A/N: 'Parallels' and 'Cause and Effect' are both legitimate episodes of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: The Next Generation. It is a family show, it is a science fiction/action genre, and it is a story about people and morals.

A/N: I could edit this forever, but I shall post it as it currently is.

St. Canard Prime: Part 2

Part Two

Dark Duck's family had been demolished in moments. He wanted to find out the monster that did this so he could ... eat ... him. Goodness only knew, but it'd only happen to someone else next time.

He landed on the back step of the Mallard residence, changing back to duck shape. He took the handle in his grip, taking a long deep breath. He closed his eyes. He didn't want to see this. He really didn't want to know. He turned the handle, and nothing happened. The door didn't budge.

"Locked?" He focused his mind on the nearby Vespers and unlocked it. 'Poor Morgana, she probably locked it to try and keep Raya safe.' He stepped in through the doorway.

He looked around. "What?" There was nothing the matter with the place. Not what he'd come to expect of a scene of crime: the horror that instantly filled his mind and curdled his stomach, the smell of spoiled blood, the ghostly remains of the last few seconds of life. The lounge room looked perfectly normal.

He looked into the kitchen. "Morgana?" He delved into the cupboards, rifled through the kitchen drawers, looked into the fridge, and then checked the oven. Finally, with one last thought, he snatched the old cookie jar from the sideboard, and emptied the contents onto a plate on the table.

"Hey, dad. Oo, chocolate chip!" Gosalyn, at ten years old, grabbed one of the cookies and shoved it into her mouth.

Dark Duck screamed.

Her dad flung himself away from her. "That's done it, that's done it! I've gone mad!" He crumpled into a heap and let out a sob. Tears were in his eyes.

"Dad!" She rushed over to him. "Dad, what's going on, what's the matter? I'm sorry I had the cookie. I know you're always telling me not to spoil my dinner but you had them out and I ..." Gosalyn stopped. Why was her dad wearing black and grey?

He lunged forward and had her in a fierce hug. "Oh, my little girl."
"Dad? Dad!" He put her down, much to her relief; that was a bit intense. Gosalyn was really beginning to worry about Darkwing now.

He put his hand on her head. He was still trembling and he stared, transfixed by the vision of her.
"What's happened to you, dad? Have you been possessed by aliens again?"
"What do you mean what's happened to me? What's happened to you?"
"Why, have I grown or something?"
"You've shrunk."

Dark turned away from her and looked at the cookies. "The kitchen's all wrong. These aren't Morgana's cookies."
"Morgana? These are from Mrs. Muddlefoot, dad."
He slowly moved past Gosalyn and walked into the lounge room. "What happened to the furniture?"
"Nothing ... Well, we were watching The Invasion of Eyomin, and Honker kinda freaked out a little. But I cleaned up the popcorn mess! Did I do that good a job that you don't even recognise the place? Keen gear! I always thought that was just a figure of speech."

Dark picked up a stray piece of popcorn, looking at it in fascination. "I appreciate the effort, Gosalyn." He fisted the fragment. "But what happened to the new furniture we put in two years ago? And you've shrunk ..."
"I have not shrunk!" Dark crossed his arms, looking back at her sternly. "Okay, for the sake of argument then, exactly how much have I shrunk?"
"Plenty. Why, you only look about ten years old."
"Well, that's a surprise, dad ... Because I am ten years old!" Gosalyn suddenly hollered at him.

"Why aren't you on the streets, anyway?" She added curtly, crossing her arms.
"Sweetie-pie." Dark's voice broke. "I thought you were dead."
"Well, I'm not dead. You can see that, so there's no problem."

He turned away from her. "But I still don't understand what's going on, Gos. If you really are ten years old, and the cookies are all wrong too ..." He gazed up at the ceiling, as if asking some celestial deity. "Could I have gone back on my timeline? If that was the case I should still have been able to connect to Morgana. But it's like she's on a different frequency."

Gosalyn stared up at the ceiling too, tapping her beak. "Hmm. Maybe you're in the wrong universe altogether? In the movie 'Parallels' the protagonist was slipping from one universe into the next one and it just kept getting weirder. In the movie 'Cause and Effect' they got stuck in a time loop. Maybe you're stuck in a time loop into another universe?"

Dark stared at her in confusion.

"Hey, what? Stranger things have happened, dad. What about the time that alien mutant cabbages kidnapped Honker's parents and Bushroot ran away only to help us save the world again?"
"Gos-."
"Or, what about the time Negaduck went around disguised as you and Bellum shot you with a ..."
"Yeah, I get it, Gos-"

"Or what about the time that Megavolt-?"
"Enough already!" Her dad yanked on the edges of his hat. He steadied himself and pointed at her matter-of-factly. "This is quite obviously the sign of too much red cordial and not enough practical studies." He put his hands on his hips.
"I'm just trying to keep the options open here, pops." She grumbled.

"So, if you're right, I'm in the wrong universe as well as in a time loop ...er ... thingy." He cocked an eyebrow. "Sheesh, like it's not confusing enough to be in a time loop." He started pacing the room. "So the crazed criminal has caught me up in a continuum conundrum. But I am not clueless!" He exclaimed. "That maniacal malevolent miscreant has made his last mistake, meddling with me!" He hesitated, looking at Gosalyn, "or ... any of me." He scratched his head.

"A different Darkwing Duck?" Gosalyn tapped her beak, considering this revelation. "That would explain why you're wearing black."

"That ... doesn't even remotely explain why I'm wearing black, kiddo." He laughed hollowly. "Let's see; causing a time loop and interfering in multiple universes ..." He went to the entrance room and opened the door. Gosalyn hurried after him. "Hello, Mrs. Muddlefoot."

Honker's mum was there, hand raised and about to knock. "Why, hello Mr. Darkwing Duck ..." She hesitated. "Er ... what are you doing at the Mallard's?"
"I'm on a case. It's okay. It turned out to be a false lead." He strode out past her.
Binkie turned her head, watching with Gosalyn as he left the porch.

"Gosalyn?" Once again, Gosalyn heard her father's voice, coming from inside the house. "Who was that?" Back in the lounge room just out of the view of the front door, Drake Mallard had just arrived through the trap door from under the blue couches.

Gosalyn turned her head to Drake. She gaped at him speechlessly as he walked towards her.

"Oh, Drake?" Binkie answered, watching him join them at the door. "That was Darkwing Duck."
Gosalyn collected herself and rushed out past Binkie. "Wait! Darkwing Duck!" She called out. "Come back!"
"Oh, don't worry, dear." Binkie cooed at Drake as he came into view. "He said it was a false lead. I know it's a bit late, but can I trouble you terribly for a cup of flour?"

"Sure, help yourself, it's in the kitchen." He replied in a distracted voice. "Excuse me ..." Drake pushed past her and followed after Gosalyn.

Gosalyn stopped at the end of the driveway. He'd just vanished but she hadn't seen any smoke cloud. She'd only looked away for a second, so where had he disappeared to?

"Gosalyn, who are you talking-?" She whirled around.
"Oh." She was crestfallen. It was Drake Mallard, in his favourite day clothes: green and pale pink. She turned away from him, sighing. "He's gone."

Drake took her hand. "Come on, kiddo, time for bed."
She snatched her hand away from him. "No, dad, we've got to find him. If he's lost, we need to help him."
"Darkwing Duck?"
"Yes. It was like, just another you, but wearing black."

"Well, I'll go out and look for him."
She hugged him. "Thanks dad. You're the greatest."
"I know. But you've got to hold up your end of the bargain and get to bed!" He snatched her arm before she could decide which way to run.
"Alright already!" She harrumphed, pulling herself free. "I'm going." He followed her into the house.