"Oh... well damn," the doctor sighed.
"John Doe?" Darkwing raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, its nothing," the doctor replied as he and the nurse headed toward the door. "Just some guy thats been here in a coma for almost ten years now. I never had the heart to take him off life support and no one ever came in to claim him."
Liz and Quackerjack blinked at each other. "You don't think..."
"Nah... couldn't be."
"What happened in there?" Morgana asked, taking a seat next to Liz's bed.
"I'm not sure," Liz replied. "We were in some sort of twisted version of St. Canard."
"Sounds familiar..." Darkwing mumbled.
"There were these things," Quackerjack added, "I don't even know how to describe them. And that little girl... Anabelle."
"I know it sounds crazy," Liz spoke up, "but I think the whole point was for us to kill her murderer. I think that thing we killed before we woke up WAS that John Doe guy. Somehow, Anabelle had trapped him there and was just waiting all this time for someone to come along and kill him."
"So its over then?" Megavolt asked. "What happens to that little girl now?"
"Hopefully she'll be able to move on," Morgana replied. "I suggest burning that CD when you get home."
Turning back to the girl in the bed, Quackerjack shook his head, "I swear, I will make this up to you somehow."
"You don't have to do that," Liz told him.
"I do, actually. You were right... If I hadn't been so preoccupied with revenge, this wouldn't have happened. No matter what it takes, I'll make it up to you."
Liz was silent for a moment before she spoke again, "You really wanna make it up to me?"
"Yes."
"Marry me."
Quackerjack blinked, "Wha... what?"
"When we were in there," Liz said, "I realized theres no one else on Earth I'd rather go through Hell and back with. Marry me."
"Wait... I'm supposed to ask you that."
"I never was one for tradition. So, are you gonna say yes or what?"
Quackerjack thought for a moment, "Sure, why not? Lets get married."
Liz squealed as she threw her arms around him again.
----------------------
Satisfied with the results of her virus scan, and thankful that the disc hadn't done any damage to her computer, Liz shut the machine off and pushed her chair out. It was time to start dinner.
Leaving the bedroom, she made her way down the hall. She could hear the sounds of glassing clinking and idle chit chat as she neared the kitchen.
"So let me get this straight," Darkwing was saying, "This John Doe guy shows up at the hospital ten years ago in a coma, because a dead girl put him there?"
"Pretty much," Morgana replied. "Although, I can't say for sure it was Anabelle that actually put him in the coma, but once he was in one, she somehow trapped him in whatever world her mind had created."
"And then Liz and I killed him," Quackerjack added.
"Well," Liz appeared in the doorway, "We killed whatever monster he'd become in Anabelles world. Whether that had a connection to him dying in this world or not, I can't say." She moved toward the fridge, "Darky, are you and Morgana gonna stay for dinner?"
"We can, if you want."
"We'd love to have you."
The computer monitor in the bedroom flickered slightly, before the screen went black... save for a blinking cursor in the top left corner...
HELLO. MY NAME IS ANABELLE. DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME?
-Finis-