Happy 2025 everyone! Wow! It's been some time and now we're so close to the end. There's only a little bit of this adventure left over. I won't say much and just let you read.

Now I give to you, Chapter 11! Enjoy!

Date: April 24, 2025

.

.

Chapter 11: A Legacy Restored Revives Hope

.

Remembering that night and the events that followed left such a bittersweet aftertaste in Scrooge's beak. Shaking his head out of the memories, he tells his nephews, "I dinnae even understand what the thief meant by those very words, but I never saw those two again."

Louie dug into his pocket and dug out a tissue to wipe his hands and seamlessly move to wipe his teary eye. Meanwhile, Huey brings his hand to his chin as he replays the story in his mind. A particular part stuck out to him. So carefully, he places his phone down on the desk and quickly pulls out his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook from under his hat. He thumbs through the pages until he finds the exact one he's looking.

"Uncle Scrooge, are you absolutely sure that September was last time you saw them?"

"Aye Lad, it was."

"Then, this is a major discovery!"

"What do you mean?"

"Their last heist recorded in the newspaper had taken place during the summer, on the night of a full moon. So your claim that he met with you after that point means… you're one of the very last individuals he made contact with before disappearing into obscurity."

Scrooge's nod to Huey, "You're right Lad, as far as I know, I was. But I kept it quiet all this time. Even now, as I remember them, I'm holding onto hope that maybe, just maybe, they'll return. After all, he hadn't spoken a goodbye to me, just, a see you in the future."

Louie groans as he crunches on his popcorn loudly, gaining their attention, "It's totally obvious what he meant by that."

Huey huffs while skeptically looking his brother's way, "Oh sure Louie, like you can figure it out."

He waves a finger in his brother's face, expression sharp and guileful, "Ah Hubert, you can see the facts, but you lack the vision. Fantomallard obviously meant that he would see Uncle Scrooge in his civilian form, without him ever revealing his thief persona."

"Wait… what?"

Louie shakes his head knowingly, "Really? You still don't get it? The simple explanation is, they knew each other, as in their real selves. Why else would they be sad? Their rivalry and friendship stopped the moment they stopped thieving. In their quiet life, they were probably just acquaintances or business partners at best. That's mostly who you associated with right, Uncle Scrooge?"

Scrooge tilts head to the side as he brings his hand to his chin, "You're not wrong there, lad. I barely had many friends due to my adventuring and meetings. But if you're so sure that's what that meant, then why didn't they ever reveal themselves?"

"Cause, they wanted you to figure it out. From the way you told us about that last encounter, he was dropping hints for you to get it."

"Get what exactly?"

Louie groaned again, "The reason for their retirement, which can boil down to at least two factors." Scrooge and Huey were now interested and attentive as he continued, "The first, he mentioned them getting on in age. It's easiest one to assume, cause it just means they were getting old and weren't as agile as before. But that's too easy an answer, and that leads me to the second reason."

"Which is...?"

"Dolly Paprika. Fantmallard mentioned he came alone and not with her. You usually expected to see them come as a duo. So the fact she was absent could only mean, something happened to her. If crime and romance dramas taught me anything, it's the cause was probably the arrival of a terminal illness or a disease. Either one or both of them were sick and that's usually what stops a majority of characters from continuing their line of work, acting like a wakeup call to stop and just live in the moment."

"But they're real." Huey states.

But Louie didn't hear his brother, continuing to go on a tangent about the possibilities of their reasons for their absence, "Though if their life was feel-good movie, the simple answer is that they were tired of adventuring and they wanted to settle down and be a normal family. I mean, it's totally a relatable reason, isn't it? Or maybe, like some super hero and villain stories, their family members or children found out about their lives. That caused them to pause and really think about what they were doing and how it was hurting everyone. Oh the drama, the heartache, the betrayal!"

Huey raises his brow at his brother's melodrama, "You watch those kinds of dramas, yet you still won't watch, "Anxieties?""

"Uncle Donald's and mom's era. Enough said."

Scrooge thinks, taking time to sift through his nephew's comparisons to the dramas and finally acknowledges, "Perhaps there can be some grains of truth to your speculations, Louie. But what of the other words he spoke to me?"

"About your reaction to the future?" Louie spat playfully, "Pfft, Uncle Scrooge, it totally adds to the reason that one or both of them were sick. They didn't think they'd last long enough to be remembered, so they spoke that hoping they could entrust you to keep their adventures alive long after they were gone."

Scrooge pauses to recall the finer details of that night. The thief did seem rather sullen when mentioning the lady. If the two were facing some sort of sickness, and that's why he never saw them again, did that mean he failed? Had he not been sensitive that night to hear and decipher the thief's true final request of him? Was he so blinded by their familiarity that he couldn't grasp bigger picture? Was it all his fault for moving on and letting their story fade after so many years?

Suddenly, a loud and garbled yell coming from the hallway snaps him out of his spiraling thoughts.

"Uncle Scrooge? Huey? Louie?"

Everyone's attention snaps toward the doorway where they find someone just walking in.

"Uncle Donald!" The boys exclaimed in surprise.

"Hiya boys, hi Uncle Scrooge…" Donald takes a moment to look around before commenting, "Huh, Dewey and Webby said you were doing some cleanup, but…" He whistles, "This place sure still seems messy."

"Ah Donald, my nephew, how thoughtful. Glad to see you've decided to not be a lazy bone and join the cleanup for a change. Albeit rather late, still, better than not helping at all."

Donald shrugs, "Don't flatter yourself, Uncle Scrooge. I actually just got back from something important and I wanted to check in on all of you before heading back to the boathouse to rest."

Louie jokes, "Yeah right, I bet you were enjoying your off day and were catching up on the old seasons of "Anxieties," to prepare for the new season starting next week since some surprise cast members are returning from earlier seasons." But then he quietly mutters, "It's still unfair though, I should have been the one to be lazy today."

Huey on the other hand rolls his eyes and files away Louie's words, deciding to confront him about why he knew about those specific details about "Anxieties" another day. Then, he looks back to his uncle Donald who was still standing in the doorway. His appearance wasn't all that great, clothes wrinkled and poorly cleaned. The lighter areas of his clothes and feathers looked like they were rubbed off with a dry towel, but of course he didn't do a thorough job. The remains of the dirt, grime, and cobwebs that clung in the more harder to reach places around him suggested he went somewhere old and dirty, cleaning or rummaging through something. His hat was especially bad as some of the remaining strands of cobweb silk were blackened. All the signs suggested,

"Where did you go Uncle Donald? Wait… Did you mess up your schedule and actually had to start a new job today? Was it that one where you applied to be a custodian? I thought we set the calendar for all your jobs and put triple alarm reminders after that last incident where you mixed up your schedule and thought it was a day job but was really an all night job as a warehouse guard."

Both Louie and Scrooge looked questionably at Donald as they asked simultaneously,

"You have a job?"

"You stepped off the houseboat today?"

Donald crossed his arms together and huffed as he focused on those two, "Yes, yes I did. I was out. Oh and yes, I actually have several jobs, Uncle Scrooge." Then his expression softened a little more as he turned to Huey, "And no, Huey. It wasn't any new job. I still haven't heard back from them yet. Oh and before you ask, I wasn't out with Daisy on a date gone wrong." The duckling in red lowered down his finger and awkwardly nodded. "Actually, I went out to—"

Unfortunately, his answer is cut short as he enters the room to explain. His foot steps and slips on a piece of paper that was laying on the ground, the paper that Louie had been holding and complaining about earlier which listed the tasks that needed to be accomplished in the archive room. That one trip, in pure Donald Fauntleroy Duck fashion, causes him to crash into several stacked boxes of loose documents which knock over some other boxes and eventually hit the switch for the ceiling fan to max speed. A lot more items spill out onto the floor and the papers began to fly around erratically in the fan winds.

Huey looks up in horror at the mess that now had to be reorganized again, crying out as he falls to his knees, "Noooooo!" All the hard work that had been put into his organization and cleaning, gone just like that; all with a simple misstep. Meanwhile, Louie continued to eat his popcorn from his endless supply and pulled out a pep soda from his pocket, entertained by his brother's misery; his uncle's clumsiness, less so. If he never witnessed his accidents on the daily, then this incident would probably be noteworthy enough to record and meme. But, by his standards, it was just an average level one.

Donald groaned in pain as he tried to push himself off from the floor and noticed his hat laying there among the chaos and the journal slightly peeking out from it. His eyes widened as he scooped up both items quickly, hoping that no one noticed the old book. He had promised Zero after all he'd keep it safe and for his eyes only. Fortunately, it seemed no one noticed as Huey was still focused on the mess, Louie now seemed to be more interested in the snacks over his clumsy action, and his Uncle Scrooge was fighting the papers that flew in his face as he made his way over to the switch of the ceiling fan. So he sighed in relief.

"Hahhh." But that relief was short-lived as the switch clicked, the fan spun at a much more manageable speed, and his Uncle's yell pierced through the temporary peace of the moment.

"DONALD!" Scrooge was charging his way towards him and he quickly scrambled to get up from the floor and run.

"Wak! I'm sorry!" He tries to rush away, but he's trapped between Scrooge and the mess of boxes that block his escape. So instead of running, he closes his eyes and cowers, fully expecting the barrage of complaints and yelling from his dear old uncle. But oddly, it never came. More seconds passed and no one really made a sound, except Louie, who was slurping his pep.

When Donald opened his eyes, he noticed Scrooge was just quiet. His nephews weren't sure what was going on either, but everyone saw where his eyes were directed. Just caught under the leg of the reading desk, a burnt-white colored envelope was laying there slightly flapping in the breeze of the still turned on fan. Why that caught his attention, he wasn't clear on, but Uncle Scrooge went up to it and gently removed it from its place. Huey was staring at the envelope mesmerized by whatever was written on the back, while Louie was as clueless as he was.

"Uncle Scrooge, is that what I think?"

Scrooge's breath hitched, "I… I cannae even believe this. But… I think so, Huey."

Donald and Louie were still lost. What was so special about the envelope? So the two got closer and saw Uncle Scrooge's name written on the back in beautiful calligraphy. On the bottom corner, it was stamped with an odd simplified silhouette of two duck heads, one certainly wearing a mask of some sort, and the other donning cat ears. When Scrooge flipped the envelope around, it was sealed with an elegant scarlet wax seal pressed upon it. The mark was a stylized letter F which also artistically could be seen as a letter P. For some reason though, Donald thought the designs and writing were somehow familiar, as if he'd seen it somewhere, but couldn't place his finger on where exactly.

Scrooge was focused as Huey handed him a letter opener from the desk and he gently broke off the seal. Its contents revealed a single folded up paper, which he took out. The sight of the handwriting alone shook him as he clutched the letter firmly and carefully. It read:

.

To Our Favored Miserly Old Money Mallard,

I imagine you're surprised to find this in such a peculiar place, are you not? For if you've obtained it in the intended way, then that must mean my words truly are fulfilled. But who is to say, for the future can be uncertain, and as life, anything can happen. Whether by a simple incident or purposeful ploy, this letter has found its way to you.

There are many questions you may have pondered upon in our absence, such as why I, Fantomallard, disappeared that night and why I spoke to you in such a manner. You may have even pondered why our presence faded from the media? But, these and more are not for my words to reveal. Perhaps one day, you'll discover the truth of Dolly Paprika and I, but for now I remind you of that night:

"Should there ever come a day where my name does resurface, just remember, our legacy will return anew."

An old legacy shall be revived, and a new legend shall soon be born as a new adventure in your life. Though, I still dearly wish I could be there to witness what is to come, I am content knowing that the future is certainly in good hands.

Never forget,

Gentleman Thief - Fantomallard

Lovely Lady - Dolly Paprika

.

"Wow, Uncle Scrooge! This letter has to be genuine! The handwritten signature, the stamps from their calling card, the personalized seal, and the letter itself are proof of it!"

"Aye, Huey. That they are."

Scrooge couldn't believe it. Where and how this letter appeared was puzzling, but that wasn't the main thought on his mind. The thief's words were. They suggested something new was on the horizon. Whether that due to remembering and sharing their tale with his family, or it meant something else, there was no doubt that that his instincts weren't wrong on that last evening. There was hope and expectation for their arrival yet. If the thieves were truly to make a return, in whatever fashion or form, he'd be ready and dare to challenge them once more.

.

.

As far as an episode goes, this may as well be the end and where the credits could start rolling. But actually, we have some scenes left over to finish. Think of it as an after credit scene, maybe? Not sure yet. Also, there's a bonus alternate chapter involving different scenario that could have taken place instead..

So, this chapter was mainly focused on breaking down everything, thinking over the events, final confirmation of the thieves actions and reasons. Well... at least from the limited information they have and can puzzle out together. But we all know, there's more to the thieves' story, right?

As for Donald, he's finally back at the mansion and is clueless to what he just walked into. Good thing Louie got the story recorded and Huey will more than likely share this with him sometime soon. But for now, even though he doesn't understand what the letter's about and why its elements are familiar, I'm sure he's happy for his uncle, and not getting yelled at anymore. Oh and, if you're wondering about the deal with Gladstone? It was probably a successful exchange off screen.

So how was this? Got any questions? Want to know something about it, or even leave your thoughts? If so, feel free to leave a review!

It's been a long journey and this episode's tale will soon come to a close. As always, I want to say thank you to everyone who's come to read, view, subscribe, and follow to this little story. You all are amazing and I thank you!