#Hey look Uno is Atlantis ofcourseheis

[adamarinayu]

PREVIOUS

Okay so I don’t want to get too far into certain things right now and while this chapter introduces Webby, Bentina and the enemies it’s not gonna get too far into the enemies because I’m wanting to focus on other aspects of the story, and not just a “let’s fight evil aliens” aspect.

“Who’s there?” Donald demanded, eyes scanning around the metallic hallway. “Show yourself!”

“Sorry, I forgot you don’t know me yet.”

Right in front of Donald a pale, translucent green projection lit up. Another duck stood in front of him- only a hologram, Donald knew- wearing the loose, flowing robe-like attire Donald recognized as belonging to the Ancients’ civilization.

Donald let out a startled yelp and stumbled backwards- a hologram duck was not what he was expecting. “Who are you?” he demanded. “And how can you speak English?” he added as an afterthought- ten thousand years ago, he knew the Ancients didn’t speak English.

His uncle and cousin knew Ancient, after all.

“I’m called Uno,” the duck introduced, crossing its- his?- arms and watching Donald with clear amusement. “But that’s who I am. Your real question is what I am, and put simply, what I am is Atlantis itself. Or rather, myself, however you prefer to view it.”

Donald began to wonder then if he had walked into a part of Atlantis that had no oxygen and if he was going crazy.

“How do you know me?” Donald asked warily, watching the hologram. The hologram- Uno?- suddenly shifted, expression turning serious.

“That doesn’t matter. Donald, you have to get your expedition to stop exploring right now.”

“What-?”

“When you came through the gate, the city started coming to life- the lights are turning on, the life support system’s gone into maximum capacity, the water filtration system’s started up again, one of your team has found the hologram room, your scientists are turning the computers on and all of this is taking much-needed energy away from the shield holding back the ocean.”

“Holding back the ocean?” Donald repeated numbly- what was happening?

Uno raised a brow and stepped closer to Donald, as if actually observing him. “You haven’t noticed?” he asked, seemingly surprised. “The entire city is on the ocean floor. The shield is just a thin layer now, and it’s already failed in more than a few ‘unimportant’ sections of the city even before your expedition came through. At the rate the energy systems are coming back online, there’ll be only seventeen minutes and twenty-three seconds until the shield collapses and the entire city is destroyed by the pressure of the ocean.”

Donald’s head was reeling- was the hologram telling him they were in danger? Of course they were in danger, they were in another galaxy-

Wait.

“Didn’t you just say you are the city?” Donald asked.

“That’s the part you’re focusing on?”

“If something’s going on, can’t you stop it?”

Uno didn’t look too impressed. “I can’t just make more energy, you know, and I’m already redirecting as much of it as I can. I try and keep doors closed but your scientists are overriding my systems and getting through anyway, and with so many life forms inside I can’t just deactivate the life support system.”

Oh. Yeah, that made sense.

Wait.

“Ocean floor?”

“Yes.”

Oh.

“Donald!” another voice echoed around them, and with a brief look of panic Uno disappeared. Almost as soon as he was gone, Fenton rounded the corner excitedly. “There you are! Come here! Dr. Gearloose found something-”

“Whatever it is, tell him to stop,” Donald said, suddenly snapping into reality. If there was any validity whatsoever to... “Uno’s” claims then whatever Gyro wanted him to look at was a very, very bad idea.

He quickly began moving back towards the Gateroom, grabbing Fenton’s arm and pulling him along. “Check the systems, look for any indication of power spikes, power drops, any anomalies,” he rattled off the instructions, depositing the scientist in front of his laptop on the second floor before clicking his communicator on. “Scrooge!”

A moment passed before he heard an answer, the Scot sounding irritated as he asked, “What?”

“Call everyone back to the Gateroom,” Donald demanded.

“What in blazes-”

“Just trust me,” Donald interrupted, now it was his turn to be irritated.

“Power is spiking throughout the city,” Fenton mumbled, scrolling through his information. “And crashing... power being redirected to the central tower- failure out on the north pier, shield collapse...” He quickly hit his own communicator. “Dr. Gearloose, come to the control room please- it’s important, I swear!”

It was a buzz of activity after that. They found the lost city of the Ancients, and they were already losing it.

At least Donald knew he wasn’t going crazy.

It was night on the planet they randomly selected for evacuation. Donald was there with other military personnel, speaking to the natives.

He felt afraid- his boys were back on Atlantis while he himself was sent to ask these strangers for asylum. The village was small, settled right outside the wall of the ruins of an Ancient city, and had a small smattering of hut clusters and some tents. At the edge of the village was what looked like a very small cemetery.

They were a kind people, he couldn’t help but think as he and an agent (the only other person besides Donald who treated them like normal people, it seemed) were invited to join a family for tea. They were mostly young, too- he saw only a handful of people who seemed to be in their elder years, their host one of them. The families weren’t large, either; their host seemed to live with a child roughly Donald’s nephews’ ages.

“Bentina Beakley,” the older woman introduced rather stoically, nodding politely at Donald and Mary Ann. “And this is my granddaughter, Webby.”

“Hi! I’m Webby,” the little girl greeted, dressed in a loose-fitted violet gown that seemed common among the children. “It’s short for Webbigail.”

Donald missed his boys already. He couldn’t help but think they’d like Webby.

“Your leader doesn’t respect us,” Bentina noted, sipping a drink she called tea and, Donald supposed, technically could be called tea.

“He doesn’t respect anyone,” Mary Ann sighed, shaking her head.

“Especially me,” Donald noted dryly. “I’m sorry for how he’s acting. It’s kind of you to actually consider taking our people in.”

Webby looked up from her food. “Well, yeah!” she laughed a bit. “Why wouldn’t we? People need to stick together, what with the Evronians and everything.”

“Ev... Evronians?” Donald repeated, confused. Both grandmother and granddaughter paused, looking at him in surprise. “What.. are Evronians?”

Bentina quietly set her cup down, somehow even more serious than she had been before. “If,” she started, looking between Donald and Mary Ann, “your world has remained untouched by the Evronians, you should go back.”

“We can’t,” Mary Ann admitted, frowning. “Our planet’s too far away and we don’t have the energy required to connect the gates over that distance.”

“What are Evronians?” Donald repeated. It was Webby who answered.

“Monsters.”