By Rebecca Littlehales

Act III

     A few hours later, Beth was still at the greenhouse. She had started to enjoy herself a little, charmed by Reggie's plants and tricks. She'd hit it off with Spike, too, who really fit her theory about the plants- he was exactly like a pet, as loyal as a dog. Reggie didn't quite seem to appreciate him as much as he should, though. Reggie also had some interesting stories to tell about Darkwing Duck, and since Beth knew next to nothing about Darkwing, she couldn't help thinking that he was a little hard on poor Reggie. Maybe I'm a little prejudiced, she told herself. After all, Reggie's stories are certainly going to be biased in his own favor.
     She was standing silently near a wall, looking outside to try to figure out where she was in case she needed that information, for any reason. Behind her, a group of plants crept up softly. She shifted a little, and they paused. After a moment, satisfied that she wasn't going to turn around, they wove around her shoulders and covered her eyes.
     "Oh!" she said, surprised. The vine covering her eyes moved, allowing her vision again, and presented her with a bouquet of pansies. "Oh, thank you, Reggie!" she exclaimed in delight, lifting the blossoms to her face to smell them. They cuddled up to her and she giggled. Spike ran up to her and tried to rub against her leg affectionately. He pushed so hard that she nearly lost her balance, but she laughed and petted him on the head.
     "You're welcome, Elizabeth," said Bushroot, watching her laughing from the other end of the room. "Anything, for you." He approached her and followed her line of eyesight. "You've been quiet lately," he said. "You want to leave, is that it?"
     "Oh, ah, no... I was just thinking about all those poor people, stuck in their houses. Do you really think it's right to lock them up and take away their freedom?" she said, changing the subject. This was a discussion that they'd had three times in the past couple of hours, and she kept bringing it up.
     "Look, I've told you this already. I have as much of a right to keep them locked up as they have to shun me."
     "But you have me now, I'm your friend. Why do you need to worry about what they think? Reggie, they could... die in there."
     "Elizabeth, I just... There's nothing more for either of us to say that we haven't already said. Let's just drop it, okay? They're not getting out. End of story," he said with finalty that he didn't feel inside.
     "Kay," she said, turning away from him coldly.
     Realizing that he'd upset her, he tried to think of what he could possibly say to her to bring her around again. There was only one thing that he could think of, and he'd have to work up to it. He coughed nervously and then began, "You know, Elizabeth, my beauty, I was just thinking how lovely you'd look as a plant, perhaps an orchid of some sort!"
     "Oh, thank you," she said, turning around and smiling. The compliment had pleased her, as they invariably did for her. People with self-esteem as low as hers rarely believed compliments, but they ate them up. "I love orchids. Lilies of the Valley are my favorites, though," she continued, remembering that she was mad at him and so trying not to acknowledge his compliment.
     "Well, then, that's do-able!" he muttered. She looked at him incomprehendingly. "Ah, you know, Elizabeth, I've always wanted to raise a family, with little sprouts running around."
     "Yeah, I've always wanted kids too. It's amazing how much we have in common," she said, forgetting her displeasure at him altogether, but not noticing that the friendship was somewhat lopsided-- Bushroot had something of a crush on her and believed it to be requited, while as she had no idea of any of this.
     "Yeah, it sure is! So, what do you say, Elizabeth? Will you marry me?" he said, taking the jump.
     "Uh? I mean, what? Reggie--" she said, pausing to collect herself. "Why me? Why now? I mean, you're half plant, I'm all duck! That is- Reggie, I just don't..."
     "No, no, don't speak! I've thought of everything! You want to be a Lily of the Valley? You got it!" he said, grabbing her hand enthusiastically.
     "But, but I didn't say..." She was silenced as Spike suddenly sprang up onto her and pinned her to the ground. He was followed by the same vines that had been so sweet to her earlier, which now slowly began to wind around her and force her to a large, none-too-friendly-looking platform.
     "See, sweetie, I can fix up the old experiment that made *me* into a terrifying plant-duck mutation, and make you the same way!" said Bushroot happily, not noticing that her expression was steadily becoming sicker and sicker. "Then we'll get married and live happily ever!"

     Meanwhile, Darkwing Duck had successfully fought his way past the killer plants and was now going door-to-door searching for some sign of Beth. He wasn't having much luck, but that may have been because a lot of the people that he spoke to seemed somewhat bitter that he was outside when they couldn't even see out the window. In any case, the answer to the question was unfailingly "no," and after the next house Darkwing was quitting.
     "Hello, sir or madam," he said pleasantly when he could hear the door open on the inside.
     "I'm not interested in buying Quackerware today, so why don't you just go away?" said a woman's voice.
     "Well, that's not why I'm here," he said. "I was wondering if you'd seen a young woman outside anywhere." He recieved no answer, so he continued. "I have a... description." For the most part, he dreaded the description. Launchpad had come up with it, as Darkwing couldn't really remember what she looked like, and it was a little on the extravagent side. "Ahem. 'She's mediumish height, with light blue eyes, a color of hair that reminds me of dark coffee, and feathers the color of cream. Her bill is a little bit wide, but it complements her face perfectly and overall...'"
     "...She's one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen," Launchpad finished at a house down the block, having memorized his description. "Sir?" he said, interrupting the silence on the other side of the wall of vines. "Sir-- have you seen her? Are you there?"
     "Yes, I'm here. Listen, Mac, I haven't seen the sky in fourteen hours. How could I have seen some freaky girl walking around? And what kind of supermodel, like the one you were describing, would be going around St. Canard anyway? Are you making this up?" came the raspy voice from inside the house.
     "No! I swear it!" said Launchpad. He'd been accused of making the story up a startling number of times. "I'm just looking for Beth Webfoot!"
     "Well, why don't you go to 'Missing Persons'? That's supposed to be what they're there for!" said the man inside the house, and then he attempted to slam the door, but it was muffled by the vegetation and wasn't terribly impressive.
     Launchpad walked sadly up the street towards Darkwing. "Hey, I didn't say anything about your cat!" said Darkwing to someone inside one house as Launchpad approached him. "Oh, hi, LP. Let's go, we're not getting anything here."
     "DW, we've just gotta find her! I have a feeling she's in trouble!" said Launchpad as they walked along the block.
     "You're not regaining those psychic powers of yours, are you?" said Darkwing. Launchpad shook his head. "Then how can you be sure? We don't even know for sure that she was even kidnapped! Listen, it's pretty obvious that Bushroot is behind this. I say we find him first, and then look for Beth. Who knows, maybe they'll be in the same place!"
     "But... but...," said Launchpad.
     "Look, there's no need to worry. True love conquers all, blah blah blah. We're going after Bushroot, no more buts about it. Now, where to start?" wondered Darkwing as Launchpad sulked. "Hmmm... where would a mad mutant plant-duck scientist hide out?"
     "I guess that greenhouse he usually uses would be too obvious, huh?" said Launchpad unenthusiastically. "Y'know, DW, I don't think it's very nice of you to make fun of me for worrying about Beth..."
     "The greenhouse! Perfect, LP! Even if he's not there, it might house some clues to start on! Let's go!" said Darkwing, completely ignoring his sidekick's complaints.

     "Reggie," Beth began in a reasonable tone of voice, "We're friends, not an item. I can't be a plant! It goes completely against my lifestyle!"
     He froze as he set up the experiment, a look of shattering concern on his face. "You-- you don't want to marry me?"
     "Well- no. I mean, I don't want to hurt you, but my heart belongs to another. I'm sorry..."
     His face darkened. "I see. You never loved me. You were just being friendly."
     "I thought you loved Rhoda, Reggie! I thought we were both two peas in a pod, in love with people we could never reach. Um, I'm sorry, but could you tell the plants to let me go? I'm starting to chafe..."
     "Well, I thought we were in love with people we could never reach, and had found each other. But I was wrong." He paused again, and then sighed. He looked at her silently for a moment, and seemed to to be about to let her go when new energy came to him and he tightened his fists. "If I can't have you, then no one can! Get her, boys!" he shouted to the plants. There was a pause, utter silence permeating the air. Then the plants slid off of Beth and went towards Bushroot.
     "What the-- Not me! HER!!!" he yelled frantically, but his pleas had no effect. The vines wound their way around him, the same as they had around Beth. Those that didn't assault Bushroot stayed near Beth, surrounding her protectively. When he was completely tied up, they stopped and were still.
     "Oh, wow," said Beth, not sure what else to say. Reggie was watching her, a look of utter shock on his face. "Let- let him go," said Beth. The look on Reggie's face was making her upset. "Come on," she said when she recieved no response, "he's not going to hurt me. I'm sure of it. Let him go." Still there was no response.
     "I-- I don't think they can hear you," said Bushroot, still watching her with an almost frightened look on his face. "I think they just didn't want to hurt you, so they acted on their own."
     That made sense to Beth. It supported her theory that plants had minds of their own. Plus, it didn't make much sense for her to be able to actually talk to plants- Reggie's powers had come to him from that experiment he was involved in. She was just a normal duck, and shouldn't be able to do anything out of the ordinary. Apparently the plants had just decided that they liked her, and had let her out of the hardware story earlier for the same reason. Maybe all of this had been almost a coincidence. But they wouldn't hurt her, that was obvious. A thought occurred to her. "Tell them I say to let you go," she told Bushroot.
     "Come on, guys, what'd I do? Lemme go! She wants you to! Listen to her, if not me! Please?" he said. The plants abrubtly left him and he fell to the floor. He sat quietly, with his head in his hands.
     Beth approached him apprehensively, not entirely sure if he was really as subdued as he looked. "Reggie...?"
     "The plants disobeyed me. They're not supposed to do that. They really like you," he said into his hands. "The feeling's mutual." He looked up at her with puppy dog eyes, and her fear left her. She sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders.
     "I like you, too, Reggie."
     "But you're going to leave me anyway, aren't you?" he said, looking into her eyes sadly. "Everyone does. It's okay... I won't try to stop you."
     "Well... you know, there's a saying: If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours, but if it doesn't, it never belonged to you in the first place."
     "So, what are you saying?" he said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
     "I'm saying... maybe we'll meet again someday, Reggie. I don't know for sure right now." She smiled at him. He smiled back.
     "I guess you'll be wanting me to let everyone out," he said.
     "Yeah, I think that's for the best."
     "I guess so. For you."
     "Thanks, Reggie." Having run out of things to say, and the urge to say them, they both fell silent. Beth found herself overwhelmed with a feeling of tenderness for Bushroot-- it was true, they were eerily alike in several ways, and she felt more than just friendship for him now. She wasn't sure what she felt... but it was nice.
     The silence was interrupted by a crash above them, and broken glass rained down around them. "I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the spider that spins the web of justice!" came a voice from the puff of blue smoke that appeared in front of Beth and Bushroot. "I... am DarkwiIIIIIng Duck! Freeze, Bushroot!" said Darkwing, stepping out of the smoke.
     "Beth!" cried Launchpad, from behind Darkwing.
     "Hi," she said, a little bitter about Darkwing's timing. Of course, he arrived after she'd taken care of all the danger. Maybe Reggie was right, maybe Darkwing _was_ an incompetant who just happened to get lucky.
     "So, we've tracked you down!" said Darkwing, somewhat snidely. "Now, are you going to come quietly, or..."
     "Yeah, right, Duck! Let's get him, guys!" said Bushroot, and they started to fight. "How *dare* you smash my lab like this? That's destruction of private property!" said Bushroot as his plants wrapped around Darkwing's neck.
     "Nice try, Bushroot! I knew you kidnapped Ms. Webfoot, and here she is as proof! You're guilty of kidnapping and trapping the whole city in their houses and buildings! There's no escape for you this time!" Darkwing said, pulling out the last of his supply of weed killer on Bushroot's plant lackies and knocking them out. Bushroot, unfortunately, was out of range and therefore still in action. The two began what Bushroot rarely participated in: A hand-to-hand combat battle.
     "Saracen pig!" exclaimed Darkwing.
     "Spartan dog!" rebuked Bushroot as they rolled around angrily on the floor.
     "Oh, terrific," said Beth. Watching Darkwing, she became aware that there was something familiar about him, but she chalked it up to imagination. Launchpad stepped in front of her protectively, and that was the last straw. Stepping in front of him, she yelled, "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!!!"
     All the action stopped suddenly. "Talk about childish! Sheesh! Who gave you permission to smash Bushroot's house, Mr. Hero?" she said accusingly. She wasn't so sure that the greenhouse actually belonged to Bushroot, but it was a nice bluff, and Darkwing wasn't taking the time to think it through.
     "But-- but, he kidnapped you! We were rescuing you!" said Darkwing, confused by Beth's sudden personality change.
     "Oh, quiet, you!" she said fiercely. "I don't need rescuing! I've been here of my own free will! I could have left at any time... You have no reason to be here, Darkwing. You've broken into someone's residence and attacked the owner. You're the one breaking the law," she said coldly, and somewhat untruthfully.
     Darkwing's face fell as he realized that she was right-- he didn't have any solid reason to be there. Then he remembered the main reason he'd set out that day in the first place. "Well-- he's the one responsible for wrapping up the city in his weeds!" he said, a trifle uncertainly.
     "How do you know?" said Beth. "I bet he didn't do it! And, just to show that he has no hard feelings against you this time, I'll bet he'll be happy to remove all of the plants from the city!"
     "Uh... yeah!" said Bushroot.
     "Beth... this is so unlike you!" said Launchpad, half shocked by her mood swing and half admiring her for standing up to Darkwing and staring him down.
     "Yeah... Well, maybe this is the new me! Do you like it?" she said hopefully, not realizing that she was already on the way to reverting to her regular ways.
     "Well... I guess you're right," said Darkwing, having thought things through a little.
     "I'm sure Bushroot won't press charges, will you, Bushy?" said Beth, winking at him.
     "Nah, think nothing of it. Well... Bye," he said, realizing that she was about to leave and waving at her kind of sadly.
     "Bye...," she said, also waving. "Uh... wait a minute, please, okay?" she said to Darkwing and Launchpad, and ran over to Bushroot. "I'll miss you, Reggie," she said, hugging him tightly.
     "I'll miss you too, Elizabeth," he said quietly. The plants surrounded her nonthreateningly as she backed away from him and walked out of his life.

     The childrens' eyes were glued to the newsbroadcast on the television above them, which was finishing a report on the plant mishaps. "...And Dr. Dendron has asserted that the actions of the plants were a fluke, and should not have taken place. She has placed the blame on the recent testing of certain possibly hazardous chemicals in the close vincinity of a greenhouse. The company that produces these chemicals has refused to comment as yet. Dr. Reginald Bushroot, more commonly known as Bushroot, the villainous mutant plant-duck, had this to say about the day's events:
     "I plan to continue to keep the plants under control until the whole problem has blown over," said the image of Bushroot, appearing on the TV screen. "I don't know for sure what caused these events, but the city has nothing to fear about a repeat occurence; I have things perfectly under control. And I am not villainous, I'm just misunderstood."
     The image returned to Tom Lockjaw, the news anchorman. "Oddly enough, Bushroot himself has threatened the city of St. Canard several times. This protection that he offers may be an attempt at reconciliation. In a possibly related story, the following pattern of vegetation was found early this morning in a farming field, also located close to the greenhouse:"
     The footage on the screen changed again, to an aerial shout of various forms of plant life spelling out "Reggie loves Elizabeth", entoured in a heart.
     The children watching the news broadcast had lost interest by this time, and had gone back to chatting with each other unhappily. They were dressed oddly for kids: most of them wore some sort of uniform, such as a construction outfit, fastfood uniforms, formal wear, or business suits. They groaned unhappily, and small wonder; they were locked in cells.
     At the sound of their unhappiness, a jolly-sounding voice called from around the corner: "What's wrong? Are you bored? Do you need more toys?"
     "NOOOOOO!!!" they all cried as one, terrified at the prospect of having to stand more of the toys.
     "Well, then, shut up!" said the voice. His shadow appeared on the wall as he started to laugh hysterically. The fool's hat atop his head bounced and jingled merrily.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Next: Toys, Pillow Fights, and A Rocket Pop!

Check out the author's notes!

Copyright Rebecca Littlehales, 1995. Beth Webfoot and Henny Chickstein created by me, R. Littlehales; all other characters are owned by Disney and are used without permission. This story may be duplicated as long as it is not sold or altered in any form. You may not make money off of this story. (How could you, anyway??) You may send me money if you really want to, but that's not obligatory or anything. Say you're doing it for my birthday or something. ;)

Thanks to Kevin Mickel and Kim McFarland for their critiques on this story. It helped a lot, both for this story and for improving my future writing.

You and Esbeckras...A great team. :)

"And we will march to free the day, to see them gathered there, from Land O'Groats from John O'Green, from Stepney to Utrecht, and we will see a Yellow Submarine..." --The Beatles, outtake of "Yellow Submarine"