Chapter Text
"Guys!" Huey called out. "Come Look!"
The kids came in just in time to see Gizmoduck defeating a beetle-based villain.
"And Once again the day is saved thanks to...Gizmoduck!" The Reporter announced. "We're live on the scene with Duckburgs hometown hero after his battle with BeetleBash!"
"Cool. Fenton saved the city again." Louie rolled his eyes. "For the fifth time this week. Why are we here again?"
"Well," May shrugged. "At least it's not a weather-based villain. Seriously, what's up with those?"
"Guys!" Huey protested. "He was planning to control all the Duckburg Bark Beetles to take over the city!"
"Sounds like a knockoff Darkwing Duck villain." Dewey said. "On the old T.V. show, there was a villain called 'bugmaster' who could control like, lots of bugs I think? LP was just telling me about how last night he, Gosalyn, and Darkwing fought an actual dinosaur! Well, a guy who turned himself into a dinosaur but that's still super cool!"
"Most dinosaurs are extinct. Do you know how outnumbered by insects we are!"
"Gizmoduck's got all that armor, he would've been fine! Now DW on the other hand only has his guts, gas gun, and wit! Gizmoduck's boring, he just shows up and punches the bad guy. Now Darkwing comes in with a puff of smoke, swishes his cape, and with an awesome catchphrase that changes each time! He's got style!"
Huey, fuming, looked Dewey in the eye. "Style without substance is nothing! Darkwing can't even get his gliding cape to work properly without two other people balancing it out!"
"At least my guy's cool in and out of the suit! Drake almost starred in a movie! He's a stuntman who does crazy epic moves!"
"Fenton is an esteemed scientist that is working on building a brighter future for humanity!"
"Guys!" The boys turned towards their third brother. "I think we're missing the big picture here."
"That the only thing that really matters is that they're protecting innocent people?" Webby asked.
"Nope." Louie pulled out his phone. "Two words: Duck. Avenger."
Huey and Dewey looked at each other. Then at Louie.
"Who?"
"Or Paperinik, depending on some sources."
"Paperinik!?" Webby gasped. "You know about Paperinik slash Duck Avenger!?"
"Um...who is he?" June asked. "Or they?"
"Duck Avenger a.k.a Paperinik was Duckburg's original superhero." Louie showed them an online article show said hero stopping a bank robbery. "I overheard Scrooge and Beakley talking about all these superheroes rising up and Scrooge grumble something about that 'Diabolical Duck Avenger', so I looked it up, and apparently, he was Duckburg's original superhero way before we were born!" He played a grainy video of Duck Avenger going up against a giant robot. "He was slick and had witty comebacks like Darkwing but also cool tech like Gizmoduck."
"So cool...." May whispered as the masked hero did a backflip while firing a laser.
"I know right!?" Webby was vibrating. "I have a collection of articles about him, both paper and online. I also have links to theories about him, and blogs-"
"Hold on a minute." Huey interrupted. "If there was a superhero in Duckburg before Gizmoduck, how come we've never heard of him!? This sounds like something that would be in the history books!"
Webby and Louie glanced at each other.
"Apparently there was a lot of controversy around him." Louie shrugged. "Some people liked him, some thought what he was doing was illegal vigilantism, or that he was staging crimes to make himself look good."
"And some thought he was a bad guy himself, just waiting for the right time to strike!" Webby fumed. "Which is ridiculous of course! If it wasn't for that reporter Angus Paperinik would've gotten the respect, he deserved!"
"The guy from channel 00?" May asked. "Gosalyn says he's always complaining and making accusations about Darkwing and Gizmoduck too. Guess he hasn't changed much."
Dewey grabbed the phone and narrowed his eyes at the caped crusader. "What happened to him?"
"Nobody knows." Webby said mysteriously while Louie grabbed his phone back. "His appearances began to become fewer and fewer until one day he just vanished! Nobody's seen or heard from him in over ten years...was it a villain? Aliens? An evil spy?"
Dewey's eyes widened with excitement. "Another decade old mystery!?"
"Hold it." Huey gripped his brother's shoulder. "Finding out what happened to mom is one thing, but this is a total stranger! Nobody knows the Duck Avenger's real identity! Not to mention this was over a decade ago so any evidence is irrelevant. There's no personal connection or reason to track him down."
"Reason? Maybe not." Louie grinned. "But personal connection? That we have."
"Two to be exact!" Webby held up two fingers.
June tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
Louie scrolled through his phone before showing a highlighted section of an article. "We may not have his real name, but we do happen to have the names of his two best friends in the whole wide world...Donald and Della Duck!"
"WHAT!? Huey, Dewey, May, and June exclaimed.
Webby nodded. "Yup! He confirmed in a rare interview that they hang out with your mom and uncle confirming it!"
"And you didn't say anything!?" Dewey waved his arms. "You've known me for how long and you never mentioned that my mom and uncle were best friends with a real superhero!?"
"It never came up." Webby admitted sheepishly. "I mean I always meant to ask...but with your mom, the invasion, FOWL, and Merlock...it didn't seem important at the time."
"Well, there's time now!" June bounced. "Daddy hasn't heard the voice thing, Merlock's been quiet, and we've found all the spirits!"
"Um...is anyone considering the Duck Avenger's feelings here?" Huey asked. "Like that, he may not want to be found? Maybe he's retired, or sick, we can't just go prying into his life now!"
"We're not!" Louie said. "We're just going to ask mom and Uncle Donald what they know about him. And if they do want to introduce us to him, who are we to object?"
"I don't know..."
"C'mon Huey..."Dewey nudged him. "He's the superhero that came before Gizmoduck!"
"And we have two primary sources of information about him!" May added.
"And he sounds so exciting!" June continued.
"Another mystery...." Webby said.
Huey fiddled with his thumbs as he thought it over. "Oh fine! I'm in!"
"Good. We'll ask them at dinner tonight."
"Why not now? Mom and Uncle Donald are at work but we can ask them when they get home."
Louie gave him a flat look. "Have you even met our family? If we ask them now, there's a chance they'll dodge the question and have a chance to warn and rehearse the answer with the other. Everybody's coming over for dinner tonight so more eyes on them mean less chance to escape and more pressure for answers."
"This is starting to feel sneaky..."
"No objections? Great! I'll text Gos and Boyd. Webby, you get Lena and Violet...."
"Check."
Fenton groaned and wiped his forehead. Gandra gently rubbed his back. "It's ok suit, I did some calculations, if you move your last knight-"
"But that would leave my king wide open!" He looked at the board, his black pieces being decimated by the white ones.
"Sometimes you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet."
The elevator door opened. "Okay, Gyro I got the-" Manny looked over the box he was carrying and saw Donald, Gandra, and Fenton seated at a chess table by the window. "Uh...what's going on here?"
Gyro sipped his coffee. "Not work. As you can see."
"Gandra and I hit a wall on our latest project." Fenton admitted. "Donald suggested chess to take our minds off it." He moved a piece.
"Aren't you supposed to do something that doesn't require a lot of brain work?"
"Chess can be pretty relaxing once you've gotten the hang of it." Donald smiled as he moved his own piece.
Gandra rubbed her arm. "I thought winning a few rounds would help me get my brain working again but..."
"_But they didn't take into account that Donald's been a chess Grandmaster since he was seventeen." Gyro snorted. "He even managed to beat me and Mr. McDuck at it."
"Seriously!?" Gandra gasped. "Seventeen!?"
"My tutors wanted me to try out when I was younger." Donald shrugged. "But Grandma was worried about putting so much pressure on me so early. By the way," He moved his piece, capturing Fenton's king. "Checkmate."
"And that's Donald's fifth consecutive win." Gyro noted. "Three against Doctor Cyborg and two against Doctor Intern."
Gandra groaned. "I had it calculated with my eye bots and everything! How'd you do it!?"
"Practice." He chuckled. "And I may have had practice playing against a computer."
"Must be some program." Fenton sighed and stretched. "At least it took our minds off the project."
"Which can wait until tomorrow." Donald checked his phone. "Your shift ends in about an hour. You're all still coming to dinner, right?"
"We were playing for that long? Oh well.... yes. M'ma's bringing pasteles."
"Sounds delicious!" He hummed as he packed up the game. "And don't worry about the project until after you eat, your brain works better on a full stomach."
"Here." Gyro handed Fenton a file. "It's our weekly summary. Bring it up to Mr. McDuck with him."
"So what program did you practice against?" Fenton asked once they were in the elevator. "I know most online AI's are easy once you know their tricks."
"Well..." Donald looked away. "It was a... one-of-a-kind program."
"Really? I'd like to try it sometime."
"You can't." Donald's voice became soft. "He was...deleted a long time ago."
"Oh..." If Fenton didn't know better, he'd think Donald was talking about a person rather than a program. "Was it a personalized AI?"
"Sort of....so how's being a superhero going for you? I saw today's battle on the news."
"...I'd say it's going pretty well." Fenton said carefully, confused by the change in topic. "We had to take care of so many bug-bitten wires when I got back."
Donald rolled his eyes "Bug-themed supervillains are the worst."
"Exactly! At least it wasn't something like spiders or ants. M'ma would make me wash in pesticides before she'd let me into the house."
"Yeah, you always gotta make sure you're decontaminated when you take the suit off. Never know what sneaks into your clothing or feathers. The last thing you want to do is bring home an infestation. The same goes for chemicals and the like."
"That's a really good point...we should install a decontamination chamber in the lab. I'll bring it up with Doctor Gearloose."
The door opened and Donald went to his desk. "Just leave the file here, I'll get it to him. And Fenton?"
"Hm?"
"You really are doing a great job. You're protecting innocent people and they actually like you for it."
"Heh...thanks. Kinds wish I didn't have this much attention, but It does feel nice to be appreciated."
"Take it while you can. But be careful, public opinion can change in the blink of an eye and there'll be some people determined to try and make you out to be the bad guy."
"I...will?" Fenton thought it over as he returned to the lab. It sounded like Donald was talking from personal experience.
But how?
"Looks like we're early." Drake said as he pulled up to the mansion gates. "I hope they don't mind. I didn't want to get caught in traffic."
"It'll be fine!" Gosalyn waved him off and hopped out. "Dewey wanted to hang out before anyway."
Drake carefully picked up the dish he made as Duckworth held the door open for them. "Thank you, Duckworth."
"Thank you for coming. I can take that dish. You are free to relax until dinner begins."
"Nice! See ya Drake!" Gosalyn raced up the stairs to the boy's room.
"No jumping on the stairs!" Drake called after her. "Kids..."
With nothing better to do, he decided to explore the mansion on his own for a bit, careful to only enter or peek into rooms that were already open.
Webby had said that Scrooge had a gorgon head somewhere around here...
His ears picked up the sound of music. Sounds like someone was playing the piano.
As he got closer, he came to two conclusions: they had another piano beside the one in the foyer, and whoever was playing was very talented. It made him feel like he was flying among the stars on the moon.
He found Beakley gently dusting outside where the music was coming from. Upon seeing him, she put a finger to her beak and pointed to the room next to her. The door was half open, allowing him to see it was a music room full of instruments, some he recognized and some he didn't, and some that gave off a magical glow.
But it was the grand piano that caught his attention.
Or rather, who was playing it.
"Della plays the piano?" He whispered.
"Since she was five." She whispered with a fond smile. "Elvira wanted Donald and Della to learn to play music. Donald took more to it more than she did; he plays several instruments quite well, but she enjoys it too."
The song came to an end. "Glad to know I'm not that rusty."
"Buh?" Drake gulped as Della swirled around with a knowing smile.
"I heard you both talking. I was giving May a lesson earlier and I didn't feel like stopping. That song was a lullaby for my kids. I wanted to learn to play the drums-"
"-and Mr. McDuck wanted to be able to get a full night's sleep?" Mrs. Beakley asked.
"...Pretty basic summary but yeah. They pushed me into piano with a few singing lessons thrown in. You play anything?"
"I took a few electric guitar courses in college..."
"Sweet! You gotta play for me sometime. For now, do you want to do anything before everyone else gets here? Donald and Launchpad are picking up people."
"Not particularly. I was just walking around-"
Della's eyes lit up. "Oh, do you know how to play ' Go'?"
"Not really..."
"Then I can teach you!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hall before he could protest.
"Have fun." Beakley said calmly. "It's good to see her making friends."
"So, here's the setup," Della said, gesturing to the board. "You have the board, or 'field' and you have to use these stones to capture more territory than your opponent."
Drake looked at the bowl of white stones Della gave him. "It sounds like chess."
"There are some similarities, but they're very different games. Chess comes from India, GO or 'Igo' came from China. We place the pieces on the board ourselves and there are different size boards for different 'Go' games."
Drake nodded along, making a mental list of the rules.
"This actually sounds easier than chess. You don't have to worry about remembering the different moves the pieces make."
"Yeah, but that means there are more possible moves to make, so you can't always be sure of what your opponent will do next, you might think your winning but then 'BAM!" one solid move and it's all over. It means you always have to be ready to change your strategy at the drop of a hat. Balance is key here, even more than chess."
"I am quite experienced at thinking on my feet. Let's play."
"So how are things with you and Gos?" Della asked as she set down her first stone.
"Good, I think." He shrugged while thinking about where to place his stone. "As good as it can be, all things considering."
"Fair enough."
"It's just...I came into her life so late. She's gonna be a teenager soon and there's so much I don't know about her."
"Dude, I came into my kid's life after ten years on the moon." She gave a soft smile. "I was scared too...like I missed so much, what if it was too late? But as time went on and got to do things with them, I realized...the only thing I could do was be here now, to make new memories. To take things as they come...hey, even Donald didn't know about the magic spirit powers, so I guess we're always going to learn something new about our kids."
"Huh...I guess that makes sense."
The first round ended in a clear victory for Della, though commended him for a good first try.
"It takes a few games to get used to it." She cleared the board for a new round.
"How'd you get into this game anyway? I thought Donald played chess."
"He does, Uncle Scrooge taught him to play, tried to teach me too but chess has all these rules and guidelines....it was so boring! Just not my type of game. I could barely make five moves before turning the table over. Grandma was the one who taught me Go, said something about 'fitting our worldviews' more than chess did. Guess she was right. She's the only one I've ever lost to."
"Really!?"
She gave him a confident grim. "Really. And I've played with a lot of people."
Another victory for her.
"So, how's that Darkwing thing going?"
"Quite well, if I do say so myself." His own smile quickly faded. "It would be better if anyone actually paid attention to what I do."
"I hear that. But take it from me; sometimes no publicity is better than bad publicity"
He put down another stone. "What do you mean?"
Della ran her thumb over her stone. "When you're invisible, you can mess up so much and still be fine with stopping the bad guy. Imagine if you had a bunch of people, or a whole city, watching your every move, using your every mistake as a reason to label you the screwup. Or even the villain?"
"...That would suck."
"It would. So just...be careful what you wish for I guess."
Drake could feel a weight to her words, but why?
"And then BeatleBash goes; "There's no stopping me Gizmoduck!'" Gandra said, doing a silly voice. "'My beatles will cover the city of Duckburg and there's nothing you can do about it!" Like, seriously dude, at least try to have an original evil gloat!"
The dining room erupted in laughter.
"At least he didn't electrocute you." Drake shuddered. "I'm still not sure of the side effects effects."
"Glad to see St. Canard's in good hands." Goldie smiled as she took a sip of wine.
"Nobody said being a superhero was easy." Beakley said. "But you're both doing an excellent job thus far.
The kids glanced at each other, nodding.
"Speaking of superheroes-" Huey started.
"No Huey." Della replied. "You cannot intern as Gizmoduck's sidekick."
"That's not what-I already have blueprints of my power suit!"
"It's too dangerous." Donald nodded. "You can do it when you're older."
"Gosalyn does it now!"
"Junior partner." Gosalyn correct. "There's a difference."
"And I would be more than happy to have him as a sidekick." Fenton winced at the looks Della and Donald gave him. "Once he's older of course! I would really appreciate the help. With all these villains popping up, we could really use another hero or two."
"Funny you should mention that!" May piped up. "Because we doing a little research and apparently there was another superhero in Duckburg called the Duck Avenger!"
Della spit her water across the table, hitting Drake while Donald proceeded to choke on his pastele. Scrooge scowled and Maria Cabrera went stone-faced.
"Duck Avenger!?" Daisy asked excitedly while giving her boyfriend the heimlich. "I haven't heard about him in years!"
"I have not heard it at all." Penny handed her girlfriend a napkin.
"He was amazing!" Fenton grinned. "He was Duckburg's unofficial superhero when I was a kid. It was so amazing, a real-life superhero!"
"Did you see him on T.V. where he beat back those weird purple monsters!?" Drake asked, not even caring about being spat on. "It was like Darkwing Duck but in real life. Aside from, you know!"
"His weapons were incredible." Gandra eyes widened at the memory "They looked like something out of a sci-fi movie! It was like he brought them back from the future."
"Even I must admit they were very impressive." Gyro nodded. "I tried to recreate a few of them but even the most basic of them have eluded me."
"I saw the story where he saved the white house!" Launchpad added excitedly. "I thought he was called Paperinik."
"I think he used both." Manny shrugged. "Maybe he couldn't decide which one he liked better."
"Then how come we haven't heard of either of them?" Lena asked.
"Because he was a no-good troublemaker!" Scrooge pointed his fork. "He was nothing more than a prankster with good equipment. I don't know why...actually looking back I can see Donald and Della were friends with him."
Daisy looked at her boyfriend, gobsmacked. "You were friends with Duck Avenger!?"
"Paperinik." Donald calmly corrected. "And it was a long, long time ago."
"We haven't spoken to him in years." Della idly played with her food. "Since before...you know. And it's Duck Avenger; it sounds cooler."
Maria eyed her closely.
"What was he like!?" Fenton asked, leaning forward. "Was he extroverted or introverted? I know it'd be rude to ask his secret identity but-"
"Did he prefer weapons to hand to hand?" Drake asked.
"Can you at least give us a hint as to the origin of his technology?" Boyd inquired. "Or how you met him?"
A thundercloud formed above Donald's head. "There's not much to say."
Beakley looked at the kids suspiciously. "How did you find out about Paperinik?"
"We did some research." Violet shrugged. "As Louie already said. We found several old news articles."
"And now we want answers!" Dewey slammed his fist on the table.
"Dewford Duck!" Della scolded sharply. Dewey shrunk back in his seat.
Matilda looked back and forth between the twins. "Are you two alright?"
Donald pushed his chair back. "I just need some air. Don't stop for me."
"Donald-"
"I'll be fine Daisy. I just need to clear my head."
The minute the door closed Della gave the children a scathing look. "Did you deliberately bring up Duck Avenger now to force answers out of me and Donald!?"
"Lass?" Scrooge blinked.
"Maybe?" Webby whispered. "We read that you were best friends and..."
Della took a slow, deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm just...I lost my appetite." She got up and left the room.
Beakley eyed each of the children coldly.
"I think we messed up." Gosalyn whispered to Boyd.
Donald took a deep breath as he walked around the manor's grounds, the half-moon providing just enough light to tell where he was.
He needed air, and time to think.
So many memories, good and bad, ones he thought he'd put behind him were rushing to the forefront of his mind. He needed to sort them out.
He should've known this was going to happen. What with his family history...it was a fool's dream that he thought it was over and done with. But so much had happened since then.....
He needed to talk to Della and figure out how they were going to tell their family...tell their kids...
A burning shame filled his chest.
No. You need to do this. If not now and from you, then when? Those kids are too nosy for their own good.
So wrapped up in his own head, that he never noticed the drone following him from above.
"We gotta tell them now. Heh, at least there's no bad guy forcing the issue this time."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."
He turned sharply and saw a figure leaning against a tree, watching him. He glared at them. "Who are- You know what? I'll get answers when I bring you in."
The figure laughed. "What's wrong? Don't recognize an old friend?"
"Gonna have to be more specific-AH!"
He reached for his neck and pulled out...a dart.
"Aw phooey..." He was already starting to lose feeling in his legs.
The figure sauntered over to him once he was on the ground. "I'm afraid I'm the one bringing you in, so get comfy."
His eyes felt like they were lined with bricks. "Wha-"
"It really has been a long time hasn't it?" The figure leaned over and once their face was an inch away from him, pulled down their mask. "We've both changed quite a bit."
Terror mixed with dread briefly fought off the drug. "Y-You-!"
"Sorry about the sneak attack. I know it's not really your style, but I can't have your family coming in and ruining everything."
Darkness crept into his vision...and he felt his consciousness lose its hold.
"But don't worry, they'll be joining us soon enough."