Hi there! This will be my second entry into the DuckTales2017 section and a first for the PK/DA section, making this a crossover of sorts. I once shared this in my ideas section for DuckTales stories, but left it as a one shot. Recently, I've been revisiting it again, since I have a bunch of ideas down for how a full story of this will go. So, I thought to myself, "Why not and try to write it?" So, that's what I'm doing, creating a new story!
Apart from the ideas, I don't have much yet. So if you're expecting periodic updates, that's probably not happening here. The story is being written the way I imagine how an episode could have happened. Oh, I don't want to keep rambling on, you can read the Original Notes later at the bottom. For now, enjoy!
Title: The Revival Of A Legacy & The Birth Of A Legend
Type: Story
Summary: Some of the Ducklings are drafted by Scrooge to clean up his old archive room. While there, they discover an old paper about a mysterious phantom thief and learn of when the thief and Scrooge's paths first crossed. Meanwhile, Gladstone had an epiphany about his life, and wanted to do something nice for Donald by giving him something he won from the State Lottery; an old abandoned property called, Villa Rosa.
Idea: This story is basically a way to bring Donald Duck's Anti-Hero/Hero alter ego into the world of Ducktales 2017. From a few stories I've seen so far, they usually place Donald as a hero before HDL entered his life, but I'd rather do it like the comics and give him a newish origin story while making it feel close to the comics. Like an episode, there will be 2 different stories told, one of the past with Scrooge vs. The Phantom Thief that inspires Donald into that life. The other, Donald's interaction with Gladstone as he uncovers the secrets of Villa Rosa.
Sub-Ideas:
- Gladstone wins the mansion via the Calisota State lottery just like in the original comic but it plays out differently.
- Either Donald becomes an Anti-Hero, Prankster like the original debut, or we introduce a new idea like the revival of the 2nd generation Phantom Thief (like 1412 plot).
- If Prankster is chosen, should Gladstone be the first target or should Scrooge be the target like the first comic, or a whole new target?
- If Phantom Thief is chosen, what new opportunities can be given to Doanld to showcase his flexibility, skills, and mindset?
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Shared Originally: March 7, 2021
Re-Edited: May 24, 2023
Date: January 25, 2024
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Chapter 1: The Start Of A Story
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The sun shone brightly upon the city of Duckburg on a Saturday morning. This was the type of day one would find children enjoying their freedom from homework and responsibilities, all to play games or meet friends outside. But over at the McDuck Mansion, one duckling wearing a green hooded sweater was lazily lounging around watching a rerun season of "Ottoman Empire," a show about two birds who build ottomans for people while at the same time, having the perfect blend of drama between two brothers. This duckling is one Louie Duck, the youngest of his triplet brothers. A girl duckling with a bobbed cut hairstyle, pink shirt, and purple skirt stared at him.
"Really Louie? Ottoman Empire, again? Haven't you watched these reruns enough already?"
"Nerp, Webby, you just can't let go of the drama here!"
"If you want drama and building, why not try watching, "Nest It Or Rest It?" Or even watch an actual drama slash soap opera, like "Anxieties," cause they're so good and totally dramatic!"
Louie looked at Webby and then back to the TV, "First suggestion, seen it already. Liked the first hosts over the second hosts, just lost interest when they came in. Not enough tension and drama between those two. Second, "Anxieties," is more Uncle Donald's show. Too lazy to bother with something that's been going on since he and mom were growing up and it's too much work to catch up to the latest story."
"Well actually, Anxie—"
"Just leave it Webby, he just isn't into all the action, suspense, and deweyness about the show." The duckling in the blue long-sleeved layered T-shirt commented.
"I didn't take you for an Anxieties fan, Dewey."
"Obviously Webby, it's got some of the coolest actors on there, and they totally—"
"Ah, just the ones I've been looking for!" Everyone turned their heads over towards the voice.
"Uncle Scrooge?" They all responded in unison.
"Perfect! I thought it'd just be Huey and I, but since you're here, we'll be needing your help to reorganize the archive room."
Webby's eyes began sparkling, wanting to get in on the opportunity to help the rich duck clean out things and maybe find new material for her Scrooge biography. But Dewey stepped in, "No can do Uncle Scrooge! Mom promised Webby and I a trip to Funzos today. We're participating in the high score competition for their newest game that came in today, Uku or Puke International Tour Version! I read this version has a co-op mode where you have to work to play together with your opponent to get the highest score. Webby here will be my partner!" He plays an air ukulele moving his hands rapidly as he inaccurately creates chords on the imaginary fret board and leans against the girl.
"But Dewey!" All protests were cut as they heard Della yell out for them and the young duckling in the blue shirt dragged Webby away.
"Bye Uncle Scrooge!"
"Aye, have fun you two!" The old duck then turned over to Louie, feeling a slight sense of déjà vu as he watched the boy sitting on the couch watching that familiar program. "And are you planning to sit there all day in front of the telly?"
"Yerp." He replies rather bored, waiting for his Uncle to leave him alone and let him relax.
"Ah, we've done this song and dance before lad. So, rather than sit there all day, we've got work to do."
"But Uncle Scrooge—" He wasn't able to finish as the old duck got the remote and turned off the TV, soon carrying Louie away. The duckling had no way of protesting, simply going slack in his uncle's hold as he was being forced to go to work once again.
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Later
After a bit of grumbling and convincing from the eldest sibling, the spry elderly duck and two ducklings began to go hard at work in the archive room on the second floor. Well, one duckling with the red T-shirt and cap, Huey, was working hard with his Uncle Scrooge, while Louie was lazily carrying a single piece of paper listing all that needed to be done.
"Uggghh, this is too much work. Why are we even doing this when I could be enjoying the nice day?" Louie complained as he carried the paper over to the desk.
"And do what lad? You'd have just sat there lazing about doing nothing but watching that ridiculous program all day."
"Uh... No! Uncle Scrooge, "Ottoman Empire" is not ridiculous!" Louie dramatically scoffed at his uncle.
Meanwhile, as the two bickered, Huey set down another box and went through the contents to log it for later categorization. Upon emptying everything gently onto the floor, Huey noticed an old newspaper stuck underneath the flap on the bottom corner. Curious, he carefully and delicately removed the paper. It turned out it was a clipping that looked to be from sometime in the 1960s or 70s. The date was too faint to specify exactly when. The article itself was quite faded, but the major headline was still legible.
"The Phantom Duck Strikes Again: Billion Dollar Jewel Stolen Reveals Colossal Green Crime Circle"
Scrooge stopped bickering with Louie when he noticed the bold print on the paper, his eyes filled with recognition!
"Ah, haven't seen any news on him in a long time."
"Wait, Uncle Scrooge, you know about, The Phantom Duck?"
"About him? Ack, I knew him! A troublesome thief that succeeded in breaking into me Money Bin a few times."
Louie was lost, "I'm sorry, who?"
Both Huey and Scrooge answered at the same time, "Fantomallard, the famed Phantom Thief of Duckburg!"
[Intro Song ~ DuckTales Woo-oo!]
Huey had finished telling Louie all the information that the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook had on Fantomallard, with Scrooge filling in details that Huey lacked.
"Okay, so let me see if I have all this down. Some classy old-school thief was actually able to break into your Money Bin, Uncle Scrooge? You could have lost all your money?!"
Scrooge chuckled, "Almost. There were a few misunderstanding between us sometimes. We may not always have seen eye to eye, but we did have moments when we worked together toward the same goals. But he never directly stated he wanted my money."
Huey was now wide-eyed and excited to find out what his uncle knew about the thief. Fantomallard had pulled off many skillful heists, but in the process, they always led to some bigger crime that was worth much more than the items he ever stole. That sly criminal often ended up getting away with the spoils since the deeds exposed were of a higher priority for the police task forces before one day up and vanishing, fading into history without a trace.
"So when exactly did you meet the Masked Thief? How is it that you two worked together? What goals made you two align? Did you ever meet the Mallard under the mask? Did you also cross paths with his partner in crime, Dolly Paprika? When was the last time you saw him before he disappeared from the news?"
"Well, Laddie..."
Louie groaned, "Oh boy. Cue backstory in three, two, one." He points to his Uncle Scrooge.
Scrooge looked at them, but the look in his eyes were far away, as if he was gazing into the past remembering that specific moment in time,
"It was the Summer of 1969..."
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-DUCKTALES 2017-
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Ah, finally! Huey and Louie were off doing work with Scrooge while Della, Dewey, and Webby were out at Funzos enjoying a nice, normal arcade day. Dewey was looking forward to obtaining the high score on that new version of the Uku or Puke game getting installed today. He wasn't scheduled to work and there were no planed dates with Daisy too, so he finally had a moment to relax; a nice relaxing, do-nothing day. Maybe he could catch up on his favorite soap opera, it's been awhile.
But, there was a knock at the door and an all too familiar voice that irked him, "Donaldo, buddy, cousin, my fam! The kids told me you were in the boathouse! Come on, open up!"
Donald Duck sighed, his cousin Gladstone came here and showed up without warning. Great... What did he want with him? After the last adventure with the family yesterday, all he wanted was to rest. But because Gladstone was waiting at the door, he certainly wasn't going to find any peace today.
Donald opened the door slowly, peeking at Gladstone and in usual fashion, he greeted the Gander with an annoyed look, "What do you want Gladstone?"
"Not much Cuz, I came in to check up on you and see how things were going."
"If that's all, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Just as Donald was about to shut the door, Gladstone puts his foot in the way preventing him from closing it.
"Oh fine, I actually did come for a reason, and that reason involves you."
Donald narrowed his brows at that. What was so important that his no-good-lazy-loafer of a cousin came to him? Although he was tired, against his better judgment, he let Gladstone into the boathouse.
"So, what do you want and why do you need me?"
"Well, I've been doing a bit of thinking, and after an ESPECIALLY horrible experience, I've come to realize something."
"And that is?"
"That I don't know how you have been surviving all these years. Just living, walking on stairs without someone to carry you up, or getting money without it flying into your wallet, or even having to..." Gladstone shudders, "Pay for food."
"It's called life Gladstone, making a living for yourself and actually doing work." Donald crossed his arms together and murmured.
"Well Big D, after having walked a few meters in your feet, a couple quite literally, it made me think of wanting to do something for you."
Donald's eyebrow raised looking skeptically at Gladstone, "Oh yeah, what's that?"
"First I have to tell you a story."
Donald grumbled, "Oh, here we go," but let him proceed to tell his tale.
"I was just getting off a cruise that a couple of celebrities had invited me on several days ago and was about to head back to my blimp. On the way back, this little dog nuzzles at my legs. It seems he had taken quite a liking to me, and as I picked the dog up, a lady comes by looking so delighted to see I found her dog, "Peekaboo Fuzzbrow." He had apparently been missing for a week, so she had been going around looking for him again."
Donald rolled his eyes, "Let me guess, she was so thankful that she gave you some cash reward, or a car, or something really expensive."
"She didn't have any money on her, so she compensated me with a Lottery Ticket for the Calisota State Lottery, and you know something..."
"It was the winning ticket," Donald mumbled.
"It was a winning ticket! So I won!"
"So what, you won money?"
"No actually."
Donald was surprised and now curious, "Not money? Then what was it?"
"This particular lottery is for lands and their properties that are currently vacant."
"Meaning?"
"Donaldo, my cuz. I'm gifting you with your very own deed to a property. A landmass of a few acres with a mansion sitting right on top of it."
Donald couldn't believe it, "Wak?! You're pulling my tail feathers, Gladstone. This has got to be some sort of trick, it's going to end up being like the casino all over again!"
"Cuz, I'm serious. More serious than you can ever know. After having time to think about my lucky life... (and being you for a brief moment)," that last part left unsaid, "I want to do something to throw a little good fortune your way."
Donald was skeptical, on one hand, Gladstone's "good luck" has always caused trouble for him in the long run. But on the other hand, unlike those other times that Gladstone was involved, not once could he recall him sharing that fortune just because of a generous heart. It was always for benefiting himself, like the time when they were young ducklings and he found some quarter on the ground and gave it to Gladstone. His cousin in turn gave it to some man who was interested in it and in return got a golden broach pin which later they found costed thousands of dollars. He got all that money, all for a quarter, a quarter that he had found first! He never even saw a cent of that money go to him. 9 times out of 10, Gladstone's prosperity was his misfortune. Something was bound to go wrong. Whether or not Gladstone's intentions to generously give Donald this property were pure and honest, it remained to be seen. Still, he wanted to try. Maybe that 1 out of 10 chance that something good really is happening to him will remain just that, good, like when he has his outings with Daisy.
Donald took a deep breath and sighed, "I still don't trust you, but I'm willing to give you a chance." Gladstone waved his hand for his cousin to continue. "Take me out to the property to look around so I can see what it is I'm getting into. If there's anything, and I mean ANYTHING as big as the adventures I've been on with Scrooge that bring nothing but trouble, the deal is off! Got it?"
Gladstone's face lit up with delight, "Oh Double D, you won't regret it! Just say the word and we can head on over there!"
"You mean now?"
"Okay then cuz, let's shove off!"
"Wait! I didn't mean—"
But it was too late, Gladstone was pushing him out the door where they were greeted by a rope ladder from a helicopter that just so happened to be waiting for them. Gladstone easily boarded, but as Donald's usual streak goes, he ended up getting his foot stuck on the rope ladder causing him to dangle just underneath the copter as it flew away. Gladstone was none the wiser, lost in his own eagerness. Donald could already tell it was going to be quite a long day ahead.
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Original Notes:
So this was my first time writing these characters out and somewhat in the format of how an episode could run. Still not sure if I got the personality down yet, but hopefully it worked. I have seen a few ideas where Donald is the masked vigilante before the triplets came into his life, but I really wanted to take the approach like his debut comic, make him a masked mallard with the children and Della already in his life.
Huey and Louie are getting the chance to hear the story of the first Phantom Thief, Fantomallard/Fantomius. I still don't know much about him, just what I found on the wikipedia pages, so I'm going to just go with the flow and work with a Gentleman Thief I'm more familiar with, (any DCMK fans out there?) and draw inspiration from that.
To give a bit more information, this takes place sometime after S03E08, after Gladstone had been accidentally zapped and became Donald for a brief moment. But his desires to be so giving stem from the start of his lack of good fortune and him having to live it out normally. As for Dewey, Webby, & Della, I couldn't figure out a way to write them in, so like some episodes, they're going to be absent in this story, for now at least? Still not sure.
Overall, this was fun and I hope you enjoyed this little test chapter I created. Anyway, if you like it, feel free to leave a comment and let me know. Thank you so much for reading! Stay safe out there everyone! See you next idea! :D
Edit May 24, 2023: Above are my original notes, edited a little, from when this was first shared. I was more into Ducktales 2017 back then. It was around that time, I was searching for what other kinds of content were out there, mainly the comic scene. I didn't really know they existed at first, but one day I found this Mickey Mouse Comic mixed in the book section at some store, and from that point I got really into it. That's how I found out about Donald Duck comics. Later on, one search leads to another and that's when I learn about Donald as PK/DA, the prankster and later hero, comics. Through this, more info is found, and then it leads to this story. Again, that you so much for reading!