Chapter Text
“After doing the bare minimum by letting him live in the mansion and have him comfort me when Goldie disappeared, he decided to go off his rocker and stab me in the arm?!”, Scrooge looked at the bandaged arm where his stab wound his, “Sometimes I just wonder what is wrong with that man. He looked so mad whenever he even looked at Duckworth or Beakley for, he complained to me about how Webby entered his room when he kept it unlocked, I don’t know what Donald meant when he told me Kapono has no sense of humanity but-”
“Whoa whoa whoa… That’s a lot of information for me to process.”
Ember saw how angry and disgusted Scrooge is right now. They were fixing up the evidence Kapono gave them. They didn’t know if Kapono had the time to make those or to hide the stuff he had for years.
“But yeah… Kapono’s an idiot for stabbing you and he has an insane obsession with you for some reason…”, said Ember.
“I just don’t get it… Why would he stab me and then try to kiss me?”, Scrooge asks the absent-minded lawyer.
The lawyer scoffed, “Oh I don’t know. Maybe because someone here was blind enough to see how much of a psycho he is…”
Scrooge wasn’t surprised by what Ember called Kapono. He knew people who are close to him called Kapono many negative things. Such as a psychopath, a stalker, lovesick, and many more. Even his nephews and Webby didn’t like him.
It happen so often that it soon became normal to Scrooge.
“Okay, he may be a psycho for assaulting me over nothing, but would he do worse-”
Ember slapped their hands onto the table, startling Scrooge.
“Mr. McDuck, he sexually assaulted you, stabbed you, and has an obsession with you! Are you blind or something?!”, yelled Ember, “That is a definition of a living red flag and you’re living with it! I don’t know what Kapono has done to you but that isn’t the Scrooge McDuck I thought you were! You’re lucky I’m helping you otherwise any other lawyers would walk right out the door!!”
“Ember, you-”
“I suggest you leave my office and call me back when you realize how much of a blind dumbass you were,” said Ember angrily, “Cause I can’t take another rant from someone enabling someone else’s actions!!”
Scrooge does so while Ember winces in pain from the hard slap to the table. Out of all the clients they had, Ember has never seen anyone who lived with a psycho act so strange. What has Kapono done to him?
They looked at the evidence on the table, “ This is too good to even be burnt. ”
For hours, Rose has been trying to call Scrooge about adding more security to the money bin to prevent any more of his employees ‘disappearing’, but she still has some suspicions about Scrooge being involved with this whole ‘people disappearing left and right’ nonsense.
Rose could never understand what was so special about that creep and how Scrooge called him a comforter. It didn’t help that Joey started acting weird.
He ate normally and took care of his hygiene but he began to act all moody so suddenly. Her employees voiced their concerns to the fashion empress but all she could say is that Joey just want to get some attention or sympathy all over his missing leg!
Right now, Joey isn’t even saying a single word whenever they see Scrooge McDuck and that musician. She told Vincenzo to make sure that child knows how to act appropriately (and his age) whenever there are guests.
“Miss Lurid?”
Rose turns to Vincenzo, standing by her office door, “What is it, Vincenzo?”
“I’m gonna go check on Josaku so that he doesn’t…”
“Yeah, yeah, go and see if he’s okay…”, Rose interrupted Vincenzo And if Scrooge McDuck doesn’t answer the damn phone, I’m going to make sure that he and that psycho will enjoy their so-called love in prison!”
Vincenzo nodded and goes over to Joey’s room. He knew Joey has anxiety ever since he and Vincenzo came to live with Rose Lurid and when he came out as trans. But it appears that Joey started to show signs of depression, PSTD, and his anxiety has worsened.
He wouldn’t come out of his room unless he needs to use the bathroom or eat something. It looks like he hasn’t slept in days and his room is a mess.
This feels so familiar , Vincenzo thought to himself. Though he knows Joey wouldn’t try to make another attempt to end his own life.
Would he?
Vincenzo saw Rebelle and Stuart standing by Joey’s room door and it appears that neither of them can get Joey to leave his room. They couldn't even get Rose to help them out since it was ‘their problem’ not hers.
“How long have you two been standing there?”, Vincenzo asked the two employees.
“I don’t know… I lost count…”, said Stuart.
“Joey hasn’t come out of his room and I think you should do something about it…”, said Rebelle, “I do hope that he’s doing alright…”
Vincenzo knocked on the door, “Joey, open the door.”
There was no answer.
“Josaku! I need you to open this door now!”, Vincenzo knocked on the door again.
Again, no answer.
Vincenzo tells Rebelle to hand over the keys to him. The rabbit assistant does so as the gorilla unlocks the door to the young Japanese wolf’s room.
To their surprise, the room was a huge mess and Joey has been in his bed since this morning. He hasn’t even put his prosthetic leg on and only has a depressed look on his face.
“Josaku, why was your door locked?”, Vincenzo didn’t hear a single answer from Joey as his frustration turned to concern for the young wolf, “Josaku?”
Joey has been lying on his bed for a while now and hasn’t spoken a single word unless he was spoken to.
“Josaku… Is something wrong?”, asked Vincenzo, standing by the door, “You know you can talk to me about anything…”
Joey didn’t try to answer his caregiver’s question. He was still thinking about Kapono Ashira and the threat he gave him. He didn’t know if Kapono could hear somewhere around the mansion. He couldn’t even transform into Prince Glimmer not just for confidence but because he know that Kapono will assume that Joey told PG about what he has done to the anxious Japanese wolf and would kill him in his hero form thus revealing his true self.
But Joey was mostly scared of the reaction from them. Would he be upset at Joey for never telling him? Would it be his own fault for never telling them in the first place? Or would he and the others not believe him?
“Joey?”
Joey looked at his caregiver, going over to him with a concerned look on his face.
“I’m worried about you, Joey… You’ve been so quiet lately…”, said Vincenzo, “Your friends have been trying to call you and well, your friend Zorro has noticed how badly you’ve become… And you haven’t been doing so well at work either… What happened?”
Joey didn’t want to tell his caregiver the truth but he saw how worried his caregiver is because of him not telling him what was bothering him.
“If… I… Tell you, would you get mad…?”, Joey spoke in a way a seven-year-old would tell their parent.
“I… Won’t…”, said Vincenzo.
Joey then proceeds to tell Vincenzo what happened that day. About how Kapono targeted Rose Lurid, how creepy he is, how he sawed his leg off, and how he threatened him that if he spoke about him, he’ll be dead.
Meanwhile, outside of the room, Rebelle and Stuart were waiting for Vincenzo to come out.
“I really do hope Joey didn’t try to hurt himself again…”, said Rebelle, remembering the time when Joey was sent to the hospital to get his stomach pumped.
“Yeah… The last time… Rose was mad as hell when she had to pay the hospital bill,” said Stuart, remembering how mad Rose was when she was given the bill.
The door finally opened up to reveal Vincenzo and Joey, with the caregiver being mad as hell… But not at Joey.
Rebelle was the first to speak, “Vince-”
“We’re going to have a word with Miss Lurid about Scrooge McDuck…”, said Vincenzo with a calm yet angered tone.
“But why-”
“Perhaps Mr. McDuck can answer why he still has that psycho walking free while his victim has one leg missing!”, said Vincenzo, interrupting Stuart as he left.
Joey could only sit down on the floor in shock. On one hand, he should be relieved that he finally told his caregiver of what he has been going through, on the other hand, he knew he was going to be murdered once Kapono finds out.
“HE ALMOST HUNG HIMSELF?!”, Della yelled, getting up and pulling her twin brother’s shirt and bringing him to her, “WERE YOU ALSO WAITING FOR HIM TO DIE?!”
“Della! Just because you’re angry at Donald doesn’t mean you should get up! You’re still healing,” said Christopher, trying to calm her down.
Donald knew it was a bad idea to go to the hospital to visit Gladstone and saw how angry Della is when they arrived.
From what Christopher told her, they visited Gladstone in order for Donald to apologize to him for his lack of empathy at the funeral but at first there was no answer.
The second time, no answer.
Donald assumed he didn’t want to talk to him and suggests to Christopher that they should leave. But Christopher knew something wasn’t right.
Thankfully, there was an extra key under the mat and thus it was opened.
And what they find was Gladstone lying on the floor, with a broken fan.
Donald didn’t know how to feel. In fact, the first time he saw his cousin there, all he could feel is numbness and shock.
Sure he didn’t like Gladstone but he didn’t expect him.
“I… I didn’t think he would end up hurting himself…”, said Donald, in a quiet tone.
“YOU DIDN’T KNOW!? WELL LOOK WHAT…”, Della calmed down as she lets him go, “I just can’t believe this… You didn’t show any sympathy for him when he was suffering from Emilie’s death and then you see him unconscious on the floor?!”
Donald didn’t say anything else.
“Well, at least, you’re doing well, Della…”, said Scrooge, “I thought I lost you again…”
Della rolled her eyes at him. She didn’t mind Scrooge coming over, relieved that she survived, but she didn’t like how her uncle and brother care so much just her and not Gladstone too.
“Yeah… But did you really have to bring Kapono here? He’s creepy!”, said Della, looking over at Kapono sitting down on one of the hospital chairs.
And to be fair, Della was right. Kapono was creepy, if not, more disturbing than usual.
Unlike his calm and friendly self, his hair was a complete mess, he wasn’t wearing his cross necklace, he has eyebags, his clothes are messed up, and his eyes showed that he was in distress of his ghosts everywhere.
“Lass, I’m sure he’s doing okay,” said Scrooge, somehow blind from Kapono’s looks, “He’s just having a rough day…”
Della twitched her eye, “HE LITERALLY ALMOST ENDED MY LIFE!!! THERE WERE GHOSTS AND-”
“YOU BETTER KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT BEFORE I-...”, Kapono noticed the four ducks staring at him as he quickly calmed down, “Sorry… Sleep withdrawal… Della, it was nothing more than a dream…”
Della groaned in disappointment while Christopher and Donald shared a suspicious and angry look on their face.
“Look, if it makes you happy, we’ll go see Gladstone in the other room while you rest…”, said Scrooge.
“Alright then… But if he doesn’t forgive you guys, it’s on you,” said Della.
Scrooge nodded as the three left the room while Kapono stayed behind.
Della wasn’t even frightened by Kapono’s presence in her room. She has seen scarier.
“If it weren’t for the fact that I’m not feeling well and there’s a suicide patient there, I’d strangle you with that cord over there…”, Kapono threatened her.
“I rather die here than to see you here again…”
Kapono left her room and shrugged off her words, although he could’ve sworn he saw someone there in a fancy suit.
Unfortunately, Scrooge couldn’t go to Gladstone’s hospital room since Rose was trying to call him all day, leaving Kapono to tell him what happened in that room.
Donald frowned at Scrooge staying behind while Christopher shook his head in disappointment and disgust. Neither of them liked how Scrooge stayed behind to answer the fashion empress’ call or the fact Kapono has to follow them to see Gladstone.
Christopher opened the door to see Gladstone resting. Donald couldn’t help but feel guilty as he saw him hooked up to the machine. Surprisingly, Gladstone’s luck manages to save him from ending his own life.
Kapono showed some empathy but shrugs since he expected to hurt him next if Scrooge ever cared for him as least.
Christopher turned to Donald and gave him a mad look on his face. Donald knew that if Christopher is mad at him, then this must be serious.
The sailor saw how badly the state Gladstone is in right now, making him feel worse about how he treated him.
Kapono simply sat down on the chairs again just so he can see how this goes down.
Donald and Christopher didn’t speak to each other for as long as Gladstone was unconscious, which didn’t last long.
Gladstone finally woke up and the first thing he ever saw since his attempt was Donald and his boyfriend Christopher Featherson.
“Oh… Hey, Chris… Hey Donald…”, unusually, Gladstone greeted them with a somber tone in his voice.
“Hello, Gladstone Gander…”, said Christopher, “We’re terribly sorry about what happened… And by we… I mean me and Donald… Right”
Donald shudders from Christopher speaking through his gritted teeth, “Uh… Y-yeah… You and me…”
Gladstone wasn’t surprised by Donald’s little to no sympathy. He could never understand why Donald hates him so much.
“Where’s Claire and Paul?”, asked Gladstone, noticing just Kapono sitting down, “And why is he here?”
“They’re with Katherine Lupin. I thought it was a good idea to leave them with her since Kat has Via and…”, Donald was silenced by Christopher nudging him.
“Scrooge brought him here and trust me… We don’t like him around here as much as you do…”, said Christopher.
Gladstone didn’t care about Kapono Ashira. He was shocked to hear that his cousin left the kids he had with Emilie with Katherine rather than taking them to see their dad to see if he was okay.
“But… Why? You don’t like them?”, asked Gladstone.
“N-no! It’s not like that!”, said Donald, “I just think they shouldn’t live with the fact that their father almost took his own life…”
“DONALD!!”, yelled Christopher angrily.
“What? I’m just saying…!”
“... Why are you even here..?”, said Gladstone, “I don’t think you should waste your time on your “cousin who gets to have whatever the hell he wants” since I’m so lucky that I managed to survive…”
Donald winced at that comment, as if a knife went through his heart. Donald turned to Christopher who has a look that said “Go ahead… Tell him…”.
“I-I just wanna tell you I-I’m…”
Gladstone raised his eyebrow at Donald, “You’re what?”
“I-I’m terribly sorry what happened to Emilie. I’m sure that she was a wonderful mother and err… Someone who worked for my uncle Scrooge…?”, Donald tells his cousin which led to Christopher facepalming himself at his beloved acting so off.
“Wow… Thanks for caring for me that much…”, said Gladstone, feeling his heart break more from the mention of Emilie.
Donald corrected himself, “N-no…! It’s not what I meant!! I just felt bad that you hurt yourself because of your grief for Emilie…”
“Heh… I bet you told Katherine the same thing when she lost Gyro and her younger sister…”, said Gladstone.
Donald didn’t know how to respond to that. He has never interacted with Katherine unless Gyro was with her, nor was he close to her.
“Donald… You didn’t show any sympathy towards me during Emilie’s funeral nor after… Why would this be any different…?”, Gladstone said in a depressed and somewhat upset tone.
“But… I’m here now! I feel so bad for you! You almost ended your life and-”
“Oh… So that’s why you came to see me…”, said Gladstone, with disgust in his eyes.
“What…?”
“Since I almost hung myself, apparently now you’re sorry?!”
Donald was surprised by how Gladstone is speaking to him.
“I haven’t done anything to you and yet you hate me so much?!”, said Gladstone with tears in his eyes, “What did I even do to deserve this hatred from you and the family?!”
Christopher slowly turned to Donald, “Hatred…?”
“Well, I think our visiting hour is up… Let’s get going, Christopher…!”, Donald grabs his boyfriend’s hand and leaves Gladstone’s room.
“I didn’t even want him in here anyways…”, said Gladstone.
Kapono gave the couple a frown as they left, before turning back to Gladstone, “Oh don’t worry about your cousin and uncle, Gladstone… I’ll be there for you…”