Chapter Text
1879
Ratchet looked at the pills in his hands. “You really think so?”
“Absolutely! You’ve got something, my boy! The only logical option is to go out into the world and show it! You don’t need to stay in this old town.”
“But what about you and mom?”
“We’ll make do. I promise.”
It wasn’t long before Ratchet was off, traveling the world. His father knew he’d be able to do great things.
Maybe Copernicus and Antastasia couldn’t keep that promise, but it was for Ratchet’s own good.
1921
Ah Duckburg! It had been a while.
Ratchet took a big whiff of the town where he spent his youth, only to inhale the smoke from the ongoing train, sending him into a coughing fit.
It wasn’t very clean, the mainstream means of energy, but Ratchet was here to change that. Officially, he was here on business. A factory owner that Ratchet couldn’t quite recall the name of without looking at his memo (Perhaps it was Rockerdollar?) was curious about his research on hydroelectricity, and he planned to talk to them in a few days.
Other than that, however, Duckburg was his childhood home. He walked the streets, noting how the town got a lot bigger since he left, but still realized it stayed the same. Ratchet wasn’t sure whether he felt nostalgic for the town he’d left behind, or glad that it had changed and grown so much. He had changed and grown as well, in his own ways. He was an old man now, and with the help of wardrobe changes and self-developed medicine, he had done his best to live his life fully as a man since he left Duckburg. They were a lot alike. Physically changed, older, but deep down, Ratchet was still Ratchet, and Duckburg was still Duckburg.
Ratchet pondered what that would mean for him, for a moment.
Perhaps nothing. He was only here for a few days, perhaps a little more if things went well. He could lay low. He would have to give his father a surprise visit. How long had it been since he last saw his father? Probably a few years, when the two of them bumped into each other in their travels. That was fine though, so long as he didn’t run into an old Duckburg friend from his youth like-
“Scrooge McDuck?”
Well. At least it wasn’t an old Duckburg friend.
Scrooge appeared in front of Ratchet without warning, as if he were a specter that had faded into existence moments before. “Ratchet?! Long time no see! How long has it been?!”
Scrooge pulled in Ratchet for a hug, which Ratchet was accepting of, but not quite welcoming of.
“What are you doing back in Duckburg?” Scrooge asked.
“I’m meeting with someone in a few days about my hydroelectric-“
“Ah, Ratchet! Don’t tell me you’re still on that clean energy kick! I told you before. It’s far too much hassle and far too expensive to be worth anything in the long run!”
Ratchet rolled his eyes. “It’s good for the environment. Not even five minutes ago I went into a coughing fit because of those coal fumes! What do you think about that?”
“Well, maybe if you weren’t actively trying to breathe in coal fumes, that wouldn’t have happened.”
“I-“ Ratchet stopped and ceded. There was simply no getting Scrooge to budge when it came to financial matters. “What have you been up to anyway?”
Scrooge, oblivious to the fact that Ratchet was obviously trying to change the subject talked Ratchet’s ears off for a good while about the millions he’d made (Granted, Ratchet did make a few comments here and there), but the thing that really stopped the conversation from being one-sided was…
“Oh, that reminds me! It’s been a while since we’ve seen one another, but I ran into your uncle a while ago.”
“My uncle?” Ratchet often forgot he had one of those. “Right, right. My dad hardly ever spoke of him.”
“I don’t understand why. He’s a perfectly kind fellow! He even offered to up the security of my money bin for free!”
“Well that was kind of him,” Ratchet said, despite barely knowing this relative of his.
“You can never be too careful,” Scrooge said, “what with the Beagle Boys following my every move. Then there’s that so-called gentleman thief Fantomius, who is out to get me! Bah! Some gentleman he is!”
“Oh?”
“That blistering burglar has been a menace to Duckburg’s rich and elite for years! Stealing their goods without any good reason!” Scrooge’s anger turned to fear. “And the worst part… No one knows who he is. It’s almost as if he takes on a different form constantly! He’ll steal from right under your nose, and you won’t even notice he was there until he flies off on that harebrained hang-glider of his! Drat that Fantomius!”
Fantomius. Ratchet had heard the name around, but the way people spoke of him, he sounded more like a fairy tale than an actual person. Then again, this was Scrooge McDuck. He had a fair number of run-ins with fairy tales.
The moon was out already! Had he really been talking to Scrooge that much? In fairness however, they had quite a bit of catching up to do. But now it was dark out, making it harder to see.
He bid Scrooge farewell as he went searching for the address.
Villa Rosa. That’s where his dad moved since he’d last been in Duckburg. Had it really been that long? Ratchet thought it had only been a year or two. It must have been a sign he was getting old.
The sky went from blue, to grey, to black, and Ratchet finally found the large estate. His eyes couldn’t help but twinkle. It was so big. How did his father end up in this place? Ratchet placed a hand on the gate, staring at the mansion illuminated by the full moon. It made the house look even more mysterious, and yet somehow homey. Perhaps he really was in a fairy tale…
Ratchet was snapped out of his trance by a soft wooshing noise above him. Ratchet looked up to find no one. Shrugging it off, he went inside.
Copernicus was in his lab when he heard the doorbell ring. At first he ignored it, assuming it was those wretched night-salesmen stopping by their door again. But as the doorbell continued ringing, he figured he might as well say something to their face instead of have them destroy the poor doorbell.
“We don’t want whatever you’re se-“ Copernicus said, before realizing who was at the door. “A thousand Tesla coils! Ratchet? Is that you?”
“Hey dad. Surprise!” Ratchet said, more exhausted than he’d intended to be.
“Ratchet! It’s been so long! Why don’t you come in?” Copernicus said, bringing his son inside.
Ratchet looked around the foyer, which looked just as lavish as the outside. “How did you end up with this place?”
“Well, technically, Villa Rosa belongs to Lord Quackett,” Copernicus explained, “but since he and I are good friends, I’ve been living here along with him and his girlfriend. I suppose you could say we’re roommates.”
Ratchet was still marveling at the house’s interior as he followed his father, through the house and into the basement.
“He makes you live in the basement?!” Ratchet exclaimed, somewhat jokingly. “Some friend.”
“Well I do need some space for my inventions,” Copernicus said.
The basement looked more like what Ratchet was used to. Granted, it was much more lavish and nicely furnished than anyplace he lived, but the basement was still messy, disorganized, and full of half-finished inventions and scattered about blueprints.
“Have a seat my boy,” Copernicus gestured to one of the chairs while put away various things that Ratchet paid little attention to and covered a chest with an unfamiliar quilt. “You want some chicory juice?”
Ratchet winced at the offer, unsure how his father could even stomach the stuff. “No thank you.”
“All right then!” Copernicus sat down across from Ratchet, holding a bottle of chicory juice for himself.
“So how are Martha and Fulton doing?”
“Both pretty good. Martha’s holding up the drugstore while I’m on leave, and Fulton’s become a troop commander for a group of Junior Woodchucks.”
“That’s good to hear!”
“What about you?” Ratchet asked, “What have you been up to since I last saw you?”
Ratchet and Copernicus talked about the great things they’d been up to. Ratchet with his research in medicine and alternative energy, and Copernicus discussing his newfound friendship with Lord Quackett and his newest inventions.
“So what brings you back to Duckburg?” Copernicus finally asked.
“Well, I got a meeting with, er…” Ratchet was having trouble remembering the name… “Jack Duckefeller? I think that’s his name. Anyway, I’m meeting with Mr. Duckefeller to talk about using hydroelectric power for his business.”
Copernicus’s eyes lit up. “That’s fantastic! I always knew you were destined for great things my boy! And you’re doing so much good for the environment too!”
“Thanks!” Ratchet smiled. “I hope Mr. Rockenroll thinks the same.”
“Are you sure you don’t want any chicory juice?” Copernicus asked. “It’s supposed to be good for your memory.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Fair enough,” Copernicus said, taking another sip of his juice. “So how has your stay in Duckburg been so far?”
“I only just got here today,” Ratchet replied. “I did run into Scrooge McDuck though.”
“Oh are you two still friends?”
Ratchet didn’t answer. “We talked for a little bit. Well, he talked mostly. He said he ran into my uncle a while back.”
“Oh.”
“You never told me much about him,” Ratchet said. “What’s he like?”
“I never told you about your Uncle Cartesius, did I? Alright. Let me tell you.” A pause. “I hate him.”
“That explains why you never talk about h-”
Ratchet was interrupted by the opening of a door and a new voice.
“Copernic-“
Copernicus and Ratchet turned their heads to the sound to see Fantomius, Gentleman Thief, frozen in his tracks. Next to him was his partner in crime, Dolly Paprika, also frozen in place. No one said a word. Fantomius looked at Copernicus, to Ratchet, back to Dolly. Dolly looked at Ratchet, then at Fantomius. Ratchet looked back and forth between Fantomius and Dolly, then at his father. And Copernicus looked at Fantomius, then back at Ratchet. This went on for some time before Dolly pulled out a can of soporific spray, spraying it in Ratchet’s face, causing him to fall.
“Hm?” Ratchet awoke wearily the next morning to the sound of hammering. A familiar sound that made him forget it had almost been forty-some years since he’d woken up to it.
Unable to shake away the lethargy, but knowing he wouldn’t get back to sleep with the hammering, Ratchet went to the source of the noise.
Copernicus didn’t need to turn away from his work to notice his son behind him. “Morning, Sleepyhead. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
Ratchet grunted, shaking his head. It probably wasn’t right to lie to his dad, but he would often do it in his youth to spare his dad any guilt. It was a habit he’d never grown out of.
Ratchet felt like he was dreaming. It’d been so long since he’d seen his dad that it felt surreal, not to mention, waking up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar house.
“What… happened?”
Copernicus did not turn from his work. “You got to Villa Rosa, and you were so exhausted you fell asleep soon afterwards!”
Ratchet racked his brain, trying to remember the night before. “I saw… Fantomius?”
“Probably just a bad dream! Now, how about some breakfast?”
Ratchet wasn’t sure if it was a bad dream or not, though he did have a rather nasty habit of getting his dreams confused with reality when he woke up. Surely breakfast would get his mind straight.