Darkwing ran to the closet and opened the door. Neutralduck's costume hung neatly on a rack. The superhero pulled out a garment bag and ran back out the door. Wait a minute. He was that physicist in the magazine!

After calling the police, who had to pack the Liquidator in frozen yogurt to prevent him from thawing en route to jail, the caped crusader resumed the tailing. "That pernicious plant sure seems in a hurry."

Median Gray glared at his kidnapper.

"Don't look at me like that," begged the mutant plant-duck. "I feel terrible about this as it is."

"What does Negaduck want with me anyway?"

"He wouldn't say." Bushroot stopped in front of the warehouse.

Negaduck was waiting. "Where's--" He stopped short. "Oh, no."

A puff of blue smoke materialized. "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the equation with the empty solution set!"

Negaduck snarled. "Megavolt, Quackerjack, distract him!" He grabbed Median by his shirt collar. "And you're coming with me if you know what's good for ya!"

Megavolt smirked as he fired several shots of electric current.

Quackerjack leaped forward. "It's playtime!"

"You've got to come up with a new catch-phrase, Quackster," replied Darkwing, dodging Megavolt's offenses. He ducked rocks from Quackerjack's toy slingshot. One of Bushroot's vines wrapped neatly around the crimefighter's arm. Darkwing yanked hard, making the other end of the vine whip like a lasso and knock the slingshot away. Megavolt collapsed on the ground, having exhausted his battery reserve. Quackerjack tripped over him, knocking over Bushroot in the process.
********************************************************************
Negaduck pointed at the Cross-Dimensional Traveling Apparatus. "You built this."

"Actually, Gyro did most of the building. I calculated the equation--"

"All I want is the activation code." The yellow-coated duck drew a chainsaw. "Give it to me, and I may let you breathe."

"Sorry," Median lied. "Something, time maybe, has made me forget the code."

The chainsaw started. "Maybe this will jar your memory."

"Why do you want it anyway?"

"To get away from Darkwing Duck. No matter how many crimes I commit, he always shows up to ruin it. A proof of Isaac Newduck's law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

"I thought you hated laws."

"What do you think I'm trying to accomplish by killing that goody two-shoes?!" Negaduck growled. "He stranded me in this universe!"

Median didn't look impressed. "You can't be from another universe!"

"Last time I checked, I was Supreme Ruler of the Negaverse St. Canard."

"That's impossible!" sputtered the physicist. "If that were true, you wouldn't be able to exist in this universe!"

"Well, I exist! Deal with it!" The chainsaw came closer.

Median tried to keep his voice from trembling. "Ha. I'm the only one who knows the code. Hurt me, and you're out of luck."

The implement stopped. Negaduck groaned and tossed it aside. "I've got to remember to fill the gas tank when it gets down to half-empty. Not so fast!" He grabbed the physicist's neck. "If I can't have it, nobody can."

"How can I tell you if you're holding my windpipe?" squeaked Median.

Tighter squeeze. "Didn't you forget?"

"I remember! I remember! Just let go!"

Negaduck obeyed, then ran to the control panel.

"It's zero-four-one-one-nine-three!" lied Median.

Negaduck punched the sequence in. Nice try, the machine read. "A phony!" He reached into his jacket and pulled out the same knife Neutralduck had thrown at him. What a cruel irony, he thought. "I'll give you one last chance, Mr. Gray. Or should I say, Neutralduck? Give me the real code. Or else."

"Or else what?"

"I'll turn on this devilish device and suck the code from your brain!"

"All right! It's zero-five-one-nine-eight-six."

Negaduck typed the code in. Correct, the machine read. Please enter equation of destination. "The Negaverse would probably be the same equation with a different function. But is it cosine, tangent, secant, or cotangent?"

"Should have paid more attention in math class," was Median's only response.

"In retrospect, maybe shooting my trig teacher was a bad idea." Negaduck grabbed the physicist and pulled him into the machine. "You're coming to make sure this machine doesn't strand me between dimensions!"

The door opened. "Not so fast, Negadope!" Darkwing attempted to tackle his diabolical double, but Negaduck twisted to the left. The two ducks slammed into the machine, the glass door clicking into place. The three ducks were scrunched inside the device, which was only the size of a phone booth. Median tried to help Darkwing up, but Negaduck reached over and hit a function button. Cosine.

The machine sputtered and vibrated. The clear-glass windows fogged over and became opaque. The three ducks were crushed together when the box-like device spun.

After several minutes, the dimension machine stopped. The windows became clear once again.

Negaduck reached into his pocket and drew out a smoke bomb. Red smoke filled the booth-like device. "Sayonara, saps!" He shoved open the glass door and ran out.

When the smoke cleared, Darkwing surveyed the area. The warehouse they were in was identical to the one they had just left, albeit cleaner. He poked his head out the window. "Yup. Definitely the Negaverse." The city was a lot cleaner and the buildings were less run down than the first time he had seen it, but it was still recognizable.

Median was staring at the control panel. "So the Negaverse is the complementary function, and the Posiverse is the inverse function. Makes sense."

Darkwing drew out the garment bag. "I brought your costume."

Median took it and went into a broom closet. He emerged, as Neutralduck. "Good idea, though I fail to see how it'll help."

"No time for that. We have to find Negaduck."

"And that'll be easy?"
*********************************************************************************
Back in the Normalverse, Launchpad twiddled his thumbs. "Shouldn't DW be back by now?"

Gosalyn drummed her fingers on the table. "Just who was that masked duck anyway?"

Honker slid the magazine across the surface. "See for yourself."

The redhead looked at the photo. "Median Gray? How can you be sure?"

"I quoted from his paper to test Neutralduck. He flinched."

"Forget becoming a research scientist. Honk, you'd make a great detective!"

"I try."
**************************************************************
Negaduck, now dressed in a red shirt and black sweater, knocked on the door of a small house. He had taken the subway from St. Canard to the nearby city of Anatidaeopolis.

The door opened a creak. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Dad."

The door opened all the way. "Quick, Drake! Before someone sees us!"

Negaduck entered, closing the door behind him. "Long time, no see."

"What happened?" The Negaverse Ruddy Mallard looked exactly like his Normalverse counterpart, down to the graying red-brown locks. Only this Ruddy was wearing gray dress pants, a white shirt, and a long black trenchcoat.

"Would you believe I was stuck in another universe?"

"No, really. What happened?"

"You're home!" came a female voice. The Nega-Anatina, feather-hair loose and flowing to complement her blue jeans, red blouse, and brown leather jacket. An antique pistol was tucked in a holster at her waist. "What brings you here?" She brought her beak close to her son's cheek.

Negaduck pushed her away. "Cut the sap, Mumsie. I've really been stranded in another universe, and one of my enemies happened to end up here. I intend to break the machine that brought us both over and move in for the kill.

"Do to him what he did to you?" observed Nega-Anatina.

"Precisely. Are you going to help me, or am I on my own?"

"You know I never say no to a challenge," replied Nega-Ruddy.

TBC