Darkness.
An infinite field of complete silence and utter darkness covered an abandoned teen duck like a thick, rain drenched quilt. Trapped underneath it's crushing weight, she felt the callous shadows pushing her to the warm, rock ground.
Heavy iron cuffs were secured tightly around her wrists, ankles, and neck, holding the teen fast against an awkwardly angled stone wall.
The study metal chains stretched out her bony arms and legs far to her sides, forcing her to stand back against the wall, or let her falling body put unnecessary strain on her wrists.
Possibly even worse, the cuff around her neck kept her from letting her head fall forwards. Forcing her to look uncomfortably upwards into the empty blackness.
She wanted to cry. She wanted to yell out for help to anyone or anything that could hear her. But her words where significantly muffled by a strong leather muzzle strapped tightly around her bill, keeping her from opening her mouth even the slightest.
Calling for help was hopeless. And even if she wasn't muzzled and could speak loud enough so someone could hear her, how could she be so sure they wouldn't tear her apart and gnaw away at her flesh? As anyone that lived in such a place as this was probably not the friendly sort.
Detached from her magical earthly form with only her thoughts and chains to keep her company, the young shadow was completely desolate from the rest of the universe.
Minutes felt like hours. She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. This was reality, and Lena was all alone in it.
Letting her tears run down her face, the teen closed her eyes, only to re-open them upon hearing a familiar voice call out to her from the darkness.
"Lenaaaa..."
"Aunt Magica?" Lena could barely speak clear enough to make out her own words.
After shortly waiting to see if she could hear the voice again, a quiet friendly whisper echoed around her.
"Lena..."
In a instant, the chains holding her against the wall snapped apart like twigs, letting the teenager fall to the ground.
Although every instinct in her body was yelling at her to stay put in her little corner of the universe, she unstrapped the muzzle from her bill and slowly made her way forward into the dimly lit tunnel.
"Aunt, Magica?" Lena continued to walk blindly into the unknown.
"Lena!" The voice sharply spoke from behind her, causing Lena to jump in a panic. Looking back, Magica stood tall above her in her familiar, sickly green feathers.
"Lena you silly girl. We're family."
"Now why in the world would you fear your own Aunt? The person who raised you and gave you a shoulder to cry on?"
Not wanting to hear what Magica was telling her, Lena quickly plugged her ears.
"Well excuse ME! It is very rude to cover your ears when someone's speaking to you, you know."
"Especially rude if the person covering their ears is their own flesh and blood..."
"Uhh! I refuse to let you control and boss me around anymore! You may be my aunt, but I want nothing more to do with you! Get out of my life..."
"Lena, don't you understand? You're only fifthteen, a minor. It's my job to look after and care for you until you become an fully-developed, high functioning adult."
"...But that will never happen, will it?" Lena spoke while still covering her ears.
"That's right. Forever fifthteen! You're like a little goth Peter Pan. Bound to your Aunt Magica for all eternity."
"Well here's how I see it, Magica." Lena uncovered her ears and spoke boldly.
"You've failed me as an Aunt, and a parent."
"You hurt me everytime I disobeyed you, gave me no personal space and privacy, and got me involved in your crazy blood feud revenge plot against Scrooge!"
"It would have been better if I died in the subway crash. Then you would at least be still trapped inside Scrooge's Number One Dime."
"Scrooge McDuck- No, Uncle Scrooge, has been a TEN TIMES better parent to me than you have. It's all over Magica. Get yourself a new puppet..."
Lena turned her back on Magica and walked off into the darkness.
"You're right Lena. It is all over..."
The sorceress snapped her fingers.
Hearing the sharp snap, Lena paused, unsure what would happen next.
"...Hi! I'm Webby." A particularly childlike and overly cheerful voice rang out.
"Webby?!" The surprised teenager looked in all directions after recognizing her friend's voice.
"Webby dear, would you like to formally introduce yourself to our guest?" Magica spoke without a hint of malice in her voice.
Before Lena could react, a small darkened figure leapt from above and enthusiastically shook her hand.
"Hi! I'm Webby. Oh- wait, heh, you already knew that. What's your name?"
Lena was speechless.
The young duckling who she called her very best friend, had been reduced to a sickly-green feathered, disfigured version of herself.
Deep cuts and bruises covered every inch of her face and frail body, made visible by her noticeable lack of clothes and her glowing, dilated yellow eyes.
"Wha-WEBBY!?" Lena gasped and stood back in disbelief.
"That's my name!" The duckling stated proudly and smiled.
"Webby De Spell! Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"
"No No NOOO!" The shadowy teenager pushed Webby away and covered her eyes, not wanting to see her friend in her current state.
"This can't be real! It's just another nightmare. Wake up, wake up."
After waiting a bit in silence, Lena uncovered her eyes to see Webby running around the hall and laughing to herself.
"Uhh! What did you do to her?! Webby's just a little kid! She didn't do anything to deserve this!"
Magica sighed in audible disappointment.
"Lena, Lena, Lena..."
"Perhaps you forgot to put your thinking cap for the mentally challenged on today."
"...You know, sometimes I wonder who ties your shoes for you in the morning."
"It should be painfully obvious. Even for a simple-minded, brainless little fool like you."
"I already took your previous advice and got myself a new puppet..."
"The biggest improvement she has over you of course, is it that she is actually a REAL person."
"You, are just a shade. An insignificant lack of light from behind my back."
"You... are nothing..."
"Now j-just, wait a second." Lena stuttered from her Aunt's poisonous words.
"You just said that you were my Aunt."
Magica once again sighed and put her hands around Lena.
"You ungrateful little harpy..."
"You should feel lucky that I gave you enough respect to call you family in the first place."
"Most rogue brats like yourself at least once had a mother, a father, or possibly even an annoying snot-nosed little sibling."
"Face it Lena. You can lie to yourself all you want, but no matter how many times you let McDuck call you family, it won't change the fact that your name is Lena."
"Not Lena McDuck, not Lena Sabrewing, not even Lena De Spell-"
The sorceress paused and gripped her niece's neck, forcing her to make eye contact with her.
"-Just simply, Lena..."
"Think about it. The only reason anyone treated you with kindness and friendship is that they felt pity for such a sorry little worthless thing like yourself."
"After all, your only purpose in life was to help release me from Scrooge McDuck's dime anyway."
"What was I supposed to do with you next? Heh-"
"-Sell YOU?"
"Even if someone ignored that unsightly slut-face of yours, once they'd realised that you offer nothing worthwhile in terms of pleasurable enjoyment, they'd throw your ugly tail straight to the curb..."
"I'm not... that ugly- UGHHK!"
Lena was interrupted by cold slender fingers slowly tightening around her neck, like the coils of a powerful, hungry snake.
"Now really Lena, this is just sad. Even for you." Magica's eyes pierced deep through the teenager as she fought weakly against the sorceress' arms.
"Have you even looked in a mirror lately? That chubby little pig physique of yours greatly improved your better looks I have to say..."
"Well, since that you now have nothing left to accomplish in life, I guess it's time to cut you off from it..."
"Put you permanently out of your misery per se."
"It's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a- UUGH! NGHH!" Lena felt her consciousness fading away from her as Magica continued to calmly strangle her to death.
"Well of COURSE it's just a dream, Lena. But then again, that's never stopped me before, killing that is..."
"You think you're safe from me locked up tight in McDuck's mansion?
"HA! That's a laugh."
"I'll snuff you out where you're the most vulnerable and can't fight back, the empty, thoughtless void you call your mind..."
"And after that, I'll tear your soul straight from your lifeless body! And then I'll- I dunno, keep you as a pet or something."
"Treating you better than a mindless animal would be a insult to mindless animals everywhere..."
"I mean, it's better than leaving you trapped in a disgusting rotting pig corpse for the rest of your afterlife. Am I right?"
"S-S-Scrooge..." Lena weakly struggled for her life.
"...But not like this."
"I must admit, I could never actually kill you this way."
"Seeing the life leave your eyes, feeling your breaths trying desperately to work their way through my fingers-"
Magica paused to let Lena breathe again, only to choke her harder than before, repeatedly squeezing her neck.
"-I could do this all day..."
"...But honestly, who has the time for true pleasure?"
"You know what they say, all play and no work makes Jill- Now how exactly does that saying go, again?"
"...All work and no play makes Jack a dull- UUGH." Lena fell flat onto her knees as Magica suddenly jerked her forward.
"Eh, nevermind. Let's just try something a little more interesting already shall we?"
"Now, let, me, think..." The sorceress stuck Lena's head underneath her foot and pondered the almost infinite amount of dark possibilities.
"Ah yes!"
Magica bent down and summoned a noose around Lena's neck and pulled it taut, tying the other end of it to the ceiling.
"You should REALLY enjoy this one Lena-"
"-I know I will..."
"...What's with you and wanting to strangle me to death?" Lena managed to speak despite rope being tightly wrapped around her neck.
"There's other ways to kill people you know!"
"...I, honestly don't know." Magica paused.
"There's just something about you. Or possibly just kids in general..."
"Now then, bottom floor-"
"-your DEMISE!" The sorceress snapped her fingers, letting the teenager fall into a dark, swirling abyss.
"Webby, I'm sorry..." Lena whispered as she prepared herself for her inevitable death.
But right before the teenager met the end of her rope, Magica stopped her fall with her powers, holding her still in a magical aura.
"Now I don't want to leave you HANGING for too LONG." The sorceress floated down to her niece and pinched her cheeks.
"See what I did there?"
"But I believe you have something that belongs to me-"
Magica pressed her finger into the teenager's chest.
"-In here..."
"Oh, and by the way. That wasn't the real Webby back there. Just a decoy so to speak."
"I just wanted to see how you'd react to seeing your, ahem... BEESSST FRIEND, in such a sorry state. You should have seen the look on your face, it was just, priceless!"
"Wait, if- if- Where are you keeping Webby?!" Lena suddenly grew furious with her aunt.
"I swear! If you've hurt one feather on her head, I'll- I'll-" The teenager was abruptly interrupted by a sharp slap to the side of her face.
"You've known me literally your whole life you miserable little fool. You should know me better than this..."
"Of course I've hurt Webby! I'd be a fool not take out my revenge on her while she's weak and vulnerable."
"And I promise, after I'm done with you, I'll break her little mind so badly, she won't even recognize you..."
"...You won't get away with this Magica." Lena growled.
"I promise you, I'll- I'll-"
"You'll do what Lena?" Magica continued to slap her.
"Huh? Huh? What will you do? Anticlimactically die right in front of my face? Give me a break."
"You know what, I'll give you a chance. Take your best shot. Go ahead, take your bes- AAH-UUGH!" Magica recoiled backwards as Lena unexpectedly kicked her right in the stomach.
After shortly looking up to her niece in silent malice, the sorceress tightly wrapped her shadow coils around the teen's arms and legs.
"...Hhmph, brat." Magica snapped her fingers, letting Lena drop down a few feet, hanging her from her neck.
Struggling against the shadows around her, Lena wasn't willing to give up yet.
"Hey! Just be greatful I didn't just let fall ALL the whole way down..." Magica floated in closely, quite enjoying the sounds of her niece being strangled.
"It probably would have snapped your fat head clean off..."
"Now then-" The giddy sorceress magically stuck her hand through Lena's chest and ripped out her amulet, it's purple glow illuminated the two figures in the darkness.
"Since I won't be needing this anymore, I guess I'll just destroy it!"
"Now, heh-heh-heh-" Magica got uncomfortably close to the hanging teenager and squeezed her with her shadows.
"-Any LAST words?!"
Lena wasn't able to answer, as her face was quickly turning a dark shade of purple.
"...I'll have to make a note of this, ask the question before you hang them. Otherwise, it's a bit disappointin-"
Lena woke up in a sudden panic on Scrooge McDuck's kitchen floor. After running around in circles for no particular reason, the pig fell onto her side.
"...It appears you haven't been sleeping well..." A grey featherd duck spoke down to her in an almost completely monotone voice.
After staring at each other for a while in silence, he held up a small flask of green liquid.
"...I've got the potion."
"So, how exactly is this gonna change Lena back to normal again?" Dewey in Launchpad's body carelessly fiddled the potion in his fingers as Violet finished wrapping a blanket around Lena.
"Please, be careful that!" Violet carefully grasped the potion away from Dewey.
"It was hard enough to explain to my parents what had happened to me, but turning my bedroom into a laboratory of deep occultic research and making a mess everyone... Trying explaining that to the average parent."
"Wait, weren't they more concerned about you being a boy than with the mess in your room?" Dewey questioned.
"...Do you want to be a failure for the rest of your life?" Violet spoke without blinking.
"No-oooo?"
Without speaking back to him, Violet tured around and went back to tending to Lena.
"Let me guess, although it looks like your normal everyday blanket, it's actually infused with magical enzymes, taken from some frightful heartless creature from a dark, demonic realm..."
"Nope, it's just your normal, everyday blanket..."
"Aw man, lame." Dewey sat down next to Lena.
"Well, what's the point of it then?"
Violet sighed.
"Do you really think Lena would appreciate being transformed back into a duck right in front of us while she's not wearing anything?"
Dewey turned to Lena, she nodded in confirmation.
"...I see your point."
Finished with all the preparations, Violet brought the potion to Lena's mouth and poured it all down.
"Sorry about the taste, I'm not sure if you liked lime, or spinach."
After Lena had downed every last drop of the green liquid, she closed her eyes and began shaking.
"Is, that what it's supposed to do?" Dewey backed away from her.
"...Side effects could include, extreme muscle spasms, nausea, vomiting, loss of body control, constipation, and or very specific stiffness."
Everyone in the mansion except Lena turned to look at Violet in silence.
"Well, someone had to test it out..."
Poof!
A thick cloud of magical green smoke suddenly consumed the pig on the couch, followed by the sounds of Lena coughing.
"Wait-" The teenager felt herself over underneath the blanket. She was completely clean, lacking the familiar pink dye in her head feathers.
"I'm- I'm a duck again! Violet! You did it!" Lena reached and pulled Violet in a close hug.
"And just for the record, lime... is a much better flavor."
"...I'd hate to disrupt this happy moment, but I feel that I should remind you that you're not wearing any clothes."
"Oh, right." Lena let go of her friend and sheepishly laughed.
"Sorry."
After a bit of awkward silence between them, the teenager frowned and re-adjusted the blanket.
"Magica..."
"What about her?" Scrooge McDuck in Louie's body walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder."
"...She just tried to kill me."
"Wait, do you mean just now? How?"
"She visited me in a dream and tried to hang me, but I somehow woke up before I died."
"Okay, whoa." Dewey interrupted.
"She can kill people through their dreams? That is, very messed up."
"Did she hint at where Webbigail is?" Scrooge asked.
"Magica has the habit of talking her head off and getting lost in her own conversations."
"No..."
"All she said was that after she was done with me, she'd break Webby so badly, she wouldn't even recognize me."
"Sounds like Magica alright. I swear, that cold-hearted witch would do anything just to be able to gloat!"
"Mr. McDuck, I'm worried about Webby. You know it as much as I do, Magica is a terrible person."
"I didn't even tell Webby this, but when I tried to tell you about Magica in your Other Bin, she possessed me, and then... p-punished me..." Lena covered her face with her hands in shame.
"It's okay lass-" Scrooge tried to comfort her.
"-we're here to protect you now."
"No! NO IT'S NOT OKAY! This is all my fault!" Lena finally burst out in tears.
"If I just hadn't let Magica control me, she would still be trapped in your dime!"
"I deserve to be locked up wherever Webby is! And now she's punishing her!"
"I'm- I'm a terrible, wortless person! I don't deserve to LIVE!" Lena let her tears run through her fingers and down her face.
"...Man, and she seemed so happy just a few minutes ago." Dewey commented.
"Everyone, out." Scrooge looked up and pointed towards the door.
After everyone else had left and Scrooge and Lena where alone in the room, he sat down next to her, but not too close.
"You're looking at this the wrong way lass."
"Out of all of us, why do you think Magica tried to kill specifically you?"
"I- I don't know..." Lena wiped her tears off with the blanket.
"I'll tell you why. Who else besides you spent over a decade tied to that wicked old witch, learnt every single one of her weaknesses and insecurities, and is well-versed in the world of magic?"
Lena sniffed.
"...You?"
"Well, you're not wrong. But that's not what I'm getting at."
"Think about it, Magica must have thought you were enough of threat to her to try and kill you before you could think up a fool proof plan to stop her!"
"And right now, Webby could really use one of your fool proof plans..."
"Cheer up lass, you can't let Magica get to you this easily. You must know some way we can track down Webbigail and bring her home. Cause quite frankly, we're all out of ideas."
"...Well, there is something."
"Long before I met Webby, Magica taught me something called 'Scout Interceding'."
"It allows someone to see and feel what someone else is seeing and feeling from a far distance."
"Magica forced me to do this several times in order to spy on you..."
"Sorry Mr. McDuck."
"No need to be so formal lass. Call me Uncle Scrooge."
Wiping away her last tear, Lena smiled and hugged her uncle.
Ka-click!
"Yes! Perfect shot!" Dewey zoomed in on the picture on his phone.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Huey in Mrs. Beakley's body asked.
"Do you realize how valuable this picture is if we ever need to blackmail Louie again?"
"They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and if that is the case, than this one should one be worth a least ten-thousan-"
"-Hey! You give me that phone this instant Dewford Duck!" Louie in Scrooge's body clawed for his brother's phone.
"Not a chance old man! If you want it so badly, you'll have to catch me first!" Dewey sprinted off to his room.
"What happened to respecting your elders?! I'm old enough to deserve more respect than the president!"
"Duckworth..." Scrooge motioned for his butler to shut the door.
"Della! Tell your earth offspring that moon children were not allowed to-"
"..."
"Thanks, uh- Uncle Scrooge. I feel much better now." Lena felt the anxiety in her heart finally fade away.
"If this is the family I'm going to get involved with, how could I refuse?"
"That's the spirit lass."
"Now c'mon. Get yourself dressed, and let's see if we can use this scout thing to find Webbigail."
A/N: Hey there duckfans!
Well, I finally finished writing this chapter.
I know Magica has been giving Lena and Webby a very rough time lately, (Because it's perfectly in character with her in the show.) so I thought I'd end off this chapter in a more hopeful, heartwarming tone.
Enjoy it while you can, because Magica's swirling dark hurricane of hate and angst fuel has just hit the bay of Duckburg...