Work Text:
'Twas the night before Christmas
With most already home taking refuge,
Save for one workaholic,
Some might even say quite the Scrooge.
It was Christmas Eve and Huey Duck was still hard at work in his office. From pushing prices up to hacking employee benefits down. "Who needs time off when more work means more profits?" His hand slid across his tablet, making each change more heinous than the last. It was long after dark that he happily grabbed his little cat, Raven Jr, also known as RJ, and the two headed back home.
Meanwhile, his family was hunkered down in his guest room, awaiting his arrival though Huey himself was unaware. "So, we all know the plan, right?" Daisy asked the group.
"Could we, maybe, go through it one more time?" Louie asked sheepishly. "Just in case."
"We pretend to be ghosts and trick Huey into turning good, Christmas Carol-style." Dewey answered, tinkering with his newest machine. "What's not to get? I'm going to show up as some kind of warning."
"I'm playing the Ghost of Christmas Past." Daisy added before pointing toward Louie. "You're the ghost of Christmas Present."
"And I get the most important role!" Donald paraded around in his black cloak. "The Ghost of Christmas Future."
Dewey turned towards the group. "And this machine will allow us to create holographic illusions that trick him into believing us."
It wasn't long before Huey arrived home, wandering about his home and preforming his nightly routine. Eventually he headed to his room and tucked himself into bed, Raven Jr curled up on his stomach. His family only gave him about 5 minutes before starting their ruse.
"Woo~! Hey Hueson, wake up!"
Huey opened his eyes to see a floating Dewey. He responded to the interruption with an unamused look. RJ, on the other hand, had no patience for the ghost. He attempted to pounce on Dewey, only to fly right through him and land on the carpet behind him.
"I am here, taking the form of your lovely brother, to warn you that you will be visited by 3 ghosts tonight to show you the error of your ways." Dewey smirked at RJ and then at Huey. "You both better be prepared."
"Ugh. Whatever this is, Dewey, just stop it." Huey pulled the covers up to his neck. "I need my beauty sleep."
"Beware~!" Dewey chuckled as he floated back through the doorway into the bedroom.
Huey rolled his eyes and attempted to fall back asleep, only for Daisy to then walk into his room, startling him.
He sat up and saw her. "This again?"
"I am the Ghost of Christmas past, here to show you your past Christmases." Daisy gave a confident smile, internally unsure if this whole trick was going to work.
Huey yawned and slowly got out of bed. "Fine, let's get this over with." RJ jumped down from the bed and purred, rubbing against her leg.
Daisy carefully lead him towards the center of the room and waved her hand. The area changed to a moment in his past.
The boys were very young and living with their uncle Scrooge McDuck. Huey and his brothers were excited for the holiday, but Scrooge was being his petulant self. They were trying to celebrate while Scrooge pushed it away at every turn, favoring his work instead. The illusional past ends with Huey, his brothers, and Webby being turned away by the old Miser as he enters his office, shutting the door behind him.
Daisy looked back at present day Huey. "That was so sad. He chose work over his own family."
"I find it really funny you didn't include the part where he had a 'change of heart' an hour later and came out to spend time with his family."
"I did that on purpose." Daisy sighed and gave him a hopeful look. "You know, you're a lot like him. That's not a bad thing." She nudged him with her elbow before leading him back to his bed.
"I'm a lot like Uncle Scrooge, huh?" He sighed as a thick fog covered Daisy's exit and left him to wait for the next ghost.
It was only about two minutes later before the machine kicked in again, allowing Louie a foggy entrance, leaving the door open behind him.
"Hueeeey!"
"Uuuugh..." Huey sat up again. "Really? The heroic, 'goody-two-shoes' brother?"
"Yes, and I'm the—"
"Ghost of Christmas Present." Huey stood up, and sighed, walking up to him with his arms crossed. "Lay it on me."
Annoyed, Louie picked him up and swung Huey over his shoulder, much to his chagrin. "C'mon, Mr. Grumpy-pants!"
RJ jumped off the bed, following them, tired and annoyed. The illusional fog covered Huey's home, making it look like Louie was carrying him over Duckburg. Within moments, they "landed" at Dewey's lab, where he was shown sleeping at his workbench.
"Instead of giving him the day off, you've forced your own brother to work overtime—"
"Ha! He deserves it! If he's working, then he's too busy to pull Christmas pranks and other annoying antics." Huey laughed, prompting an angry look from Louie. "What? Have you seen the tricks he pulls weekly?"
Louie sighed. "Then let's check on someone else…" He carried Huey away, the illusional fog taking them to Louie's apartment. "How about your youngest brother me— I mean, the 'real' Louie. He's going to bed hungry again, because he can barely afford food and rent."
"Hey, that's his own fault. He could've convinced Uncle D to help or something."
"OR you could lower prices at your stores so he's not constantly fighting to survive. You know, the right thing to do?" There was a lot of emotion he was trying to hold back in his voice. This was something that's been bothering him for a long time.
"And why would I do that?"
Louie's arm tightened around his brother, but he attempted to hold back from causing any real damage.
"Ugh!" Huey glared at him. "Next location."
Louie bit his tongue and jumped off. As he headed to the next area, the fog started flickering, revealing Huey's living room. Soon it was completely gone. A small ruckus was heard nearby in the guest bedroom as Dewey ran out. RJ was attacking him, claws out. Louie set Huey down and ran over to help.
"Call off your attack cat!" Dewey quickly ran off towards another room.
"RJ!" Huey knelt down and motioned for his cat to come to him. RJ happily ran over, jumping into his arms. "So..." his gaze went back towards his brothers. "Are we done here? Your stupid little tricks won't work on me. You should all just leave and save yourselves the embarrassment." RJ nuzzled into him, mewling.
Daisy came out of the guest bedroom. "Yeah, I don't think that will happen any time soon. Look out your windows."
Huey turned towards his massive windows. Snow coated Duckburg like a literal "winter blanket." With the storm, it was hard to even see the surrounding buildings, let alone the roads and sidewalks.
"Your stupid cat destroyed my machine." Dewey peeked into the guest room, the machine sparking and clearly taken apart.
"Well, you deserve it!" Huey stomped over to his family and took a deep breath. "You can all sleep in the guest bedroom and leave in the morning!" He sent them a chilling glare as he headed towards his bedroom. "And if you wake me up again, I'll kick you ALL out in the blizzard!"
His door slammed as he headed back to bed, grumbling about his “ungrateful family” and the “annoying disturbances.” He had only just set his head down on his pillow when he saw more of the ghostly fog. Huey sat up angrily. “What now?!”
The ghost of his great uncle, Scrooge McDuck, was floating over his bed, the fog becoming colder, more spooky. “Huey Duck. You’ve forsaken your family, your morals, and you haven’t learned a single thing from my own mistakes.”
“Oh great. Tell my family I’m too tired for this—” Before he could continue, Scrooge pulled him out of bed with ease.
“Tsk, tsk. You can’t recognize a real ghost when you see one, nephew?” Scrooge’s cloak expanded, covering them both in darkness. His voice seemed to surround Huey, sending chills down his spine. “Your future looks bleak, lad!”
Huey steeled himself. “Th-this is just all some illusion. They must’ve fixed that stupid machine thing.”
Ignoring what he said, Scrooge continued, showing Huey a dark future. “Your brothers will have to fight to survive. With your price gouging, basic living has become a luxury.” He showed Dewey and Louie on the street, sleeping in a pile of snow, looking very sickly.
“You, end up eventually taking over my company, ousting Donald and forcing him to look for work elsewhere.” Donald is shown with Daisy leaving Duckburg, April May and June along with them as they cover their mouths from the terrible smog. "Daisy's nieces helped relocate them out of the country, and it's a good thing as well thanks to all the terrible pollution you caused.
“And where does that leave you, dear nephew?" The image fades away, bringing them to Huey's office, where the older version of him sits alone, bags under his eyes and wrinkles on his forehead as he hunches over a stack of paperwork, leaving a look of utter horror on the present Huey's face. "Alone."
Huey watched on, tears welling up. “O-Okay! Fine! I see where this is going.”
“Do you, now?”
“Yes! Don’t show me more, please!” He wiped his tears on his sleeve. “I-I’ll change!”
“That’s what I wanted to hear!” Scrooge’s shroud unveiled Huey’s bedroom. “Remember, work is fine, but family is the greatest joy. Oh, one more thing before I go: tell your Uncle Donald not to throw out my clothes. They’re from 1910. That’s basically new!” Scrooge grumbled as his ghostly form dissipated.
Huey took a breath before noticing RJ at his feet. He picked his cat up before heading out to the guest bedroom. “Fine, you guys got me.”
Donald pulled his head up from the bed and yawned. “What’s he on about?”
“I saw your ‘Ghost of Christmas Future’ and I... I’m sorry for how I’ve been treating you all, okay?” Huey looked away as he said his apology, it wasn’t exactly his strong suit. “B-But just because I agree, doesn't mean I'm saying it was okay to break in and ruin my sleep!”
Everyone looked over in surprise.
“That’s great, but...” Daisy looked over at the broken machine, “we didn’t send in another ghost.”
“Haha, very funny.” Huey wasn’t buying it. “I met your Uncle Scrooge ghost.”
“Scrooge ghost? He wasn’t even programmed into the machine.” Dewey looked genuinely confused. “That definitely wasn’t me.”
“Well, he visited my room. He told me to tell Uncle D to” Huey broke out his best Scrooge impression, “not throw out his clothes. They’re from 1910. That’s basically new!” He adjusted his grip on RJ. “That was a nice touch.” A yawn left his bill as he headed out. “I’m going back to bed. You guys can stay for breakfast in the morning.”
The family looked at each other in a mixture fear and bewilderment, but also a bit of relief. Either way, their plan worked out. Meanwhile Scrooge’s ghost, unseen by them, gave a little chuckle and a soft smile.
Bonus comic:
