……
Around a year later…
It all came down to this. The stakes had never been higher. F.O.W.L had the family in a tight metaphorical headlock that seemed impossible to escape. Scrooge could still see Beakley, Donald, and Della, chained on the roof of the vortex machine. And he had absolutely no idea where the kids were. Probably captured as well. Bless me bagpipes, how did it ever come to this?
Scrooge could feel the invisible chains wrapped around him, binding him to the stone, the contract of the Papyrus very much in force. Bradford was coming right at him from down the stairs, raising the Sword of Swanstantine in a deathly slash-
Suddenly, a small figure flung herself in front of him, blocking Bradford's sword with another of her own. Webby.
"Get away from my dad!" She growled, holding Bradford at bay.
Scrooge gasped. "Wait, what?!"
She was a sharp young lass; he knew that she would figure the truth out eventually. Yet, there was still one thing that surprised him: she had called him her dad. She considered him her father. Why? He supposed he had been somewhat responsible for her creation, but he'd always considered himself more her genetic template. Or perhaps clone, uncle, brother, but never before dad. Clearly, Webby believed this was the case. Dad. Dad. He didn't have any more time to wonder at the thought. Dewey appeared out of nowhere, crying, "DEW-ROCKET!" He landed on Bradford's head, nearly knocking him over. "Run!" The blue-clad lad called to Scrooge.
Scrooge tried to, but the mystical golden chains still held him fast. "I can't!"
"Somebody get the contract!" Webby exclaimed. Bradford swung at her as he recovered, and Scrooge's insides lurched as his, well, daughter missed death by inches. Louie raced into view, snatching the contract from the stone staircase and evading Bradford's attacks, zipping away with the papers tucked under his arm.
Enraged, Bradford fell to his knees, unleashing a great burst of energy from the Sword of Swanstantine, gaining even more power. Louie barely managed to duck behind a rock with a few other members of Scrooge's family just in time.
Bradford hurled a huge sphere of energy at Louie and Huey, but Von Drake, Gandra Dee, and Gyro intercepted it, knocking them off their feet and landing them several yards away.
Bradford groaned. "Look what you've turned me into! A base villain!" Two chains suddenly fell around each of his armored wrists, thrown by Beakley and Della. The two women pulled against the chains, preventing movement of Bradford's arms.
"The Sword of Swanstantine amplifies who you are inside!" Beakley angrily reminded him, pulling with all her might.
"This is all you, you buzzard!" Della yelled from his other side.
Bradford summoned enough strength to throw his arms upward, causing his two attackers, still grasping the chains, to sail through the air and bump into each other high above, then fall several feet to the ground. "Oof!" Both said.
Scrooge watched in dismay as the armored man leapt gracefully into the air, spun into a flip, and landed on the staircase behind him. Scrooge pulled and pulled, but escape was still futile. This really is the end. His life flashed before his eyes, much like the swirling violet orb of death the size of his garage that Bradford had summoned. My family, my friends, my daughter that I didn't know I had before today….they'll all be gone, too.
Then, Donald, pushing a huge slab of stone, hurried to intercept the blast. Scrooge could hardly believe what he was seeing. "Donald Duck." He said.
"Uncle Scrooge!" His nephew called back with a grin. Della went to help her brother, then May, June, (his two other daughters, he supposed? Blast, it was a headache just to think about this family tree), Webby, Beakley, and finally, the boys, two of them holding the contract, studying it thoughtfully.
"The only way to break the Papyrus's spell is to find a contradiction on the Papyrus!" Scrooge heard Huey inform his green-clad brother.
"This contract is airtight!" Louie was starting to panic. "Scrooge only gets his family if he gives up adventure!"
Scrooge came to the same realization they did. "Ding!" He heard the four kids say in unison.
"Bradford!" Announced Huey. "Your contract is flawed!"
The buzzard banished the death sphere, put his arms down and glared at the children, perplexed. "What? Impossible. I worked on it for thirty years! Went over it with the finest-toothed combs!"
Louie held up the glowing contract smugly. "According to this, Scrooge can be with his family as long as he doesn't adventure."
"But family is the greatest adventure of all!" Concluded Huey.
"That..is the stupidest thing I've ever heard." The villain dully replied. "There's no way that-"
The papyrus disintegrated into dust.
The sword fell from Bradford's hands, the chains around Scrooge promptly snapped, and he tumbled to the ground, Webbigail landing next to him. They looked over at each other, and for the first time, Scrooge could see not just their similar features, but that unmistakable McDuck adventurous glint in her eyes. They grinned at one another.
Not far away, Bradford screamed and groaned as his armor disappeared. "No! I will not lose to Scrooge!"
"You didn't lose to me." Scrooge told him, Webby, his precious daughter, close by his side. "You lost to my family! All of them!" he gestured to the small ragtag army that stood behind him and his heir.
The sky cleared, and a group of their old enemies rose into the sky, aided by Magica's power. She spoke a few words to the cornered Bradford, raised her staff, and transformed him into a mindless vulture, which, unsettlingly, kept Bradford's head and necktie. It stupidly fluttered onto the witch's arm. The villains disappeared in a flash of magic power, and everyone who had fought beside the McDucks cheered. Once the shouting died down, Scrooge turned to Webby, still not entirely sure he had heard her right. "Dad?" He wondered.
She shyly glanced down, then back up into his eyes. "Dad."
She believed it to be true, but was it? Scrooge turned around to see the triplets, who simply nodded. Scrooge loosely interpreted that to mean, "Yep, that's what the scientist told us."
Then it's true. She's more than my housekeeper's granddaughter. She's more than my sister or genetic equal. She is my one true heir; the Papyrus itself declared it. She really is…my daughter…
"Oh, Webby, darling." He wrapped her in a tender embrace, and she returned it. After only a few seconds, Webby pulled away from the hug. Scrooge opened his eyes, turned around again, and saw Bentina, still wearing the Egghead uniform, striding away. Webby caught up and stopped her. Agent 22 knelt on one knee as her adopted granddaughter took her hand. "Granny?" She said, inviting the spy to continue to raise her and be a part of her family. Scrooge came up behind the two, then he and Webby both hugged the agent as well. Then the rest of the family joined in, and before anyone knew what was happening, the hug had turned into a dog pile of affection and joy as everyone laughed and celebrated the defeat of F.O.W.L, once and for all.
……
After a long plane ride home, a jet-lagged sleep, and wishing good morning to her sisters as they helped clean up her room and prepared for their trip with Donald and Daisy next week, Webby wandered and wandered around the familiar old mansion, deep in thought.
Nothing is what I thought it was. Granny lied to me about my very existence.
But, she did it because she wanted to protect me. She saved my life who knows how many times? She always loved me. And, Scrooge did, too.
It's just so hard to believe that the McDucks are my true family….and Granny isn't.
She came to Scrooge's office door, knocked, found it open, and peeked inside. Scrooge, well, Dad, she guessed, and her granny were having a conversation. They stopped as the girl entered. "Ah, Webby, dear. Come in, your granny and I were just talking about you."
"All good things." Beakley assured her. "All great things, in fact. Webby, you look exhausted. Are you well?"
"Oh, no, I'm fine." Webby assured them. "I…just didn't get the best sleep last night."
"As one can expect after their very world turns upside down." Scrooge chuckled.
Webby, can your father and I ask you something?" Beakley inquired.
"Sure."
"We just need to know, need to figure out…who are you now? What do you want your place in this family to be?"
"Y-you're asking me that question? I have no idea."
"Neither do we." Beakley sighed. "Webbigail, your life has been so full of deception, and it's entirely my fault. I can't even count the number of times I lied to your face…"
"As did I." Scrooge added.
"Wait, you guys both knew about all this?" Webby asked.
They glanced at one another again. "I knew not long after we came to the mansion. Scrooge here didn't piece it together until, well, close to a year ago."
"Piece it together?" Scrooge asked. "You never bothered to tell me I had a daughter until then! And when you do, you tell me she's just a clone of me, nothing more!"
"I know, I know…I should have trusted you." Bentina sighed. "I was just scared." She came over, got down on Webby's level again, and hugged her, whispering, "Webby, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I didn't want your father to find out who you were because I was afraid our time together would end."
Webby felt her eyes fill with tears. "Granny, no matter what, I'll never forget what you did for me. You saved me from F.O.W.L, raised me, you cared for me…I'm practically your daughter as well."
Beakley smiled, crying freely. "Thank you."
Webby took a deep breath, ending the embrace. "All I know is that I am not a Vanderquack."
"No, lass. You certainly aren't." Scrooge agreed.
"I'm a McDuck."
"You are." Beakley agreed.
Scrooge laid a hand on her cheek and brushed a thumb over the tips of her hair. "My family, my eldest daughter, the heir to all my fortune. Don't tell Louie." He urged. "He hasn't figured out that bit yet."
Webby laughed. "And I'm super thrilled and honored to be a McDuck, Dad. But, the thing is, in a way, I'm also kind of a Beakley."
"Now, now, you don't have to go that far…" Beakley started.
"So, I was just wondering…." Webby said. "Could I be…both? McDuck and Beakley?"
"McDuck and Beakley?" Scrooge repeated thoughtfully.
"You want to take on both of our names?" Bentina asked.
"I do. There's no way I could ever pick the name of just one of my two heroes. So, from now on, I am Webbigail Beakley-McDuck, adventurer extraordinaire! I mean, if that's okay."
"Of course, lass." Scrooge held out his arms and she fell into them. Beakley joined them again. "Oh, Webby."
"Mm." Webby sighed. Right now, her future, her life, her own legacy, looked just about set, despite its unstable and confusing beginning. She had found love and family, both literal and non-literal. She had found proof of her heritage and certainty of who she was. In short, she had found her place.
The End
Author's notes/little tangent: Annnndd, done! Thank you so much for reading! I'm thankful for all the reviews and people who reviewed. You either helped me gain confidence or helped me be a better writer, so thank you all! This story has helped me find a strategy for editing and writing my stuff. If you like what you read, I'm currently working on another DuckTales story with a more….ship-focused plot, shall we say. I might also shortly be posting chapters of an older fic of mine, a Gravity Falls crossover with The Owl House. See you then!
-MMMAGGICCC