This afternoon's meeting had done little to show any progress to that end. The Fearsome Five were in a sad state when Quackerjack was the only one to come up with a halfway decent scheme. However, sneaking into people's homes and stealing presents was filled more flaws than Negaduck had feathers. Not the least of which was stalling on their current finances for a month until Christmas Eve. And then there was the idea to dress up like Santa Claus while perpetrating the crime.

Why did Quackerjack's plans always involve dressing up, anyway? At least this time around, he hadn't suggested Megavolt dress as Mrs. Claus. The high occurrence rate of gender-reversal in Quackerjack's schemes was also highly troubling. Negaduck always had to swallow his own rising bile whenever the topic was brought up.

How did I even find myself mixed up with these sick knobs?

Oh, yes. It was not just the one lunatic that churned his stomach's contents. No. Somehow, he had surrounded himself with four of the idiots. Usually competent Liquidator had spent part of the meeting complaining about the weather, ultimately requesting an extended leave of absence for the winter months. Megavolt and Bushroot had shown up late, stinking of garlic. And the girl was notably missing from the meeting, a fact that both Megavolt and Bushroot struggled to justify.

Tegwen is working undercover with some agents of F.O.W.L., they had insisted. She is going in infiltrate their organization and undermine it from within so that the Fearsome Five is the premier villainous mob in St. Canard, they had sworn. She had been seen in the company of Agent Steelbeak, no less. And she certainly had the brains and the ability to perform such a scheme. But the creampuff wasn't experienced enough to manage something like that. Yet.

So, Bushroot and Megavolt had been lying. But why? What else did they know about the girl that they didn't want him knowing? It had to be something big -- she had to have connections. Or money. Or both. Something so huge that both sniveling henchmen would risk their lives to hide it.

Some day, Negaduck realized, he might have to test that theory. Only one of them was coward enough to fold at the simplest threat. The other's brain operated as if it had a shorted circuit -- in fact, it probably did. So, it would have to be Bushroot. That is, if his treachery grew as deep as did the roots of his floral minions.

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