Author's Note: Finally, we are back to the main story of Howard's Ducktales.
Sorry if this week's chapter updates is a little short. I was celebrating my mom's birthday with my family, and I couldn't make time. Well, it's still better than nothing.
Now, in this chapter, I went ahead and created a headcanon backstory for a certain character. I hope you all like it.
Now, before anything, I'd like to make an address to respond to a certain guest reviewer called Matt. There seemed to be the confusion that "Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake" was meant to be before "Whatever Happened to Donald Duck". I went back and saw how you might confuse that. It was an oversight that I just corrected. The latter episode is meant to come first, not the former. But don't worry. The Doofus Drake birthday chapter is up next after this.
Anyway, hope you all enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
A crowd of Moonlanders gathered around for an emergency announcement by General Lunaris. He looked down at his battle-ready warriors to deliver his message.
"Mighty Moonlanders, you who were betrayed by our so-called 'friends', Della Duck and Howard the Duck, from the foul and pathetic Earth…" He paused to sink in the boos from his people. "Now we have captured a cunning Earth spy who has confirmed our greatest fears: the Earthers plan to invade! Behold, the greatest threat we've ever faced…" He stepped aside allowing Penumbra to drag Donald over and present him for everyone to see. "The brother of the traitor, Della Duck!"
"Della? Where?" Donald asked before getting shoved. "Hey, what's the big idea?!"
"What did he say?" one of the Moonlanders asked unable to understand Donald's quacking voice.
"He said, death to the Moon!" Lunaris lied proudly. "Clearly, this threat to our way of life is no different from the lying schemers like Della and Howard."
"What? Who the heck is Howard?" Donald asked before Lunaris grabbed him. He then locked a golden clamp over his bill rendering him unable to open it much.
"This, my fellow warriors, is why we must strike first! For we are the mighty! We are the Moon!"
"WE ARE THE MOON! WE ARE THE MOON!" the Moonlanders all cheered before Lunaris continued.
"Please. This victory belongs to the champion of the Moon, Lieutenant Penumbra." Lunaris summoned his lieutenant to his side and placed a gold attachment over her badge. "She discovered the Earthers' plan to invade us, which is why I am promoting her to captain."
"But sir, that's a lie." Penumbra whispered to her general.
"They don't know that. Listen." Lunaris whispered back allowing Penumbra to hear the Moonlanders cheer her name. "You're a hero again. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Penumbra nodded with a forced smile on her face, but she was still unsure.
Donald was transported into the Moonlanders' military base. On the way, he spotted a massive fleet of Spear of Selene copies under construction. Looking at them, Donald knew they were ready for launch very soon, which left him more than worried.
Once he was inside, Donald was thrown in a prison cell with gold bars and a gold bed. He muttered angrily to himself as he paced around and looked at a poster which read "REMEMBER! THERE IS NO WAY OUT." Angry at what he read, Donald bounced around the cell until he hit a wall and made a small crack. Thinking it to be a way out, Donald attempted to bash himself on the crack hoping to break himself free. He stopped when he heard voices. He rapidly removed the poster in his cell and used it to cover the crack he made while Lunaris and Penumbra entered the prison and talked amongst one another.
"Our fleet of ships is proceeding according to plan." Lunaris said. "As predicted, the people's spirits have been raised by the capture of the traitor Della's brother. The soldiers are training twice as hard for our invasion."
"Permission to speak freely, sir." Penumbra said. "Do you really think our people are ready for war? They've never seen combat. We know next to nothing about Earth, apart from Della's dumb stories. Not to mention what you told me about Howard. If he's as smart as you say he is, then sooner or later, he might figure out what we're up to and warn the Earthers."
"Believe in the superior might of the Moon, Captain." Lunaris said. "And don't worry about Howard. He may be crafty, but he's unable to see past his own bill. Even as we speak, he has absolutely no idea what we're up to, and there's nothing Earth has that we can't handle."
"How do you know that?"
"Let's just say I have a… watcher's point of view. Just don't forget, we are the mighty…"
"…We are the Moon."
Lunaris then turned to see Donald acting nonchalant hoping the Moonlanders wouldn't catch onto his attempted prison break. The general wasn't amused by what he was seeing.
"If this prison cell is so comfortable, perhaps time in the gold mines will break your devil-may-care spirit. Captain Penumbra, take care of it."
Penumbra saluted as her general left the prison. She then opened the cell and approached Donald, who tried to run away, but she stopped him and pinned him to the wall.
"Stop! I'm Della's… ooh, 'friend'. And I suppose Howard's too."
"Uh, who's Howard?" Donald asked as best he could through the gold clamp around his bill.
"He's this alien duck who we found with Della. Then, Lunaris told me he's some kind of space criminal. I know he's rude, but he doesn't strike me as a villain. But the point is, neither of us wants this invasion. Your stupid family built the rocket. If I give you access to the blueprints, can you find a weakness and destroy our ships?"
Donald shook his head no.
"I'll take that neck spasm as an Earth 'yes'. Let's go."
Howard whistled cheerfully to himself across the halls of McDuck Manor. Along the way, he passed by an ajar door where he heard Scrooge and Della's voices coming from the other side.
"What about Howard?" Della asked.
Hearing his name, Howard stopped and pressed his ear closer to the crack of the door to listen in more.
"I'm worried he may be a bit of a burden to this family." Scrooge said.
"Don't you think that's a bit harsh." Della said. "I mean, he did save me from the Moon."
"So he helped you rebuild the Spear of Selene?"
"Well… No. I mean, he did around the end, but I usually did most of the work. But you can't deny that he's been a big help to the family. I mean, he did help us escape the Doomsday Vault when those seeds went nuts. And he did save Dewey's life from that maniac at your studio."
"He aided in the break-in that broke the vault in the first place. And that maniac wouldn't have broken into my studio if Howard hadn't helped him." Scrooge said. "Now, Della, I know that you vouch for him, but I can't allow freeloaders who endanger this family. If he is to stay under my roof, he has to contribute more."
Howard gasped quietly before walking away. He had his head held low and sighed.
"Scrooge is right. I do cause the problems that I end up having to solve. I need to do something big to help these people or they'll kick me out of this fancy mansion. But how do I…"
Howard stopped at the McDuck foyer. He couldn't help but notice the door open and Dewey and Webby standing at the porch. The two of them stepped into a cardboard package with stamps posted on it.
With a dry face, Howard approached the package. "What do you two think you're doing?"
"We're mailing ourselves." Webby's voice was heard.
"I'm scared to ask why." Howard said.
The top of the package opened up and the two kids' heads popped out to answer him.
"Because Uncle Donald is missing." Dewey said.
"Della's brother?" Howard asked. "Didn't you say he was off on a relaxing cruise since right before me and Della showed up?"
"That's what we thought to, until we got this!" Dewey said holding up a postcard for Howard to see.
"What am I supposed to be looking at?"
"We sent this postcard to Uncle Donald, but it was returned to us." Dewey said. "Uncle Donald always loves sending us cheesy postcards. It's the only reason he goes anywhere. Not only hasn't he sent us any postcards since he left, but now, the ones we send him are coming back."
"Almost as if he's gone missing!" Webby screeched dramatically.
"He's on a ship, isn't he?" Howard asked. "I'd imagine it's hard to have mail delivered out to sea. That's probably why this happened."
"We'll soon find out." Dewey said. "We'll mail ourselves to where the postcard was sent and get to the bottom of it. Now, shh. The mail lady's coming."
Dewey and Webby quickly resealed themselves in the package as the mail delivery woman approached the porch. Howard watched as she grabbed the box and picked it up, but the bottom of it opened up leaving behind Dewey and Webby.
"Did you forget to tape the bottom of the box?" Webby asked Dewey.
"Yet another mystery we must solve." Dewey said.
"Not much of a mystery if everyone already knows the answer." Howard said. "Look, kid, you can't just suspect your Uncle Donald is missing just because of one returned postcard. You'll need a lot more than…"
"Wait, Donald? As in Donald Duck? He lives here?" the mail woman asked. "He never forwarded his address from the pier. I got a ton of his mail." She opened up her bag and poured out dozens of envelopes with Donald's name on it.
"Aha! Possible clues!" Dewey said looking over the envelopes. "Bill. Bill. Bill. Man, being an adult is not fun."
"Wait a minute." Webby said taking one of the envelopes. "These are all from the same address. How mysterious."
"Not for long." Dewey said opening an envelope and reading the letter inside.
"I'm pretty sure that's tampering with someone else's mail, which I believe is against the law." Howard said.
"Shh. I'm reading this." Dewey interrupted. "'Your life is a nonstop deluge of pain. If you want it to stop, pay up. Jones.'"
"Who's Jones?" Howard asked.
"I don't know. I never met any Jones."
"Is your Uncle Donald being blackmailed?" Webby asked.
Gaining a bit of interest, Howard took the letter and looked over it. "Well… I admit, this is pretty incriminating. Looks like there's something to your obsession after all."
"Then we gotta find out what this Jones guy has on Uncle Donald. Then, we can save him!" Dewey said.
"This is pretty circumstantial." Howard said before getting an idea. "But if Donald is in danger and I help rescue him, then Scrooge will see that I'm not just a burden, and I get to stay! All right, I'm in!"
"Then let's go!" Dewey declared.
Howard, Dewey, and Webby followed the address on Jones' letter, which lead them to a dirty, sketchy neighborhood deep in Duckburg. They stopped in front of a building with number 93 on it. Webby looked at the letter curiously.
"This should be 9 Elm Street, not 93 Elm Street." The 3 on the building was revealed to be a family of cockroaches who then scurried away leaving the number 9 alone. "Ooh, seedy."
"Uncle Donald must be hiding from this Jones guy that lives here." Dewey said.
At that moment, a car stopped in front of the building. The trio watched as a large dog with a brown fedora and a green vest entered the building.
"Yeah, that Jones guy definitely spells troublemaker all over his ugly face." Howard said.
"Here's the plan. I'll use my spy skills to find more info on Uncle Donald while you two distract Jones at the front door pretending to be…"
"Alexa Pretzelkoff and her father, Konstanin, who, although isn't really her father, sees her as one and would do anything to help her, even as she volunteers to collect signatures to stop a greedy developer from shutting down the summer camp, while also looking for the missing half of this locket!" Webby said pulling out a silver locket shaped like half of a heart.
"Where did you get that locket?" Howard asked.
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to." Webby said.
"Look, Webby, I already stole Huey's Junior Woodchuck outfit." Dewey said passing a uniform to Webby. "Maybe this time you could just pretend to sell cookies. And Howard, maybe you can act as her adult supervisor."
"Yeah, I don't think so. I need to contribute more to this investigation, so I will help you see what Jones has on Donald while Webby distracts him." Howard said.
"Ugh. Fine." Dewey said.
"Fine, but if that summer camp shuts down, it's on you two." Webby said.
"I'll take my chances." Howard said rolling his eyes.
Through a series of mishaps and misadventures (such as being punched by guards, being chased by a moon scorpion, and a chaotic mess happening in the soldiers' barracks), Donald managed to find himself in a large room with Captain Penumbra. There were images displayed in holographic form and a large, cannon-like device was set up at the center of the room.
"This is Lunaris' private hanger." Penumbra said. "The spear blueprints are around here somewhere. Help me look for them, but don't touch anything. Lunaris will know."
Donald shrugged. He didn't know what to do. He leaned back to slouch on a wall… and suddenly found himself on the floor. The wall he fell through was revealed to be a fake which fell apart revealing a seemingly endless tunnel.
"Great job, dummy!" Penumbra lectured. "Now, he'll know we found his secret tunnel. Wait, secret tunnel?"
Donald and Penumbra traveled down the tunnel for a few minutes becoming more and more curious about what they would find. Soon, they found light at the end and followed it. They soon entered a much bigger room with holographic orbs floating around in an organized line.
Penumbra looked around the place with shock and wonder. "What is this place? This metal, it's not gold. What is happening here?"
Donald tapped on Penumbra's shoulder to get her attention and pointed upward. She looked up at a high platform where a man in a blue-and-white robe stood looking out through a telescope which reached through a hole in the ceiling. The man had a very large, bald head. He then turned to Donald and Penumbra with pure-white eyes.
"Ah. You must be Donald Duck and Penumbra." the man greeted in an authoritative, but calm voice. "Welcome to my Citadel."
"What is this place? Who are you? And why does this place connect to the general's private hanger?" Penumbra asked before pointing her laser pistol at the large-headed man. "Start talking."
The man raised his hands and gestured her to be calm. "Take it easy. I mean you no harm. I shall answer your questions to the best of my ability. As to what this place is, it is my base of operations, the Citadel, where I observe and record all the events that I witness. As to who I am, you may call me the Watcher. And as to the purpose of the tunnel, it is part of an agreement made between myself and your general as well as every general who came before him."
Penumbra lowered her pistol slightly. "I don't understand."
Donald muttered loudly unable to say anything, but he did get her attention when he looked at one of the glowing orbs that surrounded them both. Penumbra took a close look at the orb, which showed an image of a Moonlander who looked similar to Lunaris, but older and with gray hair coming out of his helmet.
"It can't be." Penumbra said. "That's General Meridian, Lunaris' father." She looked back at the Watcher. "What is this?"
"This is my purpose. As the Watcher, it is my duty to observe events that transpire in the universe; Earth to be more specific, and that includes the Moon, which is a part of the Earth system. And whatever I see, I archive."
Penumbra turned her head back at the orb with the late general on it and tapped on it. It hovered from its line and grew in size. She and Donald stood back and watched as the image began to play like a video and they viewed in the events that were projected in it.
The scene unfolded as General Meridian sat in his chair tapping his fingers on its arm impatiently. He stared at the door intensely right as it opened up. A younger Lunaris stepped into the room and faced his father.
"You wished to see me, Father." Lunaris said.
"Yes, Lunaris. It concerns a serious matter. I know you've been sneaking into my hanger and going to the Citadel."
Lunaris' eyes widened. "What? How could you know that? Did the Watcher tell you?"
"No, but you just did." Lunaris grunted finding himself outsmarted by his father. "You see. That is your problem, Lunaris. You're so proud of yourself, you can't accept that there's anything bigger than yourself. But back to the matter at hand, I told you a hundred times that you weren't ready to go to the Citadel."
"Why not?" Lunaris asked. "If I am to lead the military of the Moon one day, I need to know as much as possible, especially about the Earth."
Meridian sighed. "Lunaris, you don't understand. We cannot seek war with the Earth."
"So we must hide in the dark like a bunch of rats?" Lunaris asked bitterly. "What's the point in having access to the Watcher's Citadel if we cannot go through his archives and spy on our enemies?"
"They are not our enemies, Lunaris." Meridian said. "We share the same area of space, and we have much to learn from one another. We share the archives with the Watcher to keep an eye on the Earthers and their views on society. Right now, they wouldn't accept us. They'd fear us for being different and alien, and they'd cast us out. So for now, we must remain hidden until the Earth is ready for us."
"Why?" Lunaris asked aggressively. "If the Earthers fear us, then they should! We shouldn't be the ones too afraid to make a move!"
"You are out of line, Lunaris." Meridian said with a growing anger in his voice.
"No! I stand proudly for our people!" Lunaris shouted. "We are the mighty! We are the Moon, the greatest of all the planets!"
"IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE THAT, THEN YOU ARE NO GREATER THAN ANYONE!" Meridian shouted standing up suddenly.
He stood over his son intensely looking into his eyes, which gazed back. After a minute, Meridian broke the staredown and gently placed his hand on Lunaris' shoulder and spoke softly.
"Please, Lunaris, listen. It's not just our people that I fear for. It's you. You are my family, and there is nothing I fear more than losing you. If anything happened to you and I could've prevented it, I just couldn't live with myself. It may make me seem soft, but nothing means more to me than family. Do you understand?"
Lunaris lowered his head. "Yes. I understand completely."
The footage on the orb finally ended. Penumbra and Donald stared surprisingly as it returned to its place on the line.
"So General Meridian was trying to prepare us to coexist with Earth?" Penumbra asked. "It is a bit idealistic, but why didn't Lunaris say anything?"
Donald looked at another part of the line and spotted something interesting. He tapped his finger on it and it hovered above the line. Another image played before them.
Meridian was in his hanger going sitting in front of his computer. He was going through the files on his computer when suddenly, his badge picked up a communication signal. He answered it and heard Lunaris' panicked voice.
"GENERAL! ARE YOU THERE?! I NEED HELP?!"
"Lunaris?" Meridian asked suddenly worried. "Lunaris, what's wrong? I thought you were on a hunt!"
"THE GROUND GAVE OUT UNDER ME! I'M SURROUNDED BY MOON MITES! I'M KEEPING THEM AWAY, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I CAN LAST! FATHER, HURRY!"
Heeding his son's call for help, Meridian raced out of his hanger and left Tranquility. He was in such a panic, he didn't call any soldiers for help. He just headed out to the source of Lunaris' signal with his pistol ready for firing.
Meridian ran as fast as he could to the opening of a large sinkhole. He looked inside and saw a swarm of moon mites surrounding Lunaris, who took cover behind a rubble of rocks. He fired his pistol at as many as he could, but had to cover back for recoil, which gave the mites time to get closer. That is, until Meridian leaped into the fight. He jumped into the sinkhole and fired at the moon mites before joining his son behind the cover.
"I'm glad you came, father!" Lunaris shouted. "There's too many of them!"
"We'll have to work together to get out of here!" Meridian shouted.
"Agreed!" Lunaris shouted heading to the wall of the hole. "Hoist me up and I'll pull you out!"
Meridian nodded and fired one last blast at the closest moon mite before joining his son at the wall. He cupped his hands together for his son to step on and he lifted him high with as much strength as he could. Lunaris was able to climb back up to safety easily before looking back down at his father, who kept his hands up.
"Now, pull me up!" Meridian yelled.
Lunaris reached his hand down, but he didn't grab Meridian's hand. Instead, he reached far enough to grab his father's helmet and pull it off of his head. He then stood back up to admire it while his father stood heartbroken below Lunaris.
"What…"
"You know, Father, you really taught me something today." Lunaris said looking down at Meridian. "You taught me that fear can be a powerful weapon. After all, it was fear that allowed you to jump into a moon mite pit to save me, where you sadly sacrificed your life to ensure my survival, just before naming me the new general of the Moon."
"Lunaris…" Meridian said as the moon mites crawled past the rubble cover.
"Don't worry, Father. I'll make sure our resources won't go to waste. With them, I will ensure the survival of our people by making the Earth fear us." Lunaris said replacing his own helmet with the one he just stole. "We are the mighty. We are the Moon."
As Lunaris walked away, tears escaped Meridian's eyes. He looked back and screamed just as the moon mites swarmed over him.
Donald and Penumbra had the most horrified expressions. Their jaws dropped after what they have seen.
"I… I can't believe he would do that. To his own father." Penumbra said breathlessly. "And he's been using this place to keep watch over all the Earthers and their defenses. He can even keep an eye on Della and Howard to make sure they don't catch onto his trick. That's probably how he knows of Howard's true origins. That's how he knows everything!" She then turned angrily at the Watcher. "And you just let him? Why?"
"Believe me, I wish I could have stopped him, but I can't." the Watcher said. "I made a vow not to interfere in the affairs of others. I am merely to observe. I swear, if I wasn't bound by my oath, I would punish Lunaris for his treachery."
"Then what about Howard?" Penumbra asked. "Can you at least tell us if he is any threat to Della?"
"Hmm… I suppose I can answer that." the Watcher said. "Howard the Duck is merely a lost soul who is on his journey to be found. He is making his home among the Duck family, and he is on his way to being the man who would protect them. But if the truth of Howard's past is kept hidden for too long, its discovery will create a fracture between him and his newfound family that will be difficult to mend back together. And this bond must be stronger than for Howard is the only chance the Earth has for survival."
"I see." Penumbra said. "So Howard has to come clean to Della and her family about his criminal past. The sooner the better."
Donald looked at another orb and tapped on it. He and Penumbra watched another scene unfold. However, this one was quick.
The orb first showed Lunaris entering a golden shuttle which was armed into a cannon device from his hanger. It blasted him out in his capsule, but it crashed quickly. It then showed him trying again with a more advanced version of the launcher, but it blew up before he could be blasted out. Lunaris, who was then covered in bandages, decided to use a dummy in his latest trial. Although it escaped the Moon's atmosphere, the dummy was destroyed on its way to Earth.
"No living thing could survive that." Penumbra said. "This must be why he needed Della's Spear. He has the weapons, the army, the knowledge of Earth viewed from this place, but all he needed was a way to get to Earth. And now that he has the plans for the Spear, he can start the invasion as soon as his fleet's finished." She turned back to the Watcher. "Is there a way to warn the Earthers from here?"
"Like I said, I am meant only to observe, not interfere." the Watcher said. "I'm not allowed to tell you about the radio Lunaris has in his hanger which is advanced enough to send a transmission to Earth."
Penumbra and Donald looked back at the tunnel and nodded in agreement. They turned, but were stopped by the Watcher's voice again.
"Wait. Before you do anything, I must warn you. This won't count as interfering because no matter what, you'll just do it anyway. That radio uses an open frequency which reaches out to advanced communications across the galaxy. Your family on Earth may be able hear you through a bunch of static, but your message will surely become clear to anyone else. So I advise you to take caution."
"I understand, but we've got an invasion to prevent." Penumbra said before running back into the tunnel with Donald.
Howard and Dewey found an open window and sneaked themselves into the building quickly finding themselves in an office. Once they were inside, Howard heard Dewey repeatedly singing the word "Dew" in a spy theme.
"Kid, is there a plug on that jukebox of a mouth?" Howard asked as he found himself in front of an open filing cabinet.
Howard found a file and pulled it out of the cabinet. It was very thick, full of papers. Howard and Dewey opened it up to look inside. After a minute of looking it over, they were startled when a hand touched Dewey's shoulder. They turned in a panic as they saw Webby before them.
"Never sneak up on a kid detective/spy like that." Dewey said. "I could have injured/killed you."
"You? Injure/kill Webby?" Howard laughed. "Yeah, sure. And I can tap dance on my own bill."
"All right. I get it." Dewey said. "Where's Jones?"
"I've got him searching his drawers for half of a missing locket." Webby said.
"You actually went with that storyline?" Howard asked.
"I did, and yeah, my backstory was that good. So what you got?"
"Something pretty big." Howard said opening back up the file. "This has dates, locations, and names of some pretty bad stuff that happened to Donald."
"Not just some pretty bad stuff. This is every bad stuff." Dewey said. "Every setback and problem in Uncle Donald's life. Has Jones caused it all?"
"Uncle Donald?" The three were startled hearing the fourth voice behind them. Jones stood over them all. "You're part of this too." He grabbed both Dewey and Webby and threw them into a closet closing it before them. He was then left facing Howard, who gave a martial arts pose.
"I'm warning you; I know Quack Fu!"
"Are you responsible for these kids?" Jones asked.
"Oh, yeah. And I'm not leaving here without them!" Howard said.
"Fine by me." Jones said. "Because there's something I gotta tell ya."
Penumbra and Donald rushed back through the tunnel and returned to the hanger. Penumbra looked over at the computer and found the radio that the Watcher mentioned. It was resting on top of the computer which had an image of the capsule launcher at it.
First, she pressed a button on the computer. The hanger door opened up and the capsule launcher was aimed directly toward the Earth. Then, she grabbed the radio and threw it to Donald.
"Get to the top of the cannon. That's the highest point here." Penumbra said. "There, once you have a signal, use the radio to… ARGH!" Penumbra suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of electricity paralyzing her. She then collapsed to the ground.
Donald turned her over and saw that the attachment over her badge, the one Lunaris gave when he promoted her, was beeping red revealing it to be the source of her electrocution. He then felt a shadow cast over him, and he turned to find Lunaris standing over him with a remote in his hand.
"I believe the words you are looking or are 'aw, phooey'." Lunaris said. "You won't be sending any warning. Oh, and Captain Penumbra's little rebellion is over before it began. A pity, but great victory comes with sacrifice."
Penumbra groaned as she weakly tried to stand up, but not making it far up. "Is that was you told yourself when you killed your father?"
Lunaris glared at his former captain. "I didn't kill him. I just… left him to die."
"And what about our soldiers?" Penumbra asked weakly. "Even with all these advantages, you can't seriously think your army's invincible. Innocent people are going to die fighting for a cause that you fabricated."
The argument gave Donald the chance he needed to take his radio and run past Lunaris, or so he thought. The general extended his leg making Donald trip over it.
"A few brave soldiers get hurt, but it's worth it for the glory of the planet Moon." Lunaris said.
Donald rolled his eyes at that. "The moon is not a…"
"IT IS A PLANET!" Lunaris shouted grabbing Donald and throwing him to the capsule launcher. "More of a planet than your Earth will be when I'm done with it!" He jumped over to block Donald's way to the high point of the launcher. Donald tried to fight him to get past him, but he easily deflected his attacks and attacked back with ease.
Penumbra struggled more to stand back up, but Lunaris saw it and electrocuted her again. She fell back down hitting her hand on a control console. Just then, images began to appear surrounding the hanger area. Donald looked at them all, but his eyes were fixed on one picture: the one with his nephews.
Lunaris noticed Donald's fixation to his nephews' image and laughed. "Admiring my handiwork, Donald Duck? You see, most foes would target Scrooge McDuck. They don't realize the key to victory is to take the children out first to break your spirits. Say goodbye to your precious Hubert, Dewford, and Llewelyn."
Donald didn't like what he was hearing. He growled through his golden clamp with a rising anger within him.
Dewey and Webby remained in Jones' closet. They tried to force the door open, but had no such luck.
"Where's Howard?" Dewey asked. "You don't think Jones already got rid of him, do you?"
"Who is Jones working for?" Webby asked. "The Beagle Boys? F.O.W.L.? OH! I bet it's those greedy land developers trying to ruin everyone's summer!"
Finally, the door opened, and the kids were surprised by the last person they expected to see. They gasped upon realization of who Jones summoned.
"Uncle Scrooge?!" Webby exclaimed. "You're in on it too?!"
"Give Alexa back her locket, old man!" Dewey demanded.
"Old man?" Scrooge asked offended. "Now, you owe Mr. Jones and me an apology!" He lead the kids out of the closet. They returned to the office where Howard stood with a nervous smile on his face. Jones sat in his desk with the large file they found.
"Howard? What are you doing?" Dewey asked.
"Okay. This is very, very, very embarrassing." Howard said. "As it turns out, we got the wrong idea about Jones."
"What are you talking about?" Dewey asked. "He's clearly blackmailing Uncle Donald and ruining his life."
"Jones isn't Donald's enemy." Scrooge said. "He's Donald's anger management counselor."
"Each of these dates corresponds to a hard time in Donald's life." Jones explained opening up his fire. "To cope, he came her to vent his frustration."
"But what about this threatening letter?" Webby asked handing Jones the letter they found in the mail. "'Donald, your life is a nonstop deluge of pain. If you want it to stop, pay up. Jones.'"
"It's attached to a bill." Jones said. "Anger management's not free."
"But if Uncle Donald was seeing you, then why is he still the angriest guy we know?" Dewey asked.
"Yeah, what have you done to help?" Webby asked.
"That's kinda what I've been wondering too." Howard said. "From what Della told me, he gets in a furious rage over every little thing that bothers him. What kind of treatments have you been giving him?"
"I found the source of his anger." Jones explained. "Donald's anger issues stem from a fear that the world is out to get him and that no one understands him, quite literally. His tendency to lash out was wildly unfocused, until you kids came along. He came to me wanting to be the best parent he could. So we channeled that anger into protective instincts. Every outburst is Donald wanting to protect his family. He loves you so much, the thought of anything bad happening to you infuriates him!"
Just as Jones predicted, Donald's anger grew once Lunaris kept gloating about going after Huey, Dewey, and Louie. His face grew red as a tomato concerning Lunaris. He let out an outburst to powerful, he was finally able to break the gold clamp keeping his bill shut.
He screamed furiously as he ran to Lunaris and ran around his body. Lunaris tried to fight him off, but Donald was too quick fueled by his anger. Donald struck Lunaris with a vast array of wild attacks earning him an advantage. Lunaris started to keep up with Donald's rage, but the duck managed to slip past him and reached the top of the cannon. He held the radio up high and managed to get a signal to let his message out to be heard.
"Scrooge! Kids! The invasion! It's in a month! I'm coming home soon! And Howard the Duck, whoever you are, you need to tell the family the truth about you!"
Lunaris managed to reach Donald and take the radio from him. He broke it in half before he was ready to finish off Donald. Donald then looked down and saw that there was a capsule ready in the cannon. He ran past Lunaris and jumped into the pod.
Once Donald was inside the pod, the pressed a red button next to him closing the hatch above him. He held on tight as his pod rocketed out of the cannon and straight out of the Moon's orbit.
Lunaris watched as the rocket left the moon and straight towards Earth. Still, his smile didn't fade. He then heard an officer's voice transmitted from his badge.
"Sir, should we give chase?"
Lunaris answered, "No. No living thing could survive that."
If it was anyone else, Lunaris would be right. They'd be crushed under the pressure of the pod's flight to Earth. That's exactly what Donald was feeling. However, with his kids in his mind, he kept his steely focus as hard as he could until he returned to Earth and landed… in a very remote place very, very, very far from Duckburg.
"If you want someone to pay Donald's bills, you can speak to that invoice-avoiding ingrate yourself!" Scrooge shouted at Jones as he left his office with Howard, Dewey, and Webby.
"You were right, Uncle Scrooge." Webby said. "We shouldn't have gone looking for a mystery where there wasn't one."
"But we did find one, dear Webby." Dewey said. "The mystery of why Donald Duck is mad at the world… because he loves us."
"Well, I'm glad you two learned a lesson, I guess," Scrooge said before glaring at Howard, "But what about you? How could you allow these shenanigans to happen? Do you realize how much of an inconvenience this was to Jones and myself?"
Howard frowned. "Sorry, Mr. McDuck. I guess I always knew that this was a wild goose chase. I just… I wanted to contribute more like you wanted. I heard you talking to Della about me earlier, about me being a burden." Scrooge's upset expression turned into a frown. "I thought that if there was a chance—however miniscule—that Donald was in trouble and I helped him, it would earn some points with you guys, and I wouldn't have to be thrown out of the house."
Scrooge sighed. "Look, I'm sorry you had to hear all that, Howard. I didn't really mean a word of it. I've just been stressed out because of my board of directors."
"Board of directors?" Howard asked.
"Yeah. They help me run McDuck Enterprises, and they're even cheaper than I am, especially my chairman, Bradford Buzzard. He's the one who thinks you're a burden, especially since I can't explain to him why I let you live with us."
"Yikes. Remind me not to get on this Bradford guy's bad side." Howard said.
"Ever since you came back with Della, the board's been pointing out how much you have been involved in certain incidents lately, so I talked it over with Della. She then reminded me of who we are, Clan McDuck. It's in our nature to get ourselves involved in dangerous situations, even those we occasionally start ourselves."
"Yeah." Webby laughed. "Like the first time I went to Funzo's with the boys. We got ourselves captured by the Beagle Boys, and it's my granny's training that helped me overcome them."
"Or the time Webby and I crashed the Sunchaser into Ithaquack angering the gods who lived there." Dewey said.
"You did what?! That was you?!" Scrooge asked upset.
"It was a long time ago." Dewey said.
Scrooge groaned before turning his attention back at Howard. "The point is, causing danger and getting out of danger is what this family is all about. That's what makes it an adventure. So as Della pointed out, you really do belong here."
"She did?" Howard asked touched wholeheartedly. "Wow."
"Don't get so emotional about it." Scrooge said. "I'll still need you to do some work for me to earn your way here. I'm not tolerating any freeloaders. Just… wait until I give you a job to do. How's that?"
"Deal." Howard replied.
"Another happy ending." Webby said.
Suddenly, Scrooge's cell phone rang. He looked and saw a voicemail. He answered it and held it to his ear. Donald's voice was heard, but the transmission was garbled. That along with his unintelligible voice made the message unclear.
"Scrooge! Kids! The… It's in a month! I'm coming home soon! Howard the Duck…"
"Ah, this reception's terrible." Scrooge said ending the message. "Sounds like he's coming home in a month. He seems to be having a great time."
"So Uncle Donald's not in danger after all?" Dewey asked.
"Doesn't sound like it." Scrooge said. "Although, what I found strange is that I think I heard him mention Howard's name."
"What?" Howard asked. "Are you sure you heard that right? I mean, I never even met the guy."
"Hard to say. He is pretty hard to understand." Scrooge said. "Either way, I'm sure he's fine."
At the command center of Nova Corps, a corpsman stood from his console and turned to his leader, who sat in her chair. "Nova Prime, we just picked up an open transmission from a far-off part of the galaxy."
"What did it say?" Nova Prime asked.
"Hard to tell, ma'am. Whoever sent the transmission had a very distinct voice that's hard to understand. But I believe I heard him mention Howard the Duck."
Nova Prime's attention was turned. "Are you certain?"
"I believe so."
"Can you trace the signal?"
"Yes, ma'am. It appears to be coming from the Terran sector. Not much information is known about that area."
"If Howard the Duck is sheltered there, we will find him." Nova Prime said resolutely. She then turned to a certain Nova officer who stood waiting in the corner. "Captain Titus, I entrust this mission to you."
The tiger man growled and stood straight. "Gladly. I'll drag him into the Kiln if I have to."
In a dark, remote sector of space, a small ship flew past the stars. Inside was the alien hunter, Bounty, who piloted the ship at a fast pace. He then heard an alert from his transmission station and answered it. That's when he heard Donald's voice.
"Scrooge! Kids! The invasion! It's in a month! I'm coming home soon! And Howard the Duck…"
Bounty didn't hear anything else. The Karidian ended the transmission happy to hear what he just heard. He then pressed a button on his console to trace the signal. His galactic map appeared and his tracing soon revealed the source.
"So Howard the Duck is on Terra, huh?" Bounty laughed sinisterly. "Good. It's about time I find that featherbrain and collect the reward Tivan offered. Next stop: Earth."