Author's Note: Here is the next chapter of Howard's Ducktales. After this, I am planning an OG chapter with an original story. Since this is an original chapter, it may take a little longer than normal, like maybe longer than a week, but I promise, I will work on it.
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
"Twenty points!" Huey declared as soon as Dewey shot a toy dart at a picture of a green duck woman with a sinister, black robe that matched her hair. Another dart hit the picture next to her, which showed a teenage girl with a pink streak in her hair.
"Yeah… I mean, whoops! Sorry, Lena." Dewey apologized turning to the real version of the girl in the picture.
"Oh, it's fine." Lena chuckled setting up her sleeping bag in Webby's room.
"Minus five points because Lena's a good guy now." Louie said.
"Minus a million because she's the BEST guy now!" Webby added.
"Thanks for helping me set this up, Webby." Lena said before turning her head to a purple hummingbird girl. "You too, Violet."
"Of course." Webby said. "We've got everything needed for a sleepover. Sleeping bags, board games, snacks…"
"Self-defense weapons, all manner of booby trap." Violet continued the list.
"And we've got our very own bodyguard." Webby said before turning to the extraterrestrial duck. "Thanks for watching over us, Howard."
"Hey, compared to the crazy adventures I went through, it's nice to find something as mild as a sleepover." Howard said.
"Clearly, you've never been to a sleepover at McDuck Manor, have you?" Violet asked. "Usually, something tends to go wrong."
"Yeah, and it's usually my fault." Lena said nervously. "I'm doing much better though."
"Hey, it's not your fault." Webby said. "If anything, it's Magica De Spell who's almost always responsible."
"Right. That's this girl, right?" Howard asked taking the photo of the dark-robed duck from the wall.
"Hey! We were playing on that!" Dewey protested.
"What's this duck's deal?" Howard asked.
"Magica De Spell is Scrooge's greatest enemy." Webby said. "About fifteen years ago, Scrooge managed to trap her in his Number One Dime."
"But she had one last trick up her sleeve." Lena said. "She made me out of her own shadow so I could get close to the Duck family, free her from the dime, and let her have her revenge on Scrooge." Howard stared at her. "Hey, I've changed since then."
"It's true." Webby said. "She actually helped us defeat Magica at the cost of her physical body."
"Then… how is she…" Howard asked.
"We managed to pull her out of the Shadow Realm, and now, she's her own person." Violet said.
"What about Magica?" Howard asked. "What happened to her?"
"Well, we haven't seen her since we ran her out of the Money Bin." Huey said. "Don't worry, though. Last we saw, she was out of magic."
"I've been meaning to ask." Violet said. "I find it interesting that you're from outer space, but do you ever come across any magical elements?"
"Well, I've seen a lot of strange stuff in my day." Howard said. "This sorcerer Lem named Krugarr. Dire Wraiths. Really, magic is pretty much a universal constant."
"I'd like to talk about something other than magic tonight." Lena said before pulling out a cake. "Like the fact that it's our friend-aversary celebration! Webby, we met one year ago today… I think. Time loses all meaning in the infinite night of the Shadow Realm." She then started singing. "Oh, happy friend-aversary. If I didn't have you, it'd be worse for me. I'm made of shadows. You're made of flesh. Whoever thought that we would mesh?"
With tears in her eyes, Webby slowly applauded. "You are a wordsmith." Everyone else joined in right as Lena yawned.
"Tired already, kid?" Howard asked.
"No, no. Sorry." Lena replied. "I stayed up all night… making friendship bracelets!" She held up a set of colorful bracelets which she passed around to everyone.
"Not really an accessory guy, but I'll wear it for tonight." Howard said putting on his brown bracelet.
"Is this a prank or something?" Louie asked. "Why you being so nice?"
Lena scoffed. "Can't I do something nice for my friends? Not everything I say is sarcastic and mean."
"You sound sarcastic right now." Howard said.
"That's just my voice! I can't help it!" Lena yelled out.
Suddenly, a burst of purple exploded from the candle spooking everyone until it just as quickly died down.
"I've found it's clearer to convey no emotion whatsoever." Violet said.
"Listen, I'm new to this whole 'good guy' thing, and I just want to get it right." Lena said.
"Lena, you're the living shadow of Magica De Spell, Scrooge's greatest enemy, and you still turned out good." Webby said. "That makes you extra-super-good, right?"
"Math checks out." Dewey said.
"You don't have to prove anything to us." Webby said before eating her cake.
Lena turned her head slightly and looked down with a frown.
After a very long night, everyone was tired and exhausted. Howard looked at the time.
"It's four in the morning, kids." Howard said with a yawn. "I think now's a good time for sleep."
"Sleep? No way!" Lena said. "It's only 4 a.m.!"
"You basically just said the same thing I just said." Howard said.
"YOU basically just said the same thing you just said!" Lena yelled.
"That doesn't even make any sense."
Violet grabbed Lena's hand and examined it closely. "Judging from your sunken eyes, elevated heart rate, and irritability, I'd say you're suffering from a serious lack of sleep."
"Uh, yeah, because I've been planning so many exciting activities for this party!" Lena replied. "I'll be surprised if we ever sleep again!"
"Then prepare to be surprised." Howard said before collapsing to the floor. He fell asleep immediately after. Soon enough, everyone else did. Even—reluctantly—Lena.
But the moment they fell asleep, that was when their troubles began that night.
Howard was woken up by the bright sunlight shining on his face and the sand that his head is placed on. He found himself still in his sleeping bag, but he was no longer in the bedroom. Instead, he found himself on the beach of a great, big island he was very unfamiliar with.
"What in the world…" Howard asked before looking around. He saw the other kids waking up in their own sleeping bags beside him.
"I'm sorry. Where are we?" Violet asked.
Webby gasped with a smile. "Facing certain death with my friends on a desert island? I've dreamt of this moment!"
Howard groaned. "Can't I even go to sleep without getting caught in a crazy Duck family adventure?"
"First, we have to find food." Webby said. "Then, we figure out who kidnapped us and contact the outside world!"
Webby headed to the nearest tree and climbed herself to the top. Once she reached the branches, she dropped down a couple of coconuts, and one of them broke open once it hit the ground. But once it broke, it revealed a hamburger inside.
"That's weird." Webby said examining the burger.
"That's what you find weird about this whole situation?" Howard asked.
"Okay. I'm calling Uncle Scrooge." Louie said pulling out his phone. However, instead of numbers, each button had a different symbol which Louie had a hard time figuring out. "Why can't I remember?"
"Why are you dialing a banana?" Dewey asked as Louie's phone changed instantly.
"What's with the horse?" Howard asked as a white unicorn with a blue mane descended down in front of Webby.
"You are the chosen one, Webbigail!" the unicorn proclaimed. "Are you ready to enter my Extremely Extreme Obstacle Course?"
With a wave of his horn, the unicorn summoned a top hat, a pair of small glasses, and a black cane which fell onto Webby. She gasped in total elation.
"Oh, it's happening! YEEEEEEE…"
"NO!" Louie interrupted. "How do we get off this island?"
"Oh, that's easy." the unicorn said. "Go past the acid rainbow waterfall, take a left at the glitter quicksand pit, and then stroll through the poison flower field."
"Um, is there a way that doesn't involve us being killed by color and sparkles?" Howard asked.
"This is like all my wildest dreams smushed together!" Webby cheered.
"Dreams?" Howard asked. "Wait a minute." He held out his hand and concentrated hard. In a small flash, a slice of pizza appeared in his hand.
"Whoa!" Huey gasped. "How did you do that?"
"I just imagined it." Howard said. "Kids, I don't think we really left the bedroom. We're still asleep. We're all in Webby's dream!"
"What? No, no, no!" Lena denied nervously. "Maybe Scrooge is testing us? Maybe the plane is crashed nearby."
"I think Howard's dream theory makes more sense." Violet said. "I imagine that all this is manifested by your magic. Extreme sleep deprivation could upset your magical aura. Have you been having bad dreams?"
Lena tried to hide it, but she finally sighed out a confession. "Yeah. All week. I thought a slumber party would help me stay up, not pull you into my freaky shadow problems… again."
"Lena, we all know you're magic. And that's great." Webby said. "We want to be in on your freaky problems."
"I don't. I just wanted a peaceful weekend." Howard said earning a glare from the kids. "Uh, but I won't complain. Just… can you wake us up, Lena?"
"I can try." Lena said slapping her cheeks.
"It's bad enough waking a sleepwalker." Huey said. "Who knows what waking a dreamwalker could do?"
"I concur." Violet said. "It's best if we stay in the dream until Lena wakes naturally."
"A party in a dream?!" Webby cheered. "Best friend-aversary ever! Let's fly!" Just then, a pair of pink pixie wings sprouted from Webby's back. The triplets and Violet did the same and followed her into the sky.
"Well, when on Earth…" Howard said before sprouting his own wings and following the kids.
Lena strained to grow her own wings, but they weren't pixie-like like the others had. Instead, they were demonic and reptilian. She gasped and moved to hide them.
"Lena, you coming?" Webby called.
"Uh, I'll just follow you on foot." Lena said leaving the unicorn all alone.
"Wait. If no one is around to dream me into existence, don't I—"
The unicorn was no more.
"I gotta say, this adventure is more fun than all the others." Howard said leaning over in the sky. He looked over and saw the other kids flying freely without a care. "Yes, sir. I could get used to…"
Howard stopped when he noticed a figure in the distance. Howard squinted his eyes and saw that it was a big, burly man standing on top of a giant, floating rock. The moment he saw that the figure was carrying a spear-like weapon, he completely fell to fear. He gasped loudly as his wings began to disintegrate. He fell from the sky and headed down.
Howard hit the top of the thick trees which slowed down his fall until he hit the ground hard. He groaned in pain as he found himself right in front of Lena, who had just lost her demon wings. The other kids saw him drop and descended down.
"Whoa. You okay, man?" Lena asked.
"Sorry, I… I had a bit of a fright." Howard said. He pressed his hand to his chest and felt a hard thumping where his heart was begin to slow down.
"Yeah. Join the club." Lena said looking back into the forest.
Louie looked back and groaned in disgust. "Eww. Webby, why is there a school in your dream?"
Everyone looked at where Louie was pointing, which was a big, bright-blue school. The sight of it made Dewey gasp.
"That's not Webby's dream!"
The moment Dewey pushed the doors open, his outfit changed. Now, he wore a blue basketball jacket, and his hair looked fancier. Inside the school, there was a banner that read "DEWEY HIGH".
"Whoa, nice hair." Webby pointed out.
"Thanks. It's alive." Dewey said while his hair changed into a thumbs up.
"So… You're supposed to be the 'cool' triplet, and yet, your dream is a school?" Howard asked.
"Not just any school! This is Dewey High!" Dewey exclaimed before singing. "I'm the most wholesome boy in school! I'm a talented jock everyone thinks is cool! If TV and movies taught me anything, when you turn into a teen, you just have to sing!"
Dewey conjured a basketball which he then passed to Lena. All of a sudden, her hands turned green and black claws grew from her fingers popping the basketball. She quickly hid them behind her back.
"Oops."
"That's okay. Dewey High's got basketballs on tap." Dewey said. He headed to a water fountain and pressed on its button. Instead of water, however, basketballs popped out one at a time. "This is my favorite dream!"
"So your dream is to go to school, sing, and grow balls out of fountains?" Howard asked. "Your mind is an enigma sometimes, kid."
"Oh, it's not just all that." Dewey said. "Here. I'll give you the grand tour."
Dewey lead the gang across the halls. First, they passed by a set of cardboard copies of everyone he knew that gave praises to him.
Howard stopped to look at the cardboard cutout of himself. "Okay, there's no way you think I'm that fat!"
The gang then stopped when they came across a floating, ghost-like entity with no shape or form; just a pair of eyes.
"What's that?" Huey asked.
"I think it's supposed to be my romantic interest," Dewey said, "But I'm too threatened by that concept, so it never takes shape."
"Dewey, let's sing a Dew-et." the formless girl offered romantically scaring Dewey and everyone else away.
The gang then came across a trio of teenage boys who looked mean and antagonistic.
"Here are my singing rivals." Dewey said. "They are so self-absorbed."
"Pot, meet kettle." Howard commented.
"Here's a giant poster of me!" Dewey showed before they stopped at a hole in the wall. Past the hole, another Dewey was laying on a crescent moon crying into it. "This is in all of my dreams. I'm, like, cradled by a moon made of my own tears. Who knows what that's about?"
"I have some theories." Huey commented.
All the kids continued down the hall, but Howard stayed at the hole. Something in the vast reaches of space caught his attention. Out in the distance, far, far, far from the other Dewey's moon, there was a structure that built itself. It looked like a Mobius strip, but it was bent with corners.
Howard lost his breath and fell on the floor. He crawled away from the hole in the wall taking deep, heavy breaths. "No! It can't be real! It can't…" Howard slapped himself. "Get ahold of yourself, Howard! Of course, it's not real. It's just a dream. He's not here. I just gotta…"
Howard picked himself up and ran down the halls as fast as he could. He looked around to find the kids, but he couldn't see in front of him until he ended up in a dark, purple hallway. There, he collided with a figure that made him trip and hit the ground.
"OW!" a dramatic woman exclaimed. "You klutz! Don't you dare get in my way!"
Howard looked up at who he bumped into. He gasped when he saw that it was the same woman in the picture the boys were throwing darts at earlier.
"Hold on. You're that lady on the wall! Magica…" Howard started to say before a loud alarm rang.
Suddenly, the sprinklers overhead showered drops of liquid everywhere, even on Magica De Spell, who melted after getting soaked. When she was gone, Howard looked over and saw that Lena had pulled a fire alarm which was labeled "Dewberry Pep". His curiosity caused him to lick some of the drops that fell to his hand.
"Lena? What's going…"
Lena quickly covered Howard's mouth as the other kids arrived.
"Why did you pull the pep alarm?" Dewey asked.
"It was an accident." Lena said.
"You ruined my big dance. And we'll never get the hallway in time for the 11:30 number."
"Come on, Dewey. None of us feel like dancing." Webby said. "Maybe we should move on to the next dream?"
"Yeah, I just failed a class in something called 'Dewology'." Huey said with an F- sign flashing over his head.
"Well, I'm the class vali-Dew-ctorian." Dewey said. "A+++++."
"I've got to get out of here." Huey whispered in terror.
"With enough focus, we should be able to determine where to go next." Violet said.
With a smile, Louie pressed his hand on a locker door and opened it revealing a green portal he then went through. Most of the others followed him save for Howard and Lena.
"Okay, kid," Howard said to Lena, "Got something you want to say?"
"Uh, like what?" Lena asked nervously.
"Like why I just bumped into that evil sorceress we talked about earlier?" Howard asked skeptically.
Lena sighed. "Okay, okay. The truth is, those bad dreams I told you about, they all involved Aunt Magica. Every night, she shows up in my dream turning it into a nightmare. I always woke up before she could get me, but it looks like she followed me into my friends' dreams."
"Don't you think that the others should know about this?" Howard asked.
"No! They can't know!" Lena said. "The last thing I want is for them to know I've got Aunt Magica in my mind. Look, you're the only other person who knows about this. So do you think you can help keep her away from us? Just until we wake up, of course."
Howard thought for a moment before sighing. "Fine. But just so you know, you really should tell your friends."
"I'll take it under consideration." Lena said dryly.
When Howard entered the locker, he found himself in a room that was completely green. Most of the other kids were there, but everyone had their attention on the couch where a very fat, green cat lay upon.
"Louie?" Webby asked.
"Yes?" the green cat asked in Louie's voice.
"This is your dream? To be even lazier?" Huey asked.
"I nap all day. I never have to worry about anything. I'm shamelessly pampered." Louie said just as a green Mrs. Beakley walked in with a soda can which Louie knocked over. "Meow. Everyone pat my head."
Without question, most of the gang gathered around Louie and petted him. He purred in enjoyment.
"You know, this is actually kinda relaxing." Howard said.
Huey groaned as he joined in. But before he could put his hand on the head, Louie bit him.
"Never mind. I don't want that anymore." Louie said before drifting off in a deep sleep.
"You're asleep?!" Huey asked angrily. "We're in a dream! How are you sleep-sleeping?!"
A dream bubble appeared over Louie's head with another Louie inside of it. "I just am."
All of a sudden, the entrance in Louie's dream was crossed again. A large, gray wolf with Lena's hair and bracelet walked in before speaking in Lena's voice.
"I don't think I'm doing this right."
"Uh, why does she look like that?" Howard asked.
"In dreams, this form can represent outsider syndrome." Violet said. "Perhaps a violent feral instinct."
"Or she's a pack animal and we're her pack." Webby said.
At that moment, the green Beakley stepped in and was startled by Lena. After some inaudible talking, she headed to the front of the house.
Curious, Lena and Howard followed the green Beakley as she let in a woman in an animal control uniform and carrying a large net. However, the woman in the uniform showed her face to be none other than Magica De Spell.
Lena gasped before turning to Howard. "Quick. Keep her busy while I get the others out. We'll wait for you."
"Fine." Howard said.
He ran into the foyer and caught Magica by surprise with a spin kick. She stood back up and growled at Howard.
"Stay out of this, you meddlesome fool!" Magica shouted. "This is between me and Lena!"
"Big talk from a figment of the kid's imagination." Howard said. He flew into the air and kicked Magica back with both of his feet.
Once she was knocked back, Howard ran back to the living room and saw Lena jump into a litter box, which was also a portal into the next dream. As grossed out as he was, Howard proceeded to jump in.
The next dream included a red bedroom. On the bright side, Lena was no longer a wolf and Louie was no longer a cat. On the downside, Huey was nowhere to be found.
"Whose dream is this, anyway?" Dewey asked.
"Probably Huey's." Howard said. "He's the only one not here."
"Ugh. Only Huey would come up with a dream so booooo…" Dewey stopped himself when he finally found Huey, who was standing tall with unbelievably long legs that could take up the height of the entire room. "AAAAAHHHH! WHY, HUEY?! WHYYYYYYYY?!"
"Whatever do you mean?" Huey asked smugly walking around extending his legs. "Nothing strange here. Just a tall, distinguished, mature oldest sibling."
"IN WHAT WORLD DOES THAT DESCRIPTION EQUAL THIS?!" Dewey asked loudly.
"Seriously, Huey!" Howard yelled. "You could have at least made your whole body bigger, not just have longer legs!"
"I'm not good at imagination stuff, okay?!" Huey replied.
"Don't listen to them!" Louie said. "Follow your lame dreams!"
"Would you kids like a jar of pickles from the topmost shelf?" Huey asked conjuring a shelf beside him that housed a jar of pickles.
Dewey was loudly against the idea, but everyone else accepted Huey's offer. Despite his dream legs, however, Huey still couldn't open the pickle jar. He then used his legs to pry the lid open disturbing Dewey even further. He then squatted down to hand the pickles to the others. However, his arms grew longer and waved out of control freaking everyone out.
"Huey, Huey, calm down!" Howard yelled out. "Remember, as disturbing as it is, this is your dream! Don't lose focus!"
Taking those words to heart, Huey took a breath and his arms shrank back down to normal.
"Ah. Thanks, Howard."
"So now that all that's done, who's dream is next?" Webby asked.
"You know, I am curious as to what Howard dreams of." Violet asked. "It could be quite fascinating to see what's on an alien's mind."
Howard widened his eyes. "Uh, that might not be a good idea. You see… I'm an adult. And adults have dreams that might be too graphic for kids to see."
"If you say so." Dewey said. "Just remember, if we can dream it, we can Dewey it!"
What followed next was a series of bizarre dreams for the gang to have fun in. They bounced around in a dream where everything was made of gelatine. They rode on ottomans and rockets while candy rained from above. They created a fourth duck named Phooey. They ran alongside a flying whale with a face that resembled Launchpad.
While the others were having fun, Howard and Lena were watching their backs. In every dream they went in, they caught glances of Magica De Spell trying to catch up to Lena. Thankfully, at every turn, Howard managed to use his Quack Fu skills to keep her away.
After their rapid dreaming spree, everyone ended up in a purple library where Violet was found reading one of their books.
"Violet, is this your dream?" Howard asked. "Is it in a library?"
"My dream is just to read more." Violet said.
All of a sudden, the sound of a door pounding echoes throughout the library. Everyone could tell it didn't come from anywhere inside the dream. It was heard out in the real world along with Scrooge calling out.
"Wake up, kids! What are you lot still doing asleep? It's almost six a.m.! Go get some jobs!"
"Finally." Lena said in relief. "Well, I guess we're waking up."
"Oh, no." Webby said. "But it was your turn to choose a dream."
"It's fine, really."
The pounding outside the dream echoed louder. "Nah! More porridge for me then! Sleep tight!"
Suddenly, Lena felt a change coursing through her body. She ran behind a bookshelf trying to shake herself awake, but she stopped when her hands started to turn green. She began to panic some more.
"Lena, are you okay?" Webby asked following Lena with the others. They all gathered around Lena making her very nervous.
"Look, guys, I…" Lena started to say.
All of a sudden, the wall behind her exploded into a million pieces. Everyone looked and gasped at the large figure who stood in the hole he made. Howard especially was the most frightened of them all.
It was the same axe-wielding figure Howard saw earlier. At last, his full body was revealed as a gray skinned man with red-and-black armor and a gold belt.
"Uh, who's dream is this?" Louie asked.
"That's no dream. That's a nightmare!" Howard answered with a shaky voice. "That's Terrax the Tamer!"
"…Who?" everyone asked.
Terrax reached down and grabbed Lena by her arm. "You're coming with me!"
"No! Wait! Let me go!" Lena shouted.
"Hey! Leave my friend alone!" Webby shouted. She jumped forward to kick at Terrax, but he swung his axe creating a red energy wave knocking her back.
Terrax then turned to the hole he made, which lead to an outer space setting. There, the metal Mobius strip Howard saw earlier floated bigger than any of the planets around it. Terrax jumped toward the ship carrying Lena with him. All the kids ran to the edge of the hole and saw them disappear into the ship.
"What kind of ship is that?" Huey asked. "I've never seen anything that big!"
"It's called the Worldship." Howard said leaning on the bookshelf far from the hole. "It's the ship that belongs to an unstoppable entity known as Galactus."
"Wait. So that's your dream?" Dewey asked. "Because none of us have heard of a Galactus."
"Well, that big brute just kidnapped our friend!" Webby shouted. "We need to go and save her!"
"I can't go." Howard said taking everyone by surprise.
"Excuse me?" Huey asked.
"I can't go." Howard said. "Sorry, kids, but I can't. I'm… I'm too afraid."
"Why not?" Violet asked.
Howard lowered his head shamefully. "Galactus is more than just another alien. He's a living force of nature that can't be reasoned with or bargained with. He must feed on energy to survive, and he takes that energy… by destroying planets."
The kids all widened their eyes in shock.
"Whoa! For real?" Dewey asked.
"That ship belongs to someone who eats planets?" Louie asked.
"How do you even know this?" Huey asked.
"Because I saw it happen… when he destroyed my home planet." Howard said with a sunken voice. Everyone was stunned silent as they let him continue. "I was off-world when it happened. I was actually on my way back when suddenly, I saw my planet get destroyed before my very eyes. It frightened me when I realized that I was the last living inhabitant of my home planet, which was very traumatizing. Though, usually, in my dreams, I still see glimpses of Galactus, his ship, or his herald, Terrax. So… I can't go. I'm too scared."
Howard took heavy breaths while the kids looked at each other.
"Okay, Howard." Webby said. "If you're too scared, you can stay. But we're going to go save Lena. You can follow if you want, but we understand if you won't."
"Just remember," Huey said, "As disturbing as it is, this is your dream. Don't lose focus."
Howard's head was lifted by the words he used to Huey earlier. He watched as they jumped out into space and toward the ship.
Lena regained consciousness finding herself on a cold, metal floor. She looked around learning that she was surrounded by an abnormally large alien room. She turned and gasped seeing a colossal figure sitting on a life-sized throne. It looked like a man, but it wore purple armor and had a purple helmet with large prongs. It stared blankly ahead without giving Lena a small glance.
Lena then turned and looked closely at a metal wall seeing her reflection on it like it was a mirror. That's when she noticed her green feathers and black streak in her hair.
"About time you woke up." Lena turned to the direction of the voice and saw Terrax the Tamer standing over her. Suddenly, the large alien glowed purple and shrank down changing into Magica De Spell. "I mean, not actually woke up, because you wouldn't be trapped in a nightmare realm of my grim devising, so…"
"No! I was free!" Lena said fearfully. "What's going on? Why am I here?"
"Believe me, this isn't my first choice." Magica said. "I originally planned to settle this in your dream, but your bothersome friend kept me away from you. Then, I noticed he was scared of this ship, so I decided to move things to this dream so he'd be too scared to make any real difference."
"But you lost your powers!" Lena shouted. "What did you do to me?"
"Me? This is all you." Magica said. "Did you think you'd turn out different than me? I'm trying to save you. You came from me. Evil is in your… whatever shadows have instead of blood." She started walking around Lena. "Don't you ever feel like there's something off about you?"
"It's just a dream." Lena told herself.
"Yes, but it is really me." Magica said. "We're psychically linked. Because, you know, you, me, same, evil, etc."
"LENA! WE'RE COMING!" The sound of the other kids calling out to her echoed throughout a hallway connected to the throne room where Galactus sat.
"My friends are here." Lena said. "They're gonna save me."
"Those dopes are here to stop you, like they always try to stop me." Magica said. "Because we're monsters, Lena."
"I'm nothing like you!" Lena denied.
Magica didn't say another word. She disappeared into her scepter and watched from the purple jewel on top.
Lena began to feel a pain in her chest. She strained feeling her entire body change. Once it was over, the looked at her reflection on the wall again, and was horrified to see that she had changed into Magica De Spell. Even her voice was just like hers.
"NO!" she gasped.
The kids ran into the throne room in their dream forms. Webby had her top hat and cane, Huey had his abnormally long legs, Dewey was wearing his basketball outfit again, Louie was back to being a fat, green cat, and Violet was carrying one of the books she read at the library.
"Magica!" Webby shouted. "What did you do with Lena?"
"No, no, I am Lena." Lena said with her tone that involuntarily sounded sarcastic. "I just look like Magica."
"Stop mocking me!" Webby yelled.
"Ugh, why does everything I say sound sarcastic?" Lena asked herself.
"Because you're a MONSTER!" Webby answered aggressively hurting Lena's feelings.
"No! No! I'm not… a… MONSTER!" Lena pleaded desperately.
All of a sudden, Lena's body changed again. From her Magica form, she grew her demon wings and became a firebreathing beast.
"Ooh, ironic." the real Magica commented.
"Webby, help!" Lena yelled, but as soon as she said that, she shot out a purple fireball that was launched at the kids. Webby opened an umbrella to shield herself.
"Take this! Dewey shouted going for a basketball style move, but as soon as he slammed his ball on the floor, it bounced back and hit him in the face.
Just then, Lena's claws were caught in Webby's cable which she used to attack her, but Lena deflected, broke free, and hovered in the air. She tried to speak again, but like before, she shot out a fireball. Huey then picked Louie up by his tail and threw him to Lena's face where he began to claw at her.
After a successful throw, Huey turned to walk away, but his body hit a giant machine stuck to the wall and it began to detach threatening to fall on Webby. Lena saw what was about to happen and flew to her with all her speed without hesitation. Now, instead, Lena was the one who was crushed by the alien machine. She recovered, but got hit by a purple beam that shot out of Violet's book.
Lena changed back into her Magica form and found herself looking at the reflective wall where the real Magica moved to after leaving her scepter.
"No matter how hard you fight it, they will always turn on you." Magica said offering her hand. "Give in. No worrying if you measure up, if you're too flawed. You're tired. Come home to me."
Magica was right. Lena was tired. She was too exhausted to keep fighting her fears. She raised her hand ready to accept her "aunt". But right when she did, Webby got a good look at her wrist and saw that she was wearing the friendship bracelet she made for herself. That's when she realized the truth.
"Lena?" Webby asked. She ran over to her and stopped her arm before she could take Magica's hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't see. Of course it's you." She looked over at the Magica reflection. "Is that what's been bothering you? That you might become Magica?"
Lena nodded and sat with her back to the wall. "I'm just… so tired of fighting it. I am her."
"No, you're not." Webby assured. "We were trying to destroy you and you still saved me."
"Yeah, of course, I did." Lena said. "Of course, I would. She would never…"
"What are you doing?" Magica asked from the wall reflection. "Don't listen to her! You are me!"
"You're not her. You're you." Webby said. "You put so much pressure on yourself to be good. But you are good enough." She offered her own hand to Lena, which she gracefully accepted.
"GIVE ME BACK MY POWERS, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!" Magica yelled reaching her hand out of the wall. She grabbed Lena by her other wrist and pulled hard.
What came next was a tug of war between Magica and Webby with Lena in the middle. The other kids joined in adding their own strength and energy to save Lena. Still, Magica proved to be tough to fight off of Lena. She moved herself further out of the mirror to get a better hold on Lena seemingly winning the struggle. That is, until…
"HEY, WITCH!" Everyone turned seeing Howard run in and toward Magica. "LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE!" He jumped into the air and landed a kick on Magica's face sending her out of the mirror and across the room. "Uh, I did get the right one, right?"
"Yes, you did." Lena said changing back into her real form. "Thank you."
"Howard, did you really just enter the ship of the man you're most afraid of?" Huey asked.
"Well, yeah, I guess." Howard said. "Just couldn't let you kids face whatever was in here on your own."
"NO!" Magica yelled in anger standing back up. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF LENA'S ANNOYING FRIENDS COMING IN FOR THE RESCUE!"
"Give it up, Aunt Magica!" Lena shouted. "We're not afraid of you!"
"Oh, really?" Magica asked. "Well, maybe you'll be more scared of THIS!"
She turned into a purple light and flew on up to where Galactus sat. She covered him in a purple glow, and when it dimmed, everyone gasped seeing Magica's face where Galactus' once was. Finally, the body moved when she looked down at everyone.
"NOW, I'LL HAVE LENA BACK WHETHER SHE WANTS IT OR NOT!" Magica roared reaching down at the gang.
Lena jumped in the way and reached her hands out to her sides. A purple ball of light covered everyone while Magica squeezed tightly on it.
Lena groaned. "I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THIS WILL HOLD!"
"WHAT DO WE DO?!" Louie asked.
Howard looked up at Magica wearing Galactus' armor and steeled himself. He looked over at Lena and gave his command.
"Lena, I'm going to need a hand!"
Lena nodded and dropped the shield. Everyone jumped out of the way before Magica could crush them. Lena then blasted a purple beam which attached itself to Howard's hand. He gripped his fist before jumping onto Magica's ginormous arm. He ran up her forearm just as she began to lift it up.
"BONZAAAAIIIIII!"
Once he reached high enough, Howard jumped up high and flew toward Magica's face. Once he was close enough to it, he threw his magic-covered fist and struck her hard at the center. As soon as it made contact, the entire room flashed a bright light covering everything in sight.
Howard gasped as he opened his eyes and found himself back in Webby's bedroom. He looked around and saw the kids waking up from their sleeping bags so suddenly.
"I'm awake! I'm me again! We did it!" Lena cheered happily.
"Wait, we should test to be certain that this isn't a dream." Violet said.
"That's right! We might still be dreaming!" Huey said hopefully opening up his sleeping bag. But as soon as he saw his legs back to their normal height, his smile dropped. "Ugh, it's fine. Fine, we're awake. It's fine. Whatever."
"Thanks for coming to help Lena, Howard." Webby said. "That was really brave."
"Did you think so?" Howard asked smugly. "I mean, I don't know. I mean, I did just punch a giant sorceress in the face, but does that constitute as being brave?"
"All right. Don't be a showoff." Lena said.
Just then, everyone looked out the window and saw a purple device hovering outside. It had a listening device attached to it along with a small propeller keeping it up. It quickly turned and flew away.
"Was that some kind of spy drone?" Howard asked.
"Only one way to find out." Webby said.
The gang ran outside and spotted the drone. They followed it all the way to the gates. They didn't cross it, but they didn't have to. As it turned out, the drone had returned to the hand of a woman standing at the edge of the forest. They couldn't see her completely, but they knew exactly who it was.
"Aunt Magica?" Lena asked. "You really have been creeping in my dreams all week."
"Night after night, I tried to get you to give your powers back to me, but you kept waking up." Magica said. "I thought if you had your friends to distract you, you'd stay asleep, but no. You can give my powers back right here, though. Take my hand."
Everyone watched Magica walked out the forest shadows and toward the gate with her hand extended. That's when they all saw how she looked in real life.
Instead of her sickly-green feathers, Magica was pale. Her outfit was covered with dirt, twigs, and leaves. She wore a purple, high-tech helmet on top of her head, and she had a deranged look in her eyes.
"We're family. You need me."
"It looks like she's wearing a telepathic helmet with a neuro-frequency amplifier." Howard said. "I've seen something similar to that design on Arcturus."
"That must be how she entered our dreams." Violet said.
"So you're using some weird do-hickey?" Louie asked. "Isn't magic your whole thing?"
Lena then made a startling realization. "You really don't have any powers left. I don't need you. You need me." Magica gritted her teeth in anger. "You are no longer allowed in my head!"
With her powers, Lena telepathically removed the helmet from Magica's head and threw it over into Howard's hands. Angry, Magica ran to the gate and tried to reach through it, but everyone stepped away from it.
"I'll claw out your soul, grind your heart to dust beneath my heel, and rip my powers out of you with my bare teeth!" Magica threatened.
Howard chuckled. "This woman is Scrooge's greatest enemy? Scrooge's mood is scarier whenever he has to pay the bills."
"You know, I feel more rested than I have in a long time." Lena said.
"I could go for a nap." Louie said.
"You think you've won, but I am your fate!" Magica ranted. "I am the dark force at the core of all things! I AM MAGICA DE SPELL!"
"Whatever you say, crazy." Howard mocked looking at the helmet in his hands.
His smug smiled faded when he examined the helmet more closely. He turned it over and even opened it up to look at its circuitry. The sight of it caught the kids' attention.
"Uh, Howard, is everything okay?" Huey asked.
"I… I'm not sure." Howard said. "This helmet, it… I told you it looks similar to the helmets built on Arcturus, but it's more than that. This is an actual Arcturan helmet!" He looked over at Magica. "Where did you get this helmet?"
"You know, my memory is a bit foggy." Magica said. "Maybe if Lena gave me back my powers, it could freshen up my…"
Howard grabbed Magica's arm and pulled her harshly pressing her to the gate. "Don't play games with me!"
"All right! All right!" Magica said before being released. "I got it from a spaceship that crashed over near the dump."
"A spaceship?" Webby asked.
"You mean there's another alien besides Howard?" Dewey asked.
"I don't know." Magica said. "This helmet was all I could take. Everything else was taken by the Beagle Family, even the pilot!"
"How are you not sure if the pilot was an alien or not?" Huey asked.
"Because he didn't look like one." Magica said. "He looked like an ordinary raccoon man. Although, he seemed to take it personally when the Beagles called him a raccoon."
Howard's eyes widened. He paced around frantically. "No way! It can't be… I mean, it is like him to collect new devices to mess with. But if it is him, then where's the other guy? Could they both be…"
"Howard, what are you talking about?" Dewey asked. "Do you know this guy?"
"Well… yeah. I know him, and his partner too." Howard answered. "And I suppose I do owe him one, so I should probably give him some help." He looked intensely toward the kids. "We've got to go save… Rocket."
"…Who?" everyone asked.