Ch.10: For the Love of Greed

The ground was getting closer! Scrooge knew that death was imminent, until his quick-thinking mind suddenly got a brilliant idea.

Cursing himself for not thinking of it earlier, Scrooge McDuck activated the spring-heeled souls on his Masked Mallard costume and leapt away from the falling platform seconds before it splattered to pieces on the ground.

During the middle of his arc, Scrooge McDuck swung out his cane, snagging hold of a flagpole just a few yards above the street. A great sigh of relief escaped from the old duck's beak as he gazed at the destruction below.

His heart was shaking with joy, grateful that he was alive.

"Mr. McDuck, are you alright?" suddenly came a familiar voice, buzzing up to Scrooge's ears. The mallard's eyes lit up with thanks when he saw who had come.

"Ay Gizmoduck" said Scrooge, greeting the hero of Duckburg with a grin " Just me down from here and back to the mansion. We have a lot of things to discuss."

Later, Scrooge McDuck's request had been granted, and he was now happy and safe at home. Soon after they had arrived, both Scrooge and Fenton stripped out of their superhero clothes, and went back to their normal wear.

Scrooge glared at his Masked Mallard costume with distaste. Once again, putting on that fancy pair of long johns had proven more trouble than it was worth. All thoughts of profit were now totally dismissed in regards to the terrible situation that now threatened them all.

Slowly, word by word, Scrooge explained what had happened at Glomgold's to his staff and nephews. The children all looked at each, worry reflecting in their eyes.

They all suspected something had gone an hour ago, when they noticed the chaos happening downtown. That's why they sent Gizmoduck to go and help their uncle out. Never had they dreamed the cause would have been something like this.

"Was that evil sorcerer telling the truth?" asked Huey, stepping up to his Uncle Scrooge. " Does Magica really love you or something?"

"I don't think so Huey" said Scrooge " that old warlock's words are nothing but lies! If Magica really intended to marry me, she could have cast a love spell on me anytime. What kind of sorceress can't do that?"

Before anyone could answer, a sudden tapping from the window surprised them all.

Running over immediately to see what it was, Louie rushed over to the window and opened the sill, letting out a squawk of surprise as a raven suddenly flew into the room, looking panicked and determined at the same time.

Scrooge immediately recognized who the raven was right away, Magica's own brother turned bird, Poe.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Scrooge.

"What does it look like?" said Poe, shaking his feathers as he perched on top of one of Scrooge's chairs " Looking for Magica of course. She came here hours ago to ask you on a date."

"A date?!" shouted Huey, stunned.

"Oh" said Webby sweetly " then Magica really does love Uncle Scrooge."

"Boulder-dash!" said Scrooge, refusing to believe it " That witch and I have hated each other from day one! There ain't the slightest attraction between us!"

"Frankly I don't see the attraction either" said Poe " but my sister has been trying to get married to you for a long time. However, you keep that Number One Dime of yours so well guarded it's a wonder she manages to steal it at all."

"What does that have to do with things?" asked Scrooge.

Sighing, Poe carefully explained about the De Spell family tradition that if the eldest daughter didn't want to marry their arranged groom, they could choose to go through the complicated ritual of heart stealing.

Heart stealing was the process in which the eldest daughter found for herself, another suitable man, and stole away his most prized possession so it could later bind them as mates for all of eternity.

It was a very complicated ritual that was created to safeguard against the unpredictability of love magic and protect them from any copyright infringement concerning a certain love goddess. It was a process that worked, but only counted if one way or another, the chosen groom decided to accept his fate.

Scrooge remained silent for several moments, processing all of the information Poe had just given him through his mind.

Thinking back to the past, Poe's explanation made sense for Scrooge's first encounter with Magica. Back then, the witch had been just as determined as today to steal his Number One Dime, however world domination never came into play until a couple of years afterward.

Scrooge quickly shook the mostly pleasant memories from his mind, and glared hardly at Poe.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Scrooge asked.

"Have you've seen my sister's new book?" asked Poe.

"Book?" asked Scrooge.

All of the sudden Duckworth jumped up, retrieving a book from his jacket sleeve.

"That reminds me Sir" said Duckworth " Earlier this morning I received this copy from your publishing company. Said they found some kind of book titled the Blade of McDuck in the streets, and wanted you to receive this for review, since you seem to star in the protagonist role."

For a moment, Scrooge did nothing more than stare with surprise at the book Duckworth handed over to him. Magica had wrote this for him?

Back when he had first met the sorceress, Magica had confessed her dreams in one day becoming a writer. But then, when she began her spree of trying to steal his Number One Dime, Scrooge dismissed all of Magica's words as lies, and was extremely reluctant to believe anything that she said.

"Oh my" said Scrooge, skimming through the first couple of pages in Magica's book. " This is quite good."

"And it will be the only one of its kind" said Poe, glaring at Scrooge " unless you get my sister back."

"I don't know" said Scrooge, shaking his head as he put the book down on a desk " I don't even know where that maniac Zaher took her! Besides, how can I really believe that Magica's feelings for me are true?"

"The only to find that out Sir" said Ms. Beakley " is to ask her yourself."

"Aye" sighed Scrooge, struck deep by his maid's words, and he stalked over to where his Masked Mallard costume lay. " I regret that I have to put this on again so soon, but when it comes to magic, you need every advantage you can get. And to save Magica, I'll need every edge I have."