A/N: Happy Father's Day! The minor DuckTales hiatus is finally over! I loved "JAW$!". Without spoiling too much, I just loved the sisterly dynamic between Webby and Lena, the Scrooge subplot, and the money shark, of course! Here's another chapter of "Ducks on the Moon"!
"WAIT, what did you just say?" Dewey said to the doctor.
Dewey's eyes were wide open and Webby's mouth gaped. Donald was also clearly surprised as he looked at the doctor with a shocked expression.
The doctor repeated. "Mr. McQuack will be fine thanks to the Spear of Se—"
"That's enough, 'Mr. Duck-tor'!" Scrooge said. "I think it's about time to leave! I'll be here tomorrow to visit Launchpad, so... Thanks, goodbye now!"
Scrooge grabbed both Dewey and Webby's wrists and pulled them out of the automatic hospital doors as the rest of the group followed them. Scrooge looked at the kids sternly.
"Kids, we need to talk tonight!" Scrooge said.
Both Dewey and Webby gulped after hearing what he said. Everyone else had a puzzled face after experiencing what happened. Donald, however, narrowed his eyes as he looked at Scrooge.
As they walked through the futuristic city, Scrooge spoke of his plans. "I will be borrowing a suburban house for a week. We'll stay there. But I'll have to talk to someone first..."
Across from the group was a building that looked somewhat like a government structure. It was white and seemingly made of moon rock. The building was completely rectangular with a holographic "MAIN OFFICE" stretched across the top. Scrooge walked in front of the doors of the building as the group followed. He turned to everyone else.
"Now, you are going to sit to the side and wait while I talk to someone," Scrooge said firmly. "Nothing is meant to be messed with on this blasted rock."
The seven walked into the building and took off their space suits. With beige chairs on the side and white walls and a low, black ceiling, it was a plain type of environment. As Scrooge McDuck walked up to the lady at the counter, everyone else sat to the side. The lady looked up from the black desktop she was typing on.
"May I help you, sir?" said the duck woman.
"I need to see Luna. Promptly," said Scrooge in response.
The woman's eyes widened, as if she recognized the Scottish trillionaire.
She sighed. "Very well, sir. Room A18."
Scrooge walked through the doorway on his left. As he walked through the hall, he fixed his eyes on the door labels searching for A18. He walked by other peering eyes, who also seemed to recognize Scrooge. He finally found A18 and opened the door. Room A18 looked just like the lobby, except smaller and more of an office. Shelves surrounded the border of the room with pictures of the Moon's surface occasionally on the walls. The floor had a brown carpet and the wall was simply white. At the front of the room sat a female duck with bags under her eyes. Her short hair accompanied her firm, yet frowning face. The duck wrote down on papers on her messy desk until she noticed Scrooge at the door.
"M-McDuck!" she said as she slightly jumped in surprise. "It's... It's been a while. Nice to see you here!"
"I can't say the same thing about you, Luna!" Scrooge said angrily. "Alright, where's Della?! I know you're hiding her somewhere!"
Luna's eyes widened as she dropped her pen. "Della? Goodness, she's been missing for ages! We don't know where she is."
"I know you're lying, Luna. You have the spear! Now where is she?!" Scrooge shouted.
Luna slowly reached for the telephone beside her. "McDuck, calm down. We just found the spear! Della... We don't know where she is! Not ever since she was—"
Luna stopped herself when she saw Scrooge with shut eyes and a hand on his head. With a frown, she got out of her seat and walked over to Scrooge. She lightly put a hand on his shoulder.
"Scrooge... I'm sorry. We just have to accept the facts. She could be gone and missing forever," Luna quietly said. "But we'll always remember her. She sure brought something to the program and to your family. Right?"
Scrooge looked at Luna with a slightly quivering lip. With a remaining frown, he lightly nodded.
"Now, I am pretty busy," Luna said as she walked back to her desk. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Scrooge sighed. "A suburban house for seven. We're stranded here, so about a week is how long we will be here."
"I'll prepare it for you free of charge," Luna said.
Scrooge gave half of smile. "Thanks, Luna."
"Gladly," Luna said with a smile.
"Who did you talk to, Uncle Scrooge?" Dewey questioned.
"Luna ToonQuack. She... Kind of runs the place," Scrooge said.
"Ooh!" Webby said with fascination. "Maybe she knows something about—"
Scrooge peered at Webby with a raised eyebrow.
"The... T-Technology!" Webby said with a stutter. "Yeah, Huey sure loves that tech, huh?"
Thee ducks walked through the street of the suburban houses as they talked. Each house had their lights off on the quiet street, only making Mrs. Beakley more defensive.
"Mr. McDuck, are you sure we can even trust this place?" Mrs. Beakley asked. "Yes, it's technically government property, but it seems... shifty, as most would call it."
"I don't know, Mrs. Beakley," Scrooge said. "But it's only a week! What's the worst that can happen?"
"'What's the worst that can happen?' The last thing a character says in a horror movie before they are eventually killed!" Huey said with a panicked tone.
The seven ducks ignored Huey's comment and walked up to an all brown and wooden house hiding in the dark. The house seemed to be in perfect condition, no speck or crack to be found. It seemed to be a house with two floors, evident from the windows on top and bottom. The top of the roof held a weathervane with a two-dimensional model of the Moon on it.
"Wait," Huey said. "Why does this house have a weathervane? There's not even any wind on the Moon!"
"For an advanced civilization, they don't seem very smart," Mrs. Beakley dryly remarked as Scrooge unlocked the house's door with his keys.
Scrooge opened the door as everyone looked inside. With a fireplace, soft and green sofas, a wooden floor, and old-fashioned paintings of land on the brown walls, the house seemed very cottage-like. The only object that stood apart from the old setting was a dormant robot next to the fireplace. The seven ducks took off their space suits and closed the door. While Mrs. Beakley and Donald immediately plopped themselves on one of the sofas, Huey and Louie immediately ran to the robot. Dewey and Webby tried sneaking upstairs, but Scrooge automatically caught them.
"You two are not going anywhere!" Scrooge shouted. "Come on, kids!"
Dewey and Webby sighed as they followed Scrooge upstairs and into the hall. Scrooge found an empty bedroom with a red bed, walked in, and closed the door. Scrooge took a seat on the bed while Dewey and Webby faced him with their hands neatly folded.
"I know what you two are doing alone!" Scrooge said with furrowed eyebrows.
Dewey and Webby immediately turned red and awkwardly looked at each other after Scrooge finished this sentence.
"Finding information on Della! I wasn't born yesterday!" Scrooge said. "'Hanging out' in Webby's room! 'Going to the bathroom' in the Money Bin office! Sneaking off on Ithaquack! Gaping at the mention of the Spear of Selene!"
Dewey frowned. "Scrooge, I—"
"Mr. McDuck, it's my fault," Webby said. "He just wanted to learn about his mom. I led him to the library, I led him to Ithaquack, I helped him. It's my fault, not his. I'm sorry."
Scrooge sighed. "Well, fine. Here is the truth. Della also worked with the program on the Moon, she stole a Moon spear souvenir from me, and she just happened to disappear right after. End of story!"
Dewey gasped. "Is that it? The truth?"
"Why did she steal some souvenir? Where is she now? Are you lying to us?" Webby asked.
"Look, kids, the mystery of Della Duck is nothing to be talked about. It's not that interesting, it's not that nice either. So stay out of it!" Scrooge said.
Webby sighed. "Yes, Mr. McDuck. Come on, Dewey, let's go."
Webby walked out of the door with her fists slightly clenched. Dewey sighed with a frown and was about to follow Webby until Scrooge spoke again.
"She's a keeper, huh?" Scrooge said with a smile.
Dewey looked at his great uncle. "Wh-Who?"
"Webbigail," Scrooge said. "You like her, don't ye?"
"Wh-What?!" Dewey said with a blush emerging on his cheeks. "N-No! Why would I— She's my friend!— That would be— That's impossible!"
"That blush says otherwise," Scrooge said with a smirk. "I see how you two spend time together."
Dewey scowled at Scrooge before walking out of the door. He walked into the hall and saw Webby walking into a bedroom door.
"Good night, Webs!" he shouted across the hall.
"G'night, Dewey!" she responded with a smile. "Mr. McDuck won't stop us!"
Dewey watched as Webby walked into her temporary bedroom. His heart fluttered once again.
What is this? Dewey thought. Do I..?
He shrugged and found Louie behind him.
"Man, that robot was pretty cool!" Louie said. "It can do pretty much anything, like serve a drink, give you a massage, and—"
"Louie!" Huey said as he emerged behind Louie with his crunches. "Time to get ready for bed."
The triplets snored in their dimly lit bedroom with the wooden door closed. Huey slept and snored on a soft chair in the middle of the front of the bedroom, while Louie and Dewey each slept in a bed on each side. The ongoing night was quiet. Suddenly, the sound of a whoosh filled the air, but the triplets were oblivious towards it. Quiet creaking was made from the wood with the low-pitched sound of doors being opened. The noise stopped for a minute, but a sound of high-pitched sliding interrupted the silence. Then, a scream. Dewey woke up with a gasp while Huey began to open his eyes. Dewey gripped his bedsheet.
"Huey, did you hear that?" Dewey asked with sweat dripping from his head.
Huey didn't answer. Muttering came from his mouth before he went back to snoring. Dewey slowly got out of his bed and went through the bedroom door, confused to find that it was opened. He went downstairs and into the living room to find Donald, Scrooge, Webby, and Mrs. Beakley.
"Guys, wh-what happened?" Dewey stuttered.
"The window was opened. Doors were opened. Somebody broke in," Mrs. Beakley answered.
"But what—" Dewey paused. His eyes widened. "Louie!"
He ran back upstairs and into the bedroom he was in. He immediately pulled off the covers of the bed opposite to his, the bed Louie slept in. He found nobody there. He gasped and started sweating even more. He ran back downstairs.
"Guys!" Dewey shouted. "Louie's gone!"
