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Note: This story shifts time-frames from before Elmo Sputterspark went nuts, to after he became Megavolt and joined the Fearsome Five!
"But...but Mom...." Rita McAdden sputtered as she watched her mother pack her suitcase.
"No more *buts* girl! I've already told you, yer father and I a're going on this business trip!" the elderly version of Rita, despite the heavy creases of age, snapped in a heavy-set Irish accent.
Rita watched silently as her mother left out the front door, without so much as a "goodbye" to her seventeen-year old daughter. The woman climbed into a limousine, black and shining, beside her husband. A moment later, the limo sped away, and Rita turned from the window. She caught her reflection in the mirror and sighed, sitting herself down in front of it and staying. She picked up a brush slowly, and ran it through her curly black hair, then put it down in mild disgust. Her eyes, usually bright blue and lively, had gained un uncomfortable stormy color. It's not as though she were angry, but as though she had just stopped caring a long time ago.
Turning away from the mirror, she opened up the bottom drawer of her desk, and took out a small silver-framed photograph. It was her, when she had been eight years old. She was dressed in a pink frilly tu-tu, and her parents were hugging her warmly, proud of her performance in "Duck Lake". She's never had the heart to tell them just how much she hated ballet. But all they had ever seen was their little girl, underneath the spotlight. A big star, famous throughout the world. Rita shook her head, and placed the picture back into the drawer, locking it as she did so.
Her parents had never really understood her. Mind you, it's not that she hated them, or resented them in any way. No, she loved her parents, but they just didn't understand. All she wanted to do was be alone. She didn't like it when so many people paid attention to her, when she'd much rather be home reading a book. Rita had a great book collection down in the basement of the large house, which consisted of hundreds of different books. If she were to be anything famous, she dreamed of being a writer.
Casting a glance at her bedroom clock, Rita gasped. "Oh no...."
In a flash, the young mouse was running down the large staircase down the hall from her room, and grabbing her bag, she ran full speed out the door. "I...cannot...believe it..." Rita gasped as she ran down the street at full speed, gasping for air. She was half an hour late for school, and if she knew her Science teacher, then Mr. Adaquack did not take kindly to tardiness.
Finally, she arrived at St. Canard High School, and threw open the main doors, running down the dim hallway towards her locker. As she rounded a corner, she collided painfully with someone, causing both to fall to the ground in a bruised heap. "Oh...Oh, I'm so sorry!" Rita gasped, trying to regain herself as best she could, while at the same time trying to get out from under whoever she was trapped underneath.
She turned her head to get a look at her victim, and turned a deep shade of red. "I...uh...." the teenage rat scrambled to his feet clumsily, and grasped his right arm with his other hand, rubbing it and looking at the floor at the same time. Rita picked herself up, and began to collect all the things that had dropped out of her back. After a moment, the rat kneeled down and helped her, staying silent as he did so.
"Thanks..." Rita said softly, as he handed her a rather pathetic Science Test with a big "ARE YOU AWAKE DURING CLASS?!" written on it by her Science teacher. She turned an ever darker red and quickly shoved the test back into her back.
"Wow....are you?" The boy, who upon closer inspection was wearing a suit with a pink-tinted tie, and had shoulder-length brown hair, and an inquisitive yet shy look on his face, asked.
"Am I what?" Rita asked, standing up and draping one strap of her bag casually over her shoulder.
"Awake in class!" The rat replied, smiling shyly.
"Wh....HEY! Who asked you!" Rita snapped, losing her all-too well known temper. The boy stiffened slightly and looked a little hurt, then his eyes went back to the floor, and Rita suddenly felt guilty for her outburst. "Sorry....I haven't been having a good week...I guess my temper doesn't help any either!" She muttered, then extended her hand slowly. "I'm Rita McAdden!" She spoke, and watched as he grasped her hand gingerly, as if he were afraid.
The rat flushed. "I know!" he said rather quickly, and bit his tongue as Rita smiled. "I....I'm Elmo Sputterspark!" He spoke in a shy voice, and Rita noticed his face become as red as hers had been moment before.
"Oh...wait, I know you, your the smart kid....I hear Mr. Adaquack talk about you all the time in Science class!" Rita said, brightening slightly as she realized that she had finally met "the genius child of every high school teacher's dream" as Mr. Adaquack had brightly put it.
"R...really?" Elmo asked, looking somewhat proud that he was spoken well of.
"Yeah!" Rita laughed shaking her head. "He's always telling me I should take you as an example if I ever want to pass Science class!" Rita replied, and watched him giggle nervously and turn even redder.
"You know....it's not that I don't pay attention in class....it's just that I can't really get a grasp on most of the stuff Mr. Adaquack teaches!" Rita said sadly, as she walked down the hallway with Elmo trailing along beside her.
"Oh....well, he does go pretty fast sometimes!" Elmo nodded.
"You know....your the best student this schools got...maybe we could get together sometime...and you could show me what I'm missing!" She said casually, then noticed the somewhat half-confused, half-shocked look on his face, and quickly added, "...IN SCIENCE.....of course...!" She trailed off, and felt her face go slightly warm, so concentrated on looking at the floor as she walked.
As they reached the Science room, Elmo proceeded in opening up the door and letting her in first. "The perfect gentleman!" Rita giggled as she entered the classroom.
The icy look she received from Mr. Adaquack was quickly recompansated after the old duck caught Elmo come in behind her. "Mr. Sputterspark.....I can understand Ms. McAdden being late....as usual...but you I have no explanation for!" he spoke, shaking his head.
Elmo opened his mouth to speak, but Rita intercepted, biting her lower lip nervously. "Uh...sorry! That was my fault....I kinda'....detained him!" Rita muttered, not really wanting to give full-class detail about how embarassing it was to crash headlong into someone in the hallway. Mr. Adaquack looked at her skeptically, then raised his bill in his usual snooty manner, and turned back to the chalkboard behind him.
Rita hurried off to her seat, giving Elmo a last smile as she sat herself down and tried to concentrate on another one of Mr. Adaquack's "rushed sessions".
"Psst! Rita!"
Rita turned to the source of the female voice behind her, and sighed impatiently. "What is it Mallory?" she asked, seeing the skinny "I-starve-myself-for-this-figure" duck give her a disapproving glare as she did so.
"Don't you *what is it Mallory* me Rita! What exactly did you mean when you said you....detained him?" She asked, giving her bleached blond long hair a toss, which almost looked like the actions of an extremely skinny lion, tossing its mane.
Rita shrugged, sensing a familiar feeling welling up in her gut. "What? I kinda....bumped into him in the hall, and we talked for a while!" She whispered, trying her best not to attract Mr. Adaquack's attention.
Anya, who sat beside Mallory overheard, and the rat's mouth dropped to the table. "You what?" She hissed. Rita felt her pulse quicken, and her temper soar. If there was anything she hated, it was people that felt they had the right to tell her how to live her life, and who to talk to. Her parents were a good example of that. As she fumed inwardly, she failed to notice Elmo Sputterspark watching her from only two rows down, having her bits and pieces of their whispering, a small smile had arched at the corner of his mouth.
**********
"I...cannot....stand...him!" Elmo hissed, trying to stop his face from turning a dangerous shade of red.
"I know how you feel Elmo! I mean, the first year I got here Ham kept hitting on me before he got his girfriend!" Rita muttered, shuddering at the memory. Elmo chuckled lightly, imagining Rita's immediate response, which would have been affected by her famous temper.
It had been nearly two weeks since Rita and Elmo had "bumped" into each other in the hall and gotten aquainted, and they had quickly become friends. At Elmo's almost too-eager suggestion, Mr. Adaquack had assigned Elmo to tutor Rita every night, which they had been doing up until then, and should have been doing now. However, they were taking a famous "break" in which case both were talking about a completely un-scientific topic.
"Say....Rita..." Elmo started, suddenly looking as nervous as he had the first time they had met. He momentarily watched her as she pulled her long curly hair into a ponytail, and looked at him inquisitivly.
"Yeah?" She asked.
Elmo took a deep breath, considering just sputtering out the question. "Do....do you have a boyfriend?" He asked, his voice sounding as chocked as though he were having trouble breathing.
Rita's face went blank, but she shook her head slowly. "No...I used to, but I broke up with the jerk!" She growled, remembering her all-too-desperate last boyfriend "Chad" who had also been captain of the St.Canard High Basketball team.
"Oh...well....I was just wondering if...." he trailed off, deciding to twiddle with one of the machines he had stored in the basement of his house, where they were currently seated.
"What?" she asked, smiling sweetly.
"If you...and me....that is...WANNA GO TO THE PROM WITH ME?" He practically screamed out, finally getting the words right. Rita blinked, suprised by the sudden outburst of the question. Elmo noticed the suprised expression on her face, and lowered his eyes to the floor. "Oh...I understand....a....beautiful....girl like you is probably booked solid, right?" He laughed lightly, trying to break the ice as best as he could. "Forget I asked..." He started, but Rita cut him off.
"I'd love to!" She smiled, sounding as casual as she could.
Elmo froze, and slowly turned to face her. "Rea...really?" He gasped, sounding a bit sceptical.
"Yes...really!" Rita responded, placing a hand delicately on his arm, she slowly leaned up and kissed his cheek, then drew back, blushing intensly.
Elmo's eyes had completely glazed over, and he momentarily looked as though he didn't know the difference between sky and earth, as he teetered slightly. A big grin spread across his face. "Uh...Elmo?" Rita asked, snapping her fingers in front of his "gone-to-lunch" eyes, trying to get him out of the trance.
"Wh....okay...well, I'll pick you up!" Elmo slurred, feeling drunk.
"Okay...." Rita trailed off, then took a look at her watch. "Oh...I gotta go, I'll see you at school tommorow!" She called as she ran up the stairs. Elmo waved to no one in particular, and as he heard the basement door shut, he fainted.
Rita ran away, and perhaps running was understatement. It was more like she *flew*. "I...gotta get ready...but a dress...makeup...stuff!" She gasped for air as she finally reached the large mansion, and saw the black limo that was pulled up on the parking lot. She couldn't help but pout slightly as she entered the mansion, and called out. "Mother? Mother, are you home?" She called, her voice echoing throughout the many hallways and rooms.
"Up 'ere Rita!" she heard her mother call from one of the bedrooms, and climbed the start quickly to speak to her. Nothing in the world could ruin her mood, not even her parents' company.
"Mother, I gotta..." Rita started as she entered the slightly dim room, and noticed that her mother was packing. "What are you doing?" she asked, feeling a slight tinge of uneasiness flow down her spine.
"'Yer father an' I 'ave been asked to go ta' a very important meeting Rita! 'Yer required ta' come too, so start packin' yer' bags!" her mother said without turning around.
Rita's mouth dropped open, and she struggled to regain her composure. "But...for how long?" She asked, her breathing becoming shallow.
"Fer' the next month!" her mother replied, slamming the suitcase and locking it.
Rita's face was expressionless, at least until the words sank it. "Nooooo...Mother, my High School Prom is coming up....someone asked me to go...." She trailed off, a slight smile tugging at her mouth.
"I'm in no mood ta' argue with ya' young lass! Yer' not going to n'e silly dance!" The woman scoffed, as if the prom was some run-of-the-mill, every-Saturday occassion.
"No...." Rita ran out of the room, and down the hallway. She reached her bedroom, and ran in, slamming and locking the door.
Sitting on her bed, lined with dark red covers, Rita found her gaze faultering to the phone. In her mind's eye, a conversation between her and Elmo took place, where she would tell him that the date was off, and that her mother was forcing her not to go to "some silly dance". But that could not happen...would not happen. She was too riled up for it to end so lamely, and besides, it was safe to say she had developed a crush on Elmo Sputterspark. Rita paused at the thought momentarily, and pondered it with mild amusement. For a brief moment, she wondered what Mallory and Anya would think, then shook her head, and grabbed her purse from the bottom drawer of her wooden dresser. "To hell with what those two think!" She stated, narrowing her eyes in pure determination.
Slipping on a jacket, Rita ran out of the mansion, and climbed into the limo, not even bothering to tell her mother were she was going. "Adam, can you take me downtown? I gotta do some shopping!" she asked as sweetly as possible, giving the driver, a rather skinny vulture in a black suit her best "dewey eyes".
His grey eyes observed her in the rearview mirror momentarily, then he cocked an eyebrow and smiled, the creases along his mouth and eyes showing perfectly. "Well...I'm done my shift...but for you princess, anything!" He stated, knowing that if anything annoyed her more, it was when he called her their secret "I know this bothers you!" name.
Rita leaned back in the seat and smiled dryly. "Thanks....birdy!" She giggled, keeping up the tradition.
The limo sped off, leaving a trail of rather dramatic-looking dust swirling in behind it.
Elmo Sputterspark sat in his basement, quietly working on the outlines of his most recent project, and read over the title yet again. "Hmmm....Harnessing Static Electricity Through a Windmill....maybe I should change that...." He trailed off, and began to unconciously hit the pencil he had been writing with a moment ago against his teeth. Hello? Hellloooooo? You have a date with one of the most popular girls in the school...WHAT are you doing? the little voice in his head that really could have helped out should have been screaming at that point, but as always, that little voice was silent.
"ARGH....what am I doing?" Elmo cried out suddenly, slamming the pencil on the desk. "I mean....she....and....SHE..RITAMCADDENKISSEDMEANDIHAVEADATEFORTHEOPROM!" he rambled out at the top of his lungs, then slowly seated himself back down on the chair, and stared ahead blankly. "Yes....I can handle that!" he muttered, trying to sound casual. His vision blurred slightly as he touched one hand to his cheek tentively. "She really said yes...." He trailed off, then jumped off the chair, and ran up the stairs at full speed, heading for downtown. He had to buy a suit!
With only one day to go to the prom, both Rita and Elmo had exactly till the next day at 8:00 pm to get what they needed, so both would had probably been declared missing if they had not been seen running around St.Canard like lunatics, looking for a suit, and a dress, and any added extras. Specifically, Elmo had hunted around looking for a pretty corsage, and greeting the ones he had deemed "unworthy" with obvious bounts of disgust.
Finally, the night came. Rita and Elmo had agreed to rondez-vous at the school, even after Elmo had offered to pick her up, she still hadn't told him that she was supposed to be leaving that night, and was sneaking off in spite of what her mother had said. Elmo arrived a bit early, and saw that there were only a few students entering the school now and again, so he decided to kill some time by working on a recent experiment. Quickly, he ran towards the Science room, and set it up, prepared to work until it was time to go meet his date outside. Date. The concept was still incredibly new to him. Not that he hadn't gone on a date before....but the girl had only gone with him out of pity. He shook his head, and a single thought lingered for a moment,making him narrow his eyes in worry, not so much as in suspicion. Was it possible that Rita was only doing it because she felt sorry for him? Or maybe, this was part of some elaborate, cruel joke to embarass him in front of everyone even further. Elmo shook his head violently, and dismissed the negative throughts. "ARGH....what am I thinking...she wouldn't do that!" he growled, suddenly feeling guilty of even subconciously suspecting Rita of anything.
Preoccupied with his throughts and his experiment, he failed to see the large form of Hamilton "Ham" String come up behind him, holding a large roll of duct tape.
**********
"Oh....where is he?" Rita asked herself, shivering in spite of the relatively warm breeze outside. She was dressed in a tight, strapped, air-pink dress, which had a line-cut at the top, and flowed down around her waist and legs. She had let her hair stay down, not really thinking of giving it any specific style under short short circumstances, and had on a pair of dimond earrings, and a necklace. She had been outside waiting for the last ten minutes, and still, no Elmo. "Could he have forgotten?" She muttered, somewhat skeptical of the possibility. No, he wouldn' t have...something must have happened! She concluded her answer and satisfied, walked inside the large scgool, heading towards the gym. On the way, she passed Mallory and Anya, who both smiled cheerfuly as she passed, but Rita noticed them sneer when she wasn't looking. Ever since word of Rita and Elmo going to the prom together had gotten out, those two had been giving her the cold shoulder.
She didn't really care. The dance had been on for a while, and Rita mingled with the crowd for a short time, they decided to go see if Elmo had arrived yet. She was just about to walk out, when she heard the announcer adjust the microphone. "Ahem...girls and boys....it is now my special pleasure to announce this year's prom king and queen!" The announcer began. "Now...this was not chosen by couple...but rather by how many votes each person got...so....this year's prom king and queen are...." The announcer took out an envelope, and opened it dramatically, beinging out a single white cue card. The gym had gotten completely quite, as the announcer cleared her throat, prolonging the suspense. "HAMILTON STRING AND RITA MCADDEN!" The announcer pronounced, and a great cheer went up from the crowd. Rita could feel herself turning red from both anger and embarassment. She hated being the center of attention, and this was going to be very difficult for her not to be.
Rita considered just walking out, mainly because she wanted to go see if Elmo had arrived, and because the idea of being crowned prom queen alongside Ham String was nothing short of revolting. Nevertheless, she climbed the small stairs to the stage, and was soon wearing the small crown reserved for prom queen, and standing with Ham. At least, she noted as she looked down at Hamilton's girlfriend, that stuck up Preena Lot was fuming with jelousy, she throught to herself as she watched the would-be prom queen 's face.
The announcer was about to hand her a large boquet of flowers when something rather then the obvious crowning of the king and queen got the crowd's attention. Rita's mouth dropped open in both awe and shock as she watched what looked like lightning encircle the room, hitting people at random. A figure came into view, unrecognizible to everyone. It was a tall rat in a yellow jumpsuit, with afro-looking hair and goggles that covered his crazed-looking eyes. As Rita watched, completely apalled, she saw electricity actually come shooting out of his fingertips. Unfortunately, she was so amazed by the impossible feat, that she failed to notice that the rather large current was quickly coming in her direction.
Rita screamed as she felt the electricity dive onto her body, and her senses dulled as it magnified ten folds by the metal that the crown she was wearing was made of. Her hair had raised in a reaction to the current, which seemed to be becoming so powerful, that it was melting into her skin. However, she didn't feel any pain, rather a dull, static-like sensation you feel when touching the television screen after it is first turned on. Then her senses numbed completely and fused into darkness, and Rita fell off behind the stage, blacking out completely.
They never found out who was responsible for the attack. They never found Elmo Sputterspark. Rita McAdden vanished on prom night. Five years later, fate plays again....
"HOW ABOUT I ILLUMINATE YOUR LIFE DUCK?" Megavolt screamed, hurtling an array of lightning at Darkwing Duck, who dodged away just in time. Or perhaps the right term was "danced" away, as the lightning reached his feet.
"No thanks Megavolt, I think I'll change that order!" Darkwing cracked cooly, whipping out his gas gun and pointing it at the rat.
"Alright then....ONE EXTRA CRISPY DUCK, COMING UP!" Safe to say, this time Megavolt didn't miss. Darkwing went flying back, his feather standing as the electricity surged through his body. Moment later, he lurched to a stand, and pointed his gas gun again. "Is that all you got Sparky?" The Masked Mallard taunted, the sarcasm ever-present in his voice.
"DON'T CALL ME SPARKY!" Megavolt screamed, and prepared to go all out on his electricity. Pointing at Darkwing, Megavolt was shocked to see only a small spurk eminate, then sputter.
"Looks like you need a recharge Mega-Breath!" Came the sarcastic remark. Megavolt screamed in anger, and reduced his attack to kicking Darkwing down a flight of automatic stairs, headed down. Lucky for Megavolt, his "save the lightbulbs" campaigns were always staged at night, so the Mall he had been raiding until Darkwing had shown up was empty. He slid down a rail of the stairs, right past Darkwing.
Megavolt ran down the mall, heading for the nearest exit, when he felt himself painfuly collide with someone. He felt himself rocket backwards, and twisted around in time to hit a wall before he could fall. Whoever he had collided with however, ended up falling to the ground. Megavolt leered down, seeing what looked like a young mouse in her early twenties. Her hair was done up in an odd manner, as if electricity had fizzed though it, making it stand permanently. She was wearing a black halter top, with tight leather black pants, and thin boots. She had what looked like a metalic socket on each arm. As she glared up at him furiously, Megavolt was suddenly struck with an increadibly feeling of deja vu. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" He growled, managing to summon up a small spark on his finger and look dangerous.
The girl looked at the spark momentarily, and Megavolt prepared for her to scream in the all-too well known "damsel in distress" way. Instead, he recieved a cool smirk as the she propped herself up on her elbows. "Oooh! Very scary Sparky!" she hissed.
Megavolt face went blank for a moment, then he screamed in fury, and rised both arms in the air. His recharge would have to wait, as he summoned up as much power as he could and directed it at the girl. "I DON'T THINK SO!" She screamed, and brought her own arms up. Megavolt was shocked to see a large sum of electricity counter-attack his own, and had only seconds to ponder over this before it sent him flying up against the wall harder then the first time.
The mouse rose slowly, and calmly walked over to Megavolt, who was sputtering up smoke. "Now...this is too cute!" She muttered, a hint of a smile arching on her lips and she watched the rat cough up smoke. She watched him momentarily, then leaned in and kissed his cheek, drawing back just as quickly. Megavolt had frozen, and his eyes had a blank expression inside them, one that looked extremely familiar, yet she couldn't place from where.
"See you around Sparky!" She said softly, still trying to remember why she was overcome by the strange feeling of deja vu.
"Uh....W...WAIT! What...what's your name?" Megavolt sputtered, trying to draw himself away from the wall.
The girl paused, her back turned to him. "You can call me....Static!"
THE END
