Summary: A fight at Bushroot's greenhouse has caused an special gene-swapping machine Bushroot has built to activate. And guess who it affects...
Rating: K
Author's Note: Another chpt eariler than normal. Partly because it was a slow weekend, and I want to hurry and get to chpt. 27, cause it'll be a fun one. ;)
25.
Transmutation
In a greenhouse located on the outskirts of St. Canard, was Dr. Reginald Bushroot. He currently stood near a fairly large device, holding a clipboard, and going through a checklist. Sitting on a table nearby was Megavolt.
"You ready to test the stupid thing, yet?" he asked, sounding bored.
"Not yet." Bushroot said. "I want to make sure everything is in order first. I've worked to hard to have it all crashing through the floor simply because I've overlooked something."
"You're too thorough, Bushy." Megavolt said.
"Maybe so, but that's just how I am." Bushroot said, checking off something on his clipboard. "Now hush."
Megavolt sat idly for a moment, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. "Ready yet?" he asked again.
"No."
"How about now?"
"No!"
"What about now?"
"Megs! I'll tell you when I'm ready!"
"What am I supposed to do in the meantime?"
"Be quiet."
"You're no fun."
"Now you sound like Quackerjack."
Megavolt did indeed fall quiet for a few moments. "Why did you need me anyway?" he finally asked. "You're not letting me do anything."
"I needed your input on various electronic stuff, and to get me various tools." Bushroot replied.
"Right, I'm your slave."
"If Rowe wasn't in jail at the moment, I would've had him do the getting various tools part, and not you, Megs." Bushroot assured him. "He wouldn't have complained so much. Besides, he actually enjoys helping so closely to the work I do."
"Oh yes, you two are friends." Megavolt mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"Well, I don't know about that." Bushroot said. "We're...coworkers. Just like you and me."
"Speaking of the Fearsome Five, how does this device fit into it?" Megavolt asked, pointing at the device.
"It doesn't." Bushroot said. "This is a personal project."
"Does the boss know about that?"
"Kind of. He knows I've been working on it in my free time, at least." Bushroot paused and checked off another item on his checklist. "Besides, I don't know what use Negaduck would have for a gene-swapping device anyway."
"I still don't see how you need such a device for that matter." Megavolt remarked.
"It'll help in my work in creating the perfect plant." Bushroot explained. "See, it'll allow me take genes from one plant and swap them out in another plant for another set of genes. If I swap the right genes into the right plants, it'll be easy to create the perfect plant."
"You and your plants." Megavolt grumbled.
"It's not ready for that yet, though." Bushroot said. "I still have many tests I want to run first."
"You know, you're the only supervillain I know that works on stuff like this, yet doesn't use it to terrorize the world." Megavolt remarked.
"That's because I'm not a supervillain." Bushroot said. "I'm just...misunderstood."
"That's what you always say, but you have yet to prove it."
"This is one of those cases that isn't so simple to prove, Megavolt."
"Then it's not true."
"Sure it is. Trust me, Megs, if you could walk around in my shoes, you'd know what I'm talking about."
"You don't wear shoes, Bushroot."
"You know what I mean."
Another moment of silence fell.
"Aha!" Bushroot exclaimed suddenly. "It turns out you were wrong, Megavolt, and it was a good thing I did a checklist! There's a wire here that's not properly connected! If I had tried to run the device like this..."
"It would've blown up?" Megavolt asked, worried.
"No, it would've worked anyway." Bushroot admitted. "But...not nearly as well."
"Sure."
Bushroot fiddled with the wire for a moment. "There, that should fix it." he said, making the appropriate check on his checklist. "And that's it."
"You're ready?" Megavolt asked hopefully.
"I'm ready." Bushroot confirmed, moving towards him.
"All right!"
Megavolt jumped up onto his feet. "Where do you need me to plug in?" he asked.
"Here." Bushroot said, pulling out a set of jumper cables. "Just a little power should be all I need. And remember..."
"I am the terror that flaps in the night!"
Bushroot froze, and slapped his face. "Hold that thought." he said, and turned to face the blue cloud of smoke that had formed behind him.
"I am the network that cancels your favorite TV show! I am...Darkwing Duck!"
Darkwing appeared out of the smoke and stood before the two supervillains.
"Darkwing!" Bushroot exclaimed. "This doesn't concern you!"
Darkwing took one look at the large device in the middle of the room, and shook his head. "Any known criminal working on a big, unknown, device concerns me." he said.
"No it doesn't!" Bushroot persisted. "You don't even know what it is!"
"Knowing you, Bushroot, it's nothing but trouble." Darkwing persisted.
"You know, he's got a point, Bushy." Megavolt said.
"Shush!" Bushroot exclaimed, then turned back to Darkwing. "Look, I'll prove it to you!"
He turned and started to run for the device.
"Crimson!" Darkwing exclaimed.
A red cloud of smoke appeared in front of the device, cutting off Bushroot's path. Bushroot attempted to slide to a stop before it, but was failing.
"I am the heir to the cape!" Crimson exclaimed dramatically as she emerged from the smoke, not immediately aware Bushroot was sliding out of control towards her. "I am about to be run over by a mutant plant-duck!"
Crimson tried to avoid Bushroot as he slid towards her, but they collided anyway, and both ended up draped over Bushroot's device. It rattled for a moment, then sparked violently, causing Megavolt and Darkwing to both back up. Then it fell silent. Crimson looked up at Bushroot lying on top of her for a moment.
"So Bushy," she began, "know any good restaurants?"
Then the machine under them suddenly popped as something in it's structure broke, and it's top titled to one side. Both Crimson and Bushroot slid off it and onto the floor. Crimson rolled so that it was now her that was on top of Bushroot. She pulled out her gas gun and pointed it at Bushroot's head.
Darkwing took his and pointed it at Megavolt. "All right, you two." he said. "Let's go to jail quietly for once."
"How about we just not go to jail at all?" Megavolt asked, and shot a bolt of energy at Darkwing, who was forced to leap to one side in order to avoid it. Megavolt then made a run for it.
Bushroot pushed Crimson off of him, looked sadly at the broken device for a moment, then exclaimed, "grab 'em boys!" He then turned to flee as well.
Crimson started to run after him, but then a vine lashed out and grabbed her around the middle, dragging her back. The same had happened to Darkwing, and both were ensnared by the vines long enough for Bushroot and Megavolt to escape.
"All right." Darkwing said matter-of-factly. "Plan B, then. Ready? On three. One...two..."
Together, both Darkwing and Crimson activated their buzzsaw cufflinks and used them to free themselves from the vines, and drop softly to the floor.
"Well, I guess that could've gone better." Crimson remarked.
"Oh well, it wasn't too big of a deal." Darkwing said, walking over to Bushroot's broken device and giving it a boot. "What do you think this thing was, anyway?"
"I dunno." Crimson said with a shrug. "But whatever the case, I don't think we need to worry about it anymore."
As he couldn't be sure when it would be safe to return to the greenhouse, Bushroot spent the rest of the night at the hideout for the Fearsome Five. As Negaduck was currently away attending to matters in the Negaverse, NegaCrimson was in charge over the group for the moment, and didn't mind Bushroot staying here.
He slept well, all things considered. So much so that when morning came around the following day, he found that it was hard to get up again. Moaning from a slight headache, he clambered out of the large pot he had used as a bed, and stretched, brushing the dirt off of him.
Liki passed by, who doubled back when he saw Bushroot out of the corner of his eye.
"Bushroot!" he bubbled. "You aren't normally here at this hour."
"I spent the night here." Bushroot explained with a shrug.
"And why would that be?" Liki asked.
"It's because of a certain purple-suited someone." Bushroot grumbled, walking forward.
"Mm, Darkwing." Liki remarked as Bushroot walked past him. "Doctors do not recommend frequent exposure to Darkwing."
"Tell me something I don't know." Bushroot said, stepping into the main room of the warehouse hideout, yawning. "What's happening today, anyway?"
"So far as I know, nothing." Liki remarked. "But of course, plans may vary."
"So in other words, stay on the alert." Bushroot stated.
"Yes."
Bushroot yawned again, while Liki watched.
"You all right, Bushroot?" Liki asked. "You don't seem to be yourself."
"Well, I do feel a bit...off." Bushroot admitted, with a shrug. "I don't know what it is, yet, however. May just be I'm not fully awake yet."
"You know, doctors do recommend some fresh air every now and then." Liki remarked. "It can wake you up while the competitors can't."
"I dunno, Liki." Bushroot said. "As it's in the middle of February, I don't really like to go outside all that much. Too cold for a mutant plant-duck like me." he yawned again. "But I guess at this point, it wouldn't hurt. Probably could use the sun at the moment, anyway."
Bidding Liki goodbye, Bushroot headed for the door and stepped out into the chilly morning air. To his surprise, it wasn't quite as chilly as he expected, and plants, even if they are part-duck, tend to be more sensitive to the cold than other forms of life. Sure, it was still uncomfortable, but more tolerable than usual. A little puzzled, Bushroot looked around some more outside, knowing that something wasn't right, but couldn't place it.
Then, it donned on him.
The plants. Normally, even this time of year, Bushroot's mind could make out hundreds of telepathic messages from his fellow plants in the plant kingdom. But not so today. Today, it was down to a dull whisper, hardly intelligible. Alarmed, and worried something wrong had happened within the plant kingdom, Bushroot sought out a plant, found a nearby pine tree a block or so away, and hurried towards it, getting as close as possible to it, so he could hear it.
Once this was done, he asked, aloud, as he couldn't seem to communicate to plants very well telepathically, if anything was wrong.
The tree's answer was very brief and to the point. Nothing was wrong with it, it said. It seemed, however, that the problem laid with Bushroot.
Drake Mallard stepped into the dining room and saw that he had managed to beat Gosalyn into the room. So had Launchpad, but that wasn't so surprising, as the pilot grew hungry very quickly, and was often one of the first to breakfast. As for Gosalyn, though, it was uncharacteristic of her not to be at the table already.
"Where is she?" Drake grumbled, glancing at his watch. "Gosalyn!" he called up the stairs, "Come get breakfast! You're going to be late for school if you don't get in here soon!"
There was a brief pause, then Gosalyn's bedroom door opened, and she made her way downstairs, rubbing at her eyes, yawning.
"Coming dad." she said, sounding tired. "Sorry, but I guess patrol last night hit me harder than usual. I'm dead tired this morning."
"Mm." Drake said, as he watched her walk past. "Well, go get breakfast. Maybe you just need some food to fuel you up."
"Yeah." Gosalyn said. "Maybe."
She sat down at the table, and poured out a bowl of cereal. Drake joined her and Launchpad, getting his own breakfast.
"So," he said, biting into a slice of toast. "What does everybody have planned for today?"
"Just school." Gosalyn muttered.
"LP?" Drake asked.
"Nothing much, DW." Launchpad replied, flipping through the morning paper. "Although, there will be a televised air show that'll be showing later today. Might want to watch that."
"To see how other pilots in the world flies?" Drake asked.
"To see if any of them crash like I do." Launchpad replied.
"Don't hold your breath." Drake muttered, then continued. "Well, I, for one, have a busy day as Darkwing Duck. I've got a meeting today with J. Gander at SHUSH, to discuss the events of the past year. Annual report kind of thing, you see. Then, J. Gander promised me a tour of one of their new labs out past Duckburg. He says it should be really interesting. Lots of new gizmos they've got over there, he says."
By this point, Drake had expected Gosalyn to start whining and complaining about not getting to go, but was surprised to realize that Gosalyn hadn't said a word. Turning to glance at her, he was surprised to see she was hardly eating her breakfast, either.
"Gos?" he said, a little worried. "You feeling all right?"
"Huh?" Gosalyn said, snapping out of the dazed look she wore on her face.
"You've hardly touched your breakfast." Drake said, pointing at her bowl of cereal.
"Oh that." Gosalyn said, rubbing at her eyes. "I think I'm just not that hungry."
Getting more worried, Drake stood up and felt Gosalyn's forehead. "Maybe you're coming down with something." he said, but he couldn't detect a fever of any sort.
Gosalyn pushed her father's hand away. "I'm fine dad." she persisted. "I just think I didn't get enough sleep last night is all, and it's doing funny things to me." she checked her watch, standing up. "Whatever the case, it's time for me to go to school." she picked up her backpack, and waved to Drake and Launchpad. "Bye."
She then left. Drake stood there, thinking for a moment.
"Hmm, I really hope she is okay." Drake said.
"Oh, don't worry about it, DW." Launchpad said, turning the page in his paper. "If it really was something important, she would've told you."
"I hope you're right, LP." Drake said, sitting back down to finish his breakfast.
Bushroot went back to his greenhouse to try and figure out what had happened to cause his ability to telepathically talk to plants to become so hindered. Several tests later, and he was no closer coming to the truth.
It worried him immensely. What if he had some kind of sickness? Worse still, what if it spread to the rest of the plant kingdom? What if this disease killed all the plants in the world? If that happened, it would be the end of the world; animal life couldn't exist without the plant life. They were too closely tied together.
He ran several more tests, using his own blood, leaves, and other samples, to study. As the day wore on, he was still no closer to getting an answer.
Sighing in frustration as he worked, he ran a hand through his pedal-like hair. He had been pretty proud about it lately, as it was currently in full bloom, and looked very impressive, from a plant's perspective, anyway. But he was very alarmed to find that pedals from his hair come away in his hands.
He was starting to go bald!
Even more alarmed now, Bushroot sought out a mirror, and examined his hair. Sure enough, the pink pedals were starting to wither and die, falling out in the process. His leaves were starting to do the same, and his green pallor had started to go pale.
What in the world was wrong with him?
At lunchtime, Gosalyn only picked at her food, and didn't really eat it. And it was hamburgers, too, and Gosalyn loved the cafeteria's hamburgers.
"Gos, are you sure you're feeling all right?" Honker asked, worried.
"Yeah." Gosalyn said wearily, picking at her hamburger before finally picking it up to take a bite. She chewed at it sluggishly. "I'm just tired. I think patrol last night really took it out of me."
"Well, sorry I couldn't come along last night." Honker apologized. "Parents absolutely insisted we had to go visit Tank last night."
"Speaking of Tank, how is he?" Gosalyn asked.
"For someone who dropped out of high school and never went to college, remarkably well." Honker admitted. "He's got a fair apartment in Duckburg, and his own rock band. They're doing on tour next month, go up and down the coastline of Calisota. Still a bully, though."
"Hmm." Gosalyn said, swallowing. "How do you think you did on that economics test?"
"That test?" Honker asked. "Remarkably well. Half of those questions I guessed on, thinking for sure I'd miss them. Turns out, however, that when I got the test back, I got an A- on it, which is pretty good, all things considered."
Gosalyn moaned, and hung her head. Honker again watched her with worry.
"Gos, are you sure you're all right?" he asked.
"Yes." Gosalyn asked, then suddenly turned a little green. "No." she admitted, and suddenly got up and raced off to the nearby girl's bathroom.
"Gos?" Honker asked, alarmed, and followed her to the door.
Even with a closed door dividing them, Honker could still make out the retching sounds of Gosalyn throwing up. After a moment or two, it faded, and Gosalyn returned, looking to be sweaty and greener than ever.
"Gos, I think you should go home, sick." Honker suggested.
Gosalyn nodded. "I think you're right, Honk." she agreed.
With each passing hour, Bushroot grew more and more worried. His pedal like hair was all but gone, his leaves all shriveled and dead, and his skin starting to loose it's green color. Photosynthesis had also stopped working for him, too, and he was getting to be very hungry. His root like feet had also stopped absorbing water. If this kept up, he'd die in a day or less.
Having long given up on his tests as he just wasn't finding answers there, he started to pace the length of the greenhouse. Occasionally, he stop and glance in the mirror, just to see how much worse his condition had gotten. He wanted to talk to someone about it, but he had long since lost his ability to communicate with plants. And if he went to the Fearsome Five, well, he might be proclaimed unfit to be a part of the gang and kicked out. And he didn't want that.
Well, yes he did. Being a part of the Fearsome Five wasn't exactly the best line of employment one could pursue, but Bushroot he couldn't really do anything else, so he was just going to live with it.
Which, unless something change very soon, wouldn't be for much longer.
Still pacing he stopped to glance in the mirror again, then suddenly stopped, and did a double take. Something poked out from the back of his head. Reaching back to feel it with his hand, he was surprised to see it was a feather.
Then it donned on him. Again.
This wasn't some kind of illness. He was just turning human again.
"How ill is 'ill', LP?" Darkwing asked over the phone.
Launchpad thought for a moment, scratching his head. "Well, she said she had an upset stomach, but that she was doing better now." he said. "No fever to speak of, though. She looks green around the gills, still, though."
"Okay." Darkwing said. "It probably was a good idea to have her come home from school early, then. Listen, keep an eye on her for me, would you? I'm going to be at this SHUSH meeting for awhile still."
"No prob, DW." Launchpad said, leaning against the wall as he looked to watch Gosalyn calmly sitting in the couch and watching Jumpgate: The Box of Verity. "We're not going anywhere."
"Well, make sure it stays that way." Darkwing said. "I don't want her going anywhere, especially if this is contagious. I fear she may have caught that flu bug you had last month." Darkwing suddenly said something to someone on his end. "Look, I gotta go. Keep me posted, and you've got Christine's number in case Gos gets worse, right?"
"Right DW." Launchpad assured him. "Don't worry about a thing. I've got things covered here."
"Thanks, LP." Darkwing said. "See you guys soon."
Launchpad hung up the phone, then walked into the living room. "Anything I can get you, Gos?" he asked.
"No thanks, LP." Gosalyn said. "Really, I am feeling a bit better now. I think whatever it was, the worse is over now."
"Well good." Launchpad said. "But if you need me, I'll be in the other room, so just shout."
"Gotcha." Gosalyn said.
Launchpad then left, leaving Gosalyn in peace. She silently watched the movie for a little while longer, then paused, a puzzled look coming onto her face. She looked around for a moment, then picked up the remote and stopped the movie, plunging the room into mild silence. Gosalyn listened for a moment.
Whispering. She could hear whispering. But from where?
Puzzled, Gosalyn stood up and started following it to it's source, finding herself at the bottom of the stairs. Looking up them, she realized it was coming from upstairs. Curious, she went on, the whispering getting louder as she drew closer. Finally, she stood outside the door of her own bedroom, having tracked the voice down to where it originated inside. Going into a defensive mode in cause it was trouble, Gosalyn swung the door open.
And found that no one was in her bedroom, save herself.
Really puzzled now, Gosalyn looked around for any sign of whispering, but now realized she couldn't even hear that anymore. Ultimately, she shrugged, guessing it was some side-effect of whatever illness she had. She gave her room one last look over, then saw a flower she had potted on her windowsill.
Stepping over, she gently fingered the leaves of the flower, a daffodil. It was her favorite flower, and every now and then would get one to grow. Unfortunately, this flower hadn't been growing too well. By all accounts, it was healthy, and was getting plenty of nourishment and sunlight. It just wasn't growing like it should. It was like a daffodil runt.
Gosalyn continued to gently rub one of it's leaves. "I really wish you'd grow." she muttered out loud.
Then, right before her very eyes, the plant started to grow at a very fast rate, quickly becoming full grown, and even going into full bloom. Shocked, Gosalyn released the plant and took several steps back.
How did that happen? Plants don't grow like that all by themselves, and never that fast. The only way she knew of that happening was when Bushroot did it with his powers, and she was pretty sure he wasn't...
Suddenly Gosalyn got a very, very strange idea. Strange...
But it would explain a great deal.
"Gosalyn, this is highly irregular." Christine said as she went about treating her current patient, Gosalyn trailing along in her wake. "You shouldn't even be in here without my okay."
"Which I clearly already have, otherwise you'd have sent me out by now." Gosalyn pointed out.
"True." Christine admitted, turning her attention to the six-year-old duck by placing a band-aide over the cut the youth had received. "There." Christine said, smoothing out the wrinkles on the band-aide. "That will keep that cut safe, Charlie. Now, how about you try and stay out of trouble? This is the third time this month you've had to come in here for some kind of injury. Let's not make it four, okay?"
"Okay Dr. Merriweather." the youth, Charlie, said hopping down from the examination table. "Thank you Dr. Merriweather."
Christine grinned. "Cute kid." she remarked, mostly to herself. "Orphan at the orphanage, but has great hopes of getting adopted and having a family someday."
"Yes, that's a very good thing for an orphan to have." Gosalyn agreed, remembering her days as an orphan.
"Now, what's this about, Gos?" Christine asked, closing the door. "I'm presuming it's Darkwing related?"
"It might." Gosalyn said, sitting down on the examination table herself. "I don't really know yet. But I need you to draw some of my blood, and check it out for anything...odd."
"Okay, define odd." Christine said, gathering the necessary materials. "And does Drake know you're here?"
"Well, dad doesn't, but Launchpad does, it was him that brought me up here." Gosalyn said. "He doesn't know why, though. I wanted to be sure before I told him."
"Okay, but define odd." Christine repeated, preparing a needle and vile.
"Well..." Gosalyn began, trailing off for a moment as she rolled up her sleeve. "Anything that could be related to a plant."
Christine looked up sharply. "A plant?" she repeated.
"I know, it seems odd, but please, just do it." Gosalyn pleaded. "If I'm right, then there's a very good explanation for it."
"All right." Christine said, rubbing alcohol over a vein on Gosalyn's arm. "I suppose if your mind could get transferred into Drake's body for nearly a day, this isn't nearly as odd." she put the needle into position. "Ready?"
Gosalyn nodded.
Christine slipped the needle into Gosalyn's vein, and watched as the blood started to flow into the attached vile. Only the blood wasn't red. It was green.
Christine looked up at Gosalyn, and the two looked at one another for a moment.
"I think a blood test isn't necessary anymore, Gos." Christine announced.
The first thing Bushroot did when he realized he was turning human again was go to the nearest all-you-can-eat buffet and gorge himself on all the food he could get his hands on. As a mutant plant-duck, photosynthesis had taken care of nourishment, and he no longer needed to eat typical food anymore. He had missed it greatly, but eating it when he was a plant usually made him very ill. His body wasn't designed to process food like that anymore.
So this was an extra special treat for him, and he treated it like a feast. Once that was done, he returned to the greenhouse, mostly to think things through. Night was starting to fall by this point, and the transmutation back into his old, duck, self was now complete. He even had his same old balding hair of the past. Everything about his old plant form he had spent the past nine to ten years as was now gone.
For the first hour or so, Bushroot was ecstatic. He had forgotten how many nice things he had when he was a normal living being. Even more, he had been able to walk down a street, and not have anybody stare at him. Everyone merely ignored him, which he found much more appeasing.
For the first time in years, he could live a normal life.
But on the other hand, he missed being a mutant plant-duck. It had it's niceties itself. That, and he actually had friends as a mutant plant-duck in the plant kingdom. Now that he was normal again, he couldn't communicate with them anymore. And, his career in the Fearsome Five was now officially over; Negaduck wasn't going to have any interest in him now. And, mutant plant-duck or not, he had too much of a criminal record now to easy get a replacement line of employment.
So, now what?
Did he want to stay normal, so he could live the normal life he realized he had missed so much?
Or did he want to be the mutant plant-duck no one seemed to like anymore and only have plants for his friends?
But then there was a third question too. How and why did this happen in the first place? And why now?
Bushroot thought about it for a little while, then realized there was only one answer. Turning around, he looked at his broken gene-swapping machine that had been broken the previous night. That had to be it. In the fight, it activated, and swapped out his plant genes for a set of human genes. And now the genes had made him normal again.
But then, where did the human genes come from?
Bushroot saw there was only one answer to that as well, and it alarmed him.
Crimson. He had traded his plant genes for the Crimson Avenger's human genes!
As Darkwing drove the Ratcatcher back into the tower, he sighed.
"Finally!" he exclaimed, climbing off the motorbike. "Home!"
Weary, he pulled off his hat and hung it on a hook. "Now all I look forward to is to heading home, getting some hot chocolate, put on a DVD to watch, and..."
"DW?" Launchpad's voice rang out, appearing suddenly near the supercomputer. "DW!"
"LP?" Darkwing said, turning to face his sidekick. "What are you doing here?"
"It's Gosalyn!" Launchpad explained, heading towards him. "A...er...a problem's kinda come up."
"A problem?" Darkwing repeated. "Oh no, has Gosalyn's illness gotten worse?"
"Oh no, DW, she's fine." Launchpad said. "Technically, at least."
"Technically?" Darkwing said. "LP, start from the beginning."
"Actually DW, maybe it's just better if you see for yourself." Launchpad said, then turned to look back at the super computer. "C'mon on out, Gos!"
Something poked it's head out from behind a row of computers. Darkwing looked at it and felt his beak hit the floor. For a spilt second, he thought that he was looking at Bushroot, but then realized that this mutant plant-duck was too short, and too much of a feminine appearance.
It was Gosalyn.
"Heh." Gosalyn chuckled weakly. "Hi Dad."
In Bushroot's greenhouse, a lonely cloud of blue smoke appeared in the room.
"I am the terror that flaps in the night!" Darkwing exclaimed, stomping out of the cloud, enraged. "I am the...the...superhero who's too angry to come up with a witty metaphor at the moment! I am, DARKWING DUCK!"
"Oh, c'mon dad, take a chill pill." Gosalyn said as she and Launchpad stepped out of the cloud. "I really don't think Bushroot meant for this to happen."
"I don't care!" Darkwing exclaimed, rushing around the greenhouse, searching for clues. "He's turned my favorite daughter into a plant!"
"Mutant plant-duck, actually." Gosalyn corrected calmly, putting her leaf-like hands behind her back.
"Whatever!" Darkwing ranted on. "I just know that he will pay..."
Launchpad, however, was looking around and saw no one was present. "He's not here." he announced with a shrug.
"Yes, thank you, we've already established that!" Darkwing exclaimed, still searching for clues. "Why do you think I'm trying to figure out where he went?"
Gosalyn was looking around herself. "Well, that device of his is gone." she noted, regarding the empty spot the device had once sat in.
"Aha!" Darkwing exclaimed, coming over to investigate. "He's trying to destroy the evidence!"
"Actually, maybe he just figured out what happened, and is trying to set things right again." Gosalyn proposed calmly.
"Ha! Like that would ever happen!" Darkwing exclaimed, pulling out a magnifying glass and swooping down low to examine the floor. "No, he's trying to destroy the evidence. Besides, what proof do you have that he's trying to do otherwise, anyway?"
"Well, that's what the plants say." Gosalyn offered, pointing at the row of plants behind her.
Both Darkwing and Launchpad stared at her for a moment. Gosalyn just shrugged.
"What?" she asked, pushing her pedal-like hair out of her face. "Bushroot could talk to plants, so it stands to reason I can now, too."
"True." Darkwing admitted. "You just seem so...calm...about it."
"Well, I've been hearing them for a few hours now, so I've kinda gotten used to it." Gosalyn said with another shrug. "Speaking of which, Dad, our front lawn would like you to shovel the snow off of it so it can get some sun, and the daffodil I have in my bedroom would like it if we all stop eating salad."
Darkwing just stared at her.
"What else do the plants say, Gos?" Launchpad asked.
"Well, lots of things." Gosalyn admitted. "It's kinda hard to sort it all out at times. They've mentioned that something happened to Bushroot to due to all of this, and now he just wants to fix it all. He just left with the machine to go looking for me."
Darkwing looked to be skeptical still. "And how do we know these plants aren't just lying?" he asked.
Gosalyn shrugged. "We don't, I guess." she admitted. "But when you really think about it, why would they want to?"
"I still don't trust them." Darkwing persisted.
"You don't have anything else to go off of, though." Gosalyn pointed out.
"True." Darkwing admitted, and looked to be considering the issue.
"Do the plants know where Bushroot went?" Launchpad asked, trusting as always.
Gosalyn fell silent for a moment, as she listened to the plants telepathically. "Not at the moment." she said. "But they say that they can talk to other plants nearby, and see if they've seen Bushroot. If not, those plants can talk to other nearby plants, and so forth. Sooner or later, they'll probably find a plant who's seen Bushroot recently."
"Sounds like the Internet." Launchpad noted.
"So how long do we have to wait?" Darkwing asked, impatient.
Gosalyn shrugged. "I dunno." she admitted. "I guess anywhere from minutes to hours. I've never done something like this before."
"This could take forever, then." Darkwing summarized, throwing his hands up into the air, and bending over to look for clues his way again.
"Just give this a chance, Dad." Gosalyn pleaded, then suddenly had a vacant look on her face. "Got it." she finally announced.
"Already?" Darkwing asked, looking up.
"Bushroot was just seen passing the plant store on McAllister Lane." Gosalyn said.
"Then let's go." Darkwing said, straightening and pocketing his magnifying glass.
A moment later, they were all speeding down the dark streets of St. Canard in the Ratcatcher.
"McAllister Lane!" Launchpad announced from the sidecar, reading a passing street sign. "Nearly there! Bet you're anxious to be normal again, huh Gos?"
"Actually, it's not so bad being a mutant plant-duck." Gosalyn said as they rode. "I mean, some things take some getting used to. But it's tolerable, nonetheless."
"Well, it's not going to last!" Darkwing exclaimed. "I'm going to make sure of that!"
They arrived at the plant store in question. Darkwing brought the Ratcatcher to a stop, and hopped off, drawing his gas gun.
"LP, you're with me." Darkwing said. "Let's see if ol' Bushy's still here, and if he is, I want to get a jump on him."
"Actually Dad, I think I might have a better idea..." Gosalyn said, starting to climb off the Ratcatcher herself.
"No Gos, I want you to stay here." Darkwing persisted. "I'll handle this!"
And before Gosalyn could object, he and Launchpad had vanished around the corner of the store searching for Bushroot. Frowning, Gosalyn leaned back in the sidecar, and waited with annoyance.
"Crimson?" a voice asked slowly.
Gosalyn turned at the sound of her voice, and saw a shadowy figure standing just out of range of the ratcatcher's headlights. Gosalyn instantly recognized the figure however.
"Bushroot!" Gosalyn exclaimed, and leapt out of the sidecar and tackled Bushroot, pinning him to the ground.
It was then that Gosalyn her first good look at the former scientist, and saw that Bushroot was an ordinary duck again, and not a mutant plant-duck.
"Y-you're normal!" Gosalyn exclaimed.
"Yeah." Bushroot said, looking slightly upset by this.
"But how?" Gosalyn asked, letting him up. "The same way I got turned into a mutant plant-duck?"
"In a sense, yes." Bushroot said, brushing off his feathers, then reached into a nearby alley and pulled out his machine. "This is a gene-swapping machine. It swaps genes in one living being for a set in another living being. When it broke yesterday night, it swapped your human genes with my plant genes, changing us into the forms we bare now." he looked Gosalyn over. "You actually don't look that bad, Crimson."
Gosalyn blushed. "Can you undo it?" she asked, changing the subject. "Darkwing's enraged over all of this."
"I figured he might be." Bushroot admitted, prepping the machine. "That's why I waited until you were alone to reveal myself. I didn't want Darkwing to get all angry at me. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Really."
"I didn't think you did, Bushroot." Gosalyn assured him. "Unfortunately, I can't convince Darkwing of that."
"Then let's hurry and do this." Bushroot said, switching on the machine. "I'll be in enough trouble when Negaduck finds out about this."
"Right." Gosalyn said. "So what do I need to do?"
"Grab there." Bushroot said, motioning to the opposite end of the device from where he stood, where a handle was. "I'll grab here. Then, I'll throw a switch, and, presuming I fixed this thing right, it'll swap the genes back. by this time tomorrow, we'll be back to our normal selves again."
"Just like that?" Gosalyn asked, surprised as he did as instructed.
"Just like that." Bushroot replied. "Ready?"
Gosalyn nodded. Bushroot flipped the switch, and the machine hummed for a moment, then shut down.
"That should do it." Bushroot announced.
"That was really simple." Gosalyn said, looking down at her hands. "Thanks Bushroot."
Bushroot grinned sheepishly. "Least I could do. I really felt bad for this happening." he paused. "You know, I should probably thank you too. Because all of this, I got to spend a few hours as my old normal self again, and I realized just how much I had missed it. That couldn't have happened without you."
"Well, the plants will be glad to have you back as a mutant plant-duck." Gosalyn said. "They speak very fondly of you."
Bushroot grinned sheepishly again.
"But I don't get it." Gosalyn said. "Don't they realize all the bad things you do? That you're a troublemaker?"
"I'm not a troublemaker." Bushroot said. "I'm just misunderstood."
"Yes." Gosalyn admitted, reflecting back on her time as a mutant plant-duck. "And maybe I can see that now more than ever." she grinned one more time. "Thanks Bushroot. Really."
"You're welcome." Bushroot replied, taking his machine and moving away. Very soon, he had vanished into the night.