Magica and Rosolio used their magic to land the balloon safely in the first clearing they spotted.
The last two balloons had managed to float a ways inland by the time Glomgold shot them down so they didn't wind up in the ocean or on an island, but they were still in a tough spot; they had gone down somewhere in Amazon rain forest, not far from the banks of the Amazon river.
"Can either of you fix it?" Scrooge asked as Magica and Rosolio looked at the damage done to the balloon.
Magica turned from the balloon to her husband. "The two of us together should be able to repair it." Rosolio nodded. "But first I think we should rest; we should also see about more provisions."
Brigitta chimed in at this point. "Yes, Rosikins needs to rest his arm and with our balloon gone everything we had is gone too."
"Alright, let's setup camp then." Scrooge said, digging out the camping equipment from the basket. "We've 9nly one tent though," He added, looking at the tent and trying to figure out what to do for shelter.
"I can do something about that darling." Magica said, casting a quick spell that enlarged the tent. "To conjure a new one would require too much magic so I hope this will do."
Brigitta and Rosolio nodded. "That will do just fine. Thanks Magica." Brigitta smiled at her friend. "Yes, many thanks to you both." Rosolio added.
Brigitta got the campfire going next then she and Magica began taking inventory while Scrooge and Rosolio attempted to pin point their location with a map, compass and a little of Rosolio's magic since none of their phones could get any signal.
Once everything had been setup and Scrooge and Rosolio had figured out their approximate location on the map they moved on to scouting the area to see if they could find more food and hopefully some water.
Brigitta and Rosolio went in one direction while Scrooge and Magica went the other, both pairs agreeing to return to camp in an hour regardless of findings.
Within the first few minutes Brigitta and Rosolio had some good luck.
"Rosikins, I hear water, let's check it out!" Brigitta followed the sound with Rosolio beside her.
"Look!" He pointed beyond the trees at the source of the sound; a small lake with a waterfall. "We found water, yay!" Brigitta squealed in delight.
Meanwhile Scrooge and Magica had found some fruit and were busily collecting as much as they could but couldn't shake the sense of being watched.
"Do you think we have enough?" Magica asked.
Scrooge looked over from the tree he was picking the fruit from and saw the generous amount Magica had collected in the basket she had made out of leaves, twigs and magic.
"Between us both I think we have enough." He laughed. He had loaded up his top hat and a sandbag from the balloon that he had emptied so Magica's full basket gave them more than enough for all four of them.
Upon returning to came Magica and Scrooge were greeted by an excited Rosolio and Brigitta.
"Good news, we found water!" Brigitta chirped. "Yes, a lake full of water!" Rosolio added.
"Excellent, we found plenty of fruit so once we refill our water supply we should be just fine." Scrooge said, putting most of the fruit in the basket and setting aside enough fruit and remaining food supply to make dinner for everyone.
"And maybe we can clean some of the jungle off of us as well." Magica added with a small chuckle.
They all agreed that getting cleaned up would be a good idea and took turns washing up after making sure that, with a little of Rosolio and Magica's magic, their water supply was taken care of.
Although Scrooge and Magica still had the feeling they were being watched they did their best to put it aside as they all prepared and ate their dinner and then settled in to try and get some sleep.
That night, Scrooge and Rosolio were startled awake by hands grabbing them in the dark; forcing some kind of gags into their mouths and quickly dragging them into the depths of the jungle before they could make a sound.
The next morning when Brigitta and Magica awoke they were surprised to see that Scrooge and Rosolio were gone.
"Maybe they're already awake and preparing the balloon." Brigitta said with a yawn.
"I don't think so… look at the ground, it looks like a struggle took place…" Magica motioned to the spots where Scrooge and Rosolio had been laying the night before and what looked like drag marks in their place.
Brigitta gasped as she realized Magica was right. "You think they were kidnapped? By Glomgold maybe?" she suggested, her blood boiling at the thought.
Magica shook her head. "No, Glomgold and Goldie are probably miles away from here hoping to get to the treasure first since they shot us out of the sky.
"Then who do you think could be responsible?"
"Scrooge and I felt eyes on us in the jungle, we tried not to let it get to us but it's possible there's some native tribe out here."
Brigitta shuddered at the thought. "You mean like some nasty natives who want sacrifices or even cannibals?"
"Maybe; with tribes in such remote areas anything is possible so we shouldn't waste any time. Let's go check the balloon and the lake first just to be sure."
Magica realized she might be frightening Brigitta so tried to alleviate it a little with the suggestion to check first before assuming the worst; although she herself had been getting the creeps ever since they set foot in this jungle so she was certain her instincts were right on the money and silently swore up and down that if anything happened to Scrooge because of Glomgold and Goldie that she would make them both pay for it, along with any natives who tried to hurt him.
Brigitta's hopes of the guys simply having gotten up earlier to prepare were dashed when they weren't found with the balloon or at the lake and she was really beginning to worry.
"Magica what are we gonna do?" Brigitta asked nervously.
"We're gonna go find them, that's what we're going to do." Magica said, anger and determination flashing in her eyes as she started preparing the balloon for flight.
As they searched from the sky, using Magica's magic to aid them, Brigitta began pondering what Magica had told her earlier. "You know, I don't think they were taken by cannibals." She finally voiced her thoughts.
"Why do say that?" Magica asked, turning to face her companion. "Well, if it was cannibals then why only take Scrooge and Rosolio? Why not take us all?" "You're right; if it wasn't for some sort of specific ritual purposes, they would have just taken all four of us but they only wanted the men… look!"
Magica saw something glinting in the sunlight from the corner of her eye and quickly turned around to look better. Brigitta moved beside her to look as well.
"There's something shiny down there but is it important?"
Magica didn't bother to answer, instead using her magic to quickly lower the balloon so she could jump out and confirm her suspicion.
"Ah, I was right, Scrooge left a clue! It's the golden money clip Gladstone gave him!" Magica exclaimed as she picked up the golden dollar sign shaped clip from the ground.
"Um… Magica… I don't think the clip is the only clue…" Brigitta pointed with a shaking hand from inside the basket and Magica turned around to see what she was talking about.
"What in Circe's name…" Magica quietly gasped as she saw what had frightened Brigitta.
The vines in the trees were moving almost like snakes through the branches, indicating a direction, the same direction the money clip had been pointing in.
"D-do you know what it is?" Brigitta's stammered question pulled Magica from her thoughts. "I honestly have no idea… only that it has to be some kind of magic." She replied, climbing back into the balloon and using her own magic to guide it in the direction the vines moved in.
"Why are we following those things?" Brigitta asked uncertainly. "Because, they move in the same direction Scrooge tried to point us in so that's the direction we're going in."
Magica's eyes were filled with a contradictory mixture of determination and uncertainty; those vines, no, whatever had enchanted them, scared her yet she wasn't going to let it stop her from finding Scrooge. Brigitta could see that arguing wouldn't do any good, not that she would have, she wanted to find Rosolio and Scrooge too, so she kept silent and continued to hope that Magica's instincts were right.
"Rosolio, please tell me that you were the one who did something to the vines…" Scrooge said as he and Rosolio sat in their wooden cell, prisoners of a native warrior tribe.
Rosolio shook his head. "No, it wasn't me mio Amico, I don't know who or what enchanted those vines, or why."
"Well, none of our captors looked like any sort of mystic so I don't think it was them so then who else…" Scrooge trailed off as something occurred to him; this wasn't the first time he'd seen vines behave strangely but the last time had been outside Eldorado, and the only ones capable of it then were Magica and possibly Lena but neither had been present this time… in fact, the only commonality was… himself.
But that just wasn't possible right? Yes, he wished for some way to stop Rockerduck without harming Magica then and now he had wished for some way to guide her to him as he and Rosolio were dragged through the jungle but… he didn't have magical powers, it was impossible… wasn't it?
Then he remembered the tree in Eldorado… surely that had been Magica's doing yet it was almost like the plant creatures in the fictional St. Canard… whose voices only he could hear… he started to go pale as he wondered if somehow it really was, had been, him doing these things.
Rosolio noticed the paleness of his friend's face and the look of concern in his eyes.
"What's wrong Scrooge? Are you okay?" he asked. "I was just thinking and as crazy as it sounds… I think it might have been me who did… something…. to those vines!"
Scrooge sounded as concerned as he looked as he spoke and Rosolio just laughed. "It doesn't sound crazy at all mio Amico!" Scrooge just gaped at him. "What?" "Well, it's simple; you're married to Magica." Rosolio said. "That doesn't explain anything." Scrooge said flatly. "Of course, it does! You see, when someone like you is married to someone like her a little magical rub off is perfectly natural." Rosolio explained.
Now Scrooge understood. "So, you're saying that some of her magic has rubbed off on me because of all the time we've spent together?" Rosolio nodded. "Among other things, mio Amico." He chuckled and Scrooge blushed. "Okay, Okay. I get it." He said as Rosolio continued to chuckle.
"So now the only question left is what do these people want with us?" Rosolio pondered when he finished chuckling.
"I don't know but I'm sure we'll be finding out soon-here comes our captors!" Scrooge pointed between the bamboo-like bars of their prison at the warriors approaching.
The two spoke in a language Scrooge didn't know and the voices were muffled by the wooden masks they wore, painted with large, angry eyes and frowning mouths with pointed teeth.
Scrooge and Rosolio sat, watching as the door opened and the two warriors yanked them to their feet, then prodded them with their spears to make them understand to walk.
They were guided through the village and as they walked, they took in their surroundings and realized something seemed to be missing from the village. Finally, they arrived at a stone structure that resembled a small temple or a palace.
"They're taking us to sacrifice us!" Rosolio whispered in a panic. "Or, they're taking us to their leader." Scrooge whispered back calmly. "Could still be just as bad." Rosolio responded.
Once inside they saw the tribe's queen, a beautiful duck who sat upon a throne, attended to by equally lovely maids, all wearing armor, though the queen's armor was the most ornate looking.
Her hair fell from a high ponytail to her shoulders in soft waves, her eyes reflected strength and hardness. Despite the soft looking feathers that covered her body her frame was clearly endowed with muscle no doubt strengthened from battle and hard work. This woman was reminiscent of a Greek goddess and as such was just as intimidating, especially since Scrooge and Rosolio couldn't understand her language and didn't know her intentions.
Then the warriors removed their masks and bowed before their queen and Scrooge was now certain that there was indeed something missing from the village.
"Did you notice that this village is populated with only women?" He asked Rosolio. "My goodness, you're right! We're the only males I've seen here… That can't bode well." Rosolio swallowed hard as dread coursed through him once more. "Keep calm and tell me, Magica once cast a spell to enable us to communicate with another tribe, can you use that spell too?"
Scrooge knew they needed to find a way to communicate with these women so as to understand what their intentions were and hopefully save themselves.
Rosolio nodded. "Si, I think I know the spell." "Well then hurry up and try it." Scrooge watched the women as they talked while Rosolio quickly whispered the spell and after the same tingling sensation in their ears and throats the two men could understand what was being said.
"Only two this time? Well, I suppose it can't be helped." The queen said, eyeing Scrooge and Rosolio. "Sorry highness, they were all we found this time." One of the warriors apologized with a bow.
As they listened, Rosolio's nerves got the better of him. "Um, begging your pardon but, are you going to sacrifice us?" he asked meekly.
The leader and the warriors looked at him in surprise and then the queen chuckled.
"So, you understand and can speak our language; I'm impressed." She chuckled again. "To answer your question; no, we have no intention of sacrificing you." She said, smirking at her captives.
"Your purposes have to do with the lack of men in the village, am I right?" Scrooge harbored a guess; fairly certain he was right.
"You're quite perceptive. Yes, we allow no men in our village except under certain circumstances." Her gaze became serious. "Now those circumstances have arisen and we will test you both to determine how you will be put to use." She turned her gaze to her warriors. "Put them to work; we'll see which of them is the most suitable."
With that command the warriors led Scrooge and Rosolio outside and put them to work. They were made to complete several tasks that Scrooge quickly realized where more for the purpose of measuring their strength, endurance and intelligence; clearly there was some greater purpose they wanted to use one of them for.
Once they had completed the tasks they were led to a large hut where they were greeted by more tribeswomen who proceeded to give them physical examinations and once finished led them into the large bathing area and left them to bathe.
"What do you suppose they're doing all this for? Do they maybe need a suitable hero to slay some kind of monster or something?" Rosolio pondered as he gratefully scrubbed the dirt and grime from his feathers.
Scrooge sighed and shook his head. "I doubt it; they seem pretty capable of taking care of themselves. I think they may be descendants of an offshoot of the legendary amazon warriors and if that's the case there's only one reason I can think of they would do all this…" "What is it then?" "It should be pretty obvious; They're clearly sizing us up to see who has the better physical traits and health and if they're not cannibals there's only one other reason a group of women would size up men like this-"
He was cut off by one of the tribeswomen. "You need to finish; the queen is waiting."
"We'd better do as she says, I don't want to be on the business end of one of their weapons." Rosolio gulped as he quickly dried himself off.
Scrooge just sighed. "You're a warlock, why would you be concerned?" "Because mio Amico, a swift slash to the wrong spot and I wouldn't even have time to use my vast magical powers… besides, even I will admit I'm not exactly a small or swift target…" "But I'm sure Magica has done plenty of damage when she rejected you in the past." Scrooge argued.
Rosolio just laughed. "Oh, Scrooge, you should know just as well as me that Magica always holds back if she isn't truly trying to kill someone. She may have been rightfully upset with me at times but she never tried to seriously wound me."
Scrooge quickly finished drying himself off as he thought about what Rosolio said; it was true, even when Magica had threatened to kill him she never actually did anything particularly deadly, mostly just annoying things to keep him out of her hair or make him cooperate, something that he had noticed her incorporating into how she dealt with the kids; favoring ways of keeping them busy or doing what she wanted over actual punishment and even when she dealt punishment it always rather creative and fitting of the crime.
As his thoughts turned to his wife; he hoped she and Brigitta were okay and would find them soon. Even it had been only a day he missed her greatly and was not looking forward to what he suspected the warrior women had planned.
Scrooge and Rosolio were made to dress in attire similar to the that of the tribeswomen and brought before the queen.
"The men have been tested and have bathed. They are now ready highness." One of the women from the bath hut said as she knelt before the queen.
"Excellent, tell me the results, just how fit are they?" The queen asked, her eyes remaining on the two men in front of her. "This one is highly intelligent and very physically fit despite his age." One of them said, motioning to Scrooge. "This one is of average intelligence and physically fit, a bit pudgy though." She finished, motioning to Rosolio.
"I see, then my choice is obvious, I shall take him and one of you can have the other." The queen said, her eyes now fixed on Scrooge.
"Take him for what exactly?" Magica demanded as she and Brigitta entered the building.
"Magica!" Scrooge would have embraced her if it weren't for the spears and swords now pointing at him.
"Just who are you?" The queen glared at Magica. "I'm his wife and I want my husband back!"
"And I want my fiancé back!" Brigitta chimed in. "Brigi-poo!" Rosolio chirped happily when he saw his fiancée.
The queen's warriors stepped in front of the two women and the servants pulled Scrooge and Rosolio to stand beside the throne.
"I won't let you hurt my Rosikins!" Brigitta said, pulling a flare gun from the balloon out of her pocket. "You fool, don't play around with things like that! That thing could set this whole building on fire with us in it!" Magica hissed when she saw it.
"Hurt him?" The queen spoke with amusement in her voice as she rose from her throne, her own short sword in hand. "We have no intentions of hurting either of them; that would be detrimental to our purposes." She continued as she moved closer, now standing just a few feet from Magica and Brigitta.
One of the warriors now spoke. "The only reason we ever allow men here is for maintaining our population." The others nodded, all casting glances at Scrooge and Rosolio. "Exactly," another one spoke. "And the queen has, of course, chosen the best male for herself."
"Maintaining… population?" Brigitta questioned, not quite following.
The queen chuckled. "Mating. We use them for mating." She grinned smugly and glanced back at Scrooge who just shuddered at the thought.
"Excuse me, what!" Magica snapped, getting in the queen's face with her left hand. "No, no, no, no! You see this ring? It means that Scrooge is mine and no one is 'mating' with him except me!" she barked.
"Y-you can't do that with my Rosikins!" Brigitta cried, mortified at the thought.
The queen opened her mouth to say something but didn't get another word out before Magica used her magic to turn her sword to rubber then punched her in the face. The warriors then attempted to restrain Magica but between her magic and Brigitta using the flare gun as melee weapon they didn't succeed.
"Brigi-poo! Leave my Brigi-poo alone!" Rosolio then jumped in with his own magic when two warriors got hold of Brigitta and the scene turned into complete chaos.
Scrooge managed to get away from his captors and tried to think of how to put an end to the chaos and how he and the others could escape, racking his brain until he noticed something; the vines hanging along the outside of the queen's small palace that dangled in front of the windows. He decided that now was the time to test his theory, to find out If he really was the one causing all the weird plant-related phenomena lately.
Scrooge made his way to a window with a low hanging vine in it and grabbed it. Holding the vine, he stood there and concentrated like he did in Eldorado, trying to focus his mind on what he wanted the vines to do.
The queen had finally managed to pin Magica down and had taken one of the warrior's swords, readying to finish her opponent. "Even though you will end here don't fret, once I'm done with your husband you'll be reunited in the hereafter!" Suddenly she found herself lifted into the air, the sword being ripped from her hand and falling to the floor.
Magica looked around and all of the warrior women were now essentially tied to the beams of the ceiling by vines that crept in from the windows. "What is this…"
"What is going on!" Brigitta gasped, latching on to Rosolio who looked around and finally saw Scrooge at a window holding a vine.
"Good job mio Amico!" He called cheerfully, giving Scrooge a thumbs up.
Magica turned and saw Scrooge. "What? But how…?" Scrooge let go of the vine and ran to Magica. "Let's discuss this when we're away from these crazy women." Magica nodded slowly and followed Scrooge out with Brigitta and Rosolio hot on their heels.
Once they were far enough away Magica used her magic to transport them all back to the balloon and get it back in the air, none of them wasting any time in gathering up their supplies and once they were in the air Rosolio conjured up some wind gusts to help them move away from the jungle quickly.
Sometime later, once they were sure they were out of danger they all sat and tried to relax in the basket.
"Thank you for coming to save me Brigi-poo." Rosolio cooed as he and Brigitta cuddled in one corner. "Of course, Rosikins, I couldn't do nothing when you were in danger." Brigitta cooed back.
"So, you did that with the vines?" Magica asked, sitting beside Scrooge in the opposite corner. "Yes, and I guess that means I've been the one doing these things this whole time." He said, Magica was surprised at how calm he was about it. "Doesn't that bother you at all?" "It's definitely strange but Rosolio explained to me how I came to be able to use a little magic." Magica's beak dropped open. "Rosolio explained it?"
Rosolio nodded. "You should know too Magica, it's magical transference. It's been known to happen."
Magica had considered that possibility, that over time exposure to her and their marital bonds could have allowed him to use a little of her powers himself; Rosolio was right in that it had happened on rare occasions but those affected only ever showed minimal ability and only when in close proximity to their magical spouse or lover. There was simply no way Rosolio's diagnosis was accurate, no matter how much of a relief the simple answer would be.
"Ah, of course, that makes perfect sense." She decided that there was no point in making her thoughts known right now, not until she had a better idea of what was going on and they had dealt with Goldie and Flintheart.
Sorry for the long absence, long story short, last year sucked and this year got off to a bit of a rocky start but I'm back with more of the continuing adventures of everyone's favorite miser and witch!
Also, for anyone who was wondering the references I dropped in the last chapter are as follows:
The balloon race element of the plot was inspired by The Chipmunk Adventure because frankly that seemed like a plot that could work well for Ducktales.
Professor Minnesota Jones and his wife Marianne were a dual reference; a reference to Indiana Jones and Gilligan's Island in terms of names and their getting stranded on a deserted island.
Bradley Uppercrust II and his wife Pooki are supposed to be the parents of Extremely Goofy Movie antagonist Bradley Uppercrust III
Jonathan and Hennifer Hartzell are references to Jonathan and Jennifer Hart of the 1980's TV series Hart to Hart, which I used as a source of inspiration for Scrooge and Magica's couple dynamics since the series is about a self-made millionaire and his wife who are very in love and regularly get caught up in adventure, mystery and espionage. I also took inspiration from the plot of one episode in particular for this set of chapters as well.
Finally, the treasure, The Silver Tongue of Bricriu, is inspired by my all-time favorite Disney channel series, So Weird.