Author's Note: Hey, everyone. I'm back with the first of a weekly update of my current Young Avengers fanfic, Howard's Ducktales, which will have a new chapter about every week, until we reach the end of the current season. Down below is a list of all the episodes I'll be covering, including the one this very chapter will cover.
*Raiders of the Doomsday Vault
*The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee
*The Duck Knight Returns
*Whatever Happened to Donald Duck
*Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake
*A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill
*Timephoon
*Glomtales
*The Richest Duck in the World
*Moonvasion
I may slip in an original chapter or not, but for now, this is the list.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter as well as all future chapters in Howard's Ducktales. Any and all comments are welcome.
Flying the Sunchaser over the frozen tundra of the snowy mountains, Della Duck yelled in excitement. She showed off her flying skills to her son, Dewey, while doing tricks in the clouds.
"I missed ya, girl!" Della exclaimed. "The Cloudslayer flies again!"
"Cloudslayer?" Dewey asked. "That is way better than the Sunchaser. Why would Huey and Louie want to miss this?"
"I might have an idea!" Howard shouted as he hung on tightly to the back of Della's seat. He was freaked out by all the air tricks, so he held on tightly.
"Oh, Howard, don't tell me you're not startled by a little flying." Della said.
"A little flying?" Howard asked. "I've had a calmer time trying to navigate a quantum asteroid field."
"That sounds awesome!" Dewey shouted. "You gotta tell me more!"
"Uh, no. I don't." Howard replied.
"Well, this is still a historic moment." Dewey said. "Dewey and Della Duck on their first high-flying adventure with Howard the space duck!"
"Not adventure. Business venture." Scrooge corrected stepping up to join in on the conversation. "We are headed to Boarway, home of the Von Drake Doomsday Vault."
"Doomsday vault?" Howard said. "Does that sound like something we should go to?"
"It's a sterile seed depository." Scrooge explained. "My old colleague, Ludwig Von Drake, collected millions of seeds for safekeeping in case of apocalypse. Unfortunately, the vault's been damaged by melting permafrost. We must convince the owners to hire McDuck Bin Securities to fix it."
"So we're flying all the way out in the cold to pitch a sale?" Howard asked already feeling bored. "I'm starting to think the others had the right idea staying at home."
"Oh, don't worry, Howard. Usually, there's always a bit of excitement and entertainment in these trips." Della said. She found a spot to land near a small facility and stopped her flight upon it.
Once the Cloudslayer landed, everyone packed up their gear and headed out into the snow.
"Now," Scrooge said, "All that stands between me and that contract is…"
"Flintheart Glomgold!" shouted another duck who then laughed evilly. He was shorter than Scrooge, but he was also wider. He had a beard on a tiny pair of glasses. He then shined a flashlight in his face and imitated thunder while an owl woman stood behind him.
"I cut his dramatic entrance budget." she said.
"Uh, who's this clown?" Howard asked.
Della sighed. "That's Flintheart Glomgold. I see he's still causing trouble for you, Uncle Scrooge. The lady's new though."
"Yes, that's Owlson. She's basically Flinty's partner these days." Scrooge answered.
"Just you wait, McDuck!" Glomgold proclaimed dramatically. "This contract is just what I need to get closer to winning our bet!"
"Bet?" Howard asked. "What bet?"
"Well, Glomgold's been obsessed with trying to be richer than me for years, ever since he was just a little shoe-shiner named Duke Baloney. He felt like I robbed him, so he robbed me back." Scrooge explained. "Since then, we've always had this rivalry with him foolishly trying to earn more money than me and/or kill me. Recently, we decided to settle everything with a bet. Whoever makes more money by the end of the year gets to own both companies."
"Really?" Howard asked. "Well, that sounds like a thing."
"Told you you'd be entertained." Della said.
Inside the facility, Scrooge gave his presentation to the three owners of the Doomsday Vault while Della, Howard, and Dewey waited at the side of the room and Owlson sat next to a sleeping Glomgold.
"The noble seed. Our hope for a better tomorrow." Scrooge said. "Carefully tended, a seed will sprout with promise. That's what your father, Ludwig, wanted for you—what any parents wants for their child really—to see them thrive in the face of an uncertain tomorrow. In that vault lies everything the world needs to survive a doomsday scenario: Food, water, shelter, poison darts, vampire antitoxin and... the fabled Money Tree of Aurum Oros!"
Howard was bored for most of the sales pitch until he heard the last thing that Scrooge mentioned was in the vault. His head popped up and his eyes widened when he heard the words…
"Money Tree?" Howard asked. "As in, a tree made of money?"
"I've heard of it." Della said. "They say the bark is made of gold and it grows dollar bills as if they were leaves."
Hearing that, Howard's pupils changed to dollar signs.
"The money tree is the most venerated of vegetation." Scrooge said. "To gaze upon even its seed is to know the true meaning of wonder. I swear to lock them up so tight, that nothing will ever touch those seeds until the end of the world."
Howard's excitement quickly changed to disappointment. "Drat," he thought to himself, "Once Scrooge fixes up the vault, the Money Tree will be out of reach for sure." He then realized something that made him smile. "Unless I can make it to that vault and take one of those seeds for myself. Surely, they won't notice if one of those bad boys go missing. But I can't do it alone. So I'll need…"
As he turned around, he saw Della and Dewey running into the hallway. He smirked before following them.
"We've got to see those money tree seeds before Scrooge locks them up forever! Jinx! Double jinx!" both Della and Dewey said at once.
"Hey, you two!" Howard called out stopping them in their tracks. They looked back at him nervously. "There is no way you're going out into the frozen wasteland and breaking into a dangerous vault to look at some old seeds… without me."
"Really?" Dewey asked. "You want to see the seeds too?"
"Uh, sure. That sounds fun." Howard said.
"That's actually great." Della said. "My son and my new friend on their first adventure together. And I, as a good mother and friend, get to see it happen. Race you to the Cloudslayer!"
While the three of them ran out of the facility, Scrooge stepped off the stage and allowed Glomgold to take his place to pitch his sale. Glomgold set up his plan to show everyone.
"The Doomsday Vault is the key to our future."
"So far, so good." Owlson whispered.
"A future in which I make more money than McDuck, win our bet, and win his company!" he continued loudly while flipping his plan over and drawing on it. "Here's where you come in. I break in to the vault, grab the money tree, we split the profits 90-10, then I blow up the vault to cover our tracks!"
Ludwig's children gasped at the idea. Owlson quickly ran out of her chair and stepped in front of Glomgold with a nervous laugh. "What he means is, we will respectfully blow your minds with how secure we'll make that vault, for half the price."
"And if you don't give us the job," Glomgold said, "I'm just gonna steal the tree anyway, sooooooo…"
As expected, after that, Glomgold was thrown out and Scrooge's company was hired. Owlson berated the oblivious wannabe villain while Scrooge headed back to his plane, only to find it gone. He immediately found out who stole it.
"So stand out, above the crowd! Even if I gotta shout out loud, 'til mine is the only face that you see! Gonna staaaaand out, 'til you notice me."
"Nailed it!" Della commented after finishing the song with her son while they flew the Sunchaser over the mountains. "Hey, Howard, how come you didn't join in?"
"Because I've never heard this song." Howard explained.
"What? How could you never have heard of the greatest song on Earth?" Dewey asked.
"Uh, maybe because he's only been on Earth for, like, a week." Della said.
"Oh. Right. Sorry." Dewey said.
"Nothing to be ashamed of." Howard said. "Let's just focus on getting to that vault."
"Of course." Della said. "You know, Dewey, honey, when I was stuck on the moon, all I thought about was teaching you how to adventure. Well, that and avoiding horrifying moon monsters. But you're already a natural at all of this."
"Roger dodger! As the crow flies! Copilot to pilot, we're a go for… uh… flying, I guess?"
"Copilot?" Della asked. "No way. You're pilot material, buddy. Take the stick."
Dewey's eyes widened when she gestured at the steering wheel in front of him. "Me, fly the Suncha… I mean, Cloudslayer? Scrooge won't even let me touch the toaster."
"You're my kid. You can do anything." Della assured.
"Uh, Della," Howard said, "I don't want to be 'that guy', but are you sure you should let a ten-year-old kid take control of a heavy aircraft? After all… he's ten years old."
"I know it's not conventional, but trust me." Della said. "I wouldn't let him do this if I didn't think he could handle it. Time to spread your wings, Dewey!"
"You are the best mom!" Dewey said happily taking control of his own wheel. He struggled to maintain a steady flight until Della grabbed the wheel and flew it with him.
"Now, close your eyes." Della said with Dewey following his mom's instructions. "Feel the sky."
"Close his eyes?" Howard asked grasping onto the safety bars. "He's flying!"
"It'll be okay." Della said as she gently released Dewey and let him fly. Howard clutched hard on the safety rails during the flight.
"I'm doing it." Dewey whispered happily. "I'm Dewey-ing… AAAAHHH!"
One wrong turn was enough to make the plane tilt forward completely. Everyone yelled as the Sunchaser plummeted from the sky until it landed abruptly into a pile of snow.
Once everyone got back up, they walked on out to find themselves inside of a dark, icy cave. Howard brushed the snow off of him while he and Della looked over at Dewey, who was the last one to leave the plane.
"I am so sorry." Dewey said.
"For what? That was a perfect first try." Della said proudly.
"Are you kidding me?" Howard asked. "If it was perfect, we wouldn't have crashed in less than ten seconds."
"Don't listen to him, Dewey." Della said. "I'm so proud of you."
Howard sighed before looking forward deeper into the caves. "Well, it looks like we're on the right trail to the vault. Just gonna go through a slight detour."
"Then let's go to adventure!" Della proclaimed as she and the others walked down the tunnel.
Soon, the three of them stopped at a fork that leads to two different tunnels. One was a flat, simple path with nothing at all. The other was a dark slide with icy spikes poking out of some parts of the tunnel. Della smiled as she approached Dewey.
"So you wanna do it the easy way… or the fun way?"
"I am offended you had to ask." Dewey replied before sliding down the dark tunnel with his mom.
Howard sighed before going down the other tunnel. "Of course, it's genetic."
Della and Dewey were having the time of their lives sliding down the spiky slide. Every time they see a shard of ice in their path, they gracefully went around it loving it every time. Finally, the two reached the outside and continued sliding until they went over a ramp. They flew over and landed on the ice still laughing when they hit the solid ice.
"That was fun." Dewey said.
"Yeah." Della said. "Too bad Howard decided to do it the easy way."
"Why wouldn't I want to do it the easy way?"
"Huh?" Della and Dewey asked right when they found Howard standing in front of them.
"How did you…" Dewey said.
"The path you two ignored turned out to be faster than that deathtrap slide." Howard said. "I made it out like fifteen seconds before you did. Anyway, we're here."
Howard, Della, and Dewey stared and gaped at a large, metal structure half-buried in a mountain of snow. A big, metal entryway was wide open (aside from the dangling icicles) connecting to a broken bridge that reached over a chasm. When they looked over at the bridge, they noticed it had a big hole in the center of it.
"Pretty weird way to build a bridge." Dewey commented.
"Dewey, honey, I don't think they built it with a big hole in it." Della said. "It must have been torn apart when the ice melted and this crevice widened."
Howard studied the gap. "This looks like an easy jump."
Together, the three nodded and jumped over the hole in the bridge. Once they made it safely across, they made it into the vault entrance with ease. However, once they took their first step in, Della's metal foot phased right through a tiny, green light that shined low to the ground.
Suddenly, the entire vault shook and the door slammed shut behind them. At the same time, an old computer screen lit up on the wall revealing an old duck scientist with a raspy, Austrian accent.
"Welcome, survivors. If you're here, the world has ended. So sad, but congratulations on not being eaten by zombies or hyper-intelligent hairless apes or something like that. Now, don't worry, because I, Professor Ludwig Von Drake, have prepared for every possible threat."
"Except climate change, apparently." Della said.
"Nice one." Howard said exchanging a high-five with Della.
"Now then," Ludwig continued, "You are gonna see a color pad next to the door." He walked on off-screen and appeared on another screen in the room next to the door. The screen was displayed over six buttons with different colors. "I thought the apocalypse might be brought about by werewolves. You know, they're very smart with numbers, but they's extremely colorblind. Now, the password is very simple. It's… Hold on. Where is… Oh, that's right." He pulled out a piece of paper and read from it in a singsong voice. "Red, yellow, green, red, blue, blue, blue, red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red, red."
Della pressed her finger on the red button, but she was unable to push it in. She repeatedly tried to push in the button, but it wouldn't budge with her.
"Stupid frozen buttons." Della muttered angrily. "Buzzkil barricade. This blows chunks."
"We may have to find another way around the vault." Howard said. He looked around until he saw a ventilation shaft that was completely open. "Hey. I bet that vent leads to the other side."
"I don't think we can fit through there though." Della said.
"Maybe you two can't," Dewey said, "But I can."
"Good thinking, Dewey!" Della said.
With Della's assistance, Dewey jumped high into the air. He grabbed the open end of the vent and pulled himself in. Once he was inside, he turned back to look at the others. "See you on the other side. Miss you already!" He proceeded inside.
While they waited, Howard approached Della. "Hey, Della, we need to talk."
"About what?"
"It's about your faith in Dewey." Howard said. "Don't you think you might want to ease up on telling him what he can or can't do? It's a little dangerous."
"What?" Della asked. "You're being silly. How can my faith in Dewey be dangerous."
Howard scowled. "You promoted him to captain, and he immediately crashed us into a ice cave in the middle of nowhere."
"So? Donald and I have been through worse when we were his age." Della said. "Look, he's my son. He's got potential for sure, you know."
"I'm not saying he doesn't have potential." Howard said. "I'm just saying that he's not invincible. You're setting a pretty high bar for him that he may think he has to live up to. He may end up doing things that he can't do."
"Don't worry. If it ever comes to that, I promise, I'll call him off." Della promised. "But you know, it wouldn't hurt for you to get closer to him."
"I'd say I'm plenty close already." Howard said.
"Not in the way he wants." Della said. "You've been living with us for about a week, and all we really know about you is that you're a mapmaker from a planet full of duck people."
"Right. A mapmaker." Howard said emphasizing his lie.
"My point is, you clearly been on a lot of adventures, and Dewey clearly loves adventures." Della said. "Maybe you could share some of your stories with him. Who knows? Maybe he could look up to you."
Howard paused for a moment before looking down on the metal floor. "I… I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm the type of person he would want to look up to."
"What do you mean?" Della asked.
Before anything else could be said, Dewey's voice was heard from the other side of the sealed door. "Nailed it!"
"Great honey!" Della said. "Now, all that's left is for you to open the door on your end."
"How do I Dewey that?" Dewey asked.
"First of all, stop using your name as a play on words." Howard said. "And second of all, do you see an electrical panel connected to the door. It should look similar to the frozen one on our end."
It wasn't long before Dewey spotted the panel. He quickly headed toward it. "Yerp! I got this."
"Good. Now, whatever you do, don't touch it!" Howard advised.
It was too late. Dewey went ahead of himself and ripped the front of the panel open revealing a tangled mess of colorful wires. Right after that, an alarm rang on Della and Howard's side of the door. They looked up and saw the ceiling creaking and lowering itself towards them. It was on a direct course to squish them both.
"Aw, phooey." both Della and Dewey said at once.
"This is bad!" Howard yelled out nervously. "What do we do?"
"Dewey, override the security system!" Della yelled out.
"Override the… He's ten years old, Della!" Howard shouted.
"It's… It's okay, Howard!" Dewey said with an uneasy expression on his face. "Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy." He returned to the panel and remembered all the different-colored wires that were tied together putting him in a state of confusion.
Suddenly, the screen on the broken panel lit up. Professor Von Drake appeared on it as he appeared in the other screens.
"Right. If you were smart enough to survive the apocalypse, you should be able to deduce which wire will deactivate the trap. Otherwise, anyone in that room goes squish."
Dewey was nervous before, but after hearing that, he was internally freaking out.
"You got this, honey!" Della shouted. "You can do anything you put your mind to!"
"That, and you're the only one here who can do anything!" Howard shouted trying to lay flat on the ground. "So please, do something!"
While the digital Ludwig began counting down the end of the trap, Dewey focused his attention on the wires. He carefully raised each one to his face trying to determine which wire to cut. No matter what he tried, though, he couldn't decide what to do in this situation. It scared him deeply. All the while, the ceiling was getting closer to crushing both Howard and Della. It was only delayed when she tried to fight against it with her metal foot. It was a losing battle, though.
Before the countdown ended, Dewey's nervousness caused him to sweat. A drop of it fell from his head and landed on the wires effectively short-circuiting it. Because of that the ceiling was lifted allowing Howard and Della to be safe. At the same time, all the doors opened and Della was finally reunited with her son with Howard behind him.
"You're alive!" Dewey cheered happily hugging Della.
"Whoo!" Della exclaimed. "I was inches from death, terrified, then boom! You pulled it out at the last second for maximum tension!"
"…Uh, huh." Dewey nodded.
Howard looked at the broken panel and saw that the wires were still intact. He then turned blankly at the others.
"I don't think he did it on purpose. More likely, we got out by sheer luck."
"Nope. It was on purpose. Making my mom proud." Dewey said.
"Yeah. Don't overthink it, buddy." Della said before being dramatic. "What else will Dewey, Della, and Howard conquer together in the forbidden vault? Yetis? Escaped lab experiments? Bacteria that will strip the very flesh from our bones?"
"Is that a real possibility?" Howard asked. "Maybe the seeds aren't worth it."
"Oh, no. I was just being dramatic." Della said. "Anyway, let's see what this vault has in store for us!"
"Yeah. Let's Dewey it." Dewey whispered unsurely.
Howard watched as his companions ventured deeper into the vault. He sighed and followed. "I swear, the Duck Family is going to be the death of me."
As they ventured deeper into the vault, the three ducks found themselves on a descending platform which moved down as soon as they set foot on it. Shortly after, the three found themselves entering a room with hundreds of small cabinets in the wall. After every seventh row of cabinets, there was a row of tall, glass tubes with green chemicals inside. At the same time, another computer screen lit up showing Ludwig again.
"Welcome to my doomsday seed vault encompassing all the entirety of plant life on this planet, including some very rare and mythological plants. I have treated each and every little seed with my Von Drake super-growth formula—patent pending—so you don't starve to death while you're waiting for your crops to grow. It will cause them to grow at immense rates. I wouldn't plant them within a mile of each other, for safety reasons."
The three got off the platform and approached a machine with a computer keyboard and screen on it. At the top of the machine was a large, mechanical pincer claw. Approaching the computer, Howard took a second to examine it.
"Huh. Looks like it's just like the filing system at Orgocorp."
"Orgocorp?" Della asked. "What's that?"
"A cybergenetic research company." Howard explained. "I visited the place once. Gotten pretty used to the systems. I wonder if…"
Howard typed the word "MONEY TREE" into the computer. A green light brushed over the cabinet boxes until it stopped on one.
"That must be the box with the seeds we're looking for." Howard said. "Simplicity itself."
"Wow." Dewey said. "You know, sometimes, you can be a buzzkill, but other times, you surprise me."
"Oh, I just typed on a keyboard and… Hey! Who are you calling a buzzkill?"
"All right, boys." Della said taking control of the computer.
She pressed a button to activate the claw machine and toggled a stick around to move it. However, before it can be raised, it broke down and stopped working.
"Aw, phooey!" Della exclaimed. "Sorry, guys. Looks like we came all this way for nothing. So much for our first great adventure together."
Howard sighed. "This stinks. But oh, well. Maybe I can… Wait." He looked around. "Where's your son?"
The two adult ducks looked around before looking up. That's when they found Dewey climbing up the claw machine. He stopped to look down at them.
"If I don't make it, tell my brothers I was the best one!" Dewey yelled before jumping across. He grabbed ahold of one of the boxes and stopped himself from falling into a dark pit.
"That kid is nuts!" Howard exclaimed feeling impressed.
That's when the claw finally moved, but it wasn't the way they expected. It leaned forward and fell to one of the green chemical tubes shattering the glass that contained it. The green chemicals spilled out and fell into the dark pit below.
"Well, it's not like it's dangerous down there." Howard said. "Plus, Scrooge is paying to fix this place up anyway."
"Okay, Dewey." Della said. "Now, just boulder up those lockers like a rock wall. Then once you have a seed, base-jump back to the platform, and…" She finally stopped when she realized what she was saying and took a look at the situation around her. "Wait, is this crazy?"
"Finally, you noticed!" Howard yelled out. "And yes, this is crazy!"
"Crazy is my middle name!" Dewey yelled as he began climbing up to the lit box.
"Are you sure?" Della asked.
"Well, no. It's actually Dingus." Dewey admitted.
"Seriously?" Howard asked. "Was Donald really that stupid when it came to naming you?"
"I mean, it's pretty dangerous." Della said. "I can do this part if you want."
"Mom, relax." Dewey said. "I'm your son. I can Dewey it. I can do anything, just like you told me."
Della chuckled nervously. "Of course, you can, my little hero." She turned to see Howard's judgmental look. "Okay, I get it now."
Despite the dizziness and near-fall, Dewey made it to the green box he was looking for. He opened it up and lifted himself to look at the glowing, gold seeds inside. He gasped gaping at its glorious glow.
"So beautiful. So worth it."
Suddenly, Dewey slipped again. He didn't fall, but he tilted the box far and hard enough that all the seeds inside fell out and plummeted down.
"NO!" Howard shouted as he reached out. He swiped his hand at the falling seeds, but watched as they fell into the dark pit where the growth chemicals spilled.
"Oops." Dewey said.
Just then, the entire room began to shake. Everyone stood still awaiting what came next, which came from below. They watched as gold, metallic trees branched out quickly surrounding the platform and taking everyone by surprise.
The money tree continued to grow quickly sprouting dollar bills on its branches as if they were leaves. Howard was tempted to take them, but was also fearful of his life as the tree continued to grow rapidly around the vault.
"Dewey, are you okay?!" Della asked out loud.
"I got this, Mom!" Dewey replied not fully believing himself. "Totally under control! Do not worry!"
"KIDS!"
That last voice didn't come from Dewey, Della, or Howard. They all turned and saw Scrooge run in. Glomgold was right next to him, and their wrists were handcuffed together.
Scrooge took a moment to look around at the rapidly-growing money tree. "Oh. They were after the tree. That makes sense."
"Mr. McDuck, what a surprise to see you here." Howard said nervously. "Now, I know how this looks, but… Wait, why are you handcuffed to the idiot?"
"Long story." Scrooge replied.
"But now that I'm here, Glomgold can finally take the money tree and win the bet!" Glomgold proclaimed wildly.
"I don't care about the stupid tree!" Scrooge replied. "My family is in danger!" He tried running to the others, but Glomgold stopped him by tugging at the handcuff.
"When you abduct me, you can decide what's important!" Glomgold said before dragging Scrooge to the money tree branches where he began plucking dollar bills from them.
"Okay then!" Della said turning back to Dewey. "Just get some momentum going, then swing yourself out onto the nearest branch! You can do it!"
Dewey looked over at a branch that grew nearby. He tried to build up his momentum, but he stopped himself after nearly slipping and falling. He finally broke down into tears and confessed.
"I can't! I can't do it!"
"Hang on, Dewey!" Howard shouted as he jumped over the railing and landed on a growing part of the money tree which spiraled upward. Once he was right next to Dewey, he jumped over and grabbed him in his one arm while using the other hand to grab onto the next branch and swing them both back onto the platform where Della was waiting to hug her son.
"I got you." Della assured before smiling at her son's savior. "Thanks, Howard."
Howard blushed and looked away to clear his throat. "Yeah, well, you know. I wasn't going to let a kid die. I'm not a monster." That's when he was nearly crushed by a part of the ceiling. The tree had grown large enough to hit the top of the vault. "We should probably go now!"
"Good idea!" Della replied before running back the way they came in. On the way, they ran into Scrooge and Glomgold, the latter of whom began pocketing dollar bills.
"You three!" Scrooge growled at the nervous ducks.
"Uncle Scrooge, I can explain." Della said nervously. She looked back and saw that the entrance to the elevator platform had been destroyed by the growing gold tree.
"Explain what?" Scrooge asked angrily. "That you stole my plane, put us all in danger, and destroyed humanity's only hope for surviving the end of the world?!"
"Uh, would this make you feel better?" Howard asked before leaning down at the handcuff keeping Scrooge and Glomgold. A second later, he managed to remove it.
"Well, a little, but not enough!" Scrooge replied. "Did you ever think of how you were gonna get out of this?"
Della looked around and stared that the tree roots and snaked down. That's when an idea hit her head and she smiled.
"Simple. We jump."
"What?!" Howard asked before looking at what Della was seeing. He then quickly caught on to what she was thinking. "Oh. I get it. Yeah, let's jump."
"Oh, no, you don't!" Scrooge said. "No more jumping headfirst into…"
"Trust me." Della interrupted. She then looked back at Dewey and Howard. "We can do this. I got you. Both of you."
Both Dewey and Howard smiled and joined her along with Scrooge and Glomgold. Together, the five of them rushed to the edge of the platform and jumped off the edge. They landed on the tree root and slid down on it (except for Glomgold who fell straight down).
In the end, they all reached the ground. Once Howard and Della realized they were still holding hands, they blushed and let go with nervous mutters.
"Anyway," Della said, "I thought we'd leave through here." She pointed at a door with a red exit sign posted above it.
"How did you…" Scrooge started to ask.
"What? You gave a whole big presentation with a map. I paid attention." Della explained. "When you're stuck in space for ten years, you pay attention to exit strategies."
"Enough talk!" Howard yelled out. "Let's get out of here before the entire vault crushes us!"
They all raced toward the door just as the tree continued to grow too big to handle. They all burst through the door just in time before the golden branches filled it up. Once it reached just ten feet outside, they finally stopped growing.
Everyone got up finding themselves back outside. Della, worried for her son, rushed over to him. She helped him up, but noticed how sad he was.
"I'm sorry, Mom." Dewey said tearing up. "I let you down. I'm not the adventurer you hoped I'd be."
"No." Della said holding onto Dewey's head to look into his eyes. "Honey, I will always believe you can do anything. But you never have to prove anything to me." She pulled Dewey in for a hug.
"How sweet." Howard commented.
Despite the heartwarming scene, Scrooge couldn't help but think at all the damage the overgrown money tree caused. "Oh, how am I going to fix this?"
"You cannae!" Glomgold yelled happily. "You failed, McDuck! Now, the Von Drakes are going to fire you, give me the job, and then…"
"Actually…" Howard interrupted getting an idea, "I think I already have an idea. But I'm going to need Della's help."
Shortly after the money tree sprouted from the Doomsday Vault, Howard and Della began working on repairing all the broken parts of it with the gold bark. Together, they worked on welding the gold together to form a newly-functional machine.
"Learned a lot about welding gold on the moon." Della said.
"Not only does it look nice," Howard said, "But since the gold came from the money tree, you can save a hundred kings' fortune on construction costs. And it's already sprouting more seeds for you to store."
"Impressive." Scrooge said. "You're proving to be a lot more beneficial than I expected."
"Well, I'm an alien. I'm more than just a pretty face." Howard bragged.
"Whatever you say, Howie." Della teased followed by a laugh.
Meanwhile, their whole conversation was spied on by a drone piloted by Flintheart Glomgold. He watched and listened with interest.
"So Scrooge actually has a spaceman, huh?" Glomgold asked with a villainous chuckle. "This may prove to be… interesting." He then fell through the ice. Not to worry though. He survives.
After fixing up the Sunchaser, Della took control of the wheel and flew everyone out of Boarway. Howard, finally feeling safe about flying, sat in the back to rest. That's when he noticed something in his jacket. He reached inside and pulled out what felt like was a small, hard pebble. Its golden glow caused Howard to be surprised to see what it really was.
"One of the money tree seeds." Howard thought to himself. "It must have fallen into my pocket when Dewey dropped them." He looked inside before putting the seed back in. "Well, waste not…"
"Yo." Dewey said catching him by surprise.
"AH! YOU SAW NOTHING!" Howard gasped in surprise.
"Uh, what?" Dewey asked.
It was clear to Howard that Dewey didn't see him with the money tree seed. He calmed down and cleared his throat. "Sorry, kid. So what's up?"
"I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life." Dewey said. "I can see now why Mom trusts you."
Howard stared for a moment before smiling. "Thanks, kid. And hey, Della's right. You have nothing to prove to her. In fact, I'd say you proved yourself already long before your mom came back to you. Launchpad told me how you won a magic golf game, took over a pirate crew, and helped fight against a shadow army. As crazy as they sound, they sound daring enough to describe the type of adventurer you are."
Dewey smiled. "Thanks."
He got up and began to walk away. As he watched the kid leave, Howard thought back to his earlier one-on-one conversation with Della. Though he was reluctant, he decided to let him in.
"Hey, kid," Howard said catching Dewey's attention, "Would you, maybe… I don't know… like to hear some of my stories?"
Dewey gasped and smiled before rushing back over to Howard's side. "Yes! Absolutely! Oh, the guys are not going to believe this!"
"Okay then." Howard said before clearing his throat. "The place, Mojoworld. The time, two years ago."
He then proceeded to tell Dewey stories of the adventures in his past, all the while without giving any indication that he was really a criminal. He went on to amaze Dewey with his tales until they returned to Duckburg.