11Hello! I got inspiration by a post that's running around the internet shipping Don Karnage and Della Duck and I just had to put my two cents. Enjoy! (I would recommend listening to 'Dime' by Jaime Camil, who also voices Don Karnage in the reboot!)
He wasn't into ducks. He swore that he wasn't. But this duck? Oh boy, this duck was something else. She was full of trouble.
And he liked trouble. A lot.
It was a tipical rainy day. In the distance, they spotted a plane that shimmered in the little bit of sunlight that managed to pass through the rainclouds. It was like staring at the leprechaun at the end of the rainbow. It looked clean, expensive, and possibly, one they could loot.
They brought it inside (with a musical number, duh!) and proceeded to open it. Peg Leg Meg had gotten quite the surprise kick in the stomach when she did the honors of retrieving whoever was on board.
And there she was in all her feathery beauty.
And a sword. She had a sword. A really pointy one.
"Stand back or else!" She demanded. "Who's your leader!?"
Don Karnage stepped foward. "That will be the devilishly handsome pirate, Don Karnage, to you!"
"Quack, quack, quack!" She used her hand to simulate a duck beak. "And I'm Della Duck. Now if you excuse me." With a swift move, she kicked the living days out of him and retrieved back into her plane. But before she could escape, the pirates had anchored her plane.
With an annoyed sigh, Della stepped out of the plane, punching another pirate in the process. She stood on her toes in front of Don Karnage, without any hint of fear of taking on a man almost twice her size.
"I only carry a box of imported origami paper, a barrel full of boomerangs and my pride. If you were looking for gold and treasure, you got the wrong plane, mister!"
Don Karnage hadn't realized it yet, but he had probably found the greatest treasure of all.
Unfortunately, due to the pirates anchoring her plane the wrong way, Della's plane had a damaged engine that would take weeks to repair, plus the trouble of finding the right pieces for it. Della wasn't worth taking hostage. They tried. Tried. So instead, they just let her stay on the condition that she should help around and in return, they would help her fix her plane.
Anything to get her off their backs. Yes, she was that annoying.
Della was not taking any shit from anyone, she never let any of the other men on the ship try to take advantage of her and she made it clear that her plane was off limits unless she gave you permission (someone almost got his hand chopped off because of it). And this, this was Don's type of woman.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say the captain has the goo goo eyes for miss Della." Ugly Mug whispered to the others. Unbeknownst to him, Don Karnage stood behind him with his arms crossed. The rest of the small group looked up from their chairs in fear.
"He's behind me, isn't he?" the pirate fearfully asked.
"Stop spreading rumors that are not true and get back to work! Seriously, you gossip way more than my grandmother does!"
As the others scattered around before Don decided to throw them off the ship, he pondered on that little thought. Well, she is the kind of woman I'll go out with, AND she's gorgeous! Um, not as gorgeous as me, but still... He thought.
One afternoon, as the crew celebrated another loot, Don found Della under her plane assembling some new engine pieces. He put on his most suave smile and leaned his back agaisnt her plane, crossed his arms and looked down.
"You know, I just realized I don't know anything about you, miss Della." He heard a loud 'thump!' and in a moment, Della slid from under the plane, all dirty and smelly as she rubbed her head.
"You don't bother a lady that's working, Karnage." She stated, annoyed at being interrupted.
"My apologies. I believe we haven't been too kind to you, milady." He flashed a handsome smile. Della couldn't help but blush a little. "Should we start over?"
Della knew she had to be cautious, but like Uncle Scrooge said, it was better to play along. "Sure, I'm Della Duck!" She extended her hand.
"Suave and handsome captain extraordinaire, Don Karnage, which is me. At your service." He shook her hand.
Della giggled. "A pleasure."
"The pleasure is all mine." He bowed. "We are about to anchor in a nearby town. I was wondering if you'd like to join me on a fancy dinner tonight? Maybe go dancing afterwards?"
"Oh, Don Karnage, you can't ask a lady you just met to a date!" She mocked.
He flashed her another smile. "Oh, I don't judge, milady."
"You're not going to con it out of the restaurant, right?"
He gave her a nervous laugh. "I was planning to. But I can be civilized for tonight."
OOO
They grew closer in the next few days.
"Your ears are so fluffy!" Said Della after taking away his hat.
Way too close.
He was being ridiculed by his crew with mocking kisses and hugs and paper shaped hearts whenever Della turned his back. Ugly Mug once turned around and used his hands as he pretended someone else was hugging and kissing him while the others laughed. Usually, just taking out his sword dealt with the problem. But it did not ease the embarrassing feeling.
"Seriously, do you use conditioner or something? It's way too soft to be natural." said the duck as she petted his head.
He groaned. "Please stop that."
"Tell me your secret. I want to have soft feathers!"
He sighed. "It's mostly puppy fur..." He mumbled.
Della laughed. "That's adorable!"
He shouldn't have told her that. Surely, the crew would have been listening. They did. The next morning, he found a pair of diapers and pacifers in his office. As consequence, someone got thrown out of the Iron Vulture. He was never bothered again with that particular aspect of his fur.
"This doesn't work!" Della yelled frustrated as her plane didn't start up.
"Try to calibrate the systems again. That might help." Don told her as he adjusted some cables on the engine. She tended to forget he was a pilot too.
Della grew on the crew. They respected a bit more her space and her privacy. And Don Karnage had come to the horrible realization that he was in love.
"Admit, capt'n. You like her. A lot." Peg Leg Meg told him as they ran over their latest scheme to loot a Glomgold Industries plane.
Don just sighed. "Get back to work." He paused for a moment. "Is it obvious?"
"Sir, I wouldn't be telling you if it wasn't."
OOO
Della wasn't really in love with the captain. Sure, she found him attractive, he was quite the looker, quite muscular and handsome, but she wasn't going to fall in love with him. She was just playing along. It was fun being with pirates, but she needed to get back home. It had already been three weeks.
Her plane was almost done. There was only one piece left to install and that was it. She could go home. But being her uncle's niece, her mind longed for something she could take with her. Maybe a treasure of sorts, this pirates were dumb enough to be played and they had treasure.
"These are for you, milady." Don gifted her with roses one night. She hadn't known what had gotten into her. Maybe it was impulse, but she went off and kissed him. When she pulled away, Don stared.
"What?" She looked at him with a lustful gaze. "That wasn't enough, Karny?"
Everything went by as a blur. She remembers a rare, kind smile on the captain's face, a soft, tender kiss that escalated quickly... They kissed with a growing passion that led them to more private activities.
"I love you, Della."
And that's when everything went downhill.
OOO
She adjusted the final piece of the engine when she sighed. She recalled that morning when she woke up in his arms and inmidietly regretting it. She was sober and she slept with him. She couldn't shake the lovestruck look on Don's face that morning from her mind.
She had quickly covered up her regret with a smile. That seemed to do the trick. She felt regret. And guilt. She knew he was in love with her and led him on.
She had to get out.
And there she was, sneaking her plane out of an anchored Iron Vulture and trying to leave without much saying goodbye while everyone celebrated another loot up far from the hangar. She felt like a... she didn't even want to think of the word. She drove her plane into the nearby jungle and found the perfect clearing to take off. She started the plane and took her sword to cut off a few vines that blocked the way before it started to rain.
"Della!"
Her heart skipped a bit. She sighed and looked up. It was Don Karnage. Cutting off the last vine, she gathered her courage and looked at him in the eye. She wished she hadn't.
Rain started to fall.
"You're leaving? Without even... without saying goodbye? Without talking about last-"
"Nothing happened last night!" She bursted out.
As expected, Don stared at her with an incredulous look. "I thought... I thought you..."
"I don't. I don't love you."
She was emotionally unstable. "I'm sorry, Karny. It was fun while it lasted. But I have to go. I have to get back home."
"Della, you could stay! Della..."
She tightened her grip around her sword. She always made wrong choices when under pressure.
"Please..."
She was always an impulsive person. Donald was right.
"Was I just a pastime?"
That would eventually be her demise.
And so she did what she would regret later. She swung her sword towards him. He quickly blocked the attack in return. She didn't want to hurt him. But how would she be able to keep him away?
"Della, I don't want to hurt you!" He was holding back. She could tell. He was way larger than her and could kill her in an instant with just one move. But he didn't. Because he loved her.
He had been so kind to her and she didn't deserve him.
"Della, stop!"
She cried and slashed her sword against his chest. He yelled as he fell backwards.
She hadn't meant that to happen.
He gasped when he saw the bleeding mess on his shirt. It wasn't deep, but it will keep on bleeding and could lead to massive bloodloss if he didn't treat it soon. It hurt. It stung. Not just the cut that traveled from his right shoulder all the way down to his stomach. It was his heart that stung more than his injuries.
She seduced him. She betrayed him. She destroyed him. Stabbed him in the back.
He gasped. "Della...how could you?"
There were tears in her eyes as she glared at him with the same fire, the same passion she once looked at him with lovestruck eyes. Or what he thought were lovestruck eyes...
Without another word, she turned on her heels and made a mad dash towards her plane.
Thunder and lightning clashed together as the rain grew heavier and washed his blood into the damp earth. He weakly stood as Della started her plane and soon soared above the skies without looking back at him.
"Della! DELLA!" He gasped for air and leaned agaisnt a nearby tree to steady himself. He pressed his hand on his wound to stop the bloodloss.
Della sobbed as she soared the skies above, not daring to look down. She looked at the passenger seat and found the roses Don had given her. She cried. She would have to throw away those when she got home.
She said she wanted treasure, she got the treasure, but she took that treasure and smashed into tiny pieces. Don had willingly given her his heart and she destroyed it.
Guilt. That was all she could feel right now. She played him, played with his heart. Played with the only real treasure she had found on this sad, tragic adventure. "I'm so sorry, Karny..." She sobbed. "I'M SORRY!" But it fell on deaf ears. He wasn't there to hear her apology.
Maybe she was confused. Or maybe she did loved him and just didn't know. But that didn't matter anymore. What was done was done and there was no way back.
What kind of person was she?
Don Karnage slowly, but steadily made his way back to the Iron Vulture. He panted because of the pain and bloodloss. He had been wrong about her. He felt used, ashamed. He still held his sword firmly on his other hand in case he needed to support himself.
He shouldn't have been so blind.
Just as he pondered over this, he slowly walked up to the ship's hangar.
"Cap'n!" The crew called.
He still glared down at the floor. He had a murderous look to him, he was sure. Some of them had even backed away. Luckily for him, it was raining and they couldn't see him cry over a woman.
"Someone get the first aid!" Stinky Boot said. The twins went to help him steady himself, but he violently refused.
Peg Leg Meg stared at him. She knew what a man with a broken heart looked like. She didn't need to know anything else.
The captain also refused help to mend his wounds. Instead, he took the first aid kit and retrieved to his quarters.
"She left, didn't she?" One of the pirates asked.
"That little bitch!" Someone yelled.
Meg sighed and turned to the crew. "We won't talk about her or even mention her presence on this ship. Aye?"
"Aye!"
When the captain finally sumerged from his quarters, he looked like he just lost a battle. He had replaced his extravagant blue coat for a light blue button up shirt that he hadn't bothered to properly button up. She could still see the bandages on his chest. He only gave one especific order to Meg.
"If you ever see her, kill her on sight. That goes to the rest of the crew too." As old friends, the rest went unsaid. She knew what he wanted to say but couldn't.
He was way too heartbroken to do it himself.
Yay! Drama and Heartbreak! Hahaha... ha... *cries* I'm a monster! It's ok, I'll see myself out! *Retrieves to room on her day off to write more duck angst.*Tell me what you think! Was it too much drama and not enough drama?
I might even write another chapter. But that would depend on how many of you like this.