Louie reluctantly stands next to me instead of going inside to start the houseboat like he wanted, and Mrs. Beakley exclaims, "Magica DeSpell!"

Dewey asks, "Wait, who?"

I ask, "You've never heard of her? She had some kind of weird grudge against Uncle Scrooge and all of Clan McDuck, and she was his strongest adversary."

Webby adds, "But no one's seen her since they fought on Mt. Vesuvius 15 years ago."

Huey asks, "Hold on a minute. If she disappeared 15 years ago, and you're 16, how did you hear about her, Izzy?"

I respond, "Uncle Scrooge told me about her when I was little, but he never told me how he defeated her, just that Id never have to worry about her."

Mrs. Beakley says, "Alright, all. Cool heads. We must help Scrooge before anything else-"

A giant seaweed creature pulls itself onto the houseboat, and Louie shoves Huey and Dewey toward it, exclaiming, "Take my brothers first, please!"

The creature then pulls the seaweed off of itself, revealing the headless Man horse that Gyro nicknamed Manny and took as his newest lab assistant.

I breath a sigh of relief, and Uncle Donald says, "Oh."

Huey adds joyfully, "It's just Manny!"

Gyro pulls himself onto the houseboat as well, Lil Bulb on his shoulder as they both shake water out of themselves, Gyro shaking his hat and Lil Bulb twisting his lightbulb head off and dumping the water out befote putting it back on.

Gyro exclaims angrily, "That's it! No more underwater labs. It's volcanoes or abandoned castles from now on!"

Huey asks, "Dr. Gearloose? What happened?"

Gyro explains, "Our own shadows came to life and wrecked the lab!" Huey opens his mouth to say something, but Gyro shushes him, saying, "Ah bah bah, my Shadow Control Ray is still in the test phase, so this one is not on me."

I ask, "I'm sorry, you were working on what?"

Gyro responds, "A Shadow Control Ray. Keep up, orange niece."

I snarl a bit before responding, "We never thought it was you anyways. Magica DeSpell is back, and she's taken everyone's shadows."

I gesture out at the shadow vortex above the Money Bin, and Gyro gapes at it in surprise.

Uncle Donald stands atop the houseboat's railing, announcing, "Everybody listen up!"

He then says something I couldn't understand. I can usually understand his speech, but that one was just too much gibberish.

We all ask in confusion, "What?"

Launchpad adds, "Did anyone get any of that?"

I respond, "Most of the time I understand him, but not this time.

Huey adds, "It's mostly context clues."

Louie adds, "We get, like, every third word."

Dewey adds, "Nope, completely unintelligible."

Uncle Donald chases after him, angrily exclaiming, "I'll show you unintelligible!"

After watching Uncle Donald squawking at Dewey and chasing him for a moment, Gyro groans, saying, "Ugh, I don't have time for this." He pulls out a small, pill-shaped device, explaining, "The Barksian Modulator, able to translate neural impulses into sonic transmissions."

We all look at him in confusion, and Launchpad asks, "Huh?"

I say, "In layman's terms, please? You're speaking to a bunch of kids and non-scientists."

Gyro sighs and rolls his eyes before saying, "It's a voicebox."

Huey says, "Oh, okay, Barksian Modulator."

Dewey adds, "Oh, okay."

Louie adds, "Yeah, good idea."

I add, "About dang time someone made that."

Webby asks, "What took you so long?"

Launchpad adds, "Huh."

Gyro grabs Uncle Donald and places the Barksian Modulator in his mouth before massaging his throat to ease it down.

Uncle Donald shoves him away, exclaiming, "Get your hands off of me-" His voice changes into a more normal one, "You mad scientist!"

Dewey says, "Wow. He sounds so... normal."

I add, "It's a little unsettling to hear him like that."

Uncle Donald says, getting faster as he repeats it, "Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers, aha! Wow, never been able to say that before!" He clear his throat, then says, "As I was saying, Uncle Scrooge is in trouble, and it's up to us to help him. Adventure is in our blood. We face down perilous foes and endless dangers every day, but we always prevail, because these Ducks don't back down."

Mrs. Beakley says, "Thank you, Donald. Now, we need to-"

Uncle Donald interrupts her, saying, "Stage a coordinated attack. Gyro, you and your team charge the bridge to distract Magica's shadow forces."

Gyro nods, pulling out what I assume to be his Shadow Control Ray.

Uncle Donald continues, "Launchpad, head up the air attack to draw her attention. Do you think you can crash into the Bin?" We all laugh at that, and Uncle Donald says, "Alright, alright, alright." He clears his throat again, finishing, "And Beakley, while the others are distracting Magica, you and I will sneak around back in my newly fixed-up houseboat."

Mrs. Beakley blinks a few times before saying in shock, "That is... actually very close to what I was going to say.

Dewey says, gesturing to himself, the other kids, and me, "And we-"

Uncle Donald puts us all in life vests and makes us walk onto the dock, saying, "Will stay here and out of danger, especially you, Izzy. I can't let you get hurt again."

Webby exclaims, "Oh, come on!"

I add, "Seriously?! I'm fine, Uncle Donald!"

Dewey says, "But-"

Uncle Donald interrupts him again, saying, "This isn't an adventure. This is Magica DeSpell. Under no circumstances are you kids to come to the Bin. Do you understand?"

Webby says, "Yes."

My brothers and I say at the same time, "Yes, Uncle Donald."

The second the houseboat is out of earshot, we yank off our life vests, and Dewey asks, "So were totally sneaking into the Money Bin, right?"

Huey adds, "But how are we going to take on an entire shadow army?"

I say, "Ugh, if only Gyro gave us one of his Shadow Ray things. That'd make things so much easier."

Dewey says defiantly, "The Ducks don't back down. Now, if only we knew someone with experience breaking into places."

Webby asks, giving me a coy smile, "You mean like a noble teen ne'er-do-well who can break into anything, including a certain someone's heart?"

Dewey says, "Yeah, that'd be great."

Webby, Huey, and I give him a moment before exclaiming, "Lena!"

Louie adds, "It's Lena!"

Dewey says, "Lena, right. I was gonna say Lena. Great."

We make our way to the amphitheater where Webby and I met Lena and where she always asks to be dropped off after hanging out, and Dewey calls out, "Yo, Lena!"

I add, "Lena! We need your help!"

Webby asks, "Where are you?"

I ask, frightened at the possibility, "What if she was taken by the shadow people? I don't know what Id do without my best friend."

Webby whispers with a knowing smirk, "Are you sure she's only a friend?"

I blush at her teasing, and playfully shove her away as Dewey says, "Izzy, don't lose faith. Remember, Ducks don't back..." He strikes a heroic pose, his foot activating a hidden door that opens toward us, and Dewey finishes in confusion, "Down?"

We enter the secret room, which seems to have been renovated from a theatre storage room into a small, rundown bedroom, but nobody's in sight.

Huey asks, "Is this where Lena lives?"

Louie adds, "Ugh, explains why she's always sleeping over at our house."

I say, "Well, this is where she asks to get dropped off. I just thought it was because she lived nearby and didn't want us to drop her off directly at her house. I guess not."

I feel a pang of guilt in my chest at her living like this. She doesn't even have a bathroom or kitchen, and there's no parents or relatives in sight! Where's that aunt she was talking about a few weeks ago when we snuck into the Other Bin?

Webby calls out, "Lena? Sorry to barge in unannounced!"

I say, "She's not here."

Huey says doubtfully, "Maybe she's hiding?"

I ask, "Why would she hide from us?"

Dewey grabs something off of a small dresser, exclaiming, "A journal!"

He opens it, but Webby snatches it away from him, saying, "You can't read her journal! Although, if she were taken, she might have left a note." She skims the first page, then exclaims, "A poem! I didn't know she wrote poetry!"

I smile, saying, "Is there anything Lena can't do?" Webby raises an eyebrow at me with a smile on her face, and I say nervously, "J- just read the stupid thing."

Webby clears her throat, reading, "'To endthe line of Clan McDuck, she sought a token of their luck. And with the eclipse in its prime, she'd trap old Scrooge within his Dime. But Scrooge reversed her vengeance planned, and in his Dime the witch did land. Yet as he struck the final blow, she cast a spy from her shadow. I walk the Earth and vwield her power, to bring about McDuck's last hour'."

Louie exclaims, "Lena was Magica's spy?!"

Huey adds, "Lena is a shadow?"

Webby says, "She betrayed us all to free Magica."

I add quietly, "She was never our friend."

I can't believe I had a stupid crush a shadow. How do I know if any of it was real? She was probably just faking it to get to Uncle Scrooge's Dime. She used me, and discarded us when we weren't useful anymore.

I sniffle, and Dewey places a hand on my shoulder, saying, "You might not have her, but you still have us. We're family, and Ducks dont-"

Webby shoves him, saying, "Save it."

Dewey bumps into Huey, who pulls at the curtain on the wall to keep himself from falling, revealing something painted on the wall with spray paint.

He says, "Uh, guys? Check this out. Magica used the power of the eclipse to escape Scrooge's Dime."

Louie adds, "Only to trap him there instead."

I add, "Just like she was planning to do 15 years ago."

Dewey says, "We have to get to that Dime and save Scrooge ourselves, and I know just how to Dewey it."

We find a nearby empty store, the workers likely having fled after their shadows came to life, and Dewey chucks a fist-sized rock into the store's floor-to-ceiling windows, the window breaking into small glass bits on the floor. He and Louie rush inside and grab 4 child-sized scubasuits and a teen-sized scubasuit for me.

I ask, "Shouldn't we at least pay them something?"

Louie rolls his eyes and walks back inside, writing out an IOU via McDuck Enterprises and placing it next to the counter before sauntering out with a confident smirk on his face.

I ask, "Where did you learn to write IOU's?"

Louie shrugs, saying, "Launchpad told me he's done it countless times to pay for damages when he crashes."

I deadpan, "You done this before, haven't you?"

Louie looks nervous as he responds, "You don't want an answer to that."

I glare at him the whole way back to the amphitheater. We put on our new scubasuits over our clothes and dive into the water, swimming our way to the Bin. I have to hold onto Webby while she swims because I have to hold onto my crutch to bring it with us, and otherwise I'd only be swimming with one leg.

We finally emerge inside the flooded elevator, and as we're taking off our scuba gear, Louie holds up his Khopesh, saying with mock surprise, "Look what I found!" We all glare at him, and he says, "What? We like Scrooge again! Ugh, whatever. Get your own Khopesh."

Dewey says, "Elevator's busted. How are we going to get to the Bin entrance on the top floor?"

We have to take the stairs like that time Louie spent Uncle Scrooge's fake Dime and we were chased by Lil Bulb. Louie groans in frustration at having to take the stairs again. I have to go one at a time, the others quickly getting ahead of Louie and I. After over a dozen floors, we're all exhausted, but we're only a few floors from the top.

Dewey pants, "So... close..."

Huey groans, and Louie says, "Ugh, Louie... out."

He collapses forward, but his shadow is still standing. Wait, his shadow?

Huey asks, "Um, guys? When did our shadows come back?"

As soon as he says that, our shadows attack, mine putting me in a chokehold. I try to smack it with my crutch, but my vision is starting to darken, and I feel myself getting faint.

I'm unable to sputter out any words, and Webby exclaims, "Cut the lights so we won't cast shadows!"

I headbutt my shadow with the back of my head and it lets go. As I suck in a much-needed breath, I reach for Louie's Khopesh. The second I've got it in hand, I slash through my shadow, then toss it at the powerbox. The lights cut out, leaving us in almost complete darkness.

Huey exclaims fearfully, "Now we can't see!"

Webby says as she puts on her night-vision goggles, "I can."

Dewey says, "Everyone holds hands and form a chain behind Webby!"

I grab Louie's hand, and he grabs Huey's other hand before saying, "Ew! Huey, your hands are clammy."

Dewey says, "C'mon, guys. Ducks don't back down!"

Huey exclaims angrily, "I literally never heard that family motto before today!"

After a few more floors, Louie says, "Ugh, we're never going to find Scrooge's office."

Webby opens a door, and I blink a few times to adjust to finally being able to see as Dewey exclaims, "I found Scrooge's office!" Shadows appear as he says that, and he says, "Okay, maybe we should've listened to-"

Our uncle appears in the crowd of shadows.

I exclaim, "Uncle Donald?!"

He exclaims while fighting some shadows, "Get away from my kids!"

The shadows back off for a short while, and he glares at us with anger is his eyes.

Louie exclaims, "We can explain!"

The fire in Uncle Donald's eyes die down, and he says, "Please. I told you not to come, so of course you showed up just when I need you."

Louie says, "Classic reverse psychology. I feel like I should've seen that coming."

Uncle Donald ushers us into the Money Bin's vault, saying, "Go save your Uncle. I'll keep these palookas at bay. Ducks don't back down."

He shuts the vault door behind us, and Dewey says, "See? I told you it's a thing."

Huey says, "It's cooler when he says it."

I say, "Especially with his cool, new voice."

We climb down the ladder to the pile of money at the bottom, and I hear Magica say, "Oh, look! Children." She holds up Uncle Scrooge's Dime, his face now engraved in it, and she asks, "Looking for this? Come and get it."

She laughs maniacally, and Dewey exclaims, "Give us back our uncle!"

I add, "Yeah, you evil witch! Give him back!"

Magica says with mock sincerity, "Oh, he's trapped forever inside the thing he loves most. Sorry."

Magica launches a beam of purple magic at us, and Webby yells, "Split up!"

Huey exclaims, "Then what?!"

Dewey says, "Do what we do best. Make trouble."

I hide behind a pile of money, waiting for an opportunity to grab the Dime from her, and sign at Huey to make a distraction.

He nods, popping up in front of Magica, saying, "Hey, couple questions for you. If you were caught in the Dime, how come we never saw you? Also, Scrooge isn't exactly magical, so how did he manage to trap you in- Ah!" She tries to blast him with magic, but he dodges and pops up next to her in front of a mirror, adding, "Follow up, how does the lunar eclipse factor into this?"

Magica starts to answer, "Well, you see, I channel my powers-" She has a look of realization,then anger as she exclaims, "It's just magic, okay?!"

She tries to blast Huey again, but he dodges and she breaks a mirror.

Louie appears behind the mirror now that's it broken, and he exclaims, "Oh no, you broke the Mirror of Tyche!"

Magica asks, "The what now?!"

Louie responds like the answer is obvious, "Ancient artifact? Terrible curse if you break it?"

Magica responds, "I've never heard of it, and I am versed in all magics." Louie swims just under the surface of the gold coins as she fires magic blasts at him with each word, "Garlic! Demogorgan! Sumerian!"

Louie resurfaces, asking, "Sumerian? You were in that Dime a long time." He chuckles, adding, "Well, good luck with the curse!"

He starts walking away until Magica asks worriedly, "What kind of curse?!"

Louie lists off, "Grave misfortune, increased gullibility, a swift kick in the ribs!"

Magica asks, "A what?" Webby jumps, kicking Magica hard in the ribs as she exclaims, "My ribs!"

Webby growls, and I emerge from my hiding spot, smacking Magica in the back as hard as I can with my crutch.

Magica says, "Ooh, someone's mad."

Webby goes crazy, attacking Magica in a frenzy as she's barely able to fend her off with a shield.

Webby exclaims while fighting, "I just got a family! I thought I had a best friend in Lena! And you took that all away!"

I add, sweeping Magica's legs out from under her with my crutch, "You're just a giant jerk! You're a horrible person!"

Magica says as she uses her magic to float above us, "Lena couldn't be your friend because she was never real!"

A tear rolls down my cheek, and Webby says, "I don't believe you."

Magica floats back down, saying, "You had sleepovers with a shadow. You gave it a friendship bracelet!" She gestures at me, adding, "This one even developed a silly crush on it! Honestly, it's embarrassing how pathetic you all were. Here, let me put you out of your misery!"

Magica aims a magic blast at Webby and I, and I attempt to shield Webby with my back, but when I don't feel anything, I turn around, seeing a magic barrier around us.

I ask, "Huh?"

My shadow stretches toward Magica's shadow, then takes Lena's shape. Lena attacks Magica, exclaiming, "Get away from my best friends, Aunt Magica!"

Webby and I ask, "Lena?"

Magica exclaims, "Aunt? You're even worse than them! You aren't my family, you are nothing!"

She blasts Lena with her magic, and she disintegrates while we hear her screams fade away.

Webby exclaims, "No!"

I add, "Lena!"

We both tear up, and Webby stands up, becoming even more frenzied in her attacks against Magica. Dewey slides underneath, sneaking past Magica's shield and grabbing the Dime from her.

He exclaims, "Got it!"

Magica exclaims, "Hey!"

Webby breaks through her shield, tugging on Magica's hair. I hit her again a few more times with my crutch while Dewey hides behind a money pile, talking to Uncle Scrooge in the Dime. The money pile he's hiding behind gets blasted, and he exclaims, "Gah! Okay, not the time for a heart-to-heart!"

He exits the safety of the money pile, and Magica exclaims, "That's mine!"

She blasts at him with magic, but the Dime seems to be absorbing the blast, Uncle Scrooge popping out of it.

He exclaims, "Yah! Thanks, lad. Way to dispell your own spell, DeSpell! You know, I ought to thank you."

Magica asks, "For showing you how weak and pathetic you truly are? You're welcome!"

She tries to blast him, but he dodges, then says, "If you hadn't attacked me,my family may well have left forever. By trying to destroy me, you sort of saved my family."

Magica exclaims, "That's not what happened!"

She tries to blast him again, but Uncle Scrooge uses his cane to put a teapot in the way. It breaks, and he uses his cane to throw her magic staff into the air.

Uncle Donald tries to grab it from the diving board above, exclaiming, "I got it!"

He misses it, falling onto the money pile below. The staff falls onto his head, the gem on top cracking. Magica floats into the air, magic expelling from her mouth and arms, leaving her once green feathers white. She tries to use her hands to send a magic blast at Uncle Scrooge but nothing happens.

She exclaims, "My power's! They're gone! You ruin everything!"

Launchpad yells from far above, "Sorry to crash the party!" He lands directly on top of Magica, then says, "Huh, never crashed a 'me' before."

Magica shoves him off of her, exclaiming, "Curse you McDuck! You haven't seen the last of me!"

She throws a smoke bomb on the ground and nearly gets away before it disappates, but she slips, falling onto the gold before continuing to run away.

We all cheer, and Mrs. Beakley exclaims, "Good show!"

Uncle Donald adds, "Woohoo! We did it!"

Mrs. Beakley says, "We sure did. Now, about your boat."

Dewey exclaims, "Haha, yeah!"

Amidst the cheering around us, Webby and I are pouting.

Webby says, "Lena's... gone."

Huey says, "But she sacrificed herself to save you guys."

I smile a little, saying, "I guess she really was our best friend."

Dewey grabs my hand, gesturing to my friendship bracelet as he says, "She'll always be with you."

I smile, pulling him into a hug. He hugs me back, and Uncle Scrooge approaches us.

He says, "Huey, Louie, the third one, Izzy." He pretends to be disappointed before scooping us all into a hug, saying, "Curse me kilts, have I missed you!"

I chuckle, saying, "I missed you too, Uncle Scrooge."

Uncle Donald smiles, saying, "Family truly is the greatest-"

He starts coughing, and lands on all fours, cough out the Barksian Modulator like a cat coughs out a hairball.

We all make sound soft disgust, and Uncle Scrooge used the tip of his cane to hide the Barksian Modulator under some gold coins before asking, "Anyone up for a midnight swim?"

We all get in the gold coins, tossing some up into the air like confetti. Launchpad emerges from the gold, exclaiming, "Bleh! Don't drink this water!"

Soon after, Roxanne Featherly approaches the Bin and covers the story, ending with, "And so Duckburg is saved, thanks to Scrooge McDuck and his family!"

We go back home, Launchpad putting the house oat back in the pool where it belongs, and my brothers and I moving back into the mansion. Once my stuff is back in my room, I flop down onto my bed,breathing a sigh of relief. I finally feel at home here, and there's no more secrets between us. Our future is looking bright. I just wish Lena didn't have to lose her life in the process.

~3.8k words