Chapter Text
“Pretentious! Bah! These lowlifes in Duckburg don’t understand true genius, and I’m not about to dumb myself down for them.”
Mad Ducktor kicked the newspaper dispenser, doing more damage to his foot than the machine in the process. Mad Ducktor looked at the headline one more time and groaned.
Paperinik Pulverizes Pretentious Poindexter.
Thinking about that humiliating defeat made him want to punch the glass. But perhaps it would be better to save that for Paperinik himself.
Needless to say, Mad Ducktor was sick of his brilliant genius getting bested by that idiot duck, and to make matters worse, what often did him in were Gyro’s inventions.
It was rotten, the way Paperinik took advantage of Gyro’s kindness and faith in justice. His desire to help people. Mad Ducktor had no use for those things any longer. All they did was make Gyro run weary, with little thanks in return, if any at all. Mad Ducktor wished Gyro would understand how much what he was doing would only hurt himself. How much he had been hurt. But Gyro, ever resilient, seemed to have gotten used to the pain.
Mad Ducktor had been one with Gyro long enough to know the harsh treatment that came on a weekly basis. Gyro had been hurt so much.
Luckily, Mad Ducktor’s newest plan would change all that!
His latest escape from the prison was done in record time! And all it took for him to hide in plain sight was a change in wardrobe and hairstyle. No one seemed to pay any mind to the long-haired bird, which let him focus all his efforts on his plan.
Simply put, He would create a time machine and use it travel back to when Paperinik was getting his start, and stop the hero before he ever got off the ground.
A time machine wouldn’t be too hard to make; Mad Ducktor could likely make in his sleep. All he needed now were the materials for his next invention. Luckily, he knew how to get funds and materials fast…
“Drat!” Mad Ducktor yelled, standing up out of his seat and alarming the other patrons of the library. “The old miser changed his password!”
“Shhh!”
Mad Ducktor turned to face the librarian shushing him and mimed himself zipping his lips before going back to his computer. He loathed the formalities, but he couldn’t get banned from the library again.
Mad Ducktor sighed. He hated doing it, but it seemed if he wanted his materials, he’d have to either spend all night hacking or use Gyro’s credit card information, and the librarians really didn’t like people going over their 30-minute time limit.
Soon, the materials were ready to be picked up and before he knew it, he’d finished his time machine, easy-peasy! The hard part was remembering when Paperinik had gotten his start… His brain was a little fuzzy on the details. He knew it was some years ago, but unsure of when, he had to go with his best guess. And with the push of a button, Mad Ducktor disappeared from the present day.
Duckburg looked more or less the same as it did before, so at first, Mad Ducktor wasn’t sure his device worked. That is, until he passed by a newspaper dispenser. No longer did it mock him, calling him a pretentious poindexter. Now the front-page story was about a painting being returned to a museum out of town.
The invention worked! Of course it did, though; Mad Ducktor was nothing short of genius. And as he didn’t exist in this form yet, he would be unrecognizable even if he was without a disguise. Nothing could stop him from setting his plan in motion.
Gyro stared at the bird before him who claimed to be his future self. He could see in the fellow’s tired face, but almost everything else looked different. The long purple mullet was so unlike Gyro’s nestlike ‘do. The casual pastel attire compared to Gyro’s signature handyman look was just a bit off. Even the way he presented himself was different. Gyro couldn’t stop himself from uttering the next words to come out of his mouth.
“Are you sure?”
“Har. Har. Very funny,” The futuristic Gyro said with irritation. “Enjoy cracking jokes while the future is in peril.”
“What’s wrong with the future?” Gyro asked, concern growing.
“Paperinik! That’s what’s wrong! I’ve come to stop him before he gets started!”
“Paperinik?”
Mad Ducktor felt an odd sense of déjà vu and confusion with every word he and Gyro said, as if he were on both sides of the conversation, which at this point in time, he still technically was. He tried his best to ignore as he continued his deceit. “Paperinik! You know? The Diabolical Duck Avenger? Duckburg’s greatest hero? Makes you fix his damn boots every-”
“I know who Paperinik is,” Gyro says. “But what has he-”
“What has he done?!” Mad Ducktor frantically interrupted Gyro with his own question. “Awful things! Terrible things! He’s become corrupt, using his superhero status to get away with whatever he wants! And you-no, we,-no you-no we… We get the butt of it all!”
“That’s horrible!”
“You bet it is! That’s why I came here! Also, because I need a place to stay.”
“Oh! Of course! I’ll set up the guest bedroom!”
Mad Ducktor grinned. His plan was working perfectly so far, and poor Gyro had fallen for his ruse completely. Then again, he was technically Gyro from the future, but he’d decided he would rather not think about that and followed Gyro inside.