Chapter 17
Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've been waiting for... (Greatest Showman playing in the background).
Waves splashed onto the side of the beach. The sun baked the hot sun. The sea salt water added to the smell of the cool breeze. And a small cottage resided on the side of the island.
Della shot up. She let out a yelp randomly. Then she breathed in and out. Taking in her surroundings, she saw she was in a small cottage. Her head hurt. She blinked hard a few times to make the headache go away. "Where am I? Did I die?" she questioned.
She tried to remember what happened. She remembered wanting to punch Bradford. Then she saw a missile heading for the sub, but after that, nothing. She bit her beak. "This better not be the underworld! From what Donald told me about it, the lines are really long!" she let out.
She climbed out of a cot she had been in and took a step forward.
Just then, a duck came into the room. He had a deep brown mullet and a full beard. He wore a blue button up shirt and thick abs. Della raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?" she asked.
Behind the duck came Dewey. He ran to his mom. "Who is he!? Mom! How do you not know who this guy is! Where have you been living? The moon!?" he exclaimed.
Della was about to respond but Dewey interrupted. "Mom! This is the most legendary legend, Duck Norris!" he explained. Della was still lost.
"Hi, Mr. Legendary legend, uh sir?" she began, still a little unsure. Dewey face palmed. "So, can anyone explain to me what's going on?" she asked.
Duck Norris nodded. "Well, I was out cruising on my shark I had tamed while going hunting for the Loch Ness Monster in the Bermuda triangle-"
Della interrupted him. "I thought the Loch Ness Monster was in Scotland?"
Duck Norris put his hands on his hips. "So that's where it's been hiding all these years, well not for long," he grinned. Then he pulled out a shot gun and cocked it.
Della gulped. Wow, even his voice is manly, she thought. She shook herself of his trance.
"So, anyway you were surfing on your shark?" Della said, redirecting the conversation.
"Right. I was surfing on my shark when I saw that missile going through the water towards your sub. So, I jumped in front of it and absorbed the impact!" Duck Norris told.
"And you didn't die?" Della questioned.
Dewey jumped up. "I told you he was the best! Get with the program mom."
"But then my abs were too much for the explosion that it needed somewhere else to go, so part of it blew up your sub, but I brought you to shore," he went on. Della just smiled and nodded, still weirded out by this man. "So, the rest of your family is out there," he added.
"How long have I been out?" Della asked.
Duck Norris shrugged. "Two or three days." Then he turned to leave. "Now, I have other manly business to attend to!" Dewey was on the verge of squealing.
Della and Dewey followed Duck Norris out of the small cottage. Outside was a motorcycle with guns on the side. From somewhere came the sound of an explosion and a tiger growl. There was also an eagle noise. Della shook her head. "I'm hearing things," she said to herself. Then Duck Norris got on the motorcycle and drove on the water, somehow.
Della turned to Dewey. All she could say was, "What. The. Heck."
Dewey grinned. "He's amazing right?" he beamed.
Della put her hands on her hips. "Oh, come on, I'm ten times as amazing as that guy!" she argued.
Dewey shook his head. "No mom. You're not. No one is."
Della and Dewey went to see the rest of the family. Among them there were Della, Dewey, Louie, Donald, Beakly, Launchpad, and Scrooge. Beakly, Louie, and Scrooge were trying to figure out a way off the island. Della took a seat next to Donald.
"I see you're awake," he greeted.
She let out a yawn. "Yeah, but I think I'll just go back to bed. Being awake is too stressful," she said.
Donald looked down at his hands in his lap and gave a chuckle. "Yeah," he agreed.
Della's mind wandered to the events in the sub. She stood up. Donald looked at her. "What are you doing?" he asked.
She walked over to Scrooge. "Uncle Scrooge, what happened in that submarine?" she questioned.
Scrooge looked up at her. "What do ye mean?"
"You know perfectly well what I mean! You said Huey chose to go with FOWL. Why!" she said. Scrooge sighed and stood up.
"Della, we found an old recording from Boyd. FOWL offered Huey a job and... He took it," Scrooge explained.
"But why!" Della went on.
"Because Bradford got into his head. He convinced him that we didn't want him. That's why Bradford told us what he did," he said.
Della put her hands on her hips. "You could've told us before! That would've helped a lot! That could've helped us see Bradford's trap, but you didn't! So now we're stuck on this STUPID ISLAND with nothing but STUPID SAND!" she shouted. Donald put a hand on her shoulder.
Della glared at her uncle. Scrooge put his hands up defensively. "I was sparing your feelings! I was trying to protect you," he said.
"Just like you did not telling the boys about their mother," Donald put in angrily.
Scrooge pointed an accusing finger at him. "You have no room to speak! You did the same exact thing!" he shouted.
"But Huey's working for them! My own brother betrayed us, and you didn't even give us some kind of warning!" Dewey put in. Louie nodded to Dewey's statement.
"And FOWL!? That's our biggest threat, and now Huey's on their side!" Beakly added.
Everyone started shouting at Scrooge. His face turned red, growing a mix of angry and sad.
"Enough! This is why I don't tell ye, because this happens! Ye can't trust me with one thing? Whatever happened to forgive and forget!" he shouted.
The family went quiet, everyone with an upset expression.
Dewey sighed, and stepped up to Scrooge. "You guys, maybe he's right. I mean, look at us now! We shouldn't be fighting, we should be trying to find some way off of this island. And then we can worry about Huey," he said. Louie looked down at the mention of their oldest brother.
They all nodded and went back to finding a way off the island.
"Della, why don't you and Donald go find wood?" Scrooge suggested.
Della pointed to a tree. "That's the dumbest job ever. Boom, found wood," she said. Donald face palmed.
"I'm sorry, let me elaborate on that," Scrooge said in a deadpan tone. "Go get wood."
"Oh, right," she said a bit embarrassed. She grabbed a sharp blade of metal that was buried in the sand from the sub. Then she left to go chop down a tree or two with her brother.
She was deep in thought. Donald snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention.
"Della!" he said.
She shook herself. "What?"
"You've got that look again. What are you thinking about?" he asked.
She bit her beak. Donald raised an eyebrow expectantly. "I just mad at uncle Scrooge! I mean, he totally knew a bunch of stuff that could've helped us find Huey, and now he's off somewhere doing who knows what!" she sighed. She sat down on the dirt and removed her prosthetic leg, shaking out the sand.
Donald joined her on the ground. "But he was only trying to protect us. You and I both know that Scrooge isn't the best when it comes to sharing information that might possibly be helpful," he said, trying to sugar coat it. She gave him a look.
"I'm still worried about Huey," she said.
"We all are but-"
"But that's the thing! He's not being tortured or suffering who knows what! He's enjoying it! He chose to go with them! And that's what scares me the most. The fact that I wasn't enough for my boy. The fact that I failed him as a parent," she interrupted. Donald stopped and stared at the ground.
"I- I just don't know what to do," Della sighed.
Donald had a newfound look of determination. Donald stood up and turned to his sister. "I know what we're going to do. Get up," he said, taking her hand.
"Donald?" she questioned.
He put both his hands on her shoulders. "We're going to show those vultures that we're strong. We'll show them that we're ducks. And Ducks don't back down. We'll show them that they messed with the wrong family. That we're tighter than glue. Or is it that we stick together like glue? Oh whatever, it doesn't matter. Let's got off this island and take the fight to them," he said.
Della smiled at his speech. "Alright then, let's do it."
They headed back to the beach with the wood they had collected. Della and Donald strapped together logs to form a makeshift boat. Della stood over it triumphantly. "It's done!" she cheered, showing it off to her family.
Beakly face palmed. "You can not expect this to work," she said.
Della stepped over to her. "It's totally going to work! What do we have to worry about?" she smirked.
Beakly started making a list off her fingers. "Well, first off, it looks like it'll fall apart in seconds, it's not up to SHUSH standards, it can't possibly hold all of our weight, and if it did sink, which it probably will, you're scared of fish," the older duck said.
Della cringed at the thought of those slimy things. "Yuck," she said, adding to Beakly's point.
"I'll test it out," Launchpad said. He went to step on their raft, but Donald stopped him.
"Let the sailor do it," he said, puffing up his chest. Launchpad looked disappointed.
Della leaned over to him. "Eh, Donald doesn't mean anything by it. He just wants to feel like he contributed something to the team," she chuckled.
Scrooge helped Donald put their boat, if you could even call it that, into the water. Louie and Dewey sat on the shore watching. Once they were far enough into the sea, Donald and Scrooge climbed on. Dewey and Louie cringed at what happened next.
"Well, that was... to be expected," Louie commented, watching the raft fall apart, dropping both ducks into the water. Donald and Scrooge came back on land soaked and upset.
Beakly rolled her eyes at them. "I told you it wouldn't work."
Louie looked between his soaking uncles then to Dewey, only to realize Dewey was gone. He looked around himself. "Dewey?" he called.
He glanced at Beakly. "I think he went back to that hut," she said. Louie nodded and went after his brother.
"Dewey?" Louie called, stepping into the hut.
Dewey was in there sitting on the cot. He was startled by Louie.
"Dewey are you crying?" Louie questioned after he heard his brother sniffle.
"No! You're crying!" Dewey said.
Louie was taken back. He took a seat next to Dewey. "Want to tell me what's wrong?" Louie began.
"No."
Louie decided to use reverse psychology. "Good, because I don't want to know," he said, pretending to be bored.
"I'm scared," Dewey said. Louie smirked, his plan working. "I'm scared that we'll never get off this island. And I'm scared that I might never see Webby again, or Gos, or- or-" Dewey started to stutter. Louie looked at him sympathetically, needed him not to say more. "I'm supposed to be brave and tough, but I'm not right now!" Dewey went on.
Louie frowned at him. "Dude I'm scared too! I'm terrified for my life half the time! But you can't beat yourself up," he said.
Dewey looked up at him. "But-" he tried.
Louie interrupted him. "And if anything, it's Huey who's not doing his job! He's supposed to be the example, the leader! What kind of example blows up his family!?" Louie said angrily.
Dewey pulled away from his brother. "How can you say that when he's not even here!" he shouted. The brothers glared at each other.
"This is all his fault! He was the one who betrayed us!" Louie argued.
"I doubt he did it on purpose! You really think he would try to hurt us!" Dewey questioned.
"Well I don't think he accidentally blew us up! He's smarter than that!" Louie said. The boys started arguing over Huey.
Finally, Dewey angrily stomped out of the hut, leaving Louie alone.
The duckling in green thought over everything he had said, and realisation kicked in. "Aw, phoey, I just made everything worse, didn't I?" he sighed.
...
Drake stepped into Gyro's lab with Boyd, Violet, and Webby following behind him. "Dr. Gearloose, something's up with your son," he said.
Without looking up from his desk, Gyro said, "I don't have a son."
"Boyd's all glitchy," Drake explained.
That got Gyro's attention. He got up from his work and stepped over to the robot parrot. "How so?" he asked, inspecting Boyd.
"Well, at first he couldn't control what language he was speaking, but on the way over here, he lost speech entirely," Drake said.
Gyro frowned, taking Boyd. Then he knelt to his level. "I'm going to figure out what's going on, okay?" he assured. Boyd nodded. "Dr. Intern, I need your help!" Gyro called.
A Latino duck came from around the corner. His hair was pushed back and he had brown feathers. He wore a tan button up shirt and a purple tie.
"On it, Dr. Gearloose," he smiled. He stuck out his hand for Drake to shake it. "Hi, I'm Fenton," he greeted.
Drake made a weird face while shaking his hand. "There's something I don't like about you," Drake said. Fenton tensed.
The others followed Gyro to a room where he connected Boyd to his computer. "Let's see what we have here," he said under his breath.
Scrolling through his computer, Gyro asked Drake some questions. "When did the virus start?" Gyro began.
"Well, most people think it originated in China, but there are a few theorists who say-" Fenton said.
"I was talking about Boyd's virus!" Gyro interrupted.
Fenton bit his lip. "Right. Sorry."
"Anyways," Drake said, taking over the conversation. "We were fighting some FOWL agents but they got away. But we did get their phone. So Boyd downloaded everything on it. Then I was looking over the phone and everything started deleting, and I think Boyd might have gotten whatever was on it," he explained.
Gyro shot him a look. It was like Drake could read his father vibes. How dare you let my child do that?
"Boyd, don't download stuff from random devices," he scolded.
Drake smirked to himself. Oh yeah, he's totally his dad, he thought. I know because I'm the same way.
After a few minutes with nothing but the sound of clicking keys, Gyro said, "Alright, I've figured more about what's wrong with Boyd."
"What?" Webby and Violet asked in unison.
"Well, whatever it was, it deleted his speech functions, and a few of his processing units too," he spoke gravely. The others thought it over. "But, I have some good news!" Gyro put in. Everyone looked at him expectantly. "I've been able to track down where the virus originated from," he said.
"China?" Fenton questioned.
Gyro threw his hands in the air. "No! Will you stop with the China!" he exclaimed.
"Sorry," Fenton apologized.
"The virus came from this location," Gyro went on, pointing to the computer monitor. It was a Google maps image.
"Is that Funzo's Fun Zone?" Webby wondered.
"I bet that's FOWL's base," Drake snapped his fingers. He looked to the girls.
"I'm going to go investigate. Stay here with Gyro," he said before leaving.
Gyro called after him. "Wait! I never signed up for babysitting!" he shouted.
Violet looked at Gyro. "That's okay, Dr. Gearloose. We'll just walk home," she said.
He nodded, glad to be relieved of duty. "Boyd can stay here while I fix him. Fenton go... do whatever it is you do," he said. Fenton nodded and left.
...
Drake Mallard slipped on his uniform and cape. He quickly tied his mask over his face. Then he readjusted his hat. "Let's get dangerous," he said to himself. Getting on his bike, Darkwing started to head towards the docs, the direction of Funzo's. It would just be a scouting mission. Then he could get back to the mansion and come up with a plan to break in.
...
Running down the parking lot, Fenton clutched his bag tight in his hand. The cement felt cold on his feet and his heart thumped. "Blathering Blatherskite!" he exclaimed. There were a few beeps as the suit started to activate. A bright light and the gizmo suit burst from Fenton's bag. Sparks flew as it attached itself onto the duck. He readjusted himself to balance on the one wheel. Once he evened out the weight, he stood in a heroic pose.
"Now, to find FOWL," he said determinedly.
...
When he reached Funzo's he was surprised when he saw his rival, Darkwing Duck. The two glared at each other. "What are you doing here?"
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