Flipping the penny, Lena strode across the mansion floors. "How neat is this?" She smirked at her ghost father. "I've got everything I could possibly want." With a small skip in her step, she rearranged things in the mansion with her magic. "I freed you, trapped Fethry in this little coin, and now I even have my own mansion. Quite a step up from that dirty amphitheater at the beach." She nudged Poe, only for her elbow to slide through his ghostly form. Looking up at him, she frowned. Those cold, dead eyes stared back at her. Despite freeing him, he was still dead. Lena couldn't do anything about that.

"Lena, this is ridiculous." Lena groaned at her aunts voice. Magica chased after them, picking up her skirt. "You can't just take revenge on a whole town."

Lena spun to face her. "Uh, yes I can, and I did. And you're welcome for your body back."

Magica shook her head. "I only ever became a shadow to stick closer to you. I was trying to keep you out of trouble, and clearly, I failed. End this."

"Nah." Lena scrunched her beak, smiling. With the wave of her hand, a purple cage formed around Magica.

"Lena!" Magica glared at her niece, careful not to touch the bars of the electrified cage. Her gaze softened, giving up. She looked at Poe, a bittersweet expression on her face.

"Lena?"

She turned up at Poe's voice. "Yes?"

"Is... Is it really you?" Staring up at him, her heart sank. Poe was broken, separated from her world entirely. She didn't know what she could do to help him. He had died when she was too young to remember him much. She had only known that she wanted him back more than anything.

"Yes." She couldn't take her eyes off him. He was there. She was there. And yet neither of them were really there, with him as a ghost and her as a shadow. Both trying to pose as real.

A fighting grunt drew her back to reality. A team of shadows burst through the door, carrying an aggravated Donald. She put on a smile. "Oh, good! He's here!" She motioned for Poe to wait before skipping off to greet Donald.

"Lena? What's going on?" Donald yanked his arms from the shadows, who dropped him a few inches from the ground. He managed to catch himself on his feet.

Flashing him a grin, Lena clasped her hands together. "I brought you here to reward you!" She straightened. "I am a duck of my word, and even though your help was utterly useless to me and I got the penny all on my own, I figured why not give you what you want."

With a glare, he crossed his arms. "I wasn't working for you, I was working for that Miss De Spell lady."

"Surprise! It was Lena all along," she told in a singsong tone. Pacing in front of him, her beak curved in a smug expression. "I'm not dumb enough to lay out all my cards at once. Could you imagine how you would've treated me if you knew it was just a teenager telling you what to do?" Donald took a step forward, clenching his fists, but Lena paused him with the twirl of her finger. "Of course, I'm still just as dangerous as you thought 'Miss De Spell' was." She released him.

Donald loosened rolling his eyes. "Should've known." His eyes wandered to Poe behind her. Though he tried to hide it, Lena could tell he was somewhat intimidated by the ghost. That gave her a bit of pride. "What exactly is this reward anyways?"

"Anything you want." She shrugged. "I've already got what I want. You can have the mansion, or one of those nicknames downstairs or something. I can even give you some of Fethry's family secrets. Webby pretty much blabbed me all their life stories. So?" She looked at him curiously.

He glanced around, thinking. "What about who ratted me out to the cops? You didn't happen to learn that, did you?"

"I think Webby said it was Huey." Lena didn't think it was that important, but if that's what Donald wanted. At least she got to keep the mansion.

"Are you sure?" Donald raised an eyebrow at her. "That idiot couldn't find his way out of a paper bag. You're thinking of the red one, right?"

"If the red one is Huey, then yes." Lena had yet to know the difference between the three.

Donald tapped his foot. "Thanks. That's all I wanted." He stared up at the swirling shadow vortex above the broken roof as if they would swoop down and attack him. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna go."

"If that's all you want, then sure." She waved him off, already moving on to other things.

As he exited the front door, he muttered to himself, "I can't believe it was him all along."

14 years ago...

After everyone was exhausted and full of the worst tasting cake they had ever had, Donald and his cousins lay down in the dirt on the hill, staring up at the stars. "Great birthday, Feths, but I think it's time we all got to bed."

Sitting up, Fethry nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right." He looked to their green cousin, who was looking a little greener than usual. "Gladdy, you good?"

Stumbling to his feet, Gladdy attempted to give a thumbs up, before doubling over as if he would puke. "Nope. I don't think my stomach liked that cake."

"None of us did," Della laughed.

They all started their journey back to the mansion. Only a few steps had been taken when the trees shook with the echo of an explosion. The kids froze.

"What was that?" Donald looked in the direction of the sound, the wind ruffling his feathers. Turning on his heels, he ventured to investigate the sound. His cousins and sister exchanged a glance before deciding to follow.

Together, they trudged through the thick of the woods. Shouts and sparking sounds grew louder as they did. Occasional colored lights lit up just above the canopy of forest. The brightest and loudest came from when they stood just behind a veil of trees. Curiously, Donald parted the branches.

Before them was a battle. Scrooge versus a sorcerer and a sorceress. The kids recognized the magical duo by pictures Scrooge had kept in his study. Poe and Magica De Spell. Using some artifact collected on his adventures Scrooge fought back with magic as well. As the magic collided, it ricocheted off itself, nearly hitting the kids in the brush. They jumped out of the way with a start of screams.

Magica gasped, her magic hesitated. "McDuck, stop this! Children almost got hurt."

Scrooge ignored her, throwing more magical blasts at her. Poe defended her with a shield. "Ha! Yer just trying to get me to lower my guard!" Scrooge thrust magic harder, more rapidly and vigorously. His scattered blasts wrapped the kids into the battlefield. Magica was forced from her defensive position, only adding to the chaos.

Donald and Fethry found themselves hiding behind a rock. "How are we going to get out of here!" Fethry shouted over the noise.

Donald peeked over the rock, imagining his plan rough. "I say we make a run for it. Once you're safe, I'll use my totally rad ninja skills to get Della and Gladdy out." He narrowed his eyes, determined with his plan.

"Wait, Donald, that's a horrible plan!" Fethry tried to stop him, but Donald had already taken off. Without any other option, Fethry went with Donald's idea. They maneuvered around the fighting and magic.

As he ran, Fethry's foot got caught on a root, causing him to stumble forward. In his attempt to rebalance himself, he knocked into Poe. Scrooge's quick reaction to his opponent thrown off was another blast near their feet. The two went tumbling down off the cliff side.

Donald looked back, eyes wide and heart pounding. "Fethry!"

"Poe!" Magica reached out, too late. Scrooge didn't give her anytime to read, taking the moment to catch her off guard.

Donald's feet froze to the ground with fear for his cousin. Gladdy grabbed his hand, yanking him out of the crossfire and snapping him out of it.

...

Taking Mitzy's hand, she helped Gladdy up onto her boat. She put her hands on her hips. "So? What do you think?"

The boat was dingy, worn with time and a family's worth of damage, but it would work. He gave her a thumbs up. "Alrighty! Do you think this thing can survive getting attacked by shadows?"

She shrugged, uncertain. "It is what it is. Even if our plan does work, it's gonna need a lot of repairs later." Rubbing her hand over the edge, she frowned, probably imagining the boat's future.

Gladdy ran to the bow of the boat, gripping it tight with one hand and pointing with the other. "Onward!"

With a nod, Mitzy moved to the steering, watching him from the window. The engine started up, clunky at first, but growing smoother. The boat's speed increased, sailing around the cliff side of Killmotor hill. Gladdy stared upward, watching the shadows. They hadn't noticed the boat yet. Cupping his mouth, he called out to them. Their shadowy forms twisted around in distorted ways and as soon as it clicked, they charged the small vessel.

As Gladdy realized he had nothing to defend himself with, his eyes widened. As if she were reading his mind, Mitzy called, "Gladdy! Catch!" She tossed him a harpoon, which he clumsily caught.

He looked it over in his hands, a small smile spreading across his face. "No one's ever trusted me with one of these before." Shaking himself, he focused on the upcoming shadows. The first ones hit, immediately trying to tear apart the boat. Uncertain of how to use the harpoon, Gladdy swung for one. The shadow went flying into the water, but just as quickly, a new one replaced it.

"You're supposed to shoot it!" Mitzy kicked off a shadow from her spot at the wheel.

"Got it." Gladdy aimed the weapon at the next closest shadow, his finger trying to find the trigger. Once he had it, he pulled. The spear propelled forward, knocking through a cluster of shadows. Gladdy stumbled from the kickback, wearing a proud grin. "Did you see that!" He searched for his friend's approval.

"Focus on the shadows!" The boat jerked as Mitzy struggled for the wheel from a determined shadow.

"Right, right." He turned his attention back to the oncoming threat.

...

After getting Donald to safety, Gladdy joined back with Della, who waited nervously from the forest. Panting, Gladdy leaned over. He could feel that cake coming back up. "Did you see Fethry?" Gladdy had lost track of Fethry in his quest to get Donald and him out of the mess.

Della's gaze fixed on the edge of ground, she said, "He went over the cliff!"

"What!"

"Come on! We have to go save him!" Without another word, Della took off down the hill, hoping to meet their cousin at the river below.

Still trying to regain his breath, Gladdy went after her, and behind him, Donald. Gladdy felt his lungs would burst. His bad luck finally caught up to him. He tripped rolling the rest of the way down with a painful scream. Della and Donald (who had passed him up at some point) waited for him. Gladdy landed face planting in the dirt before them.

"Go on with out me," he mumbled, drained. Della and Donald obeyed, leaving him there to pick himself up. He slowly rose to his feet, bruised and scraped and just about wiped out. He let out a small, "Ow."

He tried to shake off his aching pain. He had to. He had to see if Fethry was safe. Limping some, he tried to reach the others as fast as he could. "Guys!" His voice cracked as he spoke from exhaustion.

When he finally found them, they had already managed to retrieve Fethry from the water. He was unconscious, laying in front of a wet Della and Donald. Gladdy came to meet them.

"Fethry! Fethry, are you okay!"

With a start, Fethry sat up, choking on water. His cousins let out sighs of relief for him. The boy in red was caught in a coughing fit, leaning over. When he finally got it out of his system, he breathed slow, shaking breaths.

"Are you okay?" Della frowned, hands folded together nervously.

Fethry, still speechless and out of energy, said nothing but simply nodded. His body shook with cold and trauma. His eyes wandered back to the water, fearful. He drew them back, squeezing them shut.

Too relieved to ask permission, Gladdy caught Fethry in a hug, just glad he was okay. Fethry was too shaken to hug back.

...

"You two wouldn't happen to be busy, would you?" Bradford squeezed his phone to his ear with his shoulder, climbing up the cockpit of Launchpad's cargo plane. He slid himself into the seat, thankful that Launchpad had taken the limo to St. Canard. Probably just to brag about it to his weird St. Canard friends, but nonetheless to Bradford's good. Looking over the controls, his mind switched from his phone conversation to functions of the many dials.

"Oh no, not busy at all. Just fighting A SHADOW ARMY DOWNTOWN!" Bradford winced at the loud audio. Maybe calling these two was a bad idea.

"Don't be so dramatic, Mark. Yeah, boomer, we'll be there in a sec." Owlson wasn't helping their case.

With the roll of his eyes, Bradford took hold of the steering. He flipped several switches, hoping they were the right ones. "Whatever. Just be here soon to distract the shadows in front of the mansion. We think we can put a stop to this somehow..." Should he tell them that it was a little girl causing all this mess?

"You better! Do you know how much this is going to cost Waddle to repair all this! MORE THAN ALL THE BILLS YOU DUCKS HAVE CAUSED IT ALRE-"

With the quick press of a button, Bradford hung up on them, tired of Mark's complaining. That man should be used to it by now for living in Duckburg so long. Life was like a hurricane here.

The plan started up, rolling forward. Tightening his grip on steering, the vulture slowly pulled back. The wing flaps tilted, the plane starting up into the sky. He readjusted himself, growing more confident in his piloting skills. "Don't worry, Fethry." He stared down at the mansion through the windows. He was coming up on the shadow vortex. "We're gonna get you out of there."

13 years and 6 months ago...

Bradford frowned at the orange envelope in his hands. Marked with a big red stamp, the envelope read FOWL SECRETS. No wonder it was so easy for him to infiltrate them. They labeled just about everything. As was SHUSH policy, Bradford had already memorized everything in the packet. As a double agent posing as FOWL, this was the latest mission they had for him. When he had reported it to SHUSH, instead of shutting the mission down, they had simply requested that he do the mission, but in SHUSH's favor.

Scrooge's activity had quieted down in the last six month. All Bradford had to do was break into the mansion and find out why.

Stepping up to the front porch, Bradford noted how unkempt the yard was. The windows were dusty and the plants overgrown. He had been planning to scout the place for possible entryways, but it seemed as if no one was home. Surely it wouldn't be as easy as trying the front door, right? His hand ventured to try the knob.

Unlocked.

Hesitantly, he crossed the threshold. This had to be some sort of trap. Scrooge was smarter than to just leave his home unguarded. For one the inside looked better than the outside, though still not great. Broken vases lay scatted about, along with several food stains on the carpet. Shuffling and the clinking of glass could be heard from another room. Aha, so there was the trick. He moved towards the noise, wary of oncoming attack. He crossed over to the kitchen, finding the fridge open.

When the fridge door closed, a teenager with an armful of food stepped out from behind.

Bradford narrowed his eyes, wary of this nw trick. The kid caught sight of the vulture, but appeared unfazed. "Oh, hey, what's up?" The kid set the food he had gathered on the stained counter and began making himself a sandwich.

Loosening his posture, Bradford kept his suspicious gaze. "Hi..." Maybe this wasn't really a kid, but some sort of robot built to protect the mansion? Or some sort of deceptive trained assassin? Or... just a kid? Bradford cleared his throat. "Uh... Who are you?"

The kid didn't look up from his sandwich. "Fethry Duck. Who are you?"

"Bradford..." It was bad spy form to give out your real name, but Bradford was so confused that he had forgotten. "What are you doing here all alone?"

"Well, that's a fun story," Fethry said dryly. He attempted to put mustard on his sandwich, only to discover the bottle was empty. He sighed defeated, tossing the bottle aside. "Dang it, I'm out of mustard."

Bradford was starting to grow concerned. "Have you been living of this food for the past six months?"

"Nah, there's a gas station nearby, and I found Uncle Scrooge's secret stash of emergency money."

Uncle Scrooge. That explained it. No, it didn't. That explained nothing. "Kid, what are you doing here?"

"That's what I should be asking you, Mr. Intruder." Fethry finally looked up at Bradford. Fethry abandoned his half made sandwich and moved to sit on one of the stools. "Look, if your here for the whole 'revenge against Scrooge McDuck' bit, you're a few months too late."

Bradford to the stool farthest from the boy. "What happened here?"

"Well, in one of Scrooge's great quests for power, he finally got the attention of Poe and Magica De Spell. They kind of protected magic or something. And they picked my birthday to have a battle to the death. So, after nearly drowning and Poe actually drowning and all that jazz, Magica finally managed to defeat Scrooge. So the cops took him away, leaving us kids with no adult figure. Della and Donald went back to their parents, since they were just staying with Scrooge for the summer, and Scrooge's sister offered to take Gladdy. Which left me with no where else to go back to but here. All my close family is dead and no one else wanted me, so now I hang out in this dirty mansion." Fethry rolled his stool seat back and forth idly. Pulling a coin from his pocket, he frowned. "And all Uncle Scrooge gave me for all that trouble was a stupid penny."

Bradford had only recognized half the names in the boy's story, but he couldn't help but feel bad for him. "That's horrible."

"Yay, now even the bad guys take pity on me," Fethry said sarcastically.

Bradford shook his head. "I'm not- I didn't come here to fight your uncle." He had never been a bird too great with words. Bradford didn't know what else to say. He looked around at the kitchen, messier than the foyer had been. This kid needed someone to look over him more than he let on. "This place could use some cleaning up."

"Are you judging my lifestyle choices?" Fethry raised an eyebrow at him. "It was a... decoration choice. Yeah." Bradford could read the boy's true feelings all over his face. After a short staring contest, Fethry gave in. "Fine. I guess, if you want, you can help clean up or something."

Bradford rose from seat. "Thank you. You're so generous," he said with a smirk.