Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

May

May realized how big the bedroom was when she turned on the bed. They were way too big for her, both the room and the bed. The whole place was eerily comforting, with its wooden, warm walls and big window that occupied most of the farthest wall. But May was used to tighter spaces, she had been borne in a tube after all, and her new room in the mansion was at least four times bigger than any of her previous rooms in any FOWL base.

The bedroom was so big it felt empty. Other than the two beds, a couple nightstands, and the wardrove May shared with her sister, there was little else of note in the room. She thought it was a waste of space that only the two of them were living in there when there could easily be four or even more people fit in, but it was the place she had been assigned to, and May wasn’t about to contradict Scrooge or Beakley about it.

Besides, if the old duck had so much space to spare then she had no reason to deny him.

May put an arm above her head, and wondered why was she thinking about how big the room was.

Wait.

How long had she been laying there just looking at the ceiling?

The sunlight leaking through the curtains looked intense. It couldn't be too early. And where was June?

The young duck quickly sat on the bed and had a look around. Her sister's bed was made, and the door remained closed. What time was it, anyway? And why had no one woken her?

May felt a pit forming in her stomach.

Was she late?

What if everyone was waiting for her?

Guilt invaded her. May wasn't the type to be late, her training had made sure of it.

It wasn't until she had jumped from the bed and stood in front of the door ready to open it that May realized she wasn't late. She didn't have to train anymore or report to anybody. A blush rushed her cheeks. She shook her head and opened the door, suddenly thankful for being alone.

Once outside May noticed the mansion remained silent. She stood in the hallway trying to catch any voice or noise that felt familiar.

There were none.

Where was everyone?

The mansion was usually a livelier place, how was it that it was precisely the day she woke up late the one that there was no one around? For a moment, May thought that maybe they had all gone to an adventure of some sort, but was quick to discard the idea.

They wouldn´t have left without her, would they?

At least June wouldn't.

After a minute in silence, May decided to go down to the kitchen and look for something to eat, she would most likely bump into someone on the way for sure.

May and her twin had been living in the mansion for more than two weeks now, more than enough time to memorize the hallways that ran through it and learn which were the best routes to transit them with efficiency. Not that she needed to know the layout for any specific reason, but it didn’t hurt to be aware.

May had spent the last weeks getting to know her new and ever-growing family, as it looked like there was no end to the new people that some way or another were related to the McDucks. If it weren’t because she was used to working under pressure, May would have already been overwhelmed from introducing herself and repeating her name over and over to so many strangers.

May knew that two weeks weren't nearly enough to get to know all of them, not really, but she had spoken to all of them at least once or twice and she had formed an image from each and one of them.

From the triplets with their differences and their eccentric mother, to Mr. Scrooge, who had a way of being in control all the time and Mrs. Beakley and her strict way of running the household. As a side note, May had been surprised by that fact alone, as Scrooge seemed content to let the old spy play matron and essentially run the place by herself and leaving no place for arguments, not even from the most stubborn people around, like Donald and Della. That was familiar to May, at least, it brought her a little of comfort.

Still, it was frustrating, every time they’d start talking about something May had no idea of…

It made her feel dumb and useless.

May finally heard voices once she got to the main lobby on her way to the kitchen.

“How much do you want to lose?”

“The last can of cherry pep.”

There was a brief silence.

“Deal.”

May's curiosity was piqued, so she went over to see who was arguing. When she got close, she saw that it was Louie and Della, sitting in the couch facing each other with expressions that reflected absolute confidence on their faces.

May knocked twice on the door frame, suddenly desperate to announce her presence.

“Ehr, good morning” greeted the girl, a little lower than planned.

May watched as their faces lighted up in an instant, and after sharing a quick look they both turned to look at her. Louie let Della speak first, but still waved at May with a lazy smile.

“Hey sweetie, how's your morning?” Della's smile seemed genuine enough, at least, even though May could tell there was something else hiding underneath. “Your sisters are outside helping Donald with the boat.”

May felt embarrassed on the inside. Was she really that easy to read?

“I'm fine, thanks,” said May quickly, and then thought better of it, “a little hungry, though.”

“Oh, let me get you something, hmm?” Della got up from the couch and stretched her arms.

“I thought Mrs. Beakley had you banished from the kitchen?” Called Louie from behind.

Della let out a couple of sarcastic ha, ha, to then give him a sly smile, “you didn't have breakfast either, did you?” Della picked her son up from the couch like he didn’t weight a thing and put him on the floor, softly pushing him outside, “c'mon, I'll make you guys some cereal.”

May followed them to the kitchen and sat beside Louie in the bar while Della looked for some bowls, a song on her lips.

“So, slept in late?” Asked Louie. The sharpest of the triplets was smiling at May as if they were some kind of partners in crime.

“So did you,” May accused back, harsher than intended.

He didn’t seem to mind.

“Exactly, isn't it way better than having to worry about what kind of mortal danger is waiting for you next?”

Well, that was a first one.

“Wait, you don’t like adventuring?”

May couldn’t hear the end of it from everybody else. Webby, the other triplets, Della and Scrooge... They were all ecstatic to go out there and risk their lives again for some reason or the other.

“Well, the treasures are worth it, but most of the time Scrooge just hoards all of it for himself,” said Louie while rolling his eyes.

“Aww, what about all the family bonding?” Came Della’s voice from beyond the counter.

Louie ignored her and continued.

“Poisoned traps everywhere...”

“Ha, barely a challenge!”

“Cursed artifacts you can’t even keep...”

“Great stories for later!”

“And of course, the eldritch horrors that will haunt your nightmares.”

“Worthy foes to be defeated and cement your name as a legend!” Proclaimed Della while standing over the counter in a victory pose. May could only think of how much she looked like Webby when standing like that. She thought it was funny.

“It’s just nice to relax every once in a while without anyone getting hurt, you know?” Finished Louie. Della instantly jumped down from the counter and landed behind them, to then put her arms around him.

“No one’s getting hurt while I’m here,” assured the mother, finally getting him to smile.

Meanwhile, all May could think was how Heron had never given her a hug like. May never receive a hug from Heron at all, now that she thought about it. The best she could have hoped for from her creator was an acknowledging nod, or the much more rare, prideful smile that would form on the black bird’s beak from time to time.

“So, anyway,” Louie continued, directing his words at May again as Della went back to making breakfast as if nothing had happened, “do you ever feel like, hurt, whenever any of your sisters is?”

The sudden break on her train of thought, combined with the absurdity of the question made May’s brain hurt in confusion.

“I’m sorry, what now?”

“Ha! I told you it wouldn’t be like that for them,” came Della’s response, she placed the bowls in front of them, and gave a bite to her hot dog, “pay up.”

“Not fair, that wasn’t a real answer!” Complained Louie. “And please get that thing off my face.”

Just what was going on?

They both turned to look at May expectantly. Seeing her confusion, Della went on to explain as if it were obvious.

“See, I said that because you are twins you would sometimes share your thoughts with June, but Louie argued that triplets can sometimes share pain, which is ridiculous, you synchronize with June all the time, so it must be just like with Donnie and me!”

“That doesn’t prove anything, that happens with me and my brothers too!”

“But it doesn’t happen for the girls and Webby, does it?” Countered Della, and her son could only let out an overdramatic grown in response.

“Both of you are making zero sense right now,” said May as she took a spoonful of cereal, “but if you must really know, it’s closer to what Ms. Della is saying.”

This earned another groan from Louie and a ha! In your face! From his mother.

May giggled at that, and smiled for real for the first time in the day while rolling her eyes.

Even after only spending a short while with them, May wasn’t even close to understanding these two at all, not to mention the others. Not yet, at least, but if she had learned something from her time with Heron and Bradford, it was how to be patient. And even though it was true she was getting bored without anything actually important or interesting going on, at least she was having fun.

May still didn’t trust them as she would her sisters, but who knows? Living here might not be so bad after all.

Louie and Della continued to banter for a while, and May observed them as she ate, having lost track of the conversation.

“Alright, alright, I’ll share my victory pep with you,” said Della at some point as she produced a can, the last one, from one of her pockets.

“Wait, when did you-?” Louie made a confused face, but Della gave him a smug grin and continued.

“If, you ask nicely enough.”

He rolled his eyes at first, but then turned his face around and gave Della a pleading look.

“No,” she laughed, “no puppy faces, who do you think you got them from?”

“Forget it, it’s not worth it,” he slumped back on his seat with a sigh of frustration, clearly changing strategy.

Della was about to say something, but was interrupted by a voice coming from the door.

“Good morning, Della, children,” greeted Daisy, “have you seen Donald?”

“Hey, Daisy,” said Della as she finished her hot dog, “he’s doing something at the houseboat. What you need him for?”

“You too?” Asked Daisy, clearly holding back some other sort of reply, “we were supposed to have a talk with Scrooge at The Bin like, ten minutes ago.”

Della choked for a moment before putting her meal down and taking the can of pep away from Louie’s prying hands with a quick movement. May was surprised at that, when had he gotten so close?

“I’ll get Donald, you get the car, okay?” Sentenced Daisy as she walked away without waiting for a reply, while Della looked for her keys in her jacket as she went for the door.

“We’ll be gone a couple hours,” was the aviator’s goodbye, “be good.”

Louie visibly rolled his eyes.

“Yes, mom.”

May sat straight.

“Yes, Ms. Della.”

“Oh, and Louie?” Called Della once she was at the door. The green triplet looked up from his bowl just in time to catch the can of pep right before it hit him in the face. “Great response time!”

The pilot left without another word before her son could come up with a response.

May watched Louie open the can; he grumbled something and took a sip. She had no idea what he was talking about, but managed to catch a glimpse of a very carefully hidden smile underneath.

They finished their breakfast in silence.

“So,” said May after a while, “any ideas for today?”

“Hmm, let me see,” he opened a hand and started counting, “Mrs. B is cleaning the attic, so she won’t be bossing us around, and the others are leaving for the bin,” he shrugged, “I guess I’ll watch some TV…”

“Woah, yeah, that sounds exciting.”

May couldn’t help the sarcasm leaking out, but again, he didn’t seem to care.

“Hey, breaks around here are rare and short,” said Louie, “and I intend to enjoy this one for as long as it lasts.”

“Now that you mention it, these past weeks have been pretty quiet,” wondered May aloud, mostly to herself, “I was under the impression there was always something going around here.”

Louie turned at her with a mortified expression.

“What, what is it?” Asked May, a little scared for the first time. Judging by his face they might as well have been in immediate mortal danger.

“And you had to jinx it…”

Daisy

“So, we can't even take them outside?” Asked Daisy. She, McDuck and the Duck twins were at Scrooge's office, Donald and Della sat at her sides. “Is that what you’re saying? That they’re not real?”

“Well, they technically weren't born, so the short answer is no,” answered Scrooge uncomfortably, “there are no papers related to them, which means they don't even exist in the system.”

“But this is ridiculous, as if they weren't even people?” Complained Donald. “They are family.” He stated firmly.

Daisy couldn’t believe it. Was a piece of paper really all that was needed to declare a person; a living, breathing being, as non-existent? The memories that such a cold-hearted sentiment brought back made Daisy grind her teeth.

“Naturally, I will apply pressure to make sure they don't encounter any problems in the future and procure all the necessary documents. That's what I pay my lawyers for, after all.” The old duck tried to reassure them, but even then, Daisy could hear a hint of unease in there.

“But it will take time, a few weeks at least, just like when that lass Lena returned.” He sighed, age showing on his face. “And I still need to figure out Webbygail's situation for that matter.”

Right…

“What about her?” Asked Della. “She already has all that, doesn’t she?”

“She did, but the truth of the matter is that she too is a clone. I will need to figure out all the legal matters with Beakley, rewrite the will, and who knows what else.” He looked at Donald. “I’m sorry, but you will have to postpone your journey. That is, if you still intend on taking the girls along when you leave?”

“Of course we are,” said Daisy immediately, while trying not to sound rude, “the girls need time to adjust and learn in a safe environment and, no offense, but the manor seems to be a little chaotic for that.”

“It might be for the best,” agreed the billionaire, and chuckled drily, “and... What about the adoption?”

So, there it was, the elephant in the room. Daisy held her breath.

“That too needs to be resolved, they need a legal guardian, after all.”

Daisy shared a look with Donald, they had already talked about it. It might have been a little too soon, but it seemed like the right choice for everyone.

“If you’re unsure, then I could-”

“We'll take them,” said Donald for the both of them, cutting his uncle off.

Scrooge let a soft smile pry out of his beak, while Della all but jumped from her chair.

“Woo hoo!” Shouted the pilot. “That's great! You have no idea how much it will change your lives for the better.” She shook Daisy's hand with a smile.

“I do know that, Della. I've been a parent for more than ten years,” said Donald, and Della rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, no news there, pal, I meant Daisy,” this time it was Donald who rolled his eyes.

“Whatever...”

Still, Daisy didn’t know what face to make as Della enveloped her in one of her bone crushing hugs. Where was all the sudden familiarity even coming from?

“Very well,” said Scrooge, “I will get my team on it.”

“And I need to get the boat ready,” said Donald, getting up. Daisy got up too, as if she were in autopilot, “a couple weeks, right?”

“Yes, I will keep you updated,” replied McDuck, while looking at some other papers on his desk. “We will need you to sign some papers and all that…”

“Good, that gives me time to prepare the boat for the girls.”

“Wait, that was it?” Asked Della, “why did you even call for me?”

“Because I needed you to help me with the paperwork,” said Scrooge as he handled her a pile of papers, at least half of what had been sitting on his desk, “some people still think you’re dead, lass.”

All Della did was stay there with a blank expression, as if she couldn’t believe how easily she’d been tricked.

“…What?”

“You’ve been postponing it for more than a year now. You didn’t really think you could get away with it for any longer, did you?”

“Oh, come on!”

Daisy saw how Della’s face twisted and looked around, clearly trying to find a quick way out, but her uncle all but read her intentions.

“Don’t you dare drop those! You have no idea how long it took to organize them by date!”

“Why don’t you get a secretary for that, anyway?”

“A waste of money, I don’t need such expenses! Or do you mean to say I can’t handle simple tasks by myself?!”

Donald and Daisy soon said their goodbyes to uncle and niece as quietly as they dared to, and then made their way down to Donald’s car, leaving them to their argument.

Donald drove them to Daisy’s apartment downtown, as she wanted to get some of her stuff to the houseboat as soon as possible, and he had offered to help her. It was a quiet, but quick ride, and Daisy couldn’t stop thinking about the girls. She couldn’t deny she was nervous about it, as if she were somehow joining the family in a much more permanent way.

Well, she was, wasn’t she?

“So, we're really doing this?” Asked Donald once they were in and had settled on her couch, “are you sure this is what you want?”

She couldn’t help but frown.

“What is it, I thought you’d be happy?”

“I am,” he quickly reassured, “it's just… I know how much pressure it can put on you. Parenting, I mean,” Donald took her hand, “and it feels like I forced it on you.”

Daisy considered his words. It was true, she had been put off when he had asked her to take on two unknown little girls out of nowhere. Angry, even. And over a phone call? He had some nerve.

But she had already known what she was getting herself into when she started dating him. Well, at least she thought she did. They had even ended up inside some ancient monster. A Titan, was it? It didn’t matter. And, as a plus, she already knew how much of a good father he was, so at least there was that.

Such a big step, she thought, but it was one she felt it was in the right direction, weirdly enough.

Daisy was suddenly aware of Donald’s eyes on her. He was waiting for an answer. She looked at him, really looked at him; he was sweating, and she could detect the slightest of a tremble on his hands. Of course he was nervous, how could he not be? She saw the fear on his eyes, the fear of rejection.

“This is what I want, you don't need to worry about me.” She said firmly, but gently. “We're together in this, right?”

Donald smiled, relief all over his face. That was better.

“Right.”

How she loved that smile.

“But you’re going to have to help me,” she said quickly, “I don’t have any idea on how to parent anyone.”

That too, was true. She had no siblings, or younger cousins, or any other type of experience on the matter. For as long as she knew it had only been her parents and her, and then, just her. And she didn’t exactly want to follow their example.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” he said, “I mean, if Della can learn…”

She couldn’t help but giggle at that.

“Don’t be so harsh, she tries her best.” Said Daisy, not even sure why she was defending Della.

Probably because; despite how different they were, being new at parenting was something they were about to have in common. It was also the only thing they had in common, probably.

Donald seemed to read her expression, and gently squeezed her hand again.

“You’ll do great, trust me.”

Coming from him it really meant a lot for her, but still she felt nervous at the idea.

“If you said so…”

If only she knew what expected her back at the mansion…

Webby

“So, where are you taking us again?” asked June as she followed Webby through the vents, the others not far behind.

“Well, usually I’d have taken you to the garage the regular way, but the door’s been locked for some time now…”

“I wonder why,” shot Louie from the back.

“Come on, I want to show you guys this place!”

“No offense, Webby,” said Huey, “but we’ve been living on this mansion for three years, I don’t think there’s a place we haven’t been to before.”

“I grew up here,” she said with confidence, “you haven’t seen a thing.”

The red triplet grumbled something in response, but he was so far behind that she didn’t catch it.

Webby continued guiding them for a while until they finally crawled their way to what she knew was the vent leading to the garage, she kicked it open and got out. Webby turned around to help the first of her sisters out, but both June and May jumped out of the vents with precise agility before she could offer any of them a hand. Huh, she’d grown accustomed to the triplets not managing her pace, as she had to go back and help them all the time during adventures. They waited for the others.

“Behold!” Webby extended her arms and presented to them… “The garage!”

“Woo…” Dewey was the only triplet to clap, even if weakly, while Huey gave her an unimpressed look, and Louie just stood there, looking at his phone.

“So…” Started June, but she didn’t seem to know what else to say.

“What’s so special about this place?” Asked May, a little impatiently, “I’ve been here before, you know…?”

Right after saying it, May lost all confidence, and suddenly retreated to stand beside her twin. Webby saw her sharing a look with June, but this one only nodded to whatever May was thinking. Neither said a thing, but the looks of unease were clear on their faces.

But Webby was not one to be so easily discouraged.

Webby had watched her sisters these past weeks, and had noted that despite them being overall friendly with everyone, they were still wary of all the new things and especially of the affection they were now receiving.

And how could they not?

Webby wanted a way for them to feel safer around them, and what better way than to have a little adventure on The Other Bin? It was perfect, and they didn’t even have to leave the mansion!

“Oh, this?” Webby gave a look around, and leaned on Scrooge’s headless statue while trying to imitate how she thought Lena would act, and said in an uninterested tone... “This is just the entrance…”

She took on everyone’s expressions. Dewey looked confused, Louie seemed genuinely curious now, while Huey’s eyes flashed with recognition. But when she saw her sisters, her heart gave a jump. Their faces showed nothing but pure excitement now.

That alone finally convinced her to keep going.

Webby didn’t wait for Huey to say whatever it was he was about to say, and instead opened the way to The Other Bin for them as dramatically as possible.

“Come on!” She waved her hand at them from the doorway.

Louie and Dewey were the first ones in, no doubt on their faces, and were soon followed by May and June, a little slower but excited nonetheless. Huey was the last one. He slowly made his way into the hidden doorway, and as he did, he dedicated Webby a look of unease.

“I don’t think we should be going in here…” But Webby waved Huey’s concerns away and gave him a big smile.

Webby knew there were probably good reasons why Scrooge kept all those artifacts down there, but she simply couldn’t pass on the chance to take everyone into their first adventure with May and June.

“It’ll be okay,” she said, “we’re together!”

Webby then took Huey’s hand and together they descended into the darkness below Killmotor Hill.

Chapter Text

June

June followed her twin down the stairs. They went down below the mansion for what seemed like several stories. Deep, deep under the hill, with nothing but pale lamps to light their path. It was cold underground, enough to remind June of the FOWL base beneath Funzo’s; tight spaces and an unwelcoming atmosphere. This place, however, was much, much deeper.

No one had known of such a place’s existence, or at least, no one had mentioned it on the twin’s briefing regarding the mansion. Not Heron, not Steelbeak, and not The Phantom Blot. Not even Bradford.

It made June feel like an intruder, as if she weren’t supposed to be there. Not only because none of them were actually supposed to be there, but because it felt like something more personal. Like something she wasn’t allowed to pry into. She wasn’t a part of the family, after all.

Oh, they had taken her and her sister in, yes, but simply out of obligation. Maybe Webby was genuine on her attempts to bond with them, but June knew the others were simply forced into the situation, and now they all had to go along with it. For now, at least.

June continued on her way down, until the stairs ended and she found herself standing on a wide, long hall, with countless heavy doors lined on either side. The hall seemed to extend forever in both directions, making June feel small under its tall concrete roof.

How could someone hide such a place like this one? Granted, FOWL had managed to successfully hide its existence and bases, but that was mostly due to Bradford’s manipulations. But somehow, Scrooge McDuck had managed to keep this place a secret, even from his board of directors and his most hateful enemies. Even from his own family.

June had to wonder what other secrets might remain to him.

“It doesn’t count, I’ve been here,” said Huey once they had all made their way down the stairs.

“Oh, but have you actually seen what’s inside?” Asked Webby, and Huey made a face of annoyance, which seemed to encourage her. “Do you even know what’s in here?”

He rolled his eyes at her and looked around for support, but found none, as his brothers were too busy looking at the seemingly endless number of doors that lead to who knew what forbidden treasures.

June gave a look around. There were even more doors above them on a second floor, and those too went in both directions along the hall. Just how many artifacts could one man possess? She tried to take a step forward to inspect one of the doors, but soon found May was holding her hand, so they remained behind the others. Her sister wasn’t looking around as June was, though, instead she was focused on the exchange in front of them.

“I thought Scrooge kept all valuables at the Bin?” Asked Dewey. “No exceptions?”

“These are not simply fancy jewels, Dewey, this is where Uncle Scrooge keeps all the dangerous stuff,” said Huey while looking at Webby, but she ignored him.

“They are not necessarily dangerous, Huey,” argued June’s sister, “unc- dad doesn’t like magic, so many of these are bound to simply be things he doesn’t like or understand, and he prefers to keep them away.”

“You’re assuming that.”

For once Webby remained silent. June looked at the nearest door and hesitated. Did Webby not even know what was behind it? Why bring them here, then?

“I have to say, Webbs,” said Louie as he stood before another of the massive doors, “this is pretty unexpected coming from you.” He went to open it. “So, behind door number one… A million dollars for Louie!”

Or certain death? Wondered June.

“Wait, not that one!” Cried Webby as she caught his hand just before he could pull the handle. “Trust me, you don’t want to fight a unicorn indoors.”

“Unicorn?” Asked Dewey, excited.

“We haven’t seen one of those yet,” Huey had his guidebook out already, as if he hadn’t been arguing about it a minute ago, “not a real one, at least.”

June felt a pull on her hand. May was looking at her, and June caught her meaning. She leaned closer to hear what her sister would whisper.

“Hey, what’s a unicorn?” She asked so only June could hear her.

June could only tilt her head in response; she had no idea.

“Something with a single horn?” She asked back, her best guess.

May frowned.

“Like a rhino?”

“But why not call it a rhino?” This time it was June’s turn to ask, confused.

“I don’t know.”

They shared a look and chuckled nervously, and then June understood her sister’s train of thought was similar to hers. Was Scrooge even allowed to have a rhino down here? Why would he even have one here, anyway? What if they got in trouble? But June couldn’t bring herself to ask Webby any of these questions. It all sounded really dumb in her head.

In any case, soon, the triplets’ conversation had taken a turn.

“I wonder how much is the horn worth…”

“Dude…” The older triplets looked at Louie in disbelief.

“What?” He shrugged as he retreated, smiling innocently, “don’t tell me you couldn’t use the extra camera for your show?” He asked, and Dewey’s eyes glinted with greed. “And what about a brand-new telescope? I know you’re still using mom’s old one… It’s probably older than we are…”

This time it was Huey who struggled uncomfortably under his brother’s smile. But it only lasted a second, as the next moment the red triplet was arguing with the green one about the moral implications. Dewey took no time to join in, and soon, all three were locked in some pointless debate.

Webby let out a frustrated sigh, and finally turned to look at the twins.

“Sorry about this,” she said, “they can be like that sometimes, they argue about everything, really.”

“Wait,” said May, looking at Webby with doubt, “is it really okay for us to be here?”

June couldn’t help but agree with her sister, and soon added…

“Won’t Mr. Scrooge be mad about it?”

She really didn’t want to give a bad impression.

“What? No!” Webby tried to reassure her. “We do this kind of stuff all the time!”

And what about the others? Thought June. Della? Donald? Daisy? Agent 22? June wasn’t convinced, and she could feel, judging by the tug on her hand, that neither was her sister. Webby seemed to catch on that from her expression, but before she could say anything else, one of the triplets yelled something at one of the others, and then all three were wrestling in the ground.

“Hey, stop that!”

Webby joined in and grabbed one of them by the shirt and pulled, trying to separate them, but all she got for her efforts was getting pushed back. Clearly frustrated, she twisted the closest arm she could grab, and seemed ready to start punching away the next second.

“Maybe we should go back…” It looked like May had finally had enough, as she turned away from them, still holding June’s hand.

She followed.

“Wait!” Called Webby from behind.

June saw her sister let go of the triplets and gave a step towards them, but as soon as she turned her back on the boys, the one previously grabbed sneaked away and ran down the hall while calling something about getting there first, the other two not far behind.

Webby didn’t even look behind, and ran to catch up with May and June just as they were about to go up the stairs.

“Don’t you guys want to see this place? I know you’ll love it!”

May gave the oldest sister a conflicted look, and Webby took her free hand while smiling.

“Come on, don’t you trust me?”

“Of course we do, but…” June mirrored her twin’s expression, “It’s just a little weird to sneak around Mr. Scrooge’s treasures, okay?”

Webby’s face was one beyond confused.

“What’s so terrible about it?” She asked, “I told you, we do it all the time!”

“What if he gets the wrong idea?!” May blurted. “What if he gets so angry that he kicks us out?!” And soon covered her bill with a gasp.

June saw how the realization slowly hit Webby’s face.

“What…?” Said Webby.

June tried to think of something to soften the blow, but she couldn’t really come up with anything at the moment. May spoke for both of them, really.

Then, before anyone else could say anything, there was a terrified shout from where the triplets had run off to. All three of the girls turned to look, but all they could see was the green triplet running towards them, face all pale.

“Louie!” Called Webby, irritated, but all he did was hide behind her.

“What’s wrong?” Asked May.

“It’s coming!” Was all he answered while trying to catch his breath, and pointed into the darkness.

Soon enough, more screaming came, as well as a thunderous crash, and then the other two boys came running too. They looked just as scared.

“What did you do?!” Demanded Webby.

“It was Dewey’s fault; he opened the door!” Called Louie.

“Hey, you were the first one in!”

“It doesn’t matter-” Began Huey, but he was interrupted by a loud stomp that made them all shake on their feet.

There was something there, something big for sure, although June couldn’t distinguish anything but a vague shape clouded in the darkness.

Stomp. Stomp.

It approached, ever so slowly.

“Come on, we have to go, now!” Huey tried to push May and June, who were closest to the stairs, towards them.

Stomp. Stomp.

“But what is it?!” Demanded May, no longer willing to wait.

June agreed, they needed to know what they were facing. She felt a surge of adrenaline. They were clearly in danger, but she was confident enough on her skills. And her sister was beside her. Surely, they could face whatever that appeared from down the hall?

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

At that moment, the figure finally stepped into the light.

An enormous silhouette, one she immediately recognized. Taller than a bigfoot, its stone skin as black as night glinting under the pale light of the lamps, and a pair of wings hanging from its back. Blood red eyes under a winged helm, and sharp claws for feet and hands, as if the gigantic axe it carried wasn’t intimidating enough.

The Gargoyle stood there for a moment, analyzing them, before letting out a deafening roar as it stepped forward.

“Quickly, up the stairs!” Again, it was Huey the one trying to direct them to safety. “It won’t follow us there!”

But June didn’t dare let her eyes wander from the creature. Part of her was amazed at the sight, while the other, more practical side, was aware that the moment she turned, the creature was most likely to charge them. She felt May letting go of her hand, and watched Webby adopting a defensive stand in front of the group.

“You want to fight it?!” Called Louie from the foot of the stairs. “What am I saying, of course you want to-”

But before he could continue with his rambling, the Gargoyle jumped as high as it could underground and extended its wings. They all looked up, and June knew what was about to happen. She quickly grabbed the nearest triplet and ducked to the side, pulling him along and making herself as small as possible beside one of the doors. June trusted her sisters to get away on their own.

June heard a loud crash, and when next she opened her eyes, she saw that one of the clawed feet had landed right where she’d been standing a couple seconds before. The axe however, had been completely engraved on the stairs.

June heard a moan beside her, and realized the triplet she had grabbed had been Louie, who was now holding the back of his head. She looked around, trying to assess the situation.

Everyone seemed fine, having avoided the creature’s attack one way or the other. June noted that May was close, but the Gargoyle was closer, and it moved faster than anticipated. It violently shook the axe out from the metallic stairs, and then spun around to look for its targets.

But before it could even rise its stone weapon for another strike, Webby jumped between its legs and kicked it on the knee, making it stumble and put the axe down. She was quickly followed by Huey and Dewey, who also attacked the other knee.

June was on her feet on a second, but just as she was about to join the fight, Louie grabbed her wrist and held her close.

“Wait!” He cried, and she had to restrain herself from pulling away when she saw the look of terror on his face. She was about to reprimand him; their best chance was to attack together! But the answer came on its own before she could say a word.

Stomp. Stomp.

Something came from behind them; another Gargoyle, this one carrying a sword, but otherwise looking much the same as the first one. June turned fully, intent full on facing this new threat.

This Gargoyle didn’t roar at them, or leaped into the air. Instead, it raised its sword above its head with both hands, before letting it down with so much strength it pierced the floor where it landed. The hit forced June to duck away again, and as she got up, she saw May mimicking their older sister, launching herself against an unprotected stone knee.

But this Gargoyle was expecting such an attack, as it moved a hand away from the sword and struck May on midair with its back side, sending her flying against a wall. June cried in dismay; she had never seen her sister get hit by something as large as the monster before them, and time seemed to move slower for her as she saw her twin fall.

June was paralyzed. Her sister was usually the one with the initiative, and now she was lying unconscious on the cold floor. Should she go to her? But her training dictated she dealt with the threat in front first!

She didn’t know what to do.

She watched as the Gargoyle slowly took the sword in both hands again and pulled it free from the floor, and June felt real terror for the first time as those hateful, red eyes settled on her. She wanted to move, but her body would not respond. Could she even beat this thing on her own with no weapons of her own?

The Gargoyle took a step forward, and this time it retracted the sword, preparing a thrusting attack. But, luckily for June and her sister, someone else took action.

“June, out of the way, now!” A voice ordered, and it was as if a spell had been broken. She obeyed immediately.

June moved almost instinctively, sidestepping the sword and avoiding the attack, to then jump in between the creature’s legs, as she had seen Webby done before her. She elected, however, to follow a different approach, and decided to use the Gargoyle’s momentum against it, getting behind it and kicking it behind one of its legs. The stone monster had over reached, and, combined with its leg failing it, crashed down on its face, safely away from anyone.

June felt pride at the sight, but quickly came to her senses and looked around for her sister, as she knew the Gargoyle would eventually pick itself up. But when she turned, she saw Louie was already helping May up. The yellow duck leaned on the green one for support, her eyes closed, but thankfully, she wasn’t bleeding and looked, at least, partially conscious.

June tried to approach and help them, but Louie gave her a serious look, one she’d never seen on the green triplet before.

“You distract that thing, I’ll take her somewhere safe,” he ordered, “and follow me.”

A part of June wanted to refute him, to look after her sister and get her out of that cold, dark place. But another part was also glad for the expression on his face. It gave her a sense of peace and security, and she decided to trust him. She nodded at him and then turned again; this time ready to face the creature.

“Don’t waste time attacking it, just avoid it and lead it away from the others,” advised Louie from behind her.

The Gargoyle was already standing tall in front of her, but now she knew what she had to do.

“Alright, lead on.”

There was no answer, but she didn’t need one.

The creature didn’t waste a moment. It moved its sword to the side as it stepped forward, ready to strike her down with a brutal slashing attack. She waited until the last moment to safely jumped backwards, completely taking the monster by surprise, as it had already been preparing a counter for her in case she decided to jump in again. June smiled at it, and it only made the thing angrier, roaring in response and stomping its way towards her, making sure there was no way for her to jump back again.

It then launched a series of slashes that, while strong and precise, were still pretty slow for June, as she managed to dodge them one by one. She even got in a few times, but she kept herself from attacking, and instead played it safe and moved ever backwards.

June risked a look at the others, as they were still fighting the first Gargoyle, moving around it and attacking it at times, although the first creature was now using its claws as well, wildly slashing around itself in an attempt to catch one of its attackers. At least no one seemed injured.

And so, June lured her own Gargoyle away from them, as there was only one direction Louie could have taken. Down the hall she went, avoiding slash after thrust, as if she were dancing, until a voice called from beside her…

“Come on, get in!” Louie was standing inside a room, the heavy door partially closed so he could barely fit through.

June, guessing his intent, made it so the next attack from the Gargoyle landed on the opposite side of the hall, away from the door. She jumped again between its legs and ran at the door, leaping over Louie as he pushed the door. She landed and turned in time to see him lock it, and not a second passed before the whole room shook under the Gargoyle’s enormous sword. She held her breath for a moment, as the creature on the other side continued to bang against the door, but the sturdy thing wouldn’t bulge.

“It’s okay, I don’t think it can get through, even with that sword.” Said Louie as he slowly backed away from the door. Still, his eyes didn’t move away from it as he did so.

“Are you sure?” Asked June.

“I mean, if it was enough to keep them in…” He said, and June looked at him with wide eyes.

“In?”

She turned around and looked at the room they had ended in. There was nothing there, save for two pedestals made of black stone, the same as the Gargoyles, and another, smaller one, right in between them, with a faded black diamond atop it.

She thought about arguing with him about his choice of hideout, but decided against it. At least he had done something, unlike her, and it was not like opening another door would’ve been any better. She then went to her sister. May was sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the walls.

“Are you hurt?”

“My arm hurts, but I don’t think it’s serious,” she said, and showed it to June. It was bruised, but as she said, not too bad.

“Alright,” June turned and looked at Louie, “now what?”

“No idea.” He shrugged.

“Do you think that thing has anything to do with them?” June pointed at the diamond.

“Oh, I’m sure of it,” he said, “I’m just not sure if moving it might make things worse.”

June approached the pedestal to give the diamond a closer look. There was nothing else. No instructions, no descriptions, nothing.

“What are we supposed to do with it?” Asked May from her place.

“No idea,” repeated Louie, “Uncle Scrooge always locks things away without telling anyone a thing about them.”

The banging continued.

May and June shared a look, and then said in unison…

“Well, that’s just great.”

Donald

Donald’s patience was wearing thin by the time they made it to the mansion. It had taken them a lot more time than initially thought to pack all of Daisy’s stuff on the car, and then there had been a traffic jam, and then one of his tires had all but exploded on the way up Killmotor Hill.

So, it was turning into one of those days…

He breathed slowly as he drove them up the hill, trying to calm himself. There’s no need for a scene, he thought. Finally, the automated doors appeared in front of them, and just a couple minutes later, they had parked at the front door of the mansion.

It was quiet.

Mrs. B must have the children occupied, he thought, really hoping for a good reason for all the silence.

“Have Scrooge and Della not come back yet?” Asked Daisy from behind him. “I thought they’d be here sooner.”

“That pile of papers looked big…”

“Yeah.” She looked around. “And where is everybody?”

“I can’t wait to find out…” He said, noting how the lights were off. He made an effort to relax, and helped her bring her stuff all the way to the houseboat.

On the way there he couldn’t help but notice all kind of details; as his mind was trying to figure out where the kids might be. Old habits die hard, after all. The tv was off, and there were no weird smells coming from the kitchen. The whole place was neatly clean, and there were no tracks on the carpet or broken windows. Everything seemed fine.

It only made him more anxious.

Eventually they made it to the houseboat and settled in.

“Should we make dinner for them?” Asked Daisy.

“Mrs. B probably has it covered,” he said.

Daisy looked around suspiciously, and Donald wondered if she was that confused on what to do now. But it seemed she had other ideas, as the next moment she produced a bottle of wine from one of her bags and got a couple glasses. She moved around the houseboat as if she already knew where everything was located.

“Let’s go outside,” he said, trying to catch up to her pace, “it’s a nice night.”

And it was. There were no clouds on the sky, and there were even some stars out there, despite Duckburg’s light pollution. Not to mention the full moon in all its glory. Donald took a moment to look at it.

“Is there really a whole city up there?” Asked Daisy as she sat beside him and handled him a glass.

“Oh yeah, very big and advanced, actually.”

He tried to remember anything to tell her about it, but his time on the moon had been less than pleasant, and he didn’t want to talk about cold prisons and mad schemes. He took a testing sip.

“It’s called Tranquility.”

“Really?” She chuckled, “one would think them more peaceful, then.”

“Oh, but they are,” he said, “most of them are very gentle, actually.”

“I wouldn’t know,” she said, lower, “I spent most of the invasion hiding at the mall. Didn’t want to get a laser to the face.”

He hadn’t known that.

“I missed most of it, too,” he said, and felt a shudder climbing up his back at the memory of the island.

A gentle breeze blew its way towards them from the sea, comforting him. Sailing was his thing; it had taken him a long time to figure it out while growing up, but the day he bought the houseboat had been one of the happiest days of his life. Everything was simpler, then, before The Spear of Selene.

Daisy leaned into him, and he felt his stress be blown away, as only her presence could manage. He put his glass on the deck and placed his arm around her. He was really looking forward to their journey together. Money might become a problem, but if there was one thing Donald knew, it was how to survive. He had made it on his own for ten years, and with extra mouths, and he had survived the dangerous trip to the moon, and the maddening loneliness on the island. He could do this too…

But I’m not on my own anymore, he thought.

He wouldn’t be alone again.

His heart rate slowed…

And then he saw it.

It was but a fleeting glance, but he could have sworn the wine on the glass trembled. He frowned and fixed his gaze on the wine, waiting. For a moment nothing happened, but then the glass trembled again, sending vibrations through the liquid.

One, two, three times. And then a stop, only to start again a few seconds later.

He looked at the water on the pool, and didn’t have to wait for long before noticing that it too, was shaking. It wasn’t a tremor, that was for sure, it followed a pattern too specific to be one. His frown deepened.

What could be causing it?

Were the kids involved?

No, of course they were involved, who else could it be? He let out a tired sigh. Hadn’t Scrooge placed a lock on that door?

Sure enough, there was a commotion coming from the garage just a few moments later.

Crashes. Broken glass. Screaming.

Donald let out another sigh, and chuckled, he gave the moon one last look and took his time to drink what was left of his wine.

Of course, it was never gonna last…

Chapter Text

Daisy

It all happened so fast she wasn’t sure she had all the details. One moment she was relaxing with Donald on the Houseboat, and the next he had jumped away as if she were infected with something. He ran away from her like crazy.

“Hey!” She called, “what’s your problem?!”

Seriously, when she thought they were having a moment! He turned around and looked at her, surprised for a second, and then, with a straight face yelled…

“Call Scrooge, he has to come home now!”

And then he turned and ran again.

“What?!”

Daisy was more confused than angry, but still considered leaving for a moment. Then she remembered the screaming from a moment ago. Right, he always got like that whenever the kids got involved in something dangerous.

She took her phone out, ready to call Scrooge, and calmed herself down.

“Wait a second,” she said out loud, “I don’t have his number!”

Of course she didn’t! Why would she even have the richest duck in the world’s private number?! This family… It made her head hurt. Then she got an idea; Daisy remembered how after they had all come back from the desert Della had all but demanded they exchanged phone numbers.

“If you’re gonna leave with my brother it’s only natural we are in contact, right?!” Della had asked, like a maniac.

Daisy had found no reason to deny it, if only to get Della off her back, then. She agreed, but before she could ask the number, Della had thrusted her phone on Daisy’s hands. She had thought these ducks were really crazy, but, as she got Della’s phone, she had seen there were no other contacts there.

“Everything’s changed so much,” had said Della, awkwardly pointing at the smartphone, “I don’t know how to use these yet…”

Couldn’t she ask one of her children for help? Had thought Daisy, but she simply smiled as politely as she could and typed. The memory was weird in her head, but there was no time to think on it. She found the number on the contacts list and called Della.

The beeps passed. Then Nothing.

She called again, only this time the call was all but denied from the other side.

“Come on!” Daisy was about to lose her patience, but then heard a loud crash in the distance, followed by more screaming. “Donald!”

She ran around the pool and headed in the same direction he had ran off to. When she turned the corner, she saw… Well, she didn’t exactly know what she saw, but it couldn’t be good. Some sort of creature swinging an axe around. But what was important was how Donald was currently sitting on its neck, wildly attacking the helmeted face in anger. Some of the kids were cheering him on.

Daisy looked at her phone and called Della again. She better pick up this time! She thought.

There was a beep, and then she heard Della’s voice.

“Listen buddy, I don’t know how you got this number, but you better stop calling or I’ll have to find you and teach you a lesson in privacy!” She called from the other side, to Daisy’s incredulous face. “What? No, of course I don’t know who this is! Wait a second unc-” She seemed to be talking to someone else. There was a struggle on the other side, and another voice said, “you can even see the name on the screen!” Then more struggling, and then, finally... “Oh, hey, it’s Daisy! How are you doing, are you and Donald having a nice night?” Asked Della as if nothing had happened.

“Find me and beat me up, uh?” Said Daisy. “You better get your ass here before this monster kills someone, or so help me!” She hung up the call before she said anything she might regret later.

Daisy focused on the fight in front of her, and saw that the kids, Webby, Huey and Dewey, were about to get in the danger zone to help Donald.

“No, don’t go near it!” She called.

She knew they were used to this kind of stuff, but still, Daisy felt compelled to keep them as far away from danger as possible. To their credit, the kids actually listened and backed up a little.

“But we have to help Uncle Donald!” Complained Dewey.

“We can use the gardening hose to tie its legs and bring it down,” proposed Huey, and just like that all three ran into the garage, leaving Daisy standing there, again not knowing what she was supposed to do.

She looked back at Donald. Should she join him? He seemed to be doing just fine on his own and, even though he didn’t seem to be doing much damage to the stone creature, it sure looked like he was pissing it off. It roared and screeched as it clawed at its own face, trying to get the duck off, but Donald kept evading it. The kids returned.

“Webby you tie its legs,” said Huey.

He passed the hose to his brother, who in turn passed some of it to Daisy. She immediately took it, and Webby bolted away the next second. Just when Daisy was about to yell at her to come back, the girl maneuvered around the creature’s legs and expertly tied the hose around them. The thing, busy as it was with Donald on its back, didn’t even noticed the girl.

Daisy had only a couple opportunities to witness Webby in action in the past. Is she always this fierce? She thought. What about May and June? Is this typical behavior for all three of them? Daisy’s head started spinning.

“Pull!” Huey’s yell brought her back, and Daisy pulled along with the others, somewhat in autopilot.

The effect was instantaneous. The monster lost its balance and fell flat on its face on the grass. Donald, seeing the floor getting closer and closer, jumped at the last moment and landed in front of it, and immediately went to hold one of its arms in place. Webby jumped at the other, and Daisy watched, in total dismay, as the creature tried to swings its arms to shake them off. Donald managed to keep his in place for the moment, but Webby was simply swinging in the air along with the arm, laughing as if it weren’t some creature of legend the one she was currently clinging to!

“Now what?!” Asked Dewey out loud. Daisy had no answer. She didn’t even know how she ended up in this situation!

Suddenly, there was a crash of metal against metal, and at the next moment Scrooge’s limousine appeared on her field of vision, madly dashing towards the creature. The beast had no time to prepare, and the vehicle crashed right in between its helmet’s horns, finally putting it to sleep.

Everything was quiet then, and Daisy held her breath, expecting the creature to simply stand up again. But it didn’t. Instead, the next sound was that of Della’s voice.

“Woah, Uncle Scrooge, I thought you had those destroyed?” She asked as she got out from the wrecked car.

“I said I took care of them,” countered Scrooge as he dusted off his coat.

“Ohhh, I thought that was code for disposing of them.”

Scrooge looked around, assessing the situation.

“Launchpad, tie it off,” he ordered, “the wings too, Della, help him.”

Then he turned to them, and asked…

“Everyone okay?”

Then came a collection of various yeah, and sure.

“Good,” he said, and adjusted his hat, “now, would you mind explaining how you got The Cursed Twin Gargoyles of Vienna out in the open?!”

Silence.

Hold on, thought Daisy. Twin Gargoyles? Was this never going to be over?

“Wait, where are the others?!” Yelled Donald, “where are Louie, May and June?!”

May

Her arm was burning, her head hurt, and her eyes felt heavy. But even then, May refused to complain about it; it wasn’t anything she couldn’t take, anyway. And besides, May didn’t want to worry her sister any more than she already was.

Bang.

And there was that too, of course.

The door held, for now, although the Gargoyle had not stopped its attacks. Not even for a moment. It kept thrusting and thrusting its sword, set on bringing the door down and root them out. Would it even tire itself out? It was made of stone, after all, so that didn’t seem very likely to May.

Bang.

And so it kept going and going. One would think that they’d have gotten used to it by now, but every time the sword fell, May found herself tensing up. At any moment now, the door would give in, and be sent flying across the room. And then they’d be trapped in there with that thing.

How was she to face it? She could barely move her arm!

May tried to think of her training, but all she could remember was Heron’s indifferent face, insisting that a good agent had to keep fighting, no matter the odds. She wondered what Webby would say at a time like that, but nothing came to mind, other than her bright smile. It gave her some warmth, at least, but it was not precisely useful at the moment.

Bang.

At least they had made it there. Not that she’d been of much help, anyway. May looked at her sister, who seemed to be thinking much the same as her, looking impatiently at the door, all while maintaining her stance. She looked tense, too, but nowhere as much as May.

Bang.

Then she looked at Louie, but he was only looking at the diamond with curiosity. May huffed in frustration; he should be getting ready to fight! What use could it possibly have to them? But no, he was just standing there, with his back turned towards the enemy. Did he not know you were never supposed to give your back to your enemy in a fight?! That had been one of the first lesson May had gotten, and she took it to heart.

Bang.

And that stupid banging wouldn’t stop! Why wouldn’t it stop?! Her head rang like a bell with every strike.

Bang.

“I can’t take it anymore!” She yelled, and got up, “let’s just open the door and fight it!”

Bang.

“Are you actually crazy?” Asked Louie from his place, not even rising his voice, and May gave him a look of contempt. At least she wanted to do something! May gave a step forward, but lost her balance and almost fell to her knees.

“May, don’t!” June was at her side in a moment.

Bang.

June put an arm around her, and May, despite still wanting to go out and fight, couldn’t help but lean into her for support. Nothing else seemed to offer any kind of warmth or support in the room, so she clung to her sister.

“Please, you’ll only hurt yourself,” continued June, but May didn’t want to hear it.

Bang.

“I don’t get it,” said May, almost out of breath, and pointed at Louie, “you’re supposed to be the cowardly one,” she said simply. “Why are you not scared in the slightest?!”

Louie only looked at her, puzzled, as if he were only amused by May’s outburst.

“Well,” he started, head tilted, “because this is usually around the time when Uncle Donald or Mom show up to save us.” He said calmly. “And even if they don’t, I need to keep a clear mind to think of a plan. I’ll panic later, when it actually comes in.”

May could only stand there, dumbfounded.

“…What?”

Maybe the fear had him in shock or something like that? But then Louie smiled at May, as if he were mocking her. She’d been angry, but he kept talking.

“Yeah,” he said, completely relaxed, a sharp smile on his beak, “I mean, can you still hear the banging?”

The banging? What banging?

May realized the door shook no more. There were no sounds coming from the exterior. Nothing at all. The door was pretty heavy, isolating any sounds from the exterior other than the sword hitting it, and now that it was gone, she couldn’t pick up anything on the other side.

They all stood there for a minute in silence, waiting. Had it finally given up on them and decided to go after the others? May felt ashamed. Was she so useless that she’d allow the Gargoyle to go after Webby?

And then the door opened from the outside with a loud screech. Only it didn’t fly all the way to the wall. Instead, it opened slowly, gently. Beyond the doorframe a head appeared, white feathers and a yellow beak, instead of black stone skin and hateful scarlet eyes.

“Louie, girls, are you okay?” Asked Donald as he stepped in, his face filled with worry as May had never seen it. He looked all kinds of tired, too, but still he moved forward with firmness, as if his clothes weren’t all ragged from the fighting.

And he’s worried for us? Thought May, almost not believing it. He should look in a mirror!

But he was. He scanned them all one by one; first Louie, then June, and then, when his gaze settled on May and their eyes connected, she saw it. She saw his worry was genuine. He meant it, for some weird reason he actually did mean it.

She couldn’t help the tears that came next. Not tears of sadness, no, but of relief, or at least she thought so. What was that feeling? She couldn’t stop crying. Why? Why couldn’t she stop? Not even as Donald picked her up and held her in a tender embrace did she manage to stop her tears.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here,” said Donald, and turned for the door, where May caught a glimpse of the Gargoyle on the floor with Della standing on top of it like a victorious conqueror, panting.

But that seemed far to May, as she held onto Donald and hid between his arms on instinct.

May didn’t remember much after that. She certainly didn’t remember being carried up the stairs, nor falling asleep on Donald’s arms. She awoke on her bed sometime later, only this time she wasn’t on her own. The older duck was sitting on a chair beside her.

“Feeling better?”

May slowly sat on the bed and touched her head, the pain had toned down by a lot by now, but still Donald offered a pack of ice. She accepted it. Her arm felt better too. Had it even hurt that much in the first place?

“Thank you.”

Donald nodded with a slight smile, and May looked around, expecting her sisters to be there, but there was no one else in the room.

“Where are the others?”

“Your sister is helping Daisy in the kitchen, and they boys are with Della,” said Donald, “supposedly receiving a lecture, though I seriously doubt it.”

May couldn’t help but let out a giggle at the idea of Della Duck, angry at her children and lecturing them. She really tried, but couldn’t really piece it together.

“And Webby?”

“She’s with Scrooge,” he said, “he wanted to talk with her.”

It dawned on May. So they had gotten in trouble.

May felt dumb. Of course they had! And now Webby was going to be blamed, and them… Who knew? She wanted to apologize, but knew better than to ask for forgiveness. What would be the point, anyway? Heron always said that when you messed up there was no point in apologizing for it, it was already done, so just take the punishment and say nothing.

Still, it couldn’t hurt o try.

“I’ll be better, I promise,” said May, a knot on her throat. That didn’t sound good enough to her, it certainly wouldn’t have been enough for Heron. May tried not to, but looked at him all the same, expecting nothing but disappointment and anger on his eyes. But even as she tried, she found none of that.

Donald’s face was filled with concern.

“You are worried about not being wanted here,” he nailed it, “why do you think that?”

May said nothing, and averted her gaze away from him.

“June reacted pretty much the same,” he continued, “I’ll tell you what I told her; that you are both welcome here.”

She didn’t understand why he was making those questions. Couldn’t he just get straight to the punishment? May wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.

“I hope you know that, and-”

He stopped then, and got up and walked towards the door. He quietly approached it, and when he was close enough, he suddenly opened it. The eavesdroppers fell gracelessly in front of him.

“Boys, didn’t I teach you better?” He asked, although May could detect a hint of humor in his tone, “where is your mother?”

They didn’t say a thing, and instead all three pointed in the same direction at the same time, down the hall.

“You little traitors!” Called Della from far away.

“Of course,” Donald sighed, “why are you even here?”

“You shouldn’t blame May and June, it was our fault,” Dewey almost jumped in, chest puffed out, “I opened the door.”

“They didn’t even want to come down,” claimed Huey.

“Yep, what they said,” said Louie.

“I wasn’t going to ground them, anyway,” said Donald, “but thank you for coming forward.” He said, and May could see the amusement on his face. “Now, about your punishment,” and with that he pushed them all out the room, to a series of groans and complaints.

He got them out and, as he closed the door behind him, directed a last glance at May. But she was beyond shocked to notice.

She hadn’t expected them to stand up for her and her sister, but then again, Louie had been the one to help her up down there, right? And the others had jumped into action too, hadn’t they? Maybe, they did really care for them, even if only a little?

She felt cold, then, and curled up on the bed and closed her eyes. She still felt tired, but it picked at the back of her mind.

She had misjudged them, all of them.

She had a lot to think about.

Scrooge

The garage was completely destroyed. Not only the door, but also countless boxes and all sorts of stuff that he didn’t really remember putting there. It was a miracle that with all the smashing there had not been a second awakened monster, or ghost, or aberration to deal with.

At least he knew who to call to fix it, but it was not going to be cheap. It never was.

Not only that, but now one of the kids was injured as well, after they had gotten into one of the only places they weren’t supposed to get into. May wasn’t seriously hurt, thankfully, but the lass looked frightened enough. And now it came down to Scrooge to handle it.

He looked across his desk, only this time there were no adult ducks sitting in front of him discussing legal matters. Instead, his daughter sat now across him.

His daughter.

Was he ever going to get used to that? Well, if he ever did, it didn’t seem like it’d be soon enough. Webby sat there in complete silence, not daring to look Scrooge in the eye.

This was a first for him. He’d handled punishment before. Many times, actually, too many to count. To Donald and Della when they were young, and then again when they were not so young as well. To a long list of employees through the years for a wide number of reasons, with varying degrees of punishment. Even to the triplets, in the rare occasion Donald or Beakley, and now Della, wouldn’t be there to take up the responsibility.

But never to his daughter.

His daughter.

It still sounded weird, even in Scrooge’s head. As a matter of fact, he had always assumed he’d never had children of his own. Why, with so many nephews and nieces who would need any of those? He was too busy! His adventuring, and later on his business, left no time for such things, not to mention a lack of a partner. Goldie was as close as it ever got, but even that was a far stretch. They never settled down for more than a few days, after all.

There was also the fact that whenever Webby needed discipline it would be up to Beakley, but she was nowhere to be found at the moment. Scrooge would be worried for the old spy, but he knew better than that. If she was absent, then it was more than likely for a very good reason.

How should he handle it? What would Beakley do? Would she be against Scrooge handling it instead of her? Should he treat Webby as he always did any other of his nephews? Should he treat her different?

Would that be wrong?

Scrooge hadn’t felt this lost in a long while, probably since the time Donald and Della came to live with him, permanently. Back then he had to figure it on his own as well. Who was going to lend him some advice? Matilda didn’t have children either, and his relationship with his father wasn’t of that kind. And Hortense was gone, then. Of all the things they never talked about…

Scrooge shook such thoughts away. There was no time to be lost on regrets. It didn’t matter, anyway. He didn’t have any help back then, and he certainly didn’t need it now. He was Scrooge McDuck! He could handle it.

Scrooge decided he’d first listen to whatever Webby had to say for herself, as he usually did when it came to his family. It had worked so far, after all.

“I’m so sorry!” Webby finally burst.

Not the first time I hear that one, thought Scrooge. Although the tears on her eyes looked a lot more sincere than those of Louie or Della on her teenage years.

“I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt… I just-” Webby stopped suddenly, and he took it as his chance.

“I know,” said Scrooge, “that was never in question, Webby. I know you’d never hurt your family on purpose, but you still led them down to The Other Bin. It’s closed for a reason, lass.”

He let the words sink in for a moment.

He showed her the diamond. It was different from how he remembered it; as black as the gargoyles, sucking in the light, and heavier, too. It must have lost power through the years, he thought, and sulked, that had not been what he paid for! Really, it had simply been a matter of bad luck that the children had picked precisely that vault to open… But then again, they shouldn’t have been there either.

“I know,” she sobbed, “I didn’t think there could be actual monsters down there, and now May…”

Scrooge knew the feeling of getting someone you loved hurt for your own recklessness. He felt a weakness. Not on Webby, but on himself. He couldn’t bare seeing her like this, a sobbing, lost mess. Scrooge had had such feeling before, a couple times when one of his nephews had messed up pretty bad and then apologized for it, but never like this.

His heart ached and turned.

Surely, she had learnt her lesson already?

Webby kept crying, and he just couldn’t bear it. Scrooge knew she wasn’t one to fake such tears.

“Alright,” he said, “I’ll let you off light this time, if you promise to be more careful.”

Webby stopped crying, but didn’t smile. She just sat there and looked at him, still all lost.

“I wanted for May and June to feel part of the family,” she said between breaths, “but I’m sure after today they won’t trust me again.”

Ahh.

He could deal with that.

“You’ve led the boys into dangerous situations countless times,” started Scrooge, “but you’ve been adventuring with them for years, and trust takes time to build up.”

Scrooge had seen the looks the twins made from time to time, he wasn’t the sharpest of the sharpies for nothing, and could easily recognize their wariness. They were still adjusting. He also knew Webby was one to trust very quickly, but it is not like that for everyone.

She needs to learn that, he thought.

“They’ve been through a lot, and it will take time for them to adjust.” He continued. “All you need to do is give them space and be there to lend them a hand if they need help.”

Webby nodded, and looked like she wanted to ask something else, but decided against it, and instead said…

“Can I go now?” She asked, “I need some water, and then I’ll apologize to them…”

“Very well,” he nodded back, “and if you see Donald on your way, please let him know I need to talk with him.”

“Yes,” she said quietly, and left.

Not much time passed for the door to open again. Donald entered in silence and stood in front of Scrooge’s desk.

“Yes, Uncle Scrooge?”

“Sit down lad, there’s something we need to talk about,” began Scrooge, “I wanted to tell you at the bin, but you and your girlfriend had other plans.”

He couldn’t help but scold him a little.

“You seemed busy with Della,” Donald shot back instantly, as if in a reflex, “as always.”

Donald Duck had never been one to back down easily, if at all. Scrooge let out a humming sound in response, willing to let it go this time, and his nephew seemed to relax a little on his seat.

“I wanted to talk about your boat,” he said, and Donald made a face.

“What about it?” He asked defensively. “If this is about the pool, I-”

“Donald-” He began, but his nephew interrupted him.

“No, you invited us here, and now you want to-”

“Would you calm down and let me talk?!” Scrooge slapped the desk, finally shutting him up.

Why was Donald always so ready to pick up a fight with him? He’d been nothing but fair to him! Scrooge sighed and calmed himself. He knew the temper was a family thing.

“Now, since you are set on taking the girls with you, I thought I would give you a hand,” he said, “after all, I feel a little responsible for them, too.”

Donald eyed him with suspicion.

Scrooge produced a card from one of the drawers, and handed it to him.

“This is for you and your little family.”

But Donald didn’t seem thankful at his generosity. Not at all. If anything, he looked offended. He didn’t even look at it.

“I don’t need your money,” he said, bitter, “I haven’t needed it in quite a while, haven’t I?”

Very well, he could play as well, if it would get him to accept the blasted card.

“And I suppose you’ll instead rely on that pretty lass Daisy?” Donald’s face light up with fury, but Scrooge didn’t let him finish. “This is for the girls, Donald.”

Donald held his rage at the mention of the twins, and seemed to consider it for the first time.

“Why?”

Now it was Scrooge the one who felt offended.

“Because you are all my family,” he said, “and because even if you pulled through, the fact remains that I wasn’t there for the boys when they hatched. I owe you for that. Not for the money you spent, but for the effort you put on them, for them.”

Donald was speechless.

“This is for the girls,” repeated Scrooge, and placed the card on the desk.

He had nothing else to say. He got up, adjusted his hat, took the diamond, and left the room, leaving Donald to his thoughts. He had other matters to attend to.

Chapter Text

Daisy

“Wait, a card? Really?” Daisy asked for the third time. She still found it hard to believe.

“Yes, a card,” Donald waved it in front of her, as if to make his point, “though I’m not sure on what we’re allowed to use it, and for how much…”

He placed it in the table as if it were some kind of dangerous magical artifact. Maybe it was? No… Daisy took it in her hands and carefully examined it. It didn’t look like much; it wasn’t made of pure gold, as one would expect at first from the richest duck in the world, but dark red, and rather plain looking. It had Donald’s name on it.

“Should we try it?” She asked, a little excited, and Donald raised an eyebrow.

Daisy doubted they could buy something eccentric with it, like a plane, but just handing you a card without further instructions or rules seemed a little off putting from Scrooge’s part.

Yet another thing she didn’t understand about this family.

They had to try it first in order to know the limits, right? Not that Daisy wanted an expensive dress or anything… Well, she did, but that was beside the point. It could do to furniture the houseboat and get stuff for the girls. That was its purpose, wasn’t it?

“How about we buy everything we might need for the boat with it?” Daisy offered Donald the card, and it was as if she had thrown him a piece of burning, hot coal.

“I don’t know…” He said, and flinched away, and Daisy had to roll her eyes. “We have all we need…”

“Come on, really?” She didn’t understand the look on his eyes; was it his pride? No… Fear, then? But why? Regardless of it, Daisy pressed on. “The girls are gonna need a lot of stuff, Donald, and you said the boat could use new plumbing, right? Among other things.” She thrusted the card into his hands and made sure he took it with a hard glare. “Your uncle is being generous, so we’ll thank him and make sure he knows we appreciate the gesture.” Daisy left no room for debate.

Donald’s eyes showed he still wanted to make a pushback, but another hard glare ensured he knew this wasn’t a fight he could win. They could really use the money, that with him constantly jumping between jobs and her about to leave hers. It still stung a little, the thought of leaving her job, but it wasn’t the girls’ fault. She had already decided on it before they came along.

Not that Daisy was greedy or anything; she was proud to earn what she had, and rarely took the easy way, but she also wasn’t one to let opportunities slip away out of pride. Besides, this was about the girls, not Donald or Daisy, and they had a responsibility to give them the best they could offer. At least that’s what she thought they ought to do.

She would not give in, so in the end Donald was the one to relent.

“Do you want me to come with you?” She offered as he got the car keys.

Donald gave her a sharp look, and Daisy could swear the slightest of smiles appeared on his beak.

“Why don’t you spend some time with the girls?” He proposed innocently, his mood suddenly lightened, “you know, get to know them…”

At this it was Daisy’s turn to pale.

Not that she was scared of children or anything… But wasn’t this a little too soon? And without Donald by her side? But deep down Daisy knew she was only making up excuses, and that eventually she’d have to get used to be around them on her own.

“Unless you can’t?” He asked finally. Daisy saw through his play. Donald was pushing his luck, which was already usually bad, but it was true that she had to do it.

“Very well, but next time I’m picking the floors.”

With that, Daisy turned and started walking away, ignoring Donald’s complains. The boat could use a little of a feminine touch, after all.

But where should she even begin?

Daisy had already talked with the twins a couple times, of course, but never actually done anything with them. Well, no, not really. June had helped the other night on the kitchen, but she’d been very silent then and had limited herself to obediently follow Daisy’s orders, almost mechanically. Daisy was ashamed to admit it creeped her out a little.

She gave a look around, trying to get a hint for the girls’ location. Where were they anyway?

As if it were the universe responding, Daisy heard a loud thud on the floor above.

Well, thank you, universe, she thought.

Daisy made her way up and looked for the children.

It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

She walked down a hall filled with armors and swords and paintings. Daisy had never been to this part of the mansion, and felt like an intruder. And why was everything so silent now? She figured she’d have to start opening doors any time now. She’d find them on one of those… Probably.

As it were, fate dictated they find her first. As Daisy opened her very first door, she was welcomed with a cushion straight to the face, followed by a trio of hysterical laughing, which quickly died down, and then a sharp silence.

Thank you, universe.

“Dude, that’s not mom,” said one of the triplets.

“No, duh, what gave it away? The hair?” Asked another.

“Wait, if it was Daisy, then where is-”

Just in that moment, when the third one was talking, and Daisy was removing the offending cushion from her beak, there was a loud yell from behind her that made her jump in fear, or rather, a war cry.

“I got you know!”

Daisy heard Della’s voice and instinctively crouched on her place, and saw as the aviator jumped into the room with superb agility, just to throw a series of cushions as she was in the air. She hit all three of the boys and sent them to the floor.

Daisy simply remained in her place, shocked.

“Not fair, we weren’t ready!” Complained the blue one as he got up. That one’s Dewey, remembered Daisy.

“You used Daisy as carnage, I wasn’t expecting that,” claimed the one next to him, in a green hoodie, still on the floor, “cool.” Louie, she thought.

That left out Huey, the red one with a cap, who didn’t say a thing, as he was too busy recording something on his little book even as he lay on the floor. Della sported a proud smile.

Daisy was speechless. Was this what maternity was supposed to look like? Daisy’s mother had never thrown cushions at her. At her father, though…

“I don’t even know why we thought we could take mom by surprise,” said Huey as he stored his book under his cap, “we can’t even beat Webby.”

“Webby’s superhuman,” said Louie dismissively, and texted something.

“Ahem,” Daisy cleared her throat, a little annoyed, and got up while trying to save some face.

“Oh, right,” Della turned and gave Daisy a warm smile, maybe a little too warm, and asked… “Who threw that?”

Both red and green immediately threw blue under the bus, pointing at him.

“Come on!”

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Asked Della, with a sternness that didn’t quite reach her smile. Daisy could catch the amusement on her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Daisy,” Dewey apologized, and at least had the decency of looking a little flustered, but what he said next made perfect sense, and actually made her chuckle a little, “please don’t tell Uncle Donald.”

Daisy decided to let him off with a diplomatic tone. “That’s alright…” She wasn’t really angry, and if she were to be, it wouldn’t be at him. Dewey gave her a sincere smile, and Daisy felt a bit of pride at her choice of words. It’d be good to be on good terms with the boys, too, not just the twins.

“Have you seen May and June?”

The boys shared a look. Della spoke.

“They’re fine, I already got them two rooms down the hall,” she claimed distractedly, “they gave me a hard time, but I managed to restraint them all.”

At this the triplet’s expression turned bright and mischievous.

“Oh, I can’t wait to record that,” said Louie, as he and his brothers hurried to exit the room.

Daisy turned right behind them, worried. Was this really okay? But before Daisy could even give a step forward, she felt Della’s iron grip on her shoulder keeping her in place. Daisy was about to ask what was wrong when a series of yells and groans came from out the door. Della gave her a full smile this time and let go with a giggle. Daisy walked out the room feeling confused, but the answer soon lay in front of her.

The boys were each tangled in a different cable, hanging upside down, and as Daisy followed the cables that went up to the ceiling, she soon found three figures at the other ends, giggling.

“Well done, girls,” congratulated Della as she stepped into the hall beside Daisy.

“Thank you, Ms. Della!” Said one of them as she waved from the ceiling, although Daisy couldn’t figure which was which, that with all three dressed in black.

“Can you put us down now?” Asked one of the triplets.

“Only if you repeat what you said before,” stated another one of the girls as she used her cable to slide down to the floor, “something about a recording?”

“How many times are you going to trick us?” Asked Dewey to his mother, but Della simply shrugged.

“Alright, what do you want?” Asked Louie, straight to the point.

“Easy,” another girl climbed down, “just say how sorry you are to the camera.”

The third one held said camera. She too, hung upside down now, making for a weird but unique shot. The boys shared a look, as if they were negotiating amongst themselves without words, and a couple of seconds later they all nodded.

“We’re truly sorry!” Echoed all three in perfect sync.

Not that there was much room to maneuver, thought Daisy.

But the girls didn’t move to free them.

“That’s it?” Asked one.

“It’s almost as if you don’t want to get down…” Teased another.

The triplets started talking and groaning all at the same time, then, loudly and frustrated. But just as Daisy wondered if she should intervene, Della put an arm around her shoulders and led her down the hall.

“Shouldn’t we…” Started Daisy.

“Ah, let them sort it out,” cut Della, “it took a lot of convincing to get the twins on it. Having Webby agreeing helped.”

The argument grew distant behind them as they turned a corner.

“So, not that you can’t or anything,” said Della with a yawn. Was it faked? Daisy couldn’t tell… It probably was. “But, why are you so interested out of nowhere?”

Daisy frowned; she didn’t know she needed Della’s permission. She’d let it go for now.

“I want to spend some time with them,” she said firmly, meaby a little too defensive, “I barely know them.”

Della’s smile widened, as if she had been waiting just for such an answer.

“Then how about you join us for a little trip, hmm?” Proposed the pilot, her eyes blinking with excitement despite what looked like bags underneath.

Daisy didn’t like where this was going. Couldn’t they just play some board games or something? Spend a day at the beach, maybe? Why did everything that came out of Della’s mouth have to be dangerous or crazy? Or both?

“Didn’t Scrooge say not to take them out to the city?” She tried, but Della seemed to be ready for precisely that argument.

“We’ll be on the plane, so technically we are not taking them outside, right?” She sang, and Daisy found the answer surprisingly convincing, and nodded before she realized what it really meant.

Then she did.

“Wait, what do you mean by plane?”

But Della didn’t seem to hear her, as she grabbed Daisy’s hand and quickly led her through the mansion’s halls towards who knew what craziness, all while loudly talking about planes and flying and lots of other things Daisy couldn’t keep up with.

Webby

The flight turned up to be pretty calm, over all. Well, it was certainly better than the last time Webby was in charge, so she wasn’t about to complain. Besides, Webby wasn’t really interested on the flight, as she and May were currently standing on the hold, her sister in yellow was inspecting the jeep they always used on their adventures. May walked around it with curiosity on her eyes.

“You always have this tucked here?” Asked May as she checked the tracks. “It looks pretty new.”

“Yeah, it’s brand new, actually” said Webby, and pointed at the crudely painted number on the door, “this is the sixth one.”

“Sixth?”

“Yep, we sometimes loose them for one reason or another during an adventure.”

Last one had been just before May and June had joined them, engulfed by an enormous carnivore plant, so this one was still waiting to be used for the first time.

“Heron never let me check the vehicles at FOWL,” said May, distracted by the tires, “she insisted that was not my job. But we had so much cool stuff, all sorts of vehicles!”

Webby wondered how it would feel to not be able to learn what you wanted. Her granny had taught her pretty much everything about spies, yes, but Webby enjoyed that, and the retired spy never stood between Webby and her own interests, like unicorns, or Scrooge, or mysteries, or unicorns…

That particular train of thought quickly reminded Webby of a bitter fact that kept bothering her.

She missed her granny.

“I’m sorry, dear, but something has come up at SUSH,” was what Beakley had told Webby over the phone a few days ago, “there is a lot of clean up to do now that FOWL is gone, and they asked me to help them with some… Individuals.”

Webby didn’t ask who or for what, she knew better than that. She missed her granny, yes, but at least she knew the spy was safe, and more than likely kicking butts. FOWL had been an organization spanning all around the world, so it made sense to call for all hands. Webby just wished her granny hadn’t left so soon…

“Hey, what are you doing?” Asked Huey as he approached them, concern written all over his face.

He was more than likely already bored of Della and Daisy’s bickering at the front of the plane, o so guessed Webby, and had come down to check on them. As in cue, the plane shook for a few seconds, before stabilizing again.

“What are you doing?!” Came Daisy’s terrified scream from the cockpit, followed by Della’s laughter.

Webby and Huey shared a look, and decided to ignore the pair.

“Not much, just checking this out,” said May from her place, completely oblivious by the bickering coming from the front of the plane. She opened the trunk.

“You should be careful with that.” Huey frowned at her, although May couldn’t see him.

“Why?” Asked May, absently, her eyes fixed on the exposed engine.

Webby watched with amusement as Huey’s expression changed to one of annoyance, as it usually did when someone wouldn’t listen to him.

“Because the plane is on the air?” He asked, sarcasm leaking from his words.

This time May actually looked back at Huey, but contrary to what Webby expected, she didn’t shoot back a sarcastic response of her own, as one of the other boys would have done on her place. Instead, May gave him a quizzical and innocent look, as if asking him to explain further, to which Huey was completely unprepared.

Huey stood there for a second, his beak even a little open in confusion in a way Webby found hilarious. He blinked a few times and cleared his throat.

“You could hurt yourself if the plane shakes again and the hood falls on you,” this time he spoke slowly, and May’s eyes moved to the metal plank above her slowly. She blushed.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, and got down and awkwardly stood next to Webby, “it won’t happen again.”

She clearly was embarrassed, but probably not as much as Huey.

“No, no, you don’t have to apologize,” he said, all previous annoyance evaporated now, and got closer to the car, “you just have to be careful, that’s all.”

Still, May remained by Webby’s side; she didn’t seem convinced enough, and looked at Huey rather suspiciously.

“Do you know how these engines work?” Asked Huey tentatively.

This time Webby saw clearly how May’s expression changed to one of excitement in a second. Her eyes shone again with curiosity as she approached the vehicle, and together, May and Huey climbed on top of the bumper to look at the engine.

“What is this?” She pointed at something Webby couldn’t see from her place.

“That’s the suspension.”

“And that?”

“That’s where the oil goes.”

“And that?”

“That’s the engine.”

May stared at him, a question clearly on the tip of her beak. Huey saw it and smiled happily, more than likely because May was giving him her complete attention, which was unusual for his brothers or even Webby herself.

“So, it works like this…”

Webby left them at that point; it looked like Huey had it handled just fine.

Ha, she thought to herself, who better than him to play the older brother for them? A little feeling she couldn’t recognize formed on her stomach, but it was gone as fast as it came.

Webby climbed to the upper level, where she was pleasantly surprised to see Louie and June sitting on the side, the latter watching attentively as Louie played something on his phone. She could see June had lots of questions of her own, but seemed to be containing herself from blurting them out. Webby got closer and offered her sister her phone so they could play together, remembering they still didn’t have phones of their own. She then left them to go and see how the others were doing on the cabin.

Della and Dewey were sitting at the controls, while Daisy stood just behind Della. Her hands clung to the back of Della’s chair, and looked like she’d faint at any moment.

“Where are we going?” Asked Webby, not really caring for the answer.

“Nowhere in particular, honey,” said Della, her smile relaxed, “just flying around the bay.”

“All I see is open sea,” claimed Daisy.

“And a little beyond…” Said Della, and rubbed her eyes. “Geez, would you calm down already? You’re with a professional.” She said, and then added. “I mean, Dewey’s a natural.” Webby saw Dewey blush on his place.

She got closer to the window and saw that while yes, they had left the bay behind a while ago, they were still fairly close to shore. It was just a thin line in the distance by now, but it was there, and they weren’t even flying that high to begin with. It was a nice and calm day, and the Cloudslayer cut through the sky without much effort. Despite its size and age, the plane was impressively fast and nimble, as both Della and Launchpad would often push it to its limits on a daily basis.

Then, Webby saw a shadow settle on top of one of the wings, and then another one flew past and above them. She looked up, but couldn’t distinguish what it was with the sun directly above them.

“Hey, what’s that?” She asked, and pointed through the window.

“A bird?” Asked Dewey, disinterested.

“That fast? And it’s way too big. Maybe another plane?”

“I don’t think so,” Della waved her off from her place, “the control tower said there was no one on this area.”

Dewey’s eyes grew curious ad excited.

“You think one of the Gargoyles came back for us?”

Webby felt a weight on her stomach, she really hoped not.

“What?!” Daisy only grew more agitated at the mention of the monsters, and her fingers dug even deeper on the chair, but Webby didn’t think it was them. It felt familiar for some other reason.

More of the small shadows flew past.

Suddenly, there was an impact on the wing. The plane shook violently, and Webby had to grab something else she fell. There was some screaming, mostly from Daisy, who let go of the chair and hugged Della from behind.

“What was that?!” Shrieked Daisy. “We’re gonna crash!” She kept yelling and yelling as the plane shook.

“I can’t see!” One of Daisy’s hands clung to Della’s face. “Lady, you are strong!”

More panicked screaming came from the hold.

“Dewey, take control!” Webby commanded him out of instinct.

“I can’t!” He struggled with the controls. “Something’s pulling at the wing!”

Another impact hit the other wing, then more shaking, and the plane somewhat stabilized. They lost speed, and Webby heard a chant from the outside of the plane. A very familiar tune.

Della let go of the controls then.

“Oh boy,” said the pilot as she finally pushed Daisy’s hands away from her face, “everyone, prepare to be boarded!”

“What do you mean boarded? We’re in the sky!” Yelled Daisy as she looked around.

“You think I don’t know that?!”

Webby, for her part, lost no time and jumped down into hold, she could already see harpoons sticking to the back door and pulling. Even then, she could still hear the banter from above.

“How did I let you convince me of getting on the plane?” Lamented Daisy.

“It’s my natural charm.” Said Della. “Now move out of the way!”

The door was yanked away, then, revealing a series of shapes in pursuit of the Cloudslayer. The enormous airship was nowhere to be seen, thankfully, but a fleet of Sky Pirates chased them nonetheless on their nimble, and somehow fast biplanes. Most of the planes remained on the back, loaded with one or two pirates on their wings, while some of them had already placed themselves at their prey’s wings and held it in place.

“I can’t move!” Called Dewey from above.

“Forget about that, Dewford, here comes your friend,” said Louie as he pointed at Don Karnage, who stood on the wing of the lead plane, barking orders at his crew and waving his sword forwards.

“He’s not my friend,” complained Dewey, “he’s more of an acquittance.”

“What do we do?” Yelled Daisy.

“Would you shut up and let me think?!” Snapped Della, surprising everyone, but then calmed herself. “Dewey, don’t move and hold the plane, be ready to speed up on my signal! The rest of you stay together and keep the boarders away.”

And then she broke the glass of her window and sneaked out of the plane as if it were nothing.

“What is she doing?!”

But no one answered Daisy’s clamoring; the first of the pirates were jumping from their comrades’ planes into the unutilized ramp of the Cloudslayer. There weren’t many, but they were all armed with swords, just like their leader, and looked very pissed.

“Wait, what? Pirates, in the Sky?” Wondered June.

“And it gets worse,” said Louie.

“Is it not enough that they’re armed to the teeth?” Asked May.

“No,” the youngest triplet shivered on the spot, “because they sing, too.”

“And Dewey was their captain for a day.” Informed Huey.

“...”

The twins looked just as confused as Daisy.

Don Karnage walked to the front of the group. The tall, brownish wolf made for an intimidating sight with his blue jacket and black hat.

“You’re not in luck, we have no treasure today,” was all Webby came up with, stalling.

“I’m here on personal business,” the wolf pointed his sword at them, “hand over Dewey Duck, and we’ll be on our way!”

“What do you want with us?” Asked Daisy. She had climbed down and now stood in front of Webby and the others. The scared woman from before was now nowhere to be seen.

“I’m here for my revenge, after the stunt these kids pulled a few weeks ago,” he said, “I almost died on that crash!”

He scanned the Ducks party again, clearly looking for his target.

“Where is Dewey Duck?!”

“He’s sick, really sick,” lied Louie, “like she said, you picked the wrong day.”

“I don’t believe you!”

“Where’s your big bad ship, anyway?” Taunted Louie, and Webby saw the captain’s eyes blaze in fury. “And you seem low on crew too…”

“Louie, can’t you pick something else to buy time with?” She whispered.

“Hey, you want to do it? Be mi guest.”

“I remember you now,” said the captain as he gave a step forward, “you’re the brat who scammed me out of my money!”

Louie’s face paled.

“Nope, you have the wrong guy, I’m sure that was Dewey, too. But I forgive you, we look alike. Now be on your way.”

Webby was about to punch him in the shoulder.

“You won’t make a fool of me again!”

“You don’t need my help for that…”

But just as the pirates prepared to charge them, the plane shook again. Everyone was thrown to the floor as the Cloudslayer lost control and tilted on one side for a second. It seemed like Della had managed to yank the harpoons free from the outside, somehow.

“We’re free!” Called Dewey from the front.

But now the plane had lost most of its speed, and it went down in a second. At least half of the pirates were thrown out the door and into the sky, while the rest of them, as well as the Ducks, held to whatever they could while screaming.

“So, he is here!” Yelled the wolf as he held from a cable. “I knew it!”

Louie gave an innocent smile as Webby held him by the hood.

“Ups?”

The plane stabilized, and they all fell on the floor.

“Dewey, now!”

Della had climbed back to her place by now, now running to join the others. How she managed to get back into the plane as it fell, Webby could only guess. The next moment the Cloudslayer sped up, the other, smaller planes, hot in pursuit.

Della lost no time to lock in combat with a trio of Sky Pirates, and Webby was right behind her, lunging at the closest enemy. It all spiraled into a melee from there, and she lost track of time as she stomped on a pirate’s feet, only to doge a sword the next moment and kick another after that.

Della

Cutting the plane free had been easy. Well, not every day sort of easy, but it wasn’t that hard either. The cables were strong, but nothing Della’s leg’s axe couldn’t handle. The real problem had been getting back in, as the plane almost shook her off the wing, and even as Della had gotten up, she had found herself almost falling off more than once, but who was counting? Certainly not her, and the near-death experience was already at the back of Della’s mind, along with the rest of them.

Della was more worried about the pirates that now stood before her, and she expertly took on one after the other, sending them flying out the plane, bruised and in a world of pain for daring to come near her kids.

“Dewey, get us out of here!” Della yelled. He shouted something in response, but she was too busy by then.

Some of the planes still in pursuit went away to pick up their comrades’ parachutes, and Della could see they were eventually going to win. The pirates could see it too, probably, as this only made them fight more desperately. Don Karnage went directly at Della and, soon enough, they were locked in a deadly duel.

This gave more room to the other pirates and, as Della used a metal bar to fend off the wolf’s attacks, she saw how the others were beginning to be overwhelmed. She blocked a horizontal swing and punched Don Karnage on the snout, drawing blood and making him recoil in pain. Della watched as May and June battled a couple pirates. They seemed to be doing just fine for the moment, while Webby took on another pair and Huey and Louie defended the ladder to the cockpit from another.

She smiled, then, sure of herself, but all it took was that small moment of over confidence for the tide to turn against her.

As Della was busy checking on everyone, she forgot to keep track of her own fight, and, by the time she looked back at the wolf it was too late. He had taken a lot less to recover than Della had initially thought. The sword had already been poised to strike. All she could do then was try and jump out of the way.

But a sword is way faster than a body, and Della felt the cold bite of the steel on her side a moment later.

The adventurer cried in pain, but even then, didn’t give any more ground. She instead used the pirate’s closing attack against him. Della grabbed him by the head and bashed her own against his. The hit made her see stars, but it was the first thing she thought of. She jumped back to put some distance between them.

Someone called her name, but Della couldn’t afford to take her eyes off him again, her mind racing with possibilities. She touched her side, and felt the hot, wet blood coming out of the wound, but didn’t dare retreat any more.

She couldn’t let him anywhere close to the children, no matter what.

She wouldn’t let him.

The pirate’s eyes, as angry as they were, had a calm of their own, those of an experienced duelist. He was a lot more dangerous than Della had given him credit for. Maybe if he wasn’t armed, she would have had more of a chance. But no, he was in his element, and she was overwhelmed with worry and pain.

If she didn’t defend them, who would?

Della adopted a defensive stance, with the bar in front of her. But as the wolf raised his sword again, she felt her head go numb, and saw stars again. Hitting him with her head probably hadn’t been such a good idea.

Despite her best efforts, Della’s maternal instincts forced her to glance at the others, and saw that Louie and Huey were struggling against two other pirates. Thankfully for their, and Della’s own sake, Webby came to the rescue, and swiftly engaged one of the attackers.

Della sighed in relief.

She had to do something soon or-

The wolf lunged at her, then. She tried to raise her own bar to meet the attack, but even then, she knew it was not going to be enough. She’d been distracted again, and this time she was going to pay with more than a cut.

Everything seemed slower as the blood on her veins ran to her head and her senses sharpened. Della saw the sword coming down in an arc towards her, aimed straight at her chest. She closed her eyes on instinct. She wasn’t a stranger to pain, but this looked like it was going to be one of those very close calls.

This will hurt, was all Della could think, as she prepared for the inevitable.

But the strike never came, and when next she opened her eyes, Della saw a figure had come between her and the wolf.

The plane shook again, Della fell backwards. The pain finally made her put some pressure on the wound. She felt cold and weak. Della cursed herself for her lack of sleep, but how was she supposed to know they’d be ambushed? It was supposed to be a quiet, fun flight!

The figure had pushed Don Karnage all the way back to the edge of the ramp, unleashing a series of attacks on the wolf with some weapon of its own. It looked like one of those fits of rage that reminded Della of her brother, although it was impossible for Donald to be here. She remembered how he hated flying. She smiled at the thought.

It raised its weapon above the head, mimicking the wolf’s own previous movements. But when Don Karnage prepared to parry the attack, the figure gave him a kick straight on the crotch.

The pirate stood there only for half a second, his face filled with pure pain, before slipping off the edge. Della stayed conscious for long enough to let out a mocking laugh, but that was it, and all she saw next was black.

Daisy

The rest of the pirates didn’t take long to lose heart after their leader got sent packing. Most of them jumped out on their own accord.

The children had all been panicked, most of them converging on Della, trying to get her to wake up. Daisy managed to calm them down, at least to a degree. She was used to be in control, although not in such a situation.

Daisy checked the cut, remembering her father’s words, and immediately put pressure on the wound. It was pretty much the only thing she could do. To her eternal relief, the cut had not been very deep, and not serious enough to require them to fly straight to a hospital as Dewey had suggested. A notion that had been discarded when she ordered him back to the mansion.

Daisy had June fetch the first aid kit, put on some bandages to stop the bleeding, and then instructed Webby to call Scrooge and Donald and inform them, as the girl seemed like the calmest of the bunch. Huey and Louie were by their mother’s side, each holding one of her hands, while May and June stood at the side in silence.

They were all quiet while Daisy held the pressure, and she tried not to tremble as her hands became painted red with Della’s blood.

Then the rest of the day passed by in a blur.

At some point, the plane had landed, and Daisy barely remembered Donald leading her into the houseboat to wash the blood away while Scrooge took Della to the hospital, although the bleeding had mostly stopped by that point. She remembered that most of the kids had begged to go, but Scrooge had sternly told them to stay with their uncle, and assured them that it was nothing to worry about and that they’d be back in no time.

And so, Daisy ended up at the table of the houseboat with the girls, while Donald sat on the couch, his arms holding the boys. He was singing something to them, but Daisy was still in a sort of shock, endlessly touching her hands as if the wound were still pulsing hot against them.

Daisy didn’t even hear when a voice called for them from upstairs.

The wound hadn’t even been that bad, and Della hadn’t been on mortal danger. But then, why did Daisy feel so… Weird? Some time passed, and everyone seemed to move here or there while Daisy limited herself to stay on the table and drink her water in a sort of trance.

Then everything grew silent, and she realized she was sitting alone on the table. She looked at the couch, but everyone was gone, even Donald.

“You want a drink?” Asked someone from behind Daisy.

She nodded automatically, and Della produced a small metallic recipient from one of her pockets and sat in front of Daisy, two glasses on her hands. She poured some for both of them, and drank hers in one go. She looked fine, but for the lack of color on her face.

Daisy took a sip, and tried not to spit it out. The taste brought out unwanted memories. Whiskey… Still, she made sure not to show a thing on her face.

“You like it?” Asked Della, the challenge clear on her smile.

Daisy hardened her heart and drank the rest.

“This taste is expensive,” she mused, trying to move on with the conversation.

“Yep, it’s from Scrooge’s hidden cache,” Della chuckled, “but don’t tell him I know where it is.”

“Won’t he notice?”

“Nah, only when it’s about gold,” said Della while relaxing on her seat, and poured more for herself. “I found it years and years ago, and he still hasn’t noticed that several bottles are gone. He doesn’t even like it that much, drinking, he’s just a snob like that sometimes.”

“If you found it, then the kids…”

“True, but I don’t think they’ll be getting anywhere close to The Other Bin any time soon,” said Della, a smile on her beak, and Daisy had to chuckle then.

An uncomfortable silence settled over them.

“You saved me,” said Della after a while.

Daisy raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I did, you’re Donald’s sister.”

Della barked a sardonic laugh. “Yeah…” And drank more.

What does she want? Daisy wondered inside her head. If she was there to thank Daisy, then why not do it and be done with it?

“It was the right thing to do, too,” Daisy found herself speaking again, not really knowing why, “to tell you the truth, I wasn’t being brave… Just, too scared, I guess.”

Della’s eyes flashed with something Daisy couldn’t recognize.

“That’s what bravery is all about,” she said softly, “isn’t it?”

Was Della, complimenting her? If so, she didn’t know what to say. Daisy looked at the empty glass on her hands. What else was she supposed to do? They were under attack, and she had to do something, anything!

Daisy wanted to say it, but couldn’t. She wondered why was that.

“I’m sorry,” said Della.

“Wait, what?”

“I said I’m sorry,” she repeated, but Daisy was just as confused as before. “I’ve been mean to you all day.”

Ah.

“So, you were doing it on purpose?”

Daisy had suspected as much, but had still tried to convince herself of the contrary.

Della flashed a guilty smile.

“I’m not sure why, it’s just…”

But she said no more.

“…Just?” Daisy was getting frustrated.

“I don’t know you, okay?” Said Della bitterly. “I know Donald likes you, like, really likes you, and now you’re all going away…”

Daisy could understand Della’s worries, to some extent at least, but that didn’t mean she was okay with her attitude. Daisy had done nothing wrong, and she wasn’t about to apologize for anything, much less for falling in love.

“Why don’t you tell him, then?”

“I did,” she said, to Daisy’s surprise, “I asked him not to go, but he said you’re his adventure…” Della closed her eyes. “The love-stricken fool… What was I supposed to say?”

Daisy felt a warmth on her chest. Of course he’d say something like that.

“So? You can’t accept his decision?”

“I thought I had; you know?”

Daisy had something she wanted to say, in fact she had a lot to say, but it didn’t seem right for her to say it. At least, not then.

“So, what do we do now?” She asked instead.

Della drank another shot, her eyes hardened.

“Nothing,” said the pilot, her eyes dark, and Daisy had a feeling that the conversation was about to escalate in the wrong direction. “You and him and the girls go on your journey, and I’ll have to live with it,” she said grimly, surprising Daisy once again. “I had already decided I wouldn’t make my problem into his. That hasn’t changed.”

“Then why be a bitch to me?” The question left her lips before Daisy could process it, but thankfully for her, Della laughed and nodded at the mirror on the room.

“I didn’t have your measure then, but now that I do, I feel a little better.”

Daisy took a look at herself and couldn’t help but let out a groan. Her hair was all messed up, her dress stained, and even a couple of her nails had been broken in the struggle. There was even a little speck of dried blood on her cheek.

“You people…”

“My apology was sincere, by the way,” said Della, “even if you really are kind of a prickly princess, as I first thought, I had no right to push your buttons.” She yawned. “The pirates were totally not my fault, though.”

That sounded sincere enough, at least, and Della poured more Whiskey for the both of them. Daisy realized this was probably as much of an apology as she was going to get. Still, she remembered something else that was itching at the back of her mind.

“On the plane… That cut wasn’t such a big a deal. Why did you go unconscious?”

Della smiled again, cunning.

“That, too, is my problem.”

She pushed the glass towards Daisy.

Their gazes met and remained locked for a moment as Daisy wondered if she should push her luck. No… It seemed like Della’s moment of weakness was already behind her. Daisy made her choice, then, and gave her a sharp smile of her own.

She took her glass and held it up, mirroring Della.

Ah, what the hell, she thought.

And they both drank it all.