DW/BtVS: The Building Blocks of Good and Evil (16/20)
Title: The Building Blocks of Good and Evil
By: PatriciaTepes (AKA Patricia de Lioncourt @ fanfiction.net; PatriciaLouise @ TTH)
Chapter Title: Death at a Factory
Links to Other Chapters: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN TWENTY
Fandom: Darkwing Duck/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer:I do not own Darkwing Duck or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of their related characters. Darkwing Duck belongs to Disney, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. Also, I don't own the images used in the art. All is done for fun, not profit.
Author's Note: Okay, so this title sort of gives a little something away… but maybe not too much. I think it'll be all right. I just sort of got to this chapter, was trying to think of an appropriate title, and my brain died. So please forgive my overtaxed brain.
Chapter Sixteen- Death at a Factory
Darkwing and Gosalyn acted fast, each taking one of Dawn's arms and pulling her beside a rather oversized machine as gunshots rang out. Mindy had leapt out of the line of fire, stepping forward to engage NegaBuffy in a fight. Darkwing gave Gosalyn a meaningful look, and she nodded as the Mighty Masked Mallard stepped out from behind the machine, crying, "Suck gas, evildoers!"
"Take the freak and the little kid alive! Annihilate the rest!" Negaduck screamed as the pellet that Darkwing fired landed right in the center of the NegaGang and began to expel a rather potent amount of tear gas.
The NegaGang immediately dropped their weapons, coughing and hacking, tears streaming from their eyes as Negaduck growled and made a running jump toward Darkwing. He grabbed his purple-clad double by the shoulders and hurled him, as hard as he could, into the midst of the NegaGang. Darkwing lost no time in disentangling himself from the group, kicking and punching out, knocking them down in all directions as he jumped back in Negaduck's way.
"You aren't getting those kids, Negaduck," he said.
"Watch me," his terrible twin menaced.
Meanwhile, Mindy was ducking, weaving, punching, and kicking as she gave it all she had to keep NegaBuffy separated from her group. The vampire snarled and growled, taking some hits and blocking others as the young slayer seemed successful in backing her away from the rest of the fight. Finally, NegaBuffy caught one hand of the slayer's, pulling her in close.
"Your blood will taste so delicious when this is through!" she snarled.
Mindy pulled her lower body up, landing a hard kick right square in NegaBuffy's chest, breaking her grip and knocking her back.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" she said.
#
Gosalyn peeked around the machine, watching the separate battles and groaning as she saw that the NegaGang was beginning to recover from her father's gas pellet. She pulled herself back around the corner and slid down to kneel beside Dawn, whose eyes were closed. Her breathing was deep and ragged, and she was still squeezing her arm across her stomach as if in a great deal of pain.
"Dawn… Dawn, we might have to move real soon," Gosalyn said.
"It… hurts," Dawn moaned.
Gosalyn patted her arm, nodding her head resolutely. "Don't worry, Dawn. I'll make sure that no one gets you. Or me."
#
It was about time that those idiots were finally recovering, Negaduck thought as he dodged another kick from Darkwing. He returned the favor to his doppelganger by reaching out with his hand in a chopping motion. Darkwing ducked it, the blow going right between the top of his head and his hat, which hung, briefly, in the air before landing back on top of his head. The NegaGang looked fully recovered now, as the four of them began to stalk toward Darkwing, weapons being pulled. Negaduck grinned and jumped out of the way as NegaLaunchpad took aim and fired his bazooka at Darkwing. Darkwing just managed to leap out of the line of fire, just to have little Honker come at him with his favorite chain. Negaduck grinned, casting an eye to the front of the factory where NegaBuffy was busy trying to fend off that other slayer from Darkwing's world.
Well, if you want something done right, do it yourself.
The Mallard Menace backed away as the NegaGang each took turns taking shots at Darkwing. Negaduck turned, casting his eyes about the factory. Those little brats had to be here somewhere. Finally, he caught a flash of red hair as Gosalyn peeked out from behind one of the machines. Giving one more cautionary glance toward his do-gooding doppelganger-seeing that he was indeed a bit too busy with the NegaGang to keep track of him-he made his way over to the machine that hid the children.
He approached the machine slowly, careful to stay out of sight. It was turning out to be a rotten day, and not the kind of rotten that he enjoyed. He did not want to add chasing a kid around a factory to the list of reasons why this night was sucking. He inched up on one side of the machine, listening as he heard the girl trying to coax the freak from the other dimension into waking up. He grinned.
He leapt around the machine as Gosalyn gasped. The girl, to her credit, tried to throw a punch at him, but he easily dodged it, grabbing her arm tightly.
"Gotcha," he said, lifting her off the floor and holding her far enough away so that she could not reach to kick at him.
The kid opened her beak, about to spit some rebellious nonsense at him… when a scream broke her thoughts.
#
All fighting seemed to cease within the factory as the scream echoed around the walls and seemed to be silenced before its time. Darkwing's eyes immediately flew to his daughter, and he gasped, horrified to see her caught in Negaduck's grip. He moved to save her, but stopped as he saw that both Negaduck's eyes and hers were locked on something else. He turned and cried out.
"Mindy!"
Darkwing pushed his way past the NegaGang, who stood there, gawking at the scene. NegaBuffy stood there, triumphantly smiling, her right hand stained in bloody crimson. Mindy's white throat was stained the same color, an ugly cut stretching out across it.
"No!" Darkwing yelled as Mindy's body crumpled under her, hitting the factory floor with a thud.
The next sound Darkwing became aware of was laughter. They were laughing. Not the NegaGang. Not Gosalyn. Not Dawn. And definitely not Mindy. Darkwing rushed to the dead slayer's side, regardless of NegaBuffy. He looked up at the monster, watching her laugh and he registered that the laugh that joined hers was Negaduck's.
He only stared for a moment, horror frozen on his face. The same sentence circling round and round in his mind.
She's just a kid. She's just a kid. She's just a kid.
Mindy's eyes were open, wide, and staring at nothing. The light of life was gone from them. Time seemed to stop. No one was moving. There was only laughter, Negaduck's and NegaBuffy's filling the room. It was wrong. A horrible twisted vision to have of the world.
Suddenly, Gosalyn gasped, deep and hard, like the wind had been knocked from her. Darkwing turned to see Gosalyn curl into a ball in midair, Negaduck still holding her aloft. His diabolical double's eyes turned toward her, as if wondering what it was that she was doing. As quickly and swiftly as the gasping had started, it stopped. Dawn, finally recovered, pulled herself to her feet and stepped out, grasping Gosalyn's other arm, pulling weakly at her.
"Let her go!" Dawn said.
But Gosalyn only grinned. Negaduck's brow lifted as Gosalyn pulled her arm free from Dawn's grasp and landing a sucker punch right in his stomach, doubling him over. He lost his grip, and Gosalyn landed, catlike, on her feet. She turned and steadied Dawn, who was still clearly feeling the effects of whatever it was that had happened to her. And Darkwing shook himself back into the world. He scooped Mindy's body up into his arms, turning and running with all his might.
"The door, girls! Go for it!" he yelled, breaking the barrier of the NegaGang.
Darkwing dared a glance backwards, trying to see if anyone was following. But Negaduck was still collapsed on the floor, and the NegaGang was off their feet from Darkwing's latest barreling through them. NegaBuffy was the only one capable of putting up a chase, but she had not moved. Instead, she looked shocked, rooted and frozen to the spot. Just before Darkwing turned away, she mouthed a single world, her eyes locked on Gosalyn.
"Slayer."
"Go girls!" Darkwing shouted, holding Mindy's limp and lifeless body close as Gosalyn threw open the door to the janitor's closet, jumping through without a second thought.
Dawn followed closely behind, and Darkwing leapt through right after her. When the three, Darkwing still gripping Mindy's form, landed in the run down metal factory of their own St. Canard, he gasped.
"Ratcatcher. Outside. Go," he said.
They lost no time in exiting the building and piling into the motorcycle parked just beyond.
"I can't leave her," Darkwing said as he turned to Dawn, who had taken the seat behind him as Gosalyn piled into the side car.
Dawn held Mindy's body tight against her own, nodding. "I understand."
Darkwing started and revved the motor, speeding off just as Negaduck, NegaBuffy, and the NegaGang piled out of the factory door.
"No!" Negaduck screamed as the Ratcatcher disappeared into the night.
End Notes: So, the death… was it sad? And I know that Darkwing making this long freaking run from the Negaverse to his world with a body in his arms may have seemed kind of awkward, but hopefully it made sense on a sentimental level.