Ducky of Chaos (Part 2)

Ducky of Chaos is the first special of the Bean Cafe Cinema Special series. The episode is the Halloween special for Battle Heroes X. The cinema special has two plots: one plot revolves around Zack and Cloud being trapped in a factory with a psycho killer and another has Julius and Popple accidentally unleashing an ancient artifact of pure evil and having to stop it from destroying Fowler City. The episode was originally one part but was later cut into two due to its length.

Zack and Cloud traverse the cereal factory while being stalked by Leroy Abana. Meanwhile, Julius and Popple engage the Ducky of Chaos in combat to stop it from ravaging the city.

## The Episode

Julius and Popple teleported to inner Fowler City, where kids were trick-or-treating while their parents chaperoned. There were some dressed as animals, some dressed as robots, and some dressed as superheroes.

"For pete's sake! Now how will we find it with all of these kids running around?! It could be anywhere! Anything! Anyone!” Julius said.

“Relax, Julius. With a flick of my wand and a cast of a spell...” Popple mumbled an incantation and everyone except for Julius began to emit a black glow. No one seemed to notice that they were glowing, however.

"Wait, what? What did your hocus pocus do now?" Julius asked, confused.

"Well, the spell reveals everything magic-related in an area. If you're not magical, you glow black. If you're magical, you glow yellow," Popple explained, pointing at her body, which was glowing a bright yellow.

"Oh! Once again, Popple, you prove that magic *is* useful," Julius said, beginning to search into the crowd. Popple rolled her eyes before following.

After a few minutes of walking, the two noticed another yellow glow in the crowd.

"Julius, do you see that?" Popple asked, pointing ahead.

"Yeah, looks like we were *lucky* with finding the rubber *ducky*," Julius said, chuckling at his joke.

Popple decided to be silent, refusing to dignify his joke with a response.

"Huh? Huh?" Julius said.

Popple remained silent.

"Aw, fine. Let's just go after the duck," Julius said, turning his walk into a run.

As he neared the glow, it began to glow brighter and brighter. Finally, he arrived at the source. It was the duck, and it was floating about slowly in the crowd.

"Jackpot! So Popple, how do we catch it?" Julius said, starting to follow the duck from a close distance behind.

"Hm...I've got just the right spell for this!" Popple said, pointing her wand at the duck. "Bippity-Boom, Bippity-Bap, I'll ensnare the duck in a trap!" A thin yellow beam of energy blasted out of Popple's wand and hit the duck. Yellow vines wrapped around its body and disappeared. The duck fell to the ground, now harmless.

"Yes! Now let's grab the duck, put it back in the case, and get back home so we can finish this night," Julius said before walking towards the duck. Unfortunately, a hand snatched the rubber duck from the crowd before he could grab it.

"What th--hey!" He said.

The hand belonged to a young child in a robot costume. "Oh boy, a rubber duck! This will make a fine addition to my collection!"

"Hold on there, squirt, that duck doesn't belong to you! It actually belongs to yous truly," Julius said, getting in front of the kid.

"Like heck this duck is yours! I may be 8 years old, but I'm not stupid! Find your own rubber duck!" The child stuck his tongue out and began to walk away from Julius with the duck.

"Alright, hold it!" Julius got in the kid's path and grabbed the duck. The two then began a tug-of-war for the duck. People were beginning to notice this and swarmed around the two. Little did anyone know that the yellow vines from before were reappearing around the duck and breaking. Only Popple saw from beyond the crowd.

"Uh...Juliu-"

"NOT..." He grunted. "NOW POPPLE! Trying to get the duck back from this...BRAT!"

Most of the vines around the duck were broken by now.

"Julius, the Ducky of Chaos thrives on chaos and conflic--."

"GIVE ME THE DUCK KID!"

"You're arguing is giving it power! Let go of it and we can figure out how to get it back without-"

"POPPLE I SAID NOT NOW!" Julius yelled again at Popple. Julius finally got the duck and held it above the child's head, taunting him with it.

"JULIUS THE BINDING SPELL IS WEARING OFF!!" Right as she said this, the last of the yellow vines around the rubber duck broke and it blasted out a shockwave of black energy that send everyone around it off their feet. Julius and the kid were knocked down and the duck was free from their grasps.

"***FREEEE!! I AM FREEE....again. I TIRE OF THESE GAMES. NOW COMES YOUR DOOM.***

Clouds began forming in the sky as black lightning shot from them, hitting the ground around the crowd. This caused a panic and people in all manners of costumes started to flee, run, or hide.

"ITS THE APOCALYPSE!! CLOCKO HELP US ALL!!" One man in a priest costume shouted before running away.

"Time to abandon ship!!" The kid who was fighting with Julius screamed. He then ran off too.

Julius laughed as he fled. "HAH! You better run, punk ass kid! Children these days, amirite Pop--"

"JULIUS?" Popple pointed at the duck and the lightning.

"Oh. Yeahh," Julius and Popple ran at it while Popple fired blasts of magic.

The duck created a force field around itself, blocking every shot.

"***FOOLS. YOUR OBSTINANCE OF YOUR DOOM IS COMMENDABLE. FOOLISH, BUT COMMENDABLE. NOW I WILL SHOW YOU WHY I AM CALLED..THE DUCKY OF CHAOS!!!"*** A lightning bolt from a cloud struck the duck and it began to grow and expand in size.

"Ah crap," Julius groaned as he watched.

When the transformation was finished, the duck was no longer just a little rubber duck. It was a 50 foot tall rubber duck with black beady eyes, scaly webbed feet, two clawed and muscular arms, and a beak full of sharp teeth.

"***HAW-HAW-HAW!!!! NOW WATCH AS I DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU LOVE!!!"*** The Ducky of Chaos ambled away from Julius and Popple.

"This just got a whole lot more complicated..." Popple groaned.

"...Yup. I still think this is nothing compared to fighting Bane on a daily basis, though," Julius quipped, chuckling.

"DAMMIT JULIUS, IS EVERYTHING A JOKE TO YOU?! THAT THING'S ON A RAMPAGE AND PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE IF WE DON'T STOP IT!!" Popple yelled before flying after it.

Julius shook his head. "Julius, you did it again..." He began to run after Popple and the Ducky of Chaos.

Back in the factory, the mail chute Zack and Cloud escaped in opened up and deposited them on the ground. The two got up and looked around. They were in an office with a large window that overlooking the assembly like where Cock-O'-Pops were made. Cloud looked down at the assembly line.

"Hey, Zack, you think the cereal stash is down there?" Cloud asked.

Zack began searching the room for anything that could be useful. "Cloud, we're trapped in an abandoned factory with a serial killer while simultaneously being hunted by the police. Trust me, the last thing we should be worried about is cereal."

Cloud turned around and began to help look by opening up a drawer in an office desk. "Bingo!" He said as he pulled out a map of the facility. Zack looked over his shoulder. "Looks like there's an exit past the assembly line. We can escape there."

Zack shook his head. "Doubt it. The police have probably begun locking down this place. We'll need to find another way."

Cloud examined the map for a second time, then exclaimed and pointed to another spot. "Aha! Right below the assembly line level, there's the parking lot for delivery trucks! It's on the other side of where we entered the factory and the path the trucks take to leave goes right next to the ocean!"

"Genius, Cloud! We can escape by swimming away from here!"

Suddenly, the two heard footsteps. They got louder and louder as the source of them drew closer.

"It's him!" Zack looked around frantically.

"No time to hide!" Cloud shoulder rammed the window and it shattered, creating an exit path below.

"Are you kidding me, Cloud? We won't survive the drop!"

"Not exactly..." Cloud said, pointing down. Zack looked down and saw a huge pile of Cock-O'-Pops in a vat below.

He sighed. "The things I do to survive."

The duo leaped out just as the door opened and Leroy entered. He watched as Zack and Cloud dropped down into the vat of cereal. Zack popped his head out.

"GAH, my mouth was open!" He yelled.

"Isn't that the point of eating?" Cloud asked, opening his mouth and popping some pieces of Cock-O'-Pop into his mouth.

"Ah yes, looks like my prey have escaped again, but this is your last exit," Leroy aimed his gun and fired at a control panel above the vat of cereal. All the machinery in the assembly line hummed to life as Zack and Cloud were emptied out of the vat along with the cereal onto a conveyor belt. Ahead of them, mounds of cereal were being sprayed with food coloring and deposited into a large funnel.

Leroy grinned. "Like fish in a barrel." He fired bullets at them from above, but missed his shots. Cloud looked ahead.

"We can't get sprayed by that food dye, it'll give the police a trail to follow!" He yelled.

Zack started analyzing the moments when the conveyor belt stopped to spray, then continued to move. The pile the two were in advanced closer and closer.

"When I give the signal, run through, alright?" Zack said.

Cloud nodded. As soon as the pile in front of them was sprayed, Zack pointed forward. The two sprung into action and leapt through, careful to avoid making contact with the already dyed cereal. Outside of small stains on their pants, they came out unscathed. Unfortunately, Leroy began firing again, bullets whizzing past their ears.

"The shots are getting closer, boys!" Leroy yelled gleefully. Past the coloring process, the funnel was receiving the cereal, which fell through a hole at the bottom. Cloud ducked for cover behind some cereal and opened up the map again.

"Hey Zack, about that exit I found?" Cloud began nervously.

"What about it?" Zack asked over the noise of the conveyor belt and the bullets.

"The only way that leads to it...is through the funnel!"

"So we gotta go down another hole?"

A bullet went through the pile next to Cloud. "Yup!"

Leroy was about to line up a shot that would take out Zack when the funnel drop came. The bullet went above his head as he and Cloud fell through the funnel with the cereal, screaming as they fell through. Once again, they had escaped Leroy's grasp and the killer was not happy.

"This is the last time you'll escape me, prey..." Leroy said, teeth gritted together.

...

Back in the city, the Ducky of Chaos was on a rampage, stomping through the streets and sending drivers and pedestrians alike running away for cover.

"Yes! Flee, scream in terror! The chaos invigorates me!"

On a rooftop some distance away from the ancient monster, Popple and Julius were formulating an attack plan.

"Our first priority are those innocent civilians. We need to get them out of harm's way," Popple began.

"Gotcha, you save those people and I'll kick the crap outta the duck," Julius responded.

"I'll handle the Ducky of Chaos. My magic is better suited for it."

Julius mock-pouted. "Fine, you have your fun."

After some silence, Popple looked at Julius. "I heard you talking with Zack and Cloud earlier. You really didn't want to come out trick-or-treating, did you?"

Julius looked away. "Popple…"

A hurt expression appeared on her face. "You coulda just said no..."

Julius waited a few seconds before talking again. "Listen, Popple-"

She interrupted him. "We can talk about this later. Go help the people." She leapt off the edge and started flying towards the duck.

A young boy dressed as a dog and his mother were exiting their car and running out of the duck's way, but the duck had its eyes set on them already. A webbed foot rose up to stomp on them. Just as it was about to drop and crush them, a purple beam of energy struck it in the side of the beak. The foot paused mid-air and the family escaped safely.

"***WHO DARES TO ATTACK ME?"*** The Ducky of Chaos demanded. Popple floated into view in front of it.

"Me," She answered before firing a barrage of shadow balls at its head. Smoke covered its head after Popple finished. Suddenly, red eyes penetrated the smoke. A clawed arm reached out and grabbed Popple, squeezing her and causing her to scream out.

***"FOOLISH WOMAN, NOW YOU WILL DIE BY MY HANDS,"*** It squeezed even harder, prompting her to scream more. Red light surrounded its claws and Popple. The Ducky of Chaos was draining her life force!

***"*YOU SHOULD HAVE SENT YOUR OAF OF A COMPANION. MAYBE *HE* WOULD HAVE STOOD A CHANCE.***"*

"Don't worry, the oaf is right here!" A voice yelled from below.

The Ducky of Chaos looked down and saw Julius, looking up at the duck without fear.

***"AHAHAHA! I'M GLAD YOU'RE HERE. IT MEANS I GET TO THANK YOU PROPERLY FOR FREEING ME!"*** The monster raised its foot once more and dropped it on Julius, who bent down and placed his palm flat on the ground below him. Large spikes made out of ice erupted out of the ground and dug into the approaching foot. The Ducky of Chaos roared in pain and raised its foot up. While doing so, it lessened its grip on Popple so she fell out of its clutches and to the ground below. Fortunately, Julius created a slide made out of ice to catch her and bring her gently to the ground. He ran to her side to make sure she was alright.

"You...y

"Of course, Popple! You shouldn't be doing this alone...this *and* the trick-or-treating. You're more than just a teammate who I fight evil with. You're my girlfriend and someone I care about a lot."

A smile appeared on her face. "Oh, Julius..." She hugged him and they shared an embrace before getting up.

Julius pointed at the Ducky of Chaos, who regained its composure. "Now let's stop this thing so we can enjoy our night!"

***"YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THAT STUNT, MORTAL."*** The Duck's eyes glowed red and out came its own beam of concentrated energy.

"I've got a plan to stop this thing, Popple, but we've got to get to the other side of town!"

"Got it!" She took his hand and together, they flew away from the duck and its attack.

"HEY DUCKY! PAY FOR THIS!" Julius yelled, flipping off the ancient monster of evil.

***"I FIND YOU INFURIATING! YOU WILL BE DESTROYED!"*** It started to give chase.

Back at the factory, the cereal that had dropped from the funnel was being evenly distributed into boxes on another assembly line. However, the process was halted when Zack and Cloud dropped onto the conveyor belt themselves, crushing boxes and falling on the ground. Cloud got up.

"WHEW! We gotta do that again!" Cloud exclaimed. Zack got up behind him.

"Eh, it was kinda fun. But we need to get outta here."

"Not without some cereal to take back home, man! Remember the purpose of coming here?"

Cloud looked around himself and saw that at the end of the assembly line the boxes were being dropped onto the ground, where they would have been picked up and placed onto trucks by employees. "We got some! Hallelujah!" He started gathering the boxes together. Opening one up, he started enjoying some Cock-O'-Pops.

"Quick, look around and find me some milk!"

"Alright, you have your cereal. Let's go!"

"Oh, I don't think you'll be going anywhere," The voice of Leroy announced.

Zack and Cloud turned to see the serial killer standing at the door to their left. "Hoo wee, boys! What a night! We had some close calls, laughs all around, but now is when the fun ends. For you at least.

Zack got into a fighting stance and Cloud followed suit. He swallowed the cereal in his mouth and grinned. "So you got this all planned out in your head, right? Explain how you're gonna beat us two to one?"

"Because I'm going to have the element..." Leroy aimed his gun at the ceiling and fired at the lights, sending the room into darkness.

"...Of surprise," Footsteps could be heard in the darkness.

"Back to back, Cloud!" Zack yelled. As Cloud was about to get his back to Zack's, Zack was body checked and fell on the ground. More footsteps could be heard. Cloud threw a punch in the dark and connected with nothing.

"Is he on you, Zack?!"

"Not anymore," Zack answered, getting up.

"He can't beat us, maybe he'll run--" Cloud was interrupted by a punch directed at the back of his head. He fell down on the ground. Leroy's sadistic laugher filled the room.

"Where is he? I'M FREAKING OUT, MAN!" Cloud yelled, fear in his voice.

"Alright, we gotta relax, Cloud. He wants us flustered and afraid. We have to focus entirely on our working senses."

"Plan, strategize, it doesn't matter, I'm in my element. You may be strong, but I work best in the darkness. When you least expect it..." Zack heard the cocking of a pistol behind him. He instinctively threw a punch behind himself and caught someone in the stomach.

"I think I got him, Cloud!" Zack said.

"Nope, oof, that was me," Cloud groaned.

"Ah, sorry," Zack quickly apologized.

"Wait! I got an idea!" Cloud groped the air around himself until he felt the cold metal of the conveyor belt. Groping around some more, he grabbed a cereal box and threw it on the ground. Cereal pieces could be heard spilling on the ground. He reached around for another and spilled the contents in the area around himself.

There was silence for a moment, until Cloud could hear the loud crunching of cereal underfoot. Cloud threw another punch and this time, it make contact with something soft. Someone let out a cry of pain and fell on the ground. Not letting up, Cloud felt around where he punched and made contact with a face. The face had facial hair, so Cloud knew it wasn't Zack.

"Got him!" Cloud declared happily. Raising his foot, he stomped on the ground and made contact again, this time with Leroy's stomach. Another cry of pain. Cloud got ready to stomp him again when he felt hands grab his leg and pull him down. Soon it was he who was on the ground. Leroy was on top of him and he felt the hands of the killer on his neck, squeezing the life out of him. Cloud tried to cry out but failed.

"Cloud? Where are you?! Cloud?!!" Zack yelled out, looking around frantically.

...

Above ground, Popple and Julius were being pursued by the Ducky of Chaos. Projectiles were flying everywhere. The monster fired laser beams and Julius fired ice beams with one hand while holding Popple's hand with the other.

"We're nearing the other side of the City! What's the next part of the plan!?" Popple yelled.

"Drop me!" Julius replied. Popple let go of Julius and he started descending downwards. As he fell, blue energy emitted from his hands and feet.

"Here goes nothing!" He yelled out as got closer to the ground. Thrusting his hands forward, he fired an ice beam below himself, forming an ice slide that placed him on the ground. Once there, ice began forming under his feet and he continued to slide on it. The ice spread and the result that the entire road he landed on was covered in ice. Trick-or-treaters and drivers fled as they saw the Ducky of Chaos. Julius looked carefully around and above. Popple and the Ducky were in front of him, and behind him were two buildings and the ocean.

The Ducky of Chaos roared and Popple continued to fly around and dodge the laser beams. Julius ran at the monster and now fired ice beams at the ground under it. The ice spread rapidly.

"Popple, pick me up and get behind it!" Julius yelled from below. She dropped down and the laser beams followed her.

**"*PERISH, TROUBLESOME HUMANS!"*** The Ducky of Chaos roared and took a step forward, causing it to begin slipping on the ice-covered ground below itself. Popple grabbed Julius's outstretched hand and picked him off the ground. The two flew behind the slipping Ducky of Chaos.

"Fire everything you got at the back of its legs!" Julius yelled. Together, the duo fired a laser beam of black energy and an ice beam at the back of the Ducky's legs. This caused it to lose its balance and it started tumbling and falling in the direction of the buildings. With a bellow, it fell on one building and one of its outstretched arms fell on the other.

Inside of the factory, Cloud was being strangled by Leroy. He managed to let out a muffled mix of a gasp and a cry. He slapped Leroy's arms, but with each slap, he felt life leaving his body. Feeling around the ground, Cloud felt Leroy's gun and with his last ounce of strength, he hit Leroy clean in the face with it. The killer released his grip on Cloud and fell over. Cloud gasped for breath and began breathing again.

"He's down, Zack! I have his gun! Follow the sound of crunching cereal!"

Zack followed the sound and touched who he thought was Cloud.

"Let me feel the gun so I know it's you!"

Zack felt a cold metal rubbing his leg, so he relaxed. To Zack and Cloud's surprise, they heard Leroy's maniacal laughter again. "Ha...haha...hahaha! I haven't had this much challenge with my prey in well...never!"

"And you'll never have another challenge with them again, 'cause you're going back to jail," Zack stated.

"On the contrary, I think I'll be leaving now. I hear the police coming and I wouldn't want to spoil things when they storm in and arrest my supposed accomplices."

"Hold him down!" Zack said.

Leroy was already getting up and moving out of Cloud's reach. "I think I'll be going now! Ta-ta! It's been fun!"

The ground under the three began to rumble.

"Oh, that must be the police as we speak!" Leroy said gleefully.

However, to everyone's surprise, the ceiling above them was smashed open as something large fell from above and landed right in front of them. Zack and Cloud could see the night sky above and it illuminated the room.

"What...THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Cloud yelled.

Zack and Cloud heard familiar talking and laughter as they got up.

"Alright, I think it's down for the count!" They heard Popple announce.

They heard Julius' voice next. "I hope so! Looks like it landed on...wait a minute. Isn't this the Cock-o'-Pop factory?"

"Yeah, why?"

The two became visible as they glided gently down to the factory floor and saw Zack and Cloud covered in dust and cereal pieces.

Julius greeted them. "Oh! Hey guys...did you, uh...did you find the cereal?"

Zack was about to say something when Cloud beat him to it. "It was crazy man! We came here to grab the cereal and go, but then we got caught up with this serial killer and we had to fight him!"

"What serial killer?" Popple asked.

Zack answered that. "He was right her--" He then noticed that the large thing that landed in front of them was the large yellow arm of the Ducky of Chaos! Under it, all four heroes saw Leroy's legs. They twitched for a moment before ceasing to move.

"Oh, looks like whatever you two were doing came and killed what we were doing," Zack said.

Suddenly, the entire Ducky of Chaos began shrinking, along with the arm that had landed on the factory. Soon, the ancient monster returned to its original form, a rubber duck. Cloud picked it up.

"Quick, Cloud! Throw it to me!" Popple exclaimed. Cloud threw it and Popple caught it in her hand, reciting the incantation from earlier. The rubber ducky was now encased in a glass cube.

"There's no way it's getting out this time," Popple said.

Cloud rubbed his hands together. "Awesome. Now can we get outta here? Our whole cereal adventure bit might have gotten us in trouble with the cops."

The four heard voices above them. "What the hell happened, man?!" Someone said.

"I don't know, I was heading to this area of the factory when I saw a giant yellow thing fall right on top of it!"

Popple nodded her head. "Gotcha. You two, come over here," Zack and Cloud got together with Julius and Popple and Popple began chanting a spell. A circle of blue light surrounded the four.

"Ooh, hold on!" Cloud said as he ran out of the blue circle and grabbed an armful of Cock-O'-Pop boxes. He then walked back into the circle. "Now we can go."

"So, Zack and Cloud? You two went after a serial killer in a cereal factory, huh?" Julius said teasingly.

"Laugh it up, Mr. Duck Wrangler," Zack said with a chuckle.

The four laughed as they warped out of the destroyed factory and went home.

THE END

## Trivia

* Although Ducky of Chaos is a Halloween Special, the special didn't air until four months after Halloween passed. This was due to problems within Japanimation Studios that brought episode production to a halt.
* The episode was originally one part but due to its length, it was later cut into two separate parts.