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pidayforpi · 2 years

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Power of Berserk

"Here are your friends and family, Donald Duck."

Zondag snickered, the Evronian general calling the hero by his real name.

[Psychological Torture, Blood/Violence, Character Death, Character Breaking]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prPTcHzmac

Paperinik stood among the ruins of the bustling metropolis once known as Duckburg, surrounded by the invading armies of Evronians and Coolflames. His masked pair of eyes widened in shock and sorrow, as he looked around the city he had called home since birth. His limbs became slacken, causing the mechanical gauntlet on his right arm to drop onto the stone-hard ground, without a sound.

Zondag smiled at his enemy's devastated expression, but his excitement was only starting to tickle, for he would soon show the duck the surprise he had in store.

"Go on. Don't be shy, Don. Go meet your loved ones."

Zondag faked a friendly smile. He ushered Paperinik forward, giving him a few light pushes in the back. The general led the hero to a crowd of Coolflames, all silent, obedient and expressionless. They stared at Paperinik blankly, and winced when their Evronian commander approached from behind the duck.

Zondag simply snapped his fingers, and suddenly there was a chain of slight movements among the horde of Coolflames. The ones in the front gave way, as a single Coolflame walked to the small opening, in front of Paperinik.

Paperinik stumbled forward to approach the prisoner of war. He took a closer inspection, hoping that the dumb Evronian had got the wrong person, and that his cousin was still free somewhere.

But however mutated his appearance was now, Paperinik could never forget that innocent face, of his pure younger cousin.

"Fe-Feth...?"

His voice was hoarse and shaking, as he placed his equally shaking hand on the now-Coolflame Fethry's face. His trademark stocking cap was still there, along with his signature red sweater. As if the Evronians had decided to keep his unique features when he was being transformed, so that Paperinik could recognise his beloved cousin at a glance. And Paperinik knew that must have been intentional.

"H-hey, Feth. It's m-me, your c-cousin Donald..."

Paperinik forced a small smile, though his mask was already wet.

Fethry didn't respond. He stared straight into Paperinik's eyes, not saying a word.

"C'mon, C-Cos! Let's g-go home...! It's getting l-late, and you k-know Grandma won't be h-happy...!"

Paperinik reached out for his cousin's hand, holding and squeezing it gently. He tried to get him to move, but Fethry stood still, firm as a rock.

"W-what's w-wrong...? W-we have t-to get h-home s-soon! Your p-parents and brother A-Abner m-must be w-worried s-sick...!"

Paperinik continued to coax Fethry into following him, but tears of despair were already flowing down his masked eyes.

Meanwhile, Zondag had to stop himself from bursting out laughing right then and there, though giggles of joy still leaked from his bill. Seeing his former archenemy admitting defeat, breaking and crying filled his malevolent heart with unmeasurable glee.

Fethry looked at the hero duck crying in front of him, holding and swaying his hand while visibly distraught. Though he could no longer feel anything, though he could no longer think about anything...

"Don..."

Paperinik lifted his head up at the call, looking at his cousin through teary eyes.

"Feth...?!"

Paperinik held both of Fethry's hands in his, staring earnestly into his cousin's eyes.

"Don...Donald...

...Cousin Donald..."

Those words escaped Fethry's bill, subconsciously whispering the elder duck's name. He didn't know what those words meant anymore, nor why he had said them in the first place.

He didn't understand why tears were streaming down his own face, as well.

"Feth...Fethry...!"

Paperinik pulled his cousin into a deep embrace, his overflowing tears staining Fethry's sweater. The Coolflame did not hug back, but did not reject as well. Cold, emotionless tears stained Paperinik's suit.

Zondag was surprised one of their Coolflame slaves still had a fragment of their memories remaining, but shrugged it off quickly, as that defect made the situation even more enjoyable. The Evronian general was grinning ear-to-ear, as he walked slowly to the duck cousins.

"Oh, Donald...You should have seen your dear Cousin Fethry's face, when he was cornered by my men. You should have heard his pleads and cries, when I personally turned him into this cute, little Coolflame in front of you."

Zondag leaned down, patting the now mutated Fethry's head affectionately. He then whispered directly into Paperinik's ears, as if he wouldn't catch the following words otherwise.

"He called for you, you know."

Zondag smiled wider when he saw Paperinik's horrified expression.

The Evronian chuckled audibly, letting the devastated hero imagine: His beloved cousin crying for help, desperately calling out for his Cousin Donald, only to be captured, transformed, and end up a mindless slave to the invaders.

However, Zondag wasn't done having fun, yet.

"Oh, don't be so sad, ol' Don!" He held Paperinik by the shoulders from behind, swaying the dejected duck gently. "At least your Cousin Fethry is still in one piece, eh? And I think he looks cuter too!"

Zondag gestured to the Coolflame in question, who only stared back meekly. Paperinik let the alien rock him to and fro, his body too stricken by sadness to react.

Seeing his archenemy numb with sorrow, Zondag feigned a sympathetic frown, against his ecstatic, pounding heart.

"Aww, Donald...But I know something that will definitely cheer you up! C'mere!"

Zondag pulled Paperinik by the arm, away from his mutated cousin to a nearby ruined building.

Again with a snap, two Evronian soldiers were summoned. They pulled out a stretcher, the person on the bed covered entirely with a white cloth. Paperinik looked with lifeless eyes, as the two aliens put the stretcher down vertically in front of him.

"Who...who is that...?"

Paperinik managed to speak out, to which Zondag smiled.

"Why, your friend, of course!"

Zondag had never smiled so widely.

Paperinik slowly got close to the makeshift bed, his hand trembling to uncover the person underneath. He already knew it was going to be worse, but he still hesitated, fearing for what might come.

"What are you waiting for, Donald?"

Zondag hurried Paperinik up, to which the duck paused, and obediently complied.

He grabbed the cloth closest to the subject's face, his hand shaking uncontrollably in dread. Slowly, very slowly, he removed the fabric, pulling it down.

Looking through overflowing tears, Paperinik really hoped his eyes were playing tricks on him.

His heart dropped down, along with his tears, as he fell onto his knees.

A chicken. With white feathers and blonde hair. A small green hat on his head. A green vest over a red dress shirt on his torso. Blue trousers. Yellow shoes.

And a pair of round glasses that Paperinik had always found cute.

His amiable partner who would always greet him with a bright, lovely smile.

But now, his eyes were closed, his beak was shut. And they would never open again.

He would breathe no more. His pulse was still, his heart was silent.

His body was present, but Gyro Gearloose was gone.

Paperinik reached out his hand, and cupped the chicken's face. He quivered involuntarily, when he felt the cold touch of the lifeless body, the feathers now void of warmth, softness and lustre.

Still, he gently caressed Gyro's blonde hair and snow-white feathers, convincing himself that his mind was just messing with him. That, if he tried hard enough, Gyro would wake up once more. And he would see that cheerful, warm smile again.

A smile that was simpler yet stronger than any gadget the chicken scientist had ever invented. Gyro Gearloose's smile was all that was enough to encourage Paperinik to keep going. His kind words were all that Paperinik needed to know everything would be alright.

Now, even that pillar of support had been taken away from him.

"Tsk tsk..." Zondag shook his head in a disappointed manner. "It is a shame. Really! If only he hadn't been so stubborn, or so protective of that blasted tower..."

He motioned to the ruined building, prompting Paperinik to suddenly notice: That the ground he had been on was no other than the site of his previous operation base - The Ducklair Tower.

A broken, emerald-green sphere could be seen buried among rubbles and metal scraps, the green liquid from inside leaking out. The electronic cables connecting to the glass container had long been severed.

"But, O' Doctor Gearloose...He just wouldn't leave the tower, even when we were already at the entrance, about to blow up this beautiful building. Poor Gyro, still waiting for his dear Paperinik to return, determined to protect their home till his demise...For the smartest inventor of Duckburg, he really was quite foolish..."

The Evronian general continued in a sing-song tone.

"If only he had just given in...Oh, I can imagine what a dashing Coolflame he could have been..."

Zondag flashed Paperinik the most maleficent grin, his sadism surging to highest upon seeing the hero's grieving expression.

"If only he had been more of a...well, chicken! Am I right?!"

Zondag let out a crazed laugher, letting all his evil humour out, paying no mind to hide his sadistic intent anymore. He could finally be the one to proclaim victory, and claim his prize of witnessing the hero languishing in pain and despair.

Paperinik's back had been turned to the gloating alien. He stayed by Gyro's side, not saying a word, not moving a finger. Tears dropped onto the ruins of his former base, and onto the body of his late partner. Until they all dried up.

Then, he slowly got up, limping towards where he had dropped his robotic gauntlet - An invention of Gyro Gearloose.

Paperinik walked unsteadily, as if he would fall at any second. He wasn't crying anymore, his face replaced with an unreadable expression.

He picked up the equipment from the ground, staring at the metallic weapon in his hands, with eyes unfocused from woe.

And then, in the next moment, the gauntlet had been equipped in his right hand, covered in and dripping with violet blood. The Evronian soldier, who had tried to stop him, was lying on the ground, a large bloody hole through his chest.

Gasps and hisses soon filled the venue, followed by the whirring sounds of charging firearms, but Paperinik's ears were deaf to those white noises. He walked towards the Evronian general, undeterred by the laser pistols or the blood all over his face and suit. He advanced, towards the one who took everything away from him.

Zondag had already predicted that would happen, as he faced the vengeful duck with his own battle gauntlet and a bloodthirsty smile, licking his grinning bill in bloodlust. That was what he had been aiming for, after all.

"That's right, Paperinik!" Zondag taunted the hero that was now only a shadow of his former self. "Fight me with all your might! Kill me with all your anger and hatred! With all your sanity lost!"

Zondag laughed maniacally, as the two fighters charged towards each other.

"Show me your power of berserk, Donald Duck!"

(20-6-2022 ~ 23-6-2022)

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astro-b-o-y-d · 3 years

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Gyro Gearloose, Poe De Spell, and the Tumblr Sexyman Label

So before I start this, I want to state that none of this is meant to be a mean jab at anyone interested in these characters, or even the Tumblr Sexyman label in general. This is all just affectionate observation I’ve noticed over the past day, along with some thoughts I’ve had regarding Gyro for a while. Also semi-tired ramblings, as I have only been up for an hour or so.

I say this as someone who only recently started to like Gyro: I am SO SHOCKED he didn’t end up being the designated ‘Tumblr Sexyman’ of Ducktales before Poe came along.

I am aware he does have a lot of fans (even if I wasn’t one for the longest time, I knew they existed and I understand why), but like........as far as I can tell, he doesn’t have much reach outside the fandom itself. Which to me, is an important part of the Tumblr Sexyman label. Being so popular, they’re known outside their fandom and across various sections of Tumblr.

My guess is that it was because while he did have his morally questionable moments in the show, he never really leaned too far into being an ‘evil’ scientist. Being unapologetically evil tends to be a characteristic for a lot of the more popular Sexymen (Onceler in his ‘greed’ form, Bill Cipher, that dickhead from that bad hotel cartoon that I don’t like but will at least acknowledge). It’s not one all of them have, but it tends to be something that causes fans to gravitate to them. Heck, we could also list Sans in that category with his glowing blue eye, even if he wasn’t so much evil as he was POWERFUL. Which, you know, evil and power often go hand in hand.

But DT17 Gyro was not evil. He was an ass and very toxic at times, but those traits do not an evil person make, depending on what path they take with their lives. And as Astro Boyd revealed, Gyro is DEFINTIELY not evil. Just a guy who was manipulated and gaslit at a young age by his mentor and didn’t have a healthy way of confronting his toxic behavior towards others up until very recently.

Heck, one of his more memorable quotes from that episode was “Not all my inventions are evil. Some are just wildly misunderstood!” Right before a big turn in his character arc where he makes the choice to stop following his toxic mentor’s footsteps and actually work on treating people with respect, specifically Boyd in that episode and Fenton in Beaks In The Shell (an arc I personally loved, because GOD, he was horrid up until there. No shame to you, Gyro fans, I just couldn’t stand him).

Which makes for a very, very, VERY good character, but probably not a well-received Sexyman outside the fandom.

Meanwhile Poe shows up in an episode preview, 100% evil and loving it, and everyone goes nuts in the span of a day. His appearance probably helped a ton (skinny and gender ambiguous tends to go over well with those drawn to a specific branch of Sexymen), but I also do think him just being completely evil and relishing in it (at least from what we’ve seen in the trailer) helped a lot with that, too.

But this is all focusing on their personalities in canon, and not appearances alone. Which is probably what would draw a crowd to the character, or at least get people interested in Sexymen talking, as it is clearly doing with Poe. And even when I hated Gyro with every fiber of my being, I couldn’t deny he had one of my favorite character designs in all of DT17.

So why didn’t he, as far as I’m aware, break out of the fandom circles?

Let’s bring up a version of Gyro from an old comic (Paperinik and the Friendly Threat, translated here). Meet Mad Ducktor. Gyro’s evil personality who ended up becoming his own person.

I’m FULLY convinced that if (or I suppose when, they do have a handful of episodes left and anything’s possible) Ducktales brought him into the show, or perhaps made Gyro’s character arc lead to turning into this dude, Gyro would’ve definitely been slapped with the Sexyman label that canon Gyro seemed to dodge while Poe did not.

Also yeah yeah, save me the whole ‘You’re calling THAT design a Tumblr Sexyman?’ speech, you’ve seen Poe’s current design when this is what he originally looked like.

Compared to

I think they could’ve easily given Mad Ducktor this treatment as well, had he made an appearance. And people would’ve gone absolutely wild for him.

Now would that have been a bad thing? Absolutely not. Poe looks like a fun bastard and I can’t wait to see more of him. And I would’ve been very invested in seeing them do the same with Gyro. Maybe they will before the series ends. Gyro canonly has had clones in the show, maybe one of them turned evil off screen and will make an appearance before the end. We’ll just have to see!

Apologies if a lot of this is wrong. Again, I’ve only been up an hour and I never really had much of an eye on the DT fandom (I only started watching the show back when season two had ended because Boyd existed so for all I know, Gyro HAD been a Tumblr Sexyman and I just didn’t pay attention) But I just felt like rambling about some things I HAVE noticed regarding Gyro, Poe’s DT17 debut, and some thoughts regarding the Tumblr Sexyman treatment for both.

#Hayley Speaks #Ducktales #Ducktales Spoilers #Long Post #Wow this started as a small ramble and got LONG #Anyway we were talking about this in a Discord server yesterday and it's got me thinking #Also please no Tumblr Sexyman bashing here #This is just a place of observation #I'm not here to shame anyone

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callme--starchild · 4 years

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You and Me Against the World

If someone managed to put Donald Duck and Paperinik on the same stage, they probably wouldn't know it was the same duck. Especially because of the impossibility of putting Donald Duck and Paperinik on the same stage.

Not surprisingly, Donald has been wearing the cape and mask for so long that he already knew how to get his way to keep his identity secret, being mostly Gyro's voice modulator which kept his speech impediment hidden. And if someone was sharp enough to decipher it or, in the worst case, remove the mask, he could easily choose to use his always faithful Car-Cans.

It wasn't easy work, and he recognized it. Now that he had earned his degree online and Della had returned from her boarding school, Scrooge had focused more on adventures, which kept him busier. He used to say that he wanted to go back to the old days and be them three against the world, and Donald could see how much his sister craved it.

But the truth was that he could perceive that it was Scrooge McDuck and Della Duck against the world, who were already an invaluable team while he was the miserable cannon fodder, always being the one who received the blows and the scapegoat when something went wrong.

And being Paperinik... wow, the duck didn't know where to start. Outside of polishing coins in the money bin, starting work in the Tower part time since he came of age, despite being a janitor, made him feel that he was part of something.

The pleasant talks with Lyla and Angus' comments against the local hero, coupled with his peculiar laugh, had become his second home. That was his second biggest secret, though.

Of course, his time has been reduced since the return of Della, who has insisted on recovering lost time. And while he could not blame her, between that and the adventures Donald has not had the time to visit it.

To visit him.

"Is everything okay, Old Cape?"

Donald stopped walking around the 151st floor, being invaded again by a deafening silence that, honestly, was driving him crazy.

He sighed heavily before pluming himself in the chair that the intelligence had previously prepared for him to massage his temple.

"Yes, yes, it's just..." Donald chattered, not knowing how to justify himself because not even he knew why he saw it as a life threatening problem.

And now that he thought about it, it was perhaps ridiculous.

"My sensors do not indicate any physical damage that deserves to be treated after your last adventure, and Evronians have not been seen in days…"

"'m sorry."

However, he spoke so suddenly that Uno did not know what to say, stopping his metal arms to focus on the sailor-dressed duck.

"Why, Hero? You haven't done anything that warrants an apology."

"But, I've set you aside lately. I've been venturing so much with Scrooge and Della that I presented less and less in the Tower unless Paperinik has to save someone helpless, imprison some evildoer or fight some Evronian." Don moved in his seat, raising his hand when he perceived that the AI would speak, "I know I don't show it much or I don't say it very often, but you are one of my best friends, Uno, and I don't want you to think that now that Della has returned, she will take your place or our relationship will become merely formal and..."

However, Uno began to laugh, and Donald took advantage of the moment of confusion to regain the breath he had lost and loosen his bowtie.

"Do you love me so much, Donald?" He made the gesture of withdrawing a tear, making a table appear with a glass of water so that the duck could cool and ignoring his blush, "is fine, it really doesn't matter."

"Re... Really?" Normalizing his breathing, he observed the sly smile on his partner's face.

"I mean, as long as you don't get hurt or your identity is at risk, I know you also have your life, Hero," that he missed him when he was going to venture? Yes, too much. But he couldn't be selfish and hook his friend to the tower even if he had the ability. "Besides, I am irreplaceable, your family does not know the wonders of artificial intelligence."

As if the smirk didn't say much, using the metal arms he pointed to himself, and Donald couldn't help laughing.

"Yes, you're probably right." In fact, the duck couldn't help feeling bad, it hurt to leave his friend on his own and he didn't know why; maybe because he was kinda chained to the Ducklair Tower—?

"I always have it, Old Cape." Very modestly, Uno appeared in a smaller orb in front of Donald, trying not to change color when he hugged him and attached him to his body. ”Let's watch Anxieties, okay? It's about to start and I don't want to miss this episode."

The sailor laughed fondly and rested his chin on the warm orb, listening and feeling its buzzing as the soap opera began.

On the other hand, Uno could not concentrate over the warm and finally relaxed face of his partner, staying curled up against his body.

As long as Donald doesn't get hurt during an adventure, or if a happenstance occurs that puts Paperinik's identity on the tightrope, it would be fine. He always had multiple satellite cameras to make sure of that, and somehow feel accompanied by him.

(And yes, he had finally managed to learn the expression of the tightrope, as well as others that his companion had taught him. After all, he learned fast, and had a large database with him.)

Hiding his 313 in a large bush next to the ruins of the mansion, Paperinik took his X-Transformer out of the trunk before stepping away from Villa Rosa, listening to the thump of his boots against the concrete.

"Where did the attack was, Uno?" universally, the hero cursed himself for having been distracted again by reading Fantomius' diary while adjusting the shield on his wrist.

"In the central park, fifteen minutes from your current position." Showing his point of view, the hero could see the coordinates on the shield, and paused abruptly at the entrance to the city to press a button.

He knew that his little car had an anti-gravity button, or that he could turn to the springs of his boots if he wanted a safer ride, but none of those objects were quiet at close range and, in addition, the Evronians were not as stupid as other petty criminals he faced on a daily basis.

He could simply go for the 313 once he defeated the aliens and go home once everything was resolved.

"You're about to arrive, PK."

Donald smiled sideways. 12 minutes apart thanks to the incredible technology of his X-Transformer.

"Roger, thanks!"

Uno's next comment, however, was overshadowed by one of the classic monologues of a nearby Evronian who pointed a gun at a young pair of ducks.

This would be easy.

"Your sister?"

The superhero nodded, removing his mask and growling under his breath. He sat in the chair that the artificial intelligence always prepared for him when he returned from a mission.

"Yep, she apparently had a problem with her boyfriend, her emotions were full of skin and that must have attracted them. They're fine, but it was difficult for me to leave them on the porch of the mansion" sighing, the duck let out an ''m upset' without bothering to remove the voice modulator.

"And you don't care if she wants, I don't know, an advice, let off steam and see you're not there?" Donald looked up, his partner's gaze focused on him as he began to stretch his body.

"I told her I would go out and see the houses for sale. But you're right, I should go. It's getting late, and I still have to pick up 313, and there I left my clothes" at that moment, the duck put on the mask again before getting up, wavering, from the chair.

"Do you need me to take you? I'm sure Master Everett didn't mind if we use one of his electric cars" a small orb appeared next to the hero, who smiled in thanks.

If both felt an accelerated blood pressure, neither of them said anything.

"Thanks Uno, but I could use this route to patrol the city, and I wouldn't feel bad about some technological help."

But Donald did not know what invaded him at that moment when he did something that never went through his thoughts and placed a small kiss on the orb.

The duck's cheeks were painted pink under the mask, as if the fact that Uno's orb will change color was no more embarrassing because, if he didn't know his friend's features and gestures, he would have thought of Due.

"I knew you loved me, Hero, but I didn't know how much." Trying to lighten the mood, the artificial intelligence laughed, nervousness lacking in not having it in his system.

"I, er, I'm sorry," he said, concentrating on the squeak of his boots against the ground until he found himself in the elevator, silent as he made his way to the secret entrance.

"You know I couldn't get mad at you even if I wanted to, Old Cape."

It was Uno's last words before Paperinik taken the grappling hook from his suit's belt and point it to a nearby ceiling.

It should be noted that this little accidental kiss had been recorded in the intelligence's database, and he doubted being able to get rid of it easily.

Nor is it that he will need to do it. Paperinik, Donald Duck, was his friend and partner, the person next to whom he defended the planet.

While they were against the world, the other would be fine.

Until Della Duck's pregnancy was discovered and things began to change.

The sailor was reluctant when he handed the X-Transformer to Uno, holding a duffel bag on the other arm.

"What do you mean, will you stop being a hero?"

If he was already confused by the fact that Donald was so attached to him,

(more than usual since the incident of the kiss, which was not unpleasant for anyone after speaking.)

he knew it was a bad omen when he considered that the duck was not exactly the affectionate type.

However, Uno was not sure how much when the visits to the tower were reduced and PK less monopolized the news during the last months.

"It will be the best," the sailor spoke, a raspy voice making his speech more difficult, "my sister was sent on a mission to space, but she has not returned and her kids have already hatched. One of them took 48 minutes to be born... I have to stop seeing for myself and start seeing for them."

"I could take care of them in the Tower. I could expand my database with the care they need, alter the Tower and make it hatchlings-proof" on the face of the AI was a crooked smile, trying to ignore the unknown fail in his system.

Possible was not.

"Thanks, Uno, but I want them to grow safe, my house may be small but it has what it takes. The last thing they'll need 's to lose their uncle because a Paperinik mission went wrong. I mean, Evronians were already defeated, so..."

He yawned, openly showing his tiredness. As if showing himself demonically calm and not showing signs of anger was bad enough.

Uno fought against the willpower that he did not knew he possess when the image of Scrooge McDuck was presented.

Though he did not quite like his friend's uncle for the accidents that caused him in the adventures (as if PK's injuries were not enough before Donald's gradual clumsiness), having hacked the mansion's cameras when they both argued for him sponsoring Della's mission during the ducklings hatching week had not been a good idea.

And that Donald was emotionally weakened didn't mean he could be triggered off.

"But you're tough, smart and sharp, you'll be fine—"

"Look at me, Uno," the duck pointed to himself, and the aforementioned was able to see how old and exhausted he looked, his eyes swollen and reddish through the hyperspectral cameras and his askew feathers, "I'm not as young as I was eight years ago, and my nephews need my full attention, I'm sorry."

Literally the intelligence did not perceive the moment when his smile was erased. The failure in his system was getting bigger and less possible to ignore.

Donald's voice had broken.

"I understand, but... could I meet them one day?" His metal arms didn't stop his friend when he ran and hugged the orb tightly, rubbing his feathered cheek against the glass.

"One day." Smiling sadly, he said nothing when the non-biological hands rubbed his back. "Thank you for always being there, mate."

"Whatever for you, Old Cape..."

The adult sighed heavily and reluctantly moved away from the artificial intelligence, holding the duffel bag tightly.

"I'd like to stay longer, but I have to go with Gyro and hand him the gizmos, and I promised Panchito and José that I wouldn't be out for long."

As he spoke, the speed with which he approached the elevator decreased, especially when he opened it for him.

"See you later, PK."

The sailor's sad smile expanded, and said goodbye with a slow wave.

"Goodbye, Uno..."

That night, he and Lyla Lay were the only entities aware of the Paperinik's retirement by the official source, but Uno did not want to know if it was made public to observe the new episode of Anxieties and the Donald's recordings present in his database.

He was fully aware of his failure when he perceived an unrecognized moisture in his orb, unable to clean it with the metal arms and the electricity of the Tower began to fail.

He was not a fool to recognize feelings, but he had never expected to possess them. It still was the two against the world, yes, but now they would do it each way.

That didn't mean he liked it.

#ducksanta2019 #triumphing in life #as always #el's fanfiction #paperinik #duck avenger #donald duck #uno #uno pkna #duno #della and scrooge are only mentioned #ducktales 2017 elements #not the main focus tho #headcanon biased

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adamarinayu · 6 years

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So with thing where everyone hated Paperinik, and Donald retired. What if Paperinik took a bullet for Scrooge and was like, bleeding out. And he accidentally lets something slip because he's focused on not dying.

Straight-up had to pause everything else just to write something for this, thanks.

It was supposed to be a normal adventure with his nephew and the children- with Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby. A normal adventure with Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby, however, would mean Donald was there, snapping at Scrooge for getting them in danger.

Again.

Donald was not there snapping at Scrooge for getting them in danger again. Instead it was Paperinik.

The masked menace of Duckburg who disappeared nearly thirteen years before.

“I can’t believe you got your children put in danger- AGAIN!” Paperinik hissed, holding his shield up to block Glomgold’s onslaught. The children were quietly being ushered away behind debris by Launchpad, the pilot’s sidekick senses kicking in at the sight of a self-proclaimed hero (even if it wasn’t his hero).

“I didn’t ask ye tae come here!” Scrooge snapped in response, eyes scanning around for his nephew. Where was he?!

“Come on, old man, we gotta go. Forget the treasure-”

“This isn’t about the treasure!” Scrooge interrupted the other duck. “Where’s me nephew?”

“The kids have been taken back to your plane already,” PK said impatiently, grabbing the old duck’s arm and shoving him beside a collapsed stone wall. “You’re lucky I was here or else you’d be swiss cheese right now!”

“Donald!” Scrooge said, glaring at PK. The other duck’s eyes widened slightly. “Donald was here, ye menace, I need tae find him before Glomgold!”

“He’s safe!” PK insisted, grabbing and holding onto Scrooge’s arm before he could run out into the open cavern again. The shooting fell away, probably out of bullets. Glomgold’s Scottish cursing as he fumbled with the gun only confirmed it.

Glomgold meant business this time, it seemed.

“What makes ye think I’d trust a criminal?” Scrooge asked simply, yanking his arm away and darting out from behind the wall. He needed to find Donald.

“Crazy old man!”

His eyes scanned every inch of the cavern, passing right over the crystals set into the ceiling. His nephew wasn’t anywhere. What if Glomgold already got him?

He couldn’t lose Donald, too.

“Un- Mr. McDuck!”

Scrooge whipped around just in time to see Glomgold with a simple pistol, taking aim at him from behind. He had a split second to realize he’d been running in a perfectly straight line, and had practically handed Glomgold an opportune moment- an easy strike.

A novice mistake.

He just wanted to find Donald.

And then PK was there, eyes screwed shut and mouth twisted into a grimace- shield up, but in the wrong direction, and blood quickly began to seep into the suit, hardly noticeable if not for the light of the crystals above.

Scrooge hadn’t even heard the gunshot. The so-called hero collapsed onto the ground within a second, and Glomgold upon seeing the notorious, feared masked duck fall dropped his gun and ran.

“I’ll get you yet, McDuck!” he yelled as he fled the scene, clearly not wanting to be around when PK recovered.

Except Scrooge wasn’t sure if the duck would recover.

PK pulled his shield off and reached over to his side. When he brought his hand back the white feathers were stained red. The duck didn’t look all that alarmed.

“Ah geez- Uno always warned me this would happen one day,” he laughed breathlessly, blue eyes locked on his hand.

Finally Scrooge understood what had happened. The masked menace- the self-proclaimed hero who had, at the beginning of his career, been a mischief-making petty criminal- jumped between him and a bullet.

He needed to find Donald.

He couldn’t just leave PK there.

Making a decision, Scrooge dropped down beside PK. He might not like the duck, at all, but he would never be able to live with himself if he just left him there, injured.

Especially after the other just took a bullet for him.

For a ‘crazy old man’ like himself. Maybe Donald’s claims that Paperinik was a hero weren’t so unfounded after all?

He’d have to think on that later. “Just keep breathin, lad, an’ let me check the damage.” He grabbed ahold of PK’s cape- out of fashion, but PK never struck him as one to care about fashion any more than his own nephew did- and, after a quick scrutiny, ripped it to make damages. PK didn’t protest.

“Aw this is nothing,” PK said dismissively, even though his breathing was uneven and his gaze started darting around. He pressed his hand against the wound again, trying to stop the bleeding. “I’ve- I’ve been through worse.”

“Tell me about it,” Scrooge invited- it would be good for the younger duck to focus on something other than his current situation.

“Fighting the Evronians,” PK immediately answered, as if Scrooge knew what the Evronians were anyway. Maybe those weird purple things Angus Fangus claimed PK was in cahoots with? “And don’t gemme started on when Uno made me fight him in virtual reality- might not have been real but geez, in hindsight I was in ‘is world at that point so I should’a known-”

PK cut off with a hiss as Scrooge tightened the makeshift bandage around his abdomen.

“I won’t pretend tae know what those are,” Scrooge told the masked duck, glancing up and studying his face. His eyes were somewhat distant and his muscles seemed to be relaxing, not exactly a good sign when he knew very well the duck was in pain. Scrooge needed to get him to a proper doctor- Scrooge didn’t know if the bullet had hit anything vital, but he was losing a lot of blood…

“Ha ha, ya’ must’a been livin’ under a rock,” the other almost laughed as Scrooge applied another layer of bandage and pulled out his phone, sending Launchpad a text message telling him to come back. “Then again after the- the Kurezei of Lansophorema nothin’ would really phase ya’.”

Scrooge paused.

The Kurezei of Lansophorema.

Scrooge remembered that well. It was an adventure he and Della took, nearly twelve years ago. One that Donald refused to talk about- ever. One they all agreed to never talk about again. One none of them wanted to talk about.

Seeing the empty eyes of your dead loved ones bearing down on you was… unnerving, at the best of times. Even when you knew it was only an illusion.

Donald had to fight them. Scrooge and Della- they just couldn’t.

He never really knew where Donald got that strength, or what he saw that day that sent him into that rage. All he knew was one moment the duck was on his knees by them, and the next he was screaming and crying, throwing himself at the nearest creature- shouting, You’re not them! You’re not them!

You’re not real!

Scrooge never asked. Donald never told.

“Y’know, I think, one thing about tha’ trip,” the duck continued to ramble, seemingly unaware that Scrooge had frozen, “I saw- saw so many people. People I cared about. People I- I couldn’t save. Ma, Da, Xadhoom, Uno, Poriophloon, Geena, all those Coolflames… so many people. Y’ asked me, what made me so mad tha’ I broke out- tha’ I broke outta the trance- but how could I tell ya’, when… when it jus’ brought everything back? Seein’ all our failures thrown at us- how coul’ ya’ not… not…”

The duck trailed off and Scrooge’s gaze snapped up to his face, seeing the other’s eyes fixed on the wall somewhere across the cavern. They were dull and distant but they were blue. Very blue.

Familiar blue.

Scrooge felt cold.

Carefully, fearfully, he reached up and slid his thumb under PK’s mask. The menace- hero- whatever he was, gave no reaction, and Scrooge pulled the mask off.

He felt like an idiot. It was so obvious now. How could a mask just hide it? How could he have not recognized his own nephew all those years?

“Donald,” he whispered, the name snapping PK’s- Donald’s- attention back to him.

They just stared at each other for a few seconds.

“Sorry,” Donald mumbled a moment before his body finally gave in and he collapsed, Scrooge catching him before he hit the ground.

Perhaps for the first time in a long time, Scrooge found himself screaming for help.

#Ask #DuckTales 2017 #Paperinik #Donald Duck #Scrooge McDuck

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winterpower98 · 5 years

Text

PKNE Droids

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

[I am Paperinik and I’m a hero!]

[I live in the 21° century, but I happen to travel to the future!]

[Sme time ago, someone tried to stop me...]

PK: ... and maybe today you're trying to make me waste time!

PK: Hey, where...

???: PK?

PK: Tyrrel Duckard?

PK: I’m ok, thank you for asking! And you?

Robot Agent: Do not move, this is a police check!

Robot Agent: You are violating the law on public order!

Tyrrel: Everything in order, agent!

Tyrrel: We were chasing the wanted man who knocked out my partner!

Tyrrel: Excuse him, he woke up a little confused!

Robot Agent: Explanation recorder, you can go!

PK: Let me understand too ... especially why you’re calling me partner!

Tyrrel: Because we work together!

PK: You and I?! But you were the one who wanted to erase my reality!

Tyrrel: UHM ... You got hit pretty bad!

PK: You mean you weren't the one ...

Tyrrel: Who knock you out? If so, why would I have taken you to 2179!

PK: Who am I suppose to thanks then?

Tyrrel: I’ll explain everything with a warm drink!

Bartender: Nice cape, friend!

PK: Thank you, I’m happy it’s still an ongoing trend!

PK: Well then? Talk!

Tyrrel: I’m in this century because of an ongoing investigation!

Tyrrel: Since the timepolice has reinstated me ...

PK: O-oh! You’ve become a good droid!

Tyrrel: You can bet!

PK: Keep going then, I’m listening!

Tyrrel: Even if you can’t remember it, we are on the same team!

Tyrrel: You understood that when I came and asked for your help!

Tyrrel: The situation is delicate, a group of droids escaped from the 23° century!

PK: This should be an everyday job for you?

Tyrrel: Not this time! The timepolice discovered where they went ...

[ ... And when! A decisive year for their evolution!]

Tyrrel: We were about to capture them, but something went wrong!

PK: GULP!

PK: Let me guess! They put me k.o.!

Tyrrel: Yup! We located their hideout!

[ While I was inspecting it, you stayed outside on lookout ...]

[ And one of them caught you off guard!]

[ LuckllyI had all the necessary to neutralize their weapon effects!]

Tyrrel: And when you woke up, you hit me!

PK: I suppose I own you an apology then!

Tyrrel: Nevermind, partner! Let’s get back to the hunt instead!

Robot agent: Bartender!

Robot Agent: Those two are regular customers?

Bartender: UMPF! Luckily they’re not!

Bartender: That guy with the ask ruined my menù in 20° century style!

Bartender: It was printed on authentic vintage replypaper!

Tyrrel: This is my office!

PK: So, you’re here in official capacity!

PK: I thought you timepoliceman acted in disguise!

Tyrrel: And it is! This is only a cover!

Tyrrel: I came from the 23° century and in 2179 time travel was already invented, but it’s secret! I can’t attract attention!

PK: Don’t worry, the furniture isn’t too flashy!

PK: But I did expect a device to track down the fugitives’ signals!

Tyrrel: They don’t have any signals, they are standard models!

Tyrrel: Only us timepolice droids have locators and cronoengine!

PK: The how did they escape!

Tyrrel: From a normal public cronostation! Those droids are property of Ruvo Chandra, a big guy in 2298!

Tyrrel: The temporal travel permit was in his name!

PK: Great! Now tell me you don’t even know what they look like!

Tyrrel: Don’t exaggerate, I have their record card! She is Zyba, personal secretary of Chandra!

PK: An updated model of miss Quackfaster! EH EH!

Tyrrel: Miss who?

PK: Nevermind, keep going!

Tyrrel: Soren was his bodyguard ...

Tyrrel: And Moris his attending replica!

PK: Attending what?

PK: Use my words, I can’t understand yours!

Tyrrel: “Attending replica” means he is Chandra lookalike!

Tyrrel: Every celebrity has one for dangerous or ... annoying situations!

PK: It’s not much to track them down!

Tyrrel: We have another clue! I found it in the timepolice archives!

Tyrrel: Recognise someone?

PK: Impossible! I have never been to this future before!

Tyrrel: Well, this proves the opposite!

PK: I ... don’t understand!

PK: Actually yes! You used me!

Tyrrel: Nothing personal, everyone knows your the droids friend!

Tyrrel: You could have been in league with them!

PK: And if this is another me?

PK: One that came from who knows which century, for example!

Tyrrel: plausible hypothesis! Meanwhile, take a look at the view!

Tyrrel: If you didn’t notice, there is the headquarters of Robolab!

PK: The name is not new ...

Tyrrel: I believe it!

Tyrrel: It’s the society that has been studying droids since the 21°t century!

PK: I don’t think I saw any of them around!

Tyrrel: At the moment there are only robots, but in a few years droids will be everywhere!

PK: EH EH! They will fall in price?

Tyrrel: They ever told you you’re funny? They lied!

Tyrrel: The Robolab was bought by a young genius who will revolutionize the research!

Tyrrel: You should know him, his name is Odin Eidolon!

PK: Maybe he is the goal of the fugitives!

PK: What could they want from Odin?

Tyrrel: For example, grant droids more freedom rights from the beginning!

Tyrrel: Or take his place!

PK: You’re raving! They don’t look like him!

[ But this gives them an advantage because Eidolon never appeared in public!]

Odin: Good day, gentlemen!

Tyrrel: Once in command of his industries, the droids could rewrite history!

PK: ULP! No trace of the other me ...

PK: ... But that is Soren!

Tyrrel: Stop! If we follow him he will bring us to his ...

???: Detective Duckard?

Inspector Wuff: I am Inspector Wuff! I would like to talk to you!

Tyrrel: Hard to say no with those assault Robotagents that are with you!

PK: Don’t try to escape, big guy!

Soren: OOOH! PK!

Soren: What are you doing in the 22° century? I would never have hoped to meet you here!

PK: Eh?! Did you hear him ...

PK: ... Duckard?!

PK: This was not planned!

PK: Now you tell e why did you hit e and what are you and your partners planning!

Soren: I ... what?! And What partners?

Soren: We left the future to save us!

Soren: Let me explain!

PK: Alright, but be convincing!

Soren: Good, but let’s go away from here ... ... There are too many curious persons!

[Here is a completely different thing, eh?]

PK: There are at least one billion people!

Soren: Exactly! In this crowd, who would think of us?

Soren: Zybra and Moris will be here in a bit!

PK: I wonder why did I let you call them!

PK: If you’re thinking of pulling a trick, you didn’t understand anything!

Soren: I just want to tell you everything with them!

Soren: I’m not good with words, I’m programmed as and action droid!

PK: I know! After all, you’re the one who sent me sleeping before!

Soren: GASP! D-do you often do that?

PK: Actually, I didn’t remember being able to! Maybe it’s the amnesia!

Soren: It looks like a verification protocol of the mnemonic transfer!

PK: Protowhat? What are you talking about?

Soren: During the memory upload, fragments of elementary contents are distributed!

[The droid activates only when ...]

[ ... manages to reassemble them!]

Soren: Are you sure no one manipulated your memory?

PK: What have I got to do with it? I’m not a droid!

PK: But she is!

PK: She didn’t see us, let’s go to her!

Tyrrel: PK!

Soren: ARGH!

Tyrrel: Don’t lose time! Neutralize him!

Soren: I thought you were on our side!

PK OOF!

Tyrrel: Move! We’ll lose him!

PK: I can’t use the shield with all these people!

Tyrrel: old-fashioned scruples?

Tyrrel: At least moved from the shooting line!

Men: YAGH!

Soren: You won’t take me back!

Men: UH?

Soren: I didn’t do anything bad!

PK: Are you alright?

Tyrrel: Yes! Nice catch, partner!

Tyrrel: Now let’s finish the job!

PK: But .. he’s not stopping!

PK: Is that gadget useful for something or is it only ornamental?

Tyrrel: Don’t be in a rush!

Tyrrel: He’s slowing down, see?

Tyrrel: The inhibitor disables any droid without risk to living beings!

PK: The effect is not really instantaneous, eh?

Tyrrel: No, but it works! Why didn’t you use it?

PK: Maybe because we don’t have that in the 21° century!

Tyrrel: That’s why I gave you one, forgetful!

PK: GULP!

Tyrrel: Look here! How much interesting material!

Tyrrel: There is nothing else, we can deliver him!

Tyrrel: The Chrono - translational will bring it back to the 23rd century!

[ An unwanted journey in the future would confuse anyone, but not PK! Well, more or less .. by the way: better to travel in time at a standard speed and in a week you will know how the mission is going! ]

Tag list

@adamarinayu

@bamboozledeagle

@zanarnaryon

@glowing-gravity

@keriwi1

@pinkpearlapple

@aj-the-bluejay

@emilieschwarz9887

#pk #paperinik #pkne #pkna #comics #topolino #topolino megazine #pk droids #pkne droids #winter translate bad

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waveypedia · 6 years

Text

Power of Four AU - Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Donald Duck was a worrier.

He worried about his safety. He worried about his boys. He worried about Scrooge and Della, back when they were still around.

He glanced at the egg resting in a bundle of Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s old mismatched hatching fabrics.

Wait, no- bad train of thought.

There was a different bad train of thought he needed to board.

How unfortunate.

But he was Donald Duck. Nothing in his life was ever fortunate.

He turned to the calendar, with its picture of two puppies splashing each other playfully with a faded stain of orange from when Louie had called upon his inner picky eater and flicked carrot juice at the wall. The date when Mrs. Beakley had left Webby was circled in red, well over two weeks ago. Long after her estimated return time.

It’s a Shush mission. They’re unpredictable, Donald reminded himself. But the cold sinking feeling in his stomach refused to leave.

He sighed and leaned his head into his hand. His thoughts were muddy from the lack of sleep, but he had a report due for his crappy job that he couldn’t afford to lose. At least in half an hour Louie would wake up. He was a night owl. Even though he wanted his boys to sleep, it was always nicer staying up late doing his stupid work with a warm, cuddly baby in his arms. And Louie loved cuddles.

A loud /crack/ startled him out of his hazy stupor. Instantly awake, his heart in his chest, he glanced around furitiveky for the source of the sound. Memories upon memories of dangerous times adventuring with Della and Uncle Scrooge, being in the Navy, and Paperinik days flashed through his head.

He didn’t want that life for his boys.

Even after he found the source his heart didn’t slow down, because there, nestled neatly in her blankets, laid Webby’s egg.

With a crack down the middle.

Donald’s heart jumped and he immediately abandoned his work and lunged for the egg. He knew exactly what to do, having hatched three boys with only Daisy’s help. He was already reaching for the phone now, abandoning the fact that they’d broken up for her steadfast help.

He glanced at the pink-and-green crocheted blanket with a heavy heart. It was the one that Mrs. Beakley had brought.

Fear settled deep into Donald’s belly.

She would be so sad to miss this, and he was dreading breaking the news to her.

But at the same time, he was terrified she’d never come home to meet little Webby, egg or no egg.

—

“Unca Donald, Unca Donald! There’s a stranger at the door and Dewey’s gonna open it!”

For once, Donald thanked his lucky stars that the houseboat was small. Sure, it was cramped, and barely big enough to hold four lively children, but at least he could reach the front door easily before Dewey had a chance to open it.

Donald yanked the duckling back at the last second, despite his cries of protest.

“C’mon, Unca Donald, strangers are just friends you haven’t met!” Heaving a sigh, Donald glanced down at his youngest kid. Webby’s curious and innocent almost completely mirrored Louie’s

He sighed and ruffled her feathers. “Not everyone, dear. Who’s there?” he called tiredly over the chorus of the kids’ voices.

“Franki Rustfeathers, here about your electrical bill.”

Donald’s heart started pounding and he scowled suspiciously. “We don’t have electricity right now. We’ve cut it.” If he had to go through another harrowing call, he would scream.

“We’re prepared to offer you a new deal, but I need to speak with you first.”

At Donald’s silence, the duck outside groaned. “Look, you can give my boss Ludwig von Drake a call, but I came all this way. Please just let me in.”

Donald’s stomach turned. Shush.

He yanked open the door to reveal a short, dark brown duck wearing a stiff uniform and sunglasses. They glanced over the four children for a moment, but looked away just before any of them would think anything of it. Stomping inside, they pushed past Louie, and the youngest boy hurried to hide behind his uncle and clutch his leg.

Donald gently set Dewey down as Huey closed the door with care. “Kids, there’s a new set of cards in my bedroom. Go check it out.”

Louie, Huey, and Webby hurried off excitedly, but Dewey turned to his uncle with suspicion dawning in his eyes. “Why don’t you want us around when you talk to the angry duck, Unca Donald?”

Donald sighed. “Because I’m afraid he doesn’t like kids much. It’s nothing personal, but if we’re going to get the electricity back I need him to be in a good mood. Electricity means TV. Okay, kiddo?”

Dewey’s face brightened. “I’ll do anything for TV,” he promised, and sprinted back to the bedroom.

Shoulders heavy, Donald padded over to the kitchen where Franki was waiting. He started behind the counter, ruffling through the empty cupboards. “Do you want anything to drink? Water, tea...?”

Franki shook his head and motioned for Donald to take the seat across from them. “We just need to talk.”

Donald nodded and sat down heavily. “What’s the deal?”

“Listen, Mr. Duck,” Franki leaned forward, their elbows resting on the table. An instinctive comment about manners rose to Donald’s beak before he could stop it. “We’ve been searching for you for four years. You have been very hard to find.”

Donald raised an eyebrow. “I made sure of that. I have a lot of... unfriendly people who would be happy to know where I live and that I have four children under my care and my care alone.”

Franki huffed. “Anyway, as you are aware, Bentina Beakley, an agent of SHUSH, left her granddaughter under your care five years ago when she went on a mission. Four years ago, enough time had passed that Agent 22 was declared MIA, basically killed on a mission.”

Donald had been expecting this. He had accepted this truth long ago. Yet it still felt like a punch in the gut. He nodded.

“We need to talk about her granddaughter,” Franki added emotionlessly.

Donald stiffened and he braced himself, squeezing a fist under the table. “What about her?”

“Well, her first legal guardian, should anything happen to Mrs. Beakley, is Scrooge McDuck,” Franki replied.

Donald scowled and struggled to keep his temper in check. “She’s happy here. She doesn’t even know she’s not my kid - Della’s kid.” He slammed his fist on the table. “My family has already been ripped apart once. Don’t make that happen again.”

Franki groaned and rubbed at their temple. “Look, man, please don’t drag your complicated family drama into this.”

“Then let Webby stay,” Donald snapped.

Franki sighed. “I’ll see what I can do. No promises.”

—

Three days later, across town, an old miser’s face brightened at the sight of them, and that look alone made Franki almost tell him everything.

Almost.

“Is there any news?” the old duck whispered, hope shining in his eyes.

Franki sighed “I’m sorry, Mr. McDuck. It was a false lead. I will let you know if I find anything else.”

Scrooge’s face fell. “All right then. Good day.” His voice broke on the last syllable and in his hurry to close the door before the agent saw, he slammed it shut.

Bentina would have lectured him about that. About how old the hinges were and how much money and time it took to fix it, since he was too cheap to replace anything.

He slumped down against the door, the emptiness of his house swirling and settling around him with a finality that wouldn’t lift for seven years.

He stayed there for a long time.

I was writing this during class and I had to slip my phone away quickly so I deleted the note doc. I nearly had a heart attack but I got it back so everything’s fine :P

The two prologue-ish chapters are done! After this we move into present time.

Donald is very, very protective of his kids. And Webby is his kid. It’s the same way in canon and you can fight me on this. But I’m thinking in this story Hortense and Quackmore died early on, and with that and the stuff with Della and Scrooge Donald knows all too well how tough it is to be split from your family. And Webby is his family.

Meet my new OC, Franki Rustfeathers! They’re a nonbinary Shush agent and one of Ludwig’s prominent admirers. They are also Done With This Shit. Plus more on them later!

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glowing-gravity · 6 years

Text

so I kiiiinda ended up not seeing the tags on that post I made the other day about an idea for a fic where Donald gets sent 12 years into the future, but a PKNA version, until just now- which is why I didn’t respond to you guys who were interested whoops- but luckily, I happen to have just finished the first chapter, so!!

@adamarinayu @pkondrugs @emilieschwarz9887 @the-three-caballerbros @winterpower98 (anyone else I should be tagging...?)

it’s also on ao3!

Next Chapter

Chapter 1- Evronians?

Donald hadn't answered when he tried to call him, which in and of itself wasn't something that would warrant suspicion. Donald had to sleep several hours a day, after all; he’d missed calls before.

Paperinik neglecting to act when an Evronian patrol started causing trouble downtown wasn't, at least at first, a particular cause for concern either. He could be rather petty, and Angus' report last night somehow managed to focus on slandering PK even more than usual. Maybe he was trying to prove a point, and would arrive at the last minute to save the day.

When he couldn't find Donald anywhere in the city, he started to worry. He could access anything on the planet, so there was no reason he wouldn't be able to locate him that didn't suggest something had gone wrong.

But it was when Donald's nephews came snooping around the tower, almost a week after the Evronian attack, that he was certain something terrible had happened to his friend. The nephews had never spent any significant amount of time here, as Donald tried to keep them as far out of his PK business as possible, so if they'd found their way here they must be searching for him too.

Or, possibly even worse, searching for Paperinik. Or “both” of them.

While he thought he'd be able to keep an eye on them- he'd been able to keep Master Ducklair away from Donald for nearly the entirety of his visit, before he needed to pretend to be shut off- three ducklings proved to be much more of a challenge to track. They had split up to look around, and dividing his attention between them to keep them out of anything Donald wouldn't want them to find was easier said than done.

Caught up in preventing Dewey from entering one of the passages to the basement and Huey from breaking into Channel 00's offices (whether he was aware that's what he was doing or not), Louie managed to slip into one of the secret entrances to the 151th floor Uno had added for when Donald needed to slip away from someone unpleasant (such as Angus, or his uncle).

And now Louie was up here. Donald won’t be happy, if he gets back.

When. When he gets back.

For now, he was going to have to deal with the problem in the form of a small duck wearing green- Louie had the best taste in color choice, if nothing else- standing in front of him.

"What is this floor?" Louie asked aloud, although he didn't appear to have noticed Uno's visual projection yet.

"The floor previously known as the secret extra floor of Ducklair Tower," he said, startling Louie, who spun around trying to locate him. He moved his main display so Louie could easily see him, and while he was at it, shifted some parts of the building so Dewey and Huey would find their way up to his floor without breaking into anything dangerous.

"Are you some kind of computer?" Louie asked.

"An artificial intelligence, if you don't mind! To be exact, I'm the most powerful, versatile, and marvelous artificial intelligence ever to be built on this planet!"

That was the same thing he'd said to PK when he first snuck into Ducklair Tower a little over a year ago; somehow it seemed fitting to greet his nephews in the same way. Not that Louie would've recognized that.

As he spoke, Huey found his way into the room. "Did you say you're an artificial intelligence? That's amazing! Do you control this whole tower?"

"Yes! I can see everything going on within this building, and even rearrange it if I feel so inclined."

"Is that why there was suddenly that new door that led me up here?"

"You're just letting him up here? I thought you said this floor was secret!"

"You would've told them as soon as you left. This way, I can talk to all three of you directly."

And, speaking of all three of them... "Do you know our uncle? He's Paperinik, right?" Dewey asked, running into the room. Huey and Louie gave him disapproving looks as he joined them. Evidently, telling unfamiliar AIs their suspicions about secret identities hadn’t been part of their plan.

Well, Donald could fix this situation when he got back. For the time being, he was starting to get lonely, and maybe they'd know someone Donald would trust to make a good substitute hero.

"Yes, your uncle is Paperinik. We've been working together since he became the caretaker of Ducklair Tower. Unfortunately, since he disappeared-"

"Do you know anything about that? We've been trying to figure out where he went all week!" Dewey interrupted.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I have no idea where he is, or what happened to him. None of my efforts to locate him have found any traces."

"Last thing we knew, he was visiting Uncle Scrooge. That was last week." Huey frowned.

Louie matched his expression, a reminder they were triplets. "Do you... think something bad happened to him?"

"I can't say either way. Of course, I hope not, but while stranger things have happened than someone vanishing completely off the face of this planet, I don't want to get your hopes up too much. It's also entirely possible he's been taken by the Evronians, or worse."

"... Evronians?"

"Are you talking about those purple monster things Paperinik is always fighting?"

"Yes. They're aliens that feed on emotions, and usually your uncle is the one who holds off their invasion plans. As long as he's gone, a substitute hero of Duckburg is probably going to be needed."

"Uncle Donald won't like that very much..."

"I'm sure he'd hate Earth being enslaved by the Evronians even more. Trust me, I hate to do this as much as you, but I can't fight them myself."

Suddenly, Dewey's face lit up. "What if the three of us were the substitute Paperiniks?"

"Hey, yeah, Uncle Donald trusts us, and we could totally be superheroes!"

He couldn't stop the grimace that immediately appeared on his face. "If Donald was going to be mad that I enlisted a substitute hero, he'd be absolutely furious when he found out I let the three of you be the ones running into danger."

"But we can handle it!"

"And we already know all this secret stuff now!" Uno had to stifle a laugh at the idea that that was the end of the secrets.

Instead, he sighed. "I suppose you can try," he started, and the boys began to cheer prematurely. "But," he raised his volume enough to grab their attention back, "When he asks, we're all in agreement that this was your idea and not my fault whatsoever."

The boys nodded vigorously, although Uno suspected they would've reacted the same for nearly any conditions he imposed.

"So do we get our own costumes?"

"I want a visor!!"

"Can I have cool laser blasters?"

"Calm down, I'm working on the costumes as we speak. In the meantime, let me tell you about the Evronians, so you'll have some idea of what you're up against."

By the time he finished his explanation (which wasn't even that long), Huey seemed to be the only one still paying attention. Dewey had found the Total Immersion Interface system, and Louie was disinterestedly watching Ottoman Empire on his phone. Having a low attention span for admittedly boring- but very important- topics must run in the family.

Luckily, he'd also finished their costumes. It was easy enough to scale down the original PK suit's measurements, and create three smaller replicas, but he decided to go a step further and individualize some aspects of each of their costumes, so they'd still be distinct from each other and their uncle.

"Wow, is this my costume?" Huey asked, carefully taking it from him.

"Your costumes are each equipped slightly differently," Uno began, getting the other two ducklings' attention again and giving them their costumes. "Divided between Huey's special gloves and boots are all the same functions PK's shield was equipped with, including its resistance to coolflaming. Dewey's visor protects his head, but everything else is part of his smaller shield, which is actually closer to a boomerang in combat function. And Louie has wrist-mounted blasters instead of a shield, though they both have all the same capabilities as the shield and aren't limited to just lasers."

"And the hats?" Dewey asked, already wearing his costume.

"The costumes were too empty without something on your heads, but Paperinik's sailor hat felt too personal to the original costume. I modeled them after Huey's cap instead."

"Why don't I have some kind of weapon?" Huey asked, concerned.

"I assumed you'd want to keep your hands free. You can take notes and access files on your gloves, including your Junior Woodchuck Guidebook if you feel so inclined, but they're also entirely functional as a weapon of their own."

"Ooo!"

"So when do we fight those aliens?" Louie asked, glancing up from his phone.

“We’ll have to wait until their next attack, but that gives the three of you a chance to get used to your new suits in the meantime!”

#pkna #pkna uno #huey dewey and louie #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #i speak #glowing scribbles #duck guard na au

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blatherin-blatherskite · 6 years

Text

Merry christmas @atruedonaldist! I’m your secret santa!! I hope you like it, i wasn’t really sure what do write,so I just kinda went with some christmas fun stuff with the kids and Paperinik (since he’s your avatar)! It’s about 3,000 words long, so I hope you like to read! Merry Christmas!

The idea started with Dewey over hearing an argument between his uncle and the newest intern at the Money Bin. He had just left a conversation with the other kids in the mansion, a sort of secret meeting where they discussed what to get everyone for Christmas this year. Considering this was the first year they'd be together as a family, the kids had decided to go out of their way to make the day extra special. They'd decided to all come together to get gifts that would be perfect for all the adults in their lives – deciding to get Scrooge a new compass, Launchpad an aviator cap and goggles, and Mrs. Beakley an all-expenses paid trip to the spa (The boys were worried that this wouldn't be enough for the woman, but Webby whole-heartedly assured them that after they had moved in, her grandmother needed to take a day off.) This just left their Uncle Donald. Uncle Donald was a very simple duck, he didn't want much. He claimed all he needed was a roof over his head and his three boys and he'd be happy. In fact, he had purposely told them that he didn't want a present this year. That being said, the ducklings didn't want to leave him out of the festivities so they all decided to get him something anyway. As Webby so aptly put it, "That way it'll be more of a surprise!" Shortly after her astute statement, however, they found themselves stumped. After a thirty-minuet brainstorming session that resulted in nothing, they decided to split up and brainstorm on their own. That's how Dewey ended up outside the door to a storage room, in the perfect place to overhear an argument.

"Listen, Donald, with much do respect, Gizmoduck is the better hero!" Fenton sighed as he continued to shuffle about the room on a quest to find some spare part or another that Gyro needed. Dewey was stopped outside the door and he positioned himself to where he could see into the room but hopefully the other two ducks couldn't see him. Fenton was busying himself with lifting boxes and shuffling their insides while Donald had seemingly anointed himself to supervisor and was perched on top of a table.

"How so? Paperinik has none of the toys Gizmoduck has and still wins." Donald defended passionately but Fenton just shrugged it off.

"You make it sound like Paperinik is on the same level as Darkwing Duck. He can fly, can't he? He has super strength and super speed as well. He's not exactly unequipped."

"But he doesn't have metal body like Gizmoduck – he's way more likely to be injured!"

"Gizmoduck can get hurt too you know!" Fenton grunted, gripping something in a small box and tugging hard. "It's not like the suit is lined with goose feathers or anything." He pulled again and fell back on his bottom, item secured in his grasp. As he stood up and dusted himself off, he looked at Donald quizzically. "Why do you even care so much? Paperinik is such a low-key hero, I'm surprised you're so passionate about it." Donald entered a rare moment of quiet as he thought about how to respond.

"I guess I just really admire the guy, you know."

"Ah. Well, I get that. The hero life seems pretty glamorous. Come on, help me find my way out of this labyrinth of a mansion. Gyro wants this piece quick. It's for some new toaster or something."

"Oh cool." Donald replied, sounding less than enthused, but he listened to the other duck anyway as he led him out, neither noticing Dewey crouched by the door, a huge grin spread across his face.

***

"Listen, I say we get him a pair of leather gloves so he can grip onto things better when he's fighting bad guys and flipping over bannisters!" Webby pitched enthusiastically, adding a few flying jump kicks for good measure, but Louie rolled his eyes at her.

"Webby we told you, No adventure things! Uncle Donald doesn't like that kind of stuff!" Webby frowned as she went back to crouching on the floor, trying to think. Then Louie chimed in.

"Hey, what about oven mitts? He loves to bake, right?"

"Louie, we got him oven gloves last year." Huey pointed out, but as Louie pointed out those had already been burned up. This caused Huey to point out that the incident that caused them to exist no more was when Uncle Donald officially gave up baking for good and the room was silenced once more.

"Hey guys!" Webby popped up again. "What about a light weight flash light slash baton!" There was a pause as Louie and Huey stared at the girl before she decided to continue. "What? Grandma says you can never go wrong with a flash light." There was another pause.

"We'll put that down as a maybe." Huey said as he whipped out his notebook and scribbled "Flashlight / Baton" underneath "Fruit Cake" and "A new sailor suit". The room had plunged into silence once more before suddenly Dewey bust in, screaming.

"GUYS I HAVE THE PERFECT IDEA!" Three pairs of eyes looked at the out of breath spectacle before them, waiting for the duckling to catch his breath before asking him what was his perfect idea. He didn't wait until he had caught his breath, however, and just jumped straight in.

"LISTENWENEEDTOHUNTDOWNPAPERINIKANDGETHISAUTOGRAPHITSTHEBESTIDEAEVE-"

"Dewey. Breathe." Huey approached his excited brother as Dewey gasped for breath. "Come on breathe with me. In and Out, In and Out." Once Huey got Dewey's breathing back to normal he let his brother continue.

"We need to hunt down Paperinik and get his signature! Uncle Donald would love it!"

"Paperinik? Like the super hero?" Louie asked quizzically and Dewey nodded.

"Apparently Uncle Donald LOVES him! He's a huge fan! And Paperinik is so hard to find, an autograph would be SUPER rare and special."

"Okay, one flaw – you just said he was hard to find." Huey pointed out. "How are we going to find him?" This time it was Webby's turn to speak.

"Simple. We draw him out."

"What?" Both Huey and Louie said at the same time. Dewey smiled though. "I like where you're going with this! We can split into two teams – one to lure him out and one to corner him!"

"I wanna be on the team to lure him out!" Webby extatically cheered.

"Same!" Louie seconded, and Huey shot him a wounded look. Louie responded with a shrug. "What? If we're doing this I might as well utilize my talents."

"But who said we were even doing this?" Huey asked. "Paperinik may be a hero, but he's still dangerous! If he thinks we're actually villains, he's not going to hold back!"

"Oh Hubert, my dear worrywart of a brother we'll corner him before he even gets a chance to hurt the other two!" Dewey swung an arm over Huey's unsuspecting shoulder and Huey went stiff.

"But what about the flashlight? I like that idea let's do that!" But it was too late, the other three had already started planning out their mission. Huey sighed and pulled in closer, knowing that someone had to be the brain of the mission and he just knew it was going to be him.

***

Donald sighed as he stood in an alley, clothed in his full Paperinik regalia. It was December 23rd, two days before Christmas, and some hoodlums had decided now was the perfect time to start causing chaos in his town. Normally the actions that were occurring were far below his hypothetical paygrade, but as there was no Gizmoduck to be seen and they really were starting to become a nuisance, he figured he'd step up and handle it. Call it misplaced Christmas spirit. He'd rather be at the mansion with his kids but his city needed him! And since his kids lived in that city, he could justify spending some time cleaning it up before Christmas. A crash to his left jolted him out of his mental dialogue as his attention was drawn to the metal trashcans to his left, now completely riddled with bb gun pellet dents and some rocks that were most likely slingshot over. He looked in the direction that the shots had come from and saw two shadows running down an ally across the street. Two crooks, minimal arsenal, and they escaped on foot? This would be a sinch.

***

The plan was fairly simple, Huey thought. A couple of days before Christmas start causing chaos around town. Minimal chaos, but chaos all the same, and hope for the best. After they got confirmation that Paperinik was on their trail, the two chaos makers would disband and lead Paperinik to an intersection that they found where they could corner him and (hopefully) not be murdered.

They all had walkie talkies on their person and they all wore disguises as to all blend in together. The first night he had to admit, he was excited. Optimistic even. That is until he and Dewey had to spend five hours in an alley doing nothing together. And another five hours the next day. And another five hours the next day. When it had gotten to be the 23rd, he'd almost told Dewey that they'd have to wrap up this little attempt – clearly they weren't threatening enough for Paperinik to appear – until for the first time in a week the walkie talkies crackled to life.

"We have a go for Paperinik!" Webby practically shouted over the walkie talkie.

"Or at least a guy vaguely dressed up like Paperinik who can also fly." Louie joked. Huey could visibly see Dewey light up as he flipped up his hood and grabbed his bag with his camera in it. He was ready. Huey took a couple of deep breathes before flipping his hood up as well and prepairing to run. He was, in a word, terrified. But this was for Uncle Donald. He'd do anything for Uncle Donald, especially after all Uncle Donald did for him.

"Okay Huey and I are about to run. You guys still remember the plan?"

"Yep." Was Webby's one-word answer.

"Of course!" Louie laughed.

Huey and Dewey made eye contact then began to run, the adrenaline beginning to make Huey's fears fade. Maybe this would all work out.

"We're off! See you in five!"

Yeah, this was great.

***

As Donald flew above the alley way he was confused, suddenly it seemed the perps had doubled in size, as there were shadows darting all around the alleys. He didn't know which one had been the one to shoot the trash cans nor did he want to attack someone who wasn't a part of this – it'd be bad press. As he watched all the shadows dart in and out of alleys and run around buildings, he happened to catch one of the shadows drop something. As he flew in slightly closer he saw that the item was in the distinct shape of a slingshot. Bingo. That's the shadow he'd follow.

Now his intent wasn't to harm whomever was attacking Duckburg's trashcans in the dead of night as it wasn't really a crime. Whoever this perpetrator was seemed young and in need of a good scare to set them on the straight and narrow. As he sped up his flight he noticed the duck was short, almost duckling stature, and talking into a walkie talkie. He didn't have super hearing unfortunately, so he couldn't tell exactly what the duck was saying, but he assumed it was something along the lines of making a rendezvous. He sped up a little more and heard a distinctly feminine voice breathlessly but triumphantly state, "I'm almost there!" He figured now would be as good a time as any for a dramatic reveal.

"Are you now?" He deepened his voice and the duck twisted around, hand to her belt immediately to grab her slingshot that wasn't there, she squeaked as he drew closer, puffing his chest to seem bigger than he was. This kid was no more than just a kid. He didn't think he'd even have to haul her in judging by her size, he figured he could just give her a lecture and let her be on her way. He closed the gap between them quickly as she continued to try to walk backwards, head darting around trying to find an escape route. Before she knew it, however, Paperinik was in front of her.

'Wait, is that Webby?' Donald thought to himself as he stared at down at her, her eyes defiant as she began to talk.

"Hi, Mr. Paperinik, I need a favor from you!"

"A favor from me?" He responded, almost forgetting to deepen his voice. This was just getting stranger.

"Yeah, I mean, If you're not to busy that is. You know with your holiday prep and such. Actually, do super heroes celebrate holidays? Or are you Jewish? Since Chanukah is already over, I guess that'd mean you'd be free to like fight crime and stuff. I mean -"

"Kid!" Paperinik interrupted the rambling girl quickly, knowing that if he'd let her keep talking she'd never stop. "How I celebrate the winter season is none of your concern. What I want to know is why you're out here instead of safe in bed."

"Well, Mr. Paperinik, that's what I'm trying to tell you. I need a favor." She paused for a moment studying his features before asking, "Do I know you? You seem very familiar. I guess if I did know you I couldn't know I know you, cause then I'd be a liability but still - "

"WEBBY!" A young male voice cut her off and Paperinik quickly looked around the girl to see something even more bizarre than Webby out at eleven. It was all three of his boys, who he knew he put to bed about four hours ago. Fortunately, before he had the chance to blow his cover, the three kids ran to their friend and surrounded her, Dewey in front.

"Don't hurt her!" He sternly told the hero standing before him, arms spread out to protect his friend. At this point Donald was near heart attack. Is this how his kids approached danger? What if he had been a villain with harmful intent? On one hand he was proud of his boys for protecting their friend, on the other he was going to have to have a long talk with Scrooge about what he was teaching the boys on their little "adventures".

"Dewey, don't worry, I don't think he's going to hurt me." Webby's voice assured her friend from behind him, and Dewey dropped his arms a bit. But only a bit.

"So, you're the mythical Paperinik, huh?" Louie chirped up from beside Webby. "You're kinda... short. You know, for a superhero." Paperinik turned red. He knew he'd raised these kids better than that. Huey seemed to blanch at Paperinik's rising temperature however and began to speak up.

"Um, Louie, rule 326 of the Junior Woodchuck handbook says "Angering potentially dangerous people can have potentially disastrous results – especially unknown or mysterious people."

"Ah Huey, lighten up. I can so read this guy." Louie waltzed past Dewey to stand directly in front of the hero and grinned. "You wouldn't hurt us right? We're just kids!"

"No, but I would tell your parents that you're all out way past your bed times. Then they might kill you." Paperinik stated with a sense of finality and all four ducklings stiffened at the thought of their prospective guardians discovering exactly where they were currently. With that Donald had felt he'd intimidated his kids enough and he turned to fly off, but before he could he heard Dewey shout after him.

"WAIT HOLD UP!" Paperinik turned.

"What?"

"We lured you out here to ask you a favor." Oh yeah. Webby did mention needing a favor. He proceeded to turn all the way around to face his kids and crossed his arms, trying to think of any favor they could need that they couldn't just ask him for at home.

"What do you want?"

"Could we please get your autograph?" Scilence.

"Wait what?" Paperinik was confused. "Why?"

"Well you see, our uncle is kinda a big fan." Huey explained before Dewey interrupted him.

"Our uncle is your biggest fan! He loves you!" Paperinik could barely restrain his laughter, If only they knew how big a "fan" their uncle really was.

"And so you want my autograph for your uncle."

"Please?" Dewey pleaded while retrieving his pad and pen from his bag. "It's for Christmas. This is our first Christmas with our Great Uncle and our uncle and we really want to make it special for them."

"Yeah, your autograph would be perfect for him!" Louie added. As Paperinik stared at the faces of all of his kids he couldn't resist. He told them not to get him anything and they went out of their way to get him something they thought he'd love. Sure, they'd broken like a million rules but it was for him. He was touched.

"Sure, I'll sign something." The kids cheered as Dewey handed over his note pad for the avenger to sign. He quickly doodled something onto the pad and tossed it back to the group. They all were grinning like mad with success and he was grinning too, more at the bizarreness of the situation than anything.

"Now you all get home. You don't want your uncle to be mad at you, do you?" Paperinik told the group, cringing at the after-school special sound of what he just said, but the uncle with him absolutely meant it. The kids words scrambled over eachother in agreement and thanks before they took off down an alley back to their home. Then he took off back to their home as well, wondering if he should let them beat him back or not. Call it misplaced Christmas Spirit, but he did.

***

Two days later when Donald opened his present he feigned surprise and awe at his own signature. When asked where they got the signature, the kids stammered over themselves with excuses before settling on buying it off ebay, then when asked where they got the money for it they stammered some more. Liars, his kids were not. Still, he’d gotten a good laugh about it, and when they saw he was just messing with them they laughed it off too. And the reaction the kids had to being able to give gifts that everyone loved was honestly half the gift for him. For their first Christmas together, Donald thought they’d done pretty good.

#ducktales secret santa #i really hope you like it #it took me like five hours but it was worth it.#paperinik #ducktales 2017

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callme--starchild · 5 years

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Crazy Old Man

Summary: Scrooge didn't need a growing hero to rescue him, but he didn't know why it essentially bothered him that he did it.

If Scrooge had been hinted that the adventures were in his life even if he was doing something other than being Donald and Della's tutor, he honestly wouldn't have doubted it.

However, he did not expect at all to appear on a quiet afternoon of work, being one that did not involve treasures, while the twins were in high school, when his hardheaded ward was not overprotecting him to make sure he did not get hurt as well as Della.

The years had passed since the death of their parents, the twins had finally accepted it and though the pain was still present they decided to move on, the panic attacks of the male, young duck had finally diminished thanks to the sessions with the psychotherapist and they already saw the adventures as the daily bread when they did not fulfill their academic work.

Their personalities had been molded, despite having small nuances that managed to differentiate them since they were ducklings: Donald, though more predisposed to accompany them, was still the same wee lover of the sea, cautious about temples, caves and other explored places, besides having inherited the homely and overprotective behavior of his parents—making him their vivid portrait—and extremely temperamental in fighting for his family; Della, on the other hand, had inherited his passion for adventures and treasure hunting in places unknown to the rest of the world, the wee space lover always looked forward to the next adventure with her uncle, equally stubborn and throwing herself head on to danger, with a more moderate character compared to her brother.

That is why he would have been surprised when, returning to the mansion in the limousine—driven by Duckworth of course—he was surprised by a crash caused by a pantry truck against a set of vehicles, a chain reaction that caused traffic to crowd around it.

"What in the blazes is this city with car accidents?" He growled under his breath, adjusting his spectacles and watching the cloud of smoke from the windshield that he had understood from the capot of several cars. Discreetly, he watched that again some of the drivers, especially the truck's, will not escape; his nephew and niece had not been able to sleep in peace until the driver who had crashed into their vehicle was arrested, a process that also had not been very easy.

Unfortunately he was not very patient, and the board that was waiting for him in the money bin's office for the meeting either.

He got out of the limo without even listening to his butler raising his voice slightly despite his always monotonous accent, saying he could find a shortcut before he closed the vehicle door, beginning to walk the streets of Duckburg.

Better to walk to the money bin and endure Duckworth's complaints later than wasting time and money on gas that he could later replenish in the manor.

He had walked more during the adventures he had with Donald and Della and was still feeling quite young, after all. Thanks, but no thanks, he didn't need someone to care about him.

Not even when strange purple ducks stopped in front of him?

Bah, nothing he hadn't faced before.

"Wha' are ye, participants oaf a circus? Or a bad imitation of the Beagle family? Beca'se beli've me, ye're nothing Ah hadnae seen." He thought out loud, raising his cane to the ducks in front of him, who only looked at each other, surprised at the snarls of the Scottish duck.

One of them shrugged, seeming to raise his eyebrow—he didn't know, it was indistinguishable from the helmets they seemed to use. Two of them got off their flying skateboards, and quickly got into battle pose, ready to fight.

It was nothing he hadn't witnessed before.

One of them raised his ray gun—which seemed to have been obtained from a low-budget sci-fi movie—toward him, making him accommodate the brim of his top hat and hold his cane more tightly until his knuckles pale.

"Well, I'm late for the tea party? What a shame."

A voice was literally heard from the heights before a clearly metallic object struck the faces of the violet-skinned ducks causing them to fall before returning from it starting point in a boomerang effect.

Scrooge didn't have time to look at the adjoining roof when a masked duck landed in front of him, leaning on his right knee and left hand, the wind waving his cape and the ribbon of his blue sailor's cap while the sun's rays bathed him as if the special effects of a movie—paid for by McDuck Studios—were used.

He had turned his back, refusing to let him see the withering look that in spite of the mask was distinguished on his' face.

"What's up, guys? Have you felt so humiliated to be defeated by someone young that you now attack the elderly? Not even I fall so low, you disappoint me."

But despite the confidence the superhero distilled in his words, Scrooge could not help but sigh indignantly and frown.

Yes, clearly he was someone young though his deep voice contrasted to a short stature, and he also did not declare himself so young when he was over a century old, but who believed that child to refer to him in such certain way?

What did he not know with who's talking to? With someone who don't need to be rescued!

"Ye knoo? Ah appreciate yer help lad, but Ah'm fine, thank ye very much.” In a harsh voice, he touched the superhero's shoulder, feeling an electric current moving from his spine to the tips of his fingers as he brushed the cloth.

"Excuse me? If you have not noticed Un—Mr. McDuck, you was about to become a Coolflame, I am not so rude to attack—you sir," throwing his shield again while taking advantage of the rookie error of the aliens, smiled when he saw how the movement struck the guns, away from their reach.

For a moment he saw the blue eyes of the duck, causing a chill whose motives he did not know how to specify.

"Uno, are you there?" He spoke when the X-Transformer was within reach again, looking again and again at Scrooge and the Evronians scrutinizing his eyes.

"Strong and clear, Old Cape. Literally, lower the volume of your microphone please." A voice was heard, making him impossible to recognize the accent. "Wait, I can do it myself."

"Fine, I need you to take Mr. McDuck to a safe place." Donald knew that the Artificial Intelligence, despite the teasing, might be able to hack the limo and make Duckworth not only get out of traffic unexpectedly, but also achieve make it faster to fulfill his work.

That they attacked surprisingly when they used to do it at night, not only had he escaped from school, risking that they would call his uncle and risk his identity, but they had also made a fatal mistake dealing with someone in his family.

Even the smartest villain his uncle had knew he had never had to mess with one of them.

He kept his eyes fixed on the aliens when he sensed his uncle's vehicle approaching, smiling smugly, thinking about the confusion that might be on the butler's face.

This would be fun.

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

The attack and consequent Paperinik's rescue had not taken long to appear in the news, from 00's to those of other well-known newscasts, so Scrooge was not taken by surprise when Donald stumbled into the mansion throwing his backpack towards the recliner, his blue flannel shirt messy and panting heavily.

"Unca' Scrooge!" He raised his voice as soon as he slammed into the study. The Scotsman had already made the counted coins aside, expectant to see his startled nephew. Beside him, Della was walking at a quieter pace, but that didn't take away her worried expression. "We hear what happened, are you alright?"

Practically the young duck squawked playing with the hem of his shirt. Scrooge requires remembering to schedule the next speech therapy for the boy.

He soon felt the teenager's arms surround his shoulders in a hug. The duck was incredibly strong for someone sixteen, not to mention he was measuring his strength so as not to hurt his uncle.

"Dinnae worry, lad, Ah'm fine. Th' egoc'ntric... hero, Paperinik, was there" the old man had been spitting his words while stroking the ward's hair feathers. The hero's pride had a collision with his, the excessive respect he still had as a completely new vigilante drowned him.

He said nothing when Donald hugged him harder, he did not perceive the tension that recorded his features.

When Della approached, though, he hid his face in his uncle's neck, stroking—almost preening—the askew feathers present there.

"Donald practically rushed Duckworth to get home faster, he wanted to know if you were okay. You know, typical Donald." She smiled nervously, playing with a lock of hair.

Scrooge patted her nephew's back awkwardly, stroking his back and forth, feeling back in time when the hardest part was sleeping a small, terrified duckling before a nightmare.

But the young duck closed his eyes tightly, coding even more in the face of his uncle's emotional contact.

He had to find a way to thank Uno for his quick assistance, he thought, leaving behind his dominated emotions about his devil-may-care and cool-for-being-affectionate behavior.

Because he was aware that he would do anything to protect his family, from the unthinkable as escaping from school when he received an Evronian alert that involved his uncle, to the most dangerous as being a superhero in the company of a bossy orb and keeping it secretly before a life where adventures were presented on a daily basis.

Because these ducks don't back down.

#teamuncleweek2019 #donald duck #scrooge mcduck #paperinik #this is just an excuse to use him #because i love pk so much #papa scrooge #papa scrooge au #also he didn't started as a criminal #as part of the au #day 7 #my weeks

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adamarinayu · 6 years

Text

I was just writing randomly trying to get into a groove and WHOOPS IT’S 12:30 AM AND I GOTTA GET UP AT 6:30 WELL THEN

Donald and Uno friendship stuff

He found the hero sitting atop Ducklair Tower late one night, eyes gazing over the lights of the city to the water beyond.

Climbing up the tower was a non-issue for the droid- he knew the tower inside and out, after all, it was his home and for so long it had been him.

Donald didn’t glance up even as Uno sat down next to him. Uno looked at the sky, noting with some melancholy that the stars and moon were hidden behind a blanket of dark clouds, almost invisible in the darkness around them. Not that the stars would be visible, anyway, with the city shining so bright beneath them.

“You know it’s cold, right?” Uno asked, his sensors alerting him to the near-freezing temperature around them. Donald shifted only slightly, drawing his cape tighter around himself.

“I know,” Donald answered, voice uncharacteristically soft- eyes strangely distant. Uno studied his friend’s expression, noting how dull his lightless his eyes looked. He hardly saw the reflection of the hero’s beloved city there.

Something wasn’t right. Uno leaned back on his hands. “What happened this time?” he asked simply, wondering what riveting adventure Donald had been on to return him in such low spirits. It wasn’t unusual, honestly- as much as Donald loved adventure, the adventures he went on with his family always seemed to leave him drained and so very sad. So unlike when he came back from a mission as Paperinik, or DoubleDuck (though Uno still hadn’t told Donald he knew about that...), or came back from a trip to Mouseton or Spoonerville, or from Brazil or Mexico-

To put it simply, it was always those damned adventures with Scrooge and Della that left Uno’s friend so disheartened.

“It was nothing,” Donald said flatly.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing.”

“No, Uno- it was... literally, nothing.” Uno remained quiet, waiting for Donald to explain. “It was just... Scrooge and Della. If I hadn’t have been there, it would have been exactly the same. I don’t think they even looked at me.” Donald closed his eyes and sighed, his breath a white cloud against the black night. Somewhat morbidly Uno was reminded of those cartoons where the character’s spirit just leaves their body.

Honestly, with how Donald looked right then, he wouldn’t be surprised if that was exactly what happened.

“I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You’re not a burden,” Uno said.

“Then why do I feel like one?” Donald didn’t even give the droid a chance to answer, barreling on with, “I go on these amazing adventures with them and am never noticed, but when I am noticed it’s to be blamed, or laughed at, or used as, as- as cannon fodder!”

Donald was becoming agitated- that had not been Uno’s intention. Had they been inside he could have changed the subject, had some hot chocolate and donuts made and brought in for Donald- but they were outside, in the cold, more than 150 stories up looking over an ungrateful city...

“That never happens when I’m with you,” Donald all but whispered, his fists clenching. “Or Panchito and Jose, or Mickey and Goofy, or...” he trailed off, but he didn’t need to continue for Uno to understand.

Uno didn’t say anything, watching as Donald relaxed and opened his eyes again. He seemed to have given up, and that scared Uno.

“I just,” Donald started slowly, eyes trained on something in the distance, “wanted him to love me the way he loves Della.” There was so much hurt in his voice, Uno hated it. “I just... I just wanted to be part of the team, rather than his... tagalong nephew. I wanted to be there because he wanted me there, not because... because Della and I are a package deal.”

The defeat on his friend’s face was too much for Uno. Carefully, he reached out and set a hand on Donald’s shoulder.

“I know I can’t speak for your family,” Uno began carefully as Donald finally looked at him. “But I can speak for myself, and I’m sure your friends will agree. Adventure makes you happy- it is impossible to deny.” He considered his words carefully, watching the emotions flickering through Donald’s eyes. “You are an adventurer. That is what led you to be a hero in the first place. But...”

If he were biological, Uno would have taken a breath. He almost felt a need for one, regardless. Donald was looking at him with such a soft, yet intense, gaze that Uno almost felt himself go mute.

“But,” he forced himself to continue, “you are my friend before a hero or adventurer, and... you don’t seem happy with them.” He kept going, this time not allowing Donald a chance to respond. “They love you, that is undeniable, and you love them, that is undeniable. But you are not the kind of adventurer they are, Donald. You are different. And that is okay. That does not make you a burden. You are important, whether or not they can see it.

“So perhaps,” he continued, voice softer, “instead of adventuring for them, you start to adventure for yourself- like you do when you’re with me, or the Caballeros, or with Mickey and Goofy.”

The silence that fell between them was loud. The wind whistling against the glass- the sounds of the city, so distant and faded so far up- somewhere high above them a plane- and all the while neither duck looked away.

“I don’t...” Donald started, then seemed to rethink his words. He took a breath. “I don’t want to adventure with them anymore.”

Although his words didn’t surprise Uno, he still felt sad- so very sad- for his friend.

“Those adventures... don’t make me happy. Not because they don’t notice me,” Donald said carefully, thoughtfully. “Not because I get hurt, or because I’m an afterthought or any of that. I’m used to that.” He breathed again, and Uno realized just how hard this was for him. “It’s because I... I can... I can feel them drifting away. Losing focus. It’s all about- about the adventure- the treasure- what they get out of it. Not... not the places we go, or the things we learn, or- or the amazing things we just see, or the fact that we’re together, like it used to be.”

Donald averted his gaze, looking back to his city, but Uno didn’t follow suit. He waited.

“They always want to go, go, go, never just enjoy the moment! Eyes always on the treasure, never the moment, and they remember things in counts of gold and jewels and ancient pottery, not in photographs and laughs and silly shenanigans. That’s what I like about adventure with Jose and Panchito- it’s about the journey, not the destination!” Donald seemed to almost become manic, Uno isn’t quite sure when he started speaking with his hands- the droid had been focusing on his face. “And- that’s what I like about adventure with Mickey and Goofy! It’s about the laughter and the joy, not the prize. With Gladstone and Fethry it’s all about what happens, sudden twists and turns in the plan, photographs without context... And...” he trailed off, glancing back at Uno as his hands fell into his lap. He was suddenly calm. “I like adventure with you, because we just... talk. Laugh. Make memories that are more than about some ancient treasure, or new discovery, or this week’s villain. Or you send me on a mission to try and gleam some info about the new episode of Anxieties, like the fanboy you are,” he added almost humourously.

Uno gave him a pout. “You never did tell me anything.”

Donald cracked a small smile. “Ya should’a been there, buddy.”

“I was. You just wouldn’t let me see anything.”

He laughed. Uno smiled slightly. But the laughter died, leaving them in that deafening silence again. They stared out over the city together, Uno’s hand remaining on Donald’s arm. It was comforting- the contact. It let them know they were still there. Still alive. Still warm. Still breathing in the frigid December night air.

“I just want them to see me the way you guys do,” Donald finally said, voice cutting through the night. “To see the adventure the way we do. To see it as... a journey, and not... not a...”

“Profit?” Uno suggested.

“Yeah. A profit.”

The silence was louder than ever. Uno knew Scrooge and Della would never see things the way Donald did- Donald was good. Donald was peaceful. Donald was brave, and heroic, and so loving and thoughtful. It took a special person to be anything like Donald.

Scrooge and Della were nothing like Donald.

Maybe that was the problem.

“God, I’m freezing my tail off,” Donald spoke up, and Uno knew he was just looking for a new subject. “Let’s get inside before I turn into a ducksicle.”

“Whatever you say, Donald,” Uno said, forcing a smile. It wasn’t okay, but he’d play along.

He always did.

#DuckTales 2017 #Paperinik #Crossover #Donald Duck #Android!Uno #Marina just randomly wrote something #No purpose #No reason

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adamarinayu · 6 years

Text

So I wrote a small Dark Ducks Lite AU thing (oneshot? Drabble? Idk) so here.

Context; This society has three classes of people; Mundane (non-magic biological folk), Magi (magic folk) and Androids (non-biological folk). Donald is a Magi from a family of Mundane. A childhood accident with his magic left both him and Della scarred, and in a terrible misunderstanding Donald ran away afterwards, feeling like his family was rejecting him. A little over 20 years later he lives in Duckburg as Paperinik, living in Ducklair Tower with Uno, an Android (who are below both Mundane and Magi in the social class system). An event in the city led him to kidnapping Scrooge, Gladstone, Della and Della’s children (and Webby), none of whom know Paperinik is Donald. Donald reveals his identity, to the adults’ shock and the children’s confusion, and Donald learns they never told the children about him. He is not surprised, and further solidifies his idea that he was rejected from the family. This scene is directly after.

“Wait!”

The masked duck stopped and turned to look sharply at the green-clad duckling and his brothers and sister. They skid to a stop, each running into the next in line until Louie was knocked off his feet.

Donald didn’t move, instead watching as the duckling in red pulled his fallen triplet to his feet.

“We don’t understand,” Dewey spoke up, stepping around his brothers. There was a strange look in his eyes, and Donald’s gaze slid upwards as the three adults came to a stop behind the kids.

Scrooge looked wary and Della... he wasn’t sure. She looked worried. Gladstone just looked upset. This wasn’t ideal to any of them.

A strange energy was coursing through the building. Donald knew Uno wasn’t happy he let them out of their cells, but Donald- better than anyone else- knew that the building itself was the best cage possible, when Uno wanted it to be.

They couldn’t go anywhere the Droid and Magi didn’t want them to.

“If you’ve been in Duckburg this whole time, why didn’t you just- come home? Why haven’t we ever met you? Or heard of you?!” Louie demanded, pointing accusingly at Donald. As if it was his fault.

He would have laughed, if it wasn’t so... sad.

“I don’t go where I’m not welcome,” Donald answered simply, staring his twin in the eyes. She seemed surprised by his words, but before she could say anything he added, “As for why you’ve never heard of me, ask them. They’re the ones who didn’t tell you about your Magi uncle.”

“Magi?” Huey’s words stumbled in his shock. “You mean you’re-”

“What else would disgrace one of the McDuck heirs?” Donald snorted, turning away from the people he had once called his family. “Ever wondered how your mother got that scar?”

Of course it hadn’t been on purpose, but the children had no way of knowing that. They had no way of knowing Donald, only seven years old, had lost control of his magic. That it had exploded when he was right in front of Della- that the matching scar, hidden under his mask, was just as accidental as his sister’s.

“Uncle Donald-”

He didn’t know which one said it. It didn’t matter, though. He whipped around and snapped, “Don’t call me that!”

His words shocked the children into silence, and Della moved closer to her children and honorary niece. Or daughter. Donald wasn’t sure. Webby didn’t call Della ‘mom’ so he doubted she was related biologically to them.

“But- you’re our uncle,” Dewey stuttered, blinking. It was an action Donald recognized from years of looking at himself in the mirror- wondering why he wasn’t good enough, what made him so bad, blinking back tears as he tried so hard not to hate himself. To not feel so hurt.

“You don’t even know me,” Donald told the child, tensing up and lifting his chin. He refused to let all his childhood doubts flood back in. “None of you do.”

“Then- let us get to know you!” Webby finally spoke up, pleading as she stepped away from Donald’s twin. None of the adults stopped her, though they looked as tense as Donald felt. “Let us help you!”

“Help me?” he snorted. Sure, he was technically a villain- petty thievery, vengeance and, now, kidnapping were on his neat little record, and he had control over basically every criminal ring in the city by now. Help? It was laughable. “Why would you possibly want to help me?”

“Because whether you like it or not, you’re family,” Huey spoke up, determined. “And family helps family.”

The words were familiar, even though he hadn’t heard them in over twenty years. Not since he was seven, not since he fled their anger and rejection.

They made him feel cold, though, and the silence that fell was heavy, like a burden none of them knew what to do with. It was suffocating, and Donald stared at them, gaze turning colder with every passing second.

Gladstone, at the very least, seemed to realize the hypocrisy behind the lesson they had instilled into these children. He looked away, an expression almost akin to shame settling behind his eyes.

“So you’re still saying that old motto, huh?” Donald almost laughed as he looked at his uncle, sister and cousin. “Funny, considering you didn’t even tell them I existed.” His gaze dropped back to the children. “I learned a long time ago that family doesn’t always help family. There are exceptions to every rule.”

He flicked his cape and turned around, continuing down the cold metal hallway.

“And I’ve always been that exception.”

#DuckTales 2017 PK AU #Dark Ducks Lite AU #Oneshot Drabble Thing

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adamarinayu · 6 years

Text

A Return

So I have finished this “story” at 12 little drabble-chapters (I call them drabbles because they fall short of my typical 2,000+ words...) but I’m gonna post them slowly. Granted, by “slowly” I mean the other seven parts will probably be posted tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.

This can’t be happening.

It was almost a silent plea with the universe.

That’s all behind me now.

Scrooge gave him a strange, questioning look before leaving the room, giving Donald and their guests the privacy requested. The children were, thankfully, at school, and not there to spy on them from the vents.

He can’t be here.

But he was.

Stood before him was Everett Ducklair- a duck Donald both loved and hated the sight of. The duck who created Uno, the duck who took Uno- and the tower- away from Donald for good.

He stood there, another duck around Donald’s height by his side.

“It’s been a long time, Paperinik,” Everett greeted him. Donald flinched.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’m not Paperinik anymore.”

The stranger seemed surprised- maybe he hadn’t been aware that Donald was Paperinik- but Everett just smiled.

“Now you know that isn’t true.”

“It is. My kids come first now.”

“Then you are definitely still Paperinik.”

Donald raised a brow. “You seem pretty convinced of that.” He shifted his weight to the left, glancing at the other duck. “Why are you here, Everett?”

“To tell you the Evronians are back,” Everett answered simply. “They’ve joined forces and are coming here.”

Donald tensed up, staring at Everett. “Why? It’s been twelve years.”

“Recuperation, and getting the reports from the survivors,” Everett dismissed, stepping over to Donald and setting a hand on his shoulder. Donald glanced at it and seriously considered shrugging it off. “Old friend, I know it’s not fair of me to come here into your home where your family lives, but you must understand- this is bigger than just you and your family. They’re not coming to coolflamize your people, or gather slaves, or any such thing- they come, intending to destroy your world and everything on it.”

“And how do you know this?” Donald demanded, brushing Everett’s hand away.

“Simple; we intercepted their communications, Old Cape.”

Donald’s gaze snapped over to the other duck, who was watching him with a familiar intent. The voice was familiar, and there was only one person in the world- the universe- who ever called Donald Old Cape.

He hesitated for just a moment. “Uno...?”

“Took you long enough.”

“Well it wasn’t obvious! I mean, you look very different, you know!”

Uno grinned at him, such a familiar action on an unfamiliar face. “Focus, Donald, this is a serious conversation,” he reminded the former hero. “We intercepted the communication between three different emperors and came here as fast as the ship would allow us.”

“You’re-”

“An android, yes. The ships are no more than three and a half days behind us, there isn’t much time to prepare.”

“Why-”

“Another time, Donald.”

Donald wanted to hug his friend- but it had been twelve years. That was a large gap. He wanted to hug Uno and not let go- but maybe Uno didn’t miss Donald as much as Donald missed Uno? He wasn’t sure- maybe Uno wouldn’t be okay with being hugged? He’d never had a body before, and besides-

Twelve years was a long time.

And, as Uno had said, he and Everett had come for a very specific, serious reason. Maybe he wouldn’t even be around very long- just long enough to help him save the world.

So, he took a breath and rubbed his forehead. Through the vents he heard the front door slam open, four sets of feet scampering across the foyer tile accompanied by the children’s laughter. Gladstone’s voice was softer, calmer, more relaxed as he warned the kids that Scrooge would make them clean the mud they’d tracked in.

If the world was in danger, so was his family.

His family was the one thing he wanted to protect, more than anything else.

“Right,” he agreed with a sigh. “I don’t want to, but if I need to then I have to,” he decided firmly, hearing through the vent as Huey yelled for his brothers to do their homework like he and Webby were.

Uno’s gaze flicked over to the vent, no doubt able to hear the children just a few rooms over, loud as they were.

The android then shared a look with Everett, the latter shrugging slightly. Uno looked back at Donald and stepped forward.

“Good. And also,” Uno started, smiling at Donald, “it’s good to see you again, partner.”

Donald found himself pulled into a hug by the AI- the android?- his friend, and quickly he hugged him back. Twelve years was too long- but this was so much more than Donald was expecting. He was expecting never, after all.

“... And now; when the hell did you have kids?!”

Oh. He probably should have worded that better.

#DuckTales 2017 #Paperinik #Crossoverish #Donald Duck #Everett Ducklair #Uno #I like the idea of them reuniting and Uno thinking at first that the triplets and Webby are actually his kids lol

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adamarinayu · 6 years

Text

Goodbye, Part 2; Secrets

Part 1 here

Part 3 here

As soon as he was composed enough, Gladstone slipped the disc into the player.

“Gladstone,” Donald’s face immediately appeared, looking tense. “If this is you, select the correct symbol on screen.”

Six symbols appeared on the screen; a clover, an anchor, a fish, a house, a tree and a face. A timer slowly counted down in the corner. Gladstone internally panicked; what did that mean?

“You only have two chances to get this right. The disc’s contents will erase if you get it wrong twice, but you should know the answer. I’d have given it to you.”

He panicked more and stared hard at the six symbols. He grabbed the remote, not sure what he was doing.

He could pick at random, he knew- he had a pretty good chance at getting it right. But he didn’t want to risk it- not with this.

Not with whatever secret message Donald left for him.

Then Donald’s words suddenly echoed back in his head. Remember; one, he had said. But none of that meant anything to him. None of these images said “one.”

His eyes scanned over them, desperate, before it hit him.

It wasn’t any of the symbols. Quickly he switched the remote over to the timer and silently celebrated his thinking; what other reason would he be able to interact with the timer if he was wrong?

He watched the numbers slowly count down.

6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1-

He clicked.

The screen went white for a moment, and then Donald was back on screen. “Thank goodness you remembered,” he almost laughed. “I hope I actually told you the clue before... whatever happened, happened. Knowing you, your remote might have fallen and accidentally clicked the right place at the right time. I will haunt you if that happened, by the way,” he warned, glaring out at Gladstone.

Gladstone let out a breathless laugh, wiping a stubborn tear away. Some things never changed.

“If you had the same address for more than a few days, I could have sent this to you instead of Uncle Scrooge and we could have avoided that dangerous minigame,” Donald pointed out, clearly irritated. “Now that I’m sure it’s you,” he continued, “I want you to go to Ducklair Tower. Don’t go in the front, they’ll stop you if you do. Go around the back of the building to a service entrance. It won’t be locked. Go to the nearest elevator and make sure you’re in it alone. Don’t do anything. I promise this isn’t a wild goose chase,” Donald cracked a smile on screen, though he didn’t seem amused by his own jest. “Just trust me, the way I’m trusting you.”

Then the video went blank. Gladstone tried rewinding it, only to find that now there was nothing on it.

Whatever was in that tower, Gladstone realized, Donald didn’t want anyone else to know about.

He stood in shock as he took in the floor. It was large, with one-way mirror glass. It was nothing like he was expecting, and slowly he walked through the room, looking around.

The goose couldn’t even explain what he was seeing. Donald knew about this? Sure, Gladstone knew Donald was the caretaker between his, Della and Uncle Scrooge’s adventures back when Scrooge owned the building, but it had been years since then. Heck, Gladstone was willing to wager it had been at the very least four years, if not five.

“You’re Gladstone Gander?”

He shrieked, whipping around. No one was there with him.

“Wow, I can tell you’re related to Donald.” The voice sounded rather dead despite its joke, and Gladstone watched as a head formed in a giant green orb in the middle of the room.

“Wh-what- huh, you-” he stammered, staring wide-eyed at the orb.

The orb looked less than impressed. “I’m One,” it- he?- introduced it- him?- self. “Donald preferred to call me Uno, but I’d appreciate it if you refrained from doing the same.”

Gladstone blinked, noticing a strange tone in the orb’s voice. It sounded almost angry. Or upset. Like it was doing its best to deal with some sort of pain...

“What... are you?” the goose finally asked, approaching One.

“An artificial intelligence,” One answered simply, seeming to observe Gladstone. “I don’t know why Donald trusted you with this, from what I’ve heard you should have been the last choice, but it is what it is.”

“What is what it is?”

One turned away from him and panels on the wall opened up, revealing-

“The Duck Avenger’s suit?!”

“Paperinik,” One corrected almost crossly, closing the panels again. “Donald didn’t want to leave Duckburg without a hero. You will not be becoming the new Paperinik, I refuse to allow that, but he wished for you to take his place.”

“Wait,” Gladstone uttered, not sure he could take any more surprises that day. “Donald is... was... the Duck Avenger?”

“Paperinik. And yes.”

The goose took a breath, turning to look at One. “Can you tell me what happened?” he finally asked. “Not about... Paperinik, but with Donald. Where is he? What happened?” He felt his eyes burn, his chest ache.

Would this... artificial intelligence even know?

Amazingly, though, as One looked at him, its- his?- synthetic face seemed to soften. It- he, Gladstone corrected, believing that expression, that tone, to be way too human to be anything but- apparently realized that Gladstone was hurting, too.

His next words were gentler. “The artifact that he, Della and Scrooge retrieved on their last adventure was cursed,” One explained, a dull claw-like hand popping out of the floor and pushing Gladstone into a chair that seemed to come from nowhere. “He asked me to look at its history, and I did. Turns out, the spear corrupts those who hold it- and anyone around them. Donald realized it would hurt not only himself, but you, your uncle Scrooge, Della and her children- and anyone else you were close to.”

“So it is Scrooge’s fault,” Gladstone all but whispered.

“In my opinion? Yes.” One turned to a wall of screens, prompting Gladstone to look over as well. “But Donald loves his family more than anything, so he took the spear anyway.”

The screens lit up with Donald’s face again. He seemed to be in a vehicle of some kind, a beautifully carved blue spear behind him.

“Hey Uno,” Donald’s voice echoed around the room. “Y’know, I left messages for everyone else- even Panchito and Jose. But I didn’t leave a message for you.”

“I’m right here, Donald,” One’s voice echoed in the vehicle, though it was soft. Almost a whisper, if Gladstone had to say. He clearly knew Donald wasn’t coming back. “You don’t need to leave me a message.”

“Will you record anyway?”

“I already am.”

“Okay. Thanks. I’m sorry it ends this way,” Donald started, eyes focused ahead- the windscreen, probably. “But... it’s for the best. You know that, right? We don’t even know how this thing would affect an artificial intelligence, even less you. You’re too... human, y’know? You have a conscious like us. And this thing- it twists our consciousness, yeah? So... I’m doing this as much for you as them.

“Maybe it sounds ridiculous, but over the last six years you’ve really become my best friend, and I don’t even want to consider what could happen to you in the downfall.”

The spear behind Donald began glowing brightly and Donald grimaced, gritting his teeth.

“Also, if Everett comes back around, tell him, uh, I’m sorry he had to lose this car. I just... need to make sure this thing’s gone, out of reach, forever.”

“Donald-” One’s voice started, but Donald held up a hand, cutting the AI off.

“Everyone dies eventually, Uno. I have no regrets. Thank you for staying by my side, even when I was being an idiot. The last few years have been... honestly, the best of my life. And for the record, I do too.”

Whatever he meant, Gladstone wasn’t sure- probably referencing an earlier conversation, one that Gladstone wasn’t privy to. In the recording, there was the sound of slamming- through the window Gladstone could for just a split second see dark, greenish-blue water.

The ocean.

The video cut off then, though Gladstone had a feeling it wasn’t the end. Whatever conversation followed, clearly Uno- One- whoever wanted to keep to himself.

“He asked me before he took the spear if I’d make you into a hero, too. Della is a mother now, and Scrooge is an old moneybag, and he was hoping he could trust you.” One turned to him again, eyes narrowed sharply. “If his trust is misplaced, be warned, I can and will erase your memory without absolutely no hesitation.”

Gladstone held his hands up defensively. He swallowed roughly past the lump in his throat and the hole in his chest. He knew, now, that One was actually who heard Donald’s last words.

Maybe he was even there when Donald died.

It hurt to even consider and he dared not ask. It was obvious the AI cared greatly for Donald. He was hurting, too. Gladstone didn’t want to make it worse.

“Of course,” Gladstone agreed, silently bidding his carefree lifestyle adieu. This was Donald’s first, last and only request of him- his final request. How could he possibly say no? The city needed a hero, and Duck Avenger... Paperinik...

Donald was gone.

One watched him critically for a few seconds before nodding, seemingly satisfied. “We’ll begin training immediately Sunday.”

Sunday. The day after Donald’s empty-casket funeral. Gladstone swallowed and nodded.

“Stay still while I measure you, I’ll have something made by the time you come back. Also, think of a name. Come back Sunday, one o’clock PM, and don’t be late.”

On Saturday, as Gladstone stared at that dark oak casket, he wondered if One was watching somehow.

He didn’t doubt it. He dropped a rose into the grave on top of the casket, as did the rest of the family, and stepped back as the burying began.

He wiped his eyes.

Tomorrow, he would become Cloverleaf.

#DuckTales 2017 #AU #Donald Duck #Gladstone Gander #Uno #Uno won't let anyone but Donald call him Uno #He mourns

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