Neb: I do not own Ducktales, the last chapter we did the Halloween Episode, the next chapter we will do the Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades episode. I hope you all enjoy.
The Conquistador Inn, a hotel supposedly near where the Fountain of Youth would be.
"Spring break boo," Scrooge grumbled. "The youth is wasted on the young."
Vincent rolled his eyes at that. The family, which in this case was the triplets, Scrooge, Webby, and Vincent were going to be staying at this historically themed hotel while they looked for the fountain. Yet another adventure Vincent was sure he wasn't supposed to be a part of. Maybe he could stay at the hotel while the others looked, it wasn't unlike him to skip out on an adventure from time to time, but for some reason Webby wasn't having that.
"Awe come on Uncle Scrooge," Webby spoke up after him. "I'm sure these teens have had a very difficult academic year and deserve to blow off some steam."
"At their age I couldn't afford to blow off steam," Scrooge pointed out. "I had to use it to run my Ucle Porthole's steamboat because I had a job!"
"It's nice to see some people are still celebrating their youth," Vincent pointed out. "Ironic given the quest we're on."
"If you hate young people, why are we staying at a hotel full of them?", Louie wondered.
"You slept on the plane during the explanation, didn't you," Vincent figured, unsurprising.
"Because it's near the last known location of the Fountain of the Foreverglades," Scrooge explained.
"Which is the next missing mystery of the Isabella Finch," Huey nodded as he pulled out his journal.
"Also it was cheap," Scrooge added.
"Odd that the price would be so low," Vincent admitted. "If your sitting on a historical landmark, you're basically sitting on a goldmine."
"Oh, I like the sound of that," Louie grinned.
"Come on, let's go," Webby grinned as Scrooge collected their room keys from the front desk. "That youth fountain ain't getting any younger."
"Ah, my back is killing me," Scrooge groaned after hearing a popping sound. "I need to ice it and prep for the morning start. Do not disturb me."
"A free afternoon eh?", Huey spoke up. "Luckily I scheduled it down to the minute."
"Good lad," Scrooge nodded in approval. "Huey is oldest, so he is in charge."
"Um?", Vincent spoke up.
"Of Dewey and Louie," Scrooge corrected. "You can watch Webbigail if you want."
"Sounds like a plan," Webby smiled.
"We better change into our suits if we are going to fit in a swim before lunch," Huey figured as he jotted down on a notepad.
"Stupid being second oldest," Dewey grumbled.
Vincent felt along one of the potted plants and pulled up a chunk of dust and a cobweb before sighing. "Yeah, I'm going to go check our rooms for bedbugs. Can you wait a few minutes without me Webby?"
"Oh, um, sure," Webby sighed as Vincent headed upstairs after the boys.
Webby looked down and then headed after Scrooge as they made their way towards the pool area. It was there they saw Goldie O' Gilt yelling at the teenagers enjoying their spring break.
"Fancy meeting me here," She grinned.
"Goldie o' Gilt," Webby seethed.
"No, no, no, no no," Scrooge shook.
"Oh yes," she responded. "Yes, yes, yes, yes!"
"What are you doing here, you swindling thieving swine?", Scrooge wondered.
"Definitely not jumping your claim to the fountain before you," she smirked.
Webby was flabbergasted by that. "That's cheating!"
"I believe that's working smarter while you work harder, eh Scroogey?", Goldie commented with a mocking Scottish accent.
"Without Finches journal you'll never..." Scrooge almost bragged, but was cut off when Goldie pulled the journal out of her bag.
"Your nephew should really hold onto his hat," Goldie figured. "Now hold onto yours. The old guy is giving out free T-Shirts!"
The two of them were swarmed by teenagers and Scrooge lost his luggage as Goldie made her getaway.
From a nearby table a familiar deer man watches with amusement. "The years has not been kind to the two them," Mr. Elite figured. "They should have quested for immortality in their youth like I did." Mr. Elite remembered back when Scrooge was a teenager in Scotland. Back then, when he went by Maximilian Stellar, his goal was to find a book of Ancient, Dark, Welsh Magic that was hidden within the pages of a black book. He needed that book to break his monstrous curse, and succeeded. However, the young Scot and one of his Uncles had gotten in Maximilian Stellar's way. They wouldn't let him keep his new found power, and while Maximilian was able to overpower the Uncle, the young Scot got a hold of his Black Book and burned it. Maximilian managed to escape with only one page, and would later use that page to maintain his physical form outside of the beast.
Much later in life he had gained a fortune working with various rogues, mercenaries, bandits, and treasure hunters. He organized these daring adventurers and criminals into a single group known as the Shadow Syndicate and changed his name to Mr. Elite. Eventually he moved to America and adventuring had become less about the gold, and more about the thrill. Sure, paying off his comrades didn't hurt, but. He remembered his first run in with the young blonde duck. Even at a young age she was a smarter, stronger adventurer than more than half the members of the Shadow Syndicate. She refused to join, stating she gets a thrill from working alone. Mr. Elite respected that at the very least and challenged her to a race through the Golden Canyon of the West. Whoever made it across the Canyon first could claim the Canyon as their property. The rules of obtaining land was so much simpler back then. She agreed to his proposal and placed a condition that he couldn't get help from any of his men. Mr. Elite laughed and agreed. The two raced each other, fought each other along the canyon placing various traps to slow each other down, and eventually Mr. Elite being almost six hundred years old and immortal had won the race. The girl never intended to keep the land though, she only wanted the gold from the canyon and had dug up quite a bit of it. Just when she was about to leave, the Shadow Syndicate had gotten in her way.
But Mr. Elite did not care what she took from the canyon, only that he owned the land itself. He ordered his men to let her go, and tossed her her bag of gold. He said, her attempt at besting him at least provided enough amusement that she earned the gold. What he didn't know was that touched a nerve. It was about more than the thrill of working alone that the girl got from collecting gold. She specialized in finding loopholes and swindling people out of their money, that was part of her game. For the first time ever in the blonde girl's life, her pride took over and she tossed the bag of gold back at Mr. Elite. She swore that one day she would best him, take all his belongings, and it would not be some charity case.
Mr. Elite came out of his thoughts and then smirked. Yes, the two ducks may be older, but they still have that fire. They must have become quite the rivals over the years, if they hadn't died of old age yet. He doubted that they were immortal, but once they find the fountain, he can get the challenge he craves. He'll be able to fight the elder ducks in their primes and be able to test his new found powers. "But what to do until then?", Mr. Elite wondered. He saw the pink bow girl, Webby Vanderquack was putting up some resistance before she and Scrooge McDuck left the resort. Could it be that she forgot something? No, she was leaving behind someone. The Deerman grinned before standing up from the table he was seated at. "Vincent Tailfeather is here, and I bet he's regained his powers and memories by now."
An hour later Vincent headed back downstairs to check on the others. The Huey, Dewey, and Louie were hanging out by tennis table, all the teenagers were gone, there was a bunch of old people, and there was no sign of Scrooge or Webby.
"W-what?", Vincent responded as he headed towards the pool. The pool was full, as their was a ton of old people sitting on floats. "Ok, didn't want to swim anyways." Vincent ducked down as he heard some familiar voices.
"Fan out," Jackie commanded as she, Ronny, and Donny were circling the pool area. "We might be able to get a good fight against Tailfeather before Mr. Elite challenges him.
"Why are they here?", Vincent wondered. He's beaten Ronny and Donny before by dropping a cave on them, but in a resort he'd get in trouble. Not to mention Jackie could dish out the same kind of damage that he could with her own magic. "Wait a minute, Jackie was a Cult leader, did this mean the Cult of Isis was nearby as well?" He headed over towards the boys to warn them. Louie had run off, but Huey and Dewey were still playing Table Tennis against each other. "Guys, something really weird is going on..." He saw Dewey had grown two inches taller and then backed up. "Oh, you guys got your own thing going on," Vincent realized. "I'm... just gonna go." Maybe he'll find Louie instead, what if the Shadow Syndicate already captured Scrooge and Webby. Just then Vincent bumped into the front desk clerk causing him to spill some water from the cantina he was holding. "Oh, my bad."
"Think nothing of it," the lion man shrugged.
Vincent couldn't help but feel like that lion man was familiar as well. He saw Louie was standing at the doorway into the hotel and he seemed to be glancing around. He headed over towards Louie, but Louie suddenly had a breakthrough.
"Oh that's it," Louie shouted.
"What's what?", Huey and Dewey responds as they look away from their game.
"That's Ponce De Leon, he's been using the fountain of youth to turn young people old to keep the youth for himself. Just figured it out."
Ponce De Leon clapped as he headed towards the boys. "I always said youth was wasted on the young," Ponce De Leon stated. "So, give me yours." He pointed a sword at them.
Vincent got between them as his eyes glowed blue and the Celtic markings appeared on his hands.
"There he is," Jackie grinned as green fire appeared in her hands.
Ronny and Donny closed in from the other side.
"I appear to be out numbered," Ponce De Leon realized.
"Relax Ponce," Mr. Elite spoke up. "We aren't here for you."
"The Deer Man," Ponce remembered. "Your reputation preceded you a couple hundred years ago, what happened to you?"
"Alas, I always have to disappear whenever I build a reputation," Mr. Elite explained. "I prefer to work in the shadows."
"That is something we have in common then," Ponce De Leon grinned. "What do you say, you join me? We can all be young forever, and I can give your staff some decent work here."
"An interesting proposal," Mr. Elite nodded. "I don't particularly care about your fountain, however, your hotel can provide a decent base of operation. Plus all you require in return is more victims to keep yourself youthful."
"Exactly," Ponce De Leon nodded.
"Mr. Elite," Vincent yelled. "This is sick and you know it. He's stealing youth from innocent people, he's a monster."
"Don't mistake me for someone who cares Vincent," Mr. Elite shook his head. "The only reason I let you go last time, was because you weren't a full strength. But now I can see, you've gained your powers and your memories. Not to mention you have allies as well."
"Aside from that he betrayed us way back when," Ronny remembered.
"That's right," Donny nodded.
"Indeed," Mr. Elite smiled. "If I let a traitor go, I might lose respect from my followers."
"Plus we have a score to settle," Jackie grinned. "You got the best of me before, but now you'll pay for hurting Molly!"
"I was aiming for you," Vincent shot back.
"Not helping," Huey criticized him.
"Dude really," Louie facepalmed.
"We can lock them in the managers closet for now," Ponce De Leon figured.
"You can lock the triplets... one of you is older," Mr. Elite assessed. "Right the fountain, you can lock the former triplets away, but Vincent is doomed here."
"Don't go charging in," Huey warned Vincent. "This guy admitted that he only cares about getting a fight out of you."
"Huey's right he just a talker like Dewey," Louie agreed.
"Hey," Dewey responded offended.
"I have no hangups if you don't fight back by the way," Jackie pointed out.
Mr. Elite laughed as the mask of Helios appeared on him and a golden fire poured around him in contrast to Jackie's green fire. "Another good point, you either fight and die by my flame, or you do nothing and die by the witches flame."
Ponce De Leon raised his sword. "I should have hired witches and warlocks ages ago," Ponce admitted. "Any funny business and you die by my sword, so how about you go for a dip in the pool instead."
Mr. Elite's smile faded at that comment. "If you chose the cowards way out like Ponce De Leon suggested, then I will take out my frustration on your fake sister."
"Webby," the boys responded.
Vincent heard enough as his blue aura extended across his whole body and she shot a blast of energy at Mr. Elite.
Mr. Elite absorbed the energy within his own palms and then fired back a beam of light at Vincent.
Vincent created an energy shield protecting himself and the triplets.
Jackie fired her green fireballs at Vincents shield next and the two just repeatedly started throwing fire at Vincent's shield.
"Don't let up," Mr. Elite ordered.
"Easy for you to say," Jackie groaned. "Without my sisters my manna is limited. But so is his."
"Go find Scrooge," Vincent ordered the boys.
They tried to make a break for it, but Ronny, Donny, and Ponce De Leon got in their way.
They slipped past the bears, but the lion man was quick as he held his sword to them. They backed up as he lead them towards the managers office.
"Wait, no Vincent," Huey yelled.
"Don't worry about your friend," Ponce De Leon grinned. "He'll be playing with my new business partners."
Vincent pulled a couple runes out and rolled them under his shielding towards Mr. Elite and Jackie.
The two of them flew back as the runes exploded.
"Clever brat," Jackie yelled.
"Yes," Mr. Elite grinned as he charged Vincent and begun kicking and punching at him.
Vincent used some of his training in hand to hand combat he learned from Webby to fight back, but Mr. Elite was taller and stronger.
"Come on, put up a better fight," Mr. Elite yelled as he slammed his foot into Vincent's stomach causing him to fly back towards the pool.
"Don't fall in," Jackie grinned as she blasted Vincent back towards Mr. Elite.
Vincent absorbed some of the fire with his sealing magic and groaned.
"This is great," Jackie grinned. "He put up a much better fight back at the manor, does it pain you to know that a powered down version of yourself had much more resolve."
"He's just smarter," Mr. Elite shrugged. "His fourteen year old self didn't know when to quit, but this version of him actually has something to lose."
Vincent growled as he got back to his feet. He created another blast of energy in his hands and tossed it at Jackie.
Mr. Elite got in the way and deflected the blast before kicking Vincent away from the pool area towards the hotel.
Jackie then flew above him and started shooting fire down at him, causing Vincent to cover himself with the shield again. "You don't know a lot of tricks for a mage who studies a lot."
"It's not fair that I'm fighting the both of you," Vincent yelled.
"Well then allow us to assist," two duck teens yelled as they kicked Jackie back.
"W-what?", Jackie yelled. "I thought you turned all the teens into elders Ponce!"
"What is it with kids figuring me out today," the lion man groaned as he held up his sword at them.
"Oh no, I slept in today," a flamingo man yelled as he headed towards the pool. "Spring break!"
"No," Vincent shouted as he tried to stop the flamingo man.
Ponce held his sword at Vincent keeping him away as the unsuspecting hotel guest jumped in the pool and started to wrinkle.
"Oh, the fountain water is in the pool," the teen duck boy spoke up.
"But where does it go," the blonde duck girl wondered.
Ponce drank from his canister and gained some of his youth back.
"Uh gross," the blonde duck girl groaned. "We drank nasty pool people juice."
"I filter it," Ponce yelled. "After all we are a five star resort!"
"Isn't this funny," Mr. Elite yelled. "It feels like it's been ages since I've seen the two of you. But we all know that's a lie. How does a taste of immortality feel?"
"Stellar," the duck boy growled in his Scottish accent.
"Mr. Elite," the blonde duck girl remembered. "That scumbag."
"You know him?"
"What is going on?", Vincent interrupted them. "Scrooge is that you?"
The two teens looked at him and the duck boy nodded. "And this is Goldie. We drank some of this resorts water and we got turned young."
"Ah, ok," Vincent nodded as Ronny, Donny, Mr. Elite, Jackie, and Ponce De Leon surrounded them.
"Where are the boys?", Scrooge wondered.
"They've got them locked up in the staff room," Vincent explained. "Where's Webby?"
"She... she..."
"You don't know?!"
"Relax, she's fine," Goldie assured.
"Classic Scrooge and Goldie," Mr. Elite smiled. "Too young to care about others. Always charging headfirst into danger no matter who you leave behind. I admire that of you two, and am willing to let you two continue to reap the benefits of the fountain."
"What?", Ponce responded.
"For a fair price," Mr. Elite corrected. "So long as you continue to challenge me and my immortal glory."
"You could be teens forever?", Ponce pointed out.
Scrooge helped the flamingo teen out of the water as he was turned into a wrinkly old man. "No way, I earned each wrinkle square. It's not fair to pawn them off on someone else. Even Teenagers."
"What is your problem today?", Vincent yelled. "Everyone becomes a teen at some point in their lives, and I am one who has worked several jobs when he was nine!"
"Who's the other teen?", Goldie wondered.
"Vincent Tailfeather," Scrooge caught her up. "Adventuring Mage and a tenant at my manor."
"Ah."
That was when a zombie man walked over carrying another duck in a... Vincent didn't know what that was, but it looked like it was for babies. Anyways, the Zombie man picked up the youth fountain canister that Ponce had and poured it down the other man's mouth.
"Ok too many bad guys," Vincent yelled.
"And Rockerduck is here now," Mr. Elite facepalmed."I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"Why?", Vincent yelled. "Why shouldn't you be surprised?!"
The blonde girl duck seemed to slip away in the chaos as Vincent and Scrooge did their best to fight the horde of enemies.
Ronny and Donny were already tough to fight by themselves, but with Mr. Elite and Jackie blasting Vincent back, he couldn't help Scrooge against the zombie man, Rockerduck, Ponce De Leon, or the bear brothers.
"Vincent I'm sorry," Scrooge yelled as the zombie man got a hold of him. "There's just too many of them."
"You should be," Vincent yelled. "I left Webby with you for an hour, and you left her out there in some jungle! She could have at least helped with this fight!"
"Pick on someone your own age," Goldie yelled as she had let the boys out of the staff room. She then took a jug of water and shoved it in the zombie man's face.
"You came back for me," Scrooge realized.
"Guess I'm not the woman I use to be," Goldie smirked.
The Zombie man turned into a baby and started crying. Rockerduck then exited the fight as he picked up the zombie baby and left the resort.
"Ok, then it's five on three," Mr. Elite figured. "The odds are still against you."
Ponce held up his sword at teenage Scrooge and Goldie, while the bear brothers and Jackie surrounded Vincent.
"Ronny, Donny," Vincent sighed. "I'm sorry." He then blasted as much energy as he could at the two of them sending them flying back.
"No," Mr. Elite yelled as he ran to them.
Jackie then flew at Vincent and blasted him back in response.
Vincent couldn't dodge this one, so he used his arms to at least protect his face from the blast of fire as he felt back. He rolled on the ground to put out the flames on his body and then groaned as he laid there.
"Vincent," Scrooge yelled as he kicked Jackie into the pool.
"W-what?", Jackie responded surprised as she fell in. She grabbed onto Scrooge and pulled him in with her.
Goldie was sword fighting against Ponce and then turned when she saw Scrooge fall in the pool. "Scrooge," Goldie yelled as she ran towards the pool. "You've got to get out of there!"
Jackie grabbed onto him and started pulling him down.
"Go join him," Ponce yelled as he was about to slash her from behind.
Vincent blasted Ponce De Leon from where he laid causing the lion man to fall into the pool next. He then tried to crawl towards the pool to save Scrooge, but couldn't move.
Goldie looked at him and then shook her head before jumping into the pool after Scrooge. It took a minute, but eventually Scrooge and Goldie managed to escape the pool as Goldie pulled Scrooge ashore.
"But, your fresh start?", Scrooge wondered.
"A fresh start isn't worth it without you," Goldie commented. "You crazy old coot."
Jackie somehow managed to get out of the water as a shriveled old woman and groaned as she laid on the ground immobilized like Vincent. Ponce however, wasn't as fortunate as when he tried to resurface he begun to turn to dust.
"No, my precious youth!"
Later that day, the pool was emptied out and cleaned. Jackie was given her youth back and was arrested by local authorities. The rest of the Shadow Syndicate escaped before the police could arrive. Vincent was brought back to his room with lots of burn relief cream and bandages in hopes that he could recover without mage crystals. Mostly because he didn't have any mage crystals in the form of quartz. If he did, he could have attempted a healing spell. From the sounds of things, the others were returning everyone back to normal downstairs.
A knock came on the room door and Webby entered. "Um, Vincent, are you able to move again?"
Vincent did his best to sit up. He winced, but he was able to. "I just need to recover my strength. I used a lot of manna, and I don't really have an unlimited supply like Lena does."
"You would have if I was there," Webby pointed out. "Remember back at the cave, when you fought off Britt and the rest of the Shadow Syndicate."
"Yeah, I remember," Vincent nodded. He looked over and saw Webby was starting to tear up. She didn't look to good either, she had a limp for some reason and her right eye had a bug bite on it.
"I had a terrible day," Webby cried as she ran over to Vincent. "And what worse, I was supposed to be protecting you, but I couldn't handle a jungle! What's worse, the very people I said I'd protect you from showed up when I wasn't even there. I couldn't stop Rosina on Halloween, I couldn't Stop Mr. Elite here! What good am I?"
"Hey kid, don't beat yourself up," Vincent assured. "I, I should have been out protecting you."
"From what?", Webby yelled. "They're all after you Vincent! Rosina, Phantom Blot, Mr. Elite, the Enforcers of Order, and who knows how long until that Jackal girl breaks out of prison and goes after you again! Not to mention you always want to leave when you feel bad about staying at the manor! Stop trying to leave, stop getting yourself hurt!"
"You said it yourself Webby," Vincent reminded her. "Adventuring involves a lot of risk. I'm not going to pretend I have it the worst. Not when Scrooge and Goldie had to give up being young again, not when Lena has Magica as her aunt, or when you and the boys are constantly in danger."
"We've been pretty good at staying out danger recently," Webby pointed out. "It's been a long while since I've been on an adventure with just the boys, not since there's like five different adults at the manor. Lena's surpassed Magica in every aspect and, Scrooge and Goldie are able to perform feats at their ages that even most young people can't do. Please Vincent, for everyone's sake try to stay out of danger, or if it's unavoidable don't fight alone. We can have people around the clock checking up on you."
"Don't need to be checked up on all the time," Vincent shook his head. "And this battle I couldn't help but fight alone. The boys don't know how to fight, plus you and Scrooge were out racing against Goldie. I'm not blaming you for not being there, I'm just saying that it can't be helped sometimes. Besides, I wanted to bring the fight back to Mr. Elite very early on. I went to your manor to find Mr. McDuck, and Mrs. Beakley to do that, but we never got around to it."
Webby looked down mad as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Fine, just get some sleep Vincent."
"Easy enough," Vincent nodded. "And hey, I'll be good as new tomorrow, and we can hang out. Maybe find a nearby town with a real pool and no magical nonsense. How does that sound?" Webby left the room and didn't say anything. Vincent looked down and sighed.