A/N: ...Well, it happened. After 7 long months of writing, re-writing, and waiting, this crazy DuckTales fic of mine has finally reached 10,000 views!
I want to specially thank everyone who has taken the time to read, favorite, follow, and review this fic. If it wasn't for all of you, I would have easily thrown in the towel by now and started working on something else. Again, thank you all for your time and kind words of encouragement. Couldn't have made it this far without ya. Thanks much! - Not Ponytails or Cottontails
Disney Boy: I already messaged you about this. No need to explain it to you again here.
Webbigail: Getting straight to the whole dying thing, I think it would be a lot better for you to see for yourself in due time. But remember, time travel is heavily involved here. And with time travel, not everything is forever written in stone...
Webby couldn't quite put her finger on it, dispite the answer quite literally being on the damp, feathered, tip of it.
She felt like she was dying, or at least some part of her on the inside had already died and hadn't been fully expelled yet.
Webby wasn't exactly sure what it felt like to die, or if it was even possible to feel death like it was something she could reach out and physically touch up close and pet.
It felt like a sharp sting, a venomous but subtle chill that started at the bottom of her fin and then climbed all the way up her back. Ending it's short journey by eventually subsiding underneath the soft fluff at the back of her neck.
There wasn't a single shadow of a doubt in her restless, currently fragile state of mind, something was very, very wrong.
Maybe it all began a couple of days ago when her now deceased greatest enemy, Magica De Spell and her cohorts broke into her room and had somehow brought her down to only a sobbing, helpless pawn on the floor. Leaving her vulnerable long enough for them to safely make off with her, without the inconvenience of getting clawed or punched right in the face.
That night was now mostly just a blur of confusing and forgotten memories, as the skeleton sorceress had directly attacked the duckling's mind with her dark spells and magic, obviously in an attempt to gaslight her and just make her question her own sanity. After all, Louie would never call her a lass like her Uncle Scrooge would. Right?
Before she could completely comprehend what had happened to her, and that it all wasn't just a terrible fever dream brought on by something long expired she probably ate, she found herself left all alone, tightly bound hand and foot in a dark, unfamiliar room.
Webby wasn't exactly sure how long she had been left alone in that particularly boring and lonely predicament, but it was definitely long enough to leave her muscles aching and burning in pain as her legs were tied together and folded backwards with her arms closely connected.
Slipping out of ropes whenever necessary, something the duckling had long profected in her own little way and definitely considered to be a big part of being captured 101, but that time was different somehow.
Unlike the time when the Beagle Boys grabbed her at Funso's Fun Zone and then tried to ransom her off to Scrooge McDuck, along with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, she was easily able to slip out just in time to stop their hapless leader Big Time from hurting them in anger. But this other time was still different.
Dispite her genuinely persistent efforts, Webby just couldn't quite break free from her very restrictive, resilient bindings, as Magica cared that little about her young captive's personal safety to not give her any leniency.
But on the other hand, since the sorceress had already proven to her that even if she could escape like she already tried, she could easily just teleport her right back where she found herself tied up in the first place. So it really wasn't that much about keeping her from standing up and simply running away, it was all about hurting and dominating over her in everyway possible.
It was on two different occasions when she found herself tightly bound and gagged on her stomach in that room that definitely could be responsible for this feeling of loss and death inside her, and Webby wasn't exactly sure which of those occasions was worse, as they both still greatly disturbed her.
Throwing her into a sudden panic just before she could fall back to sleep in her particularly painful bindings, she quickly realized that she wasn't quite as alone as she first thought she was. Someone else was with her in that room, staring her down in silence in the dark. And then he, he touched her! And she absolutely hated it.
Maybe it was just Magica giving her a taste of her own medicine in a way, as she was somewhat touchy and overly-friendly herself, not really respecting people's personal space as much as they preferred.
But, but she never touched anyone else like that before! Especially not on purpose or without their permission! Webby was already creeped out enough by the nonchalant attitude of her perfectly serene, calm assailant, but after revealing what he had already done to her in her sleep. She, she didn't want to remember it. And yet, he didn't even explain it all to her yet.
And then, and then Magica. That, that monster! She, she hurt her very best friend Lena! No wait! Hurt wasn't a strong enough word for it! She had, she had tortured her! Gleefully tormented her for a still unaccounted for amount of days while possessing her body.
Starving her by hardly eating enough to keep her from dying, cutting her open with knives and burning her, all while calling it punishment for disobedience as a slave!
Lena, wasn't a slave! Especially not Magica's of all people! She's my very best friend! She's mine! Why didn't she just tell me about this earlier?! Why?!
Well, at least Magica and Doofus are both dead now... Good riddance! The world will be better off with people like them out of it! Evil disgusting creep monsters! Eww!
Wait. But, but didn't Gyro, Fenton, Penny and Manny come from the future to save me? Penny seemed awfully upset for a person who I thought really didn't care that much about me. Or hardly anyone for that matter.
And, and all that stuff she claimed Magica did to me before she was turned into a kid. Magica said she was going to use that same spell on me. But, but I'm already a kid! What's the point of turning a kid into a kid again anyway?! Well, I guess it's actually fish-kid now. Or merduck or mermaid. They're kinda both the same thing I think. I'm not too sure.
And then Lena suddenly fell screaming bloody murder out of the sky and then got sucked into Magica's skeleton as it unexpectedly came back to life. But, but then she escaped, and then she looked all weird and raggedy, with her feathers all messy. She looked seriously sick or something.
Definitely not as beautiful as normal, but that doesn't matter! Melting featureless raggedy shadow person in the rain or not, she's still Lena! My best friend in the whole world! She loves me, and I love her!
But- But then- then- I touched her. And- And, then- Wait...
"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Webby finally snapped out of her inner sleep deprived monologue as she fell out of the Time Tub and into the swift flow of the time stream. Trying to keep her head above the rapids, the little merduck didn't understand why she still couldn't breathe. And then she remembered.
"Oh, right. Heh-heh." She laughed at herself as she continued to float down the raging purple river high in the stormy, otherworldly sky.
"I'm an anti breather. I breathe wateeeeerrraaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHH- Uugh!" Immediately after dunking her head underneath the time flow, Webby fell through a deep swirling abyss and then eventually fell hard against the floor of a large, dark and red meeting room.
Quickly turning around in his chair and standing up, a darkened bespectacled figure walked over to inspect her.
"...Webbigail Vanderduck?!"
"Uhh, Hi! I'm Webb-"
"-Wait. How do you know my name? Or at least half of it? Who are you? I'm not world famous yet. I checked. Only found articles about Scrooge McDuck and his, family..."
"...Bradford Buzzard, of F.O.W.L.! No reason." The figure explained before lifting her off the floor by her wrists in his right hand.
"Hey! That hurts! Whoa, tight grip. Do you lift weights? An impressed Webby asked before being brought higher in the air, her fish tail dangling underneath her.
"Where are the others?! Speak up! We both know you couldn't have come here alone! If you want even a chance of living afterwards, you'll tell me everything you know, now..."
"H-Honest! It's- It's nothing like that! I just accidentally fell through time and space while-"
"-Wait, F.O.W.L.?!" The merduck questioned in sudden wide eyed surprise.
"...You're not lying." The buzzard laid her back on the floor while still keeping up his guard.
"Normally, I wouldn't believe it. But you're all far from normal. You're the Ducks. You have quite the record for the, wildly, unusual..."
"Uhh, thanks. Wait, was that a compliment?" Webby asked as the buzzard began to walk away.
"No." He immediately turned his head back to her.
"...Oh. HEY! Waaahhh?!" Webby cried out as the buzzard began to drag her forward by her merduck tail.
"You're a F.O.W.L. agent! A spy, a coward! A FIEND! One of your agents tried to destroy me and my granny! I should know, I killed her myself..."
"Mmm hmm... See this? Do you know what this is?!" He quickly held the merduck up to a vaguely familiar black logo.
"...I'm not sure if you want me to say an up close high-definition TV screen, or the Earth. Wait. Do I, know you from somewhere?"
"...Business, opportunities." Bradford slowly explained.
"Ugh! Business? That's just, eh, boring. OW!" Webby was pushed hard against the screen.
"Not this business! THIS, type of business, works a little differently. Embezzling away all the would be wasted money in circulation, stealing every valuable artifact that finds themselves conveniently destroyed or missing to history, and taking out every single possible threat to us without rousing any suspensions..."
"Why are you even telling me ALL this?!" The merduck began while still in pain.
"I'd understand Magica and Glomgold, but you?! You seem a bit too professional a villain for this!"
"...Because we've already won. There is no facet of my professional life that doesn't require or request improvisation. There's little harm explaining it to a frail superchild who only won a fight because of some juice."
"I am NOT FRAAAAIL! I'M JUST A LITTLE DAINTY! AAAAAHHH!" Webby was quickly held down onto the floor by her neck as she began to choke from a lack of oxygen.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I'M A GIRL! THIS IS FAR FROM A FAIR FIGHT YOU KNOW!" The merduck struggled and fought desperately for her life.
"Plugging the leak. Without legs, you're quite, expendable..." The buzzard's shiny glasses were now close to her face.
"Any last requests, heir of Clan McDuck?! Oh, and nothing stupid. We're only a simple little business here."
Hearing his offer, Webby decided she had no choice but to take her chance.
"...A glass of water?"
"Okay, I guess that's reasonable. WATERBOY!" Bradford let go of the merduck's neck and spoke into a small handheld mic.
"You called Mr. Buzzard?" A short white feathered duckling wearing a red shirt and a metallic visor over his eyes spoke as he walked into the room with a full serving tray in his hands.
"The girl requests a glass of water. It's her final one, so make it a good one. We're F.O.W.L.! Not a bunch of uncouth monsters..."
"Yyyyeeess sir!" The duck spoke in a eerily familiar eager the please tone.
"...That- That voice." Webby blinked.
"Huey?"
"Here you are!" The duckling handed her a cool glass of water.
"Filled perfectly to the point where it won't spill out while holding it up to your bill. A professional pouring and serving technique all Junior Woodchucks should-"
"-It's Huey." Webby calmly realized.
"Wait, IT'S HUEY?!"
"Yeeeppp! Us F.O.W.L. agents, we are everywhere. We are your husbands, we are your wives. We are your mothers, we are your fathers. We are your friends, we, are-" Huey bent down to his close friend and whispered softly in her ear.
"-your family..."
...
"NOOOOOO! What kind of nightmare inducing betrayal dark future IS THIS?!" The merduck fought to push the duckling away from her while still on the floor.
"You've studied and dedicated your entire LIFE to that DUMB guidebook for years!"
"All THAT, JUST TO BECOME AN UNGODLY COOL LOOKING CRIMINAL WATERBOY IN A MASK?!"
"...It pays well." Huey answered after a moment of silence.
"Now drink."
"Oh, how you would like me too." Webby muttered angrily with the glass in her hands as she felt her lungs begin to burn.
"Okay, fine... Glug- HAAAAAAA!" In a single quick gulp, she downed the cool water and threw the empty glass upwards at the buzzard's face, who caught it in his hand before it could hit him and gave her a look of calm indifference.
"Oh boy." The merduck whispered to herself on the floor in fear.
"...Do you have any idea who your messing with?!" Bradford stood tall over Webby, but still far enough away from her up close punching range.
"Your Uncle Scrooge, Agent 22, Crackshell-Cabrera, also once known as... Gizmoduck. Talented as they may be, they can't hold a candle to the power and influence under our control!"
"So you got lucky a few times and made it out alive, that's expected. Well nobody's luck can last forever."
"And your luck has just, run, out. Five, four, three, two, one..." As soon as he finished his countdown, the merduck continued to helplessly choke and wheeze to death.
"Hu-Huey, please tell me it's not true. That- That you've been working with these FIENDS! The reason you kept sneaking out at night, why you constantly read the Junior Woodchuck guidebook to us all? The reason why Launchpad is SO DUMB?!"
Huey sighed from behind his mask and calmly lifted it off his eyes.
"...Webby, Launchpad is just Launchpad, it's just who he is. And me? I'm a F.O.W.L. agent, it's who I am. I'm not a fiend, or- or a criminal. I'm just, approaching the world at a slightly different direction. The scientifically accurate direction to be exact."
"The people here, they listen to me. They respect me. They understand me. They, complete me..."
"We're not trying to destroy the world or anything, we're saving it. Saving it from people like Magica, and General Lunaris. If left unchecked, people like them, could ruin it for everybody..."
"...HUEY, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!" Webby suddenly crawled up to the young F.O.W.L. duckling and grabbed his legs.
"The 'F' in F.O.W.L., literally stands for FIENDISH! The FIENDISH Organization for World Larceny! DON'T YOU GET IT?! THEY'RE THE BAD GUYS! FIENDS! THE BAAAAD GUUUYYYS!"
"...Wait, I thought it was Foreign?" Huey turned to Bradford who now looked a little sheepish.
"At, one time it was, yes."
Hearing this Huey was greatly disappointed.
"Well, at least you guys changed it to Fiendish. Phew, that sounds a whole lot better than Foreign. Heh-Heh-ha!"
"...NOOOOOO! What have you done to him?!" Webby threw herself at the buzzard as she continued to slowly die from a lack of breath.
"It must have been a horrible procedure, because I don't see a single scratch on him! Those are the worst kinds."
"...If your talking about brainwashing and torture, then you must be daft. We don't believe in that sort of thing here." Bradford began as he simply pushed her away with his hand.
"We didn't do a THING to him. Besides just sitting him down and having a long, responsible, adult, conversation... It doesn't take a lot to convince an insecure lonely impressionable child to firmly believe in anything you tell them."
"THAT'S RIGHT! Wait what?" Huey paused.
"...If someone wants to believe in something, no matter how absurd it may be, trust me they'll believe it."
"I think in many ways, Hubert here is sort of a blank canvas. And we just helped paint him a clearer picture of a future for himself. Honestly, there's really not that much, to him..."
"YOU'RE WRONG! Besides all the Junior Woodchuck and perfectionist stuff, Huey is, BURSTING WITH CHARACTER and PERSONALITY! Like, he- he-" Webby stuttered.
"-Well, can you imagine IT?!"
"...No. I can't imagine it." Bradford responded with a single raised eyebrow.
"Oh..." The merduck spoke in quiet realization, seconds before going back to choking and gasping for breath on the floor.
"Hmmmph!" The buzzard stood tall over her again in the dark.
"Even while facing imminent doom, all you Ducks end up doing is just rolling around in your own shallow graves. Some world-renowned adventurer family you turned out to be."
"We respected you, took you all seriously. But your all weak. Shockingly weak actually..."
"Uhh, Webby?" Huey began.
"I've been meaning to ask you. Why do you look like that and are almost constantly choking? That, that doesn't seem very-"
"-MA-MA-MAGICA! S-She- Huey, please HELP ME! Ugh, water. I can't breathe..." Webby laid flat on her back on the floor and tried her best to somehow inhale oxygen like normal.
"Oh no, WEBBY!" Huey immediately went to fill up another glass of water but was stopped as Bradford quickly knocked it out of his hands.
"Agent Duck, no..."
"Director Buzzard please! She's- She's a part of my family!" The duckling begged while on his knees.
"Okay then, give me one good reason why we should let her live!"
"THAT, WAS MY REASON!"
"...Not good enough. She has little to no importance to us now."
"THERE IS NO US, ANYMORE! It's only ME! Huey Duck, Junior Woodch- AAAAAHHH!" Huey was interrupted as his visor suddenly came to life and tightly attached itself around his head.
"We, are, F.O.W.L.! Step out of line here, and be prepared to expect, dire, consequences..." Bradford spoke as he put a black remote back in his pocket.
"Webby- Webby was right! You really are fien- Mmmmm-hhhmgh!" The duckling desperately struggled to take off the mask as it completely blinded him by lowering itself over his eyes and then pulled a horizontal metal bar far back into his open bill that successfully kept him from speaking.
"...Face it Vanderduck!" The buzzard began as he closely watched the dying merduck underneath him, unaware that an abnormally tall, shadowy figure was creeping up behind him.
"You have nothing to threaten us with! There isn't a single member of your friends and family we haven't already long prepared for!"
"This is, the end."
CLANG!
The leader of F.O.W.L. was quickly hit to the side of his head with an awkward sideways punch that knocked his glasses far out of his reach.
"Okay, I don't think anyone expected that..." He fell cold to the floor as Webby was barely able to make out Scrooge McDuck's emotionless face staring down at her as she finally closed her eyes.
"...Uncle, S-Scroo-" The exhausted little merduck collapsed into her rescuer's grasp as he reclined her head backwards safely in his forearms.