Mark craned his head to look out the window of the van once again. He was sitting on the back on the floor, along with Ellie, Wyatt, and Boyd, so it was a bit hard to see out the window.
They were still in the desert. And they had been driving for hours! How was that even possible?! They should've been back in Duckburg by now. To make things worse, they hadn't passed any towns in a concerning amount of time. In fact, they had turned onto a very harsh and bumpy side road not too long ago. For all Mark knew, they were being taken deeper in the middle of nowhere to be shot in the middle of the desert Breaking Bad style. How quaint.
A part of him wanted to complain or groan or just ramble like he always did but he decided against it. Ellie didn't like him without her memories, Boyd was avoiding eye contact with him at all costs, and Wyatt was a loser. Great. And he couldn't even Tweet about his frustration.
Mark looked out the window again since he had nothing better to do and actually saw something. It was a small farm house that was even crummier than Ellie's. Ewwww they were going to be tortured somewhere where there were bugs. #notcool.
It was obvious to him now that that's where they were stopping. It only took another minute of driving until the van finally stopped and everyone could hear the car door open and slam.
The bright desert sun pierced into the van when Steelbeak opened the back door. Everyone hissed at the sun like they were vampires.
"Rise and shine, everybody!" Steelbeak opened the door wide enough for everyone to get out themselves. They were in the middle of nowhere so he didn't have to worry about them running away. "And welcome home!" He gestured to the abandoned wooden house that looked like it was one bad dust storm away from being blown over.
Kyle was sitting on Steelbeak's shoulder again. He wasn't going to admit it, but he liked being top of his strong and broad shoulders. It made him feel like he was just as strong and intimidating as Steelbeak was.
Wyatt was shaking like a leaf. "P-please. Let us- let us go." It was a pathetic plea, but it was the only thing Wyatt could think of doing to save his own skin. Or Boyd's at the very least. The last thing he wanted to see was a child getting hurt.
Kyle laughed. "Ha! Sorry, pal. It's just not that easy. You're new to all of this, but Steelbeak and I have been waiting for this for years. You're just along for the ride." He continued on by pointing to the house with his little cockroach hand. "It's hot as balls out here so why don't we all head inside? Don't make Steelbeak hold you all at gunpoint."
That didn't need to be said twice. Ellie was the first to begin walking and then Boyd and the others.
"How did you find us?" Boyd regretted speaking up, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. "You were heading north."
Kyle shrugged. "Yeah, well. I'm a roach so I got a sixth sense, ya know? I just felt like you weren't heading that way at a certain point."
That unnerved Boyd to an extent that couldn't be described. If they escaped then that would mean they could possibly be easily found again.
The inside of the home was absolutely horrid. The walls were so thin that you could see through to the outside between the wooden cracks and there were multiple spots on the floor covered in sand that probably had snuck in during storms. A few scorpions scuttled into hiding.
Boyd looked around for a moment before deciding to sit on the old wooden floors with splinters showing, soon to be joined as Kyle and Steelbeak stood in front of them, preparing for whatever evil speech they were going to give.
"Finally! I have waited years for this mo-"
"You will not escape this fowl place alive when we-"
Kyle and Steelbeak talked over each other, speaking at the same time to give their own evil monologue. Kyle galred at Steelbeak. "Really? Fowl place?"
Steelbeak chuckled "Yeah! It's a pun! Because ya know F.O.W.L."
"Yes I get it but why?! We aren't doing this for F.O.W.L anymore, remember?!"
"...oh yeah."
Kyle rolled his eyes. "ANYWAYYYYYSSSSS!" Kyle continued his speech "I have waited years for this moment! To finally see my mother and the child who replaced me suffer!... But you, my dear father," Kyle turned his attention to Mark. "It took some time during the camp but you eventually came around to liking me. For that, I thank you and I will spare your life."
"Aw sweet!" Mark was happy until he realized that the same couldn't be said for Ellie and Boyd. He frowned again.
"As for Wyatt... I dunno. You just showed up so you can die too, I guess." Kyle shrugged.
Steelbeak groaned "Hey! Can I do my speech already?!"
"Ugh! Yeah! Go for it."
Steelbeak cleared his throat. "Let me start over... Camp Duckburg and my rise to dictator was only the beginning of the pain and misery that I have in store for all of you! You may have defeated me once before but all that means nothing now! I will make sure all of you-"
Ellie interrupted him. "What are you talking about?"
That really pissed Steelbeak off and it didn't help that he was interrupted twice. "What do you mean?! Camp Godgold?! Me overthrowing Glomgold as dictator of Duckburg?! Do you not rememb- oh yeah..." Steelbeak patted the flash drive he was still carrying around in his pocket. "I have all of your memories..."
Kyle wanted to die. "You are so stupid."
"DO NOT CALL ME STUPID, KYLE! I WILL SQUISH YOU LIKE THE BUG YOU ARE!" Steelbeak flicked Kyle off of his shoulder, making him land in a small pile of sand across the room.
That really pissed Kyle off. "WHAT THE FUCK, BITCH?! I THOUGHT WE WERE BESTIES!" He stomped his little foot and scattered back over. "YOU OWE ME DENNY'S LATER!"
Steelbeak ignored him but he definitely would go to Denny's with Kyle. He was craving the Super Slam.
With the Super Slam still on his mind, he gripped Ellie by the arm and pulled her up. "If you're scared of me already, just you wait..." Steelbeak took out Ellie's flash drive and held it up. "I can't wait to see the look on your face when you recognize me."
He forcefully spun her around and opened up the back of her head to insert the flash drive with all of her memories. This all confused her immensely. She wanted her flash drive back so badly but he was willing to give it back to her so easily just because he wanted her to remember him? That was pretty petty but she wasn't about to complain-
Her thoughts froze as her body tensed up. Years of memories came back all at once and it was the equivalent of getting hit by a truck. She couldn't do or feel anything as her mind attempted to process everything. The last thing she remembered was getting taken away from Mark and then having her flash drive removed at Waddle by a woman in a red dress and Mr. B.
At the moment, her new memories with Wyatt and Boyd were having trouble combining with her old memories. So, when Ellie locked eyes with Mark, she completely forgot about Boyd and Wyatt's presence. Steelbeak easily let her go when she ran over to him and practically fell into a hug.
"Mark! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Ellie repeated over and over again under her breath.
Wyatt's heart nearly shattered when he watched the scene go down. She really loved Mark.
While Mark and Ellie were hugging and having a mini, lovey dovey reunion, everyone else was just staring and watching them. Even Kyle, who was conflicted by the whole thing. He hated Ellie but he liked seeing Mark happy.
Steelbeak was first to interrupt them by waving his hands. "UMMMMM HELLO?! EVIL BAD GUY STEELBEAK HERE! QUIT HUGGING AND BE AFRAID ALREADY!"
Ellie sniffled before turning around to look at him, though still holding onto Mark. Steelbeak was only met with a confused stare.
"I- I still do not know who you are..." For all she knew, this man was just some crazy stalker. Well, he was already crazy, but you get the point.
"WHAT?! HOW?! I GAVE YOU YOUR MEMORIES BACK!"
Mark had his arm wrapped around Ellie's shoulder as he gave Steelbeak a smug ass smile. "Yeahhhhhhhhh we kinda had all of those memories erased, like, years ago lol." He did a mic drop gesture.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Now he really needed Denny's too.
As he continued to swear and shout out death threats and other nonsense, Ellie turned her head to look at Wyatt. Her new memories finally had collided with her old ones and she quickly shifted her eyes to look at Boyd who looked very concerned.
She was struck with a new wave of grief and guilt. It was like seeing him for the first time, but this time around she understood how scared he was of her and all the terrible things she had done to him.
Ellie slowly reached out a hand that had begun to shake and laid it on his cheek. He flinched. "...Boyd?" She croaked out.
Boyd began to cry as he jumped into Ellie's arms. Now Mark, Ellie and Boyd were all together on the floor hugging and crying together. "I- I missed you so much!" Boyd buried his face into Ellie's shoulder. Mark patted Boyd's back for comfort.
When Boyd was thrown into the mix, it made Kyle angry again. He dusted himself off and walked back next to Steelbeak, who was now fuming. He was trying to be intimidating and scary but they kept ignoring him!
Kyle grit his teeth. "...Steelbeak."
Steelbeak didn't even need the command. He tore Ellie away again before throwing her to the ground on the other side of the room.
Wyatt didn't hesitate in running over to her to check if she was alright. Neither Steelbeak or Kyle stopped him because out of everyone in the room, Wyatt was given the least amount of shits. He was just there in their eyes.
"E-Ellie, are you-"
"DO YOU ALL THINK THIS IS SOME SORT OF GAME?! SOME STUPID FAMILY REUINION?!" Steelbeak didn't give anyone time to respond before turning back to Ellie. "THAT'S IT! I'M TAKING OUT YOUR FLASH DRIVE AGAIN! IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME EITHER WAY THAN WHY NOT DO A HARD RESET AGAIN, HUH?!"
Ellie pushed herself on the ground and scooted back, shaking her head furiously. "No! I will not allow you!" Like her twink ass could do anything without killing anybody, but that was the only thing she could think of saying.
Steelbeak narrowed his eyes and was about to step forward when Boyd did the riskiest move in his life, shooting off the ground and grabbing Steelbeak by the hand. "Stop! Don't do it!" He tried to sound as angry and intimidating as possible, but coming from some kid only made it all the more amusing.
Kyle nearly stumbled over in laughter. He scuttled up onto Steelbeak's shoulder once again so he could look down upon Boyd. "What are you gonna do, kid? Kill us?"
Boyd's furrowed eyebrows raised up as he was flooded with dread. "N-no. I- I- I..."
"I- I- I!" Kyle mimicked him, talking with his hands before laughing once again. "That's what I fucking thought!" He flipped Boyd off before hopping down.
Steelbeak grabbed Ellie again, hoisting her over his shoulder like it was nothing. He left the small house and threw Ellie back into the van. There wasn't anywhere else to put her so the van was his only option. Kyle stayed inside the house to keep guard.
After throwing Ellie back into the van, he quickly slammed the door shut and locked the doors. He knocked on the side of the van to get her attention. "You'll keep your memories for now. I want you to remember how your loved ones are ten feet away from you and out of your reach while we slowly torture them! Hopefully you'll be able to hear their screams from here!" He laughed.
"Pardon?!" Ellie didn't hesitate in slamming her hands on the glass repeatedly. "Stop! No! You cannot do this! I will do anything you ask, just do not hurt them! Please! Spare Boyd at least! Please!" Her voice cracked between every word as she began to uncontrollably shake. She couldn't do all of this again. Her time with Tina and T-bag was her breaking point.
That only made Steelbeak happier. "SEE?! NOW THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! NOW THIS IS HOW PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO ACT WHEN I MAKE THREATENING STATEMENTS!"
Fuck. The last thing she wanted to do was give him what he wanted but what else was she supposed to do to save her family and Wyatt?!
"Fuck you!" Ellie threw back her fist and began to punch the glass. Being made out of metal was working perfectly, the glass cracking with each blow. She knew she couldn't kill him but she could try to fight, right?
"Hey could you not punch the glass, please? It's a rental."
That didn't make Ellie stop. More and more cracks started to form with each blow. She was only a few good punches away from breaking through.
Steelbeak had to come up with the next best solution. He pulled out his gun and pointed it towards the house. "If you keep punching the glass I will not hesitate to shoot everyone inside this fucking house!"
That was enough to get the message through.
Ellie lowered her fists and glared at Steelbeak before nodding. She sat back down in the van and curled up into a ball.
Steelbeak put his gun away and walked back into the house, leaving Ellie alone in the locked van. He immediately walked over to Boyd and picked him up by his shirt collar, holding him high in the air. Both Mark and Wyatt were too stunned to even speak. The only noise either of them made was Wyatt's gasp.
"Did you think you could just pull off that little stunt back there and get away with it, kid?! I don't think so!" He threw Boyd's body at the wall. The entire house shook when he made impact with it.
"STEELBEAK! STOP!" Mark yelled at him. Wyatt started to cry but he couldn't look away from what was happening. They both felt really helpless.
Steelbeak laughed at the two of them before picking Boyd up again. "This little brat needs to be taught some manners. Clearly he wasn't beaten enough when Mr. B had him."
Boyd started to cry again. "Please... let- let me go... I'm sorry!"
Steelbeak balled his fists and was about to give Boyd one good blow when Wyatt tackled him to the ground.
"I- I won't let you hurt a kid."
Steelbeak nearly screamed from the sudden attack, but his eyes soon narrowed when he realized he was taken down by a fucking twink.
He shoved Wyatt aside before standing up and cracking his neck, and then his knuckles. "Alright, fine. You want the kid to be spared. He'll be spared. For now."
His fist made contact with Wyatt's face. The beating he had received from Mr. B was nothing compared to this.
There was no way his beak hadn't just broken. He could feel blood pooling down his face as Steelbeak kept going at it. Eventually Wyatt's face went numb. At that point, Steelbeak's hands moved down to his throat and began to strangle the life out of him.
Wyatt didn't even have enough strength to pick up his hands and pull at Steelbeak's. He could only lay there and gasp for air.
He was about to practically pass out when Kyle cleared his throat from the corner, grabbing Steelbeak's attention.
"Alright, alright. We've had our fun for now. I'm hungry. Let's give them some time to settle in."
Steelbeak looked over at Kyle and then back at Wyatt. He let Wyatt go and dusted himself off. "Yeah, let's get outta here. It's not like they have anywhere to go."
Steelbeak and Kyle left the house and drove off with Ellie still inside the van. Off to MILF Denny's they went.
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"Sooo... this is Mar's Mom's house? Nice place." Heidi looked up at the looming mansion. It was no surprise his mom was loaded and famous as well.
Miss Glamour's place was heavily guarded but this wasn't Gloria's first time coming over to see her. She knew how to get to the front door easily. "Yeah! She's super cool, too!... oh, she can be pretty judgemental so she'll either really love you, or really hate you. Just follow my lead." Gloria knocked on the door and waited for Falcon to open the door.
Sure enough, Falcon was there, glaring at Gloria. "You again?"
"Sup. Can we see Miss Glamour?"
"No."
"Bitch." Gloria was always tired of having to go through Falcon just to see Miss Glamour. She shoved him aside, clearing the way for both her and Heidi to come in.
Falcon swore Britishly before slamming the door shut behind them. He stomped out of the room to get Miss Glamour for them.
He muttered a "Fuck you" and shoved Gloria as he walked past, like the petty British bitch he was.
They only had a wait a minute before Miss Glamour, the queen herself, turned the corner. "DARLING! AH! IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! IT HAS BEEN YEARS, HASN'T IT?!" She brought Gloria into a tight hug before letting go, keeping her hands on her arms. "Looking IT as per usual. I expect nothing else. What have you been doing all this time?" Miss Glamour didn't let her answer because she spotted Heidi almost immediately afterward. "Who is your friend?" She sounded a bit disappointed Gloria brought someone else with her. Miss Glamour loved Gloria but her friends were also totally not ITs. Yet, she was willing to give Heidi a chance. She didn't look like as much of a disappointment as the Glomsquad always did.
"This is my friend, Heidi!"
Heidi was about to introduce herself but Gloria quickly cut her off. "And she's one crazy bitch!"
She gave Gloria a very confused and shocked look. She had no idea where she was going with this.
Gloria continued "There was this one time where she stole a guy's plane ticket just to fly to London and beat up some of the Queen's Royal Guards. For FUN! The girl is wild!"
Miss Glamour tilted her sunglasses down while she eyed Heidi up and down. "Really?"
"Yep! And before she came back to the states, she made sure to stop in France and steal only the finest wine the country had ever made!"
"Tell me, dear, did you steal the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti Grand Cru? One of the most expensive and finest wines in the world?" Miss Glamour asked that question directly at Heidi, to have her speak.
"Stole it. Drank it. Then showed up at the Milan Fashion Show drunk off my mind." Heidi smiled. None of these stories were true but Gloria made up crazy and elaborate stories like that when she first met Miss Glamour.
Miss Glamour put her sunglasses back over her eyes again and gave a single nod of approval. "Not bad."
Yep. Heidi was an IT. Gloria knew she would catch on fast.
"It's only three but you two must be starving. I know the walk up the driveway is a long one." She clapped her hands. "Falcon, will you please get us some Crème Brûlée?"
He nodded and walked off to the kitchen.
Miss Glamour waved for them to follow before they all sat in the overly large dining hall.
Heidi nearly passed out. The place was stunning and something she always wanted. Diamond chandeliers, self portraits of Miss Glamour everywhere. Golden silk table cloth. She ran her hands across the fabric and Miss Glamour cleared her throat.
"Tell me, how have you been, Gloria? Tell me everything."
"Well up until the last week things have been going pretty well. I'm sorry that I haven't been over recently. I'm sure you've been busy, too. Ummm..." It dawned on her that she only really goes to Miss Glamour whenever she's in trouble and she hated that. Miss Glamour is such a queen and Gloria felt like she didn't deserve to only see and put up with her whenever something bad happened. "Heidi and I here have been our usual selves. Getting into trouble and everything..." Gloria wasn't sure how to bring up the gang and how to ask for them to stay with her, even if Miss Glamour liked her. She settled on gradually bringing it up. "Oh, and Gyro and I broke up. I'm sure you're happy to hear about that." Gloria forced a laugh though nothing about that was funny to her.
Miss Glamour gasped and leaned forward, clapping while she did so. "Oh, yes! Tea! Spill!"
She laughed again. Homegirl always loved hearing other people's tea. "Well it's kind of a long story but I'll fill you in on more on the whole story later. Basically I had to take these fake crime scene photos of your son. Heidi and I poured ketchup all over him and-"
Gloria couldn't finish. Miss Glamour started to laugh uncontrollably. "Markus?! With ketchup on himself?! My dear, you're going to have to send me these photos. He never did like ketchup. Not even as a boy. You two must've tortured him to get those photos and I admire that. Continue." She waved at Gloria to sigal her to continue as well.
Gloria smiled. "I'll have them laminated and everything for you. But anyways, we had to take those photos. It was super later at night and I came home around four in the morning. Gyro was super worried because I forgot to text him where I was. He got super mad and now he's under the impression that I cheated on him... with your son..." Yep, this wasn't awkward at all.
Miss Glamour only leaned forward and smirked. "Did you?"
"Wha- NO! No no no no no!" This got even more awkward. Heidi was getting the second hand embarrassment that Gloria was feeling.
"Oh." Miss Glamour actually sounded disappointed. She was disgusted with anyone who dated Mark, which meant Ellie, but it would have made for some good tea. "Well, anyway, why are you two here? I love you dear, but I'm not stupid."
Gloria sighed. "We were caught up in another gang... They wanted us to kill people and do other horrible things so we ran. I knew this would be the safest place for us to hide out for a while."
She didn't miss a beat. "Which gang?"
Heidi finally spoke up. "The Mothmans."
Miss Glamour let out another laugh. "No way, darlings! I get my cocaine from them! Small world!"
Falcon brought the desert out and Miss Glamour dug into it immediately. She continued to speak with her mouth full. Maybe that was a new IT thing to do?
"You know, it's only a matter of time before they find you here. They are a very intelligent gang, I must say. I tried to sneak my way out of payments a few times."
Heidi and Gloria looked at each other and frowned before Gloria spoke up again. Heidi kept quiet and started to eat. "I don't want to put you in any danger, so what do you think we should do? How long until they find us here?"
"Well, they're delivering my cocaine on Wednesday and I am not cancelling." She shrugged.
"Okay, Wednesday it is then."
"You both need to skip town."
Heidi sighed. That's what she had been wanting to do, but Mia still being in town haunted her. It was so conflicting.
Miss Glamour continued. "Tampa is nice this time of year."
Heidi's eyes widened. "Is... Tampa considered an IT place to live?"
"If I mentioned it then yes." She spat like it was a no brainer.
Heidi shut up after that.
"Are they after my son too? Please tell me they are."
"Sadly, they're not. He's currently in New Mexico."
Miss Glamour almost spit out her Crème Brûlée. "What! GOODNESS! #EW!"
Okay, yep. No wonder Mark turned out the way he did.
"New Mexico is NOT an IT." She patted her chin to wipe the Crème Brûlée that had spilled before continuing. "If you really need a place to hide, I could set you up with my daughter."
"Wait. You have a daughter?!"
The fact neither Mark nor Miss Glamour have ever mentioned her before is baffling to the both of them.
"Yes. She's a senator and working in Washington D.C. If you're interested I can have Falcon book you two first class tickets to go and stay with her until this whole gang situation dies down."
Heidi gulped and looked at Gloria. They needed to leave town as soon as possible. But Mia...
She settled on letting Gloria decide.
"Her name is Mara and she is my favorite. Obviously. Not to mention she is way more rich than Mark could ever wish to be. And she attended Yale." Miss Glamour's face was smug as if Mark could hear their conversation.
Oh. That's why Mark had never mentioned her.
"She sounds just as amazing as you, Miss Glamour... I think we'll go." Gloria felt bad for not talking about it with Heidi first but they have been out of options for a while.
Miss Glamour smiled before turning her head. "FALCON?!"
He was standing right beside her. "Yes, Miss Glamour."
"Book them first class tickets to D.C. With my card. And make sure the flight is before Wednesday."
"Yes, Miss Glamour."
She smiled before turning her attention back to Heidi and Gloria. "I will let Mara know of your visit. She won't be happy to have you but she can suck it the fuck up."
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