Magica paced restlessly around her house in the swamp, she was furious, she was absolutely furious.
She couldn't believe that Scrooge had pulled such a despicable and disgusting stunt the last time she attacked; he had taken advantage of her and she was angry that he'd had the gall to use such a tactic, she was furious that he had kissed her just to distract her while his bratty nephews worked to stop her latest plan and she was even more furious with herself for falling for it, for allowing it…
For being unable to stop thinking about it!
While she never had much in the way of a love life, Magica had been kissed before, usually because she was the one doing the distracting, although she'd never used such low tactics on Scrooge; not only was she certain he would've never fallen for it but, it never felt right to do that; Yes, she had used the occasional love spell or potion, but only as a means to talk him into giving her the dime, she felt that to do more, to resort to playing on such base instincts, would have been nothing less than insulting… though apparently he didn't see it that way.
Still, Scrooge's kiss… it had been so warm, so passionate and almost like he had truly wanted it, specifically when he had gone in for a second kiss, when he grabbed her leg as the tango he tricked her into dancing with him seemed to be forgotten…
Magica shook her head, trying to clear her mind for probably the hundredth time so far, but it still didn't work. She was still thinking about it and it was just aggravating her even more.
Of course, Scrooge didn't want it; of course, he was likely nauseated by his own actions, by the thought of even touching her, never mind kissing her!
There was no way he wasn't washing his mouth out with the strongest mouthwash he could get after her plan had failed and she'd fled the mansion; she should have been reacting the same way, but she wasn't… instead a part of her was wishing things could be different, wishing that it had been real; but it wasn't…
Scrooge had just put on an Oscar worthy performance that had left her reeling, and she wasn't going to let him get away with it.
Scrooge was sitting his office, unable to keep his mind off that night the previous week, the night Magica had shown up with a new talisman and had tried to put him under a spell, under her control.
It hadn't worked, much to his surprise and relief, the talisman's effect had been negated by the good luck charm Gladstone had given him a few days prior, he had said he had all the luck he needed and that maybe Scrooge could use it or something and as it turned out, he did indeed get some use out of it.
Scrooge had played along to protect the kids and give them and Donald the chance to snatch the talisman. He'd locked them in a room he knew they could escape from easily so they could do their thing while he kept Magica distracted. That's when things went lopsided, at least as far as he was concerned.
Yes, by the end of it all they had gotten the talisman and chased Magica off so everything worked out as usual but just before that, just after he'd locked up his family and followed Magica around the mansion, breaking things for her amusement and playing his part, they'd ended up in the great room where he had been when she first showed up.
He had been going through his collection of vinyl records, searching for a specific album, the cursed final record of Cubby Fats, which had disappeared from the garage so he suspected one of the kids had found it and gotten it mixed up with his collection of vintage music, but given that the angry spirit of Cubby Fats hadn't appeared, no one had actually played the thing yet, so he had been trying to find it before anyone brought about the curse; this meant that several records had been left scattered around the room.
Scrooge had gone about breaking a few of the records and other items in the room as ordered until Magica set the talisman down on a table while she debated on what else she should have him do, meanwhile Donald had signaled him from the vent in the air duct in the ceiling, letting him know they were there.
Then he made the decision that he was regretting and fearing he would pay for; desperate to find a way to distract her, and with limited options, his eyes found an album of tangos.
He put it on the gramophone and started to flirt with Magica, coaxing her into doing a tango with him, enjoying her great confusion at his actions… until his clumsy kin started making too much racket, drawing her attention, and he did the first thing he could think of to keep her attention on him… he pulled her into a kiss and after a moment of shock… she returned it!
At that point, after the first kiss broke, he could have, should have, tried to talk her into leaving the room, then found some other way of subduing or distracting her; he didn't need to kiss her a second time…. and he certainly didn't need to grab her leg during their dance… but he'd let himself get carried away, enjoying her returning the affection a little too much.
He didn't know why she had returned the kisses the way she had, she hated him, despised him, but still… she returned every ounce of passion he'd put into it, not that he'd intended to put so much into it but… he sighed and shook his head.
Once Donald and the kids had fallen out the air duct and Magica could no longer be distracted, things played out as normal, ending with her being defeated once again, but he knew that she was going to be furious at him and he may come to regret using that tactic on her. He thought about what to do, how to handle it when she inevitably came seeking her revenge once more, this time having another reason to hate him.
Donald and the boys were going camping for the weekend, Mrs. Beakley was taking Webby for their annual training retreat and Launchpad was already gone to his family reunion so Scrooge would soon be home alone, mainly because he had some problems with one of his businesses to handle so he couldn't go on the camping trip with his nephews.
Scrooge thought maybe that was for the best though, it would give him some time to get his mind off of Magica and her last attack, off of what had happened, and to figure out a good strategy for the next time she came around.
Magica had been keeping tabs on Scrooge and his annoying family for a while, spying on them as much as she could until she saw the opportunity, Scrooge would be left home alone while the others all left on various trips, it would be the perfect time to strike and deal with Scrooge, to put an end to the carousel of thoughts he'd put her mind on.
Everyone had been gone for several hours and the manor was quiet, Scrooge sat in the kitchen eating a sandwich he'd fixed himself and tried to focus on the paperwork on the table in front of him, reports detailing the troubles with his most recent business acquisition and his notes on possible solutions.
Suddenly the silence was broken by a loud pounding at the front door.
Scrooge got up, leaving his sandwich and papers and hurried cautiously to the door. He peered through the peep hole and saw a delivery man on the stoop, an envelope in his hand.
He opened the door and before he could say anything, the delivery man quickly handed him the envelope and ran off, clearly frightened.
Scrooge examined the envelope, it had nothing written on it and wasn't sealed; carefully he opened it and a plume of purple smoke began pouring out of it, Magica's face appeared in the smoke after a moment.
"Sorry I couldn't send this with a little more flare Scroogie, but you know, lack of magic and all, I'm working with what I have; anyway, I have your nephews and in this envelope are directions to their location, come get them… if you dare!"
The vision cackled maniacally as it faded away and Scrooge's blood ran cold, Magica had Donald and the boys and who knew what she would do to them to get back at him!
He pulled the directions out of the envelope and ran out the door.
After some searching, he found the cave in the swamp Magica was holding his nephews in; although the directions, in actuality a crudely drawn map, could have been a little clearer; obviously cartography was not one of Magica's stronger suits.
Scrooge entered the cave cautiously and quickly began to wish he'd brought a flashlight as he moved farther into the dark passage; however, it wasn't the first time he had navigated a cave without light, so he put his hands to the wall and inched forward using his hands in place of his eyes to at least make sure he kept moving in the same direction.
Soon, he rounded a corner into an area lit with several torches along the walls, he moved away from the wall he had been following and entered the main room of the cave and immediately realized something was wrong; the cave was empty!
Scrooge started to worry, had he come to wrong place? Where were his nephews? Suddenly Magica's laughter filled the cave from behind him.
He jumped as he turned to face her and she just laughed even more.
"Did I scare you, Scroogie?" Magica chuckled, watching him in amusement with a smug grin.
Scrooge straightened up, unwilling to admit that she had actually startled him, and glared at the Sorceress. "Where are my nephews witch? What have you done with them?" He demanded.
Magica just laughed again. "You fell into my trap Scroogie… they were never here, I haven't laid a finger on them," she sneered. "I knew you'd come running right to me if I told you I captured them, and you did!" she laughed again.
Scrooge realized he was in serious trouble; he'd played right into her hands. His eyes began to dart around the room for a moment, searching for any sign of what she had planned as he tried to determine his own plan of action.
"Don't even think of trying to run," she said, seeing the wheels in his mind turning. "I have a bone to pick with you and I thought it best if we had this one out privately, no nephews, no housekeeper, no distractions, just you and me," she said, her eyes piercing right through him.
"Oh, she is definitely angry at me…" Scrooge thought, knowing exactly why she had lured him to this isolated place… so she could get her revenge on him for his distraction tactic last week.
"Alright then, let's get this over with," he took a battle stance, readying his cane as his weapon.
Magica charged at him and took a swing at him with her staff. "I can't believe you! Do you even know why I'm going to destroy you?" she barked, anger flashing in her eyes.
He parried her attack with his cane and swung back. "Of course, I know why you tricked me into coming here! I figured you were upset about it,"
She swung again, "Of course I'm upset! How could you do that!"
He dodged and kicked at her. "What? I had to do something to distract you and foil your plans again," He was trying to play it off as though it had been just a simple tactic, not the obvious problem that she believed it was, hoping that if he acted as though it was no big deal she might calm down; after all, it wasn't like it had affected her like it did him.
Magica couldn't believe how he was acting so cavalier about what had happened, what he'd done; maybe it shouldn't have come as any surprise to her, he had likely pulled the same kind of stunt on others before, like she had a few times to achieve a goal… it shouldn't have upset her so much but, deep down she knew why it did.
She dodged his kick and somehow managed to land a punch to his beak, not as hard as she would have liked, but not being as skilled in physical combat as he was, she had a disadvantage when she had so little magic to use.
"Regardless, how could you do something so despicable, so disgusting!" she practically screamed at him.
Scrooge was surprised when she launched her fist at him and he knew that he might have a good bruise from it, he hadn't expected this to boil down to fisticuffs, but then again, she had very little magic so, like she'd said in her message, she was working with what she had.
He switched from offensive to defensive tactics at that moment, enemy or not, Scrooge just didn't feel comfortable getting into a fist fight with a woman.
The one and only exception to that had been one incident with Goldie a long time ago in his Klondike days, but there was a clear difference here; Goldie was used to rough housing and could handle herself in such situations while Magica, on the other hand, was clearly more accustomed to using her magic to fight as opposed to her fists.
"I was just trying to protect my family, Magica!" He snapped back, holding his cane up to block anymore attacks and beginning to realize that there may be more to the situation as he saw something more than anger reflected in her dark eyes.
They stood facing each other, catching their breaths as she glared at him, her eyes again piercing him, she was calmer now as she spoke.
"I'm sure there were a million other ways you could have distracted me Scrooge! So, I want to know why, why you did… that!" she demanded again, before she pulled a foof bomb from her pocket and threw it, filling the room with purple smoke.
Scrooge, unable to see, felt her tackle him and the two struggled against each other for several moments until she had him pinned to a wall and the smoke began to clear.
It was the first time they had a fight that was so physical, yes, they did occasionally tackle and pin each other, but normally they rarely ever touched each other when they fought because she used her magic and he used his cane like a sword, never had they actually had an actual brawl like this and Scrooge was so caught off guard that it had been easy for her to pin him against the wall.
Magica locked her eyes with Scrooge's as she held him by his upper arms, knowing that he could easily break free of her grip due to him having more physical strength than her, but holding him as tightly and firmly as she could regardless.
"I'm waiting, Scroogie," she said quietly, but still with a firm tone.
"I-I told you… I was just-" He started but she cut him off.
"No, that's why you had to distract me, I want to know why you distracted me the way you did,"
He tried to think of something, anything to say, anything but the truth; not like he even fully realized it himself until that night but still, he couldn't tell her that, if she knew, it would just be something she'd use against him.
Magica waited for him to speak, watching his face as he remained silent and the conflict in his eyes as he clearly tried to find something to say, her patience grew thin as she realized that he wasn't likely to give her an answer and what that itself could possibly mean.
After a minute of silence, she gave up waiting for him.
"Alright, you don't have to say anything Scroogie, there are other ways I can find out what I want to know…"
Before Scrooge could say or do anything, her hands left his arms and grabbed the collar of his coat and pulled him to her, beak meeting beak in an intense kiss.
His brain took a moment to process what was happening but soon enough the sensation of what she was doing took over, his muscles relaxed and he found himself unable and unwilling to do anything but respond in kind.
When he returned her kiss, Magica's heart leapt, and her arms found their way around his neck, pulling him closer.
He felt her arms close around him, her fingers playing with the feathers on his head and he enjoyed the touch as his arms wrapped themselves around her waist, holding her close as they kissed.
Eventually they had to come up for air and broke the kiss, panting heavily as they locked eyes once more.
Magica grinned mischievously. "Oh Scroogie, and here I thought you didn't like me," she teased him, ruffling his head feathers.
"Considering how many times you've said you wanted to destroy me, I could've sworn you hated my guts," He said with an uneasy laugh, "Or is this part of your revenge? Distract me like I did you, before you end me?"
Magica just chuckled. "Actually, I had planned on just killing you but…" Her face reddened as she trailed off, averting her gaze from him.
"You… wanted to kiss me more than you wanted to kill me?" He hesitantly finished for her, still a bit unsure of exactly what was going on between them.
Her eyes met his again almost instantly. "No-I... well… oh, just shut up and kiss me again you fool!" she stammered, unable to verbalize what she was feeling and instead slamming her mouth against his again, letting the movement of her lips do the talking for her.
As confusing as the situation now was, when Magica kissed him again, Scrooge couldn't help himself, he responded again and just allowed his mind to forget about it for the time being and enjoy the pleasant tingling she was causing up and down his spine.
It wasn't long before they again needed to part for air and Magica couldn't help laughing as she realized his hand had once again grabbed her leg.
"Mmm, Scroogie…" she cooed, rubbing her leg against his hip.
He was startled at her action, now fully realizing just how heated things were getting. "Magica… I think that maybe we need to talk about this," he said as his hand flew away from her leg.
She sighed, afraid that if they stopped and talked about it, this wonderful whatever it was, would be over and that she would never enjoy his kisses again.
From the day they first met, Magica had been attracted to Scrooge; he had intrigued her, he was someone who not only dared to defy her, but also had proved to be her equal even though he had no magic, he had goaded her on to fight him alone, he had seen her and Poe as separate beings, not as one unit like most everyone else did.
Although he was partly responsible for her losing Poe, it really was mostly her fault and she knew it, it was her fault for being so prideful.
Then, over the last fifteen years, being trapped in his dime because her own spell backfired on her, she had time to stew and think, she'd been able to observe him in all circumstances, to hear and see most everything.
Secretly, she knew that she would either destroy him or make him hers and right now he was hers, but to realize that he, at the very least, desired her as well… that just sent a different kind of thrill through her, the thought that a part of him wanted to claim her as she wanted to claim him… but she was also afraid that's all it was, all it would ever be.
Even though she dared not admit that somewhere along the line she may have fallen in love with him, she wanted to stay like this with him as long as possible. Her selfish wanting demanded that she take all he was willing to give her while he was still willing to give it, but her heart was silently screaming the words she was scared to say aloud.
Little did she know, Scrooge felt the same way.
Scrooge had enjoyed the kisses, but he wanted to know what it was exactly, was this all just passion in the heat of the moment or something more? He would have to have been blind not to see how attractive Magica was the first time he laid eyes on her and that first fight had left an impression… and he regretted his own selfish actions back then, yes, she and her brother were the villains but, still, had it really been his place to essentially condemn her brother to whatever fate befell him after that?
Yes, obviously if Magica had listened to Poe, he might not have been turned into a raven but… Scrooge couldn't deny his responsibility in it all, nor could he deny that he had become attracted to Magica over their years of fighting, maybe he had even fallen in love with her at some point; either way, he had missed her during those years she was trapped in the dime and enjoyed matching wits with her again.
Part of him wanted so badly to tell her how he felt, but at the same time he was afraid of waking from the dream, afraid that momentary passion was all this was.
"Oh, come on Scroogie, you know just as well as I do what's going on here and where it's inevitably going to lead," she laughed a little, hoping she could just go back to kissing him.
Trying to talk about this was so difficult, she didn't want to discuss feelings, she just wanted to keep kissing him and hope he understood, even a little.
"That may be…" Scrooge started slowly, trying to pick his words carefully, to figure out something to say, "But I really do think we need to discuss this because where it's 'inevitably going to lead' could be plenty of trouble and I… well… you know that we…" He fumbled, not sure of exactly what to say, trying and failing to say what he was thinking, what he was feeling, and each time the words just wouldn't come to him.
Why did it have to be so difficult to talk about these things? Why did these feelings have to be so confusing and complicated?
Magica locked eyes with him again, subtly nodding her head as he spoke and fumbled with his words; she was getting so tired of this failing conversation… she took his hands in hers, resolute in forcing herself to at least ask him her original question once more.
"I'll ask you one more time… why did you kiss me before? Was it because you're… attracted to me? Because I think it's pretty obvious you are… or was it because of something else?" nervous as she was, she kept her eyes fixed on his while she waited for his answer.
Scrooge took a deep breath, clearly they both had something to say and they were both afraid to say it, as easy as it would have been to avoid it with more kisses, it needed to be said, someone needed to just say what they were feeling.
As much as she wanted to just kiss him again, she knew she shouldn't unless she finally just said it, then whatever happened after that, happened.
Either her suspicion would be proved right and he felt the same, or… Well obviously he wasn't uninterested in her; clearly he, at the very least, had the hots for her and even though she didn't like the idea of just being a 'fling' or 'secret affair' at least that could be a starting point for something more… right?
"Scrooge, give me an answer… I need know why you kissed me, then and now… because I… I…" She faltered a bit, the words refusing to come out, but knowing that total rejection wasn't on the table, she forced herself to continue, "I… think I might actually be… quite possibly… in… love with you,"
Scrooge was stunned; he had wondered if she felt that way, if that had to do with why she was so upset about what happened that night, but he never would have dared to hope…
Magica wasn't sure what to make of his silence, but she continued, "I don't expect you to reciprocate; honestly, just knowing you're attracted to me is enough…" she half lied, running her fingers through the feathers of his sideburns, closing the distance a little, but not daring to do any more.
"No…" He finally said, trying to piece his thoughts together so as to speak coherently.
Magica tried to hide her disappointment, "I see… well, like I said, I didn't expect-"
Scrooge interrupted her, gently cupping her face as he spoke, "No, it isn't attraction alone… Magica, I… quite possibly… actually… maybe… love you too…" He finally forced out the words before tenderly kissing her again.
They ended up making out in the cave for a little while, enjoying the moment and each other before finally separating and leaving the cave, exchanging sweet words, until they stood at the entrance and Scrooge realized just how long he had been gone.
It had been early afternoon when he'd left the mansion and now the sun had already set and the moon hung in the starry sky.
Scrooge checked his watch and confirmed his suspicions on the time. "It's gotten late, almost ten o'clock… I should probably get back home,"
"Yes, you probably should…" Magica said, draping her arms around him, "But you don't have to, after all, no one's home to miss you right now, in fact, there won't be anyone there to miss you for a couple of days…" She trailed off, running her fingers through his sideburns, "And my place is closer…"
He cocked an eyebrow at her, "Moving rather quickly aren't we, Magica?" He chuckled as her cheeks flushed.
"Maybe… Or maybe I'm just offering you alternative to trying to navigate the swamp in the dark,"
"Do you have food?"
The nonchalant question and abrupt change of subject surprised her.
"Yes, I have food, what kind of question is that?" she shot back, looking at him with confusion.
"I was just asking because I know you haven't any money and while I can't speak for you, I'm hungry, so I would rather go where I know I can get something to eat," he replied with an amused grin.
She just scowled, released him and crossed her arms. "Well, fine then. Since you so bluntly pointed out my financial situation, no, I don't have anything other than leftover pizza, if that suddenly isn't to your liking anymore, then forget I asked,"
"Leftover pizza? Where from?"
Again, she was surprised by how he so easily changed the subject from flirting to food, although she figured it made sense he would have his preference of pizza places; come to think of it…
A grin slowly spread across her face as she realized something, something she couldn't believe hadn't crossed her mind before now.
"Papa Swan's obviously, it is the best and cheapest in town after all," her grin widened at his surprised expression. "What? As alike as we are it shouldn't really be any surprise we like the same pizza place,"
He nodded and smiled. "As long as it doesn't have anchovies on it,"
"Don't even say such a thing! I would never have anchovies on my pizza! It's Margherita pizza!"
"And to drink?" Scrooge asked, leaning in close.
She leaned in as well, her eyes locking with his again, "Nothing fancy, just some Pep, or water if you prefer,"
"Mmmm, leftover Margherita pizza and pep sounds wonderful to me," He said, closing the distance and kissing her tenderly.
Magica returned the kiss only briefly before suddenly pulling away and starting to run off, stopping to look at him over her shoulder. "Come on Scroogie, catch me if you can!" she teased.
"What if I catch you?" He asked playfully, running up toward her.
She smirked slyly, "You win dessert, Scroogie darling,"
She then took off with him just behind her, both laughing and teasing each other as they ran through the swamp to her tree house.
Of course, he caught her just before she could grab the door handle and of course they kissed again before she opened the door and they walked in.
Scrooge almost laughed at the sight, all the Papa Swan's pizza boxes piled up just like at his manor when he had been having his 'old man meltdown' as she'd called it.
Magica was embarrassed, she'd been so caught up in everything that she'd completely forgotten what a mess her house was, although she at least didn't have opossums running around, but Scrooge reassured her it was fine and the two ate her leftover pizza, drank pep and talked and flirted with each other for a while.
They felt like teenagers, or twenty-somethings, just kids without a care in the world, because the world currently consisted of just the two of them, and their pizza… and their feelings for each other.
Eventually, they went to bed for the night and some hours later, Magica woke up and for a while she just lay in bed staring up at the ceiling and thinking about things.
She had finally confessed to Scrooge how she felt and by some miracle he felt the same…
But now she had to wonder what would happen next? They had been enemies for so long, they couldn't simply just flip a switch from enemies to lovers and not expect there to be some backlash; his family and friends would certainly think she was manipulating him, had him under some kind of magic spell, and he while he was definitely under a spell, magic had nothing to do with it.
She didn't have anyone left who really cared or whose opinion even mattered to her, Poe had been gone for years and somehow, she knew he'd be fine with this situation, maybe even glad she'd found love.
It wasn't that she regretted anything, or even that she cared what anyone thought about it but, she was concerned because she knew Scrooge would care; he wouldn't care what anyone else said, but his family's opinions would certainly matter to him.
She put on her robe and sat on the edge of the bed and thought about things, part of her would have been tempted to use her magic to send Scrooge home and let him think it was all a dream… but she didn't have the magic to do that right now.
She was startled by a hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Scrooge asked, having woken up and noticed something seemed to be weighing heavily on her mind.
Magica laughed as she turned to face him. "Make it a dime and I'll tell you anything you want to know," she joked, wrapping her arms around his neck and cuddling up against him.
He laughed at her joke for a moment before he asked again.
"What's bothering you?" he gently pushed her back so as to look her in the eye, his own eyes filled with concern.
She sighed, "I was just thinking about how difficult it would be if we pursued this…" she said, motioning between them with her hand.
"'If we pursued this'? Magica, I think we're already pursuing it!" Scrooge laughed but his laughter quickly died down when he saw she still looked worried.
"You know what I mean Scrooge… you and me… it's bound to be problematic, for you at least, maybe even for me too…" she looked at him with sad eyes, "Maybe it's better if things don't change… if we just go on as normal,"
Scrooge was silent for a moment, contemplating her words; obviously people would have their opinions and it went without saying his family would have difficulty believing she hadn't just put a spell on him, heck even he himself almost wondered if she'd spelled him because it all seemed too good to be true, but he knew better, it was real and not a spell.
"Magica… No, I don't know about you, but I can't just act like all of this didn't happen; I believe we can make this work if we really want it bad enough…" He cupped her face and looked deeply into her eyes, "Please… don't tell me you love me and then just walk away from me…"
Her heart ached at the pleading tone in his voice and look in his eyes; of course she knew exactly why he was reacting this way… she knew that the last time he'd fallen in love, the woman had responded by breaking his heart and that he never dared to open his heart up in such a way to another since.
Magica too, had kept her heart guarded because for so long the idea of love had been something she'd been afraid of.
She'd been ridiculed and shamed for expressing any such emotions to the point that she learned to hide them, to shut them out completely… almost completely.
For years the only one she'd ever allowed to see that side of her had been Poe, her dear brother who had never once mocked her for such things and only encouraged her in her pursuits, whatever they were.
Now she and Scrooge were both taking a risk with each other and while it would be so easy to just walk away and try to forget about it, to return to old habits… deep down inside she knew she couldn't do that, and that she didn't really want to do that.
"Scrooge…" She placed a hand on his cheek. "I have no intention of doing any such thing… I just can't help but wonder if you'll change your mind about us… about me… eventually," She said, looking away for moment. "I know your family wouldn't take this well,"
"When have you ever known me to give up something I cherish?" He asked with a playful tone, but his eyes were serious. "I can handle my family, I promise you that everything will be fine… but if you'd really rather… end this now or decide to later…" he didn't want to finish that sentence and just trailed off.
She returned her gaze to him and grinned mischievously. "Believe you me Scrooge McDuck, I'm not done with you, not by a long shot!" she said, her arms wrapping around him and pulling him into a passionate kiss.
"I love you, and don't you dare forget that," she said as she broke the kiss, pulling away slowly.
He grinned back at her, "And I love you too, you crazy witch," He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, the other hand still gently caressing her cheek.
"Oh, I'm the crazy one hm? You're just as crazy as I am you old fool!" She laughed back, then lay her head on his shoulder, preening his neck feathers with her beak. "But at least you're my fool,"
Donald and the boys arrived back at the mansion that morning at the same time as Webby and Mrs. Beakley and both parties were surprised to see each other, they'd only been gone overnight and neither should have been back yet.
"Donald, why are you back so soon? I thought you and the boys were going to spend the weekend camping?" Mrs. Beakley asked.
"We were… until Dewey decided to show off and fell into some poison oak," Donald explained, nodding toward the duckling whose hands were wrapped up in comically thick woven mitten-looking things.
"So itchy, but can't scratch! Aahh!" Dewey groaned in frustration.
"I covered his hands in extra-thick wool gloves so he wouldn't keep scratching," Huey explained.
"So why are you guys back already? Thought you were supposed to be gone for the week?" Louie asked.
"We had to cancel, there was a bad tropical storm where we were going so we ended up having to land at another airport and get a on a plane back here," Webby explained as Mrs. Beakley opened the front door.
"Well, I'll get the calamine lotion while you all unpack," Mrs. Beakley said as they entered the foyer.
"Uncle Scrooge! We're Back!" Donald called out, but got no answer.
At first the silence wasn't alarming, until Donald and Dewey entered the kitchen while Huey and Louie looked for Scrooge and saw the day-old, half-eaten sandwich on the island and the envelope beside it.
Mrs. Beakley and Webby came in just as Donald was reading the letter that was in the envelope.
"Here's the calamine lotion- why is there a half eaten, dried out sandwich here?" Mrs. Beakley asked, seeing the remnants of Scrooge's lunch from the day before.
"Uncle Donald, we can't find Uncle Scrooge!" Huey cried as he and Louie came running in.
"Yeah, he's not here!" Louie added.
Donald then gasped in alarm.
"Oh no! Magica must have captured Uncle Scrooge, look!"
He handed Mrs. Beakley the letter and she scanned it, her brow furrowing in concern.
"Well. It's a good thing we came back early, there's no telling how long he's been prisoner, but if that sandwich is anything to go by…" she trailed off, looking at the stale sandwich and Donald swallowed hard, not wanting to think about what kind of tortures his poor Uncle had been enduring at the evil sorceress' hands.
After quickly coating Dewey in calamine lotion they all set off to rescue Scrooge from Magica and before long they arrived at her tree house in the swamp.
Donald busted open the door and they all ran in.
"Uncle Scrooge!" Donald yelled, then Magica walked in from the kitchen, dressed in an oversized nightshirt and plush robe, with a little bit of a bed head and a bowl of cold cereal with milk in her hand.
"If you broke that door, you're going to have to fix it," she said, looking at the door, then glaring at Donald.
She was somewhat annoyed, although not really surprised, to see Scrooge's family again so soon, so much for having him to herself for two days.
"What have you done with Mr. McDuck?" Mrs. Beakley demanded.
"Is Uncle Scrooge okay?" Dewey questioned.
"You better not have hurt him or we'll hurt you!" Webby threatened.
Magica just chuckled. "He's fine, in fact, you can ask him yourselves when he gets out of the shower," she said, eating a spoonful of cereal and walking back into the kitchen.
"What?" Donald was thoroughly confused as he and the others followed her into the kitchen where she sat down at her table and continued to eat her cereal.
"What do you mean he's in the shower?" Mrs. Beakley asked, just as confused as Donald.
"I mean exactly that, he's been hogging my shower all morning and he'll have cold toast because of it," Magica responded calmly, still eating her breakfast.
They were all just so confused; Magica didn't seem perturbed in the least about them bursting into her house, she wasn't even gloating about capturing Scrooge or trying to start a fight or anything, in fact she was acting as if he had just come over to use her shower, like a neighbor borrowing a cup of sugar, and was just eating cold cereal in her pajamas as if all of this was the most normal thing in the world!
Then suddenly they heard Scrooge's voice.
"Ah, that's much better!" He was wearing a bath robe and drying his head off with a towel and didn't see who else was there, "So, what's for break- " he put the towel down and as soon as he saw his family standing in the kitchen his beak fell open and his eyes went wide in horror.
"Well, it's about time I got my turn in the shower," Magica stood, taking her toast and walked over to Scrooge, "I believe you said you could handle your family Scroogie," she said playfully, pecking him on the cheek and taking a bite of her toast as she left to go take her own shower.
They all just stood there, Donald, Beakley, Webby, Huey, Louie and Dewey, who was scratching a little here and there, staring in confusion at Scrooge, who stared back at them, mortified, feeling like a child who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar as well as mildly annoyed that Magica had left him to deal with this awkward situation alone.
After a long silence, Scrooge finally spoke, "…I can explain,"