Sea of Green
by Zebeckras
A/N: I had originally thought that Act III would just be two chapters but it's turned out to be three. Oh well. Probably for the best, I can pace a little more smoothly and the chapters will be just a little bit shorter this way. Not that you'd know it with this one. Thanks for reviewing and please keep it up! I need the encouragement! :D Also, happy holidays!
Chapter 1, Act III
"I doubt that's going to work, LP," said Darkwing as he walked swiftly past his sidekick.
Launchpad turned from the door, where he'd been trying to get to the rather rope-like vines with a fireplace poker, without letting the plants grab the weapon from his grasp. At the sound of Darkwing's voice, he stepped away and lowered the tool. "Yeah, it's not the best thing to use, but uh..." He stopped and indicated the corner across from the door, where a pair of heavy pruning shears was embedded. "They already got to the gardening tools."
Darkwing shook his head. "We're not going to get out the front door anyway, no matter what you use. The whole house is covered. We've got to think outside the box."
"If by 'box' you mean 'house', Dad, we can't get outside of it," said Gosalyn.
Holding up a finger, Darkwing smiled at his daughter. "O, ye of little faith," he said mildly. Gosalyn rolled her eyes. "These plants might have the strength of numbers-"
"And of elephants," added Launchpad, engaging in a tug-of-war with a vine over the poker.
"...Right... But they're not capable of improvisation. They might have every standard entrance and exit to every house on our street blocked, but I'm betting they won't have bothered to seek out any NON-standard exits!"
Gosalyn plopped herself on one of the twin armchairs and settled in. "So we check the passageway to the Tower, huh? Great idea, only, what do we do if they did think of that?"
Darkwing gave a yank on Launchpad's scarf, pulling him away from his battle with the front door's vine. "Just let it go," he muttered, then turned back to Gosalyn. "THAT possibility, my dear daughter, is why 'we' are not checking. Launchpad and I are checking the passageway, and you are going to stay here while... Why are you making that face?"
Smirking, Gosalyn crossed her arms. "Sooooo, what you're saying is, I'm going to stay home alone and take care of myself while you're on a case, huh?"
There was the slightest pause, and then Darkwing snapped, "NO, actually, because you're not ready for that yet and someone needs to take care of you so what I meant was that you can wait here while we test the passageway and then if it's working I will come back and get you..."
"Uh-huh." Gosalyn grinned, as Launchpad chuckled while he had a seat in the other armchair. "So I'll just wait here for you to potentially get crushed by plantlife and never come back?"
"Oh, just... quit rubbing it in already," Darkwing grumbled, and he took her hand and pulled her to her feet before taking the place she'd been occupying on the chair.
It took approximately thirty seconds to discern that the passageway to the Tower was clear, and another forty-five to return to the house, get Gosalyn, and then get back to the Tower for good. By that time, Gosalyn was so glad to be out of the house that she gladly gave up giving her father a hard time, although there were numerous comments about how they should figure out how to rescue Honker.
"The best way to rescue ANYone, Honker included, is by tracking down Bushroot and tossing that green gangster in a jail cell!" Darkwing said firmly. Gosalyn, hanging halfway out of a mercifully open window, made an irritated noise over her shoulder at him in response.
"So you think Bushroot is behind this?" Launchpad asked, in such an innocent tone that now Darkwing was the one making irritated noises at him. He amended, "I mean, it sure looks that way, but I thought you might wanna, uh... 'entertain alternate possibilities'?"
Evenly and slowly, Darkwing answered, "Plants. Mutant plant-duck. We don't have to connect a whole lot of dots here." He grabbed his binoculars and took up residence in another window, across from the one Gosalyn was occupying. "Catching him and putting a stop to this leafy larceny should be a snap - I bet we'll be done by lunch time. Launchpad, get the Thunderquack ready, there's no way we could get the Ratcatcher running steadily in all this."
"Right-o!"
As Launchpad made his way to the plane, Darkwing eyed Gosalyn. "And you thought we needed Gizmoduck," he scoffed.
Gosalyn shrugged. "All I'm saying is, I bet he wouldn't've asked for an extra hour before getting to work." Darkwing's only response was more irritated noises.
Bushroot was determined to show his guest a good time, even if she was reluctant to stick around. He could understand that; after all, they'd just met, and as she'd said, she hadn't had a chance to go home all day. But as he'd explained to her, she had inside information and as much as he really did trust her, he still couldn't just let her go home. Nobody would do that. It was just asking for trouble.
Plus, it was nice to have someone to talk to.
In any case, he really wanted her to enjoy herself. Just because she had to stay, somewhat against her will, didn't mean she had to have a bad time. He hoped to make it clear that she wasn't a prisoner, she was a permanent guest. She still had a habit of stammering, and although he couldn't say for sure if this was due to nerves or just a speech impediment, he figured if he could get the stammer to go away it would be a good sign that she was relaxing. So far, she seemed to be speaking a good deal more clearly, so he was probably on the right track.
"So, hey! What sounds fun, the bumper cars? Ferris wheel? I mean, as long as we're here we might as well have a good time, huh?" he asked as they wandered around the amusement park.
Beth looked perplexed as she regarded him for a moment. "Um, really? I guess... I guess the bumper cars, really, though that's awfully bumpy - well, obviously."
"That's true," he agreed. "But the ferris wheel's supposed to be real smooth."
She shook her head quickly. "Oh no, I - I have this thing about heights..."
"Aww, that's too bad. A lot of the guys have been going on it all day!" He flagged down a large dandelion passing by. "Hey, you been on the ferris wheel, Leo?" It had; three or four times, it told him. "Yeah, you guys are gonna wear that thing out!"
When he looked back at Beth, she was watching him with a serious expression on her face. "So you can really talk to them. To the flowers I mean."
"Well, yeah. Like I told you before, it's a side effect of my experiment... They hear me and I hear them. And they like me, too, all of them. It's neat, it's like having a bunch of secret friends no one else can talk to, but they can beat up bullies for you. Wish I'd had this deal going on when I was in elementary school."
Beth smiled and laughed lightly. "Heh. I can see how that'd be, um, appealing."
He laughed too, continuing to try to draw her out. "Well, so, you're sure you don't want to try the ferris wheel? The plants like it, and they don't like heights either."
"Really? They can tell the difference? I-I didn't think they could really... see."
"Well, you know. They don't usually like being out of contact with the ground for that long, that's what it really is. But they like the ferris wheel - I think they like being up in the fresh air." He smiled invitingly. "I'll stay with you... you won't have to worry about anything..."
She had her arms crossed over her chest, but after a moment's hesitation, she loosened up a little. "Well... o-okay, I guess I can give it a try..."
"Great, c'mon!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the currently-spinning ride; there was a small resistance as they got closer to the attraction, but she continued to let herself be pulled.
She stopped when they got there, and stared up at the highest seat. "Oh boy. Um, I'll wait here..."
Bushroot kept her hand in his. "Aw, live a little, huh? How 'bout we start slowly - I'll tell the guys running the machinery to stop it at the first level."
"But, but don't we have to keep going up before we can get back down..?" she asked. He noted that, as much as she sounded worried, she was letting him pull her towards the ride again.
They were about midway up the ride, and Beth was sitting stiffly, but at least she wasn't panicking. He let the shrub working the controls know to keep it level for a minute or so, until she got her bearings, and then to distract her from the height he asked, "So, you heard about me; now tell me about you!"
"Oh... me?" she asked, sounding surprised. "I, um, well... There's so little to tell..."
"Then no reason to hold back, right?"
She hung her head slightly, turning a little pink. "W-well, I mean, I don't have anything very interesting - no, um, experiments gone awry, or... big drama or, well, much of anything." She shrugged, apparently in way of apology. "Um, I work in a hardware store and I live alone. That's pretty much about it."
"That can't be all of it." He wondered if he was pushing too hard. She had been so reluctant to even give her name before; but then again, it wasn't as if he was going to use this information to break into her house and steal all her belongings. Even though he could do that if he'd wanted to; he would never want to. "Do you have any hobbies?"
"I guess... reading, I mean, I like to read... Fiction, non-fiction, it's all about the same as long as the topic is interesting. And really I think almost any topic is interesting, usually, unless it's something really ridiculous or - or gruesome. I'm not a fan of gratuitous violence or that kind of thing..."
He nodded as she went on, which she seemed inclined to continue to do. While she was directing her attention to him, he signaled for the shrub to raise them higher. When the machine started moving again she barely even seemed to notice. He smiled at her, and when she ran out of words he asked, "So... do you like plants?"
At this, she smiled too, and looked as if maybe she was even blushing a little. She ducked her head down. "Actually, I do. I went through a phase where I was really into botany and I almost majored in it in college. I was even thinking of focusing my grad studies on it, actually-"
"Oh, wow, you should've! You could have come to St. Canard U, they had a great botany department! And then we could've been colleagues in the same department!"
Beth didn't answer, she just looked out over the side of the ferris wheel car they were in. He wasn't sure if her worried expression was because of their elevation, or because of what he'd just said; as soon as he'd said it he'd realized what she knew of what had become of his other "colleagues".
He changed the subject as gracefully as possible. "So, how's the view?"
"It's... breathtaking," she said weakly. He noticed that her hands were white-knuckling the seat on either side of her, and he picked up the one closest to him and held it, smiling kindly. She returned it and loosened up a little. "Sorry to be such a wet blanket."
"Hey, lots of people have problems with heights."
"It's not a problem, precisely," she said carefully, "just a... a little discomfort, I guess. I just get very tense. Lots of things... get me tense," she finished with a self-conscious laugh.
"Well, you should just take this all in. We're not going to go much higher than this, and it's a nice view on a nice day." He gestured outward, and the green expanse of the quiet city spread before them. "Beautiful," he sighed, and drank in the sight.
Beth was silent, but when he took a look at her, she was staring out over the landscape as well, and a breeze picked up her bangs and blew them slightly. She looked peaceful.
When the ferris wheel started to move again, cycling them up one more step before beginning to go back down, she moved her hand in his grip slightly and said, "Dr. Bushroot...?"
At the way she said his name, the memory of Rhoda flashed into his mind again, once more unbidden. She didn't even sound like Rhoda, but there was a certain way that Rhoda Dendron had spoken his name that Beth unwittingly echoed. A little discomfited, he corrected her. "Call me Reggie."
"Right. Sorry. Um, Reggie... Did you really do all that?" She pointed a little at the horizon, gleaming green.
"Yep, all me," he said; he still felt proud, thinking of the accomplishment.
Beth hesitated, then asked, "How? Just by... just by asking?"
"Nahhh. Well, I mean, some of it's that, but my range of communication doesn't go nearly that far. I mixed up a growth compound and put it into the city's water supply yesterday, then I gave a little suggestion to a few of the plants nearby and had them pass it along so that everyone would know what to do once the compound took effect."
"So it's a chemical thing?"
"Hormonal, mostly. With some extra-boosted plant food thrown in to help speed things along."
"That's amazing," said Beth in wonderment. "I mean I - I didn't know there were hormones that could produce this kind of effect."
"Well, the telepathic link helps too," Bushroot said with no pretense of modesty. "But, it's mostly gibberellin, some triacontanol, a few other little things here and there."
"Wow," said Beth in a breath. "That's amazing. I'd never have thought of all that."
"That's why I dedicated my life to plants," he said happily.
"Reggie," she said in a breath, gazing into his eyes. Bushroot felt as if something was changing, like something was starting to happen for him at last. He turned in his seat and put his other hand over hers. She leaned closer to him, just slightly, and said softly, "Why did you do this?"
"What?" The question was so far from what he'd been anticipating of the moment that he couldn't parse it at first.
"You know... all of this," she said, and indicated the landscape again. He noticed that they were slowly descending; their ferris wheel car would be reaching the ground any time now, and although Beth was no longer showing signs of nervousness, she'd kind of killed the mood for going around a second time.
He took his hands from hers and set them stiffly on his knees. "I told you. They deserve it. They've relegated me into just one greenhouse, outside of the city, for months now; it's everyone else's turn to see what that feels like."
If Beth noticed that he'd withdrawn from her, she didn't show a sign of recognizing the meaning of that action. Instead she said, "But most of the people who are stuck in there don't even know you. You're punishing them for something they've never done. I mean... I didn't know you."
"You got out," he said, and turned to face her. They stared at one another until she looked away uncomfortably, towards the ground. "Look, all I'm saying is, if they don't deserve to be cooped up then they'll find a way out. Like you did."
Beth nodded weakly. When the car reached the ground level position and came to a stop, she looked relieved, and she stepped out of the ride and onto the level ground without words but still imparting a strong sense of gratitude.
Launchpad brought the Thunderquack down for a (very) rough landing a short distance from Bushroot's greenhouse. Ironically, the plant overgrowth was much less severe here; Darkwing could only surmise that he'd saved the hyperactive growth for his attack on the city but left the plants surrounding him alone, for whatever reasons.
He'd intended Gosalyn to stay inside the jet, but she'd refused. Launchpad was no help, of course, and he just stood by waiting while Darkwing argued with his daughter. She'd finally won that round after she'd pointed out that Bushroot might have plants on patrol and if they found her alone, who knew what they'd do? So Darkwing had acquiesced on the basis of "safety in numbers" and the idea that he'd be able to split his attention well enough to keep her safe *and* defeat Bushroot at the same time. Piece of cake, anyway.
They crept up on the greenhouse with a quiet stealth. Darkwing had his gas gun out and held at the ready; Launchpad and Gosalyn were unarmed, but keeping an eye out for ambush.
"Okay," said Darkwing in a low whisper. "Keep close... keeeeeep close..." He moved slowly, gliding along the perimeter of the greenhouse, very aware of the glass walls and his potential visibility. He dropped to the ground and held out his hand, indicating that Gosalyn and Launchpad should pause and keep down; behind him, they stood looking at one another, and shrugged. After a moment, he got to his feet again and waved them along once more. "On five, you two," he said quietly as they approached the door. "Be ready for an attack... One... two..."
It was at this point that Launchpad stepped on a rake, which shot up and missed his head but managed to smash straight through the glass wall they were bracing themselves against. The noise was intense and seemed somehow to last longer than it should have, as if there were a connected echo.
When it was quiet again, no one spoke. Then Gosalyn's voice cut through the silence. "Oops."
"Yeah. OOPS," snapped Darkwing.
Defensively, Launchpad said, "Well, it was just lyin' there!"
"Next time just find the doorbell!"
"I didn't-"
"SHH!" He held his gas gun at the ready, but nothing stirred. All three of them waited in silence for another moment, before Gosalyn peered into the hole in the greenhouse wall.
"Looks empty, actually, Dad. I think we're in the clear."
Darkwing let his gas gun fall to his side, looking disappointed. "Really? He's not even home?"
"Gos is right, DW, there's nothin' in there... All the plants are gone." Launchpad stepped away from the glass and looked inquisitively at Darkwing. "That's weird. Do you think somethin' happened to 'em?"
Darkwing stepped into the hole and looked around; Bushroot's greenhouse was indeed empty of life. He looked around, and poked his head back outside. "I'd say the most likely option is that they decided to take a holiday."
As he stepped back outside, something rustled off to the side of the greenhouse. None of them noticed it as they started back towards the Thunderquack, and behind them, a number of vines began to gather.
"So you think they just got up and walked off on vacation?" asked Gosalyn.
"Pretty much," Darkwing agreed. "After all, this is Bushroot; if he can get plants to uproot themselves and loot jewelry stores, he can give them all the day off just as easily."
"But what would they do? Go to an amusement park?"
"I don't know, LP, but we'll track him down and put an end to this floral fiasco!"
Gosalyn felt something brush by her knee, and reached instinctively to push it away. "Well, I will say, this is a lot more educational than being stuck in school-" She stopped when the whatever-it-was wrapped itself around her wrist. She looked down and found her arm encircled in green. "DAD!"
Darkwing spun around and pulled out his gun, but froze when he saw what the attacker was. "Vines! Figures," he said sharply, and tossed the gun to the side. He grabbed both of Gosalyn's hands, even as another set of vines made for his feet. He stamped on them as hard as he could, and tugged at his daughter until she was pulled free. "Launchpad! Run for it!" he yelled; they darted for the Thunderquack, but didn't make it far before more vines arrived. Each one was tripped in turn. Launchpad had the best luck at tearing himself free from the creepers, and he grabbed Gosalyn and piggybacked her the rest of the way to the jet.
Meanwhile, Darkwing found himself firmly caught by a much larger vine than the others he'd seen. He tried repeatedly but couldn't stand; the plant was not only holding onto him, it was squeezing his leg hard enough that the appendage was starting to go numb. Gritting his teeth, Darkwing searched in his cape until he found the chopping extension of his gas gun. "Okay, Snakey," he said, slapping the extension on, "it's mulch time."
It was messy, but effective.
He caught up with Launchpad and Gosalyn a few moments later. His sidekick already had the jet running and ready for takeoff, and Darkwing all but vaulted himself into the seat just before another set of vines caught up to him.
Once the jet was in the air, he was able to catch his breath. "Ambush! Far out, huh Dad?" said Gosalyn excitedly.
Darkwing wished, as he always did, that he'd managed to leave her at home. How much trouble could she have gotten into by herself? he wondered, knowing fully well that whenever he left her at home he returned and wished that he'd brought her along to keep her out of mischief. With his heart still hammering, he settled his hand onto her head affectionately in a gesture she didn't quite seem to realize was as steeped in parental nervousness as it actually was. "Not a surprise," he said. "I should've seen that coming. Bushroot went out for the day but left the attack plants to guard the place."
"They're strong, DW," Launchpad added. "But they still didn't look as big as the ones around the house."
"No, I think he saved those for the rest of the city. Bushroot can do more than enough damage with regular-sized plantlife if he's got a small enough group to inflict it on."
"So what now?"
Darkwing sat up, and peered out the window. "He's down there somewhere, and right now, we've got a bird's eye view. So let's make the most of it."