A Rewritten Family History
As I wrote this chapter the final block of episodes had begun airing and after Beaks in the Shell a part of me wanted to make this next chapter Mark-centric especially after introducing BOYD however instead of just doing a filler/fluff chapter about father and son I ultimately decided to jump right into the Bradford vs Scrooge Arch as I didn't want the events of the series finale to cloud my judgment. This chapter will mostly be exposition to give my background on Bradford and while I took some inspiration from The First Adventure I definitely took lots of creative liberties this is an AU after all. Anyway thanks again for anyone still reading this lax regard to grammar, unconventional character dynamics and all and as always if you have any questions, comments or concerns leave me a review….
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
This was a quote that Bradford Buzzard lived by though it was unfortunate that the powerful people he gravitated toward didn't adhere to it.
They say absolute power can corrupt and unfortunately he had witnessed that saying's accuracy first hand.
He had always been into numbers after all no matter what country you lived in, what language you spoke the sum was always the same. No surprises, no chaos.
When he got a job accounting for SHUSH fresh out of college he was honored. They were a prestigious government organization, cleaning the streets of criminal scum. But their law was full of disorder and he had some ideas as to how to make them better.
June 1984:
Bradford could hear director Von Drake on the phone as he entered the room. He had been apologizing about missing the twins first birthday due to the fact that SHUSH had just swept up a criminal who had alluded their capture on far too many occasions to allow for them to remain in a cell unguarded, or at least that was what Bradford seemed to decipher through the directors heavy Austrian accent.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Bradford asked as he slid into a seat without being offered to take one.
"I believe it was you who wanted to see me Bradford. Come to give me an update on the numbers of the latest damage reports."
There was a moment of silence as the young idealistic bird thought of the question that was asked.
"Yes and no."
"Yes and no?" Ludwig replied with a tilt of his head.
"I've noticed that whenever we go in for the capture, at the end of the day we have to pay an extravagant amount of money on repair to fix the doors we busted down or other more severe damages incurred to getting our man. Well, what if we invested some of that money into training a small sell of elite double agents so that when the time comes they can take the bad guys out from the inside."
He had a flipchart in his briefcase all prepared to show the director a full proposal for OWL however as he began to open his case up he couldn't help but read the expression the older man was flashing at him.
"Quite an ambitious idea Bradford."
"Why thank you director."
Bradford's brief glimmer of optimism however soon faded as he looked at the expression on the older bird's face.
"But time is money and all the extra time not to mention resources we would need to make sure that this team of yours can flawlessly assimilate into the global criminal underbelly the ends just don't justify the means."
Bradford wasn't going to argue despite the fact that he had crunched the numbers and had a flowchart to prove that his idea was valid.
"Well, thank you for your time," the buzzard instead replied as he began to gather his belongings and stand up from his seat. It was back to pushing pencils and making price comparisons of window replacement companies however at least he tried.
It was after that meeting with the director however that things took an interesting turn. He had drawn the honor of being the agent to bring their recent prisoner her latest meal. While most thought of Black Heron as a common criminal she had preferred to think of herself as a vigilante. Sure, she was the one causing the crimes but she had her gaze set on the greater good just like he had which made it easy for them to strike up a bond. He had told her all about OWL and she was the one who suggested adding a F for fiendish because it had a bit more pizzazz.
He allowed Heron to escape 'accidentally' allowing for her to network in the shadows while he kept his day job as SHUSH's accountant however as time went on the duo had a more ambitious mark…. SCROOGE MCDUCK!
The accident was a tragic one...a pair of eight year old twins orphaned thanks to a vehicular explosion. Bradford didn't want to think about what would've happened if those poor children were in the car that night but as the years passed a part of him kind of wished they had perished.
The nephew Donald, despite his grating voice and chronic rage issues was actually a sweet kid...the niece on the other hand.
Della was Scrooge's mini-me always leaning over his shoulders as he plotted out his latest conquests. He was relieved for a split second when at thirteen McDuck's valet had suggested she attended cotillion to make up for the lack of a strong female influence in her life. Unfortunately it didn't lead to her interests shifting to things like boys and make up like he had hoped.
It wasn't until another tragic accident that may or may not have been caused by Heron's connections that things began to change for the better.
The niece was gone… presumed dead and with Scrooge now being proud papa to one of her triplet sons things seemed to take a turn.
Bradford was pleased as he watched his bosses interest shift from globe trotting expeditions to focusing on business holdings and making tax deductible donations to help in the betterment of the community.
And then that blasted Goldie O'Gilt had to ruin Bradfords's happiness. He had wished that Scrooge just caved, let the lady take half of his earnings and be done. Instead he decided on a post nup and a year of marriage soon became five years and counting with a return to his more colorful adventures.
In less than a year's time these adventures both abroad and in their own back yard of Duckburg had been filled with enough chaotic energy to last a lifetime. Between Magica DeSpell's shadowy attack to his failed attempt to remove Mrs. McDuck from the equation by sending Sky Pirates after her, to aliens, to the return of Della and a mysterious Step Daughter, Bradford had HAD IT!
Sitting on his desk in the St. Canard office where he had remained since the whole ramrod incident, Bradford looked over toward the calendar where it was noted that there was a board meeting just a few days away.
"So," Bradford spoke over the phone , "Is everything in place for our Hostile Takeover?"