A Rewritten Family History
This chapter was written in the midst of Holiday Season Burn Out which was extra hellish due to the pandemic and in the wake of the cancellation announcement. Probably not the best conditions to step out of the box and introduce a character to the narrative who while part of the expanded duck-verse is somewhat obscure to the point that aside from tumblr, tv tropes and wiki I'm pretty much going in blind. Also went a little different with a flash sideways instead of a flashback. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this installment
Chapter Text
Scrooge had wanted to hang back at the office to check in on his employees. His plan had been both to ensure that they remained productive and to show that he genuinely cared for those instrumental in helping him grow and maintain his fortune. His intent had been to spend the day in the office while his niece, nephews, and Launchpad continued to visit their friend however plans unfortunately changed.
It had begun suddenly, he'd been chatting with one of said employees when a scream began to fill the air and suddenly vines began to appear, wrapping around the windows and doors.
"Curse me kilts," he thought to himself thinking that sure, he had his share of enemies and had endured various encounters with the supernatural which this must have been however all his valuable and prized possessions were back in his offices and bins in Duckburg...this was strictly just office and laboratory spaces.
He knew not to panic though he also knew he'd be having a nice meeting with Gyro as well as Quackfaster when he returned home.
Pulling out his phone, Scrooge thought that the best thing to do would be to call the family first to see if they were okay on their side of town and then call for help. Unfortunately for him there was no signal.
"Bah," he exclaimed this time out loud as he looked at his screen. Perhaps he should have caved and purchased a Waddle Phone giving Mark Beaks the satisfaction in seeing the Richest Duck Alive owning one of his products.
"Cell Jammers," the young sparrow spoke, shrugging her shoulders back unintimidated that she'd been trapped in a room with the company CEO, among her other normal co-workers. "They were installed by Mr. Buzzard so that we would keep on task and not get distracted… Time Is money after all."
"Aye lass," Scrooge said thinking that he had spoken that mantra many a time and while he was sure that in the moment Bradford had meant well in cutting the personal communication channels of their employees for reasons regarding productivity he wished that something...anything...had been taken into consideration in the case of an emergency.
It had been at least a day...maybe more since being trapped in the room. It was hard to tell with the window blocked and even the smartest of smartphones still being a slave to battery limitations.
Sure, Scrooge had survived in much worse conditions but with no food, no water, no restroom facilities, he didn't know how much longer the people he was trapped with would be able to endure and that was when he suddenly eyed an air vent.
"Why didn't I think of this before?" He asked nobody in particular as he began to eye it, pleased that it hadn't been encased in the vines that had become their prison bars. "Can I have a boost?"
"Are you sure you can handle it?" the sparrow chirped.
"I am Scrooge McDuck...tougher than the toughies, smarter than the smarties and sharper than all the sharpies...I can do anything."
The sparrow nodded her head as she positioned a chair to allow for the older man to climb into the vent.
"Good luck," she replied.
While his ego wanted him to reply about how he didn't need any luck the nerves in the pit of his stomach said otherwise. If he had been barricaded in that office who was to say that the entire city hadn't been attacked… Huey, Dewey, Della, Launchpad...were they in the line of fire? Or, worse...what if all this was merely a distraction and his wife and kids back in Duckburg were in harm's way...
He had managed to maneuver his way through the vents surprisingly not hindered by any of the rooted vines which had imprisoned him in the first place… it was then that he heard voices.
"I told you that this wasn't a good idea, that Darkwing Duck wannabe actually has some substance to him and is actually fighting back and I'm not even going to mention the destruction of the city."
"Oh I know, I had hoped to take him out quickly so I could snag Waddlemeyer's little brat."
"Well, I'm about to do damage control, for your sake I hope it goes swift and painlessly."
"Bradford?" Scrooge questioned himself wondering why his cfo would have been involved in a conversation like the one he'd just heard. Was the buzzard conspiring against him or just working closely with Bulba?
There was a brief moment of silence however Bulba was the one to speak the next words.
"I can hear you up there , and here I thought you were what was it… sharper then the sharpies?"
Due to Bulba's tall and massive stature it was easy for the bull to flip open the vents and pull Scrooge down to the ground.
"I don't know what you heard though I'm sure whatever it was it was too much."
Scrooge went to open his mouth to respond however Bulba continued to speak.
"I can't let any bad press come out about this project you understand. If I look bad you look bad. Waddlemeyer thought my machine was unstable but I showed him...and Bradford I should have gotten rid of him just now when he claimed I was going too far… with you however…"
Scrooge raised a brow, was Bulba giving some sinister soliloquy? It was then he noticed that the bull was tapping at a few buttons.
"Taurus, I'm sure we can come up with—-" his plea was cut off abruptly as a beam of light zapped him from the machine and things went black.
Scrooge opened his eyes to see a blinding white light. Had he finally met his maker? If that was the case it was not in a way that he had suspected to kick the bucket. He soon realized the light was due to him looking up at a daylight sky instead of being in the enclosed lab space he was just moments ago.
The first thing he noticed was that he had suddenly and inexplicably been back in Duckburg however something told him this wasn't his Duckburg.
Fully pulling himself upright from the ground, Scrooge managed to make his way toward a park bench where he took a proper seat as he began to try and look for any discrepancies. It was as he'd been trying to observe when the sounds of feet hitting the pavement began to approach from behind.
"What are you doing out here papa?" the voice of a young female spoke.
"You have me mistaken for someone else lass I'm not your papa."
Scrooge soon turned to the source of the voice and if he weren't in a seated position he would have clearly frozen in his tracks by the pair of emerald green eyes gazing back at him. The resemblance was uncanny… sure the girl in question was taller and her golden locks fell just below her shoulders but aside from that she looked just as his wife had in those brief moments back in Florida when they regressed into their twenties.
"Your Scrooge McDuck, hardly a person one would be confused in recognizing especially when it's his own granddaughter."
If he had a drink this would be the moment he'd spit it out. GRANDDAUGHTER! Was this girl mad? Okay sure he supposed wherever that blasted machine sent him could have very well of been the future however this girl was practically mini Goldie and neither of his children shared her DNA.
"Granddaughter?" Scrooge finally mustered up a word and that's what it was.
It was clear that in this world his friends, family, and assorted other loved ones had their share of the bizarre and so instead of the girl questioning his confusion she simply nodded her head clearly assuming he was from somewhere else as she held out her hand.
"Dickie Duck, at your service."
"And you're my granddaughter how exactly?"
There was a moment of pause as the girl motioned to sit besides Scrooge. As the man nodded he waved for the girl to sit beside him on the bench he'd been inhabiting.
"Well you and Grams have had many torrid affairs."
Scrooge nodded his head.
"And 'Grams' would be Goldie O'Gilt?"
She nodded back causing him to chuckle a bit at the thought of her actually being a grandmother.
"After a particular night of passion, she found out she was with egg and left not wanting to tie you down and not wanting to be tied down herself. It was an open adoption...she would come and go from mom's life taking on the role of godmother until one day all that changed. Mom found herself with an egg of her own… me… but there were complications. In her dying words she asked Goldie to take care of me never knowing the truth."
Scrooge could feel his heart ache a bit in hearing the girls tale while thinking about all the unconventional twists and turns of his family back in his world...like being the father to his great nephew for starters.
"We had a good life in New Stork City…"
"Had?" Scrooge suddenly said, wondering if Goldie had met a grimm fate here.
"Well, I mean I'm here in Duckburg now...had to do a research paper on you when I was sixteen and that's when I found out we were related. I promised I wouldn't track you down until I turned eighteen and then I enrolled in school here and the rest as they say…"
"History?"
"Aye…"
There was another moment of silence as he watched the way that Dickie eyed him over some more.
"So, from another dimension...definitely cracks the top five strangest things to happen in my life."
A part of Scrooge almost wanted to ask what the other four things were however in the moment there were more pressing matters to discuss.
"Does the name Thadious Waddlemeyer ring any bells?"
There was a pause.
"No, should I?" she asked with a raised brow, "Was he the person who sent you here? Were you hoping to track him down to hopefully send you back before you caused a rift in the multiverse?"
"He was a physicist who assisted in building the machine that sent me here, however he too got sent...into the ether and I was hoping that he might have landed here."
He watched as Dickie once more shook her head.
"The only scientists I know are my ex roommate Gyro Gearloose and his reclusive boss Professor Von Drake whom I've never had the pleasure of meeting?"
At those names being dropped, Scrooge bit his bill slightly trying to process all the differences this world potentially held. Von Drake Alive, Gyro being his granddaughter's former roommate instead of the father of his nieces children.
"I assume they both have counterparts in your world judging by your expression."
Scrooge nodded.
"It's strange hearing VonDrake's name in present tense as in my world he's been gone for some time. Gyro on the other hand is practically family. He's my niece's fiance and father of her boys."
Dickie's curious gaze soon turned into hysterical laughing.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry… it's just hard to picture my Gyro being a father especially to the triple terrors...and being involved with that flake Dumbella...seriously he can do so much better...no offence."
From Dickie's reaction he thought that this world had been strange indeed. He wanted to tell her that in his world Huey, Dewey and Louie were extraordinary preteens on the verge of becoming brilliant young men in their own rights and Della while impulsive certainly wasn't a flake however it was then that he spotted a faint beacon of light forming a few feet away in the spot where he landed.
'Perhaps…' he thought to himself standing up and holding a finger up as he began to move toward the light.
"What are you doing papa...Scrooge?"
"Finding a way home…"
Scrooge soon began to come toward the light holding his breath….there is no place like home...he thought to himself as he felt the energy of the force field dance against his feathers not knowing then that somebody had followed him through the proverbial looking glass.
"Uncle Scrooge?" Huey exclaimed as he felt the coolness of the laboratory floor below him, "What are you doing here."
"It's a long story lad, but what are you doing here? What is happening?"
"DW found a way to lore the villains back here to the lab."
"It was a team effort," Darkwing spoke with a wink toward the young redhead who had been standing in a corner with Dewey whispering something.
"It was amazing," Della said, "I know we've fought mystical beings in the past but this just gave me such a rush, I can see why Darkwing and Gizmoduck have made a career out of super heroism."
"Do you think your fiance would approve of this career change?" Scrooge asked, keeping things cool despite the ramrod sparking.
Della simply shrugged.
"Idon'tknow," she said so fast it came out as one word.
"Have you tracked his signature yet," Gosalyn asked, moving toward where Huey had been frantically looking at the control panel of the machine.
"I thought I did...but then Uncle Scrooge showed up and then…"
Huey pointed to the sparking machine a crestfallen look on his face.
"My calculations said that that the machine had three more uses before implosion...one must have sent Scrooge into the multiverse, one returned the fearsome four and the third brought Scrooge back."
A tear crept down the young girl's cheek. It was clear to Scrooge that she was holding back a scream however instead she managed to turn her gaze from the boy in red who had an apologetic look on his face to the boy in blue who nodded to him and then to their mother who had against all odds made her way back to her family.
" Lo siento mucho abuelo," Gosalyn spoke in between her cries as she managed to grab a crossbow and shot an arrow toward the machine effectively putting an end to the sparking and the hopes that her grandfather would return anytime in the near future.
With that Scrooge watched as the girl fell to her knees and out of instinct he wanted to approach her however Della and Drake had beat her to it.
"Nothing Can Stop Della Duck," Della replied, "And I have a feeling that Nothing Can Stop Gosalyn Waddlemeyer either. We'll find your grandfather."
"And in the meantime, I could use a partner in fighting crime, that is if you'd let me be your guardian?"
"THAT won't be necessary," Bulba said entering the room to assess the damage, Mayor Owlson and members of the St. Canard PD by her side."
"And how do you suppose to raise her from prison?" Owlson asked.
"I have friends in high places...I'll make bail."
"There won't be an option for bail ."
"Call me Taurus...or Terry...we're all friends here right? Anyway, Waddlemeyer getting zapped was purely accidental and there are few who have cracked the algorithm to move between universes."
"Well, I'm sure you can share with us the algorithm from your cell..who knows maybe it will lighten your sentence…."
Scrooge watched as Owlson and the officer escorted Bulba out moments later letting out a sigh as he looked onto the scene in front of him.
Della and Darkwing had still been comforting the poor girl while Launchpad and Dewey were chatting in a corner about their 'totally awesome adventure'.
"Um..Uncle Scrooge," Huey's voice soon spoke, breaking the family patriarch out from his moment of silent observance.
"Yes lad."
He watched as the boy pointed to a figure cloaked in shadow behind the ramrod's wreckage.
"We have company," Huey's voice said as Scrooge made his way over to the girl who had an expression of confusion crossing her face.
"Papa…" Dickie spoke in a nervous tone as she stepped out of the shadows wrapping her arms around a shocked Scrooge.
"Papa?" Huey asked.
"Long story lad."
"And I'd like to hear you talk your way out of it…" Bradford said as he stepped into the room with a shake of his head, "I don't know how you got yourself into this mess, bringing this girl here from whatever dimension Bulba tossed you into but I'm through cleaning up for you. The sticky heat of summer may be lingering in the air but winter is coming ."
As Bradford left the room a chill ran down Scrooge's spine as in the back of his mind he wondered just what his CFO had up his sleeve but more importantly just how he was going to explain to his wife that he had brought home her grandchild from another dimension.