Author's Note: Two updates in one week. :P Aren't you special. Please read and review. I feel like a broken record saying that, but, you know...
Magica snarled and flung herself at the manor's walls. She couldn't touch them due to the magical protection, but something within him reared back and he darted outside, shifting into his dragon form too. Mrs. Beakley wasn't there to reprimand him and preach caution and neither was Duckworth, who was a ghost anyway and had no ability to compel his master to stay put for once in his life. Besides, this had been brewing for years now.
Scrooge exited the manor already partially in his dragon form and then, once he was free from the magical barriers, he threw himself at Magica. She growled, trying to bite his neck, but that wouldn't work twice. After seeing what she'd done to Mrs. Beakley, he had no intention of letting her off that easily.
She clawed at him and he could sense that her strength was wavering. However, she was more desperate than him and that counted for a great deal. They separated, assessing each other, and he heard a growl behind him. It startled him enough that Magica gained the upper hand, bowling him over and clawing at his stomach. His scales repelled her.
"For heaven's sake," Goldie snapped, still in her humanoid form. She had partially shifted, however, and her eyes flashed draconic gold. Her tail, likewise aureate, whipped behind her. He remembered that they had intended to be Bonded once, but that had never worked out, perhaps because it meant Goldie would have to stop attempting to kill him once in a while. It sure made things interesting in the bedroom.
"I'm attacking you and you're paying attention to her?" Magica snapped. "I'm offended."
Scrooge wriggled away and smirked. "What can I say? She holds my attention."
"Change me back," Magica snapped. "Your dallying cost me Poe. That's on your head and Lena's."
Scrooge darkened, Goldie temporarily forgotten. Magica bringing up Lena was one of the few things that could focus his mind-the thought of anyone harming someone he considered part of his family was unacceptable. And with the boys and Webby so enamored of Lena, she was by extension part of the McDuck clan.
"What you did to that lass was atrocious," he snapped. "You nearly murdered her."
"I meant to," Magica said with a cruel smile. "Or at least render her an idiot. I assume my plan didn't work. Or did it? Was Webby devastated? After all, Lena betrayed her family for that little brat."
Scrooge considered telling her the truth and then decided perhaps being overconfident might lead Magica to make a mistake. She was mostly blustering at this point and he could feel her fatigue. Goldie approached, shifting fully into a dragon and standing beside him. His heart soared but he ignored her. If she was going to be helpful, so be it. If not, then she would be a distraction he didn't need.
"What do you think?" he countered.
Magica's cruel smile spread. "I gave her a seizure. She deserved it."
"No one deserves it!" Scrooge snarled and they circled each other. Her tail lashed the ground and stirred up dust. Goldie was standing outside the circle but watching Magica's every move.
Magica snorted. "You're such a little lightsider. You'd never understand the finer points of revenge. Give me the elixir, Scroogie, and I promise I won't wring your precious Webbigail's neck for tricking Lena into prizing her over her real family."
"With a promise like that, why should I let you within five hundred feet of my family?" he retorted.
"Lena isn't your family," Magica scoffed. Her tail whipped out at him and Scrooge stepped on it. She squawked in indignation and lunged for him. Goldie was there first and swiped at her with her powerful right foreleg. It would've been the equivalent of a slap in humanoid form, but this was far stronger, enough to possibly snap Magica's neck. Scrooge was surprised; Goldie was almost never violent. She could scheme, she could steal, and she could backstab, but having a temper? Unlike her. She was usually pretty cool under pressure.
Or perhaps he'd misjudged her intent. It was possible Goldie had approached this situation the same way she approached everything and decided it was in her best interest to fend Magica off. Perhaps she thought the sooner she disposed of her, the sooner Scrooge and Goldie could leave Dragonburg and go about their treasure hunting.
"I saw the state you left that girl in," Goldie said, disdain coloring her tone. "Stealing from Scrooge is one thing. Scheming against him and manipulating him is something else. And maybe backstabbing him once in a while…"
"Goldie, whose side are you on?" Scrooge objected.
"Oh, my own," she said. "I'm always on my own side."
Scrooge wanted to bang his head against a wall. Was it possible for his on and off again flame to stop making things worse? Or was she predisposed toward complicating matters? Argh. He couldn't stand this.
"Ah, she approaches…" Magica breathed.
Had Scrooge thought that Goldie's appearance had complicated things? He was wrong. He felt like someone had squeezed his heart in his chest and then gripped his lungs for good measure. For a few seconds, he stared, dumbfounded.
"Webbigail…" Magica breathed. "Finally."
Webby was smaller than they were in her dragon form since she wasn't fully grown. She had ruby scales that glittered under the light and her underbelly was pink quartz. It had been so long since Scrooge had seen her in dragon form that he'd nearly forgotten what she looked like. He was positive he'd never seen Lena in dragon form...if she even had one. She might've been trapped in between.
"You shouldn't be here, lass," he reprimanded.
"No, I should," Webby said. "I absolutely should be."
"I agree," Magica said. "You were so determined to befriend dumb little Lena. So determined to win her over to your side. You're the reason Lena went astray. She was supposed to manipulate you, not fall for you."
Magica's nostrils flared. "Lena could never be your friend. She was always my agent. But you managed to convince her to abandon her family. You convinced her to let Poe die."
Her claws dug into the earth and churned it. To Scrooge's shock, Magica's voice trembled. "You let my brother die."
Was it possible that Magica had cared for her brother after all? If that was the case, then why did she disdain Lena? Wasn't Lena part of Poe?
"I had no idea that was going on," Webby said and then advanced on her. She breathed out fire and Magica laughed, countering with a blaze that would have incinerated Webby if she'd lingered in that spot. Though her training had mostly been in humanoid form, Mrs. Beakley would never have been so neglectful as to forget teaching her how to fight as a dragon. Webby launched herself into the sky and then dive bombed Magica.
Magica saw her coming and Webby hastily changed her trajectory, skimming over her and then locking onto her horns. Magica snarled, trying to shake off the young girl, and Webby released one of the horns. Scrooge moved to intervene-Magica was his enemy, not Webby's-and Webby's claws flashed out. Perhaps she'd intended to temporarily incapacitate Magica or perhaps she meant to pay her back for nearly murdering her grandmother, but in either case, Webby froze after her attack. Magica roared, her screams pain-filled as blood poured down her face. Webby had punctured her right eye.
"Uncle Scrooge…?" Webby said uncertainly. Scrooge stepped forward and assessed his enemy. Webby was covered in Magica's blood and shuddered before launching herself at Magica again. Magica was ready for her, but her depth perception was off. She struck out with both forelegs, but only one connected. It slashed across Webby's face and gouged a deep gash from one side diagonally down to the other.
Webby reeled and then latched onto her, attempting to worry at Magica's neck as Magica had done to Mrs. Beakley. Magica flung her off and Webby landed on her back. Dragons on their backs were helpless and it required a good five minutes to roll back and fix themselves. During that time period, dragons were vulnerable to any sort of attack. Magica threw herself at Webby's exposed underbelly and Scrooge headed her off, knocking her away from Webby. His attack didn't completely clear Magica's path from Webby and Magica's tail, filled with spikes, smashed into Webby's face. Webby bit down hard, despite the spikes piercing the inside of her mouth, and wrenched the bottom half of her tail off. Bleeding from her face and her tail now, Magica panted, backing up.
Webby spat out blood and Scrooge wondered how angry her grandmother would be at him for letting Webby get hurt.
"Lena…" Magica said, sniffing the air like a hound scenting its prey. She glanced toward a window and sure enough, the curtains moved. He couldn't tell whether it was Lena, but he had a keen intuition that it was. However, Magica's distraction was enough for Scrooge to cause the earth to shake beneath Magica and collapse, putting her in a pit and knocking her onto her back as Webby was.
Yes, he had magic, but he preferred not to use it. His was of the earth variety, which was part of how he found gems so readily. He had an affinity for minerals. Magica knew this because she snarled and he considered letting her sink further and burying her underground. But, no, burying her alive was malicious and he was supposed to be the good guy here. Plus...Webby and Goldie were here. Goldie probably wouldn't object, but Webby would. Or would she?
There was a gleam in Webby's eyes that he hadn't seen before. It was bordering on homicidal.
"You tried to take my granny away from me," Webby snapped, spitting out more blood. It was acidic and burned the grass and eroded the soil.
"You tried to take Lena away from me," she continued, rising with difficulty to her feet. Dragons' center of gravity was their midsection and that was part of why it was so difficult to roll over once put on their backs.
Magica thrashed and Scrooge conjured chains of stone to hold her in place.
"A life for a life, Scroogie," Magica cried. "I lost Poe. You should lose someone too. Maybe then you'd know what it's like to actually lose your family member, instead of misplacing her."
Scrooge opened his mouth to retort and then decided it wasn't worth it. He glowered at Magica instead. She was trying to get him to lose his focus and release her. However, he wasn't making that mistake again. He shouldn't have let her go in the first place. That had led to far too much heartbreak and pain. It had damn nearly killed poor Lena.
"We'll have a trial," Scrooge decided. At Goldie's surprised look, he added, "It's part of our system of justice, Goldie."
"Justice?" she scoffed. "She tried to murder a child, she wanted to kill your bodyguard's daughter, and she's probably been plotting to kill your whole family. I don't see the point in holding a trial. She's guilty. Besides, she's in the way."
"Well, thank you very much," Magica snapped at her. She struggled, but the bonds held firm. "I know where I stand with you."
"Oh, I don't care what happens to you," Goldie replied. "You mean less than nothing to me. I just know that even I wouldn't stoop to murdering a child. Stealing from them, well, it depends on whether they had anything good. But murder, no."
Magica snarled, having nothing to add to this. Scrooge considered again burying Magica, albeit with a shallow layer of dirt that would permit her to breathe.
Webby spat out more blood and he caught a glimpse of her ravaged mouth. It was amazing she'd been able to speak with that much blood coating her teeth. It looked like the whole upper roof of her mouth was shredded.
"Webbigail!" he said and she stopped, having been caught in mid-creep toward Magica's pit. "You need to be healed."
Webby spat out an alarming amount of blood and he repeated himself. She looked reluctant to leave Magica to him but he was genuinely worried she might have permanently injured herself. If she didn't see a healer soon, it would be permanent.
"Webbigail, go!" he commanded. She wavered and he saw hatred suffuse her features. She wanted to make Magica pay for what she'd done to those she loved. However, Magica was already bleeding from her tail stump and whimpering in pain from her missing eye. She was covered in blood.
"Yes, Uncle Scrooge," Webby said after a minute and lurched to her feet. She trudged toward the house and blood dripped down her face. Scrooge's heart clenched. He didn't want her permanently disfigured from this either.
Scrooge glanced over the edge of the pit and toward Magica. Goldie intertwined her tail with Scrooge's.
"You'll stand trial," Scrooge repeated and Magica huffed. She'd stopped fighting, though she glared hatefully at Scrooge. Scrooge reciprocated.
"I hope you have someone to serve as a character witness for you," he continued. "Because I cannae think of anyone here who would possibly speak in your defense."
"Gladstone…" Magica whimpered. Her eyes were wild and pain-filled. "Get...Gladstone…"
"We'll see," he said.
"Gladstone!" she snapped but beneath her anger was fear. She feared to lose Gladstone as she had Poe. However, she had no one to blame but herself for that. If she had asked Lena to ask Scrooge for a favor, he would have done so for Poe. Not so much for Magica, but Poe wasn't as bad as his sister. Or hadn't been, rather. It'd been his own misfortune that he'd been stuck in that guise.
"We'll see," he repeated. "Let's go, Goldie. I have to convene everyone."
He sighed. "Including Glomgold."
That was not a conversation he was looking forward to. He glanced back down at Magica. Why had she challenged him and then let herself be vanquished so easily? Or was she that weak from attacking the manor and then challenging them? True, she was losing blood in two places. Perhaps after Cal was done seeing to Webby, he could create a tourniquet for Magica.
Their gazes met.
"Scrooge, please," Magica whispered. In her dragon form, she couldn't cry, though she could keen. As he and Goldie left Magica to her own devices, he heard Magica keening to the sky. He hated it, but he pitied her. Just a little.
Webby staggered into the house and Lena stared, aghast. On the one hand, she was shocked Magica hadn't killed her, but on the other...oh...Webby had shifted into human form and her wounds were grievous. Magica had dug deep furrows into her face and she kept coughing up blood. Lena bolted toward her.
This was her fault. She'd done this, just like she'd killed Poe. Lena would never forgive herself. She should leave...she was cancer on everything she touched. And even the things she'd barely brushed against.
"Lena…" Webby gasped and blood dribbled over her lips. Lena was stricken and then she bolted, rushing for Cal. The healer was in Mrs. Beakley's room and by the time Webby joined them, Cal had realized what was going on and ushered her out. Not, unfortunately, before Mrs. Beakley caught a glimpse of her granddaughter.
Alarmed, she tried to rise from her bed and go after Webby.
"Restrain her," Cal whispered to Lena.
Lena gaped at him. How? How was she supposed to restrain a trained assassin? Did he have any ideas? Because she was running on empty right now. She didn't even know how she'd dragged herself out of bed. Her legs quivered and rather than keeping Mrs. Beakley from lurching after Webby, she collapsed onto the floor.
Yeah, all right, leaving her room had been a bad idea. But she'd had to check on Webby. That had imbued her with reserves that she had promptly expended. Mrs. Beakley stared, alarmed, at Lena on her floor. Maybe that had been enough to distract her from pursuing Webby. Lena doubted it, mostly because she doubted her ability to influence anyone. She didn't understand why Webby prized her so highly when she didn't see that she had any redeeming qualities. Then again, Webby was unfathomable sometimes.
Lena lifted her head weakly and saw Mrs. Beakley writing on a dry-erase board.
"Lena?" she asked and though it was her name on a board, she imagined she could hear the concern in it.
"Hey," Lena said casually. "What's up, Abbey Road?"
Mrs. Beakley scowled and erased her name to, no doubt, inquire as to what had befallen her and Webby. Lena groaned, eyelids growing heavy. She had news for the older dragon. She wasn't sure how much longer she could remain conscious. However, if she succumbed to her exhaustion, that meant that Mrs. Beakley might pursue Webby. She didn't want that to happen. Webby would be even more distraught to see her grandmother hurting herself to check on her.
"Webby's okay," Lena lied and Mrs. Beakley gave her a look that said, quite plainly, "Just how stupid do you think I am?"
"Okay, fine, she took on Aunt Magica," Lena said and shivered uncontrollably. "And it's my fault."
Mrs. Beakley softened and patted the bed. Lena smiled weakly. It was a nice gesture and she appreciated it and all, but she didn't think she was capable of pushing herself off the floor and getting on the bed right about now. Her legs wouldn't support her weight.
"It is not," Mrs. Beakley replied. Her eyes narrowed. "Webbigail is very headstrong."
"Yeah, wonder where she gets that from," Lena said sardonically.
Mrs. Beakley scoffed and Lena smirked.
"Just saying," Lena said. Her head grew too heavy to keep up and she collapsed completely to the floor. Exhaustion tugged at her and threatened to shove her under. But she didn't want to pass out yet. Not yet...she didn't want to leave Mrs. Beakley in the lurch. It was the least she could for bringing this upon them.
Mrs. Beakley, who had no business being out of bed, nonetheless scooped Lena up beside her. She was weak too and it showed by how she crashed against the pillows. But she'd picked her up anyway. She wanted her nearby. Lena was touched.
Their eyes met and Lena knew that Mrs. Beakley was fighting the urge to fall asleep too.
"After you," Lena murmured. Nonetheless, she closed her eyes. As she fell asleep, she felt Mrs. Beakley stroke her hair. Lena smiled softly. It must be nice to have someone who loved you like that…