And the Rest is History

41

Heartless

The skyrise complex had long since been abandoned. Bird Cage Apartments stood tall and destitute.

The top floor balcony afforded a grand central view of the city's northerly aspect. Darkwing sat against the wall, staring out at the clouds drifting by. Gradually the hues began to deepen from bright blue and friendly white puffs of cloud to purple with greyish pink wafts dipped in gold.

The wall at his back trembled again. Another distant shriek from the depths within.

"Hey, boss, any clue why there's no one living here?" Steelbeak asked from the other side of the doorway, looking over at him from his book.
"Ghosts." Darkwing answered slowly. "Apparently they're a thing in this universe."
"Yeah, funny." Steelbeak snorted, considering his empty travel mug for moment, "There I was thinking this capitalist's nightmare was coz' of roaches."

Darkwing chuckled.

"Ghosts don't buy real estate and this place hasn't been burnt down or nothing. You got a look at 'em. Figure on how they died?"
"They're miners. They would've died in a cave in." Darkwing answered easily. "No mystery there. How's the book?"
"Eh, it's not too bad. Needs more coffee though." Steelbeak shrugged and stretched. "Man, give a guy till sunset, huh?"
"No rest for the 'Acting Assistant Director'." Darkwing answered.
Steelbeak turned to him, his eyes wide, "That sounds like fun! Can I play too?"

Darkwing chuckled, "Maybe."

"Eh, he's 'Acting Whatever' and you still don't know nothing?" Steelbeak frowned.
"Vice versa."
Steelbeak tossed the book on the balcony floor with a snort. "Hooter got a name on the guy who broke our rattle?"
"Doctor Bellum." Darkwing answered. "Some quack called 'Doctor Vykes' left her some real nasty toys and she used them. How about it, Steely? Someone so curious about you, they're just salivating to get you on their slab for a brainectomy?"
"Erk, no thanks; I got enough on my plate already." Steelbeak shook his head. "She should ship over to F.O.W.L.. They'd give her a bigger lab and a better pay check."

Darkwing chuckled.

"Fortunately, it's only one count of obsessive compulsion."
"Yeesh." Steelbeak shrugged uncomfortably. "How come she had to pick 'our' target?"
Darkwing shrugged. "I've sat here a while trying to figure that out, Steelbeak. I've come to the conclusion that it's the cape."
"Eh, chicks." Steelbeak rolled his eyes.
"The funny thing is, our Sara Bellum doesn't have a cape fetish."

Steelbeak was silent for a moment.

From deep under, an ethereal wailing rose up into the hollow apartment. The walls shook.

"Those ghosts really love to party." Steelbeak commented.
"Like it's 1699."

Steelbeak chuckled. "Pity about the kids."
"Hooter keeps thinking of a 'Doctor Andrews'. He must've been one of them." Darkwing frowned. "Doctor Vykes must've been the runner up."
"So what do we do about our rattle?" Steelbeak redirected.
"Well, asking nicely doesn't work..." Darkwing sighed and shook his head. "Asking not-so-nicely also doesn't work..."
Steelbeak shook his head. "That sure don't sound like you."
"Because I have a heart." Darkwing answered. "So long as I have a brain to think, I'm going to react to what you say."
"Eh, tough break."
"Yeah? Me or him?"

Steelbeak chuckled.

"If I was him..." Darkwing stopped, hearing an irregular sound a street over. He stood up and moved to the edge of the balcony, looking down on the streets below.

"Talking about spooks, where do you reckon this Dovesworth guy's hiding? Apart from under someone's bed."
"I don't know..." Darkwing answered. "But I'll know him when I see him." What was that movement on the street? He knelt down. Heartbeats. Heat signatures. What were those two up to? A store break-in. On his watch? Ha!
"Uh, boss..."

"I'm hungry."

Darkwing dove down to perch on the lamppost nearest the jewelry store. Before he could take purchase, something knocked him bodily to the ground.

"Ow." The voice from his attacker came as he got up off his back.

Darkwing got up on his elbow, turning to face his attacker. With a swish of cape he was dismissed for the criminals, but the criminals had already broken into a run.

Mine.

Darkwing sped his mind to the place ahead of the criminals, formed shape and raised his cape with a loud threatening growl.

Terror. Delicious.

The criminals scrabbled, turned back up the street, only to collapse at the other Darkwing's feet.

"Well," the other said, "You'll be safe in prison," he finished encouragingly as he put handcuffs on them.

It was almost amusing.

Unfortunately, Darkwing could feel a distinctive hollowness behind his duplicate's words that sucked the life clear out of the party. Darkwing eased the gap between them as his duplicate secured the burglars to a nearby pole for police pickup.

As he approached, he saw the emotional field before him like a jigsaw puzzle. Air, water, earth, water, fire, earth, air, fire. Discordance was laced together like sutures over a wound. Compensating for the damage.

Where was this guy's heart? Hidden in a lower layer? or was it somewhere in the box with the rest of the unmatched puzzle pieces?

Last steps, make a decision.

Darkwing knew what 'he'd' want to hear and stepped up beside his counterpart, arms folded.

"A-anytime you're ready to put your ego down," he challenged in a low moody tone; "Darkwing Duck." Then he cast his mind to return to the apartment.

Echoing into the desolate darkness behind, Steelbeak's voice was cackling in a fit of laughter.

Darkwing raised an eyebrow, "It wasn't 'that' funny." He turned to the motion on the street. "I thought he was a vampire hunter for a second."

The heartless took one look around and started crossing the street, a direct beeline for Bird Cage Apartments.

"He kicked you off the bad-gum lamp post!" Steelbeak chortled.
"He knew exactly where I was going to be." Darkwing gritted, "Just like he knows exactly where I am now."

Steelbeak silenced himself. "Boss, that ain't a good idea you're cooking up."
"Y'reckon?" Darkwing countered, mocking his accent, "This is a whole new city, Steelbeak, what am I supposed to do? Relearn everyone's names?"

"You can fix a rattle, boss. No sweat."
Darkwing smiled bitterly. "Unfortunately, 'I'm' not the kind of rattle that takes a hand out, Steelbeak. I say 'let me help you' he's going to say 'no, I'm fine' then I ask again and he says 'what do you want' and my answer will send him out for a stake. In three years I might persuade him into admitting he's got a problem; if he doesn't dust me first."

He gestured to the heartbeats starting up the stairs, "This guy's got more crossed lines than the Fearsome Four doing a Hamlet recital in a train yard and he's standing directly in the way of me helping someone who actually asked me for help."
Steelbeak flinched, "Yeah, well, don't count me in on it." He picked up his book, went in through to the bedroom and shut the door.
"Yeah, I always count you in on it, Steely." Darkwing retorted and turned back to looking at the nighttime view.

A puzzle.

Heartbeats continued to rise up the stairwell. He was using the grapple.

A puzzle indeed.

The door opened. Unceremonious.

"How do I approach..." Darkwing began in quiet melodrama, addressing the heartless behind him, "The creature who would knock me off my own perch before I was even physically there?" He stepped across the threshold. 'You are not in control here; I am.'

The creature had been ready to say something, but now only visibly stiffened.

He slowly circled. "You would have to know exactly what I was thinking as I was thinking it." 'You have value.'

"I though you wouldn't drink..."

'You have worth.' He came up behind, taking a light hold. "Not for food." He amended, leaning in. "And you're not food."
"Tell me what you want."
Darkwing chuckled, "But you already know..." Blood sprang into his beak. Rich and hot.

The heartless gave a light gasp.

Larkis Dovesworth. 5:30 am. The manor.

Darkwing let go, eyes closed, savoring the taste. Mallard, with the deeply recessed trace of the vampire.
Heartless spun away from his loose grip, holding his hand to his neck. "What have you..."

Darkwing gazed back at the creature. The room went visually spinning from body heat to gloom between them.
The other's face contorted as realisation set in. "No..." He staggered backwards, looking away from him, his hand to his head.

"I'm not a vampire."
"No."
"Wh-what am I?" He bemoaned.
"You're a revenant." Darkwing summoned the vespers from the air, capturing heartless against the wall. From the derelict room, he reshaped metal into chains and a clasp. He fashioned a matching key and raised it for the other's eyes. Then he placed it on the floor within arms reach.

Darkwing shifted to bat and flew out through the balcony door. He was still hungry and that meant there had to be more criminals out there waiting for him.