It was their first formal outing ever. A proper fancy party at a museum no less. The historical artifacts, the art, the people dressed up, and spending time with their family. The two girls had even gotten new dresses, Webby a pink one sent by her mom, and Rebecca a purple one Beakley 'convinced' (threatened) him to get for her.
So if there was all that, why was it so lackluster and boring? It was probably because it was all for the Flintheart Glomgold exhibit, so enthusiasm was, not quite present.
Though, given the boys also were uninterested, the girls weren't alone at least.
"All of these exhibits are just from the times Glomgold lost to you!" Louie complained. The girls agreed, as they both knew the true story behind each and every 'artifact' on display, and how Scrooge had bested Glomgold. Why should they care when the real treasures were either at home or in the McDuck exhibit.
Even though the 'Glomasaurus rex' was hilarious to look at and practically made the trip worth it.
"Because, as upstanding citizens of note, it's our responsibility to support Duckburg's cultural institutions." Scrooge explained.
The girls couldn't argue that. They had a duty to their city and supporting the various institutions in it as part of the richest family in the world.
...and snagging some snacks at Glomgold's expense didn't hurt either as Scrooge encouraged the kids to stock up, Webby and Rebecca using their purses to store the treats, Rebecca using plastic baggies she brought to keep it clean.
And then, out of nowhere, things went from a 5, to a hundred, as Scrooge gasps at the sight of a beautiful woman in a golden dress enter the ballroom.
"What is it?" Louie asks. "A cursed villain?"
"A villainous curse?" Dewey adds.
"A... um..." Huey stammers. "Man I hate going last!"
"Worse." Scrooge whispered. "It's my ex."
Suddenly, Webby pops in with a gasp and... "Mom!" She half-shouts.
"Aunt Goldie is here?!" Rebecca asks as she pops over, excited as well.
"Wait, mom?!" The boys gasp.
"You have an actual mom?" Dewey asks. "I thought maybe it was a magical artifact, the stork is real, or even an evil organization cloning Uncle Scrooge."
At that last one, Scrooge tenses up and almost freaks out. Dewey needs to actually stop thinking sometimes, because sometimes he gets
"So," Huey looks between Webby and the woman, who was approaching. "If that is your mom, wouldn't that make her Uncle Scrooge's-"
"Partner, rival, everything." Scrooge sighs as the woman approaches. "Watch yer wallets boys."
"Please, Scrooge, I wouldn't steal from children." The woman smiles. "Unless they had something I really wanted. Or I was bored. Or-"
"Goldie O'Gilt. The Ice Queen of Dawson. Ae thought ae heard the clatter of cloven hooves." Scrooge says with a grin.
"Scroogie McMoneybags, the tightwad of Duckburg. That clatter was probably yer bones settling' ye gilded geazer!" Goldie smirks in turn, the insults being said more fondly than spiteful.
"I feel both disturbed and intrigued." Dewey mutters, a tad scared.
"Hi mom!" Webby says as she hugs Goldie.
"Hi aunt Goldie!" Rebecca says the same time as Webby, also hugging the woman.
"Hi sweeties." Goldie rubs the girls heads. "I see you got the dress in time."
"JUST in time! I love it!" Webby says.
"Wonderful. And Rebecca, looking good as well."
"Thanks! Uncle Scrooge got it for me." Rebecca says.
"Oh did he now?" Goldie smirks are Scrooge with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, the lass needed a proper dress, yew know." Scrooge says, nervous at Goldie learning he had his arm twisted by a woman OTHER than her.
The boys looked at the situation. Scrooge looked super old, almost looking his age. Goldie on the other hand looked no more than 50. Something really did not add up.
Before they could question anything, Glomgold arrives and starts to gloat. Webby and Rebecca groan in disgust at Goldie actually having to fake liking Glomgold for whatever scheme she has planned. Glomgold tries to get a rise out of Scrooge, but doesn't get far when Goldie interrupts him.
"Considering I'm the mother of his child, and honorary stepmother-slash-aunt to his niece-slash-honorary daughter, I doubt there is anything for him to worry about." Goldie says.
Glomgold, stunned and confused, looks between the different parties, Scrooge being smug, Webby waving, and Rebecca smirking and sticking her tongue out at him.
"Wait, wot? How-" Glomgold stumbles.
The orchestra then starts a waltz and Scrooge, without a moment to spare, gives Glomgold his cane and takes Goldie's extended hand.
"Uh, why were they insulting each other?" Louie asks.
Webby shrugs. "It's just their way of showing love. According to Granny that is."
"You get used to it after about 5 years." Rebecca says.
"So, you and Beakley are letting the girls out into the world now as your kids." Goldie says as they start to dance.
"They were locked away fer the better part of ten years, leaving for special events. The time has come ta start making them proper McDucks. They are natural-born adventurers."
"Mh-hmm, I see..."
"Look, ae know yew are worried, but that are safe with me. They can't get to the kids and ae willnae let them touch our daughter. They may be young, but have shown able to handle themselves."
"I'm still worried, especially with letting other people very close to her."
"Yew mean Lena? She's fine. Beakley trusts her, so ae do too. Saved her life afterall."
"Fine. Can't blame me for being cautious. Afterall, you are the richest duck in the world, and have a list of enemies longer than the Titanic."
"Aye, but remember who trained the two. If ae thought they werenae ready, they wouldn't be on the adventures in the first place."
"Fine, but she or her sister is to tell me everything about every adventure. Got it?" She asserts.
"Deal. So, why are yew really here?"
"Scroogie, do you really think so lowly of me as to assume I'm always up to something?" Goldie asks, feigning offense.
"Ae know yew better than anyone. Yew always are up ta somethin'." Scrooge reminds.
Goldie smirks. "Touché."
As expected, it was all one big scheme. She'd knocked the lights out and taken the skull of the beast of White Agony Plains before fleeing, heading to McDuck Manor and leaving Scrooge and his family to realize.
Given everything, Goldie had beaten Scrooge to the mansion by easily 10 minutes. In that time, she had incapacitated and restrained Beakley and Donald, and was currently tying up Ian, who had worked late. To say he is nervous is an understatement.
"Um, how often is it to get robbed?" Ian asks, this the first time he's dealt with a robbery.
"It depends. From her, regularly." Beakley says.
"And how does she keep breaking in?
"Relax, I am technically a guest when I do this." Goldie says, smirking. "Besides, why would I hurt my daughter?"
"Daughter? Who would that be?"
"Let me rephrase my statement. Mine and SCROOGE'S daughter."
"Wait, you're Webby's mother?!"
"Yup."
"...You don't look over a hundred."
Goldie is caught off-guard, pausing with the ropes. "She told you my age?"
"Not exactly, and only after I questioned how she is Scrooge's daughter if he himself is over a hundred, as if both parents being super-centenarians fixes the issue."
"Huh. Guess she didn't say much about me. But she sure said a lot about you."
"Wait, she told you about me?"
"Yep. Her and her honorary sister. A lot of nice things, so count yourself lucky." She says as she tightens the ropes, knowing she'll have just enough time to rummage around and look for the other half of the map.
When Scrooge finally arrived and found Goldie in his torn-up room, wearing one of his top hats, he was a tad miffed. "Where are Donald, Beakley, and Ian?"
Goldie opens the door to the wardrobe, revealing all 3 tied up, Beakley rather cross, Donald defeated, and Ian confused.
"Uh, Webby's mom is here, sir." Ian says nervously, before Goldie closes the door.
Scrooge and Goldie fight and flirt, before planning out to return to the plains with Scrooge. Despite her pleas, Webby was denied being allowed to go with them, much to her disappointment. But, as Goldie said 'someone has to untie your grandmother, cousin-slash-uncle, and friend'.
Not long after Goldie and Scrooge left the room, Webby and Rebecca took to untying the three.
"Webby, may I inquire as to why your mother broke in, tied Mrs. Beakley, Donald, and myself up, locked us in a wardrobe, and stole my wallet?" Ian asks.
"Sorry, it's who she is." Webby explains as she undoes his binds.
"A klepto?"
"...Pretty much yeah." Rebecca confirms as she frees Donald.
"Okay... I'll just stay away from her. She scares me." Ian says as he is soon freed.
After seemingly working together, Goldie got up to her tricks as usual and tried to get rid of Scrooge, only to not realize he speaks bear. One trip of being tied to a bear later, and talking, and the two talking over their past and stuff they could never say around the girls, they were laughing. They argued about the glacier, which devolved into talking about each other.
"...Yew loved Gold more than yew loved me." Scrooge says.
"And that's why you loved me." Goldie smiles.
"Despite me not realizing you'd been, yew know. Ae never even tried to contact yew."
"There's no way you could have known! It was our whole thing afterall. A game of keep away."
"Still, ae'm sorry. Yew went through all that and I dinnae even know. It's, part of the reason ae insisted yew stay at the manor. So it wouldnae happen again."
Goldie sighs. "I live with nightmares of all of it, every single night. But I can live with it because of what they gave us." She smiles at Scrooge tearfully.
He smiles back, and wipes away her tears. "Yew and the girls mean the world ta me. If anything happened ta any of yew, ae couldnae live with myself. Ae just wish yew dinnae have ta suffer."
"Well, we can't change the past. All we can do it move on."
Scrooge nods and unties her, after which something rumbles.
As expected, she'd teamed up with Glomgold, who had arrived and ruined everything. But unlike times of old, she was not happy about it. They had a daughter, and she was really doing this to him? After all they talked about? Either way, after Glomgold's rant, the two entered their fight/dance, and Goldie fell into the lagoon and was presumed dead, with which Glomgold captured Scrooge.
Goldie then swindled them both and stole all the gold, which ended up saving Scrooge's life. As such, Scrooge was relieved when he got home. However, the boys and Rebecca were waiting.
While the boys were asking questions regarding what happened, Rebecca was more straightforward.
"Aunt Goldie is upstairs with Webby." Rebecca says.
"Thank yew." Scrooge says before heading up.
In Webby's room in the loft, he saw Goldie was finishing telling Webby about the adventure, the two sitting on Webby's bed. When finished, Webby leans in and hugs Goldie.
"I never got to say it before you left, but thank you for not hurting Mr. Boone." Webby says.
"Of course sweetie. I'm not gonna hurt your friends." Goldie rubs Webby's head.
"But, can you please return his wallet? He is still sorta freaking out over it." Webby gives pleading eyes.
"Okay, fine, just for you." Goldie sighs and hands the otter's wallet to Webby. "Everything is still there, I much rather prefer spending your father's money, after all."
"Thank you." Webby looks up and gasps, seeing Scrooge. "Dad!" She barrels over to him and hugs him.
"Hello darlin'. Ae take it yer mother's told yew everything already?" Scrooge asks with a smile.
Webby nods. "Yup! She even got me some souvenirs!"
"That's wonderful." He looks at Goldie. "Can yew give us a minute? Yew can show me them later."
"Okay!" Webby slides down the ladder, leaving the two alone.
Before Scrooge can talk, Goldie speaks up. "I thought we could do things like before. Act like nothing has changed..." She scoffs, a tad disgusted at herself. "What a fool I was, thinking I could lie to myself."
"Aye. Things have changed a lot." Scrooge acknowledges, looking at her with a slights smile. "Doesn't mean it's a bad thing."
"Yeah, I wouldn't try and change it for the world." She says, before handing him some Aztec coins and a photo of a pyramid.
"Wot's this?"
"And idea. For an adventure. Figured you and the kids would like it better than me."
Scrooge smiles. "Thank yew."
"Anytime." She smiles back.