In the Normalverse, Darkwing's companions were still at the Tower.

Gosalyn had told the others what her grandparents had revealed. "This kid was bad news since the moment he hatched."

Launchpad scratched his head. "Gos, remember the tron splitter?"

"How could I forget? The bad one threatened to ground me into hamburger for breaking the statue!"

"But we put them back together in the end," added the pilot.

"No thanks to Megavolt," grumbled Gosalyn. "Anyway, Grandma--" It felt strange saying the word. "Identified Negaduck as the other twin."

Launchpad shrugged. "I guess they mean it when they say truth is stranger than fiction."

Honker ruminated on the subject for a few minutes. "Mr. Mallard's bad side and the Negaduck we know aren't the same. Just similar. Median Gray's theory that there are two universes parallel to ours. In one, the matter is completely composed of positrons and in the other, everything is negatrons."

"So you're saying that Negaduck is from the negatron universe?" asked Gosalyn.

"I didn't say that. My guess is that he's from this universe. You see, our universe's matter has both positrons and negatrons. If someone from the Negaverse entered this one, they'd be wiped out because the positrons of our matter would attack it. If someone from this universe went to the Negaverse, the native negatrons would want to annihilate the foreign positrons were it not for the foreign negatrons to prevent the natives from considering the new matter an enemy. It makes sense when you consider complementarity."

The redheaded duckling rolled her eyes. "You're talking philosophy now?"

"I mean it. Even emulate the idea. The electrons have a negative charge, the protons have a positive charge. What prevents the protons from repelling one another -- like charges repel -- is the neutrons, which have no charge. The one exception is hydrogen, which has only one proton--"

"Honk, would you mind saying that in English?" interrupted Launchpad.

"What does this have to do with Negaduck anyway?"

"I suppose Jake Mallard fell into a portal to the Negaverse accidentally and assumed the identity of their Drake Mallard."

"But what happened to the Negaverse Drake?" Launchpad inquired.

The nine year old genius frowned. "Do you want me to answer that? Anyway, Negaduck is not pure evil, since pure evil cannot exist in this world. He'll never reach the level of psychosis exhibited by your dad's galvanized 'evil side', but he'll come pretty close. Like the branch of a hyperbola approaching its asymptote. You should read the paper. If something somehow got stuck in dimensional limbo, it would automatically be sent back to the universe of origin--" Honker stopped short.

"Zzz..." Gosalyn and Launchpad snored.
**********************************************************************************
Darkwing himself was perched on the Audubon Bay Bridge, observing the Negaverse St. Canard through his binoculars. He and Neutralduck had split up, hoping to cover more ground. After checking the Tower, he'd found it empty.

Neutralduck was climbing the supports, panting. "I wasn't built for this."

"No sign of Negs?"

"None. But I did find something interesting."

"What?"

"I looked through the records, and found no evidence of myself ever existing. On September 7 of the year in question, St. Canard General Hospital only had one birth. A Drake Mallard. It supports a corollary to my theory.That neutrality cannot exist in these two parallel worlds. That one force is always dominant."

Darkwing was barely even listening. He caught a flash of yellow near the warehouse. "Negaduck at four o' clock! Let's get dangerous!"
*************************************************************
Nega-Anatina bolted the doors of the warehouse shut before sinking into a chair.

Negaduck leaped into her lap, pouting. "And no matter what I do, Darkwing Duck won't get out of my feathers! I tried getting some of his other enemies to help, but when are those four going to make up their minds?! With one hand, they can raise unparalleled havoc and with the other, they surrender and settle for less than total victory! Ambivalence, pah! Who needs it? Not me!"

Nega-Ruddy looked questionably at the dimension machine. "You want to destroy this thing?"

"Just pull out a few wires. In case I want to take over Darkwing's St. Canard. And with him out of the picture, who'll stop me? But not until after I've taken back this one. Or we've taken it back."

Ruddy yanked out several of the colored wires. "Those were pretty good years for all three of us."

Negaduck laughed his trademark evil cackle. "And the juvenile detention courts thought they could reform me by forcing me to be a boy scout! Oh, if I only had a camera to record Scotty Whitefeatherson's face when I aimed my popgun straight ahead instead of upward during the twenty-one popgun salute! He almost seemed relieved when I got kicked out for stealing merit badges. Ol' Whitefeatherson was such a goody two-shoes. Got him shot in the back when he was investigating an underworld crime ring. I didn't do it, but I know who did. Thy name was Vladimir Gryzlikoff."

"Almost makes me appreciate the normal, legalistic Gryzlikoff," Darkwing muttered from the air vent. He was listening in on the conversation, waiting for an opportunity to jump down. He couldn't quite see Negaduck's two accomplices.

"I was a wreck the day your father and I were arrested," sighed Nega-Anatina.

"You were hysterical!" corrected Nega-Ruddy.

"And then I managed to break you out," Negaduck finished. "The police would definitely be hunting me down, so I found this outfit in a trunk of clothing in the 527 Avian Way hideout."

Darkwing opened the vent and released a blue smoke bomb. "I am the terror --" he stopped short. Mom? Dad?

Negaduck smirked as he climbed the stairs to the roof.

Nega-Anatina drew her pistol. "So you're the one who's been giving my darling boy trouble!"

Nega-Ruddy took an ugly-looking dagger from the folds of his trenchcoat. "It's crimefighters like you who are making the world a lousy place to live for criminals like us!"

Darkwing backed away and fumbled for his gas gun. They're not my parents. They're not my parents. He threw the empty gun at Nega-Anatina. It struck her hard on the right shoulder, making her drop her own firearm and clutch her clavicle.

Nega-Ruddy dropped his knife and rushed to comfort his wife.

Darkwing ran up the stairs. "I suggest you surrender, Negaduck!" There was the distant sound of sirens. "While I was busy with your conniving conspirators, Neutralduck was calling the police."

"The police are useless. You've said so yourself." The yellow-jacketed duck leaped angrily toward his rival. They tussled on the rooftop, neither noticing the edge. Suddenly, Darkwing stopped and tried to back away. The warehouse was only about four stories, but the ground beneath was solid concrete. If falling didn't mean certain death, it would be at the least very painful.

Negaduck flopped over, nearly falling. He grabbed the ledge in time.

Immediately, Darkwing grabbed his archrival's hands. He disliked the idea of saving the very duck who tried to kill him so many times, but even Negaduck deserved a fair trial. The crimefighter attempted to pull, but was met with resistance. The burning hatred in his nemesis' eyes made him realize that Negaduck was pulling back. The hero let go. Didn't mean to; it just happened.

The yellow-jacketed duck fell four stories before landing neatly in Neutralduck's arms, who threw him down.

"I'd rather have hit the pavement!" spat Negaduck, just before striking his head on the pavement.

Darkwing rushed down the fire escape stairs. "Let's get him back home before he comes to." They lifted the supervillain together and went inside.

Neutralduck went to the machine and re-plugged in the wires. "The other two fled when they heard the sirens."

Darkwing picked up his gas gun. "They were the Negaverse analogues of my parents."

"If my birth parents are anything like that, I don't want to know." Neutralduck set the equation. Four, exponent ninety-one times the sine of nine x plus seven. "By any chance did your mother lay a dud egg?"

"I think I heard my Dad mention one..." Darkwing stopped short.

"Nurse Ash Gray adopted a late hatcher. This is awkward."

"You don't say."

"I guess that makes us brothers," the bluecoat commented as the machine started.

"Yeah, but maybe we should keep it between us. It'd be too weird to explain."

"Too weird? This from a guy whose enemies can manipulate the entire Plantae kingdom at will, turn themselves into living tidal waves, and contain enough voltage to light New Duck City? But you're right. What am I supposed to say? Hi, guess what? Your dud egg wasn't a dud? Perhaps it's better this way."
****************************************************************************
Negaduck's eyes opened. His head was throbbing. "Last time I had a headache like this was when Darkwing closed the portal on me." He had lost consciousness and waken up in St. Canard General Hospital's Emergency Room. Syncope, unknown cause. The nurse had made a sarcastic comment: "I really love helping the bad guys."

Now he was in a jail cell.

"Oh, Public Enemy Number Two!" came the obnoxiously cheerful voice of a guard. "You have a couple of visitors!"

Negaduck was tempted to do some life-altering damage to the guard, but he had apparently been searched for weapons while he was out. Besides, his curiosity was getting the better of him. "Who?"

"Your parent!"

Negaduck felt the ice water in his veins curdle. On the other side of the security glass were Ruddy and Anatina Mallard. The Normalversions.

Anatina spoke first. "I can't believe I recognize you after all these years, Jake."

"Don't call me that!" was the indignant reply.

"Is that any way to speak to your mother?" asked the guard.

Negaduck spat in the guard's eye. "She's not my mother!"

"You've pretty much proved it," observed Ruddy. "Our son learned to spit with deadly accuracy at a very young age. Fine place that behavior got you."

"Ooh, what are you going to do? Send me to my room?"

"If you ever want to reform--" began Anatina.

Negaduck's voice could be heard clear through the foot-thick glass. "I like myself the way I am!"

The guard winced. "For once in your life, can't you be a gentleduck?"

The supervillain's response was to prove he was no gentleduck.

The guard wiped his other eye. "Warden Waddlesworth, I'd like a transfer to Aquatraz."

The visitors turned to leave.

"Goodbye for now," called Ruddy.

Anatina blew a kiss.

"Take me back to my cell!" growled Negaduck to his guard. "Now!"

"Happy to oblige," the guard snarled.

Negaduck threw himself on the cot. "The nerve of him! Throwing me in jail and embarrassing me with the counterparts of my parents! They claimed to be..." He stopped short. Could it be true? His earliest memories were hazy, but in one memory his mother was scolding him for choking the neighbor's cat and in another one, his mother was congratulating him for picking the neighbor's pocket. Could he have been born in this universe and ended up in the Negaverse? One thing was certain. "I didn't think it was possible, but I hate Darkwing Duck even more! If you thought I was bad news before, just wait until I break out!"
********************************************************************************
Finally home, Drake sank happily in a chair. "You'll keep my occupation a secret, right?"

"Of course," replied Ruddy. "Though I still think you should have become an architect and taken over the business."

Gosalyn waved a packet of photograph negatives in the air. "I took these from your baby album, Dad. I'm sure Morgana will enjoy seeing them!"

Drake leaped up. "Don't you dare, young lady!"

Gosalyn ran upstairs, pursued by her father. "Not unless you catch me!"

"Energetic little tyke," commented Ruddy while Anatina laughed.

Launchpad shrugged. "You wouldn't believe what I witness sometimes."

"You get used to it," Honker muttered. "Somewhat."

"Gosalyn Marilyn Waddlemeyer-Mallard! Let me have those!"

"Aw, come on, Dad! Have a sense of humor!"

The end.