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animationnut · 3 years

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Feelings In Free Fall

Rating: K+ Summary: After the terrifying ordeal that was fighting F.O.W.L., tumbling through the air with no parachutes was far from the worst thing to happen to the McDuck clan that day. After all, what's better than hugs in free fall?

Spoilers for The Last Adventure!

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The bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds would have been peaceful if Huey wasn’t currently free-falling through the picturesque scenery.

The wind slapped at him from all sides. Huey kept his eyes firmly closed, pretending he was at the harbour or the beach and not plummeting to his death from tens of thousands of feet in the air. He tucked his legs against his body to prevent himself from tumbling in all directions.

“I’m going to be okay, I’m going to be okay,” he chanted. “We just survived the insane Bradford Buzzard. We’re not going to die because Launchpad accidentally hit a button. Fate is not that cruel.”

Something solid stuck him and Huey’s eyes flew open. He yelped as Louie frantically clung to him, his movements causing them to spin. “Louie!”

He grabbed hold of his brother’s wings and adjusted his body into a horizontal position. Louie copied his movements so that they were directly across from each other as they fell through the sky. “We need to get a cover for that button,” said Louie flatly.

“Don’t think it would help much. Launchpad will still find a way to crash the plane.”

“Yeah, but at least we’d be inside when it happens.”

“That would be preferable,” admitted Huey.

Louie arched a brow at the steady stare Huey aimed at his face. “Do I have something on my beak?”

“What? No.”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“If I look down, I’m going to freak out,” said Huey, more calmly than he felt.

“Ah. Gotcha.”

“Hey, guys! Check this out!”

Louie glanced down, rolling his eyes at the sight of Dewey moonwalking through the air, moving his hips and arms to a rhythm only he could hear. “Show-off.”

Curious, Huey snapped his gaze down just long enough to catch Dewey’s dance routine before returning his eyes back to Louie’s face. “It’s kinda impressive.”

“I thought you were too scared to look down!”

“I am! But I only looked at Dewey, not what was under him.”

Louie was baffled. “How do you even do that?”

Dewey spun in a circle and flattened himself out, sailing up to join his brothers. Louie and Huey each grabbed one of his wings so that they were free-falling in a circle. “Pretty cool, right?” said Dewey cheerfully.

Huey could not help but smile. “It was very smooth.”

“You guys should try and do some tricks!”

“No way,” said Louie with a strong shake of his head.

“Yeah, I’m good,” said Huey feelingly.

Dewey regarded his brothers, his expression softening. “I’m really, really glad nothing bad happened to you, Huey,” he whispered. “We freaked when we saw you left your Junior Woodchuck Guidebook behind.”

“I’m glad nothing happened to you guys, either,” returned Huey. “I was really happy to see you.”

Louie grinned. “We could tell by how you nearly strangled us with your hug.”

Dewey lightly jostled Louie in the side. “You were great, by the way. That pep talk on the plane was something I needed. Thank you.”

“I knew the Dewey in you was there. You just had to stop trying to be Mom, Uncle Scrooge and Uncle Donald in order to find it. That plane flying of yours is seriously amazing and it’s all you.”

Dewey beamed. “Thanks! I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?”

“So humble, too,” said Huey sarcastically and Louie snickered.

“Heads up!”

The shout caused Huey, Dewey and Louie to look up in time to see Webby was hurtling towards them. Louie and Huey hastily let go and created a space for her to drop through. Before she went out of their reach, they snagged her by the wings, pulling her up to join their circle.

“Hi!” she chirped. “Isn’t this so cool?”

“I did a moonwalk over the clouds!” said Dewey excitedly. “Did you see?”

“I did! It was amazing!”

“Ha! See?” Dewey grinned smugly at his brothers. “Told you I’m awesome.”

“It’s a good thing you don’t wear hats,” said Louie. “That big head of yours wouldn’t fit into any of them.”

Huey studied Webby closely. There was a bright light in her eyes and she didn’t seem to be too fazed by the events of the day. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly, wanting to be sure she was all right.

“I’m fine,” she answered with a nod. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re good.” Dewey nibbled on his bottom beak. “Seriously, Webby, about the whole…clone thing. You’re not upset?”

“I was, at first,” admitted Webby. “But I think I was mostly angry. Angry that I was lied to by Granny. That I wasn’t who I thought I was. But I was wrong. It doesn’t matter who made me. It doesn’t matter that I was made and not born. I am the girl I’ve always been. Nothing changes that.

“And…well, I thought I lost my parents a long time ago. Now I have a dad!” Her delight was short-lived as she considered, for the first time, that this might not be something the triplets would be particularly happy with. “Does…does that bother you?” she asked in a small voice. “That I’m his daughter, and that I’m the one who found the Papyrus?”

“No,” Dewey said fiercely. “Not at all.”

“We think it’s so great that Uncle Scrooge is your dad,” said Huey sincerely.

“You were family before we knew about your past,” said Louie. “Why would that change now?”

Webby beamed. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too,” the triplets chorused.

“Hold that form, lads and lass!”

The kids glanced up to see Scrooge careening towards them, a wide grin on his beak. He did not show any signs of diverting from his path and Huey asked nervously, “Uhhhh what is he doing?”

For a moment it seemed like Scrooge would crash right into them. The shriek formed in Huey’s throat but before it could be released his great-uncle soared neatly through the middle of their circle. He somersaulted in place three times before angling his body so that the air carried him back to the kids.

Webby and Louie parted to make room and Scrooge joined the little formation they had created. He gripped Webby and Louie’s wings tightly, his eyes glinting with delight. “Ah knew Ah should have made ye kids wear those life vests.”

“Uncle Scrooge, even if there was water below us, a life vest would be useless given the speed with which we’re falling,” said Huey.

“It’s a joke, goof,” said Louie with a roll of his eyes.

“I know, but I feel we’re having too much fun given our life-threatening situation.”

“That’s never stopped us before,” countered Dewey. “At least this life-threatening situation isn’t, like, dark and dire.”

“We’ll be fine, lad,” said Scrooge, giving Huey a reassuring smile. “Fenton will nae let us plummet tae our deaths.”

“But Mom and Uncle Donald will,” said Louie with a straight face. “Totally don’t blame them.”

“Ye know what Ah mean,” said Scrooge with a slight smirk. His humour faded slightly and he regarded them all seriously. “What happened today was nae like anythin’ we ever faced before. If ye need tae talk, ye know Ah’m—”

“We know,” said Louie, giving Scrooge’s wing a tender squeeze. “We can always talk to you, Mom and Uncle Donald.”

“We already checked in with each other,” spoke Dewey. “We’re fine, Uncle Scrooge. What happened today was hard and terrifying, but we got through it, because we were fighting for each other.”

“Family sees us through, always,” said Webby earnestly.

“Aye, that it does,” said Scrooge with deep fondness. He surveyed the children that had changed his life so completely, an intense love burning bright in his heart. “Ah love ye kids. Always.”

“And we’ll always love you,” said Dewey with devotion, and Huey, Louie and Webby chimed in with their affirmations.

Though a warm fuzziness filled Huey’s chest, the anxiety still tingled, not letting him forget about their current predicament. “I hate to have another cute family moment interrupted, but we really should start making our way to the others.”

Dewey and Louie shared a mischievous glance. “All right, all right,” said Louie casually. “You want a boost?”

Huey blinked. “A boost? What does that—?”

Louie let go of Scrooge’s wing and Dewey pulled on Huey’s arm, yanking him from Webby’s hold. Ignoring Huey’s protests, Dewey and Louie each took one of his wings and used all their strength to send Huey hurtling downwards, where the others were scattered at various altitudes in their own free falls.

The sky flipped in all directions, just like Huey’s stomach, as he spun out of control through the air. Huey screamed with panic as he flailed, trying to put his body back into a stable position and failing.

“I haaaaaate you guuuuuuuuuys!” he wailed, even though he was sure his brothers couldn’t hear him any longer.

Alerted by the screams, B.O.Y.D. looked up to see Huey twisting towards him. He reached out and tried to grab his best friend, but missed the fabric of his red shirt by inches. Huey pitched below them and B.O.Y.D. cried out, “Huey!”

Gyro activated the communication function of Lil Bulb, connecting him to Gizmoduck’s helmet. “You’ve got Hat Nephew incoming,” he said.

Fenton snapped his gaze up. He could hear Huey’s screams but couldn’t see the boy. He was about to ask Gyro if Huey was still in his sight when the red-clad duckling plummeted through a cloud just above their heads.

Fenton jerked backwards, tilting his head as far back as possible so that Huey wouldn’t get hurt on his propeller. Gandra extended her wings and there was an oof from both her and Huey as she caught him.

“We’ve got him,” Fenton reported to Gyro.

Huey clung to Gandra, his stomach still twisting and turning despite the fact was he no longer moving. His heart raced in his chest and his breaths shuddered out of him. Gandra tightened her grip and said soothingly, “You’re okay, Huey. We’ve got you.”

“What happened?” asked Fenton in concern.

“My…brothers…are…jerks,” he wheezed.

“Siblings can be like that,” said Gandra in amusement.

Huey caught his breath and the roaring in his ears died down. He properly processed his surroundings, finding himself pressed against Gandra’s chest with his head tucked against her chin. She was in Fenton’s arms, cradled securely against the chest piece of the Gizmoduck armour.

Huey’s cheeks burned red. “I ruined a sweet moment, didn’t I? I am so sorry.”

“You did,” said Gandra with a teasing lilt.

“But now we’re having a new moment,” said Fenton cheerfully, briefly raising one armour-covered wing to stroke Huey’s feathers.

“Ugh, gross,” said Gandra, pulling a face, but a smile broke through when Huey wound his wings around her neck.

Up above, the cackling of Louie and Dewey was promptly cut off by a firm grip falling on their ears. “Ow,” whined Dewey. “Uncle Scrooge!”

“Ye know your brother does nae like tae be surprised like that,” he said sharply.

“That was mean,” chided Webby, crossing her wings over her chest.

Louie’s phone trilled in his pocket and, bewildered, he pulled it out. “Uncle Donald?” he said in confusion.

Scrooge let go of their ears and said knowingly, “Answer it.”

Louie tapped the screen and brought his phone to his newly-freed ear. “Uh…hello?”

“Where’s Huey?” barked Donald. “What happened?”

Eyes wide, Louie darted his gaze left, right and center. But Donald was nowhere in sight and he said in disbelief, “Wait, where are you? Did Huey fly by you?”

“He’s not with you?!”

“How did you even know?” cried Louie.

“It’s that sixth sense he’s got,” grumbled Dewey. “He always knows when we’re up to something.”

Scrooge nicked the phone and said smoothly, “The boys thought it would be funny tae throw Huey through the air. He’s fine, Ah saw Fenton catch him. Hmm? Yes, one moment.”

Scrooge returned the phone to Louie and, knowing what was coming next, he muttered, “Thanks a lot, Uncle Scrooge.”

“Yeah, thanks,” said Dewey with a pout.

“Ah trust ye two will be able tae find your way tae the others,” said Scrooge pointedly. “Come along, Webby Darlin’.”

Webby happily linked up with Scrooge and together they soared downwards. Louie winced and put his phone on speaker. Donald’s voice, already in mid-rant, erupted through the air.

“—and this is not the time to be goofing around or flinging your brother through the sky! When we get down to the ground you are going to apologize! Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Uncle Donald,” Louie and Dewey mumbled.

“And we want some sincerity when you apologize,” chimed in Della sternly. “You know your brother has anxiety. There’s a line, boys, and chucking your brother through the open sky by himself while we’re in free fall definitely crosses it.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Do we need to come and get you?” asked Donald warningly.

“No!” said Dewey quickly. “No, we’re on our way down.”

“Don’t dawdle!”

The line went silent as Donald hung up. Louie sighed and stuck his phone back in his pocket. “You know the thing about having a big family? A lot of parental figures.”

“Isn’t it great?” said Dewey happily.

Louie snorted. “Yeah, when I’m not in trouble.”

He performed a spin before angling his body directly downwards. He went gliding away and Dewey stayed in place, the wind whipping past him. He spread his wings and fell backwards, his gaze trained on the bright blue expanse above him.

A few years ago, Donald freaked if they went onto their docked houseboat without their life vests. Now here they were, free-falling thousands of feet through the sky, and his uncle wasn’t tearing his feathers out trying to get to them. He trusted them to make their way to safety without his help.

But the protectiveness had been in Donald’s voice, just as strong as ever. Dewey knew, even if his uncle had learned to let go, he would always be there.

The thought of Donald and his near-death experience caused tears to spring to Dewey’s eyes. He swiped them away and refused to dwell on the memory that had nearly broken his heart. His uncle was safe. His family was safe.

The family that risked life and limb to save each other. A family that was much bigger than Dewey ever imagined it would be. A family he loved with his whole being.

Dewey flipped over and soared downwards. He spotted B.O.Y.D. holding Gyro by the back of his vest, his rocket feet propelling them through the sky and keeping them out of gravity’s mercy. In Gyro’s arms were Lil Bulb and Louie.

“The extra load isn’t too much for you, is it?” Dewey asked when he came within earshot.

“Not at all!” said B.O.Y.D. brightly. “Dr. Gearloose is quite light.”

“I wasn’t talking about Gyro,” said Dewey with a snicker.

Louie glared up at him. “Shut up.”

“I’m sorry, the Gyro Express is closed,” said Gyro flatly.

“Don’t listen to him,” dismissed Louie. “He told me the same thing.”

Gyro narrowed his eyes. “I can still drop you, Green Nephew.”

Louie groaned. “Come on, man. How long are you going to pretend you don’t know our names?”

“I don’t,” said Gyro with a sniff. “I haven’t gotten around to it. I’m a busy scientist. I don’t have time to learn the names of snot-nosed brats.”

“You can ride with me if you want,” offered B.O.Y.D.

“Nah, I’m good. I’m gonna go find Launchpad.” He extended a fist and said warmly, “Thank you, B.O.Y.D. You put yourself in a lot of danger to save my brother. That means a lot to me.”

“To us,” corrected Louie seriously.

“I’d do anything for Huey,” said B.O.Y.D. passionately. “I’d do anything for any of you.”

They exchanged a fist-bump and Dewey grabbed hold of Louie’s cheeks, squishing them together. “I love you, little bro.”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying,” whined Louie. He reached up and wrapped his wing around Dewey’s neck, pulling him as close as he could for a hug. “But despite that, I love you too.”

Gyro gave a yelp of surprise when Dewey hugged him next. Squeezing tight, Dewey whispered, “You saved Uncle Donald’s life. I can’t repay you for that, because it means absolutely everything to me, but I’ll try.”

“Yeah,” said Louie softly, resting his head against Gyro’s chest. “We owe you.”

“Don’t be stupid,” said Gyro gruffly, lightly setting his wing against the top of Dewey’s head. “You don’t owe me anything. It’s, uh, what family does. The whole saving each other thing.”

“He said it!” crowed Louie, gripping the front of Gyro’s shirt and shaking him. “He said we’re family!”

Gyro’s teeth rattled from the rough motion. “Knock it off! I mean it, I will drop you. Louie!”

“Ha! You do know our names!”

Dewey laughed as Gyro spluttered angrily. He continued his descent and it was barely a few minutes of falling later when he came upon Fenton, Gandra and Huey. “Eyyyy! How was your trip, Huey?”

“Terrifying!” snapped Huey, straining to smack at his brother.

“Listen, Uncle Donald told us to apologize, but he said to do it when we’re on the ground and we’re not on the ground yet, soooooo…”

“You are the worst.”

“You’re confusing me with Louie,” said Dewey jokingly.

“This isn’t the time to play around,” scolded Fenton lightly. “Hop on.”

“Thanks, but I’m on my way to Launchpad. Just wanted to stop by and give my big bro some love.” He rested his forehead against Huey’s and said affectionately, “I love you.”

His ire melting, Huey wrapped his wings around his brother. “I love you too. Even when you tap dance at three in the morning.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” said Fenton warmly.

Gandra furrowed her brow. “You tap dance at three in the morning?”

“Sometimes I get restless,” said Dewey simply. “I like to dance it off.”

“But why tap dancing specifically?”

“It calms me down.”

“Er…okay.”

Dewey regarded her, the way her arms were wrapped securely around Huey and how his brother was nestled comfortably against her. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. “For helping out my family today. This is, like, a weird way to officially meet, but I can’t wait to get to know you better. From everything Huey’s said about you, you’re awesome.”

“He talks about me?” said Gandra, touched.

“All the time.”

“Not all the time,” said Huey quickly. “A reasonable amount of time.”

“I’m flattered, Red.” Gandra playfully pinched his cheek. She smiled at the boy in blue and said, “Thanks, Dewey. I’m looking forward to getting to know you, too. I’ve never really found a place where I fit in before. I think your family might be what I’ve always been looking for.”

“It is,” said Dewey confidently. “Right, Fenton?”

“Absolutely,” said Fenton with a nod. “I…I didn’t think I had what it took to be a hero. But Launchpad, Mr. McDuck, you guys and everyone else showed me I was wrong. You are the reasons I fight.”

“So much mush,” said Gandra with a shudder.

“Get used to it,” teased Fenton. “You sure you don’t want to ride with us, Dewey?”

“Huey’s with his best friend and I ought to go to mine. See you in a few!”

It took a bit longer before he encountered the next group. The girls were all surrounded with Lena’s blue magic, keeping them anchored in the sky and letting them move as they pleased. Dewey cupped his wings around his beak and he shouted, “Webby!”

“Dewey!” she shrieked back gleefully.

She opened her wings and Dewey performed a spin before landing in her embrace. He gripped her tightly and whispered, “Thank you, Webby. For believing in me even when I didn’t. For not giving up even when I wanted to. I couldn’t have found out what happened to Mom without you.”

“I’ll always believe in you, Dewey,” said Webby fiercely, clinging to his shoulders. “Thanks for trusting me with your secrets.”

“Awwwwwwww.”

The coos came from the gathered girls, though Lena’s was a touch more sarcastic than sincere. Dewey stuck his tongue out at her and she made a face at him in return. He spun around so he could fully face May and June and took hold of their wings.

“Webby is like, the best sister you could ask for. I know everything is going to be crazy different for you now, but it’s going to be way better. I promise.”

“We’ve never been part of a family before,” said June hesitantly.

“I didn’t have a family at first, either,” said Lena softly. She pulled Violet against her side and said warmly, “But Violet and Webby changed that for me, and we’re going to change it for you.”

“We’ll show you the ropes,” said Violet confidently. “Don’t worry. You will be well-loved.”

May peeked at Dewey and said hopefully, “We always wondered what it would be like to have a brother.”

“Now you’ve got three,” said Dewey with a grin. “I’m the best triplet, though, but I’m sure you’ll soon figure that out.”

“Okay, one of the rules of this family, Huey is the most trustworthy triplet,” said Lena with a roll of her eyes. “So, like, don’t take anything this dork says seriously.”

“Noted,” chirped May and June.

Dewey clutched at his heart. “I am wounded.”

“Whatever,” said Lena with a snort. “You wanna fly with us?”

“I’m actually on my way to Launchpad. I thought I’d see you before I passed by.”

“Group hug before you go!” whooped Webby.

Dewey found himself smushed between the group of girls. “Cooties! I’m infected!”

May blinked. “Cooties?”

“Get outta here!” said Lena with a laugh.

Dewey found himself encased with blue magic. He yipped as Lena flung him down and as he twisted and spun through the air, he found the inspiration for his apology to Huey.

Thanks to the burst of power from Lena’s magic, Dewey came upon Manny, Mrs. Beakley, Scrooge, Della and Donald much quicker. “Heeeeeey!” he said dizzily as he finally straightened himself out.

“What are you doing?” demanded Donald. “I told you not to dawdle!”

“I’m not! I’m on my way to Launchpad!”

“Where are your brothers?” asked Della with a frown.

“Louie’s with Gyro and B.O.Y.D. and Huey’s with Fenton and Gandra.”

“Is Webby still with the girls?” asked Mrs. Beakley.

“Yup! Just passed them.”

“Launchpad is too far down,” insisted Donald. “Get over here.”

“I’m going to be fine! I can literally see Launchpad from here, it won’t take long.” Dewey grinned at Manny and said, “Love the makeover, by the way. Beyond epic.”

“I must say, it’s nice to have my own head once again,” Manny replied.

“Don’t see what was wrong with the other one,” said Scrooge under his breath.

“All right, before I go, I have some very important things to say,” declared Dewey. He drifted over to Mrs. Beakley and folded his wings around her neck. “Thanks for being our protector,” he said softly. “I love you.”

Mrs. Beakley set a wing against his back. “I love you too, Dewey. I will always fight the battles you cannot,” she said strongly. “And thank you, for all you’ve done for my—for Web—”

“For your granddaughter,” interrupted Dewey firmly. “She’s your granddaughter.”

It took Mrs. Beakley a minute before she could speak past the lump that formed in her throat. “Yes. She is.”

Dewey latched onto his great-uncle next and Scrooge wasted no time into pulling his nephew against his chest. “Ah’ve hunted years for the most sought-after treasures,” he whispered. “But ye kids and your uncle reminded me that there will never be a greater treasure than my family. Ah love ye, Dewey.”

“I love you too,” said Dewey, nuzzling into the front of Scrooge’s coat. “You taught me so much. You showed me the world. You helped me realize that I’m special as I am, and that the only one who thought I wasn’t good enough was me.”

“Ye are perfect joost the way ye are,” murmured Scrooge. “Do nae ever change.”

“Thanks, Uncle Scrooge.”

Scrooge gently let him go and Dewey floated back into the air. He angled himself in front of his mother and uncle and, at the sight of the tears already building in their eyes, his own started to spill over.

“You know, I’m the luckiest kid in the world. When I set out to solve the mystery of my mom, I only wanted to know what happened to her. I thought she was lost, but then I found her. She wasn’t who I thought she was—she was even better than that. She’s been trying to be the best mother she can be ever since she came back and though she makes mistakes sometimes, I know she loves us, and she’s already taught each of us so much. She’s amazing.

“Even if I didn’t understand it or always appreciate it, I was protected for the first decade of my life by someone who loved me and my brothers more than anything else in the world. He loved us enough to bring us to meet our great-uncle, and we’ve grown together ever since. I know that even if he learned to let go, he’ll always be close enough for me to reach out and grab hold of. I never had to go searching for my dad because he’s been with me since the day I was hatched.”

Donald seized Dewey by a wing and pulled the boy into his embrace. Della twisted around and placed one wing on the back of Donald’s neck while the other curled around Dewey’s waist. Donald nuzzled his beak against the top of Dewey’s head and the duckling clung to them, tears splashing down his cheeks.

“I love you,” he said tearfully. “I love you both so much. I’m who I am because of you.”

“No, you’re who you are because of your uncle,” said Della with gratitude. “The best brother a girl could ask for, and the best dad. I see so much of Donald in you and your brothers.”

“When I look at them, I see you,” countered Donald, lightly running his wing through Dewey’s feathers. “Their spirit, their love of adventure and their strength is all you.”

“No,” said Scrooge, his voice thick with emotion. “The boys are both of ye. Ah know because the traits that drove me crazy when ye were kids are the same traits that these kids have.”

Donald and Della looked at each other and laughed. Della wiped the tears from Dewey’s face and kissed his forehead. “I love you, baby. I am so, so proud of you.”

“You boys are my world,” said Donald tenderly. “That’ll never change.”

Dewey beamed. “You guys are my world, too.”

“Now go to Launchpad before I strap you to Manny,” said Donald.

“I would prefer if you didn’t,” the horse said.

Donald and Della raised their wings with Dewey holding on. For a moment he floated in the grasp of his guardians, and Dewey’s heart felt like it would burst from the amount of love he felt.

The twins let go and Dewey tuck and rolled, sailing further down. He spun onto his back to blow Scrooge, Della and Donald a kiss, which they mimed catching in unison with adoring, loving smiles on their beaks.

Dewey fell into a dive and he hollered, “Launchpad!”

“Little buddy!” cried Launchpad.

“Can I ride with you?”

“You sure can! Get over here!”

Dewey fell level beside Gosalyn and she grinned at him. “All right! Now we balance out the nerdiness with our coolness!”

“You know it!” he cheered, high-fiving her.

Darkwing ruffled his feathers. “Better get secure, kiddo. I think the ground’s fast approaching.”

Launchpad grabbed hold of Dewey and the boy let out a small squeak as he was sandwiched against the pilot’s broad chest. “Don’t worry, Dewey. I’ll keep you safe.”

“I know you will,” said Dewey with a smile. “Thanks for being my best friend, Launchpad. You inspire me every day. I love you.”

“Aw, buddy, I love you too,” said Launchpad with a sniffle, squeezing Dewey even tighter. “But you inspire me way more.”

“You’ll never guess what happened in the evil guy’s lair,” said Gosalyn eagerly.

“What happened?”

“Launchpad became Gizmoduck! He kicked butt and it was awesome!”

Dewey craned his neck and said excitedly, “You got to borrow Gizmoduck’s armour?!”

“I sure did!” said Launchpad proudly.

“Tell. Me. Everything.”

As Launchpad started to tell an enthralled Dewey the story, Darkwing turned to Gosalyn and frowned. “Wait. Borrowed? I thought Launchpad was Gizmoduck.”

Gosalyn shook her head fondly and lightly tapped Darkwing’s beak. “Yeah, no, he’s definitely not, Clueless One.”

“Hey!”

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers Part 3: Storkules in Duckburg! aka THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES TERRIBLE BUT WELL MEANING ROOMATE OUT OF MYTH

Hello all you happy people! And welcome and welcome back to Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers, my look at the season 2 arcs of Ducktales! This arc was paid for by WeirdKev27 and I truly enjoy his support. if you want to know how to commission your own reviews or to get a guarnateed review of me of your choice from me a month, stick around to the end. I realized that shoving all my plugs in up top may be driving people away and while I DO make them because I want to make a living off this, i’ts not fair to those of you who simply can’t afford to buy a lot of extra shit like myself to keep shoving it in your face.

Previously on the Louie Inc Arc, Louie, after believing he had no skills and it was a matter of when not if he ws going to die, found his talent: seeing all the angles and thus being Sharper than the Sharpies. With newfound confidence and a chip on his shoulder from Scrooge saying he could one day be a bigger success than Scrooge himself, founding Louie Inc as a result. But what is Louie Inc? Does he actually have a plan or a bunch of buzzwords. And what does STORKULES, MANLY GAY OUT OF MYTH have to do with any of this? Join me under the cut to find out.

We open with Louie giving Scrooge his sales pitch that is essentially...

Naturally Scrooge buys none of it. I mean he’s somewhere in his hundreds, he’s probably seen about 80 thousand pitches that amount to “I have no plan but give me money anyway”. There’s a reason there’s a Butch Hartman shaped crater on the lawn from where he threw his ass out.

Scrooge does mentor the lad, or at least attempt to pointing out he needs an actual product or service (Louie rejects the idea of a lemonade stand as too easy), or as he puts it “Find a problem and create a solution”.

While the basic PRINCIPAL isn’t bad, find something people want or need and provide it, phrasing it that way sounds like “find a problem people are having and exploit the shit out of that problem for fun and profit.” Granted that IS a guiding principal of business, it’s just not something an uncle should be teaching his kids. They should be teaching them about the anime and cartoons they grew up with as I do with my niece and nibling.

He does show him a valid example of this in action in the form of Donald. Turns out Donald has found a good way to make money while he looks for a job, can relate: since Duckburg is facing a housing shortage, likely because several square blocks probably get destroyed by Scrooge’s Adventures, Glomgold’s Schemes, Superhero Battles, whatever creation went horribly wrong for Gyro, etc at least once a week. So he’s taken it upon himself to offer up the spare room to whoever can rent it.. and to steal Scrooge’s chandelier which even when caught he still takes anyway. Scrooge.. you called the guy a god-damn moocher in the season premiere, despite the fact he lives there soley because YOU offered and because he’s you know, being responsible and staying by his boys so they have their father figure around. So yeah I feel he’s doing this partly out of spite as is the McDuck way. I mean if your going to call him a freeloader just for being a responsible parent, then he’s going to take it up a damn notch.

Scrooge proceeds to laugh off Louie wanting a million dollars and gives him a dime instead because of course he was. Seriously Louie there are two other billionaires in town who are FAR dumber and far more easily swindled. Just go get star up capital from them. Hell with Glomgold all you’d have to do is tell him it’d upset scrooge and he’d literally throw money at you. Or give you a shark full of money. He needs the shark back though. He’s family.

Meanwhile Donald prepares for his new tenant and finds.. THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES! Who to his mounting horror as he realizes it, IS the new tenant. And who throws him into the sun. Cue credits.

So after Donald somehow survives being thrown into the sun, Storkules explains why he’s here: Zeus responded to his son playing the lute a lot like any rational reasonable

No of course he responded to the “crime” of “playing his instrument a lot” with sending a swarm of harpies on the town then blaming Storkules for it and casting him out. What’s most shocking is not the action, this is honestly him staying the course of being a fucking disgrace, but that Zeus somehow ISN’T the biggest asshole i’ve dealt with this week. No that honor is reserved as always for this bitch:

Keep in mind she manages to be this obnoxious in only TWO scenes. Also keep in mind I had to put up with Julie for a MUCH larger chunk of the previous two volumes I covered before volume 5 yesterday for my Scott Pilgrim Retrospective and she is ALWAYS like this and you now feel my pain.

This does create a problem though: Zeus casts Storkules out until he’s a responsible adult.. and thus paints Storkules as the bad guy... in a situation where the only other person in the story sent a swarm of HARPIES down at him for simply playing his music too loud. It just dosen’t work as a catalyst: Storkules objectively did nothing wrong. The only person he annoyed was a person who clearly dosen’t love, respect or like his son in any way shape or form anyway and essentially assaulted him and a bunch of innocent people via harpie and then cast him out. Zeus is an abusive asshole and i’ts weird the narrative sides with HIM and not our well meaning doofus. Zeus being an asshole with harpies is not a bad catalyst for the episode, and the harpies being unleashed is used well.. it’s just not a good catalyst for THIS story to try and portray an abuser as in the right. And make no mistake Zeus is a domestic abuser: he had his son mind controlled to try and MURDER innocent people, something Storkules begged him not to do, sent a swarm of creatures after him for the crime of playing his music too loud and in his next episode manipulatives Storkules sad emotional state for personal gain. Why would you try and paint THIS jackass as in the right?

Speaking of painting this jackass in the right sadly.. this episode does not do my boy donald justice. In most episodes he’s pretty nuanced and i’ts fair enough he’d be frustrated by Storkules as a roomate. Storkules has little sense of personal space, breaks his stove thinking theirs hydra in it, makes a mess of the kitchen making them a meal, and in general clearly dosen’t know how to live with a roomate much less in modern society. He has valid concerns and the episode COULD have used it that way.. but he’s also horribly impatient with Storkules. He refuses to get the guy just hasn’t had to live in a modern society and dosen’t know HOW to function in it and instead of helping him just gets mad again and again and gets really pissed when it’s clear Storkules dosen’t have a job and didn’t consider paying rent. He’s not WRONG to want him to pay Rent, despite what ironically the musical Rent would try and have you believe, but he dosen’t have any patience with the guy. And stork isn’t nearly coming on as strong as he normally does. The worst he does is cook the guy lunch and bring his donald fan art with him. Which we don’t see but I am assuming is mostly naked. What i’m saying is for once that while still bombastic, Storkules isn’t trying to force a relationship/friendship on him and simply wants to learn t be an adult from his best friend.. and Donald isn’t bothering teaching him.

Asking for rent or for him not to destroy the stove is fine, but not explaining WHY he needs either of those things or why he needs boundaries, he makes a roomate list, isn’t helping the guy. And this would be fine... but the episode dosen’t call Donald out on it for no real reason. It feels like it’s setting up for a “you should learn to wokrk with someone instead of just screaming at them aseop” that never comes and like with Zeus takes his side because shutup. I’d also LIKE to say this is the only time the writers reduced one of the cast to a caracture of themselves.. but I can’t. Several episodes in season 3 forgot Louie’s character development and another episode in season 2, The Duck Knight Returns!, somehow reduced both Scrooge and Dewey to parodies of themselves with Scrooge SOMEHOW, despite Della as stubborn as she is being in his care and by his side for decades and Movies bein ga huge business, not having seen a movie since the 1920′s and not knowing how they work and Dewey being reduced to just hyperactive moron. It isn’t as common as other shows like say Regular Show, The Loud House or, for the exact reason I lost intrest, Rick and Morty, but I still expect better, especially since they went into this season KNOWING Donald would be gone for half of it and this would likely be one of his only spotlight episodes.

Back at the good part of the plot, Louie is having a company meeting aka already treating Huey and Webby like his employees. Webby of course is glad to sign on, if little help in actually coming up with a product while Huey just wants to nope out. And if your wondering why Dewey isn’t involved Louie outright says he’d make a bad employee and while Dewey rises from his bed to object.. he stops halfway to opening his mouth and concludes he has a point. Best gag of the episode. Louie being louie easily cons Huey into staying by making Webby his charts officer.

So the three have a corporate retreat at Funso’s... granted they don’t have a product but Louie figures this might help. Huey.. still wants out of this and suggest since they already spent what they had on ski ball “Company over?”. It’s clear that Huey just sees this as another one of Louie’s short sighted schemes... and while he’s not ENITRELY wrong, Louie has genuine ambition.. he just has no earthly idea what he’s doing and is shooting way too high.. but for understandable reasons. 1) He’s 11 at this point. 11 year olds aren’t great at business strategy or reinging it in. 2) he wants to live up to what Scrooge said to prove he can be successful and really be worth something like his mom was.

But sometimes fate throws you one and the harpies bust in. And while Louie wants to do nothing and hope they go away Huey and Webby spring into action.. as does Storkules, who had to leave but warns donald there’s Orzo in the slowcooker and to not open it “LEST THE PASTA FAIL TO ABSORB THE BROTH!” Which is just.... Chris’ best line dleivery the episode. He says it like he’s saying the title of an old Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic, i’ts wonderful.

So our heroes defeat them and Louie steps in to charge for the service and quickly comes up with a company idea and name “Harp-B-Gone” (A Subsidary of Louie Inc). Louie hires Storkules on the spot. Storkules proudly tells Donald he has a job the next day and goes off to it. What follows is our heroes hilarously shooting a commerical with Storkules playing a baby to promote themselves so they can help who needs it. They just need to find out what they want.. and thanks to the JWG and the harpies stealing it find out they go after people’s most treasured posessions Cue Ghostbusters-Style Montage

And this isn’t just me saying thing. The Rewriting History Entry (Which as a series weirdly stops around mid-season 2 and I don’t get why frank hasn’t gone back and finished it since) states they specifically based this whole operation on ghostbusters and the entire sequence of our heroes cleanin up the town reminds me of it. The highlight of it is a glomgold cameo where he’s kidnapped.. and refuses to pay so Louie just lets him go. And were this an innocent person who couldn’t afford it, i’d call him a monster.. but it’s glomgold. he brought this on himself.. and also sues himself for it. Wonder if he won.

So with their stars rising, our heroes get booked on the hottest show in town: Dewey Dew-Night! I had honestly forgotten there was a Dewey Dew-Night segment in there, and delighted I get to talk about this recurring bit. It’s one of the shows funniest runners and just perfectly FITS Dewey: of course the most egotistical and energetic of the kids would not only want to be a late hnight host but make up his own show. I also love the slow evolution of it: it started as something everyone clearly knew about but he stlill tried to keep hidden, slowly escalated to him allowing the rest of his siblings (Webby very much included) and the giant man who stalks his uncle in, and by later this season he’s putting the show online in the web shorts and gladly shooting it into space, with Season 3 having him spend the first half of let’s get dangerous making a documentary that includes an episode of the show featuring Darkwing. It’s a small thing sure, but it’s the little things like this that make the show special.

The show does reveal a problem though as it turns out they’ve GOT all the harpies and while Storkules merely wanted to help, Louie points out they need more to keep a buisness going and naturally never bothered to ask Storkules just how many there were. They need SOME plan to get going. Webby submits a legitamte and great idea, training the harpies as she’s been trying to do in the background of the episode and aside from a hole in the floor they are starting to listen. But Huey is an ass about it and not only shoots it down saying let’s keep the dangerous creatures contained, even though A) he has no idea WHERE they’ve been kept so he can’t verify it’s safe, and since i’ts Donald’s Closet no no it’s not. and B)There’s no where he knows of to keep them. He isn’t aware of the other bin till next season. and C) it’s not ehtical to keep creatures locked up forever epsecially since while the harpies are dangerous they arent’ MALEVOLENT and are clearly acting on instinct. oh and for D) at least she has a plan to keep the company going instead of just wanting to end this and cash out.

Which Huey tries to.. but naturally Louie spent all their money on...

So their broke.. and Storkules has no rent money and feels like a failure despite having done NOTHING wrong. We do get a clever little nod to Disney’s hercules though “I”m not a hero, i’m a zero”. Webby rightfully glares at Louie who decides to fix it... by sneaking into Donald’s house that night to free the harpies.

Though to the shows credit it’s a VERY bad idea, and Storkules coming in mid attempt and congradulating Louie when he lies about checking the door gets the kid to come clean. And it’s a nice character moment: He could still go through with it.. but it’s clear he realizes just HOW low he was about to sink to save his own skin and that as much as Storkules WANTS a paycheck and deserves one, it’s not worth hurting people to get it. Louie tries to justify after this.. but can’t.

Unforutnately Donald took a lot of stupid pills this episode, yells about his no pets rule and frees them instead of you know, THINKING for five minutes.

So yeah NATURALLY Donald is an angry shit about it , refusing to actually TALK to Storkules about this or maybe admit this is partly HIS OWN FAULT. Yes their both at fault, Storkules shoudln’t of shoved a bunch of harpies in a closet. That’s a classic blunder. But Donald still opened it and isn’t called out on taking zero responsibility. Huey sees the fracas and just takes down their days without an accident placard, good stuff and he and webby arrive to help. Donald fights with Storkules and Storkules worries about loosing his friend.. lead to them going after the thing he values most aka donlad and hyjacking the house boat, though the kids manage to get aboard.

As Storkules saves Donald, Louie realizes the most precious thing he has is his merch and willingly gives it, and his buisness up to save everyone. It’s good character stuff and shows that despite his problems with greed, Louie IS a good kid and will do the right thing. It’s what seperates him from the Rouges Gallery the family faces: He has FLEXIBLE morals but he has morals when it comes down to it. So everyone tosses the stoff to help direct the hapries and make it home tying them up. Donald has a heart to heart with Storkules and agrees to help him find another place, but still considers him a friend and they hug. Awww. One intresting thing I DID find out from rewriting history is they originally fully intended to have Storkules STAY on the houseboat. He was going to be a permenant member of the household, at least as far as Season 2 was concenred and plans were made for several episodes down the road: the whole bit with him in “The Golden Spear” was simply because he lived there, he was going to be the one Della met in the houseboat, obliviously guilting her about what she’d missed, and he was going to set off the kids subplot in “Whatever Happened to Donald Duck?”

This ended up not happneing for logistical reasons: Frank, and I swear this was the term he used, felt they already had the perfect Himbo in Launchpad and it was just too much HImbo energy for the two to coexist without one taking the others screen time or neither getting a lot.

The next reason was having a god around simply broke the story: He cited the gilded man from “Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!” as a specific example. There were just too many hoops to jump to have him not break any story he should be around for. Finally with Della being added to the cast soon there simply wasn’t room in the main cast. Della brought it up to 9, Storkules would make it 10, and as i’ve gone on about the show already had trouble ballancing it’s cast, something Frank admitted to. Adding him would both be too big a stiatus quo change and be one on top of the massive one of Della joining the cast. So he was dropped back to recurring and only showed up one more time. And while it was the right call I am dismayed he didn’t show up for the whatever happened to donald duck subplot and it does feel very weird he never adresses Donald being gone despite, at least for season 2, apparently living in Duckburg. Otherwise though as funny as this wouldv’e been.. yeah it was the right call.

Scrooge returns... having been absent all episode because otherwise it wouldn’t work and easily saw Louie loosing it all coming.. but gives him a can of lemonade for his troubles and comforts the boy. The heart of htis arc and what makes it work at it’s best.. is these two. Scrooge GENUINELY wants to help Louie see his potetial successor in buisness: oh sure adventure wise he’s throughly covered.. but Webby, Dewey and Della all are more focused on the addventure part and that’s where their passion and talent lies, Huey’s better at science and given his close frinedship with fenton and how much that part of things seems to truly inspire him, i’ts what he was born for, and Donald just wants a regualar life and can’t manage his own life much less a company.

Louie is the only one in his family whose the right fit to inhereit that part of his legacy and I feel that’s why he takes a special intrest in him and webby over the other two: While he loves all of them and will clearly again leave a piece of his fortune and empire to all of them, Webby is the most like him, as we later find out not coincidentally in the slightest, when it comes to adventuring and curosity and a love of exploration. But Louie is the most like him in other ways; He’s cynical, money driven and passionate. Scrooge simply wants him to be as good a person and buisnessperson as he can be and is trying to push him in the right direction. And does so here by pointing out that failure isn’t a huge problem..it happens, comes with the terriotiry and as we’ve seen with life and times, even with portions of it clearly not happening in this universe, he failed a LOT to get here. What matters is that he tries and tries to do it the right way.

Scrooge also sympathizes as he was buying a lemonade company in cape suzette, giving Louie the can as a present... but laments there’s no cheap effective way to deliver the lemons. Louie notices the harpies going after the can after he throws it and Webby controlling them with it and muses that theyd idn’t think about what THEY wanted.. nad rightfully gets punched across the lawn by Webby, whose had to spend an entire episode having her surrogate brothers talk down to her and ignore her valid ideas. She dosen’t even open her eyes she just bops him one.

So we end with Scrooge having enlisted the hapries, Louie trying to take credit again and both realizing they might just steal the lemons instead of work for them. Ha ha ha their going to get so sued.

Final Thoughts: This one was mediocre. It has some good points, Louies arc continues to fascenate me, Huey’s done with this shit attitude is hilarous, and Storkules is at his best in this episode: his crush on Donald is toned down from this..

To this

To the point I could see shipping them off this one if Storkules episode didn’t have him do eveyrthing short of .. well see above. So it’s not WITHOUT merit: I love me a ghost busters style plot, there are great jokes and Chris Dimatopolis is a gem as always. Glad he’s getting work after this show on Invincible and hope he gets to play Darkwing again some day. But the Donald stuff and the fairly predictable plot drag this one down. I’ts fairly obvious they’ll run out of harpies, Louie will have spent the money and they’ll somehow get free. It’s not a terrible episode but it’s it’s sandwiched story wise between two straight up classics on both sides: the previous two episodes were even better than I remembered and the next two are incredibly good: Whateve Happened to Della Duck?! is one of their finest hours and The Outlaw Scrooge McDuck, while not making my best of list for the series as a whole is still one of my favorites for the season. It’s just disapointing this one wasn’t nearly as good as I remmebered and it’s understandable why I forgot almost all of it, unlike the previous two episodes. Thankfully as I said better’s over the horizon.

NEXT TIME ON OF MOONS, MILLIONARES AND MOTHERS: I’m taking a break for a week. One of two weeklong breaks for the arc, the other being the first week of July where i’m on vacation anyway (Though i’ll be doing the episode I would’ve done for that week the week before to keep the pace up, so no worries),

As for why, it’s my utmost honor to announce GOOF WEEK! Goof Week is a weeklong celebration of Goofy’s birthday. The idea came about because as I do for the big three, I intended to just do a shorts special. But Kev , the guy who made this very review possible, suggested doing the two part Goof Troop pilot. And since kev pays for a house of mouth episode a month anyway and thaks to you lovely people I hit my patreon stretch goal to review the goofy movie, I figured “why not make a week out of it. Hence Goof week. So next week we’ll have a review of the two part pilot for Goof Troop, the special Sports Goof, the House of Mouse episode Super Goof, your regularly schedule shorts spectacular, with The Goofy Movie for the grand finale! yaaahoooooieeee!

When we come back i’ll be shuffling episodes around slightly so I can do the Della comics from the Ducktales Tie-In Comic before her debut and in time for Donald’s own theme week in June, i’ll be saving “Whatever Happened to Della Duck?” for the week after Donald Week. Instead next we get a fun wild west adventure as Scrooge tells a story of his outlaw days, his tension with goldie and his encounter with a certain robber baron as John D Rockerduck FINALLY makes his screen debut. Yee-Haw!

If you liked this review, subscribe and follow for more and consider joining my patroen, patreon.com/popculturebuffet. I have exclusive reviews, my most recent duck based one being an obscure carl barks story about wigs and the boys attempting to murder a guy with a blow gun, and your contribution helps me reach my goals and thus gets everyone, patreon or not, a bunch of neat new reviews. If you get me to 20 dollars a month, i’m currently at 15, EVERYONE will get a monthly darkwing duck reviews, reviews of the two remaning ducktales 87 mini series including the origin of GIZMOOOODDUUUUUCCCKKKK, and a review of the Danny Phantom movie The Ultimate Enemy. And with the month running out NOW’S the time to join. YOu’ll also get to pick one of the shorts for my Donald Duck birthday specail next month, so if you want to join in NOWS the time. But wether you can or you can’t, thank you for reading, i’ts been a pleasure.

#ducktales #louie duck #storkules in duckburg #dorkules #donald duck #storkules #scrooge mcduck #webby vanderquack #huey duck #flintheart glomgold #dewey duck #funzos #disney #disney+#disney plus #disney xd #harpies

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equustenebris · 3 years

Text

New drabble! This kind of just poured out basically all at once, lol. This is for modern Topolino Newton, I've got his first story translated here for the unfamiliar: https://equustenebris.tumblr.com/post/658572502503735296/hello-duck-community-i-come-bearing-a-gift-so

Newton Gearloose has a bully. For Whumptober 2021. Prompt: "Who did this to you?"

Three. Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But...

He gave a final sniffle as he rounded the corner to his uncle's house, trying to pull himself back together before his uncle saw him crying. The punches and kicks had been painful, sure, but it was the humiliation more than anything -- and the overwhelming fear of facing Jax again tomorrow.

He'd always known there was no way he'd win in a fight. He was Newton Gearloose, inventor, not -- like -- Newton Gearloose, boxer, or something. He just wasn't built for it, and besides, he'd always firmly believed brains were better than brawn any day. Still, when Jax snatched him out of the hallway to shake him down for his chemistry project results, he'd made his very best attempt to fight back, but Jax was built like an eighth grader, and all he'd really managed to do was make him angrier. He gingerly touched his fingertips to his swollen eye, hoping it didn't look nearly as bad as it felt.

He didn't have any idea what he'd done to get on Jax's bad side -- they only had one class together, and despite his natural aptitude for it, it wasn't as though Newton was particularly well-liked by their chemistry teacher anyway. (A few too many beakers shattered, chemicals spilled, labs blown up -- frankly, he was amazed they still let him do the hands-on work.)

But for whatever reason, Jax had apparently decided that Newton was his new target -- and he evidently had a lot of free time to spend making Newton's life as miserable as possible. It had started off with little things, stealing his pencils, getting in his way in line at the water fountain, knocking the books out of his hands -- all of that was manageable, and honestly Newton was often so distracted by his own ideas for new inventions that he barely noticed. But when it went from the annoying to the physical -- snatching him from the hallway just after the last bell to rough him up -- well, that he noticed.

He opened up the front door slowly, peeking around in the hopes that his uncle was down in the lab, and he'd have a chance to try to clean himself up before his uncle saw him. Apparently, today was really not his lucky day, because Gyro was at the sink, washing up some dishes.

"Hi, Newton," he chirped brightly, "how was sch -- Newton?" He dropped the dish back into the sink as he caught sight of his nephew's black eye, immediately swiveling around. Newton cringed, hunching his shoulders as if he could make himself small enough to disappear. "Your face! What happened?"

"Nothing, Uncle, I'm fine," he tried, attempting to slip away to the bathroom.

"You certainly are not! Who did this to you?"

Little Helper was already at his side with an ice pack, holding it up above his tiny head for Newton to take. Embarrassed, he only looked away instead.

"Nobody, Uncle, it's -- it's fine," he tried again, cheeks flushed and burning. But Gyro wasn't so quick to give up, quickly kneeling in front of him.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere else? Your arms? Your tail?" he asked, lifting Newton's shirt to check his belly, gently snatching his wrists to examine his arms, and just generally not helping the utter humiliation burning in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm fine," Newton snapped again, pulling his arms away.

"Newton." Gyro took him by the shoulders, gazing into his eyes. Reluctantly, the boy looked back to him, biting his lip to try to hold the persistent tears at bay. "You can tell me. What happened?"

Despite his best efforts, a single hot tear slipped down his cheek -- and then it was all over, the floodgates wide open as he wrapped his arms around his uncle's neck, trying to choke back sobs as he explained: all the multitude of small things he ignored for months, one after another, and now finally, the big things he couldn't. It came tumbling out at once in a flurry, months of pain and fear he hadn't realized he had been carrying. Gyro just held him, gently rubbing his back, occasionally giving him soft, preening nips, trying to calm him down.

When he was finally finished, Gyro nodded firmly, intent. "We'll go to the principal." Newton immediately shook his head, wincing.

"No, Uncle! It'll just get worse if you tell anyone! Principal Schnauzer doesn't even like me, he doesn't care, and even if he did he can't watch me all the time! It wouldn't be safe."

"Well, we at least have to tell your mom and dad," he mumbled, rubbing Newton's back again.

Again, Newton shook his head. "Oh, please, no, Uncle! This is already humiliating enough, I don't want them to know, too!"

"We have to do something, Newton! I can't send you back to school like this!"

"I can handle it myself," Newton mumbled, gazing vaguely over his shoulder towards his treehouse, and his own secret lab, hidden away from his uncle. He had no idea what, exactly, but surely he could come up with some sort of invention to deal with this on his own. His uncle, however, seemed less than convinced.

"Maybe I could invent something for you? You know, something that could keep you safe, maybe like some sort of...repelling ray, or maybe a robot bodyguard, or --"

"I'll be fine, Uncle," Newton mumbled, cringing. The last thing he needed was his uncle interfering -- whether his inventions worked or didn't, either way, it could only add to his humiliation. Really, showing up the next day with a robot bodyguard? "I can just -- I'll handle it."

Gyro stood, scratching the back of his neck. "Are you sure, Newton?"

The boy said nothing, crossing his arms loosely over his chest. On the living room wall, unnoticed, a large bee -- too large -- softly beat its wings.

---

The next morning's bike ride to school felt more like a death march. Newton and the triplets walked the last stretch, coming up on the bike rack just outside the school.

"Are you sure you don't want us to help you, Newton?" Huey asked, frowning worriedly.

"Yeah, we're pretty tough -- we can take him on!" Dewey offered. Newton only shook his head, polishing off the last of his breakfast apple.

"No, I don't want to get you guys caught up in this too," he muttered, tossing the core into the garbage can as they locked up their bicycles. "Besides, it's just going to get worse if I can't handle him on my own."

"Huh? What's going on over there?" Louie wondered aloud, finally noticing the large crowd of students on the school's front lawn. Curious, the boys pushed their way forward, slipping through the crowd to approach the large oak tree that everyone seemed to be gathered around.

"--do you mean, you have no idea how he got there? Someone did it! He must have been here since last night! You've got camera footage, don't you?!"

"I can't explain it, Principal Schnauzer, but I already reviewed it and there's just...nothing. It looks like it's all been scrubbed clean somehow."

"Well cut him down from there, and get his parents and the police on the phone! And get these kids out of here, already! Oh, this is going to be such a mess... You! Get to class! There's nothing to see here!"

Newton and the triplets finally pushed their way to the front, stumbling out in front of the oak tree. It took no more than a split second for Principal Schnauzer to spot them in the crowd, and with a fury Newton hadn't seen before (which, frankly, was saying something for the schnauzer), he abruptly whipped around, pointing directly at him. "You!"

The other students immediately backed away, leaving Newton standing on his own, frozen in shock as the principal stomped closer. Snarling, voice low and dangerous, he shoved his snout nearly against Newton's beak. "I don't know how you managed to pull this off, but I know you're behind this somehow. This fell out of his pocket."

He shoved a slip of paper into Newton's grip, but Newton's attention was elsewhere -- slowly, his eyes trailed up to the oak tree, finally seeing what everyone else had been staring at. There, Jax dangled from a branch at the top of the tree, still dressed in pajamas, hogtied, terrified sobs muffled by the thick gag in his mouth.

He just stared for a moment, slack-jawed. A tiny yelp from Dewey, evidently reading over his shoulder, brought him back to reality and he looked down at the piece of paper in his hands. There, scrawled in his uncle's tell-tale handwriting, was a hastily written note.

He won't be bothering you anymore, Newton.

Let me know if I need to pay anyone else a visit.

--MD

"This isn't over!" Principal Schnauzer raged, swiping the paper back out of Newton's hands before storming away. The triplets exchanged worried looks, but Newton just stood at the base of the oak tree, too stunned to move, as his (now former, he supposed) bully dangled helplessly above his head.

#newton gearloose #gyro gearloose #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #mad ducktor #tw: bullying #tw: physical assault #tw: physical violence #whumptober 2021 #equus writes

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starshinewriter · 3 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck, Louie Duck & Scrooge McDuck Characters: Louie Duck, Huey Duck, Dewey Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Doofus Drake (mentioned) Additional Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brotherly Love, Protective Older Brothers, doofus is the worst, scrooge used to be as well but hes working on it, Episode: s03e21 The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck! Series: Part 10 of Set After Summary:

Louie apologized to Doofus, he isn't sure how to feel about it. (Spoiler alert, he's very sure.)

Notes:

yes im aware this is another louie-centric story and yes im also aware that i still have to finish the final chapter of AMOM.... that's all i got.

hope you enjoy!

Alternative to Ao3:

The first thing Louie does when he gets home is go up to his room, he thinks his Uncle has some idea of how worn out he is cause he doesn't say anything against it. He knows that he'll have the room to himself since his brothers are still occupied with the gribbles and honestly that relieves him a bit, as bad as that makes him feel he needs to be alone right now. There's also the thing of them knowing whenever something is wrong the moment they see him and will ask questions that he isn't ready to answer yet.

He throws himself on his bed and does everything he can not to think about the day's events but fails almost instantly. So he tries to think about everything except the part that bothered him the most. He fails at that too.

He apologized to Doofus Drake, that was something that he did. And he's supposed to feel happy about it, apologizing is a good thing, but all he feels is everything he always feels with Doofus: dread, terror, the overwhelming desire to get as far away from him as he possibly can- which is about as opposite from good as you can get. He doesn't get it, why doesn't he feel better about this? Why does he feel like he just made a huge mistake? Sure, Doofus is Doofus, but he had gotten him off of his back, which had been his whole goal, he should feel good right now, but all he feels is trepidation.

Trauma, Huey would call it.

All he knows is that he wants it to go away and he doesn't know how to make it, and that might be scarier than actually being scared. What if it never goes away? What if he always feels like he can't let his guard down, ever? What kind of life is that? He buries himself in his blankets and that's where he stays, alone, until the door opens and voices that are talking about something he can't hear pause when they see him. He can practically feel them look at each other and carefully step to the bed.

"Hey, Lou." One of them -Dewey- says. "Whatcha up to?" He doesn't say anything. They look at each other once more. He feels the bed move a moment later- once, twice, and then he's surrounded by the comforting presence only his brothers can give. He stays in the blankets.

"What happened today? Uncle Scrooge gave us a summary but it was mostly about him and what he went through."

"Doofus Drake was there." Is all he says, but it's more than enough, in less than a second arms are encompassing the blankets and grabbing him in a hug. They know what a trigger Doofus is for him.

Huey places his head near where he knows Louie's is, "Do you wanna talk about it?" He feels his head shake and fights back the urge to sigh, of course he doesn't, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't. "We won't force you, but it might help you get your thoughts in order."

"I apologized to him." His brothers share a glance,

"Why?"

Louie shifts in the blankets, his brothers move to make him more comfortable. "To get him to leave me alone, mostly, and drop the case. But I dunno, Uncle Scrooge was apologizing for what he did, so I thought I had to too."

Dewey looks at him with confusion, "But you didn't do anything, not anything that he didn't deserve. Why apologize for that?"

"It felt like the right thing to do."

"Was it?" Louie is silent for a few minutes, that's what's worrying him, what if in making the right decision for the case he made the wrong one for himself?

"I don't know." He finally answers. "I just know I wanted Scrooge and me to be able to go home and I didn't want to have a sworn enemy my whole life."

Huey holds him tighter, "Louie, your relationship with him is not the same as Uncle Scrooge's relationships with his enemies. You're terrified of him! You can't be around him or even think about him without freaking out! He trapped you in his house, he tried to have you killed, he's not your enemy, he's an abuser!" The room falls silent after that and it stays that way until sniffles start to come from the blanket pile.

"I didn't want to do it," Louie admits. "I just did what I thought I had to. But now, now I'm so scared." He breaks into sobs and his brothers quickly pull him out of the blanket and into a hug. "It's not fair, why did I have to be the one to do it?! Why does he get to get away with everything?!" Dewey starts rubbing his back which makes him calm down a bit.

"All I can say is he better hope he doesn't run into us."

"Agreed." Huey replies; Louie lets out a small laugh, yeah he better, but Louie wouldn't feel sorry for him if he did.

____________________________________________________________

His Uncle finds him in the kitchen later and nods at him as he goes to get something from the fridge. "Are you feeling better, lad?" He asks as he sets up a kettle on the stove.

"No." Louie says honestly.

"Ae thought that might be the case." He pours tea into the kettle. "Ae know apologizin' fer somethin' is hard, especially ta someane like that, but sometimes it's just somethin' yew have ta do."

"... What if I made a mistake?" Louie responds without looking at him and his Uncle sighs.

"The only ane that can tell ye that is yew, do yew feel like ye made a mistake?" Louie hesitates before nodding. Scrooge hums, "Necessary evil it's called, sometimes its the only thing we can do. Doesnae make it right, or fair, but look at the positive: at least he'll leave ye alone now."

Louie doesn't say anything to that. Was that positive big enough to negate the negatives? "I wish I didn't." He admits all of a sudden. "Does that make me a bad person?"

His Uncle looks at him sternly, "Louie Duck, you are ane o' the best people ae know. Ye constantly make me want ta be better, and ae know ye do fer the rest o' this family as well. All o' yew kids do. Ae know this situation is awful but ae'm proud o' yew fer being the bigger person, if that counts fer anythin'." Louie nods, it does, it counts for a lot actually.

"Huey said I shouldn't have had to do it, that my relationship with Doofus was different than your's with your enemies. Worse. And that he didn't deserve an apology. I agree with him and I hate that I did it. It didn't make me feel any better, didn't lift any weight off of me, it just made me feel worse. And you know what the worst part is? That I keep thinking that I made him like this, that if I hadn't of gone to see him on Only Child Day he wouldn't be like this, how messed up is that?"

Scrooge turns back to the stove and removes the kettle then pours himself a cup of tea, "The lad was right, my relationships are nae that the same as yers, and it'll do yew no good ta compare them. Ae'll be honest- that child deserves a lot o' things, but an apology is nae ane o' them. Ae'm sorry yew were forced inta that position, yew should never do things cause someane else is or because it seems like the right thing ta do." He sighs. "It was a sticky situation, and ane ye really shouldnae have been involved in, ae dinnae need Donald yellin' at me ta know that's true." He says with a wry grin. "Ae'm glad yew were there though, ye were a great help." He adds, more sincerely.

Louie beams, "Maybe I should be a lawyer."

Scrooge chuckles, "Maybe." He looks at Louie, "Somethin' ae realized today was that while ae had a hand in creating my enemies and them me, ae ultimately made myself. Anyane can go on and on aboot apologizin' and holdin' people accountable, but at the end o' the day our own actions are the only anes we're responsible fer. Yew didnae make Doofus what he is, he made himself like that."

"That makes sense. Thanks, Uncle Scrooge." Maybe now he can feel better about this situation, between his brothers and his Uncle he's coming out with a much clearer view than before.

"And speakin' o' holdin' people accountable..." Louie looks at him with interest. "Ae'm thinkin' Doofus' parents and ae need ta have a little chat aboot his behavior. He cannae make yew as upset as ye get every time yew run inta him and get away with it." Louie grins at him, okay, now he can really feel better about this whole thing. It won't be right away, but he knows now that it is possible. He'll probably be scared of Doofus his whole life, and will never, ever, be near him again, but he won't always be a source of trauma for him and that's probably the best outcome.

And this point, he'll take whatever he can get.

#ducktales 2017 #the life and crimes of scrooge mcduck #louie duck 2017 #huey dewey and louie 2017 #scrooge and louie 2017

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pilyarquitect · 4 years

Text

War for Genius - 29 - Feelings collapsing

Hello everyone! Here I bring you the new chapter!! I’m sorry this one comes a little late, but it’s finally here! Well, this chapter has some angst moments – as you’ll see – but, also, it has a wonderful surprise at the end that I hope it’ll like you all. Also, this chapter introduces properly my little OC. He doesn’t appear really much, but yeah! He’ll have his moments in this story.

As always, I’d like to thank Empro-8 for helping me editing this story. Honestly, without her help this wouldn’t be as good as it is, so thank you very much Empro-8 you’re amazing!

Welp, I’ll stop talking and let you read the chapter, enjoy it! 😉

*********************************************

When he opened his eyes, everything around him was dark. Why was it so dark? Slowly, he picked himself up from the hard surface he was lying on.

Wait-

Hard Surface? Hadn’t he been lying on a bed? What was going on? Fear for not knowing urged him to quickly stand up, and in doing so, he heard with horror the sound of metal against metal.

No, no, no!

This couldn’t be happening! His eyes slowly grew accustomed to the darkness, and as he did… he recognized the place, the walls… the floor… the door… was… was he locked up again? H-how was it possible? If… if they had rescued him… they had taken him out of that horrible place!

In deep fear, he looked down at his wrists, and saw… saw the cuffs there. His body began to tremble with deep horror. Why was he there?

Huey closed his eyes and put her hands to her head. This made no sense!

"It's not real... this isn't real... it's a dream, it has to be!"

Snuggling into a ball, the boy began rocking back and forth trying to calm himself down… a totally useless move. But he at least had to try. At the same time as he said to himself:

"I’m dreaming… I’ll wake up in the hospital… with Fenton by my side,"

Huey could hear the clinking of the chains by the movement he was making. He couldn't bear it… it made him sick to hear the metal links colliding between them. They were a constant reminder that he couldn't get out… couldn't take off those chains and escape… he was… a prisoner…

The older triplet opened his eyes and looked toward the door when he heard the sound of a key being inserted into a lock. The duckling then felt his trembling worsen. Wh-who was going to appear on the other side?

The door opened, allowing light to enter the room. Huey had to cover his eyes at the sudden glow. His heart was pounding, who was there? Slowly pulling his hand away, the duckling looked up and caught his breath when he saw Graves, dressed as Gizmoduck, there at the door.

No… no, please… the worst treatments Huey had received from Graves had been when he had been disguised as Gizmoduck. What was he going to do to him now?

Breathing wildly now, Huey looked at Graves with wide eyes as the hawk entered the room with a plate of food. The adult bird put the plate of food on the ground and straightening up said:

"Here's your food, come on, come get it,"

Huey squeezed his beak closed as he looked at the food. Graves knew very well that because of where he had left the plate, he was unable to reach it. The older triplet knew it, knew that Graves did this only to make fun of him.

"Come on, aren't you hungry?"

The older triplet moved his hand to his stomach, the truth was it hurt because of the hunger he had, but no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible for him to reach the plate of food.

"You don't seem to be hungry, eh boy? Then…"

Huey's eyes widened in horror. What did Graves mean by that? The duckling watched how the falcon bent down to pick up the plate and, straightening up again, he turned to leave. Huey got up immediately, moving forward as much as the chains allowed him and desperately shouted:

"No Please!"

Graves stopped and turned slightly to look over his shoulder, and the chained duckling could see a mocking smile on the beak of the adult bird. Huey ignored as much as he could the sick nausea feeling he felt, knowing that Graves was enjoying what he was doing and after swallowing hard, the duck said in a trembling voice:

"P-please… don't leave me without food,"

Graves turned completely, looking at him in the eye and said:

"And why should I give you something that you despised a few moments ago? Those who are ungrateful like you shouldn’t be given anything."

Huey closed his eyes and lowered his head. Speaking brokenly he said:

"I-I- didn't want to despise the food- I- was too far… I couldn't-"

Despite the closed eyes, he felt the moisture accumulating in them, Huey dipped, hating that Graves saw him cry. Suddenly, he heard Falcon laugh. Opening his eyes to look at him, he saw the hawk looking at him with a wide smile and then said:

"It seems the baby is going to cry. I think it would be better for me to take this until you learn to contain your tears."

Huey's eyes widened in horror and he immediately yelled:

"What? No!"

Almost instantly Graves's face changed from mocking to worried and his voice also changed to alarmed and sounded like Fenton when he said:

“Huey, come on, wake up! You're having a nightmare! Wake up, please!"

*********************************************

Huey tiredly opened his eyes and the sight of the hospital room greeted him. Looking towards the window he saw it was night. Turning his head to his right, he saw Fenton, looking at him worriedly, behind him was the companion bed in which the adult duck had obviously been sleeping on up to that moment. Huey immediately felt bad, it made him feel bad to make others worry about him… he didn't want to be a bother, especially if he woke others up in the middle of the night because of his nightmares.

The older triplet looked away, felt something wet on his cheeks. Had he cried while having his nightmare? Probably. The duckling suddenly felt a hand resting on his shoulder, which made him turn his head again to look at Fenton. The brown-plumaged duck was still looking at him with concern, and then asked:

"You're okay?"

"I'm… sorry," Huey replied, looking away again. Although he didn't see it, he assumed Fenton had cocked his head, since it was something the Hispanic duck used to do before asking whatever he was about to ask:

"For what?"

The older triplet cringed, even more embarrassed than before, and replied:

"For… having awakened you"

The duckling in bed felt Fenton put his free hand on his cheek, probably in an attempt to get him to look at him. But Huey wasn’t going to, he had… interrupted his friend's sleep. He didn't have the courage to look at him. He heard Fenton sigh, and then the Hispanic duck said:

"Oh Huey, you don't have to apologize, I know you didn't do it on purpose… but if it makes you feel better, do you want to tell me what you saw in your dream? Talking to someone can be good for you. "

The older triplet closed his eyes and his beak trembled. He knew Fenton was trying to help him, in fact, the Hispanic duck had been by his side day after day, ever since he woke up and then since he was rescued, trying to help him in everything he needed.

Furthermore, Fenton didn’t leave him alone for a moment, as the doctor had suggested. Yes, the duckling still remembered the day he woke up and his family saw him, a few minutes after they left, an owl in a white coat came in and introduced himself as Dr. Owlfang.

*********************************************

Flashback

An owl entered the room after announcing his arrival. The doctor was very kind to him and very gentle. He told him that he had apparently been the victim of a brainwashing process, and that therefore they needed to determine how deep the damage he had suffered was. Huey's eyes had widened upon hearing that. His brothers had said the same thing to him in that dream, that meant… Dewey and Louie had told him the truth… Beaks had been playing with his mind. That made him… doubt for the first time the CEO showed affection towards him. Had he really ever cared about him or was it all a sham?

Dr. Owlfang then started asking several questions:

"Huey, I ask you to answer me honestly, how did you feel when you saw your family?"

The duckling's eyes widened in surprise, why was he asking him something like that? With some trepidation, the older triplet asked:

"How did I feel?"

The owl nodded warmly and softly said:

"Exactly. What emotions came over you when you saw them after so long?"

Huey shifted uncomfortably. Honestly, he didn’t want to say something like that to anyone, least of all to people he knew, because he felt very ashamed of some of the emotions he had felt.

"I…" started the boy uncertainly. He closed his hands into fists, grasping the sheets that covered his body in the process. The heart monitor began to accelerate again.

The healthcare professional sighed closing his eyes, then opened them and calmly said:

"Calm down little one. I'm not going to judge you for anything. But you telling me what you felt will be the first step to know what will be the best way to help you.”

Huey looked at Dr. Owlfang sadly and then at Fenton. He felt troubled about having to explain something like that. But he knew it would be even more difficult if the Hispanic duck was there with him. The doctor must have realized what was happening, because suddenly he turned to Fenton and said:

"Could you leave us alone for a few moments?"

The brown plumage duck seemed surprised for a few moments and finally replied:

“What? Oh yes, of course, of course,"

Fenton laughed nervously and left the room, leaving Huey and the doctor alone. Once they were sure that there was nobody else, the doctor looked at his little patient again and kindly asked him:

"And well?"

Huey sighed… he was very nervous. He really didn't want to talk about it, in fact… he wished he could forget all the time he was in that building… as if that had never happened. The boy finally looked at the doctor and weakly replied:

"I felt… confused, seeing… my family again… I felt a mixture of very contradictory emotions towards them… I… I couldn’t say which one was the strongest…"

"And would you have liked to know which one was the strongest?" the doctor asked a little curious.

Huey shook his head and replied:

"No… I… was afraid that the feelings of hatred, mistrust, resentment, fear… towards my family were the strongest."

"You’re an extraordinary boy," said the doctor suddenly. Huey instantly looked up puzzled. The doctor looked at him with a wide smile, and seeing the confusion on his face, he explained:

"Despite what they did to you, pretending it was your loved ones who did it, you love them so much that you feared hating them. You’re very good Huey."

The older triplet blinked a few times and then with a shy smile replied:

"T-thank you doctor,"

"You're welcome. Huey… listen… you don't have to if you don't want, but would you like to tell me everything that happened to you there?”

Huey's eyes widened in fear, the machine that controlled his heart rate sped up again, and his breathing came in quick gasps. Trying to control himself again, the boy in bed, with a trembling voice, replied:

"No… I don't feel ready to… face it… not yet…"

Despite having a needle in his arm, Huey pulled his legs up to his chest and tried to put his arms around them, a somewhat difficult task with one that had to constantly introduce liquid into his system.

The doctor quickly became aware of what was happening and rushing to put a hand on the boy's shoulder, he tried to calm him down, saying:

"Okay, take it easy, I don't want you feeling pressured to tell me. I'll just… be here by the time you're ready, okay?"

The doctor's words managed to calm Huey, who, after taking several breaths, dared to look at him and replied:

"Y-yes doctor."

End of Flashback

*********************************************

Since the doctor's visit, the health specialist had suggested it’d be better for Huey to not stay alone for an instant. He also advised his family to visit him, so that he would recognize the differences between his real loved ones and the 'imitations' of those who intended brainwash him.

Of course, he suggested that the visits be one or two at a time, to avoid… situations or environments of strong tension such as the first visit with the whole family just after waking up. Since then, and to Huey's gratitude, each time they visited him, there were never more than two each time. Fenton was always by his side on each of those visits. Honestly… despite being glad they visited him, because yes, he was glad, he also was… afraid of being alone with them, that's why he always asked the Hispanic duck to stay with him.

There were also other people who visited him, and with whom he wasn’t afraid of being alone, such as Gyro, Manny, Lil-bulb, Quackfaster, Launchpad… even Lena visited him. To tell the truth, Huey didn’t consider himself very close to the teen with dyed hair, but he couldn’t deny he appreciated the fact she decided to visit him. When Huey got visits from those who weren’t of the mansion’s inhabitants, Fenton could use those moments to take a breath. Something he totally deserved after expending hours with him.

Speaking of the brown plumage duck, Fenton was still looking at him, waiting for an answer. He had almost forgotten that he had asked what his nightmare was about. The boy opened his eyes and looking at Fenton, finally replying:

"I prefer… not to talk about that dream."

That was true, he didn’t want to talk about it with anyone, since… sadly what he saw in that dream was something similar to what Graves always did to torture him. Also… he didn't want to discuss this particular dream with Fenton, since it involved… Gizmoduck. Huey didn't want to hurt Fenton by telling him that he was terrified of Fenton’s superhero alter ego. Huey didn't want to even…. think about it. He wanted to erase it from his mind forever.

"Are you sure about that Huey?" asked the brown plumaged duck worriedly.

"Yes, I am," Huey replied, closing his eyes. He could feel his body tremble slightly, and he knew Fenton had noticed it too. He understood the Hispanic duck was worried about him, but… he just didn't… want to talk about it.

The adult duck sighed and finally said:

"Okay Huey, but if you change your mind, and want to talk about it, I'm here to listen, okay?"

Huey looked at Fenton and nodded. After this brief exchange, both ducks lay down again to sleep.

*********************************************

The next morning, Huey was sitting on the bed, peacefully reading a book that Gyro had brought him. Huey was deeply grateful for the gesture, because he really didn’t have many distractions in the hospital. In fact, he was afraid to test the boundaries of what he could and couldn’t do.

The reason for that fear, was because the duckling still remembered what happened the first time he ventured out of the room to walk down the hall, (accompanied by Fenton naturally). Considering that he was already sufficiently recovered, the doctors had decided to remove the intravenous and feed him only with solid foods. They had also told him that to regain strength he could go for a walk down the hall, something that greatly pleased the older triplet. But when he stepped out into the hall, a few seconds later, he was surrounded by a crowd of journalists trying to get a statement from Huey since, apparently, the news of Beaks' arrest and his involvement in the kidnapping of one of the McDuck's nephews had already reached the media, and journalists, like scavenging vultures, were scrambling to get the news exclusive.

The older triplet remembered being paralyzed, staring at the cameras that fired their flashes into his wide eyes. The boy was overwhelmed by such screaming right in front of him, and if it wasn’t for Fenton and the hospital staff, he probably would have had a panic attack right there. The duckling was promptly removed and gently escorted back to his room.

From that moment, all types of media was prohibited from entering the hospital. Even so, Huey no longer dared to leave his room again, choosing to pace from wall to wall instead of going by the corridors of the health center.

While the duckling read, there was a sudden knock on the door. Huey looked up from the book, just as Fenton also looked up from whatever he was reading.

"Come in," Fenton said. Both knew they couldn’t be journalists, because, as Uncle Scrooge requested, no one but family, close friends or hospital staff could enter that room.

The door opened and Uncle Scrooge and Uncle Donald appeared behind it. Both had smiles on their beaks. They gently entered the room keeping some distance from Huey to avoid the boy becoming nervous. To be honest… there was something strange about his uncles, the duckling noticed, they seemed happy, jubilant… how could that be?

"Hi Huey, how are ye today, lad?"

Huey still felt nervous with anyone in his family being around, but he was learning to live with that feeling, and it was becoming bearable… kinda. In fact, even if it was little by little, the more he interacted with his loved ones, the more he saw in the details that showed him they genuinely cared about him, and that they were very different from the distorted versions he saw in his dreams. Clearing his throat, the boy looked at his great-uncle and replied:

"I'm fine Uncle Scrooge, has something happened?"

The two uncles looked at each other with smiles on their beaks and then Donald spoke next:

"What happened is that we’ve brought you a gift."

"A gift?" the duckling asked surprised.

The older duck smiled widely and replied explaining:

"Yes, or rather, something we think you should get back."

"What is it?" Huey asked again, the truth, he was intrigued and… he was afraid to know what his uncles were referring to.

His Uncle Donald walked up to his side, and taking something from his back, showed it to the boy at the same time that he said:

"This."

Huey looked at what his uncle held out to him and his eyes widened in surprise when he recognized it.

"This it's my…"

My guidebook! He thought, taking the book in his hands.

"Exactly," said his sailor-dressed uncle, smiling even more than before.

Huey beamed and looking at his uncle. He said:

"Thank you so much Uncle Donald!"

The sailor-dressed duck had spread his arms, probably expecting a hug from his nephew. But Huey still didn't feel secure enough to hug anyone in his family. He felt sorry for Uncle Donald, but he just couldn't yet.

Uncle Scrooge then spoke, distracting him from his inner thoughts:

"But that's not all, lad."

"No?" Huey asked then looking at the duck in a top hat.

Scrooge shook his head and replied:

"No, how could we bring ye your Junior Woodchuck Guidebook without bringing ye something to help ye keep it where ye always do?"

And after this, he also took something from his back and handed it to the duckling in bed.

"M-my cap!" Huey exclaimed when he recognized what it was. Scrooge nodded and said:

"That's right lad… we saw- I mean, when we found ye, ye weren't wearing it, so we thought about bringing ye one of the spare ones in your room. Dewey and Louie gave it to us and we brought it to you."

Huey smiled. It was unexpected, but he loved it. He knew it was silly, but since Graves had burned his hat, Huey had found it much more difficult to resist the falcon’s visits, and now… his uncles had brought him one of his spare caps, as if, from somehow, they knew he missed it.

And in addition to the cap, they had also brought his guidebook. Oh, how much he had missed it. He knew it would have been very difficult, if not impossible to read while in absolute darkness, but even having it in his hands would’ve given him some reassurance… until Graves had burned it with his cap…

Why was he thinking about it now?

Huey shook his head and looking at his uncles said exultantly:

"Thank you very, very much!"

Both uncles smiled but didn't move, knowing they had to respect the boy's space. Huey felt a little bad about that. He knew they both wanted to hug him, and, being fair, they had brought him the best things they could bring him. It would be fair to show his gratitude with more than words. So, despite his growing nerves, the duckling got out of bed and hugged his uncles. They were both surprised at first, but soon returned the hug.

Huey smiled, having been the one who chose to hug his uncles, he didn’t feel as distressed as when his Uncle Donald hugged him a few days before.

Huey felt that perhaps, very slowly, things were beginning to improve.

*********************************************

So, yeah, I felt really bad when Huey didn’t hugged Donald back when he hugged him. That’s why I wanted to have him hugging Donald. I hope you’ll like it! Poor Huey, he’s having nightmares (even if it isn’t strange for him to have them). About that, what do you think about my little OC Dr. Owlfang? Do you like it? And the last thing, what do you think about the presents that Donald and Scrooge brought to Huey?

Okay, after say that, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I also would like to thank to all the people who’d read this story, the ones who commented, those who reblogged it and: @mysteriouswriter72 @elianemariane17 @araminakilla20 @hakuneki07 @i-cant-find-any-creative-name @gizmovi @some-dum-wizard-bitch @infamousquack @margaretnobbs @alphatheplant @sugerheart @squackcrowquack @nsbfenro @marshmeadow12 @ohgeeeznotagain @constellations1 @isabellanajera @you-big-palooka @deathcat003 @dragonsareawesome123 @via15 @wellshit333 @ninjawarrior100 @your-salty-dorito @rowan-npg @thesuperepicawesomefireninja @duckworth-is-love @worldsbesteagle @shaz231 @cherriesandpoison @softlemonboi @rosebu-uds @mulaneysnl @ihavenonamehalp @drummergirl231-2 @narnour-momo-007 @via15 @trash-queen-fahey @gamerfansims389 @lesbianz4glomgoldje @jessie-00 @maclove54north @northofanvi @maditheanimaniacuwu @gabrielpainterfest-blog @Variousfandompage @whiteeyesandtina @official-toebeans @r6sedust @gabrielpainterfest @obsessionhell @werdna213 @chydesa-star @a-stupid-girl @fudgecantlife @elipaghy04 @whisperwillyou @fnafgirl30 @exceeeed-charger2020

And if I’ve forgot someone, I’m sorry

See you in the next chapter 😉

#ducktales 2017 #Huey Duck #Fenton Crackshell Cabrera #OC - dr. Owlfang #donald duck #scrooge mcduck #angst #happy moments too #war for genius

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twilighteve-writes · 4 years

Text

Feather One Divided -- Chapter 7: The Search

Fic Summary:

Feather one divided, fate’s ties frayed, Fractured and wedged, scattered and gone.

After sharing an unsettling dream of Felldrake, the Three Caballeros decided to join back together with Xandra to form a stronghold in case the sorcerer returned. But Felldrake’s plans proved to be bigger than they expected, and when he struck so close to home, it was all Donald could do to keep his family – and himself – together.

(Also available in AO3)

(Chapter 1)

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Fractured and wedged, scattered and gone.

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The box Gyro and Fenton presented them didn’t look like much. It was small, about as big as a tennis ball, and made of metal, with sci-fi looking lines and blinking lights that Dewey was almost sure were there as much for aesthetics as they were for function. It had no screen, but Gyro and Fenton had found a way to wirelessly and automatically have the box connect to the tracking bracelets so they could track each other more easily, with it being able to amplify and catch signal in a much bigger area. They had also managed to make it magic-proof to a degree, though not as effectively as the bracelets themselves.

Which was helpful, considering they didn’t know where to find Louie, yet. Dewey flexed his wrist – it had been stiff for a whole night, now – and allowed hope to bloom in his chest.

“We made four of these,” Gyro said as he gestured to the table before them. “The prototype can’t make the bracelets broadcast the signal as strongly, but it’s functional. My advice is to have teams going with the better three and just don’t use the prototype.”

“Three teams, you say?” Uncle Scrooge muttered in something akin of displeasure.

Fenton seemed to sense it and shrugged. “I mean, we’d make more, but considering it’s only been about a day and a half it’s really a miracle we even managed to make three at all.”

Uncle Scrooge opened his mouth, looked at Fenton more closely, and closed it again. He probably noticed the dark circles around Fenton’s eyes and the way his fingers trembled.

Uncle Donald didn’t let it go. He squinted at Fenton and asked, “Fenton, how much coffee did you drink?”

Gyro jabbed a thumb at Fenton, looking unimpressed. “No, no, he didn’t drink much coffee. That was me who drank off all the bin’s coffee reserves. He’s been surviving off energy drinks.”

“Energy drinks gives me a really good boost,” Fenton said in monotone. He sounded like he wanted to boast but couldn’t muster the energy to. Which was ironic, to say the least, if Dewey had to say.

“And how much energy drinks have you drank while you worked on the… boxes?” Mom questioned.

Fenton blinked. “Uhhh.”

“The problem wasn’t how much he’s been drinking. It’s that he’s been surviving off energy drink for about three days because he’s been patrolling all night for a few days before we started working on these amplifiers,” Gyro answered nonchalantly as he opened his briefcase and took out more bracelets, a bit longer than the one Dewey already had. Fenton threw him a look of utter betrayal. He ignored it in favor of distributing the bracelets to the adults.

Uncle Donald stared at Fenton. He showed the scientist a look that Dewey had dubbed as his I’m-disappointed-in-you-and-I-don’t-want-to-tell-you-because-you’ll-be-sad-but-I’m-going-to-make-you-feel-guilty-with-my-eyes look. Louie had put it succinctly as the disappointed-dad look. Except not really because Uncle Donald was their uncle, but Dewey could see the point.

Fenton’s reaction was immediate – apparently, like most people, he was helpless to Uncle Donald’s look. “I had to patrol! There were weather villains. And I can’t not help with the amplifier!”

“Uh, I didn’t hear anything about any weather villain,” Huey commented skeptically.

Fenton huffed hotly. “Well, you’re welcome!”

Uncle Donald slapped his forehead and shook his head. “Go to sleep, Fenton,” he said forcefully. “And can we go back to the search? How do we do this?”

“I’m good with people,” José said with a meaningful glint in his eyes. “I can take more urban areas.”

“I’m good with people too! I’ll go with José,” Panchito said cheerfully. He slung his arm around José’s shoulders, and the two shared a brief grin.

Uncle Donald hummed. “I’ll take coastal areas, then,” he said at last.

“I’ll go with you,” Xandra offered. “It’s best not to go alone.”

“I suppose… I can reach the more mountainous areas and fly up when necessary,” Mom mused. She glanced at Uncle Scrooge. “Will you go with me, Uncle Scrooge?”

“Of course, Lass,” Uncle Scrooge agreed easily. “As for the last one…” He glanced at Gyro.

Gyro sighed. “I’m going to monitor it here, in case the green nephew approaches.”

“Good. I’ll find it easier to leave the children here with Gizmoduck guarding.” He glanced at Fenton, frowned at how he nodded off and immediately shook his head to wake himself up. Uncle Scrooge shook his head and focused on the triplets and Webby instead. “With all of you monitoring the manor, I’m sure things will be fine here.”

“Wait, what?” Dewey blinked and stood up. “You want us to stay here while you all go out to track Louie down? We want to help find him!”

“Dewey – “

“We’ve gone with you in adventures before,” Huey cut in with a scowl. “We’re not useless.”

“I know,” Uncle Scrooge assured, “but nevertheless, we need people here.”

Webby chewed the inside of her cheek. “Well, leaving home base empty is reckless and risky… but Gyro’s already here.”

Uncle Scrooge snorted. “Does he look like he can fight a sorcerer?”

Huey gave out an uncertain um at the same time as Dewey’s begrudging no and Webby’s quick I don’t think so.

“No offense, Gyro,” Huey added sheepishly.

The scientist just shrugged. “You’re not wrong. I haven’t magic-proofed my tech.”

“Oh.” Huey tilted his head. “Is that why you haven’t been bringing Lil’ Bulb around? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Partly,” Gyro admitted. “I’ve noticed he kept going offline around you kids even before you told me about the magic stuff. It’s easier to leave him at the lab instead.” He glared. “Try not to use your magic in my lab. I have a lot of delicate machineries there.”

“In any case, I want you kids to stay here,” Uncle Donald said, approaching. “We know Felldrake is dangerous. I’m not going to risk getting you kids hurt.”

“But Louie is – “

“I know Louie is with him,” Uncle Donald cut in, and Dewey’s mouth snapped close. “And I want him back as much as you. But I’m not going to risk your safety, alright?”

Dewey gritted his teeth and looked at Mom, hoping for her to support him. Instead, Mom grimaced and shook her head. “I’m sorry, honey, but I agree. It’s dangerous.”

“It’s dangerous for you, too,” Huey protested.

“More dangerous for you, since your control over your magic is still… shaky,” Mom said gently. “And now that we know Louie’s awake, too, we don’t want to risk anything. There’s always a chance of all your magic going haywire because one of you get panicked…”

Dewey stomped his feet and ignored how childish it made him felt. “You wouldn’t even know he’s awake if it wasn’t for us!”

“We can help. I have tracking badge from Junior Woodchuck!” Huey added.

José stepped in, a green glint in his eyes. “Now, now, children. I know it’s not fun to stay home, but we want you to be safe. So stay put until we’re back, okay?”

Something snaked its way in and gripped Dewey, tying off his protests and letting it wilt by his teeth before the words even formed. He gulped and said nothing, but he was aware of Huey frowning and Webby nodding jerkily.

“There’s no guarantee we will find Felldrake today, anyway,” Xandra mused, looking out the window. “If there’s anything we’ve learned about him by now, it’s that he’s slippery.”

“We’ll do our best, though! I can promise you that!” Panchito added cheerfully.

Mom knelt in front of him and cupped Dewey’s face in her hands. “We just want you to be safe,” she said, voice soft. “I know it’s hard, but please just stay. I promise it’s not because we think you’re useless.”

Dewey squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. He leaned into Mom’s touch, and she pulled him into a hug. Huey joined soon, his warmth seeping through Dewey’s clothes and feathers; and then, with hesitation, Webby, too, joined.

When Mom let go, she smiled at them. “We’ll be back soon.”

“And, Fenton, rest,” Uncle Donald said as he pointed at Fenton’s beak.

“But Scrooge said he needs Gizmoduck to guard – “

José sighed. “Go to bed, Fenton.”

Fenton didn’t put up much fight, then. “ – yeah, okay,” he said, flopping to the couch and snoring almost immediately. Dewey and Huey both stared at Fenton, then at José, suddenly realizing that they didn’t know what sort of magic José had and how he used it.

“Oh, wait,” Webby said suddenly, rummaging her pockets and pulling out three bracelets. She offered them to José, Panchito, and Xandra. “I made these yesterday. Please stay safe.”

Xandra blinked in surprise, but Panchito reacted immediately. “Aww, you didn’t have to!” he said as he knelt down in front of Webby.

“But I wanted to,” Webby insisted. “These are for you, and José, and Xandra. Uncle Donald has one already.”

Panchito smiled warmly and took the red-and-cream bracelet, in which Webby had put in slivers of the same sea blue of Donald’s bracelet and a single green thread. “Muchas gracias, chiquita. It’s beautiful.”

José stepped in and picked the green bracelet with slivers of red and blue. “Thank you so much, Webby. I’ll treasure this.”

When Xandra didn’t step forward to take the black-and-gold bracelet, Webby looked up at her, expectant. She jolted when Uncle Donald nudged her forward, and she took the bracelet. “I’m surprised you’re giving me this. People don’t usually bother making charms for me,” she admitted.

Webby huffed. “Well, maybe they’re wrong.”

Xandra laughed in response. “Thanks a lot, Webby. You’re really sweet.” She put on the bracelet immediately, and the woven threads clashed with the metal cuffs, but she didn’t seem to care much about it.

They watched as the adults leave, Dewey gripping the doorframe so tightly that his fingers hurt. A part of him wanted to sprint to the gate and follow them to town, helping the search however he could, but something held him back. Judging from Huey’s ever-present frown, he felt the same.

With a huff, Dewey marched inside and all but throw himself to a free seat at a sofa, glaring at the floor. Soon, Webby joined him, while Huey made himself comfortable at the foot of the couch Fenton was sleeping on. He opened his Junior Woodchucks Guidebook and started flipping the pages, though Dewey could tell he couldn’t concentrate enough to read.

Gyro poked at the box he had in front of him. It hummed to life, the lines and circles glowing softly. Dewey found himself staring at the box.

“Don’t feel too bad,” Gyro spoke up. “It’s not that bad, being here.”

Huey closed his guidebook with a snap. “We want to help,” he said.

“It’s not like we’re useless,” Dewey added. “We’ve helped, when we go with Uncle Scrooge to get treasure and whatever.”

Webby huffed. “It’s annoying. I know we’re young, but that doesn’t mean we can’t contribute.” She threw up her hands in frustration. “And after Lena, Violet, and I went to get information, too! I haven’t told the adults, but still – “

“I’m not saying you kids are useless,” Gyro said. “It’s not my intention at all. You’ve managed to stay alive while adventuring with Scrooge; clearly you’re not incapable.”

“Well clearly they don’t see it that way,” Huey huffed.

Gyro stared at them and took a deep breath. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, and for the first time, Dewey realized how tired he seemed. It was hard to tell, with the perpetual listlessness in his gaze, but when he really looked, he could see the slightest tremble in the scientist’ fingers and the extra blink he took every other blink, as if trying to steal blinks could equal a millisecond of sleep.

Gyro put the glasses back on. “Look, your family won’t be happy that I’m framing it this way, and I’m sure they don’t see it this way either, but here’s the thing. You’re going against a sorcerer, right? A really powerful one. And you can’t fight him with technology, because unless magic-proofed, tech will just go offline around him, and that’s if he doesn’t outright fry them first. So the only way to fight him will be with magic. Are you with me so far?”

Huey nodded warily. “What does that have to do with this?”

“Magic is rare, correct? And as far as we know, the people who we know for sure can use magic are out there looking for your brother, and you two.”

Dewey swallowed his discomfort and snapped, “Get to the point, Gyro. What are you trying to say?”

“If worse comes to worst and they all fail, who else can use magic to fight this sorcerer if not you?”

Webby sharply inhaled. Dewey ignored the sudden cold that snaked through his limbs, and knew without needing to look or probe Huey’s magic that he felt the same as him.

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Louie’s hand hurt.

He knew he had been injured when he tried to run away. He just wasn’t sure on how badly he was injured. Now, looking at how his wrist had swollen, he knew how bad it was.

“I can’t believe I got my wrist sprained the moment I tried to run,” he muttered under his breath. He ignored the pain as much as he could, ripped a portion of the once-blanket he had been tearing to slivers, and wrapped it around the sprain. For once, he was grateful of the first aid lessons Huey got from Junior Woodchuck that he then drilled into both Louie and Dewey’s head under Uncle Donald’s keen eyes.

He’d been ripping the blanket and bedsheet into strips that he tied together to form a long rope for a while, now. He wasn’t sure how strong the makeshift rope would be, but he was willing to risk it. He stuffed the dry bread Felldrake had pushed into the room through a latch at the door into his mouth and gulped in the thin soup with the sorry looking veggies floating about in it, snatched the bottled water provided with the food and stuffed it into his pocket, and considered.

Okay. Okay.

He tied the bedsheet rope to the radiator, and he inwardly thanked whatever higher being was out there that he was put in a small room. He prayed to the same higher being that the radiator would be able to support his weight.

Right. Now the window problem.

He already checked before, but he pulled at the handles of the window anyway, trying to open it. The window only rattled, and Louie clicked his tongue. How to do this…

There was a thin spoon that was slipped in together with the food. With nothing else he could see that could potentially help, Louie took the spoon, inserted the flat end of it into the gap between the window and the frame, and did whatever he could to break the lock somehow. He was unsuccessful; the crappy spoon bent instead and the window was still closed.

Though, Felldrake had put a metal bucket in the room before, most likely so Louie could pee if he needed to. The bucket was still empty – he’d slept for a few hours and made his rope for a few hours more, ignoring his dinner all the while. The bucket would be useful for this, though.

He peered at the darkness outside. Dawn had yet to break, though he could tell the darkness was beginning to dissipate. Hoping the bucket wouldn’t make too much noise and Felldrake and Leopold both were heavy sleepers, Louie held the bucket, grimaced, and swung it as hard as he could to the glass.

It cracked upon impact, which Louie was surprised of. He thought it would take a lot more than that. He gritted his teeth and swung again, and this time, the window shattered.

He winced at the noise and tried to break as much of the leftover shards at the frame as he could, put down the now-dented bucket, then quickly threw the rope out. He wrapped his hands and feet sloppily with the some strips of cloth from the blanket and climbed out the window.

The rope was still too short, in the end. Louie took in a deep breath and let go of the rope, letting gravity help him traverse the leftover height – maybe about five to six feet, if Louie’s estimate was right – and he managed to land relatively harmlessly, all things considered. He put his hand wrong, though, and he bit back a cry when the pain in his wrist flared angrily.

There was no time to worry about that. He looked around, realized he was standing basically at a roadside, and ran parallel to the road as far as he was able.

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Donald hadn’t realized how agitated he was until he stepped closer to the sea, hearing the crashing waves and feeling the push and pull of the water like a physical force, and let the ocean soothe his mind.

He noticed Xandra staring at him when he turned to look at the sea, seeing her peering at him from the edge of his vision. He stared back, asking, “What?”

“You needed this,” Xandra said simply. “I just realized, you need to be closer to the sea to get more stable. I forgot elementals like you need to be close to their respective elements.”

Donald scoffed. “It’s nothing that serious. I’m just calmer when I hear the waves.” He looked down and tinkered with the amplifier, and it hummed as it blinked to life. He checked the signals at the bracelet he wore, and sighed when he realized he didn’t see any sign of Louie.

“That’s another sign you need to be closer to the sea anyway, but okay,” Xandra muttered. “In any case, are you okay?”

Donald looked at her strangely. “What do you mean? Of course I am.”

“Donald, I’m a goddess. Magic is basically my bread and butter.” She tilted her head. “You magic hasn’t been stable since that last confrontation with Felldrake. Not even after you healed yourself with the orb.”

“It’s really not that bad. I’m just pissed he took my nephew.”

“Your angry doesn’t feel like this,” Xandra said, chasing the thread relentlessly. “When I first got here, you felt like calm sea. Your angry feels like coastal storm, usually. This time it feels more like the sea trying to build up a tidal wave.”

“Well they’ve never gone for my family before,” Donald said, walking off along the road by the coastline. “Once I get Louie back, Felldrake will get a pounding.”

“That’s not the only thing I want to talk to you about, Donald.” Xandra stopped him by gripping his shoulder and pulling back, forcing him to turn to look at her. “I’m not fully convinced Felldrake’s influence is wholly purged from you.”

“What? Do you still feel his magic wriggling about in mine or something?”

Xandra frowned. “Not… really…”

Donald shrugged her off irritably. “Then it’s gone. I mean, sure, I’m kind of more angry than usual, but that’s mostly because Felldrake took my nephew.”

“You weren’t like this before,” Xandra protested weakly.

“I didn’t have the kids, before,” Donald answered without missing a beat. He took a deep breath and let the sound of crashing waves calm him down. “Look, Xandra, it’s been a while since we last met. A lot of things have changed. And what you should know is, I’ll do anything to keep my family safe. I’ll do anything to keep my kids safe. I don’t care at what cost.”

Xandra stared. “You don’t care at what cost,” she echoed softly.

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t your sister have problem with that?”

Donald’s beak snapped shut. The sea roared.

Xandra stared silently in wait.

“…let’s check that way,” Donald said instead, pointing away to the farther end of the coastline. “Maybe we’ll have better luck farther away from downtown. If Sheldgoose kept his house in New Quackmore, we’ll be better off looking around that way.”

Xandra sighed. “Alright,” she said, following Donald’s lead as he walked and kept an eye on the signals displayed by the bracelet.

They kept mostly silent, with Donald directing their way and Xandra asking the occasional questions as they walked. Just as they turned a corner, Donald stopped, and Xandra bumped into him.

“What? What is it?” Xandra asked, peering down to look at the bracelet’s display.

“I think it’s Louie’s signal,” Donald breathed, then took off.

He ran as fast as his feet could carry him, the roar of the sea empowering him until he was too far from the coastline to hear the crash of the waves. He could hear Xandra following, but his focus was on the blinking dot at the bracelet’s display and how the box seemed to whirr louder with each step he took.

A voice rang and broke his focus. “Donal’!”

He glanced to see José and Panchito running to him, and he lifted a brow as they joined his frantic sprint. “I thought you were looking in downtown,” he said between breaths.

“We saw the signal and followed it,” Panchito explained. “But I don’t think Scrooge and Della is around here.”

“We should be able to locate Louie soon – there!” José pointed, and Donald turned.

His eyes widened when he saw the small boy in green hoodie peering nervously at the streets. “Louie!” he all but screamed.

Louie’s head snapped up and he looked at Donald with what he knew, from the bottom of his heart, was genuine surprise and relief. Even from afar, he could see Louie’s eyes water as he pulled at his hoodie, and Donald saw the tattered bandages around his hands and feet. He ran faster to the boy, just as the boy stumbled forward to meet him.

A shadow flew overhead. Hands grabbed Louie by the head and pushed him down, and he crashed into asphalt with a pained grunt, Leopold holding him down.

“Foolish boy,” Felldrake growled from Leopold’s back. “Do you honestly believe I wouldn’t have a way of tracking you down?”

“Get away from him, Felldrake!” Donald yelled, letting the ocean build in his chest and calling forth its power. The ocean was far away, but close enough to call – he could feel the seawater snake into the streets and rush to them.

Felldrake stared at Donald, blinking. Then his eyes grew hard. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The seawater reached them at last. It towered behind Donald like a wall. “And why not? What’s stopping me from washing you away right now?”

Felldrake glanced down. “Leopold.”

Leopold tightened his hold on Louie’s head. The boy cried in pain into the asphalt. With a growl, Donald let go of his control over the water, and the wall fell around them, sloshing and splashing angrily.

“Give him back,” Donald demanded.

“Careful,” Felldrake practically purred, “I can have his head crushed if I don’t like your tone.”

“Hey, let’s all calm down here,” José said, taking a tentative step ahead. “We only want the boy back, so we’ll appreciate it if you release – “

“If you try to compel me, the boy gets it,” Felldrake cut in coldly. José’s beak snapped shut immediately. When Panchito took in a deep breath, Felldrake glanced at him and added, “It’s the same with you.”

“Felldrake, you’d better get your pet to release the boy now or I’ll make him,” Xandra threatened.

In turn, Felldrake simply clicked his tongue. “Careful, goddess. You wouldn’t want a young boy’s blood on your hands, would you?”

Under Leopold, Louie stilled, pure fear in his eyes. Xandra scowled, but backed down when Donald pulled her back.

“What do you want with me?” Louie asked quietly. His voice trembled, and Donald felt his heart clench at the sight of him trying to keep himself from outright crying.

Felldrake leaned in to look at Louie in the eyes, and Leopold shifted to accommodate it. “Do you know how hard it is to find a gold touched child?” he asked back. “There aren’t a lot of you. And the ones that I found are incompatible. You’re the closest match I can find.”

Louie blinked at him. “…what?”

“No matter,” Felldrake dismissed, jumping off Leopold’s back. “You’re staying under this time. I won’t have you run away again.”

Donald could feel his feathers standing on end when the wind around Felldrake picked up with smoggy undertones in a cloudy night. The choking air intensified as light shone between Felldrake’s fingers, creating ribbon-like length that he threw at Louie. Louie flinched, but a part of Donald was relieved instead when he saw a translucent shield enveloping Louie. Webby’s charm had been effective. He rushed forward, wanting to take advantage of the bracelet’s shield to knock Felldrake and Leopold off so he could grab Louie.

Felldrake had another idea. He growled, and smoggy night sky bled to the ground around him, then it rose, rose, rose, forming the distant stars and rotting nebulas that soon swallowed the smoggy sky in its wake. He glared at Louie. “I am sick of that charm of yours,” he rumbled.

His hand struck out, and Louie tried to scramble away, but Leopold’s hold kept him in place. Felldrake’s hand hit the shield with a muted thump, but then the dying stars blazed and the shield melted around his fingers, allowing him access to Louie’s person.

Louie slapped Felldrake’s hand away as much as he could, but stopped with a whimpered squeak when Felldrake gripped his wrist and squeezed. His free hand grabbed the woven bracelet Webby made.

“Stop it, that’s a gift,” Louie protested weakly.

Felldrake didn’t respond. Ominous purple streaks bled through his feathers and dripped to Louie. The boy winced.

“I didn’t want to do this, but the situation called for it,” Felldrake said instead. His hand blazed with purple flames and he pulled.

Donald was close. Not close enough.

A blast of wind accompanied the booming magic Felldrake emitted. Faraway space swallowed the deserted streets and muffled the call of the sea Donald always felt deep in his bones. Blooming poisonous nebulas loomed and dying stars shone like silent judges. The blast of magic threw Donald back.

Felldrake looped a finger around the bracelet, hand blazing. He pulled with a grunt, and the bracelet was reduced into ashes.

The effect was immediate. Another blast, weaker this time, slapped Donald in the face. It felt distinctly like Webby in the inexplicable way it also didn’t. Webby may not have magic the way Donald had it, but he could feel her intention to protect in the now-destroyed bracelet scattering as it was reduced to ashes.

Louie cried in pain, feathers stained by dripped purple. Felldrake’s fingers trembled as he stood and breathed, the purple streaking his feathers darkening like blood.

Felldrake called on the ribbon-like spell again. Louie struggled under Leopold’s weight, trying to get away, and he began to flow gold – he emitted so much fear and panic through his magic that Donald knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was calling his magic from pure instinct alone. The undercurrent of terror in Louie’s magic had him scrambling again to reach him.

Louie turned to look at him. “Uncle Donald – “ he called, voice strangled, hand outstretched to reach him. Donald reached back.

The ribbon-like spell circled around Louie’s neck and collared him once more. The boy gasped and squeezed his eyes shut, recoiling and curling into himself. Felldrake laid a hand over his eyes, and he went slack.

Donald called his magic once more, determined to get Louie back. Leopold flapped his wings once and slammed his tail into Donald’s midsection and had him thrown back, and he would have slammed into a wall if Xandra hadn’t caught him in time.

Felldrake grabbed Louie by the scruff of his hoodie and put him on Leopold’s back. “We’re going, Leopold,” he said.

“Wait!” José yelled. Felldrake froze for a moment, but then the nebulas around them shone brighter and he shook off the effects of José’s magic and glared disdainfully.

“If any of you try to stop me, I’ll cut the boy’s fingers one by one,” he threatened. The looming nebulas and dying stars seemed to retract into him and disappeared as he climbed onto Leopold and had him flap his wings again.

“Get down here and fight us, you coward!” Xandra snarled.

“Xandra, stop,” Panchito said warily. “We don’t know if he’ll go through with it.”

Felldrake snorted. He patted Leopold’s arm. “Let’s go.”

“No – wait, no! Louie!” Donald pulled himself free of Xandra’s hold and ran ahead, his magic rising as his desperation grew. He gasped when José and Panchito grabbed him by the arms and pulled him back.

“Donal’, calm down! He’s already holding Louie by the neck!” José hissed in warning. Donald felt his breath hitch when he realized that, like José said, Felldrake had his hand on Louie’s neck. It creeped up to his head, grabbing a fistful of hair, as the other hand blazed purple. The purple light morphed into a blade of sorts.

Donald tamped down on his magic and forced it to still. The roar of the sea calmed into a whisper of uneasy waves in the eye of a hurricane.

Felldrake threw his hand down, and the purple blaze around it fell and bloomed around Leopold. It covered them as the swallowing sensation of the dying stars rose once more, then dissipated into nothing.

Donald wrenched himself out of his friends’ hold and let the hurricane out as he screamed and pounded at the asphalt.

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In the manor, Webby stilled mid-word and she gripped her wrist, feeling her bracelet. Her eyes widened, then she frowned, breath shallow.

“Webby? What is it?” Huey asked, while Dewey stood and walked over to her. He jerked midstride with a gasp, eyes rolling back as he fell to the floor. From his spot, Huey let out a whimper as he, too, slumped over.

From his spot, Gyro scrambled to his feet and stepped closer to Dewey, who was closest to him. He glanced at Fenton, who was still out cold, wishing he was awake so he would have help with the kids. For the first time, it truly struck him how out of depth he was in this.

#feather one divided #dt17 magic au #ducktales #ducktales 17 #donald duck #della duck #scrooge mcduck #Huey Duck #dewey #Louie Duck #Webby Vanderquack #Gyro Gearloose #Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera #panchito pistoles #josé carioca #xandra #felldrake #leopold

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aurafanfiction · 5 years

Text

Life is Hard (One Shots) Part 4: Family Dynamics

Edit: Thank you so much to everyone who has liked and comment and reblogged this part of my one shot series. It's far and away my most popular one yet and I'm glad to be able to give you some enjoyment through my writing. There's lots more to come, I feel really inspired to create when all of you wonderful readers are telling me you enjoy it and want more. I love all of you! Now back to your regularly scheduled story...

Louie laid in his bed and let out a deep breath. The last week had been extremely overwhelming, first he almost destroyed the world and made his mom angry with him, and then the next thing he knew he was helping to save it from a moon invasion of all things. It was too much, he hadn’t realized how exhausted all these events had made him.

He thought about how nice it would be to just lay in bed for a little while, and let things calm down. It had only been a few hours since Lunaris’s plan to destroy the Earth had backfired and most of the town, as well as the remaining Moonlanders were helping clean things up.

Everything should go back to normal now, he thought to himself, back to when things weren’t so complicated. Or at least that was how it was supposed to be, so why couldn’t he shake this sickening feeling that something wasn’t back to normal at all. It was like his insides were all twisted, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.

“It’s nothing, stop freaking out over nothing.” He said aloud to himself hoping it would somehow convince him that was the truth.

It didn’t feel like the truth…

Huey suddenly opened the door, though Louie only half paid attention to him, too lost in his thoughts to listen.

“Hey Louie, Mom’s gonna take us all out for ice cream to celebrate us saving the world…”

“Uh-huh yeah, that’s cool…”

Huey raised an eyebrow. “You okay? You seem distracted.”

Louie rolled over lazily to face his older brother, snapping out of his daze. “I dunno, I’ve got a weird feeling that won’t go away, like something isn’t quite right.”

“What couldn’t be right, Lunaris is gone Louie, we saved the world. It’s time to celebrate!” Huey yelled, punching a fist into the air.

Typical, no one really cares if something’s bothering me, Louie thought. They all ask, but they don’t really listen.

“Whatever, ice cream sounds okay I guess.”

“Awesome, meet us downstairs, Uncle Donald is coming too!” Huey said excitedly as he bounced out of the room.

Suddenly Louie was struck with realization. “Uncle Donald.” He whispered to himself. Mom hadn’t been back a month yet and Huey had stopped calling him Dad… That was this weird feeling he had inside. He didn’t want Donald to go back to being their Uncle, it was too late for that, he was their Dad in every sense of the word.

But they had Mom now too, their biological parent, and he didn’t want that to change either. They’d had their ups and downs so far, but she loved them, and he felt like he loved her too. He wanted to call both of them his parents. He hadn’t even thought about what the dynamic would be once their Dad returned, what if they get in a fight about who gets to raise us from now on.

Louie started to panic a little, he hated change, normality was safe… change was just scary. A million scenarios played through his head, including a few that were so bad they ended up with him and his brothers getting separated from each other, in different households.

Before he knew what was happening, tears spilled from his eyes. They just saved the whole world, it should be a happy day. Now it was filled with anxiety and worry.

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs towards his room. Quickly he tried to wipe his tears away, and put on a fake smile.

It was his Mom.

“Honey, what’s taking so long, don’t you want a delicious triple decker sundae supreme…” Her words stopped short when she saw her youngest crying. He may have been trying to conceal it, but nothing got past her, not when it came to her babies being hurt.

She took a seat next to her son on the bed and place her hand gently upon his shoulder. He always looked so fragile, and so far she figured she’d seen him crying more than not. He was very much like her brother when Donald was young.

“What’s the matter Louie, I know when you’re upset, and you can’t hide it from me it’s one of my numerous Mom powers.”

“I’m fine, let’s just go get ice cream okay?”

Della shook her head. “You tell me what’s going on with you first.”

Louie folded his arms and looked away from his mom. He wasn’t sure what the right words were for this situation, the last thing he needed was for more people to be mad at him again. Finally he gathered the courage to speak what was on his mind.

“What’s gonna happen with Uncle Donald now that you’re back?”

“What do you mean sweetie?”

Louie took a deep breath in. “Well I mean, he’s our Dad and everything, well not our real Dad but, ughh, you know what I mean. He sang to us when we were scared, helped us with school, fed us and played with us for our whole lives. He’s earned that title. And you, you’re our real Mom, but you weren’t there for us like one.”

Della recoiled a little, she wished they wouldn’t keep reminding her. Louie saw her pull back and then he said something that brought her smile back.

“Don’t get me wrong, I mean you were gone from our lives for a long time… But I want you in it now, I want you as my Mom and I know Huey and Dewey want that too.”

“I guess I’m not seeing why you’re upset honey, you have both of us and we’re not going anywhere.” Della assured him. Running a hand through his hair. “I’m not going to force Donald out of your lives, or make him stop parenting you. Three kids is a lot to handle and your Uncle has the experience dealing with you all, trust me I’m going to need him here.”

“So you’re not gonna argue over who gets to keep us and split the family up?” Louie asked her, unsure of the whole situation. Suddenly he found himself being pulled into Della’s embrace.

“No Louie we’re not, Donald and I haven’t had much time to talk about it, but we’d like to parent you boys together. I know that’s not exactly a normal family dynamic, but I think we can make it work. What do you say?”

“Well can we still call him Dad?” Louie asked breaking the hug.

“Of course sweetheart, like you said, he earned that title by taking care of you for eleven years, I won’t take that away from him. Nothing has to change Louie, other than now I get to be a part of your lives as well.”

“I guess that makes sense, so I was worried for nothing then?”

“Of course, we’re gonna be one happy family together, the way it should have been all along.”

Louie nodded. As they sat there a moment, together, he suddenly had another thought pop into his head, and he figured now was a good a time as any to ask about it.

“If you don’t mind talking about it.” Louie started, nervously. “Uncle Donald will always be our Dad, but we’ve all kinda wondered… whatever did happen to our biological Dad?”

Della couldn’t help but look away at the floor when her son asked that.

“I mean, you don’t have to if it’s too sad or something?” Louie quickly added.

“No, no, it’s not that. It actually makes me mad to think about him. You don’t need to know anything about him except that the only thing good that came from being with him was you boys. He didn’t want to accept the responsibility of being your father when he found out I was having three of you, he couldn’t handle it so he left.”

“Oh…”

“Trust me, don’t give him another thought, Donald is a better father to you kids than that man could have ever been, no mystery there.” Della assured him.

Louie nodded before wrapping his arms around his Mom’s neck. “Thanks Mom, you really did make me feel a lot better. I just wasn’t sure how you’d both fit into our lives now.”

The two of them stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, and Della could have kept holding him forever if that’s how long Louie needed. Finally she pulled Louie away and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Eww, Mom Germs!” Louie whined.

“I love you Louie, I always will, and I know Donald would say the same. So if you’re feeling up to it now, let’s go get some ice cream huh? All this world saving and family problems has been too heavy. You need to be a kid and eat ice cream until you’re sick!”

Louie wiped his cheek off on the sleeve of his hoodie. He secretly liked the affection, even if he would never say that out loud. “Okay, I guess I could go for one of those supreme sundae thingies you were talking about!” He said, trying to play cool, but he couldn’t hide his smirk.

“What could possibly be taking so long?!” Donald asked as he peered into the boy’s bedroom. “Della, I sent you in here to get Louie to come down, you’ve been up here for fifteen minutes.”

Louie and Della exchanged looks. “Sorry Don, we just needed to have a little mother son time first, we’re ready to get our triple decker sundae supreme now!”

“Oh, no. No way are the boys eating that much sugar, they can each get one small cone!”

Della got up and put on her best serious look before saying in a low tone. “Donald, my boys just got back from saving the world, they’ll have any delicious ice cream treat they want…”

Louie closed one eye, barely able to look and expecting a fight to ensue, just as he’d thought. But to his surprise his Mom and Dad started laughing. Man this family dynamic was gonna be weird, but at least he and his brother’s had both of them now. A complete family.

The three of them headed for the door.

“Alright, but you get to wrangle Huey when he starts bouncing off the walls, he does not handle sugar well!” Donald laughed.

“Wait what?” Della asked. She guessed she still had a lot to learn about her kids, and she couldn’t wait to learn it all, with her brother’s help.

A/N: Thank you for reading another drabble of mine. I can't wait until next season when we actually get to see some of this family dynamic unfold. The show just gets better and better. As always please leave your comments if you have time, I love hearing from you all and I try to respond to them all. Have a beautiful day, let the hopefully not painful wait for season 3 commence!

~ Aura

#ducktales #ducktales fanfiction #Louie Duck #della duck #donald duck #Huey Duck #dad donald #hurt/comfort

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dancingthesambaa · 5 years

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Lady Luck Alternative Plan

So I just watched the Season Finale, and it was amazing!! Though the one thing that really bothered me was Donald not having a big of a role in the finale, soooo this is my take! Enjoy!! Also forgive me for my grammar🙏

Also to those who have not watch Moonvasion SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

The Duck Family, excluding Scrooge who was currently in the grasp of the insane leader and Donald who was still nowhere to be seen, could only hold onto Mitzy and hope that she can break the beam to topple the ship, but it wasn’t enough.

Looking at this Gladstone sighed in defeat “It looks like we’re out of luck.” And it would have ended like that, if not for Spear of Selene barreling it’s way towards the beam and completely smashing straight through it, sending the rocket tumbling downwards.

Everyone, even Lunaris who was now even more confused as ever, stared in shock as they watched the smaller of the golden ship land onto the frozen tundra and when the ship had opened up they clearly saw Donald step out.

Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby all shouted out “Uncle Donald!”, in glee, but it quickly turn into fear when they had a closer look at him.

Gladstone and Fethry were about to call out as well, but their faces went slack when they saw him.

Scrooge and Della, one who was about to smile warmly at his nephew lucky appearance and the other enthusiastically wanting to finally reach out to her twin for the first time in years, faces quickly went into rage when they looked at him, and they knew who had caused...that.

They saw Donald step out with a very torn sailor suit, his entire body littered with fading brusies and cuts and bluish bandage wrapped firmly around his stomach and in the center was a very large dark spot.

When Donald saw his family on Mitzy, Fethry introduced them a while back though it took a while to convince the both of them that his boathouse was not a toy, his face lighted up in pure joy especially when he caught sight of his twin, and they will be having words when this whole invasion is dealt with, up their with them. His eyes went downward and his entire expression became blank as he saw his uncle beaten and bruised by the same man who trapped him and Penumbra in the Gold Mines.

“Impossible! The both of you were suppose to have died when I stabbed you through and collapsed the mines on the both of you!” Lunaris yelled out in frustration, his entire plan was falling apart in front of his face. The Duck family, barring Donald who face was still eeriely blank, all gasped and quickly became enraged as they heard Lunaris confession.

Donald felt a soft presence stand by him, the same one who had help bandage him up using her emergency bandages she always kept on her and led him out of the mines and to her ship. Penumbra looks at her gen-former general in pure disgust and her lips curled upwards, but she didn’t say a word, that came from another source.

“I get that a lot you oversized washout blueberry, but here’s the thing.” Donald entire face quickly became red in rage as he leaped at Lunaris shouting out, “I TOLD YOU DO NOT MESS WITH MY FAMILY!” It soon quickly became a brawl between the two of them, with Donald getting the upper hand despite his shorter size and his exhaustion.

Scrooge had landed backwards due to Donald ripping Lunaris grip from him and he could only watch in fond amusement as Donald put the Moon leader in a chokehold.

“Go Mr. D!” Launchpad, who had fallen off the ship, happily cheered out the best he could in a meteor outfit.

“Lady Luck, once again you are quite the women.” Gladstone sighs in relief as he watches the battle.

“Woohoo!! Go Cuz!” Fethry cries out alongside Mitzy, who bellows out in cheer as well.

“Go Uncle Donald!” Dewey, Louie, Webby and Huey yelled out in excitement. “Kick his alien butt back to the moon!”

Della did not yell nor did she scream, in fact she had quickly leaped off Mitzy to join her brother in battling Lunaris, she has ten years worth of frustration that she would just love to pummeled him with and that not even touching the fact that this monster dare to try to kill her kids and almost succeed with her twin. Oh yeah, he will learn the meaning of pain today.

Lunaris was quickly realized that his original plan had quickly was a failure as he felt an iron foot smash into the side of his face and a scratched up fist punch his stomach. He could only kneel down in complete agony.

Donald looked to his left to meet Della eyes, while Della looked at the right to meet Donald eyes. Both expression told a lot from worry about the state the other is in, to fear of that one wrong hit or blast could harm the other or the family their desperatly trying to protect, to relief that their other half is finally with them after all this time. But when they look towards Lunaris everyone could clearly see the same thing that burned into both of their eyes.

Rage

Lunaris, in fear of knowing what will happen if they get to him, quickly grabs his laser and shot towards the two of them while he makes his way back into his ship.

The two of them dodge the blasts and when Della saw him about to enter the ship, she quickly made way to follow him when she was stopped by Donald.

Della quickly looked at her brother, about to shout when she saw that he was smirking as he watch the ship fly off.

“He won’t go far as I destroyed all of his guns, lasers, engines, control systems and drained out most of his fuel tanks.” Everyone watched as they saw Penumbra walked towards them with a satisfied smirk on her face. “My guess is that by the time he realizes he’s out of fuel, he will be stuck out in space with no way back, excellent plan by the way Donald.”

Donald nodded with a small smile and it grew softer when finally had a good chance to see his sister. They both looked at each other and when the both of them reached out their hands, they had quickly punched each other.

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” They both simultaneously shouted out at each other.

“I was on the moon after I saw your ship crash and I tried to find you Dumbella!” Donald shouted back and braced himself when Della leaped at him screaming, “I was on the moon before you big palooka and don’t call me DUMBELLA!!” The two quickly began the wrestle the other, despite their numerous injuries.

“Ah bless me bagpipes, I missed this.” Scrooge sighed in fond remeberance their squabbling said as the rest of the family made their way down of Mitzy to watch the reunion/wrestle match.

“Alright, alright lets break it up, some of us shouldn’t even be fighting in their condition.” Penny grasped on the back of Della jacket, only for her to shimmy her way out of it and haul her brother up to shake him.

“Arghhh!! I mean seriously I am so mad right now, but I missed you so much!” She cried out in agitiation.

“So am I and I missed you too!” He yelled back with equal intensity.

They both stopped at once and when they finally had enough of their anger, they began to hug the other fiercely as tears stream down their faces.

“I missed you so much” Della whispered.

“Me too” Donald softly relplied. He looked towards the side the see the rest of his family and he motioned for them to join in as well.

Scrooge was the one to join in first as he fiercely hugged both his nephew and niece tightly as if they will disappear from his life a second time. Dewey, Louie, Webby and Huey quickly join in after as they tried their best to hug both Donald and Della at the same time. Fethry and Gladstone soon came after with a hug and a ruffle of the heads respectively. Launchpad even joined the fray as he bear hugged them all together as he cried out in joy.

After a while they broke it up, though the Family still stayed near to each other as close as possible.

“Alright, I think it’s time we made our way back to Duckburg and spread the word of what actually transpired and it seems as if some of us needs a proper rest.” Scrooge said as he stared at the bandage wrapped around his nephew stomach.

Donald snorted “I could say the same thing.” As he looked a his uncle bruised as well.

As they say their way back on Mitzy and Gladstone blimp Donald asks “So what happened while I was away?”

The triplets, Webby and Della all had an eager look on their faces as they began to loudly tell him at the same time what happen.

“We met a cave Duck and did you know-”

“-and then the inside doomsday vault was crazy-”

“Violet and I managed to get Lena back, but that wasn’t the last time we saw Magica in fact-

“-after I tricked Glomgold I then became one of the richest Duck, though their were some drawbacks-”

“Seriously Donald how did you even manage parenting? Cause let me tell you-”

Donald just continue to let them talk with a fond expression on his face and when he felt a hand on his shoulder he looked to Uncle Scrooge.

“We missed ya laddie.”

#moonvasion #ducktales spoilers #ducktales 2017 #donald duck #della duck #lieutenant penumbra #Lady Luck Alt. Plan #ducktales

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pocminiseries · 5 years

Text

Call My Name

New Challenge.

"Mrs. Scott informed me to highly recommend you for this job." He mentioned, glancing up from the file that sat on his desk. "That's impressive." He added, smiling at the beautiful woman who sat in the chair in front of his desk.

Brooklyn returned the smile, rubbing her slightly sweaty hands on her navy blue jumpsuit. "Yeah, it was a great learning experience to work beside her." She told him truthfully. The older woman has been a first-grade teacher for over thirteen years and one of the best in the city. So when she got a chance to pick where she'd do her internship, Southside Hill Private School was easily her first choice because of the opportunity to work with Mrs. Scott.

Mr. Torres nodded his head, understanding what she meant completely. "But I'm curious as to why you chose to work for public school and not private. Southside actually pays more and have better benefits. Especially with a resume like yours, you would've been hired easily."

"Honestly, I just feel like children who go to public school deserve great teachers as well. Besides, it's where I've gotten my education. Plus, I do this because I have a love for being a teacher, not the money." Brooklyn loved working with children, which is why she chose to be a first-grade teacher.

"I see. Well if that's the case....you're hired." Beamed Mr. Torres, standing up from his chair to congratulate her.

Brooklyn stared at the man in surprise. "Really? Just like that?" She gaped, not expecting to be hired on the spot like this.

"Just like that. We really needed a teacher as soon as possible, like starting tomorrow as possible." He explained, scratching the back of his neck. "Today is the last day that Ms. Stone will be teaching the class that you will be taking over."

Brooklyn eyed him curiously. "Why is she leaving so suddenly?"

"Well, you see....class 43B can be a bit, how can I say this? Challenging?" He guessed, struggling to find the nicest word to describe the students.

Brooklyn made a face, looking away, finding his words suspicious. "How so?" She questioned, pressing for more answers.

"Huey, Dewey, and Louie." He stated simply, hoping she'd get what characters he was referring too.

"You mean like Donald Duck's nephews?" She giggled, once she figured out his reference.

"So a mischievous group is why she's leaving?""Sadly and the one before has done the same." He revealed. "We've been through two teachers in the last five months and hopefully you're the one for the job." He was hoping, praying that Brooklyn could handle the three little boys who had a habit for tormenting the students and teachers.

"That bad huh?" She smiled to herself as Mr. Torres nodded his head. "If that's the case, I can't wait to meet them." There wasn't much that Brooklyn couldn't handle and if this trio was as bad as he claimed to be, then she was up for a challenge.

Mr. Torres sighed, placing his hands into his pocket. "It's recess, so I'll introduce you to the other two first grade teachers. Follow me." He instructed her, making his way towards his office door.

Grabbing her purse, Brooklyn stepped out first as Mr. Torres opened the door and waited for him to lead the way. "If you ever need anything and I'm not available, just call up to the office and Ms. Allen or Ms. Bell will help you." He informed her, pointing at the women who sat behind the counter smiling at the two of them.

Brooklyn politely waved and continued to follow Mr. Torres out of the front office and down the hall. Her eyes wandered all over the colorful painting that graced the walls that were obviously done by children. Numerous tri-fold boards sat on top of the tables that sat in front of the library about books that the older kids have done reports on. It got her all giddy inside seeing their beautiful minds explore and come to life from all the color and unique ways each board was designed.

"Each hall has different grade levels. Hall A is kindergarten, Hall B is first grade, where your classroom will be located, C is second grade and so forth and so on." He explained, pointing at each hall. "Some even have their own unique names. Like Mr. Graham calls his class the Go-Getters. His students tend to have the best grades."

Brooklyn chuckled at that, taking everything in as they approached the playground. Her eyes immediately landed on a group of what she assumed to be teachers talking among themselves while they kept a close eye on the children.

"Ms. Cole, Mr. Matthews this is Ms. Monroe, she'll be taking over for Whitney." He introduced everyone, Brooklyn taking notice in the shared look the teachers gave at the mention of Whitney.

The straight raven-haired Asian woman was the first to step up, holding out her hand towards Brooklyn. "You can just call me Jade and this is Ryan." She smiled warmly as both women shook hands. The male beside her eyeing Brooklyn like she was a piece of steak.

"Don't mind him, he's a bit of a flirt," Jade said, slapping Ryan on the back of the head to snap him out of his daze.

"Brooklyn."

"Where is Whitney by the way?" Mr. Torres asked, looking around for the fiery redhead.

"Here." A soft voice said from behind them. Brooklyn turned away to see a tall, pretty woman with a clearly growing belly. "I was just using the ladies room." She grinned at everyone, her eyes landing on a new face.

"Ms. Stone, meet Ms. Monroe, she'll be taking over for you."Whitney gave Brooklyn a sympathetic smile, patting her shoulder softly. "Did he tell you about the infamous trio?"

"Yeah. Are they really that bad?" Frowning at everyone as they all nodded their heads, Brooklyn sighed and look towards the playground.

"I wouldn't have resigned if I wasn't six months but dealing with them is too stressful and that's the last thing that I need." She explained, rubbing her growing belly. "Be careful and well aware of everything Ms. Monroe. Those boys are always up to no good."

"We know it may be hard to believe but it's true. What they did to Michelle, the first teacher, was just cruel. They knew she had a fear of spiders. So they decided to get Eric, a 4th-grade teachers class pet and plant it in her desk. The lady was so scared she pissed on herself and ran out of the classroom". Revealed Ryan, with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Who exactly is in this little trio?" Brooklyn asked, now more determined than ever. Even if it was just children that they were talking about, she hated bullying. It wasn't cute, especially with little kids.

"The one in the blue checkered shirt is Aiden." Following Whitney's pointing finger, Brooklyn spotted a golden-haired boy who was busy running after another boy on the playground. "The one he's chasing is Isaiah." She added as Brooklyn took in the cute brown-skinned boy with two missing teeth.

"And lastly is their "leader", Jaxson." Ryan chuckled, putting up air quotes on the word leader before pointing at a boy who stood at the top of a spiral slide looking over the rest of the playground. She eyed him, finding it funny how he looked as if he was watching over his kingdom.

"He doesn't look like he'd harm a fly," Brooklyn said out loud. He looked so...innocent.Jade snorted.

"Yeah, don't let his cuteness get to you. He is the main one you really need to watch out for. It's like he can sense your deepest fears and uses it against you."

As if he knew that he was being talked about, Jaxson's eyes suddenly snapped towards the group of adults almost scaring them, causing him to smile at their reactions. But Brooklyn wasn't fazed one bit and he noticed.

The two had a stare down for a good minute with neither one refusing to back down.

He almost managed to throw her off when he began to grin at her darkly but Brooklyn was no weak bitch. If this little boy thought he was going to scare her away then he had another thing coming.

And Jaxson was going to push every single button that he could.

It was game on.

_______

It was late when Brooklyn found herself with a cart full of school supplies and junk food at her local Walmart.

She had a habit of doing most of her shopping late at night because it was simply easier that way. Plus fewer people.

Sporting in the casual attire of a simple red tank top and grey sweats, she walked down the junk food aisle, looking for something to ease her sweet tooth.

When she spotted a family sized bag of Hershey's cookies and creme kisses on the top shelf, her heart did a leap. "Why the fuck would they place it on the top shelf?" she mumbled to herself as she stood on her tippy toes to reach for the bag.

After two tries and failing, she had almost given up until a long arm reached out and grabbed the bag, handing it to her. She smiled, turning to thank whoever when her smile faltered at who it was.

"C-christian?" Her eyes looked him over, finding it bit weird at his perfect timing.

"Peaches." His responded, knowing how much she hated the nickname he had given her.

She was quick to decide that there was no point in telling him the obvious because she knew he was going to call her that no matter what.

"What are you doing here?" She asked stupidly before catching herself.

Christian smirked, looking around them. "Am I not allowed to enter Walmart?"Brooklyn rolled her eyes, placing her candy into her cart. "You know what I meant."

"Have you forgotten that I like shopping late too?" He reminded her. It was something that the two of them did quite a bit back when they were together.

She placed her hands on her wide hips, thinking that it was still way too suspicious how they ended up in the same aisle at the same time. "Are you stalking me or something? Because if so, y-"

"Don't flatter yourself, love." He rudely interjected. "This was purely coincidental, that I promise you."

Brooklyn bit back the words she wanted to say and chose to turn around and leave him there instead. She was clearly bothered by his choice of words for some reason. He really didn't have to cut her off like that.

'Don't flatter yourself', she mocked in her head. 'Stupid accent head ass'

"Are you really running away from me because of what I said?" He chuckled lowly at her retreating form.

"Considering I don't want to be anywhere near you, yes I am." She said over her shoulder, stopping in her tracks. "You have a nice night Christian."

And with that, she decided if she needed anything else, she'd get it tomorrow. She was partially surprised that he didn't try to stop her. Christian hated when she walked away from him. He always made it clear that if she ever had a problem to address him directly like the grown woman she was.

He wasn't too fond of keeping feelings bottled up.

Once she had paid for her things, she looked around the store, trying to spot him but failed to as she made her exit.

She questioned herself for even wanting to see him again.

But that's how it usually was. She always wanted to see him. Even after their "breakup" she still hoped to see him out in public at least. Although she would never admit that to him.

Popping her trunk open, she placed her numerous bagged items inside, not hearing or seeing Christian walk up behind her. Just as she closed her trunk, she almost jumped out of her skin seeing him standing there.

"What the fuck Christian?! I almost swung on your ass!" She barked, holding a hand over her rapidly beating heart.

"Your reflexes are weak, so I highly doubt that." He stated, running a hand through his hair, messing it up a bit on purpose.

"Shut up." He didn't have to expose her like that she thought to herself as she pushed the shopping cart into the corral.

"Come with me." He requested softly, holding out his hand for her to take.

Brooklyn eyed his hand, then his face. "No. Now bye." She declined quickly, moving towards the driver side door.

"Stop running from me." This was the third time that she had did this since he had seen her again.

She ran away when he barely touched her at the club, then inside of Walmart and now as they stood in the parking lot. It was honestly getting on his nerves because she had no reason to be scared of him.

She knew he was the last person to ever hurt her.

"What do you even want from me Christian? I told you that I don't want anything to do with you."

"And I told you that you that I would always want you!" He snapped back. "This front you putting on is childish because I know you baby."

Brooklyn, refusing to listen to him, hit the unlock button on her keychain. "I-i can't do this right now." She stuttered, barely reaching out to open the door before Christian softly grabbed her arm, stopping her.

She faced him, seeing that look on his face that always made her pussy weep with excitement. He tugged on her hand as he started to walk backward, silently telling her to come with him. Hesitating at first, she finally gave in and allowed him to take her where he wanted.

They walked two rows away from where she parked and stood beside an all black Escalade that was heavily tinted.

"Get in the backseat." He ordered her, opening the back door.

"Excuse me?" She looked at him stupidly. "Nah, I'm not about to d-"

"Get in." His demanded more heatedly, turning Brooklyn on at the tone of his voice.

"Fine." She mumbled climbing into the seat in the very back. Christian followed behind her, closing the door behind him.

Brooklyn watched him get on his knees in between the space of the two seats in the middle in front of her. She knew very well what was about to happen. They were no strangers when it came to fucking in a car. He has taken her plenty of time in the front and backseat wherever, whenever.

Christian leaned forward with hands placed on either side of her and kissed her cheek softly. "Do me a favor Peaches...." He trailed off, sliding her Nike slides off her feet. She bit into her bottom lip as his hands reached for her sweatpants, tugging them down along with her panties, tossing them in the seat next to her.

"What?" She whispered, letting him pull her down the seat a little more and part her thighs, placing her legs over his shoulders. A hiss escaped passed her lips when he gave her a teasing, long lick over her very wet folds. Her legs trembled as he flicked the tip of his tongue against her sensitive clit causing Brooklyn to moan out loud, gripping the headrest behind her.

"Call my name."

#christianyu #christian yu #christianyufanfic #christian yu fanfic #fanfic #gangsta #maturethemes #interracialstories #interracialfanfic #callmyname #humor #romance #ambwfanfic #ambw #pocminiseries

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sophfandoms53 · 5 years

Note

38.) “I haven’t seen you in a few days.” Huey and Shelly!

She checked her watch for the 15th time that hour. She sighed annoyingly but she wasn’t mad. It was her own fault. She knew Dewey had a meeting today, she just didn’t think it would still be going on for an extra hour. “I swear if he’s not here in the next 10 minutes, I’m stomping my way into his bosses office and giving him a piece of my mind.”

“Shelly?”

The blonde jumped slightly before turning around and her sight was on,

“Huey?”

“H-hey.” He said nervously rubbing his neck, “I haven’t seen you in a few days. How are you?”

They all recently met up to celebrate Anderson’s 22nd birthday the previous weekend.. okay well met up on accident. Despite getting her own invite, Dewey took Shelly as his plus one and Anderson didn’t tell him that his brother’s were both showing up. So when they saw both Huey and Louie, the duo had no choice but to act casual with each other, which was not the night Dewey had planned.

Nothing was awkward, per say. Just felt a little weird to be at your boyfriends close friends party and see your ex-boyfriend who just happen to be your current boyfriends brother. Huey and Shelly didn’t exactly stop talking, they just weren’t as close and didn’t talk as often. So for him to initiate a conversation like this was... interesting.

“I’m good. What about you?” She asked.

In all honesty, he looked terrible. He looked like he hadn’t gotten any sleep in days. His hair was all messed up, had excessive bags under his eyes and he didn’t even have his hat on. But he responded with a fake smile, “I’m alright. Just... just over working is all. Louie’s got me doing a lot of paper work.”

“Oh.. okay.. that’s good. At least you’re doing something.” She said, rubbing her arm anxiously. She looked at her watch again and rolled her eyes.

“Who are you waiting for?” He asked.

“Your shell-for-brain of a brother. Dewey was suppose to pick me up here almost an hour ago. His meeting probably ran long but he could’ve texted me first.” She blushed lightly and smiled, “But that’s just Dewey.”

For some reason, her saying Dewey’s name made Huey’s stomach turn. He and Shelly broke up a year ago but any time he saw her talk about or he had seen her with any other guy, he just got upset about it. He did realize what Shelly was talking about in regards to his anger but... that anger turned into sadness. And hearing her talk about and blushing about meeting with his brother, who had recently broken up with Webby a few months back... it didn’t sit right.

“Where... where are you guys going?” Huey asked, despite the sour taste in his mouth.

She shrugged, “He insisted on planning everything himself so, your guess is as good as mine. Ya know, if he even shows up here on time!”

Huey laughed slightly. Something he hadn’t done in a while. Shelly did this thing where, whenever she was annoyed, she’d puff her cheek out, which she was doing right now.

Somethings never change.

Huey was about to speak when he saw his brother’s car pull up.

Dewey stopped in front of them, the blue color of his jeep shining in the day light. He rolled down the window and smirked at her, “Hey blondie.”

She narrowed her eyes, “You’re late.”

“Only by like.. 50 minutes.” Dewey chuckled at her sass.

She opened the door and slid into the passenger seat and closed the door. When she sat down, Dewey caught sight of Huey. He looked at his older brother in worry... he looked exhausted. “Hey Hue. You doing okay? You look practically dead.”

This earned a hit on his shoulder, courtesy of Shelly, who was putting her seat-belt on afterwards.

Huey shook his head, “Haha Dewey. I’m fine. Just getting some groceries is all. I’ll leave you two to.. where ever it is you’re kidnapping Shelly to.”

Dewey chuckled lightly, “If you say so. If you need something, you know who to call.”

“I know.”

Shelly waved goodbye and rolled up her window as Dewey drove away.

Huey waved slowly has they drove off and sighed. Maybe he was just over thinking it but... this really sounded like some type of date... Why do I even care? Shelly can date whoever she wants! Even if it is my brother! But.. since when does Dewey have feelings for Shelly? He just broke up with Webby like 3 months ago! This doesn’t make sense!

He sighed loudly and kicked a pebble on the sidewalk and walked back into the store. He saw Louie still in the same aisle he left him. He made his way over to his little brother.

Louie felt his brother’s presence, “There you are. You ran out so fast, what did you see?” He picked up a box of granola and put it in his basket.

Huey rubbed the back of his neck, “I uh... I saw Shelly..”

He watched as his little brother freeze and slowly turn his head towards him. “How... how did that go?”

“She uh.. she.. is going somewhere with Dewey...” Huey said, anger slowly rising in his voice.

Louie blinked, “I’m sorry did you say.. Dewey?”

“Yeah... he picked her up outside and everything...”

Louie saw Huey clench his fists and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Relax. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Dewey and Shelly always hang out with each other. What makes this any different?”

“The way she talked about him.. and the way he looked at her.. It felt like there was.. something there..” Huey admitted, “She blushed when she talked about him.. and-and the look he gave her when he pulled up.. is that same look you give Lena! I think... I think it’s a date...”

“Whoa that’s a lot of assumptions. I know over-analyzing stuff is your thing Huey but... I don’t think that’s right. Dewey wouldn’t go behind your back and date your ex.” Louie said with confidence.

Huey looked at Louie, “Maybe.. but what about Anderson’s party last week? They were like attached by the hip!”

“Again, Huey. You’re reading too much into this. I’m sure nothing is going on between them and they’re still just friends.” Louie smiled.

Despite Louie’s efforts, Huey still didn’t feel better. A part of him really believed that his theory he had when he was 14 was becoming true... but Louie had a point.

Dewey wouldn’t go behind my back and date my ex-girlfriend? Right?

“Well that... was interesting. How’d you guys even end up talking?” Dewey asked her as he made a left.

She shrugged, “He just appeared behind me. Like.. he legit came out of nowhere. It was weird.”

“Weirder than last weekend?”

Shelly smirked, “Don’t complain too much. You got what you wanted and it wasn’t even your birthday.”

Dewey looked over at her and smirked back, “That is true. Any chances of that happening again this weekend, sweetheart?”

“Eyes on the road, Dewford.” She blushed lightly.

He chuckled, “They’re on the road, besides you love it when I talk like that.”

“Even so, you gotta drive.” She giggled, “And I’d like to make it to our mystery destination in one piece, thanks.”

They got to a red light and he looked over at her again, “You worried about him? I mean.. you saw how tired he looked.”

“I guess.. it’s just.. he has Louie. No need for us to worry.” She said shaking her head.

Dewey looked at her concerned and placed his right hand on her thigh, “You sure you still don’t want anyone else to know about us? I know Anderson hasn’t said anything but.. if you’re worried about Huey-”

“The last thing Huey needs right now is to learn that his ex-girlfriend and brother are dating, Dewey.” She gently grasped his hand, “I know you’re concerned about this but... Huey’s still not... himself yet.. once he’s Huey again.. then maybe we’ll tell him.. just not now okay?”

His left hand held the steering wheel and his other hand interlocked their fingers. “Okay. It’s just... I just wanna make sure you’re still okay doing this. Being us, ya know? We don’t know where this’ll take us and if you’re still worried about Huey, then I-”

“Dewey.”

He felt her squeeze his hand and he looked over at her again and saw she looked away and was holding her breath.

Dewey raised an eyebrow and spoke softly, “Shelly, c’mon. You know I’m just trying to make sure you’re comfortable with this relationship. I know everything that happened with you and Huey still bothers you and if you-”

Before Dewey could finish his thought, Shelly grabbed him by his shirt collar and pressed her lips against his. He was momentarily caught off guard but he closed his eyes and took his left hand off the wheel and softly held her face, as he kissed back.

Their kiss lasted a few more seconds until the light flashed green. Shelly pulled away and sat back in her seat, their hands still locked together. Dewey started the car again and they continued to drive.

“Did you do that just to shut me up?” He smirked.

“Not exactly.” Shelly giggled, “I’m worried about Huey but.. I don’t want that to affect us, Dewey. Our relationship has nothing to do with him, or Louie, or Lena, or Violet or Webby. We still need to figure us out, and I feel.. I know we’re getting to the point where we’ll know where we are. So.. we can tell the family soon.”

She watched as his smirk turned into a soft smile. Dewey never liked hiding things from his family anymore. He wanted to just be honest with his family and be open about his relationship with Shelly, even if their relationship was only a few weeks old.

But he didn’t want to do anything without Shelly’s permission. They had a long talk about what they wanted to do, not too long before they officially started to go out, and Shelly made it clear to him that she wanted their relationship private for the time being and she didn’t want to put Huey through anymore pain. She just wanted to enjoy their relationship and keeping it on the low was what she wanted, and he respected it. She did help him pull himself out of a dark hole and brought him back to being Dewey... her ambition and care was what made him realize how he felt.

He brought their interlocked hands toward his beak and gently kissed Shelly’s hand.

“I’m ready whenever you are.”

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dewey duck #huey duck #louie duck #shelly duckling #dewelly #ducktales fanfiction #fanfiction #writing prompts #ship

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lorewytch · 5 years

Text

The Lunar Battle

Okay! I’m skipping the other episode to go straight into what I thought about Moonvasion. Oh my gosh....there is SO MUCH to talk about! First of all, am I the only one who thought that the part with the newscaster was pretty funny? Poor Carl was right! LOL Also.. Scottish Music!

Also Webby: NERP! pfffttttt.

I love Scrooge’s speech to the help they gathered. I love that they gathered everyone good from the past episodes to become the army of sorts! So many characters! But it felt like they all got equal screen time especially during the fight scene! Seeing Lena fight was so awesome too! I loved seeing her magic and it was so cool to see her and Violet fighting for them! XD Also with Gizmoduck and the pies and harpies..classic! I enjoyed it and the animation was so fluid and smooth. Quackfasters attack was by far the most amusing and the animation on it was just awesome! They also showed blood when Beakley got hurt! Not a lot of animated kids shows really do that. I legit went “BEAKLEY!” when it happened and was like OMG no let them be okay! Dewey Ex machina!!! XD and yes Dewey Webby will be there to save you, always LOL I love that Dewey believes he can save the world. I knew Dewey would want to become one! “Who am I?”

“Darkwing Duck!”

“Alright!”

I was kind of let down by Lunaris plan. It seems so.....80s XD Have the earth revolve around the moon? Pfffttt. Serious yet not. Lunaris to me at that point seemed a bit of a two bit villain. Granted, he had done really well until that point and yes I shouldn’t have expected something more logical. It does make sense to his character. He hates the earth and probably has some kind of complex to where he hates that the moon revolves around the earth. So it is a logical scheme. But in the previous episodes he had focused more on Scrooge McDuck and his family. Then the moonlanders gave up on searching for them when Della and the kids landed on the island. Its like, Oh okay this was not what I was expecting. I mean it wasn’t horrible.

Honestly I loved the scene with Donald and Della meeting on the island with the watermelon mickey head XDDDD That was my moms favorite part! “Has the melon been a thing the time I’ve been gone or....”

“No that’s new.” Della and Donald meeting for the first time was almost everything I thought it would be. Personally I thought they would meet in a rather dangerous situation. Possibly with a swirling portal behind them? (too much Gravity Falls there! XDD) Then tearfully hug each other before yelling at each other with the “Where have you been?!” This was way more amusing though with the mickey head. I hope they sell those plushies now.. Watermelon mickey heads.. I’d buy one! Also watching Scrooge fail to come up with a plan was pretty sad to see. Beakley’s line was hilarious.

“Not reassuring he went down instead of up.” Probably my favorite line of the episode. Seeing Glomgold become a good guy trying to help them is weird and yet very amusing. The fact that Scrooge goes with it shows how desperate he is. Oh man, I mean the logic is there.. Lunaris won’t be expecting a really dumb scheme and somehow they are hoping it works. Although Scrooge doesn’t hold out much hope.

“I’m gonna miss being a planet.”

With Della also realizing that this was the moon all over again, the next scene is Louie and Della, trying to reconnect again. It’s really interesting to see Louie trying to comfort Della. Despite how scared Louie is, he reminds her that bad things happen and you can’t always plan for it. And I really connected to both of them in that aspect. It’s a important lesson to note. One I didn’t learn until much later in life. Things don’t always go as planned. Your world falls apart...Sometimes you just have to roll with it and even though there are bad things that happen.. good surprises, good things happen to. Learning that Donald sang the Moon theme to the kids every night was so amazing! I had hoped that was canon! It was! Although...Donald singing it.. it kind of makes me cringe to imagine it. Still awesome though! XDD That part alone was what made this part of the story okay with me. They needed that moment. This arc was about Louie and this gave closure to the Della and Louie part for me. Yes, they didn’t go into more detail and it felt like the entire problems these two had with each other seemed rushed. But, this was the ending of that.....that I expected. This is how I wanted that arc to end in a sense. So I was okay with it. Louie will still scheme and Della won’t always be okay with it. But now that she knows this is who Louie is, she can try to steer him in the right path away from hopefully the real danger. “Oh man am I the Uncle Donald?” Dewey sad to say... yes...yes you are in that pose configuration XD Thanks Frank for that nod to the fans! The animation in the scene where Scrooge has to be forced to wear the santa costume was so cool. As Scrooge angrily grabbed the costume. I loved it! “None of this makes any sense!” I’m with ya there Lunaris...lol Watching the ship be destroyed by all this randomness was amusing.

I think the space battle was so cool and loved the animation and Penny coming in at the last minute to save everyone really made me jump a bit in joy. I was so worried that she died in that moment. But to see her slam into the ship I was like YES SHE’S OKAY. Also Karma...Lunaris you jerk your a moon, deal with it XD Okay, now onto what I REALLY wanna talk about. Holy F.O.W.L!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG! I was not expecting that. I should have.. but wtf?! Seeing all these returning and new villains made my mouth drop open and go. Season 3...what will you do to me? Now.. logic dictates that Season 3 is Huey’s season. But to me.. Fowl seems more like Webby’s enemy more than Huey’s. We still know little to nothing about Webby’s past and no one has hinted about it much. But Webby confronted Black Heron and Scrooge is close to the Vulture brothers. Oddly enough too.. on that picture something really bothers me. Webby is hugging Scrooge and the boys and Della and Donald and a few others are looking down at Scrooge and Webby. Now Darkwing isnt, and a few others aren’t as well. Maybe I’m looking too much into the picture but that’s just odd that it seems more focused on those two vs Huey if it is Huey’s season. I know for sure Heron would want her revenge on Webby. But I can’t help but feel Fowl is more closely tied to Webby and Beakley than any of the others. Huey could definitely unravel the mystery of FOWL no questions on that. It could become something he obsesses over a bit. But I think Webby would team up with him and be the fists if needed to fight the baddies. Who knows, maybe we will learn more about Webby’s past. They sadly haven’t revealed a season 4 announcement which does worry me that we won’t get a “Webby Season” in a sense and that they may try to cram it in at the end of season three? I’m not sure and it does worry me. I’d like these questions answered before the series is cancelled for good :( I HAVE HOPE THOUGH! HOPE will keep it alive! I also have like 3 new fanfic ideas in my head that won’t go away.

BUT AHHHHH!! That last scene made me shake my computer and go “THAT’S IT?!” I sort am dreading and excited for season 3!!! Now we have enemies in FOWL and I can see this being a very challenging season for our favorite Duck family!!

#Moonvasion #Ducktales #So much!#I loved it overall #Some things I was meh about

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bolddeducktionneverfails · 5 years

Text

The Depths of "Gander": What's Going On Here?!

Whenever I’m asked what my favorite DuckTales episode is, I always immediately want to say “House of the Lucky Gander!”. Not just because it was a fun episode to watch, but it premiered during such a great time.

Disney XD was airing the first season out of order and that disrupted the flow between globe-trotting episodes and the Duckburg episodes. It also affected the amount of screen-time certain characters were given. Some viewers were convinced the show was beginning to focus too much on Webby and expressed their disappointment over the lack of Scrooge and Donald. In addition to this, there were also complaints about Launchpad's character being too dumbed down after “Terror of The Terra-firmians!” aired.

But when “Gander” premiered, it attended to these problems: This was a globe-trotting episode; something we haven’t seen since “Woo-oo!”. Both Scrooge and Donald were present, we got to see a Duck Family relative and we were suddenly let in a little on Launchpad's past! It was wonderful! Perhaps Disney Channel realized that the viewers were upset, because “The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks!” was originally set to air on that date. There was a change in scheduling five days prior and because of this, Disney XD Canada, who’s schedule is supposed to mimic the U.S. version of the channel, ended up showing “Internship” anyway. The networks later flip-flopped the airings for the two episodes the following week. Heh, that was interesting.

...But, yeah! I was so shocked by Launchpad's side-quest! It left me with so many questions! Like “what was that all about?!” and “why didn't we get to see what happened?”. The more I thought about it, I began to wonder about the significance of Gladstone’s side of the story as well. I was hoping that we would get to see LP go on another side-quest some episodes later and get to see the action we missed out on! But the season ended without returning to this aspect.

Then about a year later, “The Depths of Cousin Fethry!” aired, and much to my delight, we got to see Launchpad go off on another secret adventure! Along with other similar elements to “Gander”! But, yet again, we didn't get to see what that adventure looked like. Everyone was so confused about this. Why did he go on another adventure we weren't allowed to see? What was the point of bringing this idea up a second time if it isn't going anywhere?

After comparing the two episodes and looking back at my theories, I think I know what the show-runners could be trying to do with these stories:

I think they're indirectly giving us information on Della's situation and how her return might play out.

⁽ᴵ ᵏⁿᵒʷ, ᴵ ᵏⁿᵒʷ, ᴳᶦᵖʰʸ ʷᵃˢⁿ'ᵗ ᶜᵒⁿᵛᵉʳᵗᶦⁿᵍ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᶜᵉⁿᵉˢ, ᴵ ʰᵃᵈ ᵗᵒ ᶠᶦⁿᵈ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ ᵉˡˢᵉ. ᴹᵃʸᵇᵉ ᴵ'ˡˡ ᶜʰᵃⁿᵍᵉ 'ᵉᵐ ˡᵃᵗᵉʳ.⁾

Both “Gander” and “Depths” follow the same formula:

The family goes on an adventure to see a Duck relative (more specifically, a Duck Cousin)

The featured relative is compared to one of the kids

Dewey wants to name something after himself

Launchpad goes on his own adventure involving someone he previously dated

We can use this as a base to help us determine what could happen in the future.

The Family Goes On An Adventure to See A Duck Relative

“Gander” opens up with the Sunchaser flying though a starry, night sky accompanied by a large, full moon. The family has just arrived to the distant land of Macaw to answer Gladstone’s call for help. Originally, they were on their way to go to the Temple of The Golden Cricket, the home of a legendary insect that emerges every fifty years, but it was decided to attend to this family matter along the way.

When they find Gladstone in the hotel, he appears to be fine and claims that he just wants to hang out with his family. This is a cover for bigger reasons because he knows the owner of the hotel, Toad Liu Hai, and his staff are lurking around; keeping Gladstone in check. Since the beginning of the episode, Scrooge looked down at Macaw because he believed it was full of empty distractions. He constantly tries to mosey the kids over to the hotel exit so they can get back to the main adventure, but Toad Liu Hai keeps obscuring their path and reeling them back in with food and entertainment.

Later on, it turns out that Toad Liu Hai is an immortal being who has trapped Gladstone within his domain solely for the purpose of feeding off of his good luck. Donald fusses at his cousin after this reveal: “We came out here to help you and you put the family in danger!” The two of them are forced to participate in a challenge where the winner is freed and the loser has to stay trapped forever. Gladstone, of course, strolls through the course with no problems while Donald struggles to keep up. Just before Donald can give up on winning, he finds a new found strength in Louie’s words of encouragement that helps him to plow through all the obstacles and past the finish line; all while Gladstone gets distracted by a twenty dollar bill like in the montage from earlier in the episode.

Toad Liu Hai is about to reclaim Gladstone as his prisoner, but Scrooge thinks quickly and deceives the vampire into thinking Donald was the luckier one for winning. Louie is very upset with Scrooge’s decision; someone he admired and trusted, just carelessly handed his uncle over to someone evil! But Louie soon saw that this was all according to plan; Donald’s luck was so awful, that Toad Liu Hai and his entire tourist trap disintegrated! Both of the Duck Cousins are saved! The family get back in the Sunchaser to visit the temple like they originally intended and Gladstone sails away on a yacht.

“Depths” opens up with Huey doing something seemingly trivial and nerdy. He’s determining the age of a tree trunk in Scrooge's office by observing its rings. Dewey, who was interrupted from his bath to watch his brother do this, is bothered. He was hoping to see something exciting; something worth dragging him out of the tub for. Soon after, the office receives a call from Cousin Fethry, who’s been living in Scrooge's underwater lab for the past four and a half years. It's an invitation to meet him in the deep, dark and distant waters of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. He's made an exciting discovery and wants to share it with his family. Scrooge and Donald encourage the boys to disregard Fethry's call because he has the tendency to exaggerate the urgency of his findings. Every time they visit him, the discovery ends up being something silly that wasn't worth the dangerous adventure. The boys aren't convinced and answer the call anyway.

They trick Launchpad into stealing the submarine by claiming Scrooge wants them to “test the equipment” and head over to the lab’s lighthouse where Fethry is waiting for them. When Huey and Dewey reach the top floor, they’re not met with their cousin, but a crudely put together decoy of him. Before they can worry about what happened, Fethry appears in front of them from the ceiling; totally fine. He greets the “Little Donalds” and descends the aquavator so they can begin their expedition. While they wait to reach the laboratory, Fethry gives them a tour of it though a miniature display of the lab’s multiple pods. One of which, includes “The Dream Room! Great for naps! Relaxation! Embracing the unending darkness... becoming one with the abyssssss…”

The trio stop by the Tully Observatory, where they’re suddenly attacked by mutated sea worms! Once they’re able to calm the creatures down by showing them affection, Fethry introduces the boys to his team of glowing krill. These tiny crustaceans will assist them in getting to his exciting discovery. Fethry and the boys head back to the aquavator, but not long after, something cuts the cord attached to it! The only way for them to get to the discovery now is for them to swim out to it. Fethry and his krill lead the kids through the hydrothermal vents that surround the laboratory pods. Little do they know, something, or someone, rather, is lurking…

The group make it safely to the Dream Room and Fethry gets ready to finally show Huey and Dewey the amazing thing he found. He hesitates a bit a first by offering them them food; to make his family feel at home and get comfortable, but the kids don’t care about any of those things, they want to see his discovery NOW! It turns out, Fethry called them all the way over from Duckburg...and took them all the way to the bottom of the ocean...just to see a bunch of rainbow krill. This reveal doesn't sit well with the boys at all, especially Huey: “We trusted you! Came all the way down here! We got attacked by a squid! I kissed a worm!” It was all a big waste of time, just like their uncles had warned them...Dewey orders his cousin to take them back to the lighthouse, when suddenly, a giant glowing monster appears in front of the pod window!

The trio desperately swim out and make their way to the aquavator as the vents destroy the laboratory around them. Once they make it, Huey fusses at his older relative again, “You lured us down here to get devoured by a monster. Thanks!” Fethry is saddened by this accusation; that wasn't his intention at all. While the brothers devise a plan to ward off the monster, Fethry begins to notice something very familiar about the creature...it’s not a monster, it’s Mitzi! A long-lost member of his team! She was mutated by the hydrothermal vents! Fethry notices that she's trying to help them get to safety, but Dewey isn’t buying it and continues to blind her with the aquavator’s spotlight. The two cousins fight over the device and Huey is left wondering who to trust. Fethry is able to win him over by reminding him about a rule in the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook involving how you must be open to the unknown to discover the truth. To test Fethry’s claim about Mitzi, Huey switches on the speaker and begins to sing to her like he had seen his older relative do earlier with his team. Mitzi becomes still and glows in response. Fethry was telling the truth! Something that seemed extremely trivial at first, ended up helping them in the end. The giant krill safely brings the boys back to the lighthouse and swims away into the distance with her old friend.

So...how could all of this relate to Della’s situation?

The environments in both episodes were vast, dark and distant, much like the moon in space. The moon and a starry sky were the first things we were presented with in “Gander”. In “Depths”, Launchpad referred to the ocean as "the underwater sky" and Fethry later described it as “liquid space”.

Interestingly enough, in “Woo-oo!”, Donald says “This is the Spear of Selene all over again!” when they’re stuck in an underwater chamber.

Gladstone needed the help of his family to escape the place he was confined to. Della’s stuck on the moon somehow and might need her family to help her. Fethry was secluded far away without interaction with his family and acts strangely because of his isolation. Della will likely act in a similar manner when she comes back.

One relative calls for help while the other relative calls to share a discovery. Scrooge looks down at something about the upcoming adventure for seemingly being a waste of time; Macaw was full of distractions and visiting Fethry always ends up being a “fool's errand wrapped up in a needlessly, dangerous adventure”. He was originally in the process of trying to do something else he thinks is worth his time, like heading to the Temple of the Golden Cricket or organizing his office.

Could Della try to contact Earth asking for help but her call is ignored at first? The mission control center hasn't received a message in years, (Where exactly is it? Was it part of The Money Bin?) he may not be quick to believe any transmission is coming through. What if he doesn’t heed her call because he’s too busy saving money in order to beat Flintheart in the bet they made at the end of “The Ballad of Duke Baloney!” so he can keep his company?

Will she be unable to relaunch the Spear after she repairs it because of an opposing force? Similarly to Donald’s situation with his houseboat?

Is Selene, another moon deity or creature keeping Della trapped on the moon for some reason? If it’s Selene, is this part of a cruel prank? “The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck!” highlighted how Della loves to pull pranks and how Selene enjoyed them. The fact that the triplets discover Della’s blueprints for the Spear in the same episode could be implying part of Della’s situation may be Selene’s doing. It doesn’t make sense for Selene to have never seen Della in years when she’s been within her domain this whole time. Was the way she acted when Dewey and Webby entered her garden all an act?

There’s been a number of other situations involving possession and being imprisoned somewhere:

Scrooge imprisoned Magica in his Number One Dime, Magica created and possessed Lena to set herself free.

Doofus temporarily claimed Louie as his “friend present” and wouldn’t allow him to leave his mansion. (This situation seemed very similar to “Gander”; Louie even wears the suit he wore in that episode.)

Zeus trapped the family on Ithaquack and forced them to participate in a contest. He later gets a siren to possess Storkules and attack the McDuck Family.

The Ghost of Christmas Past traps Scrooge in the past because he was fed up over being neglected every year in favor of Scrooge spending Christmas with his family.

Could any of these cases help give us a better idea for why Della could be trapped?

The relative is thought to be in serious danger in the beginning of the episode but it turns out they're fine or at least they appear that way. Gladstone was just getting an intense massage and Fethry set up a decoy to ward off pirates.

Could Della have to pretend not to be in trouble so she won’t get caught trying to leave?

In “Depths”, Huey and Dewey say something similar to Donald’s statement in “Gander” about the relative getting them in danger.

Could Della’s rescue put them all in a greater danger?

Fethry just wanted to show his family his discovery about the multicolored krill, he didn’t mean for things to go wrong.

Did the krill represent Della wanting to show her boys the stars and ignoring how dangerous the journey was? Both just wanted to spend time with their family; Fethry stalled before he uncovered the pod window. He’s usually very alone and more than likely wanted company in the process. His adventures were how he bonded with his family, like Della in “Last Christmas!”. Looking for Santa seemed trivial to Donald but she just wanted to spend time with her brother by going on an adventure with him. Something similar could probably be said for her purpose of creating the Spear of Selene.

Could the hydrothermal vents represent the cosmic storm in some way? Did going through it give Della any abnormalities? Is that why she’s able to breath in space? I've seen comments here and there comparing her situation to The Fantastic Four.

If not Della, did someone else experience a mutation? If Fethry, Huey and Dewey were swimming around these vents, could they have been affected in some way?

Someone’s trust in another person gets tested and words of encouragement are given. Louie gave a speech to Donald and felt betrayed by Scrooge giving his uncle up. Huey had to deal with Fethry’s claim about Mitzi. This is also similar to Donald having to trust Dewey with the death trap in the pilot.

Will the family have to trust Della about something working out? Or the other way around?

A big reveal takes place: Toad is an immortal being, Mitzi is a long-lost friend.

Could the reveal be an explanation to why she could never be found before? A bigger reason why she took the Spear?

Does Della reunite with an unexpected friend from her past?

Elements from the earlier half of the episode come back into play in the latter. Gladstone getting distracted by a twenty dollar bill and Fethry singing to the krill.

Something that was previously believed as trivial will have significance in saving the day? (This sounds reminiscent of Launchpad starting the burrito-based uprising in “The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!”)

Huey, Dewey and Launchpad stole the sub like Della took the the Spear.

Will a spacecraft be stolen in order to save Della? And could it be done behind Scrooge and/or Donald's back?

Whenever Launchpad is part of the main action of a story, Donald tends to get pushed back. When Donald's part of the main action of a story, Launchpad tends to get pushed back. (This also occurs when a Duck Cousin is in focus and whenever Storkules is present.) If Donald was involved in the main action of “Woo-oo!”'s Atlantis-half and if parts of that situation were meant to mirror what could happen with Della's rescue, can we expect a flip where Launchpad is in focus during the space adventure while Donald gets pushed back somehow? Is that what his absence from the news report in the Season 1 finale was alluding to?

Tʜɪs ɪs sᴏ ᴏᴅᴅ...ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀ ᴇᴍᴘᴛʏ sᴘᴀᴄᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɢᴏɴᴇ. Aɴᴅ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ʜᴇᴀᴠɪʟʏ ɪɴᴠᴏʟᴠᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ ʜᴀʟғ ᴏғ "Sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ Wᴀʀ". Wʜʏ ᴅɪᴅ ʜᴇ ɢᴇᴛ ʟᴇғᴛ ᴏᴜᴛ?

At the end of the episode, one relative rides away on a yacht while the other rides away on a giant krill.

The family rides back home reunited in a spacecraft?

“The House of the Lucky Gander!” (home is on land), “The Depths of Cousin Fethry!” (deep in the sea)

Can we expect a title along the lines of “The Heights of Della Duck!”? (high in the sky?)

Since both “Gander” and “Depths” premiered in October, could we expect another episode that follows the formula to be aired in that month as well? Or did the Disney Channel move affect when “Depths” aired?

The Featured Relative is Compared to One of The Kids

When Louie begins to hang out with Gladstone in “Gander”, he remarks “I love this kid! He's like me, but shorter, with a cheaper haircut.” Both characters also wear green, are easy-going, savvy and lazy. In “Depths”, Dewey points out that both Fethry and Huey are eccentric nerds who follow the Junior Woodchuck guidebook and wear red caps that they never take off.

When thinking about which child could end up being compared to Della, I originally thought of Webby. While she isn't a blood relative, she's still treated as family and shares similar personality traits and interests with Della. If Webby took off her bow, she would even look similar to what Della used to look like when she was younger. I've been theorizing that Della will be pretty withdrawn after being isolated for so long. When she gets back, it could be like Webby's situation but sorta in reverse: Della doesn't want to explore anymore, she wants to stay in the mansion. She'll also feel out of place like Webby: her brother is more of a parent than she is and so much has changed since she left. I think the whole family will try to help her readjust, but Webby might be able to relate best to what she's feeling.

In spite of this, I'm starting to believe the next child to be featured in a “Gander” styled episode will be Dewey. There have already been comparisons between him and his mother. Scrooge, Donald and Selene are all reminded of Della's feisty demeanor and recklessness through Dewey's behavior. He was the one to discover the ripped painting in the garage and got the Della Mystery started. If a space trip is planned in the future, he would very likely be the main kid in focus.

I wanted to avoid suggesting him because according to the formula, the kid that gets compared to the relative ends up having the next season's main arc dedicated to them and Dewey already had that in the first season...but who's to say there won't be another episode to follow the formula next season with Webby? Both kids are like Della, so could there be two similarly structured episodes highlighting this?

Dewey Wants to Name Something After Himself

In “Gander”, Toad Liu Hai offers Dewey a jade tiger. Once Scrooge allows him to keep it, he names it Dewey Jr. In “Depths”, Dewey desperately wants to name a new species of sea-life after himself and constantly comes up with variations of his name like “Dewfish” and “The Dewnificent Krilldabeast”. If the family goes to space, maybe he'll want to name a star, some sort of alien creature or the vessel they're traveling in.

If the formula decides to stray a bit from this element, could we possibly expect something else involving his name? The kids were given nicknames in both episodes: Gladstone referred to Louie as “Lou” and Fethry collectively referred to Huey and Dewey as “Little Donalds”. Maybe Della jokingly refers to Dewey as “Bluey” because of his time travel adventure in “Last Christmas!”.

Launchpad Goes on His Own Adventure Involving Someone He Previously Dated

In “Gander”, Launchpad makes a rough, water landing with the Sunchaser, but he doesn't crash like he usually does. When the family disembark from the plane, LP reveals that he wasn't planning on entering the hotel with them. He motions towards a starry patch in the sky over the city and tries to explain to Scrooge that he has an old girlfriend, named Ziyi, who lives in the area. He wants to go check on her due to the problems she's been having with the local crime family. Scrooge ignores all of this and simply reminds Launchpad to be ready to resume the trip in one hour.

When the family comes back from the area where the hotel used to stand, Launchpad is seen holding the plane's plug door open, wearing Chinese armor. He's covered in several arrows with an eye patch over his right eye and a baby panda on his back. He had clearly come from some sort of scuffle while they were gone. While everyone doesn't seem to care and board the plane without a word, Dewey becomes concerned and asks him what happened. Instead of going into details, LP brushes it off as “tourist stuff”. When Dewey goes into the Sunchaser, Launchpad turns around to the city behind him and says “Goodbye...Ziyi. Wherever you are…” This more than likely implies that he wasn’t able to find her. There's a high chance she went missing due to the crime family.

In “Depths” Launchpad doesn't crash, but he lightly bumps Scrooge's submarine into the lighthouse. He hooks the sub to the railing and gets ready to join Huey and Dewey on the adventure, when all of a sudden, a familiar voice calls out to him: It's Oceanika! One of his many previous lovers. She is seen out in the open sea, on top of a rock; far away, but much closer than Ziyi.

When Launchpad returns to the lighthouse after yet another mysterious adventure, he crawls out of the water and on to the platform, wearing an Aquaman-esque get-up. He holds a trident in his left hand, a couple strands of seaweed are draped over his shoulders, a conch shell is hanging from his neck and three color-coded sea creatures are attached to him; a green eel, a red octopus and a blue starfish. While reuniting with Oceanika, he may have gotten caught up in a fight of some sort. He turns around to face the rock he had found her on earlier and begins to bid her farewell, until Dewey interrupts him: “Launchpad, what happened to you?” LP tenses up and claims that he “ran into an old friend...snorkeled around” and “saw some...sea stuff”. A longer explanation than last time, but still rather skimpy on the details.

What could this information possibly be suggesting about the future?

Launchpad doesn't crash. He makes a rough landing with the plane and a minor bump with sub.

Could Launchpad make an even softer landing with a spaceship? Maybe even a perfect landing?

Many comparisons have been made between submariners and astronauts. NASA Astronauts use the sea to help prepare themselves for space missions and the training required for managing a submarine is similar to that of a spacecraft. There are also situations in which test pilots become astronauts and depending on how far the show runners or willing to go with Launchpad's history, he may have already held that aviation position in the military.

Since discovering the space-sea connection, I pondered a little about the possibility that Launchpad has already been through space before or at least went through some amount of training required for it, because seriously...how is he going to be this amazing at piloting a submarine, without prior experience? He can navigate it while sleeping and while being blindfolded, but he never crashes like he does with everything else he operates...

Launchpad doesn't join the first relative adventure, but he almost joins in the second one.

Will he join the main adventure the third time?

In his first adventure, LP wanted to check in on Ziyi because she might be in trouble. In the second adventure, Oceanika isn't in trouble they just want to see each other, but trouble might have arose in the process.

Will his third previous lover end up in trouble? Are they already in trouble?

LP returns from his adventures showing signs of being in a battle. The first time, he was shot at with arrows and wore an eye patch. The second time, he’s holding a trident and not as worn out by battle.

On his third adventure, will he have little to no damage at all?

LP returns from his adventures with a smaller creature or creatures attached to him. In the first adventure, the baby panda was in a basket on his back. In the second, the octopus and starfish were on his back and the eel was wrapped around his arm.

Will he have another group of smaller creatures with him in the third adventure? Will he carry Huey, Dewey and Louie back home with him? The colors and personalities of the triplets match the sea creatures: Eels are slippery, octopi are smart, a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶f̶i̶s̶h̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶a̶i̶n̶s̶. Ha, just kidding about that last one. Not about the fact that starfish are brainless, but Dewey is impulsive; he doesn't think before he acts. Other possible connections between him and the starfish are how it could represent his desires to be an astronaut-president as he claimed in “Internship”, how he wants to stand out from his brothers and how he resembles Della in personality the most. The starfish is even a shade of teal, like Della’s scarf.

Something else that could support the idea of the sea creatures representing HDL is that there's a pattern suggested with the colors too. Louie is missing where green should go.

Tʜᴇ ᴘᴀᴛᴛᴇʀɴ ɪs ᴀʟsᴏ ɪɴ ᴏʀᴅᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴋɪᴅs ғᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇᴅ ɪɴ “Gᴀɴᴅᴇʀ” sᴛʏʟᴇᴅ ᴇᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇs: Lᴏᴜɪᴇ ᴡᴀs ғɪʀsᴛ, Hᴜᴇʏ ᴡᴀs sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ, Dᴇᴡᴇʏ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴡᴇʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴛʜɪʀᴅ. Tʜᴇ ғᴀᴄᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ LP ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʟᴏsᴇsᴛ ᴛᴏ Dᴇᴡᴇʏ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴇ ɪᴍᴘʟʏɪɴɢ ʜᴏᴡ ʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ʜᴇᴀᴠɪʟʏ ɪɴᴠᴏʟᴠᴇᴅ ɪɴ Dᴇᴡᴇʏ’s ᴇᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ.

Could Louie have been represented by the baby panda? He’s the “baby” of the trio and his voice actor plays Panda on We Bare Bears. DuckTales was still in development when that show premiered.

When Dewey asked LP what happened, he is given a description that mirrors what occurred on the relative adventure. At first, a short explanation was given. The second time it's a little longer.

Will we get a more detailed explanation the third time? Or will the situation speak for itself?

Going out to help Ziyi mirrored Gladstone’s call for help. Getting beat up at the end of his adventure mirrored Donald getting worn out by the obstacle course.

Was Ziyi possibly being held captive by the crime family like Gladstone was with Toad?

In “Gander”, Dewey, a child, took care of an adult animal, the jade tiger, while LP, an adult, took care of a child, the panda.

When Launchpad rose out of the water with a serious expression at the end of “Depths”, it kinda mirrors how Dewey looked when he was upset over Huey disrupting his bath in the beginning of the episode. Dewey was expressing how he wanted to see something exciting happen and Launchpad ends up coming from something exciting. (Kinda like how Huey licked the tree stump in the beginning of the episode and Fethry later licked the rust in the aquavator...ew.)

Going off to see someone special from his past mirrors Fethry reuniting with Mitzi. Fethry’s comment about sharing a rib-eye with Mitzi sounded reminiscent of a date too.

If Huey kissed a sea worm during the second main adventure (oof) while Launchpad’s adventures continue to be romantic based, could there be another kiss on the third adventure?

We don't see Ziyi because she's far away, we see Oceanika, but she's shown at a distance.

Will we see the third lover up close?

The intensity of LP’s adventures seem to increase while the intensity of the relative adventures seem to decrease:

LP’s adventure in “Gander” had less visible characters involved. LP didn’t participate with the family, Ziyi was missing and a short description is said. Then in “Depths”, he’s close to participating, we see his lover from afar, he gives a longer description to the kids and he comes back with more than one creature.

“Gander” had a more serious threat with more characters involved. “Depths” involved a lesser amount of characters with a lesser threat.

With each episode, the environments become even more space-like.

These three major elements seem to be leaning into each other and could eventually reach a point where they intersect and even out:

Launchpad goes on a space adventure regarding a Duck Family relative he’s previously dated...?

Ha, if you’ve been following my blog long enough, you know this isn’t new from me, maybe you already sensed it while you were reading through, but seriously...first it was land... then there was sea...and with Della becoming a more prominent character this season, space will be soon. Launchpad’s adventures only occur when a Duck Cousin shows up and the basics always end up being similar to their situation. Ziyi (and Gladstone) could be reflecting Della’s past while Oceanika is reflecting her future; she was lost, but now she’s found.

Something that may be an indicator of these plot lines meeting in the future, is an upcoming Issue for IDW’s DuckTales comic series:

“It's a special 20-page story as we present "Money-Grubbing Hooligans from the Deep!" A tsunami is about to hit Duckburg, but a mysterious submarine may be the reason behind this unexpected occurrence. Find out how the occupant of the submarine is connected to Launchpad McQuack and if Uncle Scrooge's Money Bin will survive the watery onslaught!”

(Sᴏᴜʀᴄᴇ 1) (Sᴏᴜʀᴄᴇ 2)

While the comics are not necessarily set as canon, they will sometimes loosely parallel certain events from the show. Like how the first two issues revolved around Donald looking for a job and how that element was present in the pilot episode. “Happy Happy Valley!” seems to be inspired by “The Town Where Everyone Was Nice!”. The plot for “The Incredible Shrinking Webby!” sounds similar to “The Most Dangerous Game...Night!” where Gyro's shrink ray got out of hand.

I think Issue 18 could be borrowing certain elements from Della's return with some bits from "Depths" as well.

Let's take a closer look at Cover B:

Hᴇʜ, Wᴇʙʙʏ's ᴀʟʟ ʟɪᴋᴇ "Wʜᴏ ɪs ᴛʜɪs?" ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ ʟᴏᴏᴋs ʟɪᴋᴇ Lᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴘᴀᴅ's ᴛʀʏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪᴅs ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ. Pғғғғ.

We're presented with a night sky full of stars and the moon peeking behind a cloud. The submarine and its mysterious owner (who I'm very tempted to call “Subina”), are placed below the moon on the right hand side.

This new character seems to have combined traits from Oceanika and Della. While she’s from underwater, there's a bit of a space-ish vibe about her looks. She wears a teal dress that consists of a lighter shade and a darker shade like LP's hat, so like Della, she too shares his colors. Also, being the helmswoman of submarine technically makes her a pilot...a pilot who has something to do with Launchpad...in a story that gets released a day before Valentine's Day...

And like I've noted earlier, there’s a connection between the sea and outer-space. I believe that a sea theme was used to throw us off but indirectly give us information at the same time. (Like “Woo-oo!” And “Depths”.)

Aside from the mysterious submariner somewhat resembling Della, there's also mentions of her being the cause of a tsunami hitting Duckburg and the possibility of The Money Bin taking a beating from it. This could very well be in reference to the bet Scrooge agreed to with Glomgold. If Della needs to be saved during a time where Scrooge is trying his best to save money, he's going to have to make a choice between his family or his fortune. If he chooses family, he'll end up spending too much money and loose. The natural disaster could also be paralleling some other sort disaster about to happen in relation to the moon.

Before I close this out (Yes! You're reaching the end!), I wanted to mention something that might not support my claim, but I still wanted to discuss it:

At the end of “Last Christmas!”, we find out that Della brought her copy of the family photo from “Last Crash” with her. On the back of the photo are drawings of what look like baby ducks.

I noticed the doodle on the right looks an awful lot like a baby version of Gladstone. Because I mean, c'mon...just look at those thick eyebrows. The curly bang is very reminiscent of Gladstone's pre-reboot hairstyle too. The one on the left however, was very difficult to compare to an pre-existing character... I came across a comment about the possibility of it being a baby version of Fethry. (Maybe the cone shape on top isn't hair, but a pointed hat?) If this is intended to be Fethry and Gladstone, this might be further proof that their situations were meant to reflect Della's.

Another possible explanation for these drawings could be that Della drew Dewey and Louie from memory based on what she could retain from the news report. So maybe there's a sketch of what she remembered about Huey on the bottom half.

I believe it's going to be quite a while before we get a glimpse of what the third “Gander” styled episode will look like. The possible subject matter seems a lot more suited for a two-part finale and we're only six episodes in. Perhaps the beginning of the formula will span over some episodes prior to it, similarly to how “Castle” and “Last Crash” had elements that lead into “Shadow War”. Whether I'm truly on to something with my speculations or not, Della's return to Earth is an exciting subject, and I can't wait to see where it will go on the show.

That's a wrap, readers! Thank you for taking a dive with me on the S.S. Bold De-Ducktion!

TL;DR: We just might be in store for one heck of a family reunion.

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Ducktales Reviews: Escape from the Impossibin! or A Dark Night of the Soul

It’s a long dark night of the soul for everyone’s favorite family of ducks as our beloved family grapples with the revelations of last episodes. While Scrooge clearly smarts from the betrayal he pits his latest security system against Della and Louie, given the title it naturally goes wrong and forces all three to try to escape. Meanwhile Beakly sics Webby on Huey and Dewey, and Dewey gets a cool new sword he can’t use while Huey has a slow burn mental breakdown.. again. Someone get my poor boy some therapy. Suprises, Also an exaustingly deep dive into the life of Bentina Beakly. Disguises but sadly not pies of all sizes insue under the cut.

Well.. this one was fantastic. Obviously i’ll explain why as we go but holy shit I was not expecting a master class of an episode just one week after the already great Let’s Get Dangerous. And yes I had my complaints there but none of them, especially on the second watch, really detracted from what was honesty an amazing episode. And after slogging through “Catch as Cash Can” over the past few days, this was a welcome return to the version of the duck family I love best and a crisp reminder of why this series is so frigging amazing. I may criticize, i’m a critic comes with the territory, but I genuinely and wholly love this show, and this episode is encapsulates why. So enough lollygagging, let’s dew it to it!

We open with one of those scenes where two characters give a similar speech and it flashes back between both as they finish each other’s sentences. It’s a storytelling choice I never realized I always loved as it’s always a good way to amp up tension or comedy. It’s a good way to start. At the Mansion, Beakly is lecturing Donald, Huey and Dewey, because both families likely talked Launchpad into just sharing different days with each of them after the first inevitable sleep driving car crash so he’s with his boyfriend and child right now. It’s also really nice to both have almost the entire main cast given something to do for an episode AND have the one missing member have a thoroughly valid reason for not being there that was set up last week. It’s also really nice to see Donald and Della again. While it’s only been two weeks, both have only featured in one episode this block so far, and Della’s been kind of pushed to the side this season.. not unfairly mind as she was the focus for two solo episodes and a ton of episodes last season for obvious reasons but it dosen’t mean I can’t miss my disaster twins when they aren’t around. So anyways back on the episode, Beakly is naturally assuming theirs more traitors in their midst, and she and webby have narrowed it down.. this dosen’t really come up aside for a gag in a second for the rest of the episode, but is both funny and two of them are clearly setup for later. Have a look

My thoughts in order:

Little Bulb: He probably IS plotting to betray them, but for entirely unrelated reasons. Donald: .........................................................................................................

Look I get it on some level, as he was away from the family a long time, hated Scrooge, and had every reason to betray him. BUT, and it’s a bit but, besides the obvious of Bradford and his goons being the reason they gave up looking for his sister, if for good reason, Donald would’ve TOLD them all about that by now if he’d been spying, or if he’d had any dealings with the man. The man loves his family, uncle included, more than anyone and even at their lowest point I doubt he’d sell the man out for the boys sake unless FOWL threatened them. Donald is principaled, hardworking, loving, and has both dove directly into a nest of shadows and sent himself hurtling to earth in a possibly lethal rocket to protect this family, so even if this is a funny gag, it does bother me Beakly and ESPECIALLY Webby, his surrogate niece, would even consider this. That being said while I felt the need to rant because he’s my boy and I feel protective of him, it was damn funy as Donald naturally tries to wipe it off because.. yeah everything above, only to get caught in the flipping board and ending up as above with Beakly forced to admit it’s probably not him. Plus yeah.. he’s also way too clumsy and anger prone for wetwork so there’s also that.

Fenton: I’m TEMPTED to use the trunks picture twice in a row but besides that being obnoxious.. I get it MORE here. Donald has no motive anymore, would’ve told them by now if he had when he did, and has broken his back for all of them at one time or another. Probably literally in some cases. Fenton is sweet, loyal and another one of my boys.. but his obviousness has left him open to deception in three different episodes, not counting the tolkyolk one since that wasn’t BOYD”S choice: But he put blueprints out online for a mcduck industries project, got his armor taken by beaks luring him in to work for him, and had Gandra working for Beaks snuck into his lab.. and probably in the process also got any info on it Bradford couldn’t get through company files. He’s a good man, a kind man but he could easily be a leak without realizing it and also has a mother at home and could be threatened into doing stuff for them for her saftey.. and yes I know she can take care of herself but we’re talking a regular cop against secret agents who aren’t above murdering one. He might panic even if rationally he knows she’s fine.. or they could do the inverse and use her to get secrets from him since she’s a mother and Gandra could probably easily hack fenton’s armor, since Bradford probably has the full blueprints at this point. The point is while I don’t see him betraying them WILLINGLY, I get him being a possible leak. Donald could be, but again is too obvious and likely reguarly checked for bugs anyway long before fowl, as is Launchpad I assume.

Bluescreen Beagle: I don’t know this dude, but I’m betting he’ll be important soon enough since they brought him up at all and he is a beagle working for Scrooge so that alone is interesting.

Louie: Yeah unlike my boys I have no excuses for him here. While Louie is family, and has proven his own loyalty plenty... he’s also selfish, greedy and shortsighted so like Fenton he could be an easy accidental pawn at best or turn on them for money or an adventure free life at worst. I don’t think he would mind, i’m just more understanding of this given just last episode his response to a clearly suspicious thing making machine was to ignore any suspicion entirely and whine about it while Huey looking into it ended up saving the universe. He also nearly killed them all last season, so fair enough.

So yeah Beakly is going to train them to

WHich the boys are all for while Donald gets all spinny eyed ont he floor. Cue credits... though obviously we have to cover the scrooge side of things too...

Meanwhile at the bin, Scrooge has brought Louie and Della there because there the sharpest mind he knows, and their seeing all the angles means their the perfect test subjects for his new post-deeply cutting betrayal security system. He also obviously goes off on an alteration filled rant at Bradford that has to be cut before he can get to calling him shiteating. And given he’s a buzzard that’s probably not inaccurate. Point is they are genuinely the best ones for the job and both agree.. Louie’s not really enthuastic about any of this but hey it’s their money this is guarding so why not. So with that done since we have two full plots to deal with and they don’t intersect until the last few minutes, like with Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades, i’m going to be splitting this one and covering each bit separately since it’s also easier for me to recall and recap that way.

Beakly, Brah, Making Kids (and herself) Cry, Brah!:

A can of coke to whoever figures out that reference first. Or a free review comisson shipping Coke is expensive you know? But yeah as you can tell this bit is not going to go well for any of the kids, or the beakly or my heart. So this plot continues at breakfast, where Huey is meticulously going over both his guidebook and Finch’s Journal to see if there’s ANY signs of F.O.W.L. their connection anything.. it’s also very clear he’s panicking. Given his enitre life is built on logic and he’s now facing a threat he probably feels he SHOULD have seen coming.. I mean they clearly have access to the Missing Mysteries, there must be SOME tie to them SOMEHOW. He, in my opinon at least, feels blindsighted and scared, going up against a group using his own love of logic that blindsighted all of them INCLUDING Scrooge, the most clever and daring adventuerer of all time and Beakly, who was likely responsible for seemingly wiping out F.O.W.L. in the first place. If THEY can be blindsighted, what hope does he have? So he’s searching for it in his comfort texts, kind of like I did at his age: when theirs a crisis trying desperatley to solve it even if you really can’t, which he cannot, at leats not alone. Dewey of course being Dewey, has decided the solution is to get a massive sword he can’t lift and hit people with it and mock Huey for his reading. Huey gets what’s clearly the start of his episode long emotional breakdown, the worst he’s had of SEVERAL this series and over the biggest stakes thus far, seriously get this boy some therapy, while Dewey just thinks the key to beating their worst menace yet is a giant sword to hit things with. He does break a pot with it in an accidental spin attack in a later scene though so I do apricate that reference.

But when opening the serving tray they find an attacking Webby instead with Beakly explaining why she’s doing this to her surrogate brothers: Beakly is testing them by having Webby sneak attack them at some point and the’ll never know when, while Beakly herself works with Donald to secure the house.. sadly we don’t get to see any of that latter part, as it’s probably full of hilarious slapstick, but it’d also clash heavily with the rest of this plot which, while not lacking in jokes, is meant to be uncomfortable and have us on edge like the boys, so fair enough. Webby “Bringer of Death” hugs htem saying this is going to be fun.

Naturally it really REALLY isn’t as Huey is still very shaken by this. And it cleverly ties into what’s been shown from day one and especially this season to be his greatest weakness, and very likely the crux of his character arc: Huey can’t improvise. It’s a nice contrast to Louie last season: Louie’s very talent is thinking on his feet, seeing every angle and making them bend the way he wants. I’ts how he schemes as well as he does, how he fits into the family and what makes him himself. What he needed was to think of others and think through the consequences of his actions. That’s what he gained from his arc last season: perspective, the ablility to improvise while also not shooting himself in the foot for later and to have empathy for people. Huey is the oppoisite: Instead his ablility to think IS his skill. He’s a genuis, able to understand super science on the level of fully grown adult genuises, able to puzzle through confounding mysteries, to solve any problem. He and huey both are gifted with anyalsis, but Louie sees the small picture, the people, the moving parts at the moment, while Huey sees the big picture and how everything connects to lead to one thing and loves learning more and more. I REALLY relate to him that way. But this season has brillinatly drilled in where he needs to improve: He’s not ready for suprises or deviations from his plans or all the things that could go wrong. He can’t improvise, he just panics. It’s something again I relate to and something that each of his episodes has set up leading to this moment hammering it home and me realizing what his arc was:

Challenge of the Senior-Junior Woodchucks had Huey utterly lost without his Guide Book for a while and unprepared for a sudden challenge in Violet. Quack Pack had him unravel when he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the world, yet he was perfectly fine once he knew what was going on, Astro B.O.Y.D. was entirely about his intellgence and need for structure leaves him bullied and alone a lot of the time even among in his element with the woodchucks and how he finds friendship in someone like himself who gets him. Rumble for Ragnarok showed that while he can comment find for sports like golf where there’s rigid structure, rules and history, he fails as bad as Launchpad at calling wrestling because wrestling is just as much about sponteaniety as planning, with run ins, reff discrations and other chaos being part and parcel and even in real life matches often have to be changed on the fly due to injuries or someone simply coming up with a better finish at the last minute. At the same time the season’s shown how it is vital to him, as the next two, The trickening and forbidden fountain showed WHY his structure works and that it can in the right format, and that he usually has reason for it. And the final one showed that too, with him being the one to find out what Bulba’s up to simply by research, and while he didn’t stop it, his pulling at the threads of why Bradford was there and his hate of them forced FOWL out into the open which, while now putting him on edge, forced their enmies into the open where while their more dangerous, they can now at least strike back. Huey’s arc is , hopefully if i’m right about this, about him having to learn to use his strengths with his weakneses, much like Louie last season: To adpat, to grow while not forgetting who he is and that not everything can be put in a box, as the creators put their interpretation of him. Not everything can be quanitfied or planned for and sometimes you just have to try and hope for hte best. It’s a damn compelling arc, my relating to it helps of course but it paints Huey as a fascinating character and tying it heavily into the main plot fixes how Louie was largely removed from the moonlander plot aside from one episode, as was glomgold’s quest. While the season has three main plots: A focus on Huey, the missing mysteries and FOWL, all three intertwine perfectly and are interconnected. The creators learned well from where they slipped up last time and the result is phenomenal, and they’ve clearly proven this is Huey’s season afterall: Even when he’s not been the a-plot who huey is, how he functions and being forced to grapple with the downsides of it are front and center and I am here for it.

But yeah he’s breaking down, not helped by trying to go to beakly only to find out about the hidden bin and Dewey tries to help him calm down.. only for Dewey to walk in and unsuprsingly the one who can actually offer deep encouraging support was Webby who threatens this isn’t the attack. Nor is her dummy she leaves for them. The boys are left terrified hoping they won’t be attacked and holding Dewey’s sword, but Huey ends up convinced it’s just a test and that it’s the classic paranoia gambit: by telling them something will attack, the real lesson is to be prepared. But Nerp, Webby attacks them with arrows and easily snares Dewey while Huey has a panic attack that’s genuinely hard to watch as he ends up running into the wall and breaking his ankle. This very real pain along with his clear trauma when he flinches at her genuinely trying to help him snap Webby out of it: She realizes she’s gone way too far and utterly terrified her own brothers, sending one into a full on mental breakdown, just to prepare them. Up till now it was probably normal for Webby: Beakly trained her rigorously, if understandably, kept her from the world, probably did this to her, and Webby just thought it was normal and it made her what she is. But it also came at the cost of any normalcy. To me Webby’s always been like a lighter, since she can at least speak, has toys and Beakly you know treats her like a human being rather than a weapon, of the second Batgirl, Cassandra Cain. Cassandra was raised from birth as an experiment to make the ultimate weapon, someone who rather than speak spoke in phsyical motion and could kill effortlessly.. but actually doing so shocked her and she escaped and Bruce took her in. Cass is as badass as Batman at a fraction of the age but dosen’t understand simple life things and can’t speak. Hence the parallel: While Beakly isn’t a monster like David Cain, she still took a small child and turned them into a weapon strugging to adapt to society, and only isn’t a monster because as said she clearly cares about webby and dosen’t want to loose her like she lost her child and in-law to whatever presumibly fowl related nightmare took them from her and left Webby an Orphan. What i’m getting at with this is this feels like Webby realizing while this is her normal.. the boys can’t take it with Dewey terrified and again, Huey nearly broken by all of this and whimpering in a corner. This isn’t bonding between master and student, grandmother and granddaughter, partners in fighting.. this is just .. wrong. So when Beakly, not noticing how badly she’s damaged either boy, demands Webby continue attacking them, Webby refuses, stands firm.. and prepares to take on the person she loves most in the world, yes more than Lena she’s only 12 for christ’s sake, and Beakly gladly accepts. Webby’s training is in session. When we next see them the fight is in full force, and it is awesome to see. After 3 seasons we not only see Beakly’s darkest aspects come out we see her granddaughter in the path. Though at first it seems like what their training sessions normally are, a friendly if lively and full force spar between two trusting combatants. But it becomes clear over the fight from Webby’s reaction that Beakly is going harder than usual, and doesn’t stop when asked. Thankfully her kind gesture paid off as Huey and Dewey whisk her up to the attic. Webby is genuinely SCARED, never having seen her like this but also worried for her: Acting like a monster or not.. Beakly is still her granny and it’s clear FOWL coming back has rattled her. The fist through the attick doors, barred with the sword proves that. The kids head up to the roof with Beakly in persuit like some sort of slasher villian, again fist through a door, determined to still fight while Webby clearly just wants this to stop and so does the audience. This hurts.. intentionally so but I haven’t been cut this deep by two family members literally coming to blows since Amethyst fought Pearl in the first season of steven universe. It’s tough to watch but in a very good way. The boys break up the tension for half a second by rushing her and she just tosses them aside... where their caught by Donald, who didn’t realize ANY of this was going on and is rigthfully pissed.. though dosen’t do the angry dance thing because then he’d kill his children but he’s sure thinking it loud enough.

As Webby reluctantly readies for round 2, Donald calls at her to fucking stop already. While she counters with they have to be ready, which is true... Donald shuts her down. “Not like this”. She’s broken Huey and Webby and Dewey.. is traumatized but fine but this episode really isn’t about him. What it is about is Bentina Beakly and her Dark Night of the soul. I brought up the term for dumb reasons admitely: Because it sounded neat and because Douglas Adams had spoofed it with the dirk gently novel “Dark Tea-Time of the Soul” a title that’s stuck with me and a book I own and still need to read. But I looked it up to make sure I wasn’t badly misusing it and it turned out to fit this episode: A Dark Night of the Soul, as defined by spirtual guru and thankfuly not scumbag Eckheart Tolle whose article explained the old expression better than wikipedia could. While he naturally pitches his book there, it was still helpful so thanks man for your spirtual advice helping me analyize ducks. I owe you one.

The Dark Night of the Soul is essentially a person coming to their lowest point after having lost themselves or feeling lost, rattled by one event and awakening with a new sense of spirtual purpose and a new direction and a sense of self again after it. Having everything you know upended and coming out the other side with a new self, usually in a religious sense. And it works here because really that’s what Huey, Beakly, Scrooge and to a Degree webby face here. Louie, Della, Dewey and Donald are all fine in the face of FOWl and it makes sense: Louie and Donald are often outside the adventure bubble in terms of enjoying it, seeing it’s dangers to them and in Donald’s case his kids, Webby included, and how much chaos it is. Both have accepted it as part of their lives so while this escalates things, both just see it as just more of the peril and chaos that’s a daily part of their lives. Dewey and Della being thrillseekers and loving a good challenge simply see this as taking on an epic challenge: fighting the worst villians of the world off and having a daring story to tell. Webby similarly isn’t that effected at first because she sees it the same way likely and only starts to get bothered by it when it starts tearing her family, the thing most precious to her, apart over it.

But for the other three it makes sense. Obviously we’ll come back to Scrooge during his part of the episode. But for Huey as we’ve seen this upends his world. There was a massive deadly secret just beneath him, an unknown beyond all unknowns, and it rattled him.. and having his own sister constantly terrorize him just made it worse. For Huey without consitencey his life falls apart as those prevoius episodes highlhted.l He can prepare for anything.. but he has to know it’s coming and having a villian group who strikes from the shadows is his worst fears manifest and preparing for that naturally breaks the poor boy. He gets through it though, as once it’s on someone else, his fear falls away and as we saw his focus is entirely on helping webby: Not on himself, not on the risk but on protecting his sister. It shows that Huey has the potenital for instinct, as seen with the woodchuck and wrestling episodes too, he just needs to get out of his own head and let it work with his gut instead of trying desperately to use only his head.

For Beakly though it’s far worse... and really gets to the core of who she is in this series. She was, and probably still is, a Secret Agent, who fought long and hard to utterly destroy FOWL, at the cost of everything else, constnatly having to keep her guard up with spies all around her and with Scrooge apparently being the only friend from those days who lasted the whole time. SHe probably lost countless partners in both sense of the word, time and youth she’ll never get back and everything she had to stop them. She gave S.H.U.S.H. everything as far as I can tell. And then she got her reward. FOWL was gone, she had a child, and possibly had a loving partner, provided they didn’t either leave her pregannt and alone or just grow apart from her eventually we don’t know at this point and i’m just spitballing. Point is she had a child, she had a happy ending.. except clearly.. she did not. According to the website, and it’s probably still accurate, Beakly was living in seclusion following her retirement, likely to keep anyone from harming her child.. but also because with her partner possibly gone, she had almost NOTHING left. A child that either kept her at arms length or she kept at arms length to keep their family safe, an old friend who was busy as is, and a safe world.. that’s all she had. Just her and alone. And that’s been clearly shown as Beakly’s biggest issue as we see: She has trouble letting others, even webby at times given how she lied at her, in and given all she’s lost it’s hard not to see why. After a life time of probably watching cold blooded killers kill people she loved and having people betray her and loosing the father of her child possibly, again it’s vauge, no wonder she is the way she is. And then it somehow gets worse and better: She looses her child, one of the three people she has left in the world.. yet she finds herself in charge of Webby. And with that.. she has a purpose again, to protect this child. This baby girl who needed her more than anything. So she did.. a little too well as discussed. To quote the excellent song “Dark, Sad, Lonely, Knight” from the musical “Holy Musical B@tman!” which yes really exists:

“I remember that horrible night that night you were split in two, and I swore I’d protect you. So I built a wall all around you, but the wall was too tall, it blocked out all the birds and the sun. I tried to raise you right! I tried to raise you proper! I tried to be a mentor and a friend and a mother and a brother too! I’d insulate you from any outside source of fright... i’d make bloody certain, you’d never see another, dark, sad, lonely night. “

And yes as you can imagine that was sung by Alfred.. but it fits perfectly. That’s how Beakly raised Webby, guarding her from the world, trying to protect her from the world the way she’d always guarded herself from it. She did hurt webby’s development.. but you can see WHY. She lost everything, she had two people left in her life at that point: One had given her home and the other had given her her soul back. She couldn’t loose Webby so she made sure she couldn’t and held her as tight as she could. It’s why she pushed Scrooge to let his young nephews into his life. She saw over her time with him he was doing what she did, pushing everyone out. She wanted him to avoid being alone like she was before Webby. And it worked.. and showed her Webby clearly wanted to see the world and that Bentina didn’t have to be afraid to show it to her anymore, and could let Scrooge share in doing so. She let her be free and opened up for the first time in likely a decade since she got a two year old dropped on her lap. And soon wither she’d admit it or not she found herself part of the family. She found herself the voice of reason, sometimes sharing it with Donald, and the one to put both Scrooge and the rest of the family in their place when they nearly tore apart again, helping Donald realize that for all scrooge hurt him.. Scrooge hurt from loosing della too, and helping the boys realize Scrooge, much like herself, tends to lash out at people. She prevented them from getting distance from their family, knowing from experince you may never get them back or mend that wound. She was part of the family and for the first time in her life even if again, given her emotoinal distance she wasn’t really close to any of the duck family but Scrooge and her newly inducted Grandaughter, she still clearly cares and looks after them and even her harsh treatment of Della was well meaning and understandable. And that’s why the F.O.W.L. revelation tears her apart to her very core, her very SOUL: Because not only is the enemy she thought dead, or may of known wasn’t dead we don’t know but this episode leans towards the former alive, not only is her worst enemy, one who nearly killed her grandaughter part of them once again, but their head was one of Scrooge’s most trusted advisors and associates, the man he trusted more than himself at times to do what the company needed and the only one who knew his deepest secrets besides Beakly herself. They now faced not only her worst nightmare reborn, but with vital info about them and everyone around them. And for all we Know F.O.W.L. took her family from her in the first place and now they easily could again and she NEVER saw it coming. It’s why she drives everyone including Webby so hard, because she can’t take loosing everyone she cares about again so they will be ready, they will be prepared even if it destroys them on the inside because she cannot take it again.. she can’t fail them AGAIN. I feel she puts a lot of the blame on herself because in this family it’s her job to be the suspicious one, to see things coming, to be ready, to be the one who knows EVERYTHING even more than scrooge.. and this apparently rattled her as much as he did and suprised her just as much. She failed and she can’t again even if Webby hates her for it. But in trying to continue the fight.. she slips, Webby dodges and she falls off the roof.. and everyone helps her up. Even if they all have EVERY REASON to be mad at her they help. And Webby points out this can’t go on. They won’t get stronger tearing themselves apart.. their a family. They don’t need to do it like fowl, they need to be themselves and work TOGETHER. The one thing they have, the one thing they can trust is each other. Beakly is touched like this and realizes their right.. their not the enemy.. and there the one people,, for once in her life she can fully and completely trust. She tries apologizing to webby, they hug..and then gets an alert. What’s all that about? Well to get that that we kinda have to finish the other story.. which I would’ve put first had I realized this was going to be as long as it was but hey.

Escape from the Impossibin

Thankfully this won’t be as long or as emotionally complex.. entirely. So back at this plot about 20 minutes ago, Scrooge breaks down the challenge and the risk as it was made by the most devious and deranged minds he knows: Gyro and Quackfaster with Louie getting a good laugh out of me by pointing out “Why are the most devious minds in Duckberg friends of ours” to which I say because only Scrooge let’s them go all out, and on the friend part, at least for you, Louie...

I mean maybe Quackfaster, but you stole from Gyro multiple times now. And he hated Fenton for far dumber and more petty reasons why wouldn’t you assume he hates you too.. I mean he did help with Louie’s Eleven but there was also a good chance your head would explode there so I don’t really count it.

Anyways Scrooge offers lunch if they make it, which Louie notes means he must REALLY not think they will. And the first test proves his overconfdience correct as we enter the most dangerous, devious and deadly trap Gyro could manage.. which given who we’re dealing with, i’d be very afraid. The ultra violent ultra violet trap seems at first to just be a bunch of purple, if really cool buzzsaws and sawblades, your standard super villian death course.. but Gyro being beyond your average super villian, I mean the only reason he’s not is he has a steady job that lets him build a clone army with company resources so why would he give that up, jazzed it up with an ultraviolet bit of bulbtech.. and due to the violet light it hides the traps ,meaning their invisible. And while Louie and Della try navigating them, they cannot get through as Louie runs out of PEP to spray them with and Della using her metal leg as a guide, which itself is awesome for her as she clearly and wisely made the thing nigh indestructible and we haven’t seen it tear or get destroyed once all series so good going, really should market that to other people in need of prostetics della and Scrooge. Scrooge is of course delighted as that’s the entire point even if his child and grandchild are understandably not as happy about it. But naturally, as I hinted at in the teaser, it goes wrong as Scrooge’s password dosen’t work and he tries it too many times, been there, sucks. Granted Louie asks hilariously “Your the oldest man in the world why isn’t your password just 1234″.. and though the why is obvious, it’s still a good line. Point is their locked out and now have to escape it for real! Weirdly Scrooge dosen’t catch onto the fact of whose behind it, but we’ll get to that. He does have more pressing matters. Luckily Louie figures it out after an insult at the Bulbtech causes it to flash read, like most Bulbs do.. but since this Bulb’s entire purpose is to flash Purple, that means pissing it off makes the blades visable and while Scrooge is understandably sore that his 3 million dollar security system has such a big flaw in it, they escape. Though I get Scrooge’s frustration: Their going up against someone who knows how Gyro’s tech’s works, if Louie can figure it out so can Bradford and he wouldnt send FOWL in without a full briefing on Scrooge.

We don’t see the next one as it’s a time loop room, it’s a time loop room, it’s a time loop room okay i’ll stop and so does Dell after Louie well meaningly smacks his mom. Next puzzle’s quackfaster and I like scrooge pulling a Dumbledore and having some of his most trusted advisors devise the traps for him. I may hate JK Rowling for good reason but I did always love that bit of the Sorcerer’s (Or phillosphers in the uk because the publisher’s weren’t as stupid) Stone. Death of the author and all that. Point is I like it here too even if i’ts truncated for time. But Emily’s trap is a bunch of tiles that fuck with gravity because apparently she’s magical now... who knew. I’m not questioning it though: She runs a giant library full of dangerous, and probably magical in some cases, literature.. if she didn’t know spells she probably woudn’t be able to sort some of them. It’s a new fact out of nowhere but it makes perfect sense.

Point is they have to figure it out though Louie once again succeeds with some books and, in a really cool bit, using scrooge as a platform with the two walking in time and della grabbing on as they hit the master rune to shut them all off. It’s a damn cool sequence even if Scrooge is agrviated. We then come, after they apparently fought a Squid Monster off screen, because Quackfaster can also apparently summon demons.. or gyro made a tentacle monster which dosen’t suprise me at all. Either way it’s the final challenge in the main room leading ot the bin and in the way of deactivating security: A Scrooge Robot! Because as we all know by video game logic, the Robot Version is always stronger. Of course Louie’s annoyed both at the spending of his inhertince and at Scrooge’s egotisim but he has a good point there and the thing looks hilarious clunky with 8-bit eyes.. till it morphs, to scrooge’s delight, into a giant purple robot with a cane and scrooge’s face on the front j jonah jameson style. I never see that spider-slayer refrenced but i’mg lad this one did. Granted it could be to arim zola or something but I feel the Spider-Slayer refrence fits here.. take a look if your curious.

See? Anyways a fight insues with Scrooge, in a great bit, riling up Della when she fishes for him to admit she would’ve’ been a better base by bringing up Donald first instead. The trio get their asses kicked, and a pep can drops out, as naturally Louie was lying but it’s a rare flavor so I get it. I do. Thankfully his lies do save them however as the Cherry PEP he fires at the machine stuns it while Scrooge USES THE POGO CANE MOVE ON IT. Hell.. fucking yes. It’s about time we saw that again and in fully glory here too. I really want that game on the switch by the way.. where’s my disney afternoon collection.. WHERE CAPCOM WHERE. But yeah they won.. and Scrooge is upset. Because this was SUPPOSED to keep FOWL out but if his family can beat it so can they. And now we get to Scrooge’s far less horrifying dark night of the soul as we get a sense of just how much this whole ordeal has rattled him: As he mentioned at the top of hte episode he TRUSTED Bradford. It was clear he never liked him as a person, but Scrooge is a paranoid guy, he hardly trusts anyone and for someone to earn that it had to take a lot.. and it naturally stings. We see that while he may of been a necessary evil, SCrooge still liked the guy on some level and to have someone he trusts and respects betray him naturally shook Scrooge. He trusted someone.. and they knifed him in the back going against all he stands for. Instead of earning money, Bradford stole what Scrooge and others worked for while working to destroy him as soon as he feasably could and take his legacy for himself. To Scrooge, Bradford was revealed to be the worst kind of parasite and one that leeched off him for probably decades. But what’s worse is the risk that creates: Bradford was one of his top guys and the only other one running the company: He knows EVERYTHING about Scrooge, every secret, every investment, where every treasure is stored, and everywhere he’s been. He knows about his friends, family, some of his darkest and most guarded for a reason secrets, secrets he’d never give away freely.. and can now use ALL of it to destroy his family and everyone they care about. That sheer level of betryal would rock anyone but someone like Scrooge, who BARELY trusts anyone and can even be paranoid of his own family from time to time? LIke beakly it’s easy to see why he spiraled and why he put so much into this: Because like Beakly, he was blindsided, and his buisness, his crown jewel, the thing he put his heart and soul into and worked hard to build up and CONTINUES to work hard on to this day.. was being slowly corrupted and he has no idea what parts or where or just what all Bradford did with his money and resources and what nasty suprises he has hidden in them. The one thing he could trust as almost entirely his is tainted, his sense of security tainted.. and his sense of self tainted. If Scrooge freaking mcduck can get blindsighted like this, just how powerful is his former friend?

And we soon see Scrooge’s own fears manifest as Bradford hyjacks the robot, revealing this was, naturally him.. as of COURSE it was the guy who was revealed to be an evil mastermind who hates your guts. And because Scrooge didn’t change his password, which cleverly is the sum total of his money hence why it was a mass of numbers, which.. really dude? I don’t like doing it either and don’t change mine up if I can help it but even I did when someone tried hyjacking my spotify account. Yes that happened, I thought it was just a wifi thing, it was not. So yeah turns out Bradford was STILL one step ahead, and thus knew about the defenses and thus trapped Scrooge in them for reasons that will dramatically be revealed at the end of the episode. He also naturally attacks because just like JJ, he’s a crotchety old man whose yelling at our loveable rascals to in a sense, get off his lawn. Granted unlike JJ he’s clearly never came around, but the parallels are there. Point is it’s time for another fight this time using the gravity runes, with Scrooge hitting his despiar event horizon as if FOWL can outhink him on this what hope does he have. But like the rest of his family sans launchpad did for Beakly, Louie helps him through the other side and points out there are things they have they don’t.. and demonstrates as naturally the bulb tech used for the robot is just as irate so Louie tricks it into going after him then does a bin dive, with the massive amount of money destroying the thing and Bradford unable to get Gandra to stop it, so our heroes win... oh and Bradford left the company.. for some reason, because as his investors Scrooge can’t really remove him and I was curious how they’d get him out.. then again Scrooge probably, even as cheap as he is, had security cameras showing Bradford’s little talk with Bulba or any of his various rants as evidence. I mean Scrooge is stingy but he’s not STUPIDLY stingy. it’s the best I got, point is he’s to the wind now and our heroes have one! Except yeah.. the ending of the last segment.

Lost the Battle, Time to Win the War

In an utterly amazing swerve we find out just what kind of alert Beakly got as the rest of this episodes cast have arrived at the bin and Beakly asks why Scrooge hasn’t answered his phone.. and when Scrooge does Bradford’s plan comes into view: Turns out he locked scrooge in as a DISTRACTION, keeping him in the one place no one could reach him. It also explains why he attacked Scrooge: Besides having the perfect weapon for it and getting to gloat, someone needed to keep him busy while the rest of his operatives finished his master stroke. Turns out EVERYONE involved with one of the missing mysteries called: Goldie called to gripe about the fountain being gone and Scrooge taking it before she could, the Mervanans called to tell him the harp was swindelded by some eggheads and their good vibes did nothing to save her, we also get to see the pink one in full view which is nice but unimportant, and we get Drake back for a cameo!

But sadly it’s because he just met Steelbeak for the first time.. again, and Beaky clearly beat the every loving shit out of him as he’s heavily bruised, and took the papers on Solgelo’s Circuit with him

And Gene called to tell them he was being kidnapped as the Blot, now with a fully functioning gauntlet got to him. So to sum it up F.O.W.L. in one night, took all the missing mysteries they’d gathered or found, beat one of their most trusted allies and made their new security system worthless.

It was an utterly masterful story move: Firmly tying both plots together and confirming FOWL has SOMETHING bigger they want out of them. Some bigger plan, and as the last two weeks proved already knew where they were. Now it’s open war F.O.W.L.’s taken the first shot and hit hard.

But Scrooge, now with his confidence restored thanks to Louie, instead of backing down, is galvanized: They’ve lost the mysteries they have but if F.O.W.L. wants the rest, their going to have to beat the greatest family of adventurers the world, and probably the multiverse if we’re being honest and yes that includes other versions of this family, has ever known to them first. Sneaking in the shadows, attacking them from behind, striking them while they were at their most vunerable? FOWL was in their element and won this round because of it. But now adventuring, traveling the world, finding rare artifacts lost to time? Now their in the ducks wheelhouse. As Beakly, finally accepting her place in the family and that she’s not alone, proudly states their not ready for them. And so we close on one badass group shot as Dewey tries to lift the sword again only for his siblings to help, minus Louie naturally who still looks on determined. Our heroes have been through their dark night of the soul, they’ve lost a lot and the villians are miles ahead.. but they’ve also come out of it together, determined, their doubts behind them for now, and FOWL firmly in their sights. They won the battle.. but the war’s far from over. Game on.

Final Thoughts.

God this was a good one, as you could probably tell from the way I went on and on about it but this was one of the series best.. and while I say that a lot, mostly because Season 3 has consistently been about them topping themselves again and again, this time it’s etched in stone. I thought this would be a good one but forgetable.. instead it’s easily one of the best dives into the cast, and one of the best bottle episodes i’ve seen, limiting the cast to just our heroes, a handful of cameos and our big bad and letting our heroes be their own worst enemies for most of it. IT’s a great character piece, with plenty of great fluid action set pieces, absolutely heartbreaking character stuff, and a hell of an ending that sets the tone for the final half of the season and possibly the series. It also shut my mouth about the pacing, because as I hoped, much like season 2 it was slow on purpose: The first half, while also providing vital setup here and there, was also about telling stories they really COULDN’T once the FOWL plot kicked into gear for act 2. Getting trapped in a sitcom, a casual breakin of a gala where Donald meets the love of his life, a trip to tokyolk.. none of this would’ve really worked with Fowl at their heels. By taking their time they simply had more time to set the stage so when things kicked up with this act, things could stay intense.. minus the christmas episode but that takes place before these episodes so I don’t really count it. Point is the tone is firmly set, the stakes are high and things are at a level they’ve never been. This is one of the show’s finest and I expect i’ts only going to go higher and higher from here. Also one last note Bradford, bud.. why did you out Gandra as an agent? You had to have known about the whole Fenton thing, you seem to know everything and a break in to Gyro’s lab would’ve been something Scrooge had to tell you about or you could learn about yourself. They didn’t know she was still evil or working for you or that she was even on their radar. Also related while Steelbeak and Blot’s missions were obvious it was easy to figure out who went where besides them: Heron went under the sea both because she was the odd one out and because Bradford was presumably still mad about the helicopter thing, while Rockerduck obviously took the fountain since he’d been there and knew where it was now it was properly restored. Next Week: Kidcentric episode and the sabrewing sisters are back! Also while I don’t hate it, Lena’s blueform is simply a super mode.. phew. I mean I don’t dislike it but i’ts not a walk around in public thing. Point is kids teaming up for shenanigans, a mystic sword in the middle of x of swords AND the return of my two faviorite fowl agents. I’m pumped.

Until then if you like this review there’s more reviews on the pages on my blog including a just finished this weekend review of the original Ducktales 4-parter, Catch as Cash Can. It was a trip. You can find that collected into a handy series of links HEREEEEEEEEEE. Or if you prefer this series, as I do, you can find last week’s review of Let’s Get Dangerous HERE. If you like this review and want to here my thoughts on say an episode from the first two seasons (which I mostly haven’t covered yet), or another disney show, you can pm me on this very blog to comission an episode, just like one of my fans commissioned me to review catch as cash can. Or you can follow me on my patreon HERE. Until next week stay safe, vote if your old enough and check your house for Gary Busey!

#ducktales #escape from the impossibin #scrooge mcduck #bentina beakly #webby vanderquack #huey duck #louie duck #della duck #dewey duck #donald duck #bradford buzzard #gandra dee #darkwing duck #drake mallard #ducktales spoilers #reviews #revew

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