DW/BtVS: The Building Blocks of Good and Evil (19/20)

[patriciatepes]

Title: The Building Blocks of Good and Evil
By: PatriciaTepes (AKA Patricia de Lioncourt @ fanfiction.net; PatriciaLouise @ TTH)
Chapter Title: Problem Unsolved
Links to Other Chapters: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN 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.

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Chapter Nineteen- Problem Unsolved

They walked the streets of Darkwing's St. Canard, the NegaGang in tow, with grins on their faces. In their wake, they left pure and utter destruction. The NegaGang smashed and crashed everything they could get their dirty hands on, while Negaduck, drawing on an array of weapons pulled from his cape, spared not a thing. Living or not, he cut it down. Beside him, keeping in stride, like leading a gory parade, NegaBuffy drank from every throat she could grasp, using the then dead and dying to smash into the windshields of cars and the display windows of stores.

And the citizens of St. Canard, try as they might, could not run fast enough. And those that did run, NegaBuffy went after, bringing them back into the growing cocoon of chaos. And through it all, accompanying the flames and blood like a demonic orchestra, was the sound of the villains' laughter.

"Now this is the life," Negaduck cackled, slicing a light post in half so that it fell, electricity crackling, across the entire street. The villains were long past it before it fell.

"They brought it on themselves. All of them, all the little slayer-cockroaches that infest this world," NegaBuffy hissed, snapping the neck of the next citizen she grabbed without even bothering to drink.

She threw the body across the road, through a car, and into the brick store front of a pet store.

The NegaGang laughed as they sawed the already destroy car in half. Negaduck grinned.

"Darkwing should have just let us have the brat," he chuckled.

NegaBuffy threw back her head, letting loose a wild roar of maniacal laughter.

"Do you hear that, hero?" she screamed into the night sky—light with the flames they and the other released prisoners had set. "Do you hear? You should have let us kill her! Now, if I can't destroy them with one, little neat spell, I'll bring them to me, one by one, to drown in their own blood! And I'm starting with your precious, little Gosalyn!"

Negaduck revved his chainsaw in the air, smiling up at NegaBuffy.

"Have I told you lately that I'm glad I brought you here?"

#

Launchpad had been awake for a total of thirty minutes. And in those thirty minutes, he was pretty sure that he had had his heart stopped and ripped out. Mindy, dead, and little Gos, a slayer like Buffy. Not to mention the appearance of Dawn. He was simply unable to put his shock and horror into words. So, feeling more out of it than he had in his entire life, he simply stood by while the three females left in the manor set up for their spell.

Morgana set the thirteenth candle down, and lit it. Inside the rather wide circle of white pillar candles was every bit of spell ingredient that she would need to restore NegaBuffy's soul. With a shared grimace between the occupants of the room, she stepped over the flickering flames and took a seat in the center of them. Launchpad dared move a little closer to the circle as both Gosalyn and Dawn checked their watches.

"Um, I know I've been out of it for most of this, but… how sure are we of this plan, guys?" he asked.

Morgana, Dawn, and Gosalyn exchanged another look before, finally, Dawn shrugged.

"Well, this helped stop Angel and Spike from doing evil things in our world. Now they fight for us. So…" she said, letting the thought trail off.

Gosalyn's eyes flew back to her watch.

"Dad said to give them thirty minutes before we start the spell."

"And why was that again?" Launchpad asked.

"They need to make sure that Negaduck and his gang don't figure out what we're trying to do, and, you know, try to stop us," Dawn explained.

"So, DW and Buffy are distractions?"

"Right," Morgana said, pulling the paper with the spell written upon it to her.

"And, we're sure that they'll be, you know, okay?"

And other shared look. Morgana sighed.

"Gosalyn, how much longer?" she asked.

"Five more minutes."

"Let's hope this works," Dawn said. "Willow, don't fail us now."

#

Buffy tightened her grip on the seat of the Ratcatcher as Darkwing zoomed around another corner. The sidecar had been left behind at Morgana's, as Darkwing had sheepishly admitted that the motorcycle did gain speed without it. They road with nothing but the roar of the wind in their ears, marveling in quiet disgust as the horror around them. Darkwing's grip on the cycle was like stone, with his eyes set dead ahead. Each dead citizen, each destroyed home and business, doing nothing but spurring him onward.

As for Buffy, it made her sick. This was her fault. All of it. If that demon had not sent her here… if she had never come to St. Canard…

But was that not exactly what she had told her sister, minutes earlier, to stop doing? Blaming herself? Evil happens, ready or not. And she was going to do what she was trained, born, to do.

End it.

"There," Darkwing finally shouted as their adversaries came into view.

The NegaGang, making up the frontline of the villainous army, turned, grinning as the hero and slayer approached. Darkwing slammed on the breaks, with Buffy and himself jumping off soon after. His gas gun was pulled as Buffy tensed.

Negaduck and NegaBuffy made their way to the center of the group, grinning wildly.

"Our guests of honor have arrived," Negaduck said, adding, as an afterthought, "I don't see the super-brat though."

"You won't get her," Darkwing said, taking aim for his diabolical double.

"Oooh, now you've got the right idea, DW," NegaBuffy laughed.

And the fight began. Quite unwisely, a couple of the NegaGang tried to rush at Buffy, but she dispatched them quickly, dazing them for a little bit. When they finally shook themselves lucid, they changed aim and followed their fellows' and Negaduck's example, rushing at Darkwing.

And with her focus fully set on her do-gooding, slayer counterpart, NegaBuffy ran at her, fangs bared. Buffy dodged the first blow the vampire threw at her, countering the second, but she got in no hits. She dared to spare a glance in Darkwing's direction, making sure that the Masked Mallard was okay. She grinned a little to see that he was holding his own just fine, knocking back anyone of the NegaGang that rushed him, sparing the moments he could to exchange blows with his double.

"You should really focus on me, honey," NegaBuffy hissed, throwing a roundhouse in Buffy's direction.

Buffy ducked, sweeping her leg out to knock her down.

"Who says I'm not?"

There was no way of knowing how long the fight went on. It felt like eternity. It felt like a moment. No ground was gained on either side, despite the numbers. When the NegaGang became too winded to fight, Negaduck stepped in, and when his henchmen regained themselves, he stepped back, letting them fight his battle for him. And, just as it was in the power company, NegaBuffy showed no signs of slowing or tiring. Round and round the blows flew, until, finally, Darkwing and Buffy stood, literally, back to back, surrounded.

"I really wish they would get a move on," Darkwing huffed up at the slayer.

"Ditto," Buffy agreed.

Negaduck cackled. "Aww… are the widdle heroes getting tired?"

He sounded a little winded himself, but was definitely doing a better job of hiding it.

"Waiting for reinforcements, huh?" NegaLaunchpad guffawed.

"Won't do ya any good!" the little Negaverse version of Honker said, swinging his chain.

"You're outnumbered, heroes," Negaduck growled, clasping his hands behind his back. "Face facts. You've lost."

At that moment, at that very second, NegaBuffy cried out, clutching her stomach. As she lurched forward, her knees buckling and collapsing to the cracked pavement below her, Buffy grinned.

"Not so much, I think," she said.

The villains' attention had turned to their comrade, along with Darkwing's and Buffy's. The heroes took this element of surprise and put it too good use getting out of the circle of their enemies. NegaBuffy rested a hand on the ground, holding herself up with it, her head bowed forward. When they were facing the baddies once more, Darkwing glanced up at Buffy.

"Is this it? Is this the spell working?" he asked.

"Yeah, this is exactly what happened when it hit Angel," she grinned.

"NegaBuffy, what the heck is going on?" Negaduck asked, deciding keep his distance. Lifting his eyes, he hissed at the do-gooders, "What did you do?"

Before either Buffy or Darkwing could give a witty reply, NegaBuffy lifted her head.

"They restored my soul," she said, her voice soft.

No one spoke as the vampire rose back to her feet, turning to face her slayer counterpart. And when she did, Buffy's smile vanished. NegaBuffy grinned, snake-like, at her.

"My, my, slayer. I really should thank you," she laughed.

"What's going on?" Darkwing asked.

"I… I don't know," Buffy replied, breathless.

NegaBuffy stretched her arms up, as if waking up from a long sleep.

"It's been so long. So long since I've felt this part of me. Oooh, and my memories are just flooding back to me."

Still, no one spoke. NegaBuffy laughed.

"I'd forgotten how that had gone," she said, as if watching a television only she could see. "But it's quite vivid now."

"What are you talking about?" Negaduck growled.

NegaBuffy glanced over her shoulder at her partner-in-crime. With a laugh that was simply too girlish to match the sheer malice in her voice, she shrugged.

"I'm talking about my human memories… they'd faded a bit, like an old photograph. But they're back now, just as live and colorful as if they had just happened. I remember it all… I remember learning all I could from my watcher about how to be a slayer… and relishing the warmth of his blood as it spilled from his throat, staining my brand new blouse. Oh, that's right. You see," she said, pausing as Buffy's and Darkwing's eyes grew wide, "I never could quite remember why I stabbed him the extra ten times."

"I don't understand," Buffy breathed. "I don't understand what's happening."

"Dumb little blonde," NegaBuffy said, stepping back to stand beside a wickedly grinning Negaduck, "were you under the delusion that a soul would help me? Oh, honey… a soul does not a good person make. But I should thank you both, actually. It's been so long since I've thought this clearly… since I've seen so many goals within my reach."

A voice echoed inside Buffy's head. Goals. Trials. Her eyes widened.

"He tried to warn me," she whispered, laying a hand on Darkwing's shoulder.

"Who?" Darkwing asked, glancing up at her. "What are you talking about?"

"The demon… the one I fought. He was trying to tell me… to tell me not to do it, not to give back her soul."

NegaBuffy laughed, putting her back to the stunned heroes. She placed a thoughtful finger to her chin. Her eyes fell over Negaduck and his gang like she was a department store clerk taking inventory.

"Time for some spring cleaning. Now that I've finally got my head on straight, we're going to have some changes. I see what you meant earlier, Negaduck. You are quite useful. I see a lot of my human self in you. But your gang…"

She laughed, shaking her head. "I'm afraid they'll have to go."

The NegaGang froze, terror clear on their faces.

"But!" she said brightly. "Since you've been such helpful little worker bees, I'll do you a favor… and, trust me, guys, my mercy is very rare. I'll let you get a head start running for your lives while Negaduck and I finish off our counterparts."

No one moved. The villains seemed just rooted to the spot. She tiptoed over to them, twinkling her fingers at them.

"Go, shoo, flee while you still can. Go!"

Second time was the charm as they dodged around her, Darkwing, and Buffy and ran with all their might up the street and out of sight. Negaduck was grinning so widely now that he looked like a kid in a candy shop.

With a mock-tired sigh, NegaBuffy turned back to the heroes. She glanced down at Negaduck, placing her hands on her hips.

"Let's rid ourselves of these little annoying counterparts, shall we, Negsy?"

Negaduck revved his chainsaw. "With pleasure."

"Oh damn," Buffy breathed.

Darkwing gulped and nodded. "We need a plan B."

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End Notes: Got to see a little bit of NegaBuffy's backstory in this one. You see, when I came up with her, I had this whole idea of what her world was like… and then realized that most of that info wasn't relevant to this story. Well, I'm trying to work in as much as possible. I hope everyone enjoyed this little twist to the plan. We've only got one more chapter left. And after editing this, I think I was reading a Vampire Hunter D book when I wrote this… I see a little bit of that influence in my earlier description in this chapter. Go figure.