Concrete Angel

A Darkwing Duck Fanfic
by LuvvyDuck

Disclaimer: All Darkwing characters are (c) Disney. This story is (c) by yours
truly. Please don’t use it in any way without my permission. Thanks!

Chapter 11

Someday when we are wiser
When the world’s older
When we have learned
I pray someday we may yet live
To live and let live…

---From Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame

At first, it seemed that both “Gosalyns” were making the adjustment to the sudden change in their lives. It came easier for Nega-Gosalyn
(or Angie, as she had to be called now), since so much of her twin’s world was a welcome reverse from the one she had escaped.

It was quite difficult for Gosalyn, however. Even though she was aware that “Angie” was an opposite of herself, this newcomer to the household had suddenly---though quite innocently---compromised the first real security she had known since her grandfather’s death.
That Nega-Gosalyn was a differing self was the root of the problem, since she was polite, obedient, tidy and helpful…all the things Drake
had wanted his daughter to be. How long before he might decide he preferred the other Gosalyn?

No…she wasn’t going to drive herself crazy worrying about that stuff. After all, that couldn’t really happen…could it?

“Gosalyn, it might be a good idea to keep Angie away from Tank,” counseled Drake as the duckling was getting ready for school.
“He’s not nice like the Tank she knew in the Negaverse.”

“He can’t be that bad, can he?” Nega-Gosalyn questioned anxiously.

“Oh yes, he can!” Gosalyn replied. “I’m not scared of him, but you oughta be. Hey Dad, is…uh, ‘Angie’ going to school, too?”

“Please, can I?” Nega-Gos begged. “I really miss going to school!”

Both Drake and Gosalyn looked equally shocked, but Drake clamped a hand on his daughter’s beak before she could blurt out that
the kid was crazy.

“I’d do anything to stay out of school!” Gosalyn insisted, once she could talk again.

“I know that all too well,” replied her father, rolling his eyes as he remembered the “stomach-aches” and other phony ailments
Gosalyn had thought up to stay home. “Well, we haven’t registered you yet, Angie. I won’t have time to do it today, but we’ll take
you by the principal’s office tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” she sighed.

So she gets to stay home today? Gosalyn thought, blinking as they all got into the car. She wasn’t sure where this was going, but she
was sure that she didn’t like it one bit.

She liked it even less when she came home and discovered that Nega-Gosalyn and Drake had spent the whole day housekeeping
and running errands together. What was worse, her bedroom had been completely cleaned by her twin.

“What’d you do to my room??” Gosalyn exclaimed as she gaped around in horror. She glanced down at her unusually clean floor; funny,
she didn’t remember having a blue carpet all that time.

“I just tidied it up a little, Gos,” Nega-Gosalyn said humbly.

“But where are my comic books? Where are my video games? And what’d you do with my zombie movies??” Gosalyn demanded as
she frantically searched through her dresser and under her bed. “If you trashed any of my stuff, Angie, you’re gonna get it!!”

Nega-Gosalyn gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, there were some old pizza crusts and candy wrappers lying on the floor, and empty
soda cans. You didn’t want to keep those, did you?”

“You know what I mean!” snapped Gosalyn as she glared fiercely at her twin.

“Don’t worry, Gosalyn! I put your movies and stuff in a special place. Here…” She pulled a cardboard box out of the closet, and
Gosalyn was quite relieved to find her comics and other treasures safely stored away. However, she was still aggravated at what
she felt to be an invasion of her territory.

“Angie, don’t touch my stuff without asking me first!”

“I’m sorry…I just wanted to help. Dad…uh, Uncle Drake said he’s always after you to clean your room…”

“Yeah? And he wishes I was more like you, right?” retorted Gosalyn, stung that Drake had

complained about her to her own opposite---but especially that ‘Angie’ had started to call him Dad.

Nega-Gosalyn stared down at the floor. Drake hadn’t exactly said anything to that effect, but maybe that implication was there. She
hadn’t meant to hurt Gosalyn; she had only thought to make things easier.

“Gosalyn, I’m really sor---”

“Don’t say it! Don’t say ‘I’m sorry’ again!” blurted her twin. “Would you stop being so friggin’ polite all the time? Geez!!!”

“Gosalyn? What’s going on up there?”

It was Drake’s voice, and Gosalyn froze as her father came into the room and gazed around in concern.

“Everything okay in here?” he asked, blinking.

Gosalyn swallowed hard. “Uh-huh…”

“Are you sure?” Drake insisted, his eyebrows raised. “Launchpad and I could hear you yelling all over the house.”

Nega-Gosalyn cleared her throat. “Uncle Drake?”

Oh great…now she’s gonna tattle, fumed Gosalyn.

“Gosalyn was worried that all her stuff was missing,” the curly-haired duckling explained. “I really should’ve asked her before putting
her things away. It is her room, isn’t it, Uncle Drake?”

“Well, yes; but you are a guest here. Though I guess we should’ve waited till you came home and could’ve helped out, eh, Gosalyn?”
Drake remarked with a sly smile at his daughter.

Gosalyn had quite a different opinion, but only gave a sullen shrug.

“Thanks for cleanin’ my room, Angie,” she mumbled.

Drake could still sense tension in the air, but decided to let matters lie for the time being.

“Well then,” he said cheerfully. “Problem solved---I hope. Dinner won’t be ready for half an hour, so you girls have a little time left to play.
But be nice, okay?”

As soon as her father left the room, Gosalyn sighed with relief and slumped down on her bed. “Nice save,” she said slowly to Nega-Gosalyn.

“I just didn’t want you getting in trouble because of me,” her opposite said pointedly. “If you think I did it because I’m scared of you, I’m
not. I lived with Negaduck, remember?”

Gosalyn had to laugh a little about that. “Yeah…I guess after Negaduck, there’s nothing left to scare you, huh?”

Nega-Gosalyn gave a slight smile. “Not much. Look, Gos,” she continued anxiously, “I don’t think your dad wishes you were like me. But
I know how you feel. Negaduck wished I was different. He even told me so, over and over.”

Gosalyn listened with interest, not surprised at anything hurtful Negs might have said; though of course Nega-Gosalyn’s sweet and polite
ways must have grated on him worse than anybody else.

“I…I even tried to be bad sometimes, just to please him,” her twin said sadly. “But it didn’t really work. Besides, this is just the way I am,
Gos.”

“Well, this is just the way I am,” Gosalyn insisted. “But I don’t think Dad gets that. That’s what I’m worried about, you know? He always
wants me to be polite and neat and stuff…”

“I guess that’s just how fathers are…the good ones. But Gosalyn, Uncle Drake loves you. I’m not taking that away from you. I’m even kinda jealous of you…”

Gosalyn was startled. Nega-Gosalyn---jealous of her?

“You see, Gos,” Nega-Gosalyn explained, “you got to have Darkwing for a dad. And he’ll always be your dad, no matter what.”

There was a note of sadness in the remark that touched Gosalyn, who could understand all too well how it had felt to be lonely and
alienated. Maybe she could try just a little harder to get along with this kid.

“I’m sorry I got mad, Angie,” she said, smiling at last as she went to her closet. “Come on, I’ll show you how to play Whiffle Boy---if you
can help me find him first.”

-----------

“The girls okay?” Launchpad asked Drake as he came into the kitchen.

“Yeah, I think so. Though it doesn’t look like Gosalyn’s adjusting at all. It’s a little weird for me, too,” he admitted, “but I’ve managed to
get a handle on this thing. I just wonder if Gosalyn’s even trying… I know this is hard on her, Launchpad,” he continued, “but what else
can I do? Angie needs a loving home, too!”

“Well, I reckon Gosalyn’s just used to being the only kid here. But you’re doin’ the right thing, or tryin’ to. Heck, poor lil’ Angie’s gotta live somewhere.”

“Sure, she does. I’ve tried to make Gosalyn understand that. But it’s just been the three of us for so long, and now that’s changed. And obviously, that’s tough on her…”

Indeed, it was---and in the days to come, things would become tougher still for the Mallard adoptee.

Keeping in mind her father’s advice, and going by her own experience, Gosalyn made at least a reasonable effort to get along with her
opposite. Yet even her best intentions couldn’t chase off the anxious doubts that wrestled in her heart---nor the reality that her world
had now changed.

And indeed, the change became more drastic as the days went by. Once Nega-Gosalyn was registered in school, much to Gosalyn’s
dismay her twin even outshined her in the classroom---though of course she didn’t mean to. “Angie” got the good grades in spelling
and math, and the teachers asked Gos why she didn’t do as well as her “cousin”. The one advantage Gosalyn had was Physical Ed,
but she still had to put up with mean remarks about her “geek” cousin who couldn’t play sports. She didn’t feel much like arguing,
though, since Nega-Gosalyn often embarrassed her by the way she dressed---and her klutzy attempts at trying to be athletic.

But it was at home that the situation became harder to bear day by day. Gosalyn would hear many a remark in favor of “Angie”,
with special emphasis on her tidiness and manners. Such remarks were often in response to something Gosalyn had done, or
hadn’t done, to displease her father.

“Gosalyn, why don’t you clean your room? Angie keeps it picked up so nicely!”

“Angie doesn’t mind taking a bath.”

“Gosalyn, eat your vegetables---Angie ate all hers.”

It wasn’t that Drake was trying to be cruel. He loved Gosalyn with all his heart and only meant well. He wasn’t the most tactful
of people, however; and he was quick to pass judgment---and far too quick to let his emotions rule over his common sense. By
constantly comparing the two girls, it was only in Drake’s mind to improve Gosalyn’s behavior. Surely, he thought, she must feel
secure enough about her life that she could sense his better intentions.

But as he would soon discover, he had sadly misjudged his daughter’s heart.

It finally got to the point where Gosalyn would actually avoid her twin, especially since now Honker and his parents were paying
too much attention to “Angie”. Much as Nega-Gosalyn enjoyed their kindness (a far cry from their behavior in the Negaverse), it
saddened her to see Gosalyn unhappy. She tried as much as possible not to get in her opposite’s way or to do anything to make
matters worse.

However, she herself was starting to find out that not everything in the Normalverse was better than in her own dimension…

Despite everyone’s best efforts to keep Nega-Gosalyn away from Tank, it wasn’t long before shehad the misfortune to cross paths
with him. It was late one Saturday afternoon, and Gosalyn had run off to the park to play street hockey with Honker and her other
friends.

By this time she’d become totally fed up with Nega-Gosalyn, and the way everyone held her up as an example. Even Launchpad,
who was usually Gosalyn’s ally, now seemed to have turned on her. That morning he had tried to get her to help with the breakfast
dishes; when she made one of her usual excuses to avoid the job, Launchpad reasoned: “But Angie always helps me out, Gos.” He
had not meant that in an unkind way, but the duckling was angry and hurt all the same.

So that afternoon, she quickly rushed out of the house with her hockey equipment before Drake had the chance to say anything---and
before Nega-Gosalyn could ask to tag along. Once and for all, Gosalyn was going to get away from her annoyingly sweet twin, if only
for a couple of hours. When Honker asked if “Angie” was coming to watch them play, Gosalyn requested that he shut up.

Shortly after Gosalyn had left, Drake came into the living room and found Nega-Gosalyn gazing wistfully out of the window---and no
sign of his daughter.

“Where’s Gosalyn, honey?” he asked.

“She left,” sighed Nega-Gosalyn. “I saw her go up the street with Honker.”

“She left without you? Well, that wasn’t very nice!” Drake declared with a frown. “Didn’t she even ask you to come along?”

The curly-haired duckling shook her head solemnly; but not wishing Gosalyn to get into trouble, she smiled a bit and said that it was
all right. “She knows I don’t like hockey, Uncle Drake.”

“Well, she might have asked you anyway, just to be polite,” insisted Drake, indignant that Gosalyn had flatly “ditched” her twin. “I’ve
a good mind to ground her when she gets home!”

“Please don’t be mad at her, Uncle Drake! Maybe she just needs to be by herself right now,” begged Nega-Gosalyn, hugging him around
the waist. She looked up at him, her sweet blue eyes pleading, and the mallard felt his anger melting away.

“Okay then, sweetie,” he said, laughing. “I’ll let it go this time…” But as he was returning Nega-Gosalyn’s hug, he noticed a small, round
object lying by the front door.

“Huh…Gosalyn was in a hurry,” Drake remarked. “She left without her hockey helmet, of all things!Well, she’d better not play without it;
I’ll have to bring it down---” Then he smiled at Nega-Gosalynas an idea struck him. “Tell you what, kiddo---how about if you take it to her?”

She brightened up at the prospect, though at the same time she wasn’t sure Gosalyn would want her showing up. Maybe if she just
stayed long enough to drop off the helmet, that wouldn’t be a problem. “Sure, Uncle Drake. And I’ll come right back, okay?”

“Okay, hon,” he answered, smiling as he watched Nega-Gosalyn grab the helmet and eagerly rush out. But after she had left, he
sighed heavily as he pondered his daughter’s behavior.

It was becoming more and more obvious that the new living arrangement wasn’t working out. But what could he do about that?
Nega-Gosalyn needed him as much as his own daughter. To change that in any way would surely devastate her. The cruelty her
“guardian” had shown her---and that might have worsened in time---made Darkwing determined that no matter what, Nega-Gosalyn
must never, ever return to the Negaverse.

Well, if all else failed, he thought simply, there was always family counseling…though good luck explaining that ‘alternate universe’ thing
to a psychiatrist, of all people.

-------------------

When Nega-Gosalyn reached the park, she caught sight of Honker still putting on his hockey equipment. Gosalyn was already playing
some distance away and had not yet seen her twin.

I’ll just leave the helmet with Honker, Nega-Gosalyn thought with relief. Then I can go straight home and I won’t bother Gosalyn…

“Oh hi, Angie!” Honker said, smiling as she came up.

“Hi, Honker. I just came to bring Gosalyn her helmet. Could you take it to her?”

“Sure! Would you like to stay and play with us?”

“Um…no, thanks,” Nega-Gosalyn replied, with an uneasy glance at Gosalyn. “I told Uncle Drake I’d come straight home. You and Gos
have fun, though.”

She gave Honker the helmet and turned to leave, when a large body blocked her path. Nega-Gosalyn glanced up to see a face familiar
to her; and in her own dimension, a face gentle and kind. But this face was contemptuous and brutal---and so were the words it spoke.

“Hey!! Who invited you, Tinkerbell?” snarled Tank in an ugly voice.

“Tank?” stammered Nega-Gosalyn, frightened and bewildered at such nastiness from a boy whose Negaverse opposite had been a
caring and faithful friend to her.

“Who else?” sneered the big boy. “So you’re Gosalyn’s geeky cousin, huh? No wonder she didn’t wanna bring you down here!”

“Leave her alone, Tank,” pleaded Honker.

“You gonna make me, shrimp? Hey, guys!” Tank announced to the other players. “Looky here! The little nerd-bomber came to play with
us!”

The other children stopped their game to gawk at the little girl in her pink and white dress, and several of them laughed. Gosalyn
abruptly stopped playing and came up, frowning.

“Angie? What are you doing here?” she demanded.

Nega-Gosalyn, completely shaken by now, tried to explain; but Tank broke in with, “What do you think, Gos? She’s here to be the
cheerleader! All she needs are pom-poms to go with that pukey outfit!”

“Shut up!” snapped Gosalyn, both angry and embarrassed. She was about to bark at Nega-Gosalyn to go home and leave her alone,
but the words stuck in her throat when she saw that her twin was beginning to cry.

“I’m sorry, Angie,” Honker declared sadly as the curly-haired duckling started to walk away.

“I’m sorry too, Annnn-gie---sorry you’re such a geek! Yeah, go home, you little crybaby!!” Tank bellowed cruelly when Nega-Gosalyn,
sobbing, broke into a run.

“I hope you’re happy, you big jerk,” Honker muttered to his brother.

Tank glared down at him, since his little brother rarely ever talked back to him. “Maybe I am!” he retorted; but Honker bluntly ignored
him.

“What are you doing, Honk?” asked Gosalyn, who had stopped staring after Nega-Gosalyn long enough to notice her friend removing
his hockey equipment.

“Sorry, Gos…I just don’t feel like playing anymore today,” Honker replied. With a last disgusted glance at Tank, he collected his gear
and walked away from his friends.

“Oh, great!!” snapped Gosalyn, throwing down her hockey stick. But the game had been ruined anyway, thanks both to her twin’s
appearance and Tank’s oafish hijinks. Besides, there was a 100% chance that her father would hear about the incident, and would
demand to know how she could have gone on playing after Tank had been so cruel to her “cousin”. She might already be in trouble
for leaving without Nega-Gosalyn in the first place---so the less she looked like the villain, the better.

Fuming, Gosalyn picked up her own equipment and trudged out of the park, feeling that her whole day had been completely ruined.

Unfortunately, the day wasn’t over yet.

Drake was in the den reading when he heard the front door burst open, and a pair of little feet rushing upstairs. The sounds were too
urgent to be ignored, and he quickly went up to the girls’ room to find Nega-Gosalyn sobbing in her pillow.

“Angie! Oh honey, what happened?” was his worried question as he took the heartbroken duckling into his arms. She told him about
meeting Tank at the park, and a fresh flood of tears followed as she recounted the awful things he’d said. Drake’s heart sank; he had
forgotten that Tank might be at the park.

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” he said gently, hugging her. “I hadn’t even thought about Tank. We tried to keep you away from him…”

“Oh Uncle Drake, he was so mean to me!! He’s nothing like Tank in the Negaverse,” she cried. “In fact, he’s just about as mean as
Negaduck!”

In truth, Negaduck would have made Tank look like a choirboy, but Drake could certainly see the point.

“I thought things would be better when I came here,” Nega-Gosalyn insisted, sniffling. “That’s why I left the Negaverse.”

“But many things are better, sweetheart. I know you miss your friends in the Negaverse, but I’m sure you don’t miss all the hateful
people that made your life miserable. You’re really better off here.”

Yet Nega-Gosalyn was beginning to doubt that. Yes, the Normalverse was an improvement from her world---as far as her surroundings
and most of the people. Then of course, here was her beloved Darkwing, and her dream of meeting him had finally come true. But it had
also complicated the lives of everyone involved; and now, there had been the shock of meeting Nega-Tank’s most unpleasant alter-ego.

Anxious to cheer up the unhappy little girl, Drake smiled kindly as he thought of something.

“I’ll tell you what, Angie…how would you like to go on patrol with me? I know it’s early yet, but what the hey!”

His words had just the effect on Nega-Gosalyn that he hoped for. “Really?” she exclaimed, her eyes shining. “Just you and me?”

“Just you and moi, kiddo!” he declared, grinning as he took her hand. “So go wash your face, then off to Darkwing Tower we go!”

Nega-Gosalyn’s heart swelled with happiness as she rode with Darkwing through the streets of St. Canard. The chance to so privately
share her hero’s adventures well made up for the disastrous encounter with Tank. This, she felt, had been her ultimate goal in her journey
to the Normalverse.

Meanwhile, Gosalyn had decided to stop for a slice of pizza on the way home, and talked Honker into joining her. As they were leaving,
Honker noticed two familiar figures coming up the street.

“Hey, Gos, there’s your dad!” he declared. “And that looks like…Angie?”

He quickly wished he’d kept his beak shut. Gosalyn turned and saw Darkwing zooming along in his Ratcatcher; and sitting beside him---
where she herself usually sat---was Nega-Gosalyn, smiling merrily and glancing adoringly at her hero. As Gosalyn stared unbelievingly at
the two, a bitter pain shot through her and her chest began to heave.

“Are you okay, Gosalyn?” asked Honker, worried at the look on his friend’s face.

But Gosalyn wasn’t okay. She was thinking of how often she’d had to beg her dad to bring her along on his nightly patrols, and how often
his answer had been: No, Gosalyn, it’s too dangerous; or No, Gosalyn, this is a school night and you need to be in bed, etc. etc. Yet now, there
was Nega-Gosalyn riding with him in broad daylight, and apparently, she hadn’t had to beg---unless she’d said “Pretty please!” or some
other sugary comment that would certainly make Darkwing give in.

Well, yeah! Gosalyn thought with despair. She’s all goody-goody and polite…just like Dad always wanted me to be!

Maybe…maybe now he wishes ‘Angie’ was his little girl…instead of me!

Hot tears sprang to her eyes at the very thought. She threw down her slice of pizza, her appetite gone; and as Honker followed
anxiously, Gosalyn quickly ran for what had once been a happy home…

End Chapter 11

So sorry to make everyone wait for this latest chapter!! I hope to get to Chpt. 12 soon, but it’s going to get really angsty and complicated
at this point. Not to mention, Ludwig and Matilda: A Love Story is still in progress (with six or more other stories waiting in the wings!). What
with that, the holidays and real-life getting in the way, as always I’m asking that you please be patient about updates, kay? (Thanks!)