Author's Note: We're nearly done with the weekly Howard's Ducktales updates. Next chapter, we'll wrap it all up, have a fancast, and even have a little after-credits scene that gives a sneak peek of the future of this fanfic. If anyone has a fancast idea for any of the Marvel characters so far, let me know please.
Anyway, let's get on with their battle against the Collector. Enjoy. Any and all comments are welcome.
Ever since Howard woke up, the Collector had him bound and restrained with advanced cuffs around his wrists. He then dragged him to a large room filled with glass cages with different aliens and animals. The walls were decorated with beautiful, exotic plants that were connected to a series of chemical-filled tubes that lead to giant vats above them.
The Collector and Carina brought Howard to an empty cage and pushed him in before closing it behind him. Howard got back up and shot a dirty look at his captor.
"You think this can hold me, bleach-hair?" Howard asked. "When I get out, I'm gonna…"
"Howard? Howard the Duck?"
The space duck stopped ranting and turned to his left to view the captive in the cage next to him. He was surprised to see who it was.
"Lieutenant Penumbra?" Howard asked seeing the purple-skinned, gold-armored Moonlander.
"Well, it's actually captain now." Penumbra said. "Actually, since I defected, I'm not sure if I even still have rank. But that's besides the point."
"What are you doing here?" Howard asked.
"After I helped Della's brother escape the moon, I went into hiding. I tried to sabotage the invasion as best as I could, but it was only a matter of time. Once they were gone, I took a remaining ship and prepared to travel to Earth to help you. That's when this man intercepted me and locked me in here. Who is he?"
"His name is Taneleer Tivan, also known as the Collector." Howard introduced turning to the Collector's smug face. "He gets his kicks by taking rare stuff and putting it in his private display. We're basically decorations to him."
"Oh, Howard. You flatter me." the Collector said feigning humility. He then looked around. "Allow me to show you some of my most prized pieces. Over here, we have a cute little doggy in an astronaut uniform. And she's psychic too, but she won't tell us much about where she's from. Still, a telepathic dog is rare enough. And then there's the rare Kylosian Star Violet. Normally, it takes a thousand years to bloom, but thanks to my hyper-growth serums giving nutrients, I don't have to wait that long. And over here… Well, that's my last assistant who kept making mistakes." He scowled at his current assistant. "Let her be an example, Carina."
Carina frowned as she looked at her predecessor who sat on her knees miserably with a metal collar around her neck.
"This is monstrous." Penumbra gasped.
"This is the Collector." Howard said.
"And now, to make both my latest acquisitions priceless." the Collector said cracking his fingers.
"What?" Howard asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"Carina," the Collector said, "Ready my message."
"Yes, Collector." Carina obeyed. She pressed a button on her wrist band and a flying drone floated in. It revealed a camera lens pointed right at the Collector.
Della looked up at the spaceship that took Howard with her mouth wide open. Her family joined her in staring up.
"I can't believe they got Howard." Della said. "Who even are they?"
All of a sudden, the Collector's face appeared above everyone. He took up most of the sky with his holographic head which was shown in every major city around the world.
"I get the feeling it's that guy." Launchpad said.
"Greetings, people of Earth. I am the Collector."
Louie gasped. "Oh, no! That's the guy who wants to treat Howard like a zoo animal!"
"WHAT?!" Della cried out.
"You don't know me, but you don't need to. All you gotta know is I have this." Right next to his head showed a large, spherical ball of metal. "What you are seeing is a quantum rerouter bomb capable of causing planets to implode."
"Oh, no! Not implode!" Dewey gasped before thinking. "Wait, what does implode mean?"
"It's like an explosion, but in reverse." Huey explained.
"I know you are a primitive planet, and you have much to learn, but honestly, I don't care. Hope you all enjoy your last day on Earth, because in twenty minutes, I drop the bomb and your puny little dustball will be no more. Tata."
The message ended and already, the sounds of panic were heard in the distance. The Duck family turned to each other with worried faces.
"Sounds like we got one more reason to go up there besides saving Howard." Scrooge said.
Della looked around and smiled when she spotted a golden spaceship remaining. "Don't I owe you kids a trip into space?"
Once the message ended, the Collector sighed happily. He then turned to Howard, who had the most horrified expression on his face.
"How could you do that?!"
"What, the warning?" the Collector asked. "Well, I figured it'd be rude if I didn't give them a heads up on their imminent demise."
"No! I mean, how could you consider destroying the Earth?" Howard corrected. "It's me you want! The Earthlings have nothing to do with this!"
"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Howard." the Collector said. He got down on one knee to look Howard in the eye through his glass wall. "You see, originally, all I needed was to capture you and add you to my collection. That's why I sent that agent to take you from the Nova Corps and bring you to me… until you somehow managed to escape. So I sent Bounty to hunt you. It was expensive, but it was worth it. After all, you can't put a price on a one-of-a-kind creature. But then, I saw photos of his time on Earth and realized something horrible… You're NOT a one-of-a-kind creature!"
The Collector pressed a button on his wrist and showed several holographic images to Howard. They mostly had nameless, ordinary citizens of Duckburg, but he zoomed them all to all the ducks that appeared in them.
"Now, do you see? What makes Howard the Duck special is the fact that he is Howard THE Duck. The rarer a specimen is, the more valuable they are. But when there's a planet full of walking, talking ducks just like you among other animals, then you're basically worthless."
"First of all, I'm not worthless!" Howard argued. "And second of all, they're not even from my planet! This is a different world altogether!"
"That doesn't matter." the Collector said standing back up. "I cannot allow the existence of another duck population decrease your value, and I worked too hard lately just to add you to my collection. And so, the Earth has to die."
"But what about my people?" Penumbra asked fearfully. "They're all on Earth! They'll be destroyed too!"
"Did you miss the part where I don't care?" the Collector asked. "Besides, you'll be the only surviving member of Earth's Moonlanders. You'll have your own value, I am sure. I believe the expression involves two birds and one stone. Now, if you excuse me, I've got my stone to prepare."
The Collector chuckled as he left the room. As he left, Carina turned to the others with remorse and whispered, "I'm sorry."
"Carina, stop daydreaming!" the Collector ordered summoning his servant over to him quickly.
"No. No, no, no!" Howard shouted with a rising panic in his voice. He made fists with his hands and pounded them on the cage glass repeatedly. He never let up. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
"Howard, stop!" Penumbra cried out, but Howard kept punching. "Howard, you can't break the cage! I already tried, and I'm clearly stronger than you, so I know it won't work!" He kept trying to bust his way to freedom getting the attention of most of the other aliens in the ship. "HOWARD!"
Howard pounded the glass one last time before leaning his head on it. Tears started to burst through his closed eyelids and he fell to his knees.
"No. It can't be. It's not fair. I'd be fine if it was just me, but the whole planet…"
Silence filled the room. Howard slumped back at the glass as he placed his hands in his pockets. That's when he felt something that caught his attention. He pulled it out and frowned at the tiny, pebble-sized seed that was made of gold.
"Huh. Forgot I still had this."
"What is that?" Penumbra asked.
"This is a money tree seed I swiped from the Doomsday Vault." Howard said. "I thought it might earn me some nice units once I left Earth, but now, I guess I can't imagine life outside of Earth anymore. Unfortunately, I don't have a choice. And soon, this little, worthless seed is going to be the last piece of Earth still standing." He put the seed back in his pocket and buried his face in his hands. "I can't believe this is happening! And I just made things right with Della!"
Penumbra frowned as well and sat like Howard. "At least you got the chance to make up with her. The last time I saw Della, I kept picking fights with her and tried to get rid of her. There's so much I want to say now."
"Well, that's one thing we have in common." Howard said. "I never thanked the Duck family for letting me in. I never told Della thanks for accepting me. I never even told her how happy she made me." Howard sunk his head lower. "I wish I could tell her all of that right now."
Silence filled the room again until…
"Maybe you still can."
Howard and Penumbra raised their heads hearing the female, automated voice. They turned their heads to the dog in the astronaut outfit.
"Did… Did you just…" Howard began to ask.
"Da." The dog replied through a collar that she wore. Her voice sounded Russian. "The name's Cosmo. And perhaps we help each other."
"You want to help?" Penumbra asked.
"Again, da. Believe it or not, that's my original home out there."
"You're from Earth?" Howard asked.
"Soviet space program, to be exact. I was launched to space as part of experiment until I got lost. I went through cosmic storm which gave me powers. Soon, I was found by Collector and kept locked up. I've been keeping my origin a secret fearing what he may do to Earth. But now, it seems I have no choice but to fight back."
"How?" Penumbra asked.
"Trust me, comrade. I have plan. All I need is distraction."
All of a sudden, loud banging was heard from the far side of the ship which then shook. They all looked up and saw the golden ship flying by and firing lasers.
"Will that work?" Penumbra asked.
"Da. Now, watch what I have been building behind Collector's back."
Cosmo stared intensely at a narrow space between two shelves. That's when a thin, metal stick floated out. She brought it over to her cage and pressed the end of it on her lock, which greatly malfunctioned with sparks flying everywhere. Once the sparking stopped, the cage wall slid open and Cosmo scurried out panting happily.
"Freedom at last!"
"Commendable work, Cosmo!" Penumbra praised.
"Yeah! I can't believe you built a destabilizer without the Collector knowing." Howard said.
"He thinks he has me under control, which worked to my advantage. Now, let's get the rest of you out of here."
Another banging sound and shaking motion brought the Collector to his control room. Carina rushed ahead to the consoles.
"What's the meaning of this?" the Collector asked angrily.
"It's an enemy ship that originated from Earth, sir!" Carina said. "It's firing at us!"
"Well, fire back!" the Collector ordered.
The Collector's station fired lasers at Della's, but she forced the controls to her side to dodge them.
"All right!" Scrooge said. "We have fifteen minutes to board that station to shut down the Collector's bomb!"
"Yes, sir!" Della said before noticing Donald's hand on the other controller stick. She slapped it away. "Kids, we gotta take out those lasers and clear a way into the ship."
"We're on it, Mom!" Louie said sitting next to Huey while Dewey and Webby sat side by side.
The Collector's ship kept firing, but Della guided the ship to avoid the blasts. Donald then took it upon himself to sit next to Della and wrestle the controls from her.
"Move over! This is a ship! I am a sailor!"
"This is a rocket ship, genius! I'm a pilot!" Della argued.
"Oh, bless me bagpipes, have I missed this." Scrooge said proudly feeling nostalgic.
Once the ship got close enough, the kids began firing their blasters and knocked out the turrets that tried to shoot them down. They flew along the side of the ship taking out as many defenses as they could.
"Pew. Pew. Pew, pew, pew!" Dewey made noises to match the blaster fire.
"Dewey! Give me a turn." Webby said switching places with her friend and firing like he did. "Pew, pew, pew!"
"There!" Scrooge shouted pointing at an open space at the side of the Collector's ship. "That must be the hanger bay! Get us in there!"
"On it!" Della and Donald said at once. They turned the ship around and headed straight toward the opening. A couple of turrets tried to shoot at them, but they were too small to do any permanent damage.
The two twins kept the ship steady until they made it inside the ship. They stopped flying in the middle of the hanger area surrounded by other ships and landed safely before opening their runway and leaving.
"Woo! A successful landing!" Dewey cheered. "Courtesy of a man with a Dew-stiny!"
"We're not out of the woods yet!" Scrooge shouted as he ran to the nearest door. "You kids find Howard! I'm gonna find the bomb!"
"But you don't know how to handle an alien bomb!" Huey said.
"Anything's better than doing nothing while the Earth implodes!" Scrooge said opening the door. "Just keep an eye out for Howard!"
"Found him! And the bomb!" Webby said pointing behind Scrooge.
Everyone looked into the room that Scrooge just opened the door too. It was a large room with a platform at the center along with the large bomb the Collector showed the Earth. Howard, Penumbra, and Cosmo were already there standing beside it.
"Howard?" Scrooge asked.
"Scrooge!" Howard gasped. "Della!"
"Howard!" Della gasped. "Penny!"
"Della!" Penumbra gasped. "Donald!"
"Penumbra!" Donald gasped.
"Okay! I get it! We all have names!" Louie shouted.
"Penny! It's good to see you!" Della cheered. "Anyway, this is my family! You know Donald!"
"This isn't the time!" Cosmo shouted. "Comrade Howard is attempting to disarm bomb!"
Huey stared at Cosmo with wide eyes. "Did that dog just talk?"
"Can we keep her?!" Webby cheered.
"We'll get to it!" Howard shouted. "I've got to shut down this bomb or it'll…"
"GET DOWN!" Della shouted grabbing Howard and pulling him to the ground. He narrowly avoided the laser blast that hit him. Everyone gasped and looked at the other end of the room where the Collector was pointing his laser pistol at them.
"Oh, no, you don't!" the Collector yelled. "I won't let this troublesome family get in my way!"
"Howard, work on disarming the bomb!" Scrooge shouted. "I'll take care of this horrendous hoarder!"
Scrooge bounced on his cane and flew over the bomb to get in close to the Collector. The alien tried to blast him, but Scrooge kicked his gun out of his hands. The Collector then pulled out a sword from his side and swung it at Scrooge, who blocked and countered with his cane. The two of them engaged in a sword-on-cane fight while Howard got back up and began working on the bomb.
"Can you disarm it?" Huey asked.
"I can try," Howard answered, "But the technology that built this thing is a little outside of my area of expertise! I'll need some time!"
"We don't have time!" Louie shouted. "The Earth's going to blow up in thirteen minutes!"
"But it's still here, isn't it?" Della asked.
"The bomb's on a warp platform." Howard explained. "When the timer reaches zero, the bomb will be teleported to the Earth and destroy it immediately after."
"That is one 'energize' that I am NOT looking forward to." Dewey said.
"It's okay. The bomb blows up in twelve minutes. I only need five." Howard said focusing on the bomb's panel.
At the far side of the room, Scrooge and the Collector continued their fight. They had their weapons pressed against each other struggling for control when the latter noticed what Howard was doing.
"No!"
With an overwhelming force, the Collector pushed to break his deadlock with Scrooge before kicking him away. He then reached the gun that was knocked on the floor and fired another blast at Howard from behind.
"LOOK OUT!" Louie shouted grabbing Howard and pulling him down. He managed to duck out of the way just in time while Scrooge hooked his cane around the Collector's wrist and threw him across the room with it.
Howard stood back up to look back at the controls, but gasped seeing the state it was in. The blast did miss him, but it hit the bomb's control panel instead.
"Oh, no. No, no, no, no!" Howard said looking over it. "This is bad! The controls are shot!"
"Then how are you going to disarm the bomb?" Webby asked.
The Collector laughed as he got up earning the attention of his angry enemies. "You can't. The bomb will still go off, the Earth will still be destroyed, and all that will be left are you ten interlopers who thought they could handle…"
"Oh, shut up!" Howard shouted. "We get it! You're from outer space, and the people of Earth can't go beyond their own moon without crashing! That doesn't mean you're better than us though! Because we've got something you don't!"
"Oh, really?" the Collector chuckled. "And what might that be?"
Howard smiled. "Easy. Backup."
The Collector looked confused until the door behind him opened up. He turned and gasped when several different aliens walked through and confronted him. Every alien, beast, or robot he imprisoned were finally free.
"You didn't think Cosmo was just going to stop with freeing me and Penumbra, did you?" Howard asked. "That's some narrow thinking, Tivan."
As the beasts crept in closer to the Collector, he panicked and raised his gun at them. "Stay back! Get back in your cages or else…"
All of a sudden, Carina surprised him by running to his side and kicking the gun out of his hand. It slid all the way to the corner while the Collector saw the fury in his servant's eyes.
"Consider this my resignation!" Carina hissed.
The Collector shifted his eyes around seeing all the aliens who he angered and breathed heavily. Without much more thinking, he turned and ran through the door behind him.
"After him!" one of the aliens yelled.
"No time!" Scrooge shouted. "We gotta stop the bomb!"
"I don't think I can!" Howard stated. "The controls are destroyed! There's no way to disarm the bomb!"
"So there's no way to save the Earth?" Webby asked worryingly.
"Guess that's the end of our golden age, huh?" Dewey asked lowering his head.
That's when Howard raised his head. "Golden…"
A plan began to form in his head. Thinking it through, he was certain it would work. But the more he thought about it, the more he became disheartened by what he had to do. He looked at his family with a sad expression before turning to Cosmo. He knew that somehow, she could read his mind and read his plan. He shared a mental conversation with her, and in the end, she nodded in agreement.
"Everyone, listen up!" Howard shouted getting everyone's attention, even all the different aliens. "I've got a plan, but we can't stay here! Everyone, rush to the hanger and take any ship you can to get out of here! Hurry!" The aliens followed Howard's command and ran over to the spaceships in the next room.
"What have you got, Howard?" Della asked.
"We can't stop the bomb, but we can still stop the warping sequence." Howard said. "If we can shut off all the power in this station, we'll be able to prevent the bomb from being teleported to Earth. That way, once it reaches zero, it'll destroy the station instead of the planet."
"Well, how do we shut off the power?" Huey asked.
"There's a way to do it, but we have to do it on the outside of the station." Howard said. "I'll explain when we're out of here."
"All right! Enough lollygagging! Let's get out of here!" Scrooge ordered.
The Duck family ran away from the bomb and back to the hanger. By then, most of the ships that were there had already left, everyone scattering to different directions. The Ducks were the only ones left when they returned to their golden ship and entered. Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Donald, Penumbra, Cosmo, and Della made it in and took their positions in the ship.
"Okay, Howard! Once we're outside, what do we do?" Della asked, but there was no answer. She turned back and saw Howard still standing just outside of the ship. "Howard?"
Howard frowned. "I'm sorry. Take them out of here, Cosmo."
"Da." Cosmo replied before taking the controls. She pushed a button and closed the ramp quickly.
"Wait! What? Howard, what are you doing?" Della asked.
"What's that guy doing?" Louie asked loudly just as the ship took off and blasted out of the hanger.
"Turn this ship around, you canine clairvoyant!" Scrooge ordered Cosmo.
"No can do, I'm afraid." Cosmo replied. "If we go back, then Howard's plan will be ruined."
"What are you talking about?" Della asked. "We need him to help us shut down the station from out here!"
That's when Louie widened his eyes realizing something. "There's no way to shut down the station, is there?"
"There is, but not out here." Cosmo said. "Howard has something called a 'money tree seed' on him."
"He what?!" Scrooge asked angrily. "He stole that from the Doomsday Vault?"
"Read the room, Uncle Scrooge." Donald said.
"I read Howard's mind. I saw the damage the rapidly growing money tree did to your Doomsday Vault. The Collector has a fast-growing formula in his collection room. Howard plans to grow his seed and let the unstable growth of it damage the inner walls of the station. It'll cause a power fluctuation to shut down the warp."
"But Howard will be stuck there!" Huey shouted. "WITH the bomb!"
"Howard knows. He also knows that someone has to be the one to drop the seed to make it grow. And he worried that if you all stayed with him, then the golden branches would damage the hanger door before you could escape, so he had to make sure you were out first."
"But… But…" Della said nearly breaking into tears.
"I know what this means. I tried to talk him out of it, but he loves you all so much and nothing could change his mind. So he wanted me to thank you for letting him be a part of your family."
Tears finally escaped Della's eyes as she looked back at the station she was leaving.
Howard panted heavy breaths with each sprint down the halls. In a matter of minutes, he made it back to the collection room. He looked at his watch to check the time.
"Only five minutes left!" Howard said. He then reached in his pocket and pulled out his golden seed. "Just gotta climb up there and… OOF!"
Howard felt a sharp kick to his back sending him forward. He almost dropped the seed, but he caught it just in time before scurrying back up to his feet. When the turned back, he was horrified to see the Collector standing over him with his sword in his hand.
"Oh, come on! Take a hint, will ya?!" Howard shouted.
"You caused me TOO MUCH TROUBLE!" the Collector yelled. He swung his sword at Howard, who rolled out of the way. He ran across the collection room with the Collector behind him. "EVERY LAST SPECIMEN LOST IN THE WIND! MOST OF THEM ARE IRREPLACABLE! AND YOU LET THEM GO, AND FOR WHAT?! I WOULD HAVE FED YOU! MADE YOU COMFORTABLE! BUT YOU'RE THROWING ALL THAT AWAY!"
"Well, duh!" Howard shouted climbing up to the top of one of the glass cages. "That's because I'm a family man, not a pet!"
"It doesn't matter!" the Collector shouted climbing up to go after Howard. "I captured them all once! I'll do it again! I'll rebuild my collection from the ground up, starting with your head above the door!"
The Collector raised his sword ready to deal the final blow. That's when Howard made his move. He jumped up to sprint up the Collector's body and jump from his face. Once he was in the air, he aimed his arm to one of the chemical canisters above and tossed his seed across. He watched in anticipation as the seed dropped into the green chemicals inside. He was proud for that second, until the Collector grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him closer.
"I've had enough of this!" the Collector yelled. "Any last words!"
"Yeah." Howard answered with a smile. "Enjoy the gold."
"Enjoy the… what?" the Collector asked.
Just then, he noticed the cannister behind Howard shaking and trembling as something began to grow inside of it. All of a sudden, it burst with golden branches covered in green chemicals. They rapidly spread around the collection room before the Collector had time to react. He just watched in shock as the gold branches sprouted dollar bills like leaves and destroyed more chemical vats making them grow faster.
"NO! YOU'RE RUINING EVERYTHING!" the Collector raged out.
Suddenly, a golden branch shot up and caught the Collector by his cloak pulling him up and making him release Howard. Howard dropped down and looked around the branches until he found one that was leaving the room. He jumped and swung off the branches until he landed on it and rode it all the way across the hallway.
Little did he know that the Collector freed himself by removing his cloak and spotted Howard leaving. He began to see red as he ran across the golden branches and chased after him with his sword ready.
Howard rode the golden branch when he noticed the Collector catching up from behind him. He saw his sword coming and jumped out of the way.
"CUT IT OUT! Metaphorically, I mean!" Howard shouted. "If I wanted a psychotic maniac trying to slash at me wildly with their sword, I'd spend a day with Quackfaster!"
"You think you're some kind of hero?!" the Collector asked angrily. "Who do you think you are?!"
Howard found his chance and reached the top of a branch above the Collector where he jumped off and landed a kick from above. He struck him back to a group of vines that started to tangle around him tightly.
"I am Howard the Duck, of the Duck Family! And you're the real bad guy here!"
Howard and the Collector rode the branches all the way into the warp room where the bomb was at. He looked up and gasped seeing the countdown reading at "0:15".
"Please, work. Please, work. Please, work!" Howard pleaded as the golden branches dug themselves into the walls and floors. The warp platform's lights began to fade until they darkened completely. Howard let out a sigh of relief seeing that the countdown was now at ten seconds.
"YOU FOOL!" the Collector shouted. "WE'RE STUCK IN HERE WITH THE BOMB! THERE'S NO WAY TO STOP IT!"
"Well, on Earth, there's a saying for that…" Howard said smiling smugly at the Collector. "Aw, phooey."
0:03
0:02
0:01
0:00
"NOOOOOO!" the Collector yelled while Howard readied himself for the blinding light that came from the bomb right when it detonated.
When the Duck family made it to Earth, they saw all the Moonlanders releasing every Earth prisoner they could find. They even saw them free Rocket, who Groot cried out for and went to hug him.
Everyone stopped though when they saw the bright light fill the sky. They looked up at where the Collector's station was and saw it be concealed by a blinding sphere of light.
Della stared up at the light as she fell to her knees. She kept letting tears fall as the light sank in and disappeared in a single point.
"Howard…" Della sobbed quietly with her family gathering to comfort her.
Howard was confused when he woke up and found himself in the middle of space. He floated around discovering the blue glow that covered his entire body.
"What the…" Howard asked. "How am I alive?"
"Hey there!"
Howard was surprised to hear another voice. When he turned, he saw a familiar goddess floating beside him also covered in a blue glow.
"You!" Howard gasped. "You're Selene, Della's goddess friend!"
"Yep. The Goddess of the Moon." Selene said. She turned her head toward the Moon which floated behind her. "Thankfully, you were just close enough to my territory where I can save you from that implosion."
Just then, Howard noticed the Earth shift closer to the sun. "What's going on?"
"Oh, that's my brother, Storkules." Selene said. "You remember him. Super strong. Super loyal to Donald. That's why he's moving the Earth back to its original orbit."
"Really?" Howard asked. "But what about your dad? I thought he hated us."
"Let's just say he's a bit… tied up." Selene said making it obvious that she and her brother literally tied Zeus up.
"So… it's finally over?" Howard asked hopefully. "They're all okay."
"Yep." Selene said. "No Moonlanders invading. No Collectors trying to blow up the Earth."
"Then… I can go back." Howard said.
Selene gave an uneasy look. "Well… You can, but I wouldn't advise that."
"Hmm. What do you mean?"
Selene pointed off into the distant blackness of space. Howard squinted his eyes and noticed a whole fleet of blue-and-yellow ships flying into Earth's direction.
"The Nova Corps." Howard recognized.
"Yep. They'll be on Earth within the hour." Selene said. "If you go back, it won't be long before they take you away. If you want to be free, I can zap you to the far reaches of the galaxy where they'll never find you. But, you know, it's your choice really."
Howard stayed silent for a moment finding himself in an impossible situation. He looked back at the Nova Corps before looking back at the Earth. He thought long and hard about it before coming to a conclusion.
"Send me back to Earth."
"You sure?" Selene asked.
"Ever since my home planet was destroyed, all I've been doing is running." Howard said. "But now, I don't want to run anymore. Not if it means running from the people I love. So if it means I'm getting arrested, I might as well spend my last moments of freedom with my family. That way, I can make a proper goodbye with them, including the woman I love."
Selene smiled at Howard's decision. "That's just what I wanted to hear. Good luck, Howard the Duck." With a snap of her fingers, Howard changed into a blue flash of light that rocketed over to the Earth.
The Earth began to thaw and the icy bay began to melt into the ocean. Everyone stepped back into the streets of Duckburg before it became unsafe for them. Still, Della was still miserable over the loss of a man she came to care for very deeply.
"Come on, Mom." Huey said. "We'll make sure Howard gets his respects. I'll do all the planning and…"
BOOM!
Everyone was surprised at the blue light that crashed in front of them creating a huge explosion of smoke upon impact. They all waited until the smoke cleared to see someone standing there, someone who made everyone happy to see him.
"HOWARD!" Della cried out. She and the rest of her family rushed over to him and tackled him to the ground in a big hug.
"OKAY! OKAY! Take it easy!" Howard chuckled. "It's good to see you too!"
"WHAT? HOW? WHY?" Huey asked.
"You survived a giant implosion!" Dewey praised. "Oh, I KNEW you were awesome!"
"How in blazes did you survive that anyway?" Scrooge asked.
"It's a long story. But first…" Howard turned to Della. "Della, I… OOF!" He was caught off-guard by a strong kick given to him with Della's metal foot.
"That's for tricking me into leaving you behind!" Della yelled. She then grabbed Howard's shoulder and planting a kiss on him. She broke it smiling at him. "And that's for coming back. You are the sneakiest, most dangerous, most reckless man I have ever met… and I love it."
"Thanks, Della." Howard said before frowning. "Although, we're not exactly done yet."
"What?" Louie asked with a groan. "Oh, no! Don't tell me we've got ANOTHER fight to go through."
Howard sighed as he looked up into the sky where he knew the Nova Corps was coming from. "Actually, Louie, I don't think we can even fight this one."