Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“No. No. No. Oh, gosh, that’s extravagant. No. No. Definitely not.”

Donald was feeling anxious. His, Della’s, and Daisy’s birthdays were all coming up. And within two days of each other, no less.

He and Della were planning a day out for their birthday, just the two of them, before celebrating with their family. As for Daisy, he wanted to take her out to dinner. Beyond that, he wanted to make her a cake. But even looking through the cookbooks at the mansion, he still didn’t think he’d found what he was looking for.

“Uncle Donald? What are you doing?”

Donald whirled around to find Huey standing behind him.

“Oh. Hi, Huey,” Donald greeted his oldest nephew. “I want to make a cake for Daisy’s birthday, but it’s so hard to choose what kind to make.”

“Hmmm…” Huey pondered, tapping his chin. “Does Aunt Daisy have a particular kind of cake she’d like?”

“Not really, no,” Donald lamented. “She has her favorites, but when I asked her what kind she wanted, she told me to surprise her. So it could be anything! What am I going to do, Huey?”

“Okay,” Huey answered. “First thing, Uncle Donald. Take a deep breath.”

Donald breathed gradually, calming himself down.

“Good,” Huey continued. “Second, you’ve totally got this! You could make Aunt Daisy literally any cake in the world, and she would love it because you made it for her. You’re a very romantic guy; no matter how you make the cake, the most important ingredient is heart.”

“Heart,” Donald repeated.

Wait. Heart. Donald suddenly thought back to that one time he brought Daisy over for a date on the houseboat (the one that Storkules third wheeled on). He had made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the shape of hearts. That was brilliant, actually.

“Heart! Huey, you just gave me a great idea!” Donald gave the boy a quick hug, and rushed back into the kitchen.

Huey was surprised. What could he have said that got the gears in Uncle Donald’s head turning so quickly?

“I did?” he called out, confused.

Donald hadn’t found anything in any of the books for a peanut butter and jelly cake, but he could look on his phone. He saved the link, just to be safe, looked for the ingredients, and then got to work.

He made the cake, and while each of the layers were baking, he set to work on the frosting and ganache.

Della soon wandered into the kitchen. “Hey, bro, what smells so good? Ooh, peanut butter,” she remarked, swiping a finger through the frosting.

“Hey!” Donald exclaimed.

“I’m surprised you didn’t anticipate for me, Donald,” laughed Della.

“Old habits die hard, I guess,” groaned Donald. “Anyway, if you must know, this cake is for Daisy’s birthday.”

“Oh,” Della replied. “Ohhh. Like your first date on the houseboat.”

“Precisely,” Donald answered.

Della put her hands to her heart. “That’s really thoughtful, Donald. I’m sure she’s gonna love it.”

“Thanks,” Donald replied. “I’m glad to see it has your seal of approval,” he added while noticing a bit of frosting still at the corner of Della’s bill.

“Also,” Della continued, “I wanted to confirm if you booked us for laser tag already.”

“Don’t worry,” reassured Donald. “I’ve got it all taken care of. Sunday is all about you and me. The itinerary is good to go.”

“Great,” Della answered back. “Ooh, I can’t wait! Okay, you’ve got Daisy’s cake to knock out, so I’ll leave you to it.” And she gave Donald finger guns as she reversed back out of the kitchen.

Donald shook his head and laughed. Della was a pain in the tail feathers, but he could always count on her as his biggest supporter when it came to Daisy.

It was Friday. Daisy’s birthday. She had to work for most of the day, but Donald took her out to dinner at a nice restaurant, while May and June were sleeping over with Webby.

Donald was anxious. He hoped that Daisy would like the cake. Daisy, on the other hand, was rather excited. She couldn’t wait to see what Donald had come up with for her birthday!

When they got back home, they made their way to the kitchen, where Daisy sat down at the table, while Donald took the cake out of the fridge. Daisy was practically on the edge of her seat.

“Alright,” Donald announced, removing the cover from the plate. “And…voilà!”

Daisy gasped. It was a very lovely cake, decorated with a rich peanut butter frosting, and garnished with two strawberries, with the words “Happy Birthday Daisy” written on it in pink writer’s icing.

“Do you like it?” Donald asked.

“Like it? I…I love it,” Daisy proclaimed. “The piping work you did is impeccable. What exactly is it?”

“Peanut butter cake, peanut butter frosting, and strawberry jam ganache,” listed off Donald.

“Why, I-like our first date,” Daisy gasped.

Donald nodded, a proud grin on his face.

Tears welled up in Daisy’s eyes. “How exactly did you come up with it?”

“Well, it wasn’t all me,” admitted Donald. “It was Huey that gave me the brain spark, and I just went from there.”

Daisy grabbed Donald’s face and kissed him appreciatively. “Oh, Donald,” she whispered. “It’s lovely. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, my love,” Donald replied. “Now, why don’t I get some candles, and then we can eat?”

Daisy nodded. And so, after Donald got a good picture of the cake, as well as of Daisy blowing out her candles, he cut into it, and then he gave a piece to Daisy.

Now Daisy could get a good look at the inside of the cake. Of the three layers, the two on the inside were frosted directly on top, and then had the strawberry ganache added on.

She took a bite. Perfect. The cake was nice and moist, and the frosting wasn’t too overly sweet.

“Delicious,” she said to Donald.

“I’m glad you like it,” Donald beamed.

“Now go on, try it,” Daisy urged. “The master chef needs to sample his handiwork.”

Donald blushed, and carved out a slice for himself.

‘Ooh, yum-yum-yum-yum-yum-yum-yum,’ he thought. Now that was some good cake.

Chapter Text

“I still can’t believe that Mr. McDuck gave you the week off!” Drake exclaimed. “This is so exciting.”

“Oh, I know,” agreed Launchpad. “Just what we need-a relaxing week at the beach.”

“How long is it gonna be for us to get there?” Gosalyn asked.

“Nine hours, give or take,” Drake told her. “But I promise you, it’s going to be worth the wait.”

“Awesome!” grinned Gosalyn. “Not the long drive, of course. No offense to Duckburg, but you can only look at the pier area so many times before you get tired of it.”

“Fair point,” Launchpad noted. “Plus, even we need a little distance from the chaos once in a while.”

“Alright,” Drake said. “Looks like we’re all packed. Let’s go!”

The Mallard-McQuacks left for their trip fairly early in the morning, so that would hopefully get them to their destination by late afternoon. Of course, in all the planning, Drake had forgotten to account for…

“…morning traffic,” he grumbled. “Of course.”

“This is gonna take us ages to get out of!” groaned Gosalyn.

“Hey, cheer up, you two,” Launchpad persuaded. “It’s not so bad.”

“Really?” Gosalyn asked. “Can you use your crazy driving skills to get us out of this mess?”

“Driving on city streets is a lot different from driving on the highway, Gosalyn,” Drake reminded her. “Besides, Duckburg is just…well, it’s different from other cities.”

“He’s right,” Launchpad agreed. “So for now, we just gotta roll with it.”

Well, every once in a while, the car did gradually move forward. But not by much. Gosalyn decided to just put in her earbuds and play a game on her phone to pass the time. The slow passage of time was even getting to Drake.

“Let’s see-nope. No new e-mails.”

“Babe, that’s the third time you’ve checked your e-mails,” Launchpad noted.

“I’m sorry,” Drake responded. “It’s just all this traffic. Can’t it go any faster?”

“Traffic goes only as fast as it wants to go,” Launchpad told his boyfriend. “It’ll thin out soon. I guarantee it.”

About 20 minutes later, traffic started thinning out, and the car really began moving again.

“Alright!” Drake exclaimed. “Let’s see-we lost about an hour in all that, but we could still get there before…6.”

That was the usual dynamic the superhero duo/couple had when it came to driving-Launchpad was the driver, Drake manned the GPS. Gosalyn-well, she just let them do their thing. She took a break from her game, and just took to staring out the window, other cars passing by, Muse playing through her earbuds. She wondered what it would be like if Launchpad really could maneuver through all those other vehicles on the highway. Was it possible? Probably not. But a girl whose dad’s boyfriend was an insanely brilliant pilot/chauffeur could dream.

Eventually, several hours, several miles of highway, one lunch stop, and one gas refill later, they made it to their destination.

It was a nice little beach house, not exactly a shack, but not overly fancy, either. It was just off of the main drag along the coast, which was convenient.

Drake checked his watch. “5:24. Could be worse.”

“Well, the important thing is, we’re here,” Launchpad put in.

“Finally!” whooped Gosalyn. “Let’s check this place out.”

They quickly got their bags out of the car, and made their way inside.

“Well, this is nice,” Launchpad remarked.

“It’s cute,” Drake added.

“Keen gear,” Gosalyn finished. “I like the digs.”

It took a bit of time to get the two bedrooms set up, but by the time they were done, the three of them were starving.

“Well, since we’re at the beach, I think it’d be appropriate to get seafood our first night here,” Launchpad suggested. “Apparently, there’s a place not too far from here. We could easily just walk.”

“Then ice cream, possibly?” Drake posed, knowing what his daughter’s answer would be.

“Yes,” agreed Gosalyn. “Also, are we gonna have time for the beach tonight? I really want to check that out, too.”

“Alright, alright,” Drake replied. “The sun doesn’t set until after 8, so we won’t be bumping into anything.”

“Dad,” commented Gosalyn. “It’s not like there’s a huge risk of that happening, considering beaches are flat. Mostly.”

Launchpad sighed. “Let’s just go and find some food,” he chuckled.

Well, it was nice to have some time off. He, Drake, and Gosalyn certainly needed it. He couldn’t wait to see how the rest of it would go.

Chapter Text

“So, Violet, how do I look?” Webby asked, twirling around excitedly in the Junior Woodchuck uniform that Violet had brought for her.

“Right now, I would likely be apt to say, ‘With your eyes,’” Violet remarked. “But that would not be the most helpful remark in this situation. I understand that you’re looking for my honest opinion. So I will say, Webbigail, that you look fantastic. The uniform is a rather appropriate look for you.”

“Thanks!” Webby chirped. “I’m so excited that we’re going to be hiking together. Lena’s totally missing out.”

“Oh, you know Lena,” Violet shot back. “She is very much not a “hiking” type of person.”

“Even if she’s not there,” reasoned Webby, as she readjusted her bow alongside her Woodchuck hat, “it’ll be nice to spend time together, just the two of us! I mean, when was the last time we did that?”

“I must say,” Violet answered, bringing a finger to her chin, “it has been a while since it was just you and I together. Do you have everything necessary for a hike?”

“I do!” Webby confirmed. “First aid kit.”

“Yes.”

“Water.”

“Yes.”

“Protein bars.”

“Yes.”

“Climbing gear.”

“Yes.”

“Map.”

“Yes. And I have mine as insurance. Are we both all packed?”

“Yep!” answered Webby.

“Excellent. Then let us be on our way, then.”

After leaving the mansion, Webby and Violet made their way to the bus stop, where they then took a bus to Sandpiper Peak, buzzing all the while about their excursion.

Once they got to the mountain, they easily found the entrance. However, Webby had one thing she wanted to do first.

“What are you doing?” Violet asked her friend. “The entrance is right here.”

“I know,” Webby replied. “I just wanna-ooh, perfect!”

Violet wasn’t sure what Webby was looking for, but she wasn’t going to question it.

“It’s not a hike without a good solid walking stick,” reasoned Webby.

“While a walking stick is not mandatory for our hike,” Violet noted, “I do applaud your enthusiasm in finding a suitable one, Webbigail.”

Webby pressed it down into the dirt, rotating it a bit in her hand. “I like how strong this one is,” she admired. “Plus, it has a good feel. Okay, we can go now.”

Violet smiled to herself a bit. That was Webby for her. Always throwing herself into whatever activity she was engaged in.

It was going to be a while before the two girls reached the top. Not that they minded the extra exertion. With Violet’s Junior Woodchuck experience and Webby’s adventuring experience, they had it all under control.

“Wanna play a game?” Webby asked.

“I would assume you mean a verbal game,” Violet countered.

“Of course.”

“Then yes.”

“Why don’t we do the Alphabet Game?” Webby suggested. “Basically, we figure out different things in a certain category that start with each letter of the alphabet.”

“Ah, yes,” Violet recalled. “I would love that. I’ll pick the category…animals.”

“Ooh! I’ll start,” Webby exclaimed. “Aardvark.”

“Bear,” suggested Violet.

“Cobra.”

“Dromedary.”

“Eagle.”

“Flamingo.”

“Gorilla.”

“Horse.”

“Ibis.”

“Jackal.”

“Kiwi.”

“Lion.”

“Muskrat.”

“Newt.”

“Ox.”

“Panther.”

“Quokka.”

“Raccoon.”

“Shark.”

“Toad.”

“Unicornfish.”

“Vicuña.”

“Walrus.”

“Xenops.”

“Yellowjacket.”

“Zorro.”

The girls played on through countries, food, and plants. They were just about to start on weapons when…

“Drat,” Violet spat out. “I can’t get up this particular face. Not a lot of holds I could use.” She looked up at Webby. “Well, clearly, you had no issue with it.”

“Hmmm…” Webby thought out loud. Violet was down too far for her to grab her hand and pull her up. But maybe- “Okay, get out your climbing axes. I have an idea.”

Violet did as instructed.

“I see a small opening over here,” she reported to Webby. “I can latch onto it with one of the axes.”

With all the strength she could muster, Violet leapt up and hooked the axe into the crevice. She pulled herself up a bit with her free hand.

“Great!” Webby shouted. “Now I’ll use the stick to pull you up.”

“Please do it quickly,” pled Violet. “I do not know how long my arms can hold.”

Webby wasted no time, bringing her walking stick down to Violet’s level. “Tell me when to pull you up,” she instructed, bracing herself against a small dead tree.

Violet grabbed onto the stick with her left hand. Then, weighing the possibility that a single grip point wouldn’t be enough, she moved her right hand to the stick. “Now!” And Webby pulled her up, while Violet used one of her feet to grab the axe. Shortly thereafter, Violet found herself at the top of the rock face. She collapsed into Webby’s arms.

“Thank you. That was a close one.”

“Of course,” Webby answered back.

“As good of a climber as I am,” Violet continued, “I am not invincible. I am no Brooke Rabbitou. She’s incredible at finding holds in any face.”

“Agreed,” Webby noted. “But she’s a professional climber. Even though you’re not at her level, you’re still amazing. They didn’t give you that Mountain Climbing badge for nothing.”

“Fair,” Violet agreed. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, Webbigail. Let’s keep going.”

And so, Violet and Webby continued along dirt paths, around boulders, and inched past trees until they made it to the top.

“Woo!” cheered Webby. “We made it.” She looked around. “What a view.”

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Violet asked rhetorically. “This was rather nice. Thank you for your company today, Webbigail.”

“And thank you for inviting me,” Webby replied. “I’m happy to have gotten the chance to do this.” She pulled her phone out of her pack, looking at Violet expectantly. “Victory photo?”

Violet smiled back. “Victory photo.” And Webby, putting her phone camera in selfie mode, squeezed Violet into her side with her other arm as she snapped a photo, the two girls beaming with pride.

“Send that to me, please,” Violet requested.

Webby nodded. “And Lena.”

Chapter Text

Fethry had been busy all day in his underwater lab with oceanic research. He had a lot to go over, and nothing could distract him. Except maybe an unexpected guest.

“Uncle Fethry!”

Admittedly, Fethry was still getting used to being called that more often by Donald and Della’s kids. He swiveled around in his chair, and found a little girl wearing overalls staring intently back at him.

“Well, hey there, lil’ Daisy,” Fethry greeted. “Wait. Don’t tell me. June, right?”

“Yep!” June replied.

“Anyway,” quizzed Fethry, “what brings you down here?”

“Huey told me you worked down here, and I wanted to see it for myself,” June explained.

“Really? You do?” Fethry asked.

June nodded. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve done a lot of research.”

“Oh, yeah,” brushed off Fethry. “You know, the usual-whales, octopi, various kinds of fish-“

“-krill?” tested June.

“Oh, definitely!”

“Because I’ve heard that you were able to produce giant krill down here!” June exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder.

“Well, that was sort of an accident in its own right,” admitted Fethry. “I did some experimenting on them, and somehow they mutated to colossal size.”

“Do you have any krill down here?” June asked.

“I sure do! Would you like to meet them?”

“Yes!”

Fethry took June over to his tank of krill. June was in amazement over the tiny creatures.

“I can tell each one of them apart,” Fethry explained proudly.

“You can?” June gasped.

“Yep. Point to any one of them, I’ll tell you which one it is.”

June’s finger floated over to a krill near the top of the tank.

“That one’s Fernando.”

“What about this one?” June was now pointing towards the center of the tank.

“Oh, that’s Herb.”

“Impressive!” June marveled. “Besides giant, mutated krill, do you know about any other beyond-normal creatures in the ocean?”

Fethry put a finger to his chin. “Hmmm…let me see. There’s mermaids, for one.”

“Dad told me they visited Mervana last year,” June noted.

“Ah, Don told me about that, too!” exclaimed Fethry. “It would be nice to go for myself. Very chill vibes. A lot of merpeople abound, of course.”

“Too bad it’s so far away,” June added.

Fethry sighed. “You’re right,” he said. There has to be something.”

“Hmmm.” June paced around the tiny metal room, wanting to think of something to help Fethry out. It was when she neared a small bookcase in the corner that something caught her attention.

It looked like some kind of parchment.

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know,” Fethry replied. “It just found its way into my journals, I guess. It has some weird text on it, but who knows what it says.”

“…I think I do,” June spoke up.

“What?!” gasped Fethry.

“I recognize this language,” continued the cyan triplet. “It’s Old Norse. I learned it from Webby and Violet a few months ago. I think I can translate this for you, Uncle Fethry.”

“Amazing!” Fethry exclaimed. “Then translate away, lil’ Daisy-I mean, June.”

June smiled determinedly. She then pulled a small notebook out of her front pocket. “I wrote the figures down to memorize them.”

Fethry decided to work a bit longer while June translated for him. Every once in a while, he looked back over at her, her fingers flying, tongue sticking out to the side in determination.

For June, this was super exciting. She and Fethry might not be able to find an actual creature, but maybe they had discovered the clue to one.

Eventually, she called out, “Got it!”

“Great!” Fethry called back, pushing back from his desk. “What’s it say?”

June cleared her throat, and read the translation from her notebook.

To those sailors that are brave enough:

Here in these waters lies the kraken, the most feared of all ocean creatures.

Powerful enough to capsize even the biggest schooner, I once saw it with my own eyes.

I could swear it had two dozen tentacles on its body, with a razor-sharp beak.

Beware! Lest you wish to be a part of these waters forever.

-Rolf Hundstad, Hammerfest, Norway, 1852

“So the ocean in question would be…the Norwegian Sea,” noted Fethry.

“Yep. Sounds about right,” agreed June.

“That was very impressive, though,” Fethry added, holding out his hand tentatively for a high-five, which June reciprocated. “I didn’t know what those characters were supposed to be.”

“I never actually thought learning Old Norse would come in handy,” June admitted. “Guess I was wrong. Even though this parchment is dated 1852, do you suppose there could actually be kraken out there?”

“If I know Duckburg, anything is possible,” Fethry suggested. “And if I know our family, there’s any number of mystical creatures Uncle Scrooge and the others have found. So maybe that could be something for us to discover.”

“Really?” June asked, practically bubbling with excitement.

“Sure. With my knowledge of the ocean and your curiosity, we could figure out if there’s actually kraken out there,” concluded Fethry.

“I’d love that!” June squeaked, hugging Fethry tightly.

“…We’d have to run that by ol’ Don, though.”

“Right. I know that Dad is all adventured out for now, but I’m sure he’d admire that I’m branching out on my own,” June put in, pulling back.

“Of course. I know he wants the best for you and your sister,” Fethry pointed out. “And it’s not like this is going to be really quick to figure out. We can research it for now, and if we have enough to go off of, maybe then we can try to find it.”

“That’s fine,” June replied. “Hey-Team Kraken?” She put her hand out in front of her.

Fethry laid his hand on top of hers. “Team Kraken.”