Chapter Fifteen: The Storm Breaks!
"Whoa there! You're our father?! I have so many questions!" Huey squealed as the strange man folded himself into one of the chairs in the sitting room.
Donald grumbled to himself as he sat next to his sister, glaring over at the tall stranger that apparently had fathered his nephews. The stranger glanced around, noting where the four ducklings were settling down to listen to what it was that he had to tell Della. "Ah...any way that I can talk to you alone..?"
Della opened her mouth, ready to suggest her bedroom, when Scrooge cut her off. "Absolutely not. What did you do with the fourth egg?!"
"Uncle Scrooge! Ignore him Van." Della shot a glare at her uncle, before turning to face her secret husband.
Van nodded in understanding, just as Lena walked into the room. "Hey guys! Is Webby home ye... Cousin Van? Whatcha doing here?" She raised an eyebrow up, startled to see her distant cousin inside of the McDuck Manor.
Van groaned as he reached up to pinch his nose, exasperation flooding him. "I just want to talk to Ella! Is that really such a crime?"
"Yes it is while I'm in charge here!" Scrooge snapped, before recalling what it was that Lena had called the boys' father. "Wait...cousin?!"
"Well...technically it's like Fifteen great Grandma's step-niece's third cousin, twice removed, with Magica. I'm not entirely sure what that makes him to me though..." Lena shrugged, clearly not too concerned about any of this.
"Can I please talk with Ella!?" Van raised his hands, frustration flaring up in his eyes.
Unfortunately that was when the front door banged open. "Minima is attacking!" Mitch just about collapsed onto the ground, his sides heaving from running all the way there.
"That's not good..." "Mom ruins everything! She's worse than Magica!"
All eyes, well, just the boys, Uncle Scrooge, and Donald, turned to face Lena, eyebrows shooting upwards. "Wait...you have an actual mother!?"
Della rolled her eyes, before making an ushering movement with her hands. "Upstairs. And stay there."
"But..!" "Listen to your mother!" Mitch cut off Louie, settling a rather fierce glare in his direction. Turning to face Van and Della, he added on rather casually. "We only have three days till a certain event that only happens once in every three hundred years takes place."
Van raised an eyebrow, before clarifying what Mitch meant. "You mean the Praecantatio Eclipse and a full moon happens at the same time? What about it?"
"The fact that I was looking into things and that is when a certain prophesy is supposed to take place. During the eclipse." Mitch crossed his arms, worry dancing in his eyes.
"Okay...kids you are to avoid Donald like the plague!" Della pointed a finger at her sons and Webby, her expression stern.
"Um? Guys?"
"Oh for crying out loud!" Scrooge groaned, even as something exploded outside. Dark creatures attacking the citizens after all. "The prophesy says it has to be quadruplets! There's no way anything is gonna work until we find that fourth child of yours!"
"And you clearly know why we separated them in the first place!" Van bit back, bitterness lacing his voice.
"Um? Guys?"
"Why do you care? You're not even involved in their lives! I bet you didn't even know about the kids till you arrived today!" Donald snarled, his fingers curling into a fist.
"Um? Guys?"
Van stood up, towering over Donald. "That is not true. Ella and I got married long before she even knew she was expecting!"
"Um? Guys?"
Donald opened and closed his mouth multiple times at that, even as Scrooge spoke up. "That explains why you tried to call them by a different last name when they got in trouble that one time...and when you grounded Louie."
"Um? Guys?"
Van glanced over at Della, opening his mouth to ask a question, only for the door to bang open as several creatures of different heights that resembled Frankenstein came barreling, smashing the door to bits. Swallowing hard, Van moved to hide Della and the children behind his large frame. "Get back! Those are tenebris creaturae! They work for Minima!"
"I've been trying to tell you that they're at the door for a while now!" Mitch throws his hands in the air, exasperation flooding him.
"Mrs. Bleakley! Get the children out of here!" Scrooge yelled. even as he pulled his staff out and used it to smack one of the creatures on the head. It merely growled and yanked the staff out of his hands.
Mrs. Bleakley darted forward, scooping Webby and the boys up as if they weighed nothing. "I truly hope that where ever it is that your fourth child is that he is completely safe!" She darted into the kitchen, disappearing with the children, Lena on her heels.
"Nothing like having a professional spy watch over her." Della muttered under her breath, too low for anyone to hear her.
"Wait...since when did Uncle Scrooge have a secret hidden bunker in the house? We could have used that with the Timephoon incident!" Huey blinked rapidly as he followed Lena down the dimly lit underground tunnel.
Mrs. Bleakley, who was walking behind the children as she ushered them down the hallway, spoke up, her voice stern. "We didn't use it because it is designed to keep magical beings that have a grudge against your uncle out, not storms... besides we didn't realize it wasn't your average storm at the time."
Webby lifted her torch up higher, the flames flickering widely as it sought out a source of oxygen... any source. "We're pretty deep down here. And why can't we use flashlights again?"
"I wouldn't mind knowing why there isn't even a light switch down here either." Louie whined as he lifted a hand up to run it along the roughly made dirt wall.
"Mr. McDuck though it best to limit the technology down here, due to the fact that the more electricity we use, the easier it is for his enemies to locate us. As well as the more expensive it would be. Through that door there Lena." Mrs. Bleakley gestured with the torch she held to a wooden door that had several ancient runes engraved into it, relief flooding her features. "That would be the bunker."
Pulling the door open, Lena stepped to the side to allow the younger children to enter first. After they were secured inside, Mrs. Bleakley planted a firm hand on her shoulder, steering her inside, before going in herself. Placing her own torch into a wall bracket, she turned around and pulled the door shut firmly. Immediately, a long plank of wood fell down, locking it in place. "There. We should be safe here for now. Webby dear? Can you place your torch in the brazier in the middle of the room?"
Webby lifted the torch up, quickly spotting the metal brazier that rose in the middle of the room. Moving quickly, she dropped her torch into as per her instructions. Immediately flames roared to life as the torch ignited the wood placed already inside of it. Turning, the children examined their new surroundings. There were three sets of bunk beds screwed into the far wall, plus one twin size mattress on the ground. Each bed, and mattress, was carefully made with matching grey sheets, pillows, and thin blankets. Dried jerky, fruit leather, and bags of dried soups was lined up on a long shelf on another wall, cooking utensils underneath it. Cooking utensils for cooking with fire and not a stove. There was also several barrels of clean drinking water, as well as a small door that was opened to reveal a bathroom...portapotty to be more precise.
"Now then? Who's hungry? I'll just get some soup going..." Mrs. Bleakley hurriedly set up a grate over the brazier, before filling a pot with water and setting it on to boil.
"I guess now we just wait..." "Hold up! What is this prophesy that the adults were talking about up there?!"
A/N: Done! Um...yeah... for the next few days, the kids are gonna be hiding out with Mrs. Bleakley in an underground bunker. The reason for the three bunk beds: when Della and Donald moved into the manor, Scrooge added a bunk bed for them to use, keeping his bed a simple mattress... when Mrs. Bleakley moved in with an egg, and Della came home with three eggs, he added two more bunk beds for the children. He was kinda expecting Mrs. Bleakley to grab Launchpad and leave the manor if it gets to the point where they would be going down there. He hadn't been expecting them to become like family to him. And thus hadn't added any beds for them yet.
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iHateFridays: Oops...hold on...I sort of closed the reviews... ah ha! There we go. Yep. Van is finally on scene... as well as the main villain in this story. And that is all that you reviewed about...
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SkyTalon