Ch.12: Uncovering Truth

"Dead?!" Fethry yelled, moments after he had finally made it to his Uncle Scrooge's house. " I thought you said that he was missing?"

"He is missing!" said Uncle Scrooge "Until I see a body, there's no way I'm not going to believe that Donald is still alive. That scoundrel thinks he can get to me through threatening my family. Well, I'll soon prove to him that he's dead wrong."

Silence consumed the air of Uncle Scrooge's private study. Daisy and the boys sat close to each other, while Uncle Scrooge stood up, throwing a fit. Worry was all in their minds.

Had someone very cruel really managed to get their hands on Donald? Or was it all a lie? A clever scheme? Tricking them into thinking he was dead?

On the way up to the mansion, upon Scrooge's insistence that they would be safer up there, Daisy asked Uncle Scrooge on why this supposed killer would decide to mail evidence to him.

Scrooge chillingly explained in the letter he received, it stated that if he didn't relinquish all of his power and fortune, everyone close to him would be hunted down and destroyed, just like his precious nephew was.

Although a large of him wanted to believe that this was all a lie, there was no use in taking chances when lives were at stake. His mansion and money bin were the secure places in the entire Duckburg area. If any killer came busting in here, he wouldn't make it very far.

"Fethry" said Uncle Scrooge " You'll come with me and form a search team so we can find out where this villain is. I already called for backup from St. Canard. Daisy, you and the boys stay here. Ms. Beakley will tend to your needs. Alright, off!"

With that said, Uncle Scrooge and Fethry left, leaving Daisy and the others behind. The boys frowned at being left back, while Daisy was trying to contain her emotions of all the problems that had been happening in the last few days.

"I think I'll go see if I can go help Ms. Beakley with lunch," said Daisy, leaving the boys in the study.

Once Daisy had left, Huey was quick to voice out his concerns.

"Great! Uncle Donald could be out there in great danger, and here we're sitting on the sidelines!"

"What more can we do?" asked Dewey " A letter isn't much of lead."

"Especially when it can't be traced" said Louie " You heard what Uncle Scrooge said when he threw it around."

Huey did remember. It was the first thing there uncle did as soon as they arrived. Once they had entered his study, after calling Fethery, he showed them where the letter was, and started angrily shaking it away in his hand.

Eventually, he got tired of it, and slammed the piece of paper down hard on the floor. There it still lay, helplessly trampled by the feet of a frustrated tycoon.

Cautiously, Louie approached the letter, and unsealed the top so that he could get a closer look at the evidence that had made Uncle Scrooge so mad.

The piece of paper itself revealed the threat, but it was the photos included inside of the envelope that chilled Louie to the bone.

"Guys…" the green duck nervously informed his brothers " I think you need to take a look at this."

Concerned by their brother's tone, Huey and Dewey came over, and too gasped in shock at the photos in Louie's hand.

The scene framed within was hauntingly familiar. A duck, caught in the rage of waterfall, begging for help, salvation from instant death.


Right now, in Ducklair Tower, the only help Donald was begging for was for One to be more gentle in bandaging his wounds. The computer was good at many things, but First Aid didn't seem to be one of them.

"Ow!" Donald complained as One wrapped a bandage around him tight " It's fortunate for me that you're not a doctor."

"And it's fortunate that you're still alive" said One " Now hold still! This will all be over in a moment."

Finally, the medical treatment was done.

"Ah, that's much better" said Donald "Did you manage to dig up anything on Frankin Paltry?"

"Hardly" said One " I'm not even sure if that's his real name. You predecessor could have used tons of aliases when he started his life of crime. The most I managed to come up with was a limited arrest report, stating the officer responsible for the Phantomallard's case."

"Well that's a start" said Donald " Let's see if he can answer to why those creeps attacked me. Why'd they even bother to leave me alive? Their leader had me pinned to the ground."

"Yes, all of this is very puzzling" thought One "It's almost if they want us to figure the whole thing out."

"They're still not making it easy though" said Donald, crossing his arms " Something flashed through my mind when that thing hissed 'Remember', some sort of symbol. But I can't remember it now."

"We'll have to save such a mystery for another time" said One " Right now, you need to rest before even thinking of breaking into that officer's home. Now go and lie down. I'll keep on searching for more intel about our friends."

"Alright One" yawned Don " A nap, good idea."


Meanwhile, at the Duckburg airport, Uncle Scrooge and Fethry stood still as they waited for a very special plane to arrive.

A few minutes later, it finally did, and the air shifted and stirred as a large, duck-billed plane, gently settled in to the ground. Seconds later, the cock-pit opened, allowing the familiar face of Launchpad McQuack to be seen.

"Hey Mr. McDee" said the pilot, jumping out " Long time, no see!"

"Launchpad" said Scrooge, shaking his friend's hand " Good to see you. For a moment I was worried lad."

"Ah, don't fret" said Launchpad " DW understands. He still has the Ratcatcher to carry him around, fighting crime, you know. You already got Fenton in on this?"

"He's staying where he belongs" said Uncle Scrooge " guarding my money bin. I can't take the chance of thieves trying to rob it as we search. Plus, he'll serve as extra security to make sure Daisy and the boys are safe."

"Well that's good news," said Launchpad.

Scrooge nodded.

"You, Fethery, and I should be all that's needed for the search," he said.

"What about Gladstone?" asked Launchpad.

"Fool's won a cruise and he can't cancel it" said Scrooge " Let's move on!"

With that said, the three ducks entered the lobby area of the airport.

"Any idea where to start?" asked Fethery, before Uncle Scrooge's response was silenced by a flight attendant's approach.

"Excuse me" she said " There's a call at the front desk for a Mr. McDuck."

"Who'd be calling here?" said Scrooge, as he went to see who it was.

"Hello," he said seconds later, clutching his hand upon the line.

A dark voice answered him.

"You should know better than to leave the help alone,"


"Man, this place is a dump," said Donald, hours later as he searched through the officer's home.

Piles of junk lay stacked everywhere, and it seemed like the man was obsessed, keeping all sorts of Phantomallard memorabilia like photographs and reports. The thing that made it even creepier was that the photos were 'X'-ed out, and the papers appeared crumpled by an angry hand.

"Whoever this guy is" thought Donald " I'm glad he's not home."

Red words stood out bold on some of the photos too, words like; Traitor, Murder, Ex-Best Friend.

"He really knew the Phantomallard well" thought Donald "Say, what is this?"

It looked to be a diary, written in a crude hand. The words were angry yet insightful, and the more he read, the more Donald began to slowly understand.

Suddenly, there was a creak, and Donald activated his X-Transformer Shield. Were those creatures here again, or was someone else going to jump him from the dark.

He got his answer a second later, when a form pounced out of the shadows.