Chapter Text
Death by beaker...
For a brilliant inventor, he was stupid to enrage Kapono like that. It's too bad he'll never see his precious little daughter Glendy Gearloose (or Gigi for short) again.
But Kapono knew he had it coming. He wouldn't tell him where that blasted comb was, so he took his life instead. He had to search for it himself but he managed to find it. He loved how Scrooge admonished his old flame who is still missing and probably pronounced dead by now and how he managed to get him to go out with him for Valentine's Day.
However, Kapono then realizes that all of his hard work would soon be undone. From what he heard, Katherine Lupin, Gyro's wolf girlfriend, had noticed that Gyro didn't come to their date and tried calling him, but there was no answer. So, Katherine tried checking his house, only for the door to be answered by Glendy, who also hasn't seen her father either.
As a result, Gyro was declared missing after being gone 24 hours without any trace and the last place he was seen (alive) was in the lab.
Kapono could tell that Katherine was going to find out about the murder of Gyro Gearloose and will get Scrooge to stay away from him. While he knew the mind-altering comb Gyro made could make Scrooge believe Kapono and deemed Katherine insane for accusing him of murdering Gyro, he also knows that Katherine will do all she can to get him exposed for all of the murder he did. It was only a matter of time until she figured out what he has done.
Kapono couldn't kill Katherine since it would make him more suspicious of the disappearance of Gyro, but then he thought of something. What if he didn't have to murder anyone? What if he had someone else murder his victim for him?
It was a great idea at first, he thought. All he has to do is make one person kill another for him and they'll be blamed for the murder and no one would ever know that Kapono was the murderer. However, he needed a good target to murder someone, because there were no witnesses when he killed Gyro on Valentine's Day.
Donald Duck has no interest neither in Gyro nor helping him and Katherine wouldn't trust him due to his insanity. Maybe it had to be... Launchpad McQuack. Yes, it just might work. He may be dumb enough to not be aware of his true motives but he might be able to help him with a 'task'. But Kapono has to be careful if he wants this plan to work.
Launchpad does have a bit of a conscience as well and he could accidentally reveal Kapono's secret.
Thankfully, Kapono had a terrifying yet great idea of who Launchpad could kill... Mark Beaks…
Kapono needed to kidnap Mark if he wanted his plan to work.
From what he heard from Katherine, Fenton, Launchpad, and even his latest victim, Gyro, Mark is a horrible person.
Ranging from his history of being a manipulative fraud to his toxic relationship with his ex-girlfriend Katherine, Mark was nothing less than a scum of the earth who only cared about himself and his social status...
When Gyro 'disappeared', Mark suddenly felt 'sorry' for Katherine, who lost her boyfriend, and Glendy, who lost her adoptive father.
However, this was all fake sympathy.
Mark only felt bad for Katherine just to get back with her.
As for Launchpad, he hated Mark from the very first moment they met, because of the way Mark always treated his friends.
Not to mention, the whole B.U.D.D.Y. incident a while back.
Mark hated Gyro not just because he exposed him as a fraud, but also because of how Gyro fell in love with Katherine, despite the fact that she broke up with him and posted their break-up online.
This was perfect for Kapono to have a reason to kill Mark. Now he only needs to convince Launchpad to help him. That shouldn't be difficult since he practically trusts him and all that Kapono needs to do is simply lie to him…
Kapono glanced over at Launchpad, who was told to meet him by the pier at noon, in order to talk about some 'private matters'.
It took him a while to get here but thankfully his car isn't too damaged once he arrived. "Oh, hey there, Mr. A!", greeted Launchpad to Kapono, waving.
Kapono smiled slightly, "Hello, Launchpad," he replied back softly.
Launchpad noticed Kapono's smile and immediately felt uneasy. Why are his eyes looking at me like that? He thought. Then, he asked, "So, uhh, why did you want to meet me here?"
"Um, I wanted to talk to you about... the disappearance of Dr. Gyro Gearloose..." said Kapono carefully.
Launchpad was confused, and a little sad at that fact. "Yeah, what about him?"
"Well, most people said that on Valentine’s Day, Gyro just packed up and left Duckburg, leaving his girlfriend, with his poor adoptive autistic daughter," explained Kapono in a sympathetic tone, hoping to get Launchpad's empathy.
"Oh, I remember that...", said Launchpad in a sad tone, “Katherine was pretty upset when the police couldn't find any evidence of Dr. Gearloose’s disapperance. Gigi cried a lot that day... I felt bad that the poor kid is back to being an orphan. Must've been the worst feeling you could ever have..." Launchpad remembered how Glendy reacted to hearing about Gyro's disappearance. Even though her face is all smiles, her heart must've been filled with grief.
Kapono nodded, "Heard she cried herself to sleep for days and nights... It's a shame that she'll never know the real truth of Gyro's disappearance..."
“What do you mean?...”
“What if I told you that Gyro didn't disappear but instead… Was… Murdered…"
Launchpad was horrified by what Kapono was telling him. He started shaking, unable to comprehend the information that just came out of the hyena's mouth. No... he can't believe that Dr. Gearloose was really murdered, he thought, but what if he wasn't...? He thought Kapono was just joking or just trying to scare him but he seems sincere about it.
"Oh, don't worry, Launchpad, just because Gyro’s dead doesn't mean his murderer isn't still roaming around undetected...", Kapono reassured him. His voice sounded almost reassuring.
"Y-you know who killed Dr. Gearloose?", asked Launchpad, nervously.
"Yes, I do... And he goes by the name of Mark Beaks...", lied Kapono, making sure that he sounded as convincing as possible.
"Mark... Killed him...?!", gasped Launchpad in horror.
"It was his way of getting back together with Katherine Lupin after their breakup. He just came by at the money bin and then killed Gyro and hid his body somewhere...", explained Kapono, "I heard he covered his murder up as a disappearance.”
Launchpad clenched his fists tightly. He knew Mark was an awful person, but he didn't expect him to straight-up murder someone! And it wasn't even revenge. He just wanted Katherine to take him back!
"Say, Launchpad... I have an idea…", whispered Kapono.
Launchpad looked at Kapono questionably.
"We'll confront Mark for his actions towards Gyro and then we'll call the police on him... If you're willing to bring justice for Katherine before he does anything rash."
At first, Launchpad wanted to refuse his offer, but then he believed that Mark would try to murder another friend of his if he isn't brought to justice.
"Well, alright… But only to help Dr. L get some closure," said Launchpad, not knowing a sinister grin appearing on Kapono's face.
Observing Launchpad, Kapono couldn't help but notice his relationship with Scrooge. Although he wouldn't say it in front of Launchpad, he felt envy towards Scrooge's relationship with Launchpad.
The pilot sees him as somewhat of a father figure, especially since Launchpad is also his chauffeur. Yet Kapono wondered if Launchpad had ever seen Scrooge as more than just a father figure.
If anything, at one point, Launchpad would've considered starting a relationship with him. It disgusted Kapono how even someone who is that oblivious to trust him would eventually be his enemy.
But that's not important right now.
For now, Kapono needs to kidnap Mark and bring him to a place where it would be perfect for the death of the founder and CEO of Waddle.
Mark was in a conversation with Rose Lurid, the CEO of the Kuroba brand who was beautiful on the outside but inside was completely ugly.
Kapono wanted to kill her, but he knew she was not worth it... For now. Then he noticed Mark's phone on the table, assuming that the fashion CEO made him drop it earlier.
Perfect…!
As he watched the two talk and argue, Kapono quickly snatched Mark's phone off the table and waited for Rose to leave, only to hear a loud slap from the CEO of the Kuroba brand before storming off.
Mark felt a sting on his left cheek, glancing down to see a red mark forming there.
"Hmmph, women...", muttered Mark, not caring about the slap the Kuroba CEO gave him and yet unaware of his impending fate. Kapono used Mark's phone and swung it at him, knocking him unconscious.
Kapono followed Launchpad to a nearby abandoned warehouse, which happened to be the same building where they were going to confront Mark for the murder Kapono committed and pinned the blame on.
Once they entered the warehouse, the lights turned on to reveal Mark strapped into a chair, bound and gagged. Looking at Mark tied up made Kapono smile maliciously. He has the weapons ready to end Mark's life and he won't have any blood spill in his hand. Launchpad, on the other hand, was horrified to see Mark tied up like that.
Sure Mark was a murderer but the pilot couldn't help but feel bad for him.
"Uh, Mr. A," Launchpad turns to Kapono nervously, "Are you sure about this? You know maybe we should just call the police…"
"Oh, just shut up and listen!", Kapono's calm and gentle voice turned to annoyance and sinister, "You're gonna be helping me get rid of that murder and that's the end of that!"
Launchpad's face twisted in horror upon hearing Kapono's words, "W-what? But... You told me we were just confronting him-”
"So... It was Scrooge McDuck's stupid driver who broke my damn phone and brought me here... Isn't it, Launchpad?!", Mark woke up and glared angrily at his supposed captor.
Launchpad felt himself start trembling as Mark began laughing hysterically at the sight of his captor, "Out of everyone I ticked off, it had to be you, huh, LP?"
Launchpad stared wide-eyed as Mark chuckled to himself, unable to respond. "I don't even want to know how a moron managed to kidnap me but couldn't even land a plane without crashing."
"Wha... Y-you. You do realize I sometimes don't crash a plane. I actually-”
"And yet, Launchpad, you still managed to crash anything you lay your finger on... I'm still surprised at how Scrooge still has you as a pilot and his chauffeur. Maybe he just knows how incompetent you are", mocked Mark.
Launchpad felt tears well up in his eyes, stuttering, "Well... Uhh... Uh... AT LEAST I'M NOT A MURDERER!"
Mark was confused at what Launchpad told him, "What?"
"Oh, you don't remember... Mr. Ashira told me that you murdered Gyro on Valentine's Day...", explained Launchpad, trying to keep a straight face, "Not only you made everyone believe that Gyro somehow disappeared, but you broke not just Katherine's heart, but broke Gyro's adoptive daughter's as well..."
Upon hearing Launchpad speak the last sentence, Mark scoffed at the pilot's accusation, "Ha! Do you really think I killed Gyro? Of all people? Even if I did kill him, poor Katherine would start crawling back to me once she realizes he's gone!"
Launchpad frowned, "Katherine loves Gyro too much and she'd never go back to someone who doesn’t treat women with respect! Besides, you don't care about Katherine or even Gigi...!"
Mark laughed at the pilot's words, "Oh really? It's not like the only reason I fell for Katherine was that she has a great figure and help boost my online rep!"
Launchpad was horrified at that revelation. This guy was clearly an egotist but he didn't expect to find out that he only dated Katherine not just to make him look good but also so he could satisfy his desires.
If Katherine heard about this, she would've beaten the life out of him.
Launchpad started to feel anger rising inside him, as Kapono smirked at what was about to happen.
"N-now I see why Katherine dumped you in the first place. You were probably too narcissistic to even see that you pushed your own girlfriend away!", stated Launchpad.
Mark let out a laugh again, "Yeah, right, she was probably mad because I met other girls while we were dating! I bet Gyro 'disappeared' because he didn't want to deal with Katherine's anger issues and feminist bullcrap or his adopted daughter! I bet he just gave up hope for Gigi and couldn’t take her autism anymore!”
Kapono continued to hear Mark scorn Gyro, Katherine, Launchpad, and even Glendy, as he sees Launchpad's face getting angrier by the second.
This was perfect! Seeing a good-hearted person, losing their cool on his latest victim.
Mark wasn't even scared as he continued, “Since you're all so nice and stupid, how about you let me go..."
"Shut up..."
"Tell Katherine to get over Gyro's disappearance..."
"Shut up..."
"Tell that little brat that her father never wanted her..."
"Shut up..!"
"And that there is nothing else she could do!"
"SHUT UP!"
The last sentence that Mark ever said was the worst mistake he ever did, as it resulted in him losing his life.
And the last thing he ever did... Was slandering four people and admitting his sins...
Launchpad finally calmed down from his blind rage after listening to Mark's confessions.
The pilot suddenly noticed a weapon in his hand. It was a silver baseball bat, but Launchpad didn't recall picking up any weapons.
He also noticed that it was... Covered in blood. Launchpad immediately began panicking as he recalled the events in which Mark confessed his sin, before looking up to see Mark's lifeless body.
That's when he realized he murdered Mark Beaks.
"No... No no no...", cried Launchpad as he covered his mouth with both hands, "I never wanted to actually kill you!!”
Launchpad sat down in front of Mark's corpse and sobbed quietly, crying over the fact that he has committed murder.
Sure Mark was a scumbag but he didn't deserve this... Even he didn't deserve to be murdered by him.
"What are we going to do now, Mr. A...? We… We’re both going to end up in jail!!"
There was silence.
"Mr. Ashira?...", Launchpad turned around, seeing that no one is there. It was as if Kapono just got up and left.
Suddenly he heard police sirens, approaching the warehouse. As it turns out, Kapono called the police on him while he was busy bashing Mark to death.
All of this time, Kapono didn't want to just confront Mark with him…
He needed someone to take the fall for him.
And Launchpad was just that someone.