True Wealth
Chapter 1:
Disclaimer: I do not own DuckTales.
A/N: This is my first DuckTales story ever so be kind. I've read some really good DuckTales stories but not a lot of them are finished.
Scrooge McDuck was a wealthy duck. In monitory terms, he was the Wealthiest duck in the world. Scrooge had a great deal of love for his money but there was something in his life that was worth more to him than all of it (though he'd never admit this to anyone with whom he had business dealings), his nephews: Huey, Dewey and Louie.
The three fine little lads had brought sunshine and joy to his otherwise miserly existence. They had melted a hardened heart that had been frozen for far, far too long and he thanked God every day for that. He loved and cherished his dear nephews. He loved and cherished them so deeply that at times it frightened him to think what he would do, what he would give, to keep them safe.
For a reforming miser like Scrooge, who had spent the majority of his adult life (more years than he now cared to remember as his humanity and compassion grew bit by bit) the prospect of caring so deeply for any living creature, let alone three rambunctious and often danger prone wee lads was downright terrifying.
But somehow it was a beautiful kind of terrifying. The sort of feeling that parents have for their children, Scrooge thought; the way he'd feel if he hadn't wasted his life on selfish endeavors and had fathered children of his own.
Those selfish endeavors however were responsible for the greater part of his fortune. To have his fortune and the boys was then the best of both worlds for Scrooge.
XXX
"Hurry up Uncle Scrooge!" Huey cried out as he and his two identical brothers raced on ahead of their uncle along Duckburg Pier towards the waiting cruise ship.
"Bless me bagpipes, slow down boys," Scrooge panted, as he attempted to keep up with them while lugging the bags. "Now I know yer excited," he began as he finally managed to catch up them at the base of the ship's gangplank "But that's no reason to go running about like that."
The boys had good reason to be excited and Scrooge had to admit that he was too for McDuck Industries had recent acquired a cruise line and to celebrate (as well as to get a firsthand look at his latest business venture) Scrooge had decided that the family would take a two week vacation to the Caribbean.
Mrs. Beakly and Webby had stayed behind to watch the mansion, the former having a general objection to the hygiene standards of all cruise ships and the latter subject to her grandmother's will. And Launchpad was bedridden from a particularly nasty case of hay fever. So it was to be just Scrooge and the boys on this trip.
"Welcome aboard The Indigo Diamond," a young mallard dressed in a uniform greeted them at the top of the gangplank "The star of Roo... I mean McDuck Cruise lines. I'm Tony Rookery, I'll be seeing to your every need while you're on board."
"Rookery," Scrooge remarked "You must be the former owner's son," he said finally as realization hit him.
"Yes Sir," the young man answered immediately.
Huey, Dewey and Louie hung their heads at this. Huey as usual, spoke first. Raising his head and stepping forward he plead on behalf of his family "Please don't be mad at Uncle Scrooge?"
Tony smiled kindly at the red clad duckling and patted the boy's head reassuringly "I promise I'm not mad," he told the boy "I'm actually relieved that your Uncle Scrooge bought the cruise line."
"You are?" this time it was Dewey who had piped up. All three ducklings and even Scrooge looked surprised at Tony's admission.
"Yeah," Tony confirmed as he showed Scrooge and the boys to their suite "You see, my father inherited this cruise line from my grandfather and my father wanted me to follow in his footsteps and work my way up in the family business. But that's not what I want."
"Well what do you want?" asked Huey, his tone filled with curiosity.
"I wanna be a doctor," Tony said reverently "And thanks to you Mr. McDuck I'm off the hook with my dad and we have plenty of money so I can go to medical school," he beamed brightly "This is my last cruise actually, in two weeks I start my new life in Saint Canard." Just as Tony finished his story they arrived at their room. Tony unlocked the door for them before handing the key to Scrooge.
"There are complimentary snacks in the fridge, dinner is at five thirty in the main dining room– oh here's a map of the ship," he hastily withdrew a folded paper from the breast pocket of his uniform and handed it to Scrooge "and just dial 323 on the phone if you need anything, that's the service extension, just ask for Tony when you call and I'll be here as quick as you please. I'll just let you folks get settled." Tony turned and left.
Huey and Dewey immediately rushed off to explore the suite but Louie stayed behind, taking a seat at a table and looking glum.
Scrooge sat himself down beside the boy "What's the matter lad?" he questioned "Don't you want to lay your claim on the best bed before your brothers do?"
Louie shook his head and sighed "Uncle Scrooge," he began, sounding quite downhearted but his young mind couldn't find the words to express his complicated feelings about being one of a matched set of ducklings. He pushed his palms against his eyes. He never used to have a problem with looking just like his brothers or sounding like them or that they basically did everything together or even that from time to time he was mistaken for one of them.
Scrooge dropped a wing around the youngster's shoulders "I'm not a mind reader Louie," he said softly.
Louie looked up at his Uncle as the sounds of rambunctious laughter drifted through the main room of the compartment.
"Sounds like they've gotten themselves into a pillow fight," Scrooge observed with a soft smile at his forlorn nephew.
Louie looked in the direction of the bedrooms briefly before he turned his gaze to his Uncle Scrooge "I don't know if I wanna be a triplet anymore," he said simply.
Scrooge laughed in spite of himself at the little lad's statement. He tried to stop himself from doing so because he could see the complete seriousness in Louie's face. The burst of unbidden laughter faded quickly when he saw Louie's face go from serious to miserable. "Ach, I'm sorry lad," he began "I didna mean to laugh but there isn't much you can do about the fact. You came into this world with two identical brothers and that's just the plain truth of it."
Louie hung his head "So people will always mistake me for one of my brothers?" he asked sadly.
Scrooge picked up the boy then and placed the duckling on his lap "Louis Montague Duck," he said purposefully using the boy's full name "You are an individual no matter if you hatched with twenty identical brothers."
Louie nodded but his expression didn't appear to change. He looked as though he was about to say something when his brothers burst into the room.
"Louie!" Huey cried out
"You have to come see the rooms!" Dewey insisted.
Huey and Dewey each grabbed one of Louie's wings and dragged him off with them. Scrooge couldn't help smiling when he saw some of Louie's usual excitement returning as his brother's pulled him towards the bedrooms.
XXX
Elsewhere on the ship two shadowy individuals were concocting a rather devious scheme while the oblivious passengers carried on happily around them. The two sat at a small table on the aft deck of the ship, sipping at cocktails. The first, a well dressed Doberman with small tufts of grey dotting his otherwise dark fur, sipped at a gin and tonic while his companion, a tall female duck with long wavy blond hair and dressed in an elegant dress, took a tiny sip of a glass of expensive white wine.
"Can you confirm that McDuck is on board?" the Doberman asked of his cohort.
"Yes," she responded in a rather thick French accent "I saw him and the three boys when they came on board. Rookery's son didn't even notice me as he was busy running his mouth."
The Doberman chuckled "That boy is an idiot. But it's a good thing he didn't see you. He'd have tipped Scrooge off right away."
"Armand, do you believe he would have recognized us?" the elegant French duck inquired "It has been five years since we've seen the boy."
"Ah Gisela," Armand laughed with an odd air of mirth considering the circumstances "We held a gun to the head of a mother of a thirteen year old boy's mother. I doubt that he would forget out faces. So make sure that you're careful tonight. If we pull this off we'll be set for life."
Gisela finished her glass of wine and smiled "Oh Scrooge McDuck, we are going to destroy you," she and Armand laughed quite heartily at their ingenious scheme.
XXX
That night Tony met Scrooge and the boys just outside their suite and escorted them to the main dining room. Louie was in much better spirits than he had been earlier that day and was really trying to enjoy himself. The boys finished eating their dinner early and borrowed the map of the ship from their uncle so they could find their way to the video arcade. Scrooge sat at the table talking to Tony. Scrooge found that he was fast becoming fond of the young man.
"Saint Canard has one of the finest medical schools in the country," Scrooge remarked.
Tony nodded "I'm very eager to get there and begin my studies," he told Scrooge.
"I'm sure you'll do fine lad," Scrooge raised his glass of water to emphasize his statement.
The sun was just setting and the walls of windows that surrounded the main dining room were open as were the many skylights above the rows of tables. The sky appeared clear and the sunset was truly breathtaking; when suddenly dark clouds obscured the beautifully painted pink and orange tones of the sunset. A massive wind picked up, coming through the open windows and doors and extinguishing every candle in the dining room. Enormous drops of rain began pelting the guests as waves caused the boat to rock violently.
"Bless me bagpipes," Scrooge exclaimed as he stood up with the intention of finding the boys. He was already out the door of the dining room before he remembered that the boys had the map and when he turned around Tony had already disappeared to help the other members of the crew batten down the hatches.
XXX
Gisela stood up stood up off the floor where a particularly violent toss of the ship had landed her. She huffed indignantly and smoothed out her dress. She'd been trailing Scrooge's nephews since they'd left the dining room while Armand had stayed behind to keep an eye on Scrooge.
The boys had been playing video games in the arcade for the last half hour and Gisela was getting so very bored watching them "When is Armand gonna call with the rendezvous place for Wolf and the chopper?" she muttered to herself.
Just then, as if in response to her words her phone began to vibrate. She answered it without hesitation "Tell me we'll be out of here soon?" she begged of her partner in crime.
"Wolf can't get the chopper in close enough in this weather," Armand informed her "And McDuck is headed to find his nephew's now. You'd better get out of there."
"Are you kidding?" Gisela asked, infuriated "Now get here and help me grab these kids."
"It's not happening tonight," Armand told her sternly "It's off until further notice."
Gisela huffed again "Very well," she muttered as she hung up her phone. She thrust it back in her pocket with such force that it bounced out and fell to the floor without her noticing.
XXX
Louie had lost three times in a row to Dewey and had lost all his quarters trying to win something in the claw machine. Without any money left for games he wandered off to do some exploring of the ship on his own. He noticed a lady duck drop her phone. It didn't seem as if she'd noticed it fall. Louie quickly picked it up and scampered after the woman intending to return it to her.