The Doll

Chapter 1: The Acquisition

There weren't many things Negaduck was against, per se, more just things he hadn't done yet or things he thought were stupid. The list of things that raised his moral hackles was very short, but it did exist, despite common belief.

Slavery wasn't on that list. He didn't have any slaves of his own, but only because he thought it ridiculous to let someone with every reason to want you dead work in your home. Negaduck had zero interest in slaves for practical reasons, not because of a memory of bright green eyes and curly red hair.

Which was why the fact he'd somehow ended up at the town's slave market was so infuriating. He hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention to where he was walking, lost in thought about his continued failures to find the final member of his team.

How was he going to make an Anti-Friendly Four if he couldn't find-

Quackerjack. Negaduck blinked, clearing his eyes to make sure he hadn't imagined the duck on the podium. It was definitely the Jester, with his colorful outfit and oversized beak, but he wasn't acting right.

He was slouching, with an impassive, outright depressed look. He showed off (admittedly impressive) acrobatic tricks at his master's urging, but then fell silently back into place, not meeting anyone's eyes.

It was the sight of the master that made Negaduck hit his forehead in realization. Of course! His Quackerjack was an ex-slave, he'd been freed by his last master.

But PosiPaddywhack wouldn't free a slave out of the goodness of his heart, because he had no goodness in him (much less the area a heart would be if he was a Normal).

Negaduck pushed his way through the crowd, growling at people to move for their Lord. Once he was closer, a strange feeling of wrongness overtook him. This frowning, silent duck in torn and dirty clothing, passively obeying without a hint of distraction or mania? This wasn't Quackerjack.

But Negaduck could fix that. "How much?"

"Looooord Negaaaaduck!" Paddywhack's beak pulled into a fanged grin, technically friendly but vaguely threatening. Negaduck would be impressed if he didn't hate the other's guts. "Weeell, this one has been verrrrry entertaining to meeee. And the sssssell comes wiiiith a magicaaal binding. Hmmm... let's saaaay, a hundred gold?"

Negaduck growled, satisfied when the Spirit unconsciously leaned away from him. 100 Gold? Quackerjack may be young and hardworking, but still wasn't worth nearly that much. How dare Paddywhack try to rip off the Lord of St Canard?

He would've forced Paddywhack to just give him the slave, getting into whatever fight he needed to, if he hadn't noticed something. Quackerjack's hand was clenching and unclenching, his only movement, as if he was trying to squeeze-

The doll, his stupid doll was gone. The longer NegaQuackerjack went without recreating that thing, the more manic and unpredictable he became. How broken was this Quackerjack, that he was so calm without it?

For some reason, the idea of a physical conflict he might lose (he'd never admit it, but Paddywhack could beat him) didn't seem worth the chance. He threw a small bag of gold at the Spirit's head, hitting his beak and making him nearly fall over.

"Fifty gold, or I'm setting fire to that Box of yours!" Negaduck smirked when the other quickly nodded in agreement. Paddywhack's pyrophobia was a closely guarded secret, but Negaduck had long had suspicions.

Paddywhack counted the gold, then let it dissolve in a white mist. He'd been shortchanged by three silver, but he wouldn't point that out. Honestly, he was lucky 'Lord' Negaduck hadn't decided to just take his toy.

"Beeee gooood for your new maaaster, Doll." Paddywhack whispered into the clown's ear, getting a shaky nod in return. He handed Negaduck the lead, transferring the binding. It wasn't a permanent transfer, of course. Once Negaduck died, he'd come back to claim his prize, then play with him a while before selling him again. Not that Negaduck needed to know that, of course.

Negaduck took the brown leash, somewhat surprised when the jester bounced after him. So there was some of Quackerjack in there, after all.

"I've got a few errands to do before we go home." Negaduck explained as they moved through the market place. He glanced back at his new acquisition. "You got a problem with that?"

"N-no, Master!" Quackerjack panicked, his hands twitching upwards but coming just short of nervously pulling on his hat. Interesting. "I would never take issue with anything you desired."

Negaduck was going to ask if the leash was necessary, but he somehow doubted this panicky Quackerjack could navigate a crowd on his own. He cursed under his breath; this was going to be a lot of work.

He took his time going between shops, disguising his true purpose by buying stuff he'd technically needed for a while but put off buying. He had to admit, shopping was a lot easier when he had someone to carry stuff for him. The Mutt and the Weed were too conspicuous to take shopping, while Sparky would always fry half the packages.

He could get used to having another non-mutant around.