Author's Note: So, here I am with a new addition to this fanfic.
Before anything, I'd like to make a couple of announcements. I was originally going to make one big chapter, but I ran out of time, so I waited until I reached a good spot to end on before ending the chapter then. So instead of one chapter, I've decided to split it into two. The second half will be uploaded next week.
One more thing. I've had a couple of guest reviewers asking about another fanfic "Ohana of the Galaxy". Well, let me clear the air and make a huge reminder... Ohana of the Galaxy has absolutely NOTHING to do with this. It's part of the Defenders series. Howard's Ducktales is part of the Young Avengers series. The Defenders series is like another universe. I do have some Marvel characters show up in the Defenders series that are similar to the Young Avengers characters, but they'll be compeltely different. They're not the same person. It's like comparing the Robert Pattison Batman with the Ben Affleck Batman.
So, enjoy this first half of an original chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
Howard waited until everyone assembled on the living room staircase. He wasn't disappointed when Scrooge, Della, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Mrs. Beakley, and Launchpad came in front of him.
"Okay. I suppose you're wondering why I called this meeting." Howard said.
"The thought did cross our minds." Beakley said.
"Ooh! Is it your birthday?" Launchpad asked excitedly. "Wait. Do they have birthdays in space? Oh. I get it. It's your birthday, but you don't know how to celebrate. Well, lucky you know me. I'll make sure your first birthday is the best…"
"Launchpad, that's enough." Scrooge said. "Proceed, Howard."
"Well… I need some help." Howard admitted. He pulled out a high-tech helmet. "This morning, I picked this up from Magica De Spell after we prevented her from stealing Lena's magic."
"Yeah, you said it was an alien helmet." Huey said. "And Magica said she took it from a raccoon that was held at the Beagle Boys' junkyard."
"Yes," Howard said, "Only he's not really a raccoon. His species just happens to look exactly like raccoons."
"So you know him?" Louie asked.
Howard nodded. "His name is Rocket, an old friend of mine. Good with technology. Possibly the best engineer in the entire galaxy."
"Don't let Gyro hear you say that." Dewey said mischievously.
"This is serious." Howard said. "Look, Rocket and I go way back, so I'm not going to just let him be held prisoner in some junkyard. I'm going to break him out, but I'll need some help, and you have the most experience with these 'Beagles'. So what do you say? Will you help?"
"Of course." Della accepted. "What do you say, family? Ready to rescue Howard's friend?"
"A chance to interact with another alien lifeform?" Huey asked with an ecstatic tone. "Heck, yeah!"
"You helped us a lot in the past, Howard." Scrooge said. "Might as well make sure this friend of yours doesn't end up as the Beagle's punching bag."
"Thanks." Howard said. "So what do we know about the Beagles?"
"They're a family of crooks and gangsters." Webby said. "They've had it out for Scrooge since the early days of Duckburg. They're lead by their family matriarch, Ma Beagle, who has over thirty kids at her disposal."
"Wow. That's a lot of kids for one woman." Howard commented. "So, the main thing we have to worry about is keeping all them out of the junkyard. A distraction. Does anyone know anything that'll get their attention? Something Ma Beagle would want more than anything?"
Scrooge throught for a minute before an idea lit up like a lightbulb. "I might have an idea."
The junkyard was filled with snores from the sleeping Beagles who fell to sleep. Up in her trailer, Ma Beagle was laying on her bed in her nightgown and her hair curled up. She was snoring as well until she heard a voice calling out to her.
"OI! BEAGLE!"
Ma woke up immediately and headed out to see what all the fuss was about. She headed to her balcony and looked through her telescope. With it, she spotted Scrooge standing in front of her gate waving at her.
"Scrooge?" Ma asked. "What's that blue-blooded idiot doing here?"
"I've got something for you!" Scrooge called pulling a rolled up piece of paper from his top hat.
Ma gasped. "No way! It can't be…" She adjusted her telescope to get a better read on the paper. "IT IS! THE DEED TO DUCKBURG! BOOOOOYS!" Her cry woke up every Beagle Boy from their slumber. "SCROOGE IS AT THE FRONT GATE! GET HIM!"
The Beagle family all rallied up and headed to the gates. As soon as it opened though, Scrooge quickly turned and ran down the street. Ma Beagle led her boys on a chase after Scrooge. While they were gone, however, the rest of the Duck family came out of hiding and headed into the gate the Beagles left wide open.
"It's absolutely ridiculous that it worked." Huey commented.
Scrooge kept up the chase to the streets of Duckburg where he found a series of parked cars and leaped on them. He used his cane as a pogo stick to bounce on the roof of each car. The Beagles followed jumping from one car roof to the next.
"We're gonna lose him, Ma!" one of the Beagles cried out.
"Oh, no, we're not!" Ma Beagle cried out. She spun her purse around and tossed it ahead of Scrooge.
The purse hit the hood of a car just before Scrooge landed on it. It sent him flying suddenly dropping the paper in his hand. He landed on top of a bus while Ma picked up the paper.
"I DID IT!" Ma cheered. "AT LONG LAST, THE BEAGLE FAMILY RULES DUCKBURG ONCE…"
A skinny Beagle interrupted his mother making stammering, unintelligible noises to get her attention.
"What was that, Burger?" Ma asked.
Burger Beagle pointed to the back of the paper where Ma noticed a stamp on it. She examined it and read it aloud.
"Property of the Duckburg Historical Museum; subsidiary of McDuck Enterprises"
"Sorry, Catherine!" Scrooge called out. "Guess I picked up a fake deed by mistake!"
"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" Ma Beagle exclaimed as Scrooge disappeared.
"Uh, does this mean the Junkyard's unguarded?" another Beagle asked.
Quickly, the rest of the family ran into the Junkyard heading past all the stacks of broken-down cars. Howard lead the charge with everyone else following him.
"I don't know about the rest of you," Della said, "But I'm more than excited to meet Howard's friend. I'm sure he's got loads of stories to tell about him."
Howard's eyes widened and he chuckled nervously. "Yes. I'm sure he does."
"My, what suspicious laughter." Launchpad said.
"So how do we find this Rocket guy?" Dewey asked.
"Just keep your eyes and ears out for the loudmouth rodent with a ringtail and a stripe over his eyes." Howard said.
"Hey! Who are you calling a rodent, lipless!"
The gang all stopped and looked up to the top of one of the junk piles. A creature stood on top bearing a striking resemblance to a normal raccoon, but it stood on his hind legs and wore a black-and-orange jumpsuit.
"Rocket!" Howard called out. "Boy, am I glad to see you!"
"Feeling's mutual, Howard." Rocket returned as he held up a weapon. He aimed a ridiculously big laser cannon at the gang which lit up ready to shoot something.
"Oh, phooey." Howard said dropping his face.
The Duck family yelled and scattered around when Rocket pulled the trigger. A fiery blast hit the ground where they once stood and they all took cover behind broken-down cars.
"Consider that your one warning shot, you krutackin' feather-brain!"
"I thought you said you and he were friends!" Webby yelled.
"We have a complicated history!" Howard replied. "I guess he's still upset about some stuff!"
"Better come on out, Howard!" Rocket yelled. "I've got another blast with your name on it! And I might just make it bigger to wipe out half of this scrap heap!"
"Are you nuts?!" Huey asked loudly. "That'll destroy you too!"
"I didn't say it would be MY half!" Rocket said smugly.
Della peeked her head up to look at Rocket and his cannon. She squinted her eyes at the weapon and noticed the smoke coming from its back end.
"Wait a minute." Della said. "The combustion coil looks like it blew up and the weapon's fuses are fried. Did you only have one shot?"
"What?" Rocket asked nervously. "Uh, no… Maybe."
"Wow, Mom," Dewey said coming out of hiding with the others, "I'm surprised you know so much about alien weapons."
"That's not an alien weapon." Howard said. "That's just junk merged together. Probably something Rocket made out of little materials he was given."
"Why were you blasting us anyway?" Louie asked Rocket. "We came all this way to save you!"
"Save me? From these knuckleheads?" Rocket asked. "Please. I could've escaped any time I wanted. I just needed to wait until they all left this place. Looks like I got my chance. Too bad it's because of you, Howard."
"What's your problem with Howard anyway?" Della asked. "He made it sound like you two were friends."
"Friends? HA!" Rocket laughed. "After what he did at Halfworld?"
"Halfworld?" Huey asked.
Howard widened his eyes and quickly covered Rocket's mouth with his hand. "Okay. This sounds like something between him and me. Just give us a minute." He dragged Rocket away.
"Ah, it's good to see the spirit of friendship living on with those guys." Launchpad said.
Howard pulled Rocket far enough away to have a real talk with Rocket. He pulled his palm off his mouth which was covered in saliva.
"Ugh! Hand licking? Real mature, Rocket!"
"What's the big deal?" Rocket asked.
"Rocket, please, keep it on the down low." Howard said. "Full disclosure, these people have no idea I'm a wanted duck. I've got a good thing going here and they're nice guys. I don't want to mess it all up by letting them know I've got a rap sheet."
"Not my problem." Rocket said.
"Listen to me." Howard said desperately. "You mentioned Halfworld. What do you know about it?"
"Enough." Rocket said bitterly. "I know you were poaching animals from my home planet! And for the same krutackin' scientists who experimented on me!"
"Okay. I get it." Howard said. "But what if I told you that wasn't the whole story?"
Rocket raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Yes. There's more to the story than you think." Howard said. "I can tell you if you promise not to tell the Duck family the truth about me."
Rocket stared at Howard before sighing. "Fine. But on one condition: we gotta save Groot first."
"Oh, yeah. I haven't seen him around." Howard said. "Where is the big log?"
"Not here." Rocket said. "We were blasted out of the sky when we came here, and the guys who shot us took…" He stopped when he looked frightened. "Uh, Howard, is THAT a normal Earth thing?"
Howard turned around and jumped back startled at the pale face smiling maliciously right at him. He jumped back in terror seeing the full figure attached to the face. It was the face of a Beagle in clown makeup squatting down with abnormally long legs. Two more clown Beagles emerged from the shadows surrounding Howard and Rocket with their sinister smiles.
"I don't think that's normal on any planet." Howard said. "RUUUUN!"
The two of them ran back to the Duck family with the clown Beagles after them.
"AAH! IT'S THE TUMBLEBUMS!" Huey yelled out.
"MY LEAST FAVORITE BEAGLE TEAM!" Webby yelled. "RUN!"
The Duck family turned to run away with Howard and Rocket, but their chase was cut short by the rest of the Beagle family, who cut of their escape surrounding them.
Ma Beagle stepped up. "Using my greatest desire to distract me while you break into my home? I admit, I'm both impressed and insulted."
"So does that mean you'll let us go?" Della asked hopefully.
"Of course not!" Ma yelled out. "No one steals one of the Beagle family's pets and gets away with it!"
"I told you a million times, lady," Rocket growled, "I AIN'T NO PET!"
"You're enough of a pet for us." Ma replied. "I was going to let you stay with the Sixth Avenue Friendlies. They know how to treat their critters. But just for this, I'm handing you over to the Sixth Avenue Meanies. They play rough."
"Not to fast, Beagle!" Scrooge yelled out swinging in from out of nowhere. He landed in front of his family raising his cane at the Beagles like a sword. "If you want my family, you'll have to get through me."
"That's fine with us." Ma Beagle said. "Boys, get ready to clobber the McDuck family for good!"
Howard looked around seeking for a way to escape. Then, he found one when he stared at a stack of cars reaching higher than any of the other junk piles in the yard. When he saw that there was a loose muffler that the cares were leaning on, he snickered and ran right to it.
"Hey, Beagles!" Howard called grabbing onto the muffler. "I wonder what happens when I pull this out!"
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" all the Beagles family yelled. Meanwhile, the other heroes took a step back seeing where it was going.
"Well, now, I gotta." Howard said yanking the muffler out of the pile.
The car stack shook while the gangsters gasped in shock. They screamed and scattered as the tower of broken cars fell over. Ma Beagle herself ran around the area avoiding the falling debris. She tried to escape, but there soon wasn't anywhere to run to. She was surrounded by broken down metal.
With nowhere to go, Ma Beagle closed her eyes embracing the falling metal. But much to her surprise, the collapse stopped. She opened her eyes and looked around finding herself standing in the only spot that didn't have any metal.
"Well, ain't that fortun—"
BAM!
Before Ma Beagle could finish that word, Howard threw the muffler he took right at her head. She fell unconscious falling in the ground.
"Good thinking, lad." Scrooge said. "Now, let's get out of here before the Beagles recover."
After making it out of the junkyard, the Duck family ran as far as they could until they were far enough away to make sure the Beagle Boys weren't following them. They then took a moment to take a deep breath before finally conversing.
"So you guys decided to take this guy in, huh?" Rocket asked pointing at Howard.
"Oh, yeah." Della said. "Howard helped me reunite with my family, and now, he's practically part of it."
Rocket took notice of Howard's forced smile. "Gee. Sounds like a real stand-up guy."
"I've got a million questions!" Huey shouted coming right at Rocket's startled face. "First of all, if you're technically not a raccoon, then what do you call yourself? Second, what's with those robot parts on your body under your fur? Also, if you and Howard are both aliens, why do you speak perfect English?"
"Is he always this inquisitive?" Rocket said.
"Oh, yeah." Dewey said.
"Annoyingly so." Louie said.
"Well, now that I'm free," Rocket said, "I suppose now's the time to go and save Groot?"
"Who?" Scrooge asked.
"Oh. Did I forget to mention Groot?" Howard asked nervously. "Sorry, guys. I guess I kinda thought he would be with Rocket since they're partners."
"So there's another alien we have to save?" Louie asked with a groan.
"Hey, he and I are a package deal." Rocket said. "You can't have Rocket without Groot. That's just unnatural."
"So what happened?" Scrooge asked.
"Well, not two minutes after entering this planet's atmosphere looking for Howard, Groot and I were shot out of the sky. I managed to escape with a crashing ship, but Groot got himself captured."
"By who?" Webby asked.
"By the guys who got at us." Rocket said. "A bunch of weirdoes in a giant airship. They were mostly armed with swords, and the guy in charge sang most of the time."
"Wait a minute." Huey said making a realization. "Giant airship?"
"Swords?" Louie asked making the same realization.
"Singing?" Dewey asked.
"DON KARNAGE!" the whole family cried out.
"All right!" Launchpad cheered. "I hope he made a reprise to his song."
