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waveypedia · 5 years ago

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“I’m in love…shit” the quintessential gyro

Gyro never meant to get attached to Fenton.

If he had known the bumbling, awkward, cheerful coworker would carve out a little nook for himself in Gyro’s heart, Gyro would have fought his superiors twice as hard on hiring an intern.

He had already given every excuse he had, but Scrooge was worried for him alone in the lab day after day, and the Board was tired of shoving precious funding at doomed inventions that blew up in their faces.

(Gyro was tired too.)

But somehow Gyro’s sheer force of will wasn’t enough, and he ended up saddled with the literal ball of sunshine and energy that was Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera. The duck essentially transformed into a mini hurricane in his precious lab, wreaking havoc and wrecking Gyro’s concentration. He never seemed to tire, both physically and emotionally, no matter how much meaningless work and hurtful insults Gyro threw at him.

Gyro never remembered dancing on Dr. Akita’s heels and shoving his thousand inane ideas in his mentor’s face. Yet Fenton greeted Gyro every morning with his too-bright grin and a plethora of new ideas. He followed Gyro around the lab like an unwanted puppy, asking a million questions a minute, forcing Gyro to multitask and make mistakes on his precious inventions. He also seemed to have a special knack for popping up in Gyro’s personal space right as Gyro was about to finish an important and tenuous process, startling him and, more often than not, making him mess up and have to start over.

Gyro did not regret making the bathroom his workspace, which was rather immature by his standards, but Fenton took it in stride, just like everything else. He didn’t even realize right away! What an idiot.

Although, the personal space and questions may have been the only characteristic of young Gyro that Fenton didn’t adopt. Despite them having zero similar physical characteristics, the younger duck served as a painful window to Gyro’s past self.

Gyro… didn’t really know how to handle it. He certainly was no Akita; he lacked his old mentor’s eerie calmness and quiet confidence in spades. But Fenton was unmistakably Gyro, but a Gyro lost to time, a Gyro that crashed and burned and died twenty years ago.

Sooner or later, something was going to to go horribly, terribly, miraculously wrong. Something was going to break Fenton’s spirit forever. It would break him, like how 2-BO broke Gyro, and how the Spear of Selene ensured he would never recover.

Fenton was just a disaster waiting to happen, and as Gyro’s intern, Gyro would most likely be there for his failure. The thought of essentially watching a repeat of 2-BO from the outside, watching Fenton’s unshakable friendliness and passion crumble and shatter irreplaceably, terrified him. It was like watching a horror movie with dramatic irony, where the audience knows about the killer but the characters don’t, and the audience just watches them die slowly one by one, with the sickening sensation that something bad is about to happen and there’s nothing they can do to stop it.

Truthfully, there is something he could possibly do. He could talk to Fenton, but the thought of laying all his failures and terrors bare on the table terrified Gyro. For all his scientific genius, he is a disaster in a conversation, and not even Fenton’s inconceivably strong friendliness can save him. He can’t go to Mr. McDuck about it, because his boss would probably tut gently and pat Gyro’s back awkwardly and spout nonsense about rewriting history and we can handle it and good on you, lad, you care about him!

Wait. Since when did Gyro give a shit about Cabrera?

Only because watching Fenton skip and stumble down his old path, knowing only disaster and hardship awaits him at the end, felt like someone cut open old wounds that never really healed.

He didn’t care. No, sir.

And then, the unthinkable happened.

When Gyro, Fenton, and a few of the McDuck clan ended up in danger, Fenton hotwired Project Blatherskite. It was still under construction and never meant to be used as anything vaguely resembling a superhero, but here they were.

“How could you be so stupid?!” Gyro snapped at Fenton over and over in the aftermath, but he was drowned out by the adrenaline-infused praise of his peers and Beaks’ creepy hero-worship. Scrooge, Dewey, and Launchpad seemed to have somehow developed the idiotic idea that Gizmoduck was prescisely the superhero Duckburg needs, and that Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera was just the duck to wear the suit. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Like all well-written dramatic irony, Gyro saw the picture fall into place before it happens. The Gizmosuit will be Fenton’s downfall the same way 2-BO was Gyro’s. His intern was about to crash and burn, and there was nothing Gyro could do about it since no one seemed to listen to him.

He felt like screaming and screaming until his throat was hoarse and his voice was gone, but it wouldn’t make a difference.

He was only a kooky, crazy scientist with a sharp tongue and a pessimistic, nihilistic worldview in their eyes.

So he took matters into his own hands and fired Fenton and the first sight of heroic activity.

Really. A robotic suit built by Gyro Gearloose supposedly protecting a city? Yeah, please. Gyro may be an idiot but he’s learned from his mistakes. He knew Gizmoduck would be Fenton’s 2-BO already, thanks universe. He was just trying to minimize the damage. Fenton would have to get hurt whatever happens, but at least maybe the city of Duckburg can remain standing for another day. Unlike Tokyolk.

But the firing blew up in Gyro’s face, and Scrooge, crazy and reckless old man he was, hired Cabrera back. As a fucking superhero.

As soon as Mr. McDuck was out of sight, Gyro slammed his back against the hospital wall outside of Fenton’s room and let his knees give out, sinking into gravity’s embrace on the cold, hard floor. He buried his head in his hands, bunching his fingers into fists under his glasses. Hot tears pricked against his eyelids.

He had failed. Failed to protect Fenton from the casualties of the Gizmosuit. Failed to stop it from happening again, with more fatal results next time, despite his vehement protests.

He was going to watch Fenton’s spirit get crushed, or worse, watch Fenton die, in this stupid suit, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Fenton’s scary mom came around and berated Gyro for firing her son and letting him get into danger. Gyro wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. He had been trying to prevent Fenton from getting into danger!!

“Have a heart,” Officer Cabrera had snapped at him. “See if you can find the ability to actually care a little bit about my son.”

That’s why I did what I did, Gyro wanted to scream. And then he froze, because he doesn’t care about Cabrera.

Does he?

Oh fuck, he does.

Gyro would have buried his head in his hands had it not already been there.

Caring only makes it harder.

He cared about Dr. Akita, and 2-BO, and look where that got him. He cared about Della, who was lost to space because of an invention Scrooge trusted him with making. He cared about Lil’ Bulb, which got him stolen by Mark Beaks and twisted into a trashy piece of tech that nearly killed them all.

He still cares about all of them.

As time went on, and Gizmoduck became a household name, no one seemed to catch onto Gyro’s fears. Not even when Fenton nearly died, twice in five minutes, and Gyro had to rebuild the entire suit from scratch instead of letting Gizmoduck die out like a sane person. Not even when Mark Beaks’ insane obsession with Gizmoduck ended with Huey and Webby in danger, Gyro himself locked in a closet and electrocuted (he’d very much like to have a talk with Ms. Dee for that offense) and Fenton’s secret identity in the hands of a very dangerous woman. All so Beaks can feed his stupid ego.

Gyro’s daily nightmares, once filled with images of 2-BO wreaking havoc on Tokyolk and Della vanishing from any and all communications permanently, had a new element to them. Fenton, sometimes in his Gizmosuit, sometimes without, dies and fails and breaks in a million different ways each time. Gyro woke up screaming every night. It never got easier.

He can no longer play at not caring about Fenton.

Then Della came back, crashed a Spear of Selene outfitted with more gold than original parts, but it was a Spear of Selene all the same, and it brought Della, alive and well. The Spear of Selene had doomed her, but Oxy-Chew had saved her. When Della squeezed all life out of him in a tight hug and then punched him in the arm because black licorice, Gyro?!? Seriously?! Gyro didn’t know how to react.

He had always thought his invention killed her, but it turned out to have saved her.

Gyro’s worldview, previously unshakable, was suddenly rocky, cracks winding through the foundations, with this discovery.

Maybe his failures weren’t as black-and-white as they seemed. Maybe he wasn’t an irredeemable monster.

Maybe Fenton won’t fail at all.

It all came to a head one day when Huey brought 2-BO, somehow alive but malfunctioning, into his lab. Gyro shoved down his long-lost, precious memories of 2-BO in Akita’s lab before he- it- destroyed the city it was supposed to protect. They returned to the site of Gyro’s greatest failure, where he broke the way Fenton might will soon, and Gyro’s careful plan falls apart.

Just like the Spear of Selene, Gyro realized he was wrong. Tokyolk’s destruction was never his fault. It was never his failure or his weight to bear. It was Akita’s, not his or 2-BO’s.

And when he rises from his slapfight with his former mentor to see his invention, riddled with Akita’s corruption, towering over Fenton, helmetless, injured, and vulnerable, he had a lot of decisions and epiphanies to come to in a split second.

2-BO- Boyd- was not evil. Gyro wouldn’t let Akita’s tampering bring death and destruction to Tokyolk, again, and to Fenton.

Tokyolk may have never been a true failure of Gyro’s, but he still won’t let Fenton fail here.

He brought Boyd back in a way he never would have thought of previously. He had acquired a kid now, and that means it’s time to come clean to Fenton.

His intern- no, coworker- accepted Gyro’s terrors more easily than he expected, and somehow weaseled Gyro into promising to call him the next time he has a nightmare.

Gyro didn’t expect to keep that promise, but he did. And he called again, and again, and again.

And somehow that turned into a budding friendship, one based on a mutual passion for science and care for each other.

Because Fenton cared about him, Gyro realized one day with a shock, the same way he cared about Fenton.

Gyro buried his head in his hands and hoped he was done with heart-stopping epiphanies. But he wasn’t, not yet.

He had one more to go, and it came at one of Mr. McDuck’s fancy company parties that his kids and Mrs. Beakley had weaseled him into spending a lot more money than he would have liked. Gyro allowed himself a small chuckle at his boss’ indignation before he dragged Fenton off to make fun of all the frivolities of the party.

As he and Fenton pushed their way through the mingling crowd towards the food table, Gyro hapazarded a glance back. Fenton, clad in a white-and-lavender tux that he had blushed and fingered at Mrs. Beakley’s inspection of it before the party, claiming it belonged to his father. But it fit him well, and accented the soft color of his feathers. The warm yellow light of the candles and chandeliers did as well, and as Fenton passed Launchpad his face lit up in a brilliant smile that warmed Gyro’s heart and brought a small smile of his own to his face.

Then it dropped just as suddenly.

I’m in love… shit.

Gyro stiffened and dropped Fenton’s hand, causing the aforementioned duck to immediately pause his quick greeting to Launchpad and whip around towards Gyro, his beautiful face twisting in concern. Gyro waved him off and sprinted away, ignoring Fenton’s cries of protest and worry, and dove into a small storage closet stocked with brooms and mops. (Mrs. Beakley would be furious if she found him here.) He slammed his face into his hands and dropped into a crouch on the floor.

Stupid, stupid, stupid…

How on earth was Gyro supposed to handle this?! He had just gotten used to Fenton as a coworker and friend.

Surely Fenton would resent him if he confessed and upended their already tenuous relationship.

A small, hesitant knock sounded on the door. Gyro groaned. Ugh, speak of the devil…

“Uh, Gyro?” Fenton’s voice drifted through the door. “Are you in there? I thought I saw you run in here… I could have lost you in the crowd, but you kind of stand out… I know you don’t like parties, but it’s not like you to run off unless something’s really wrong…”

Gyro stayed poised on his toes to run, despite the fact that he was trapped in a tiny supply closet with nowhere to go. He didn’t trust himself to reply, so he stayed there silently, holding his breath in anticipation.

After a moment of silence Fenton groaned and dropped his head against the door. The bang startled Gyro, his already-racing heart speeding to new heights.

“Ugh, stupid. Talking to an empty supply closet.” Fenton muttered to himself. Gyro’s heart ached, especially since he really was listening.

“Fenton, it’s okay. I’m in here,” he called nervously. His voice was quiet, never rising above a whisper, but somehow it reached Fenton’s ears and he heard the other duck slump against the door in relief.

“Oh, good. I was worried about you, Gyro,” Fenton replied softly. Gyro thought he might have heard a bit of affection in his tone, but he scoffed to himself. Obviously not.

Fenton was an idiot, but even he wasn’t enough of an idiot to actually care about Gyro. Not in the way Gyro apparently cared about him.

Ugh, love was stupid. Harder to figure out and navigate than friendships, and that was saying something! And it was on its way to destroying one of the only precious friendships Gyro had managed to secure.

Ugh. If only he was aromantic like Huey, who had nervously come out to him recently. So much easier.

(Huey would happily debate him on this later for sure.)

“Gyro?” Fenton called again, and Gyro realized he had never replied to his worried coworker. Another failure.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he replied back awkwardly. His tone was stilted and hesitant in a way that juxtaposed his usual unshakable aggressiveness and bluntness, which gave Fenton pause and only made him more worried.

Fenton hesitated for another moment before calling a worried goodbye and ducking away, probably to find Della or Mr. McDuck. Gyro groaned and cursed his own misfortune.

He knew he cared about Fenton, and he had for a long time. So why did it have to get infinitely more complicated?

He pulled out his phone to text Della and Launchpad. They both had been through many relationships, and knew the ups and downs well.

Gyro sighed heavily and rubbed at his forehead in frustration.

Somehow he’d figure this out. He just had to make sure his stupid feelings didn’t get in the way of his friendship with Fenton.

Since there was no possible way Fenton could reciprocate them, right?

HI I FINISHED A WRITING REQUEST FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS DFGHKL;LKHGFGHKL LET’S GO this actually isn’t one of the old ones i got it recently so it doesn’t feel like a full victory but we’ll get there!! I’ve actually been in major writing block recently so I wasn’t expecting to write today, but I woke up this morning with this idea and wrote this in two hours (which is why it’s so bad sdfghgfd) but i finished it and i’m so happy enjoy

this ended up being a little more of a gyro character study than i intended and it feels shitty and a lot like my old writing sorry. it’s unedited mostly, so i apologize for any grammatical errors.

anyway hope you like it! thanks for reading! if you liked this (why) check out my other writing under the #my fanfic or #wavey writes tags, at my ao3 analyticamethyst, or at my wattpad PurpleDragon2003 (I’m not really active there though). I also might open writing commissions soon, so if you like my writing and you’re in a position to commission me please keep an eye out for that! Thank you I love you so much <3 <3

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #gyro gearloose #fenton crackshell-cabrera #wavey writes #my fanfic #ducktales fanfiction #fenro #fenton crackshell cabrera

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers (DT17 Season 2 Retrospective): The Most Dangerous Game Night! (Paid for by WeirdKev27)

Welcome all you happy people! As some of you will recall I do a lot of duck based retrospectives on this blog: Ride of the Three Cablleros! which took a look at all the Cabs major American adventures, Shadow Into Light, my Weblena colored look at Lena Sabrewing’s journey from abused teenager to magical protector, and the Della arc which I dind’t give a cool name but covered since Shadow Into Light read right into it’s final chapter and ended up perfectly synching up with the final month of the series. And of course i’m still working my way through the life and times of Scrooge McDuck with a plan to finish the main story in September barring any delays, sickness that sorta thing.

So it shouldn’t be at all a shock that having covered all of season 3 when it came out and covered the two season 1 arcs i’d be taking a look at Season 2′s three story arcs. So I probably would’ve covered them anyway.. but Kev, one of my patreons and the guy who commissioned Shadow Into Light AND Ride of the Three Cablleros, had expressed interest in doing the Glomgold arc from season 2 as it centers around his favorite character, Zan Owlson. He also wanted to do Della’s arc in time for mothers day, and was all too happy to combine both, and politely agreed to my request to do the Louie arc as well. To help soften the blow, I also suggested since he’s a patreon of mine on patreon.com/popculturebuffet he use his second review (You get one guaranteed review a month with 5 and he’s a 10 dollar backer so he gets two, and he’s earmarked marked one for House of Mouse through the end of the year) to help soften the blow a bit, which means some weeks i’ll be doubling up on this one. He agreed and it’s thanks to him that all of this happened so thanks bud. It’s also thanks to him I have money in the first place and I wouldn’t be here without him.

As for why I insisted on the Louie arc it wasn’t out of greed but out of pragmatism. I covered the Della arc purely on my own time, and gladly did so. But back then I also kept making the mistake of shoving retrospectives back again and again and again and that’s why there’s a rather nasty gap in my New X-Men retrospective I think severely harmed it , and a similar one for life and times which wounded it. I don’t mind taking smaller gaps of say a month when needed, but I learned from the experience I can’t just delay things constantly out of convince and expect it to work.

Not only that but the Lena and Della arcs only interact in the very last part. With these arc? While they don’t really touch at first and run parallel much like season 1′s arcs did, they start intersecting heavily as soon as Della gets back. Raiders of the Doomsday Vault! touches on both Della’s recent return and Glomgold’s bet with Scrooge, Happy Birthday Doofus Drake! has the A-Plot centered around Louie’s plot and the B-Plot centered around Della bonding with Huey as part of hers. And the final four is one one long, sustained arc, finishing up all three in the process. So yeah it was a package deal and as such this will be my third largest retrospective at 17 parts including the prologue. (As i’ll also be covering Della’s four issues in the IDW Comic released back in season 1). For the record my largest will be my Tom Lucitor Retrospective as 24 (in part due to doing the eclipsa arc for the same reasons as Dellas), and ride of the three cablleros at 20 is in a close second. This is going to be a long ride that will take most of summer, so buckle up, get your Louie Inc signs, Glomgold’ posters to jump through and black licorice gum ready and join me won’t you under the cut as we start this fantastic adventure together.

We open season 2 with all but one of our heroes proudly posing as they enter a temple. Scrooge even has his treasure of the lost lamp outfit on. Louie.. just looks tired and bored. One of the things I love about these reviews is that I haven’t watched most of the episodes since they first aired. Sure i’ve revisited some of my favorites like Dangerous Chemistry and the 87 Cent Solution, but I haven’t really DONE a full died in wool episode by episode rewatch of the series. I’ve got SO MUCH I haven’t watched, haven’t rewatched and haven’t even started, that I really DON’T have the time for it outside of my job. So it is VERY nice to get a chance to do so once in a while with it.

As such knowing Louie’s real motive this episode it makes this scene hit diffrently. On first airing Ducktales was back after a short hiatus, our heroes are operating at full speed and daringly charting through a temple: Dewey and Webby have become tighter than ever and easily stop a pit trap and Scrooge and Huey easily solve an arrow puzzle. But while at first glance Louie is just fed up because as he puts it later “I’m just loveably lazy”, knowing he’s really just burnt out, scared he’s going to die or worse like he likely thinks his Mom did because he’s not good enough.. it’s really tearjerking. Here’s an 11 year old who at his core feels he doesn’t belong in his family and just wants a friggin break from the dangerous shit they do. It hits even harder as a fan of the venture bros but i’ll save that for later. Point is he’s telling Scrooge he’s burnt out.

So then this happens...

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It really is almost the exact same joke, but diffrent enough since for one, Family Guy’s is driven by the refrenece (And god how I miss how their refrence humor used to have an actual purpose), where as here it’s to set up something else and hints for later: Louie having parsed how most adventures to at this point. While Scrooge is right in pointing out how every adventure is unique.. Louie’s not wrong that there is a small pattern to it: The Whoah! , The “Wait, What?” and the Aggggh!. Scrooge scoffs.. but Louie is proven correct as Dewey Whoas, a mechanisim trggers (Wait what?”) And everyone screams as they run from a giant wheel.

Back at home though it’s even more apparent poor Louie is miserable while his family is just jazzed. I can’t BLAME THEM, but I can’t blame him either for being, tired, worn out and just wanting ONE minute where they aren’t adventuering. There are some nice touches though as Scrooge runs off and finds a map in the idol: We see Duckworth removing the Scrooge as a Prospector painting based on Carl Bark’s painting of him from the foyer and instead replacing it with the painting of Scrooge, Donald and Della. It’s a nice little acknowledgment of how things have changed.. from Scrooge being alone and running from a painful past to having accepted it and gone back to being a family man. We also get Beakley just casually picking up Louie to vacum.

In the Triplet’s room.. which by the way why do they all share one room? In universe I mean, I mean is it saving on the power bill or does scrooge have the other rooms filled. Only four bedrooms are occupied: the boys, webby’s , Beakly’s (Which we never see but implicitly exists), and Scrooge’s himself. While the mansion isn’t LIMITLESS, it has to have more rooms than that. Is the rest just storage?

Out of universe though I do get why and i’ts why I let this concept of sharing a room when you have enough for everyone in the first place slide: it allows the boys to interact more easily outside of adventures by having all three in the same location. This episode is a good example of that as it kicks off Louie’s plan admirably: Louie is burnt out while Huey is excited.. and in another hint of Louie’s true gift he casually notices part of Dewey’s woodchuck uniform he was looking after is undone, simply making a quip about a sewing patch. He gets the idea for a scheme from there: to finally get his break by convincing Huey he’s slipping and exploiting his brother’s tendency for manic episodes.. which as someone with those I highly don’t approve and is far and away one of the more questionable things Louie’s done. And this is in an arc that includes him nearly wiping out all of existence.

Still it gets Huey on board but Scrooge and the wonder twins are a harder sell. Dewey and Webby are so jazzed on frinedship their even speaking in unions “This Needs to stop!” “I’ve tried but they really do enjoy harmonizing”

Louie insists the adventuring is driving them apart and making them less close.. and while Scrooge insits it brings them closer together he ends up proving his point when Louie fakes not knowing which triplet is which.. and Scrooge GENUINELY struggles with which one’s Huey and Which ones Dewey. Dewey’s face is at the top of the page.. and utterly and completely priceless.

And while I thought it was the same impressive face from night on Kilmotor hill turns out, nerp their uniquely hilaroius

Same mood though. But I do love this callback: almost a YEAR later, and Scrooge STILL is like...

But while movie night and make your own pizza night, which i’m pleased as punch to find isn’t just something my family does, don’t do anything one thing does... GAME NIGHT. Cue a glorious minute of David Tennant goofily shouting Game Night to everyone in the mansion. Seriously getting him was one of the series masterstrokes. The man has only done a few roles in voicework but damn is he a natural. Not eveyrone can adapt to it this fast. While I love Walton Goggins, it clearly took him a few episodes of invincible to get really comfortable with it. It’s why I have such respect for Voice Actors in general: I’ts not an easy job, it takes a lot of skill, and it can be often thankless. It’s also why i’ve made a concentrated effort ot more know of them by voice simply because they’ve earned that much.

Anyways Beakly pops Louie’s bubble that htis is not going to be relaxing for a very obvious reason: Scrooge is relentless against his enmies and game night makes YOU the enemy. He quickly has them pair off into teams, taking Donald right off the bat.

We also get one of the best jokes in the entire series “If you loose your out of the will” “(Genuinely suprised) I was in the will?”

It’s almost entriely in Tony’s delivery there. The surprise is just perfectly delivered. It’s also oddly touching as despite a decade’s estrangement and Donald understandably thinking he wasn’t in it in anymore, Scrooge NEVER removed Donald from it . Sure he’s thretaning it over game night but he clearly takes this ungodly seriously. Duckworth leaves to go do ghost stuff.. which is code for make up a flimsy excuse to run the fuck away. To make matters worse she’s stuck with Launchpad as a partner. Louie is left with Huey and immieditly regrets sending his brother into a panicy spiral as he’s already set up a creepy scheduling board.

So i’m going to go ahead and cover the Webby and Dewey Plot, and the acompanying Donald and Scrooge antics now to save us some time. I’ll come back to it at the climax of Louie’s plot obviously and to the episodes credit the pacing is exceptional, weaving in and out of both plots , Louie struggling to keep the whole shrinking plot a secret and the rest of the families game night, excelently, it’s just with my brain i’ts harder to do that in a recap so...

Game Night: Crush Your Enmies and See Them Driven Before You Scrooge goes to the Conan of Sumeria/Melissa School of Game Nighting. Or in short...

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Why HASN’T there been a Conan musical? So he and Donald dominate the first round, Charades, with Scrooge easily guessing almost EVERYHTING Donald mimes. As Webby puts it “When you’ve been around donald for 30 years you get good at non-verbal commuincation”. Granted they have a commuincation breakdown that results in this magic.

So Webby understandably assumes that given their best friends and Scrooge and Donald, while reconciled, hate each other, that they have an advantage. She is wrong. Not the first time: she also assumed she and Lena were just friends. It happens. you get a few wrong everyone does. Instead we get a great bit of Dewey utterly failing to guess it’s Scrooge despite Webby being obvious because Dewey’s brain is a riddle for the ages.

Jenga dosen’t really go great for either so they go solo for SCROOGEPOLY. Because of COURSE Scrooge created monopoly in this version. I simletaniously love and hate how eveyr piece is a top hat. I love it because it’s a hilarously quick gag.. but also hate it because one of Monopoly’s biggest draws is having so many diffrent peices. I mean some like the sports car make sense but then you have a dog for some reason and an ironing board. I mean I love that dog, he’s a good boy but I don’t understand why he’s in this. If anyone knows the weird old timey reasoning for either of these let me know in the replies or my asks.

This isn’t bad stuff mind, it’s just not really deep in stuff for me to make fun of. Apart from Donald ending up in jail... again. At least it’s not as bad as say goblin jail or that time he had to carve pinocchio’s nose into a shiv to surivive whale jail.

Louie: “How Long Before That’s Not Enough?”

Okay I kid, the subplot is good.. but that’s th epotatoes.. this is the potatoes iwth cheese.. look I love meat but potatoes don’t get enough love. They just don’t and you can do all kinds of delicious things to them. It’s why a good third of side dishes at most restaurants are potato based.

But yeah rolling it back a bit Louie is confident that even with the this will be mildly relaxing.. then Gyro bursts in thorugh the double doors proudly announcing his invention and pries himself in, ignoring Louie’s desperate attempts to shut him out.

Gyro is.. different in this episode. He’s peppy and while he’s mildly condescnding to the Gyropludians, more no that in a second, he’s far more enthuastic and freindly to everyone else and less of the awkward ballbag he’d been last season and would be again this season.

This feels like an ATTEMPTED course correct. See a lot of people, if understandably didn’t like how Gyro was in season 1. Fan of the original him from the comics and show iddn’t like the nice, friendly weirdo suddenly being a sour, condesencindg weirdo. Me I was FINE with the change from unintentional mad scientist to intentional one... I just feel they overdid it on the asshole as season 1 went on. In The Great Dime Chase he’s fine, he’s egosticial, angry and kind of a pill.. but he also clearly cares for his creations, rightfully hates the board for constantly doubting him, and is frustrated his creations keep going rouge. It was a nice balance.

The balance got thrown off entirely however once Fenton entered the scene. The crew just leaned WAY to hard into hwo much of a shitweasel he was to fenton: giving him an office in the bathroom with a cool quip, trying to beat him up (even if his rage over Fenton’s dumbassery was warranted that was not), and finally trying to take the gizmoduck armor back not out of any real concerns but because he’s worried he’ll loose his job... his job iwth the man who freely tolerates his creations going insane and really dosen’t care about his own colateral let alone Gyro’s. It came off as disngenous and that he simply didn’t trust FENTON with it and wanted and excuse to take the armor Fenton had clearly earned. He also pit manny and bulb against each other for a job which just felt out of character even for him to possibly fire one of his children which felt horribly out of character. Toniing this down was a good thing.. I just feel they overcorrected. They tried making him the 80′s version with a slight ego here, and when that didn’t work they just downplayed him for the rest of the season. He’s still around, in fact we’ll be seeing him again soon enough, and he still gets some great jokes... he’s just not really focused on at all. But they managed to fix their fix in season 3: they did have Gyro be a dick to Fenton again but gave proper context, had him apologize and framed it less as a funny joke and more as him being abusive because he was abused himself and breaking the cycle. He also kept the supporting role but kept the shadiness in it, with the earpiece bit from “Louie’s Eleven” being a highlight.

Gyro has a new device that can pick up tiny sounds and has found a tiny civilization in the ducks house, dubbing them Gyropudlians because he apparnetly likes Gullivers Travels. I do not really know what that’s about, nor have I seen any of the movies. Not even the jack black one made on a dare to see if they could actually sell a movie on the concept “This old story but as a jack black comedy”. And it went horribly wrong because they actually did get it greenlit and someone out there actually watched it. Not me... and I watched the Wrong MIssy entirely of my own volition. I’m not immune from making eye staining mistakes. This just wasn’t one of them.

Gyro ends up getting shrunk down because he naturally attached a shrink ray to it because...

So Louie shrugs it off correctly figuring out the arc of that sort of story: Gyro becomes a god, he learns a life lesson that sort of thing. Also I do applaud them for making the lost tribe not horribly racist.. that is a hard line to walk. They just make them generic instead which.. still better than racist. “Not Racist” isn’t a very high bar to clear but given this version went out of it’s way to be inclusive while the original show.. what’s a good metaphor for this.. hrmmm... these rakes are all the racism in the original show i’ve encoungered so far and probably will in the future, and i’m sideshow bob.

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Eventually though the Gyropudlians decide to decalre war on the giants because unknowingly the Ducks have been destroying their civilizations time and time again.. mostly louie but donald clearly peed a civiliztion to death..and i’m not grasping at straws there he left the bathroom and the other two possiblities for the floating city are too horrible to comprehend. Or it was just the sink and i’m a bastard... i’m probably a bastard.

So they blast the shrink ray around the kitchen and get Launchpad, so now he’s a part of this cliche. Beakly finds them.. is highly supscious, and Huey’s lie is.. not convincing... but this gets her out of game night with her overcompeitive boss so she takes the out and gets the fuck out and is not seen for the rest of the episode.. probably for several days. Look she does a lot around the house no one’s going to question if she comes back after a mysteirous absence with someone elses blood on her apron and several thousnd ddollars in brazilian cocaine. The sweetest cocaine of all. Scrooge is just used to it by now.

Anyways things continue to escalate as The Gyropuldians, Launchpad and Gyro launch an assault on the tower of infinity, aka the jenga tower and knock it over. The Good news is launchpad surivives and we get a great bit of the brothers hugging then awkarly and half assedly explaning it to cover. the bad news is the Gyropudlians considered it an act of war and have trained some flies to man the microphone shrink ray dealie.

It’s here we get the best scene of the episode: Huey is naturally worried.. even more so after he sees Louie’s response to the unfolding chaos: Curling up in a fetal position and rocking back in forth muttering to himself this was supposed to be a fun night in. Huey finally has had enough of this and wants to knwo wha tthe hell this is all about, shooting down Louie attempting to deflect it with his usual lazy schtick. Even at his laziest he’d pride self preservation over doing nothing. This is something worse. And while Huey is furious his rage is coming out of concern. While Huey prides himself on his brain... he has the biggest heart of the three. He’s the most empathetic and the one most willing to reach out to the others when they need him. Not that hte others lack it, Dewey was the one to welcome Webby into the group the most after all, it’s just Huey displays it the most. So his anger comes off entirely as genuine worry at Louie acting out of character and trying to avoid doing what eveyrone else does. And his response.. is heartbreaking...

“BECAUSE I’MMom was great at adventuring, and she still got hurt. I'm only good at talking my way out of it. How long before that's not enough? NOT GOOD AT IT OKAY?!”

Bobby Monihan.. really dosen’t get enough credit for this show. When he gets to really do something big with Louie he goes for it and he uttelry dominates the scnee here. Danny Pudi is no slouch mind.. but Monihan REALLy gets to show what he can do. His reasoning for his worries is also just as well delivered and heartbreaking.

“Mom was great at adventuring, and she still got hurt. I'm only good at talking my way out of it. How long before that's not enough?“

It just.. stings a lot. To find that Louie’s exaustion wasn’t out of self intrest.. but just out of fear. That he won’t be good enough at best and that he’ll end up like his mom: lost or dead never to be seen again as far as he figures. As a third of this arc will bear out, tha’ts not even remotely true, but out of the three Louie is the most pragmatic so while he says hurt.. he thinks she’s dead. And if she, someone as capable as scrooge or as close as someone whose not him can be, could end up dead... he’s living on borrowed time.

This is where the Venture bros comparison really comes out to me... because they had a similar if more spread out storyline in season 5, with bookish brother Dean, Huey if he lacked autisim but gained 80 dozen more issues, found out he and his brother Hank, aka Dewey in his teens, were clones because his dad is really bad at keeping his sons alive because he’s also bad at everything else including science, parenting, being emotinally open, making a cocktail that isn’t a crime against nature, sex, and not treating hank like garbage, which should fall under shitty parenting but I love my empty headed boy.

So why bring this up? Well besides self indulgance because I love both shows iwth a signifgant portion of my heart and frank flat out admitted to being a venture bros fan, and having Beakly take some cues from Brock, I love the accidental parallels here: both are arcs about a boy adventuer coming to grips with their mortality. Both withdraw, both are heavily depressed and both feel there’s no real light at the end of the tunnel for htem anymore.

And both.. are drawn out of it the same way.. by a concerned brother pulling them out of their misery and self doubt:

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It’s the same here... Huey helps Louie through it, understanding how he feels.. and like Hank did for Dean, proving to Louie he’s not alone. He points out that yes Della did get hurt.. but it’s because she went in alone. He’s got his family.. they won’t let him get lost or die.. because their not alone. The reason they can do all this stuff is because their together. Their all amazing alone.. but together their unstoppable. And i’ts fine Louie’s afraid.. but he can’t let that fear kill everyone he cares about.

So our boys run upstairs, but are a second too late as the gyro pudlians shrink the other four down, and the duo’s attempt to grow them just makes one of the gyropudlians giant instead. With things at their grimmist.. Louie finds his TRUE talent, looks at the situation. and takes charge. In the span of two minutes he completely turns the tide: he has launchpad crash his way out, which he does by pure accident because of course he does he’s nature’s perfect Himbo. He next has Donald and scrooge take on some guards to give Dewey and Webby some room and has Huey take out the giant with his sewing. His final part is to have Dewey and Webby work their way up to the ray gun.. which is a probelma s both have lost all confidence due to realizing they have nothing in common and can’t fathom how their friends. Scrooge’s reply? Of course their not.. THEIR FAMILY. It was then that a thousand debbigail shippers cried out and were silenced... I know I was one of them. I couldn’t speak for about a minute. It was awful.

And yeah.. I had been shipping Dewey and Webby up to this point, but it was becoming increasingly obvious they were being treated like brother and sister and then this happened. And in hindsight i’m glad I jumepd the hell off as they turne dout ot be blood related so I dodged a bullet there an found better ships for both. So no harm no F.O.W.L. clone accidental incest.

Realizing this the two find their second wind and save the day. OUr heroes are restored and things are good.

The next day, Louie faces the music with Scrooge and is terrified, not helped by Scrooge being dead serious... but his worries are for naught. Scrooge instead only has one thing to say

“You saw all the angles”

Something the crew conciously did was have each of the kids mimic one of Scrooge’s tennants, something that was heavily implied before but made fully explicit here: Dewey is toughter than the toughies, Huey is Smarter than the smarties... and Louie is the oft forgotten Sharper than the sharpies. Scrooge even lampshades how that part of his motto is often left out. And of course as frank made clear post series, Webby made her way into the family Square.

But back to the sharpie thing, I like this because it defines what that truly means, as it often comes off as similar to the smartie bit hence i’ts exclusion: It’s the ablitliyt to think quickly, strategize, a strategic, critical mind that can come up with a gambit in an instant and use everyone to the best of their abillity. It’s why for an example, Scott Summers is one of my faviorite x-men. Because while his eye laser things are impressive it’s this kind of cleverness and tactical insight, seeing all the pieces on the board and easily manuvering them, friend and foe, that makes him so awesome. And as scrooge muses it could make Louie even richer than he is. And in a truly touching gesture, Scrooge gives Louie the idol, confident in his Nephew’s potetial. His mother reached hers... he only needs time. So with that Louie’s arc truly begins and he hangs a shingle on the triplets door. Louie inc is born.

Final Thoughts: This episode caught me by suprise: I remember it being decent.. but damn if it wasn’t amazing on the rewatch, with the knowledge of Louie’s weakness helping but really it’s just a funny, tightly paced half hour of television. It has great jokes, a great emtoinal arc and in general is jsut well.. great. I didn’t see this poteitial the first time because I was more hung up on fethry finally appearing, the cabs finally appearing.. all the things in the distance after this ep. But this ep is just damn good and I wish i’d put it on my best of list. Top shelf stuff.

Next time on Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers: The second arc starts up as FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD returns as an amensiac south african fisherman and it’s up to Webby and Louie to unravel his past to figure out why he’s acting like this and if this is another one of his insane schemes. We also meet Zan Owlson buisnesswoman of the year and person about to go through some undeserved shit at the hands of a stupid man. Later Today: We return to Amity Park for more Danny Phantom and meet his second most intresting enemy as an innocent fuckup turns a spoiled brat into one of most dangerous enemies. Also PUPPIES and Tucker being the worst.

Wednsday: We grab onto some more ducktales as Donald returns to Ducktales 87. And judging by the content warning so does racisim.

If you liked this review stop my patreon RIGHT HERE. Seriously please do: you’ll find exclusive reviews, and if you join you’ll get acess to my discord, get to pick a short for my shortstravganzas, and help me reach my strech goals. And at my next one at 20, just 5 dollars away, ALL READERS will get a darkwing duck review a month and reivews of the two ducktales movie as well as the Danny Phantom TV Movie the ultimate enemy!

See you at the next rainbow!

#ducktales #season 2 arcs #louie duck #huey duck #scrooge mcduck #dewey duck #webby vanderquack #donald duck #gyro gearloose #bentina beakley #launchpad mcquack #duckworth #the most dangerous game night!#della duck

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mimiri22-6 · 4 years ago

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the fountain of youth episode. i figured it out, my source had the ep’s in the wrong order, so we’re doing this one now

I THOUGHT TOO HARD ABOUT HOW DEWEY BECAME SO TALL AND FIGURED OUT THE PLOT OF THE EPISODE!!!!!!! THIS IS A FIRST FOR ME!!!

‘wow, you are so much faster now” yeah and have longer legs than you

oh god no its him.

MY SCROLDIE HEART! SHIT! I LOVE THEM! AND IT’S KIND OF THE FIRST TIME WE’VE SEEN GOLDIE BLUSH AND STAMMER THE SMAE WAY SCROOGE STILL DOES! AH!

that awkward moment where you almost kiss infront of your minor neice

The LOOK in Huey’s eyes when he relises he can fuck with his brother now. aren’t you tired of being orginised? don’t you just wnat to go feral?

and louie is still the yongest, uncaring about this scquable

THEY’RE SO CUTE! LOOK AT THE WAY THEY LOOK AT EACHOTHER! THAT’S LOVE!!!

IS SHE GONNA SAVE THEM BECAUSE SHE CARES ABOUT LOUIE!? YES!!!!

aaaaannd he’s gone. well that was fun, who’s for chinese

THAT SWORD FIGHT! THEY WORK AS ONE! AND THEY DO IT SO WELL! AH! THEY’RE SOULMATES, CHIEF!

SHE SAVED HIM!!! THAT’S LOVE!!! AUNT GOLDIE BE A THING PLEASE!

Yeah, i figured as much with webs

THAT FUCKING SMILE! I WILL PROTECT THAT SMILE! OH MY GOD THEY ARE LOVE!!!!

THEY KISSED!!!!! I COULD SCREAM!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! THEY’RE IN LOVE BITCHES!! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! UYS I CAN’T BREATRHE!!! MY SCROGLDIE HEART IS FULL!!! I COULD DIE HAPPILY!! THAT ENTIRE SCENE-THAT ENTIRE EPISODE! THEY ARE LOVE! YES!

for once i made this while watching the episode for the first time, i usually write more, but i really need to do homework and I’m already going to be distracted for a while, so this is sadly all this episode gets.

my heart is full, head empty, only scroldie

#scroldie #it's being tagged first because that's all tat matters to me rn #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #the forbidden fountain of the foreverglades #the scroldie episode #ok im done with that now #dewey duck #huey duck #louie duck #scrooge mcduck #goldie o'gilt #time to rewatch the episode a normal amount of times #oops i missed some tags #webby vanderquack #john d rockerduck

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janetbrown711 · 5 years ago

Note

"She's gone, okay?" Louie and Huey

Louie woke up in his bed with a pounding headache, a bruised chin and without the slightest memory of anything that happened last night. As he sat up, his whole body seemed to ache. He looked around his room and saw Miles was curled up by his feet.

Something was wrong.

He looked to his side to nudge Webby, but he remembered she was off at a SHUSH conference in New Stork City. He looked back at the duckling curled up by his feet and saw he had a giant bruise on his face he didn’t remember him having the previous day. That wasn’t too unusual for Miles, he constantly got himself hurt in ways Louie didn’t even know were possible.

“Miles..?” Louie rubbed his eyes and nudged his son with his foot. The boy’s eyes shot open at the mention of his name.

“Is it over? Can we go out now?” He asked. Louie tilted his head.

“You know... the scary lady? The smoke?” Miles was confused at Louie’s confusion.

“What scary lady..?” Louie was getting genuinely concerned.

“The green one with the fur coat. Don’t you ‘member?” Miles asked.

Green.

Fur coat.

“Dad?” Selena emerged from their walk-in closet.

“Selena? What’re you doing here?” Louie slid off the bed.

“You... told us to hide in here last night..? Don’t you remember? Me, Miles, Lucy and Hazel were all playing Scrooge-opoly when the alarms went off and you told us to come in here. Miles was supposed to stay with me, but Miles decided cuddles were more important than immediate safety,” Selena raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Louie looked down at himself and noticed he was still in yesterday's clothes.

“Where’s Lucy? Hazel?” Louie asked.

“I- I assume the safe room, like you told them to last night after you told us to hide in here” Selena tried to recall. “Are you okay? Did you hit your head or something?”

“Something like that,” Louie shook his head. “I’m going to go look. If what you two said happened last night, happened, then you two stay in here,” he looked at them and they nodded. Louie did the same and when he opened the door he was horrified at the sight he saw.

There were feathers, fur, and signs of struggle and fight everywhere. What worried him most though, was one of Lucy’s favorite stuffed animals pinned to the wall with an arrow and an all too familiar green feather with a note.

“N-no...” Louie whispered to himself as he looked at the feather. There was no denying who it was or how or why.

It was Turaco.

A wave of cold washed over Louie’s arms as he spoke her name in his mind. His breathing got unsteady and he found himself running up to Lucy’s room, in pure denial of what he had seen before.

The room was not much help to his failing mental state.

The window was shattered. A little blood here and there. More green feathers. Scratches on the wood floor.

“We’ll split up. Selena, Miles, go to my bedroom, now! Lucy, Hazel, go to the saferoom. I’ll be there in a sec,” He remembered ordering. Selena had grabbed Miles’ wrist and ran off to his room. Lucy and Hazel nodded and they went to the safe room. Louie had picked up his bat and remembered trying to hit someone with a bat, he didn’t remember who.

“Oh pretty boy~’ The familiar call of Her had made him freeze in his place. He heard screams in the other room and he began to run towards them.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He remembered someone tripping him and pinning him down, which caused the current bruised chin.

“Such a pretty daughter... such a pretty niece,” She suddenly appeared with two strong men holding Lucy and Hazel.

“You had really thought I’d never see you again, didn’t you? Well here I am, but I’m here for a different prize. Pleasure doing business,” He remembered her smiling her hideous teeth when the men began to take them away.

“Daddy!!!”

“Uncle Louie!”

He could hear their cries for help, clear as day in his mind. He remembered scrambling up and running after, forgetting there was one of her henchmen behind him.

“Lucy! Hazel! I’ll be right there! I’ll-”

That was when he remembered everything going black.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He reached for it and answered without looking at the contact.

“Hey Louie, how’s it going?” It was Huey. He was coming to pick up Hazel.

Shit.

“I-i-i...” Louie couldn’t manage words. Too much was swirling in his mind and he wanted to run as far away from this mess as he possibly could.

“Louie?! Is everything okay?” apparently his mental state was detectable even over the phone. Loue buried his head in his hands, shaking his head.

“Louie?! Is everything alright? Where’s Hazel?” He asked. Louie still couldn’t find it within himself to respond. Eventually, Huey hung up and arrived at their house, was let in by Selena, and he ran to where he heard Louie’s sobs and went into Lucy’s room, mortified at what he saw.

“L-louie, what happened..?” his jaw nearly dropped to the floor in shock and fear.

“S-she’s gone, okay?! I-I didn’t keep them safe and th-they’re gone,” Louie finally admitted.

“...N-no... Th-they... they can’t be. Selena and Miles are still here they-”

“I told them to split up. Them in my room, Haze, and Lu-lucy in the safe room,” Louie cursed himself for suggesting the idiotic idea.

“D-did you check in there?” Huey asked, doing everything in his power to deny to himself what he knew had happened.

“I don’t need to Huey! They’re gone! I saw them! She took them! Turaco kidnapped Lucy and Hazel!!!” Louie spat. Huey’s face and heart dropped.

“Wh-... why? Why would she even do that?! What does Hazel have to do with anything?” Huey tried to make sense of the situation while forcing down tears, as that was what he did best when the world was falling apart.

“you think I know?! God- I feel like such an idiot,” Louie clenched his fist.

“W-we can figure this out Louie. We’ll just call Webby a-and we’ll sort this all through. I-it’ll be okay-”

“No, it won’t! I-I know what she does, Huey. This isn’t going to be light and breezy. S-she’s going to hurt them. Bad,” Louie looked him dead in the eyes. Huey looked into them and saw the scars of the past had resurfaced in Louie’s eyes.

“We’ll call Webby. She’ll know what to do,” Huey said, “for now though, I’m really going to need you to breathe b-because I’m freaking out too and we need more backup before we do this. S-so yeah,” Huey said, his hands shaking as he picked up his phone and called Webby.

Voicemail.

He called again.

Voicemail.

Huey called her seven more times and not once did she pick up the phone. Huey cursed to himself. By then, Louie had calmed himself down to a state of tired numbness. The brothers made their way down the stairs to pull themselves away from the mess and Huey proceeded to try and call a few more times as Selena began to make both of them tea.

“You’re supposed to be staying in my room,” Louie sniffled.

“Mom gave us direct orders to help you after a panic attack like that. Tea is number one on her list,” Selena said quietly as she began to pour hot water into cups. Louie nodded silently.

“Did she leave any clues? A-a note? Anything we could go off of?” Huey rubbed his forehead. Selena nodded.

“By the doorway,” She said. Huey nodded and went there. He cringed at the pierced teddy bear and read the note, which only listed a pair of coordinates.

“I found coordinates. We can ask Dewey or Mom to punch them in, and then we’ll be there to rescue them in no time,” Huey said.

“right, Let’s get going then,” Louie stood up.

“Does this mean we get to go on a serious mission to save Hazel and Lucy?” Miles scrambled out from Louie’s bedroom.

“Oh no. There’s no way on earth we’re letting you two anywhere near Her,” Louie shook his head. Miles frowned.

“This isn’t a fun mission. This is serious. Hazel and Lucy’s lives are at stake,” Huey said. Miles and Selena shared a look.

“I-i can be serious,” he muttered.

“No Miles. And that’s final. I’m texting Donald,” Louie drank some more tea and borrowed Huey’s phone.

“Daaaaad, you know I’m just gonna sneak onto the plane anyway,” Miles huffed. Unfortunately, that logic did make Louie question his actions.

“Miles, I can’t risk any more of you getting hurt. I love you two far too much to even give you the chance of going through even a sliver of what happened to me. it’s too dangerous. That’s final,” Louie said, his tone dead serious. Miles understood and nodded.

“Okay... I’ll wait,” he sighed. “But if we came along, you’d be able to keep a closer eye on us,” Miles said. Louie rubbed his eyes.

“I can’t let you come along, got it? It’s too dangerous and I seriously can’t afford to loose any more of you. Not now” he said. That got Miles to shut up.

“We’ll stay here,” Selena said. Louie nodded, silently thanking her.

“I’ll get Webby’s spy things. You call mom and Dewey,” Louie handed his brother his phone back and went into his room. He emerged two minutes later with a black duffle full of spy gear he had no idea how to use. He knew Huey also didn’t know how to use it, and neither did Dewey or Della probably, but it had to be good for something.

“Let’s go. We shouldn’t waste our time,” Louie said. Huey nodded when Miles tugged on his sleeve.

“Lucy’s gonna be okay, right?” he asked nervously.

“Of course. it’ll be alright Miles,” Huey patted his nephew’s fluffy hair. The boy nodded.

“Selena, you’re in charge until Donald gets here. I love you,” Louie hugged both of them as tight as he could.

“Love you too,” they replied.

Louie and Huey nodded at each other and they got in the car, Louie taking the wheel.

“You ready?” Huey asked.

“I'm absolutely terrified. Let's go."

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

#my fics #louie duck #ducktales next gen #huey duck #my ocs #tw: kidnapping #ducktales #lucy duck #miles duck #selena duck #hazel duck #next gen

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twilighteve-writes · 5 years ago

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Where the Sky Meets the Sea

Summary: The first dream they shared was of isolation and loneliness, of empty black sky and too-bright ground, of rustling wind and the desperate whirr of machines, of bitter, silent sea that refused to hear their plight.

Donald and Della, and how their magic meets and mixes.

(Also available in AO3)

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The first dream they shared was of isolation and loneliness, of empty black sky and too-bright ground, of rustling wind and the desperate whirr of machines, of bitter, silent sea that refused to hear their plight. Of flying so high and still not high enough, of being surrounded by power that refused to heed. Of screaming in frustration and despair, of pleading uselessly to the power that be and not having their wishes fulfilled, even though they were ready to pay the price.

They woke up in their old room in the manor with a start. The moon loomed in the distance, its silver light illuminating them through the window. They fell back asleep, the events of the day too tiring for them to stay awake – the invasion of the Moonlanders, reuniting at long last, finding out about their magic… They both bore scars from their separation and all the events that led to their reunion. Perhaps it was a fluke, something odd that would never happen again that they laughed at in years to come.

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They fell asleep side by side, the excitement of the newest adventure draining them, after tucking the boys in. The sofa was never the most comfortable sleeping place, but they had each other’s shoulders and the warmth of their backs pressing against the cushion.

They dreamed of planes crashing, of the deafening roar of metal screeching against rock. They dreamed of a weight cutting off her leg and gold band muzzling his beak and cuffing his wrists. They dreamed of the crushing weight of gravity as they fell back into Earth’s orbit.

Again, they woke with a start. They blinked the sleep out of their eyes, studying each other’s irises.

“Is this going to be a thing?” Donald asked.

“God, I hope not,” Della groaned.

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If there was an omniscient deity out there they did not grant the twins’ prayers.

It was a thing.

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The dreams were expected at this point. They kept getting shared dreams whenever they slept near each other, so they made sure to put a distance between them whenever night fell. There were still some shared dreams, but at least it wasn’t every day.

The feelings, though. That was unexpected.

He got it first, during a quiet breakfast with their family in an otherwise quiet morning. Dewey demanded pancake, a request that was soon echoed by his brothers, and then Webby agreed and stared at him with those wide, hopeful eyes, and Donald knew the battle was lost. He sighed and took the necessary ingredients to make the batter, directing Huey to handle the bacons and battling Della for command over the stove.

“No, go make a pot of coffee instead!” he yelled.

“What, I can totally fry some eggs,” Della protested.

“You haven’t actually touched a stove since you got back from the Moon and I have heard of the cake incident. You burned the stove; that doesn’t count. Sit down!”

Della blew raspberries. “Spoilsport,” she grumbled as she passed him, poking him in the rib. Their magic mingled, intertwining as they passed, and Donald felt fondness that wasn’t his; it felt foreign and reminded him of light feathers falling from the sky, breeze brushing his face, clouds drifting lazily as the afternoon went by. He froze in surprise, pulling his magic back in reflex.

Della met his eyes, and he knew she felt that.

“Mom, Uncle Donald?” Huey called, shaking them off the reverie. “Do you want the bacon crispy or not?”

“Uh, either way is fine, honey,” Della answered, and Donald nodded mutely as he resumed his motions to mix the pancake batter. They both knew this was only the first in what would be millions to come.

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They went back from a strangely eventful trip to the grocery store – of course this family could make a trip to a grocery store eventful; who else would be able to find the egg of an apparently extinct bird species in a grocery store of all places if not Huey – and they put their groceries to the kitchen, heaving a sigh that told everyone of how tired they were.

“Can we just have one day where we don’t have to deal with this?” Donald complained.

“I hear you, but let’s be real here. Do you honestly believe we can catch a break? I mean, this is the family where one member got stuck in the moon. We all have magic and the Greek gods are basically our friends at this point.” Della stared at him in challenge, lifting a brow.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I just want things to be normal for once.”

“This is our normal, what can you do.”

Donald sighed, “Yeah,” and bumped his shoulder to hers, and their magic mixed together like pigments in oil. Something distinctly Donald snaked its way to her head, a resignation mixed with some possessive grip, a sense of it’s not perfect but I would never trade this for anything in this world, something that was undeniably salty and wet and rushing that screamed seawater and the deep.

Again, they froze, but this time they remained touching. The magic mixed further, and Della caught more things; confusion, surprise, disbelief, a question of some sort that she couldn’t understand.

Donald broke the contact first, though the magic touched still. “Oh,” was all he managed to say.

Della nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” she breathed. “Oh.”

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It felt like intruding on something private, when they received glimpses of what the other was feeling. It felt like violation, when they felt joy that wasn’t theirs brush against their cheek, lighting up the room in a way only the other could. It didn’t matter that they’d grown together, spending so much time memorizing each dip and line of the other’s face and learning what they meant. It didn’t matter that a split second of a glance could tell them what the other was feeling. Feeling what they felt was different from knowing, and it was crossing such a bold line it felt like jumping into a chasm.

They kept wincing and dancing around each other that the kids started getting anxious, so Donald sat next to her on her bed and sighed. “We can’t keep going like this.”

“Nope. We can’t,” Della agreed. She turned to face him. “So, what are we gonna do about it?”

Donald inhaled. “We build a wall to keep each other out,” he said.

“I don’t know, I do like that we were able to communicate like this,” Della said with a frown. “Like earlier, when you practically rolled your eyes at me when Uncle Scrooge started monologuing? I like that.”

“So, not a wall?”

“No, maybe a wall. But with a window.” Della smiled, eyes shining.

“Or a door,” Donald added. “Anything to let us in when we’re knocking.”

“Wall with a door,” Della repeated. “That sounds good to me.”

“Question is, how do you build the wall?” Donald leaned to Della, a glint in his eyes. Della leaned in in response. Their magic brushed and mingled and they shared an old memory, of leaning in to each other, stifling giggles as they set a whoopie cushion on Uncle Scrooge’s seat in his study. They both froze at the memory, and their gaze hardened. They needed that wall, and they needed it fast.

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They built it brick by the proverbial brick, shaping the wall with their magic and willing each strand not to mingle together. They built a wall, somewhere they could access each other and whisper secrets with their magic, just beyond the others’ hearing. They learned to send feelings, impressions, washed out memories to form messages only they could decipher, and rejoiced when they realized, once they put their mind to it, they could send visuals to each other.

Not words. Never words, no matter how much they tried.

Donald noticed Louie glancing at them whenever they allowed their magic to connect, and he had to take a step back. When he was finally alone with Della, he asked, “Can the others read what we send each other?”

Della blinked. “I… don’t know? Why?”

“Louie kept glancing at us,” he answered. “I don’t think he understood what we were sending each other. I mean, we’re still figuring out what we’re telling each other too, but…”

“Yeah, I don’t want him to know how we managed to get Uncle Scrooge run around in the manor naked, either. Uncle Scrooge would skin us alive,” Della grimaced. “Not to mention it’s inappropriate…”

“Let’s keep things PG-13?”

“And let’s keep things like childhood pranks out. I don’t want to give them ideas.”

Donald hissed. “Ugh, yeah.” He shook his head. “The things they get into… was this how Uncle Scrooge feel like raising us? We were both little shits.”

“Must be,” Della sighed, but fondness swirled through her magic and nudged Donald’s anyway, prompting a similar reaction from his magic. “But, come on. They can’t be that bad, can they?”

“Dewey hotwired my boat and all three of them planned to go to Cape Suzette on their own, Della. They specifically waited until I needed to go for a job interview.”

Della gave a low whistle. “Oh, man. Yeah, that is a headache.”

Donald moved around her to get back to his houseboat. “They got that from you, you know.”

“Excuse you, sir, you were as much of a little shit as I was,” Della said, smiling.

“Well you gave birth to them, clearly they got it from you.”

“Well you raised them and they’re all little shits, just like you were. So who did they got it from, hm? Check and mate.”

Donald sent her a flare of annoyance and amusement mixed into one. “Look, buddy, you had your fill for the few weeks I was gone and they’re worse than ever. You’re a bad influence.”

“Whaaat? I’m just continuing the path you chose!” Della sent him the emotional equivalent of sticking her tongue out at him, and he couldn’t help – he laughed.

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The dreams continued, despite the dams they built, the distance they put, the magic they used to speak to one another, as much as feelings and impressions could speak. They kept coming, smaller in number but stronger in intensity.

The first few weeks, they laughed at it. Those dreams, disturbing as they were sometimes, were so… small compared to what they faced on the daily basis. Being late to class and forgetting your pants, wearing silly clothes and dancing in the town square… what were they, compared to fighting aliens? What were they compared to surviving on the Moon by yourself, raising three babies and holding so many – too many – jobs to keep yourself afloat? What were they compared to being a member of the Duck family?

And then, as they got better at sending feelings and impression through their link – but not at blocking, their walls still too weak, too easily broken through, the torrent of what they didn’t want to share too strong to keep in – the underlying fears leeched in. Dreams of Uncle Scrooge, buried in rubble, the triplets with red marring their feathers, too still to be asleep, of Webby screaming her throat hoarse as the world around her fell to pieces, tears spilling and running down her cheeks like rivers.

The desperation to keep the nightmare under control rose until it couldn’t be contained anymore.

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It was odd, what you learn about others from their dreams. What they fear, what they love, what they desire, all laid bare as their consciousness seeped into yours.

It was unsettling, what you learn about others as they woke from their nightmares.

Della woke up with a choked scream. It was rarely a full scream, usually stifled before it could reach any occupant of the room save for Donald. It made his breath catch as her panic seeped into his mind, their addled brains that already had fear steeping in with the nightmare jolted by the confusion thrown into the mix.

Donald woke with barely a sound. Simply eyes opening in a sudden motion, a quiet gasp in the otherwise silent night, drowned in Della’s muffled sobs. It disturbed Della, how quiet he was in sleep and in the in-between, when he had no qualms about being loud and demanding and angry when he was wide awake.

They talked about it, hovering above mugs and pots of long-cold coffee and freshly baked brownies they made from cheap brownie mixes Uncle Scrooge always scoffed at – from-scratch stuff were always better, but mixes saved time, and they didn’t want to take too much time making a ruckus in the kitchen when they only wanted something sweet.

“How come you’re so quiet when you wake up?” Della asked, spooning brownies into her mouth and glaring when her poor coordination led to the brownie falling to the kitchen counter.

“I raised three kids and I don’t want to wake them up,” Donald explained. “After the first few times, you learn how to be quiet.”

“They’re heavy sleepers though,” Della protested.

“Not really. It’s like they take turns being the light sleeper for each night,” Donald said, bringing his mug to his beak. “Huey’s usually the one that sleeps the lightest, but sometimes it’s Dewey instead. Louie usually sleeps well unless he’s got something in his mind. But once one of them wakes up, they all wake up, and they won’t sleep again until morning.” He sipped loudly and put the mug down. “So, yeah. You learn to be quiet.”

Della looked away. “Sure was tough, huh?”

“I guess.”

“I’m sorry it fell to you,” she said, staring blankly at her cold coffee. “I should have been there, and instead I was just… stuck in the Moon.” She frowned. “And now I’m playing catch up but I’ve lost ten years and I’m not going to get it back and – “ she took a deep breath and shoveled brownies into her mouth until it was impossible to speak.

“You tried to get back,” Donald noted, thinking back of their shared dreams, of Della digging through the rubble to get materials so she could rebuild the Spear, screaming in frustration when all she found was pieces and scraps. “It won’t bring back time, but… it’s something.”

“It’s something,” Della echoed. “Doesn’t feel like it, but sure, I guess.”

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The dreams started to decrease as they found a way to handle the way their magic pulled at each other as if desperate to dig into the other’s head. The wall stood tall and strong, the door opened only with a knock, and physical distance strengthened the wall that grew weaker in their sleep. It was a balance. Not ideal, sure, but a balance nonetheless, and a balance that kept getting better. If they followed the tracks they knew the nightmares would eventually stop.

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Uncle Scrooge knew about their late night coffee-and-brownies party, because of course he did. And their magic got all sorts of screwed through magical shenanigans, because of course it was. It was all par for the course of being a Duck.

They never thought magic could bear scars, but theirs did. The Void Ring left its marks on their magic, unseen by all but undeniably there. Della’s magic hung heavier on her shoulders, like a cape instead of a cloud. It grew lighter with each passing day, but it would never be the same. Donald’s magic used to envelope him in a light, encasing him from head to toe, but now it pooled under his feet if left to glow for too long, dripping, though the time it took to drip and pool grew longer every day. They both knew it was a small price to pay for survival.

And then the slew of memories came in, in the form of dreams they once had managed to keep at bay and flashes when they reached for teacups and sudden bangs when they least expect. Small things at first; changing the boys’ diapers, paragliding and skydiving, changing perspectives in shared moments that had them gripping each other dizzily.

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Della came to the houseboat in the middle of the night after a shared dream, tumbling in like a hurricane and staring at him, agape, disbelief in her eyes. She made a beeline to his closet and started rummaging through it, and took a few steps back when she found what she was looking for.

Donald reached out to her tentatively, both physically and magically. “Dell?”

Della whipped around to face him. “You’re Paperinik?!”

“Aw, phooey.”

“You didn’t think you should tell me this?”

“Dell, keep it down!”

Della’s voice dropped to a hiss. “You didn’t tell anyone about it?!”

“Well, I mean, I started going out as Paperinik because I was a little shit who did things for shits and giggles and Uncle Scrooge would blow up at the things I did, so…” Donald inhaled. “Yep. Nope. It’s a closed chapter in my life now.”

“What in the world. What even, Don.”

“…coffee and brownies?”

“Oh, definitely. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

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More memories came in, gripping them in the shoulders and screaming to their faces without showing signs of letting go.

They walled them up as well as they could, repairing the dam though it kept cracking and breaking, and talked well into the night with mugs of coffee and tins of brownies.

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The next time, it was Donald’s turn to come into Della’s room, struggling to keep silent so as to not wake the kids. He barged in without bothering to knock, knowing Della was awake and waiting for him.

He sat on her bed, refusing to look at her. “You didn’t tell me your husband was a giant ass,” he said at last, when he was sure he wouldn’t scream his words.

“Well I don’t want my brother to be committing murder in the streets,” Della said with a shrug. “I handled it. Besides, it’s… what did you say it was? A closed chapter in my life, I think?”

Donald huffed. “I still don’t like it.”

Della shifted and put her hand on his arm, flaring her magic in invitation, sending the cooling warmth of a mug of coffee and the sweetness of chocolate through their magic, ending it with a question.

Donald sighed and nodded. “Coffee and brownies. Yeah.”

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Uncle Scrooge found them blearily waking up in the kitchen the next morning, just as the sun started to peek out of its hiding place.

“There are better places to sleep than in the kitchen,” he said as the twins blinked at him. He glanced at the mugs of coffee and the empty tins that once held brownies. “Why do you drink coffee at night? This is what happens if you drink it at night instead of in the morning.”

“It’s not like we were going to sleep again after getting a shared dream,” Della said, rubbing her eyes. “Might as well drink coffee.”

Uncle Scrooge sighed, long and hard. “I told you to come to me if this persists,” he said.

“We’re handling it,” Donald said as he massaged the crick in his neck.

“This isn’t handling it,” Uncle Scrooge said, gripping his cane so hard it seemed the wood would creak. “Drinking coffee at 2 A.M and eating tins of brownies, however small the tins… that’s not handling it.” He sat on the table, by Della’s side. “You could have tried something. We have valerian tea to help you sleep. Warm milk and honey. Hot chocolate!”

“We were handling it,” Donald insisted. “Things were on a good track until that ring.”

“The ring?”

“It… disturbed the balance.” Della sipped her coffee, made a face, and spat it back out into the mug. Donald sent her a wave of disgust and she glared at him as she poured the mug’s content into the sink. “We started sharing memories when we sleep and it’s kind of annoying. But it’s similar to when we started sharing dreams, I think we can handle this.”

“Should I get you the Orb of Remedies, then?”

Della sent Donald a look, poking him with a question that he mirrored. They both shrugged. “It’s okay, we’re handling it,” Donald assured.

“Just… talk to me. If it gets worse, talk to me. I want to help,” Uncle Scrooge said, and the twins felt a clench of guilt in their guts. They weren’t sure who it was from.

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It got worse before it got better.

Donald ran to the docks at night in Paperinik’s suit, weaving through the alleys and punching creeps in the face in hope that the fatigue would keep him asleep and keep the nightmares and memories back.

His fatigue leeched through the bond and seeped into Della instead, and she received every single detail of the fight in their dream that night.

He didn’t stop going out as Paperinik, but he stopped going until he felt he couldn’t stand.

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They went on another adventure with Uncle Scrooge and the kids, and they knew they were barely keeping it together when their gazes flickered and they switched places. They barely kept their screams in, surprised at the sudden change to a body that wasn’t theirs but they knew all too well. They flickered back immediately to their own place, feeling their own magic churning with something odd and unfamiliar.

The ring left its mark on them. They just didn’t know how bad until they were yanked out of their bodies and shoved back in unceremoniously.

Later, Donald sent Della impressions and feelings, after this is done.

Della’s rebuttal was quick. Disagreement and pressing urgency; No, better be as quick as possible.

Donald repeated what he sent Della, and Della finally sighed, conceding. There wasn’t much they could do, with them being on a plane going to the ruins Scrooge had located the next treasure he wanted to nab.

Uncle Scrooge had shown more and more interest in magical treasures lately. Before, he went out just for the fun of it, for bragging rights, for the adrenaline. Ever since the kids’ magic became apparent and the twins’ intermingled more, he began actively searching for magical artifacts. He brought the Orb of Remedies basically everywhere, and the twins were grateful for it. it had proven useful in their many misadventures. It did have the unfortunate downside of making Dewey even more reckless than usual, but Donald was more than capable of curbing that.

This particular object, the Mirror of Breaking, apparently had the power to break curses on anything that was reflected on its glass-covered bronze face, framed by circular bronze that was decorated with golden leaves. The frame was tarnished, but it could be cleaned easily enough. Neither of the twins knew why Uncle Scrooge was so interested in it and why he was so adamant about getting it; most of the things he accumulated in the years of adventuring were cursed and his idea of dealing with the curses was to stick them into his garage and forget about them.

They didn’t participate much in the conversations. They hadn’t in a while, too wrapped up in their messed up magic and the taint the ring had left in them. The sky and the sea met halfway in the horizon and worked to slough off the corruption, but it was a slow process, and they weren’t sure if they had enough time to work on it. They’d gotten good with reading the impressions and feelings, and sending visuals was as easy as snapping fingers at this point, and that mastery over their bond helped with keeping the corruption at bay, but not by much.

Donald sent a flurry of visuals and impressions, framing the question, Do you think the memory sharing and the switching is because of the corrosion?

Della answered immediately, I hope so, because that means once the corrosion is gone we’ll be good as new.

Donald sighed. Hopefully.

Apparently, the mirror sat prettily in a ruins of a castle, where the only way to reach it would be through a tiny sliver of road in between cliffs, with gaping maw of rocks below. They managed to get to the castle without any incident, miraculously enough, and stepped foot in the safer grounds where rose bushes had overgrown so much the door to the castle was blocked by thorns.

“The wall over there is all crumbled,” Louie pointed out to the side. “Maybe we can go through there instead.”

“Oh, good eye!” Uncle Scrooge praised, and they went through the crumbled walls.

The castle was no more than partial walls overgrown by vines and bushes by this point, with moss covering the stones and roots peeking from the floors. Uncle Scrooge led them through the now-open corridors into what would have been the main hall of the castle, where a single podium stood in the middle of the room with the blue sky towering over it. The mirror at atop the podium, silent and waiting, and Dewey ran ahead to take it.

“Wait, hold on – “ Donald called out, but Dewey had already reached the podium and held up the mirror. Nothing happened.

Dewey looked around. “Well, that’s… anticlimactic,” he settled at last.

“Yeah, this isn’t following the usual pattern and I don’t like it,” Louie said, looking around warily.

“Adventuring isn’t about patterns, Louie. Not everything follows a pattern,” Uncle Scrooge said, walking over to study the mirror, still in Dewey’s hands. “Besides, there were texts that consider the mirror useless. Something about the magic not activating properly or needing blood sacrifice.”

“Excuse me but did you say blood sacrifice? Whose blood are we talking about here?” Huey piped up.

“The mirror’s holder, naturally,” Uncle Scrooge answered all too nonchalantly, turning to Dewey when he squawked in surprise. “Don’t worry, the texts says you should drip your blood to its back. We can see some dark stains there but it’s not like you’re bleeding.”

“I guess it’s fine, then?” Huey muttered uncertainly, taking the mirror from Dewey’s hold and turning it around in his hands. “Is this real gold?” he asked, brushing his fingers against the golden leaves, careful to avoid the dark stains at the mirror’s back.

Louie hummed, hovering near and holding his hand out over the mirror. “I think it is,” he said, tilting his head and reaching out to touch it. “It’s tarnished and it feels like it’s not… pure? But I think it’s real – ow!” he jumped back, hand trembling, as Huey yelped in surprise when the mirror slipped from his hold. He tried to catch it again, but it escaped his hold anyway, rushing to the ground.

Webby managed to catch it before it hit the mossy stone floor. She stared at Louie. “What? What’s wrong?”

Louie grunted, holding his trembling hand in his free one, and reached to the khopesh he strapped to his back. Della drew a sharp breath, suddenly alarmed at how Louie’s shaking had the khopesh rattling, worried that he was seized by some sort of leftover curse on the mirror, but instead the contact to the weapon seemed to calm Louie and still his hand. He breathed and looked at the mirror. “You don’t feel that? It was like I got zapped by Dewey’s magic, but worse.”

“No? I don’t feel anything,” Webby said, pulling herself to her feet. She turned to Huey and Dewey. “Guys?”

“No,” Dewey answered, while Huey shook his head.

Uncle Scrooge hummed in thought as Della and Donald made their way to Louie, Donald strapping the khopesh back to Louie’s back as Della studied his still-trembling fingers. “Maybe it’s related to the mirror’s lore. The blood sacrifice. Louie, do you have a cut on your hand anywhere?”

“Not that I know of,” Louie answered, the same time as Della gave a decisive no.

“Okay, so not blood,” Uncle Scrooge mused. “Magic?”

“We didn’t get that sort of reaction,” Huey pointed out. “So it can’t be magic.”

“Louie? Are you okay?” Della asked, gently folding Louie’s fingers into hers. Her magic, mingled as it was with Donald’s, pressed into his and sent phantom chill of Louie’s hands into his, and he frowned in worry.

“My hand fell asleep and I can’t really feel anything there,” Louie admitted. “I think it’s the mirror, I felt something spike when I touch it.”

“Magically?” Donald pressed. Louie looked at him and nodded.

Their concern simmered together and intensified. Della whipped back to Uncle Scrooge. “Let’s go back, Uncle Scrooge,” she requested. “We’ve got the mirror.”

“We still have a whole castle to explore – “

“Uncle Scrooge, Louie touched that mirror for maybe a millisecond and his hand fell asleep. The mirror obviously affected him,” Della said, chasing Uncle Scrooge’s gaze with her own. “You already know magic damage can be fatal. Let’s get back to the plane and have him hold the orb. I know you have it with you.”

There were times when all those frankly astonishing number of years Uncle Scrooge had walked the earth turned into mere five when he was excited about adventure, and this was clearly one of them. He had been focused on getting the mirror before, but once they got it, he looked like a child ready to explore the unknown, and both Della and Donald stared at him in their shared, simmering alarm wanting him to agree to get back immediately.

He seemed to understand their concern, though, as he agreed. They made their way back to the plane, where Launchpad was waiting, once again making their way through the tiny road and trying to ignore the rocks below. Uncle Scrooge handed the orb to Louie, apparently having it in his pocket, telling him to be careful not to drop it.

They miraculously managed to get through the trip unscathed when they headed into the castle. Not so with the trip back.

Maybe it was the fatigue after going for so long, or maybe he stepped on a rock, or maybe it was just plain bad luck, but Huey slipped and careened to the side dangerously. Just as the others stretched out their hands to catch him, his feet left the ground and he plummeted down.

Instincts and reflexes alone drove Donald to jump after him, mind blank but for the pleads to keep him safe and the ring of his scream. He had half the mind to send Della an impression of jumping, help me that he haphazardly threw together just before he jumped, chased by the kids’ surprised and panicked yells and Della’s high pitched screech. He managed to grab Huey in midair and folded his small body into his, hugging him into his chest as he positioned himself underneath Huey to absorb the impact of the fall if he ended up crashing.

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They say that moments before you die your whole life flashes in your mind, and time stretched just so you could see all that flash of memory.

Donald didn’t see that. Not a flash of his whole life rehashed in its sick reminder of what he had and hadn’t done, but he could feel Della’s feelings, anger at his recklessness and concern and desperate to grab them both.

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Donald sent her a visual of him jumping, into a gaping black maw underneath him. It was accompanied by urgency and a soft plea. She had barely any time to process what he meant, and when she understood it was all she could do not to cuss him out then and there, because he was already jumping off and she could barely catch his tail feathers from the air. Instead she screamed, disbelieving and angry and so terribly afraid.

Della managed to grab Donald and Huey just moments before they crashed to the unforgiving rocks and landed them harmlessly on the bottom of the cliff.

And then the force of her anger and the sheer bludgeoning power of her relief slammed into their bond, and they reeled, gaze flickering and switching, switching, switching.

Della didn’t care. Through the switch-switch-switch, she glared at her twin – his face, her face, his face again, back at hers – and yelled, “Are you out of your mind?!”

Her voice mixed with Donald’s as they kept switching, from her high pitched scream to his scratchy screech and back again. Huey stared with wide uncomprehending eyes, leaning back as he held his arms up as if trying to shield himself. If she saw, it didn’t register.

“What were you – what were you thinking?!” she continued the tirade, still switching, and there was a wave of nausea underneath all the anger and the rotten magic. “Just jumping like that, without even telling me? I can fly! I can do the jumping!”

“I told you I was jumping!”

“You barely gave me time to even process – what the duck, Donald!”

“Oh, like you barely gave us time to process the fact that you went to space in an untested space ship?” Donald threw back, and it was so jarring, to hear those biting words in his and her voices at once, to be pinned by that poisonous gaze worn by a face she knew best and a face she saw in the mirrors.

She reeled, but she threw back anyway, “Going in a space ship isn’t the same as jumping off a cliff without any gear!”

“I don’t care if I died as long as my family is safe.”

“Oh, shut up! You don’t care if you died?! What about the others, do you think the kids wouldn’t care if you died?!”

“Better me than them – “

“Stop!” Huey’s voice rang out loudly, and they shut up, looking at him and his tumultuous magic. “What’s going on? Why do you keep… switching?”

The question stopped the wave of anger and replaced it with still dread, then they exchanged a quick glance as their magic flared and mixed, switch-switch-switch still, throwing questions back and forth and probing and feeling and realizing.

“It’s gotten worse,” he whispered.

“You think?” she bit back, but there was no heat behind it. She reached to his hand and he reached back, clasping, and letting their magic mingle some more until it settled and they stopped flickering back and forth.

“How long has this been going on?” Huey asked.

“A while,” Della admitted. “We thought we had it handled, but it’s worse than we thought.”

Donald swallowed bile in his throat, holding his beak shut in one hand to keep it from coming up. When it settled, he sighed. “Let’s get back up. We need to use that orb. The corrosion is worse than I thought.”

“Wait a minute – a while? How long is a while? How come we don’t know about this?” Huey demanded.

“Uncle Scrooge knows,” Della said, standing up. “We convinced him we had it handled. Come on, I can carry you both.”

With Donald on his back and Huey at her chest, she called to her magic and buried her ire at how it felt brittle and heavy. She managed to fly them back to safety all the same, the trail of while behind them looking like heavy rain cloud instead of a sliver of white mist that bloomed into plumes.

They landed just by the plane, and not too long after Uncle Scrooge arrived with the rest of the kids. Launchpad hovered around them, seemingly able to sense they weren’t in the mood to chat.

As soon as Uncle Scrooge was in sight, Huey perked up, yelling, “Uncle Scrooge! Come quick, Mom and Uncle Donald aren’t in good shape!”

“Oh, phooey. He’s gonna be mad,” Della groaned. Donald’s agreement wafted in through their mingled magic.

“Their magic is weird and they kept switching places earlier!” Huey babbled as soon as Uncle Scrooge was close enough. “Their magic kind of mixes and it’s just – weird, like it’s much heavier than it’s supposed to be, and – “

“Huey, it’s fine,” Donald assured. He met Uncle Scrooge’s gaze for a split second and looked away. “It’s just… the aftermath of the ring.”

“But you keep switching, and – “

Della looked up just in time to see Uncle Scrooge’s expression shuttered close, like it always did when he went livid. She gulped as he asked, low and slow, “I thought I told you to tell me if things gets worse.”

“We didn’t think it would be this bad,” Della muttered.

Somehow, the long exhale Uncle Scrooge let out was so much more devastating than if he had screamed at them. He turned at Louie and said, “Louie, is your hand okay?”

Louie blinked at him. “Uh, um… it’s okay now, I can feel things and it’s not trembling anymore.”

“That’s good. Give the orb to Della and Donald, okay? We’ll go soon.”

Louie obeyed instantly, purposefully making a wide berth from Webby, who held the mirror in her hands. He handed the orb to Donald, wincing when their magic brushed, and stepped back with an uneasy look in his face.

“Louie?” Donald called uncertainly.

“Please fix your magic. It’s… not good,” the youngest whispered.

“How does it feel like?”

Louie shook his head, frowning. “Like… like rot.”

Donald inhaled and nodded, waving Louie to go into the plane. The orb sat on his palm, and he offered it to Della with a single glance. Della clasped her hand over it, and they held hands with the orb right between them as they walked up the ramp into the plane, following the rest of their family.

It was funny, how neither of them realized how nauseous their own magic had been making them until the mending properties of the orb took that away.

Apparently, it showed in their outward appearance, too, because Uncle Scrooge took one look at them, snorted, and gestured as he turned to the kids, saying, “And this, children, is why you communicate and ask for help when you have a problem you can’t resolve by yourself.”

Della gasped dramatically. “Uncle Scrooge! How could you, in front of my kids?”

“It’s a good life lesson for them, Della.”

“I mean, yeah, but you didn’t have to say it that way.”

Louie peered over. “Wait, where’s the orb?”

“In here,” Donald answered, holding up his and Della’s clasped hand. A memory resurfaced in his mind, and he smiled, sending the feelings and impressions to Della through their bond. The corrosion had knocked their walls down that the communication was almost too easy, and now that the orb was mending their magic they knew building a new boundary would be much easier and stronger without needing a harsher separation.

Della received his message and laughed. At the kids’ questioning look, she explained, “We used to do this all the time when we were kids. Taking things and hiding it in our hands like this, I mean. And we used to hold hands a lot, so people don’t think much on it.”

Uncle Scrooge sighed in exasperation. “They’re half the reason I’m very protective of my dime.”

Webby gasped. “You stole the dime?!”

“And many others!” Della bragged. “And we got the dime multiple times.”

“We were troublemakers when we were kids,” Donald said with a smirk, then he directed his gaze to the triplets. “Which is why I know to stop you before you do anything. I can tell.”

“Wait, give me a list on what pranks you pulled and tell me in detail how you got to do what you did,” Dewey asked immediately. Huey pulled out his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook and clicked a pen open next to him.

Uncle Scrooge, likely foreseeing a disaster in the future if the twins’ successful heists were to be revealed to the triplets, shut that down immediately. “Alright now, you can discuss that later. Let’s get back to Duckburg now.”

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They realized, as the orb kept mending and restoring and purifying their tainted magic, that the first time they did it the process was cut short when they let go of the orb in favor of turning to the sky and the sea to replenish their magic. The sky and the sea did indeed replenish their magic, but they were not capable of purification the way the orb was capable of.

This time, they made sure to keep the orb on their person until the last hint of corrosion was purged out of their system.

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That night, for the first time in a while, they burst with so much energy and excitement that Della went for a midnight flight, dancing with the clouds, while Donald donned his suit once more to go toe to toe with the new onslaught of villains that started to sprout in Duckburg’s streets.

For the first time, their shared dreams was filled with laughter and warmth instead of screeching metal and fear.

#ducktales #ducktales 17 #dt17 magic au #della duck #donald duck #scrooge mcduck #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #webby vanderquack #magic au

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vanilla107 · 5 years ago

Text

The Apology

Okay, so I binged the entirety of Ducktales over the last couple months and now I'm in a new fandom (whoo-hoo!).

The inspiration of this fic came from the fact that Scrooge was going through quite a difficult time with the boys after he told them how Della went missing. He lashed out at Webby saying that she wasn't family and HOLY SHIT MAYBE THAT LINE BROKE ME??

It was never addressed again in the series (well not that I remember) and I really wanted Scrooge to apologize so that's how this fanfiction was born!

Thank you for reading! If you want to yell at me about She-ra, Ducktales, Miraculous Ladybug or musicals, then message me!

Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed it leave a comment!

Read on AO3

---

“But there was a reason I came here before seeing your work-”

“Oh is it a new adventure? I’ll start packing!” she squealed but he gently grabbed her hand to stop her from running off.

“That reason is to apologize to you, Webbigail.”

--- The following months after the attempted Moonvasion, Scrooge McDuck pays a visit to the one duck he owes an apology too, Webbigail Vanderquack.

Webbigail Vanderquack grinned as she closed the trunk of the files she had now over-flowing with information of Christine van Duck, a distant relative of Scrooge McDuck and famous opera singer, who she had met just several hours ago after in the South of Italy. The adventure had been a simple ‘whodunit’ mystery and it didn’t take long for them to find out who the culprit was. She selected the photo of Christine on the opening night of one of her most well known performances, her brown eyes sparkling and the striking blue satin dress she wore contrasted with the red backdrop of the curtains.

Webby got her step ladder and took the one photo she needed and pinned it to her board, the red lines connecting with the other relatives of Scrooge. The young duck stood back and admired her work as her door creaked open. She turned to greet the visitor, expecting the one of the usuals: Huey, Louie, Dewey, Lena or Violet but she never expected the man she admired herself, Scrooge McDuck, to be standing there.

“Mister-! Mister McDuck I...I wasn’t expecting you!” she screeched as she fell off the ladder in a panic only to be caught by the billionaire, who managed to catch her just in time.

“Woah! Easy there lass! I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he chuckled as he placed her back on the ground and picked up his cane that he had dropped.

“I...I just didn’t think you’d ever come into my room so you startled me!” she said scrambling back to her board and trying to cover it with the curtain on either side.

“Webbigail, what are you hiding-?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all! Nothing suspicious of your family history or your genealogy! Nope!”

“Um...you should slow down you might trip-”

Before he could finish his sentence, the young duck tripped over her legs and she fell to the floor once more, the curtain ripping and exposing the board of the McDuck family that she was so desperately trying to hide.

The Scotsman was silent as he stared at the board filled with photographs, documents and red string.

“Webby...did you do all of this?”

“Yes! No! I...yes I did,” she said, her cheeks flaming red with embarrassment.

It wasn’t that she was embarrassed showing her interest for the McDuck family. She loved every aspect of the crazy family and the fact that she got to go on adventures with them daily was a dream come true but the very duck she idolized, witnessing her efforts...it was a different story. It was like being a proud fan of a famous pop star. You didn’t mind showing off your love of them to your friends or the world and it’s okay because what is the chance that the pop star will see it? But then one day said pop star rocks up at your house unannounced and see your room full of posters, merchandise and it’s just mortifying.

Even though she lived under the same roof as the billionaire, there were at least a hundred rooms in the mansion. There wouldn’t be a reason for him to be in her room but there his stood.

Standing in her room and looking at her life’s work.

“Is this...is this my whole family?” he asked, gently trailing a finger from one picture to another, following the red string.

“Yes...well no...there’s a few distant relatives, a couple family friends and on the extended side-”

She went around the board and pulled out the hidden extension, making the board twice as long. On the board there was a list of all of Scrooge’s enemies, acquaintances, family friends he didn’t really consider family friends, distant relatives that he didn’t even know were relatives, cousins twice removed and the employees at the Money Bin.

His jaw dropped and Webby felt her stomach churn in panic.

“You...you did all of this yourself?” he murmured, reaching out to touch a photo of him and the boys.

She looked down to the floor, clenching her hands into fists. There was no point in lying and even if she did, she was a terrible liar.

“Yes. It’s my life work. I know it’s kinda creepy especially since you’re here now and looking at it all-”

“Lass this is amazing!” he said excitedly.

“-And I know that it’s weird collecting information that you probably already know- Wait what? Did you just say-?”

“You heard me! It’s amazing Webby! And with regards to your previous statement...I think you might have more information than the official McDuck archives! This’ll give Quackfaster a run for her money!” he laughed before looking through the extended board more closely.

“I...I...Thank you...I’m glad you like it,” Webby said, in shock that the Scrooge McDuck said she might have more information than the archives she had spent years trying to get into until the boys came along. “I...I mean it’s nothing in comparison to your parent’s home. That castle is filled to the brim with McDuck history.”

“While that may be true, you have documented accounts of every adventure we’ve had so far. The current archives haven’t documented my adventures since my last one which was quite a while ago and I’ll bet me lucky dime that you know all the history already?” he asked with a smile and Webby couldn’t contain her excitement.

It was like a dam inside her exploded, her passion leaking from every feather on her body. She rushed around her room, collecting maps, postcards and her trusty journal.

“I know as much as I’ve read! My knowledge on certain people was restricted initially but when Louie, Huey and Dewey moved in, they’ve given me access that I never would’ve had. Going on adventures with you guys helps too!” she said cheerfully, showing him the journal of carefully curated adventures they’ve been on completed with drawings.

Scrooge leafed through her journal gently, being careful to read the first few pages before handing it back to her.

“Bless me bagpipes, this is impressive Webbigail! I’m a little surprised I haven’t seen this sooner.”

“O-Oh, it’s not like I hide it or anything. You’re always so busy at the Bin and after we come back from adventures, we can be a little tired. It’s also a history of you and you know a lot about your family anyway-“

“I was talking about why you haven’t showed me.”

“Oh...well I um...it is a little weird. I know Huey, Louie and Dewey support me wanting to learn about your family but...it’s not every day that the duck you look up to waltz into your room and sees that you’re passion is the history of him and his family. It’s an obsession and even though you are fully aware that I like your family history, it’s different seeing a huge board leaking with information.”

“I think it’s spectacular! If anyone tells you different, then they have no taste. You can tell them that the richest duck in the world told you that,” he said as he straightened his hat and gave her a smile.

Webby giggled, her face still warm from the previous embarrassment but a comforting warmth spread through her body.

“Hmm...I’m sure there’s an internship at the archives... I’ll have to ask Quackfaster,” he murmured and Webby felt her heart grow a thousand times bigger at those words.

“But there was a reason I came here before seeing your work-”

“Oh is it a new adventure? I’ll start packing!” she squealed but he gently grabbed her hand to stop her from running off.

“That reason is to apologize to you, Webbigail.”

Her giggling stopped before she looked up at him, a confused expression on her face.

“Apologize? For what?”

The duck looked down, regret on his face.

“Remember when you and the boys found out the truth about the reason Della was gone...the day we were all trapped on the Sun Chaser? I told you...you that you weren’t family,” he said, wincing as if the memory physically hurt to remember.

Hearing those words again was like a punch to the gut.

Webby would be lying if she had to say she hadn’t cried herself to sleep that night, those words echoing in her head. After rescuing her grandma from Black Heron, Scrooge had given her honorary family status and the title of his great niece.

But all of that was ripped away in a sentence that day.

“Yeah...I remember,” she said, her voice already wobbly.

She took a seat on her bed and he joined her, placing a hand on her shoulder

“I wasn’t thinking rationally and I let my emotions get the better of me. Bringing up Della and being blamed for the reason she was gone...it reopened a wound that had been festerin’ for years. I’m sorry Webbigail, you and your grandma are family and mean the world to me. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Of course I forgive you Mister McDuck,” she said and jumped into his arms to hug him.

He was frozen at first but recovered quickly as he hugged her back.

“That’s Uncle Scrooge to you missy,” he smiled and when they broke off the hug, he was startled to see that she had tears dripping down her face.

“Oh no, no crying today. Here you go, lass,” Scrooge said as he gave her a handkerchief and she blew her beak loudly, smiling happily through the tears.

“Now, I’ve already told the boys that we’re going on an adventure to find the ancient texts of Lalakii that were lost in a raid hundreds of years ago. The Lalakii tribe is desperate to get them back and we need to return it to them. Any treasure we find is ours, per the agreement I made with them, but those texts are our main priority. We leave for the Frenzy Jungle in an hour.”

Webby nodded as she wiped away the last of her tears, the load of emotions ebbing away slowly.

“Oh and Webby, I’d like to go on an adventure with you. I’ve been on so many with the boys but only one with you and we made a great team then. What do you say? I’ll even pack in your favourite drink!”

“Yes!” she exclaimed, shaking with excitement.

“Great! I’ll see you downstairs in an hour! I need to go pack.”

“Wait Mister- I mean Uncle Scrooge...you know my favourite drink?” she asked, her eyes wide with curiosity. She knew he had difficulty remembering it last time.

“Of course I do! It’s juice like you said after we saved your granny,” Scrooge said with a grin before walking out of her room whistling a happy tune.

He heard her let out a squeal of happiness and as he walked down the corridor he felt a weight lift off of him. He had been carrying that on him for months but after the return of Della and the Moon invasion, he was always preoccupied. But after properly apologizing to Webby, someone who he really cared about, it all felt right.

“Alright, now time for a new adventure!” he said as he pulled out his phone and dialed Quackfaster.

“Morning Quackfaster! I’m about to go on another adventure-”

“Ugh, Scrooge you know I can’t keep up with your adventures! The last time I went with you and Donald, I nearly-”

“No, no. You don’t need to come with. You remember Webbigail Vanderquack?”

“The crazy girl who’s obsessed with your family history and wouldn’t stop trying to get into the archives?”

“That’s the one,” he chuckled as he turned right to his bedroom. “Is it possible for her to be added to the database for the archives?”

“Sir...that database has every shred of your family history. Are you sure about granting Webbigail access? She isn’t directly related to you and you know that your bloodline isn’t exactly clean.”

“Webby is fascinated with my history and I would be surprised if she didn’t know that my great great great great uncle Francis Duckley was a serial killer. If you add her to it, you won’t have to catalogue every adventure I go on. Webby has a whole journal about every single adventure I’ve been on up to date. She can help you around the archives.”

“Hmmm...I don’t need help running the archives but having an assistant to catalogue your adventures will help immensely. Especially with how often you’re going on trips these days now that Della’s back,” Quackfaster replied, a smile in her voice. “Fine, I’ll add her but it’s your responsibility to make sure she doesn’t abuse the system.”

“Excellent! Now, I must go pack. I’m off to Frenzy Jungle!”

#ducktales #webby vanderquack #scrooge mcduck #vanilla107 writes #fanfiction #my writing #della duck #huey duck #louie duck #dewey duck

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