'I'm starting to think I should have taken those swimming lessons like Mrs. Beakley said.' You think as you do your best to hold your breath, feeling your lungs burn in agony. Thankfully, someone's arms wrap around you, pulling you up to the surface, where Della and Donald are waiting, worried sick. "You alright, lass?" Scrooge asks you, panting heavily. "Yeah." You manage to cough out. "I'm fine. Thank you for saving me, Daddy."
He raises an eyebrow. "I AM your father. Sort of in the job description, Y/N." He tells you with an amused smile. "Even so, it's good to be grateful." You reply as you reach over, grabbing his nearby floating hat and placing it back on his head. It slumps forward over his eyes, completely soaked and dripping water. You giggle as Scrooge pushes his hat back up over his head. "I knew I should have listened to Beakley." Scrooge admits grumpily, probably referring to those aforementioned swimming lessons.
"Look, I'm glad Y/N's safe and all, but WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!!?" Donald quacks desperately as the water continues to rise, lifting you all towards the ceiling. When the whole place becomes flooded, the four of you will surely drown. Scrooge thinks for a moment, eyes darting all around the room, before groaning in disappointment. "We haven't got another choice! Della, ye need to eat one of the beans! It's our only chance!" He says mournfully. Della nods, bringing her hand holding the beans to her face. "Here goes!" Della says, tossing the beans in her mouth.
|Six Minutes Earlier...|
"Come on, everyone!" Scrooge calls, gesturing for you all to follow him. "We still have five traps to go before we can leave, so let's get the lead out!" Nodding, you three run after him, sprinting through the maze-like halls of the castle. Something seems to catch Donald's eye, and he turns to run down another route...
When suddenly, Della tackles him to the ground out of nowhere! "Hey! What's the big idea!?" Donald yells, and the two begin to struggle on the floor. You and Scrooge skid to a halt, rushing over to break it up. "I know siblings are supposed to fight, but this is getting ridiculous!" You say as you grab onto Della's jacket, pulling her off of Donald, who Scrooge restrains as best he can. "She started it!" The gargled sailor accuses, pointing his finger at Della. "I wasn't STARTING anything! I was TRYING to save your life!" Della rebukes. "Huh?" Everyone asks.
"Don't you guys remember!? Donald ran ahead, and the room started to flood, so Uncle Scrooge told me to eat one of the jellybeans." She looks around, seeing if her words ring a bell. "Anyone?"
Scrooge releases Donald, scratching the side of his head with his cane. "Can't say I have the faintest idea what you're talking about, lassie! But..." His eyes narrow, and he stares at Della's hand suspiciously. "Della, show us the beans. I've a sneaking suspicion THEY might be the answer to all this!" He tells her. Della opens her palm, showing only five beans remaining. You gasp. "One of them's GONE!"
"Well, duh. I told you guys I ate one." Della replies. "Maybe so, Della. But since you're the ONLY one of us to have eaten the bean, ye must've been the only one who was sent back through time! That's why we don't recall the events ye described!" Scrooge reasons with a snap of his fingers.
Della pauses, brow furrowing. "Wait, then did I just...change HISTORY?" She looks worriedly up at Scrooge. "Is that bad? Cause that's normally a bad thing."
"Good question." Scrooge replies. "Do you see reality imploding all around us?" Della checks your surroundings quickly. "...No?" She says hopefully. "Then I think we're good." Scrooge tells her. "Even so, we ought to be more careful. It wouldn't do to lose these beans because of a dead time-traveler's over sensitivity!"
"Glad to see you've got your priorities straight, Uncle!" Donald says sarcastically as he rises up from the floor, dusting himself off.
The four of you continue on through the castle, walking carefully this time. Scrooge scans the walls of the castle, carefully examining every piece of brick, stone, and mortar, until his eyes come across a very welcome sight.
"Everyone, LOOK!" He cries, pointing to a room at the end of the hall. The door hangs open, unveiling various pieces of armor and weaponry inside. "A medieval armory! Brilliant! We should get weapons and shields to protect ourselves against the castle traps! We can conserve our beans that way!" "Good idea!" Donald says, and the group walks into the room...
Only to be met with hundreds of rusty blades as the skeletons in the room come to life, opening up to reveal viciously grinning skeletons that move to surround you all. "BAD IDEA!" Donald amends, hiding behind his uncle.
"Everyone..." You say as you turn to your family with a sweet smile. A dark purple aura begins to surround your body, and you open your eyelids to reveal the black liquid, allowing it to pour over your beak and stain your feathers. "Could you step outside of the room for a minute?"
The three smirk, backing out the door and shutting it behind them. You turn back to the army, and the skeletons' sadistic smiles quickly fade as you begin to grow exponentially, cracking your knuckles as you tower over them. 'Nothing personal, boys.' You think as you raise your fist.
|One Oddly Therapeutic Round Of Skeleton Smashing Later...|
"...Woah." Della says, surveying the remains of your foes as she looks about the room. "You, uh...You really knocked em dead, kid. Or should I say...UNdead?" She turns her head, searching for praise. Instead, everyone groans. "Well, we're certainly not going to find any weapons to protect ourselves in here. Everything got smashed to bits in the scuffle." Scrooge says. "Sorry, Daddy. I should have been more careful." You tell him.
"Nonsense, lassie. Ye just saved our lives, as well as helping us preserve another bean. That's far better than what we should expect." Scrooge turns, walking back toward the door frame, which has now lost it's door. "We'd best get a move on. We've gone through three traps now, and lost only one bean. Let's keep that streak going."
Later, you four come across a luxurious bedroom with a beautiful bed, instantly drawing Donald to it. "ALL right! Sack time for Donald!" The gargled sailor says as he flops onto the soft mattress. Scrooge opens his mouth to berate his nephew, but you yawn in exhaustion. He sighs. "I suppose we could take a little break. But not TOO long, do ye hear?" Everyone nods, taking the time to relax. Della takes a look at herself in the mirror, and frowns.
"Is there any reason I should be seeing flaming boulders behind me in the mirror's reflection?" She asks. You turn your head, and jump about five feet in the air when giant slabs of rock that have somehow been set on fire come rocketing towards you!
"YIIII!! Do flaming boulders ever NEED a reason!?" Donald quacks in fright as he shoots to his feet on the bed.
" Don't worry, everyone! I've got this! " You yell, rushing toward the boulders.
Your pulse pounds, your head spins in instinctual fear, and then...IT happens.
An angry, purple aura surrounds your form.
Black liquid leaks from your eyes, nose, and mouth, staining your feathers and enveloping your body.
You grow to the size of a tank, and with a glass shattering roar, you swing your massive fist in an arc, intending to punch all the boulders out of the room. Instead, they all smash to pieces, rolling around on the floor and setting everything on fire.
"Flammable stone? How is that even POSSIBLE?" Della asks as the flames spread across the floor, incinerating everything it touches.
"I haven't a clue Della, but it's clear Nostradogmus would sooner burn down his entire castle than let us leave with these beans! Ye'd best eat another one, and FAST!" Scrooge cries. She groans in irritation as she takes one out. "Like Nostradogmus, I'm WAY ahead of you."
| Six Minutes Earlier...Again...|
"ALL right! Sack time for -UURK!" Donald stops short as Della pulls on the flap collar of his uniform. "We're gonna have to take a raincheck on that one, bro! This room is booby-trapped like you wouldn't BELIEVE!" She tells him. Everyone looks at her in surprise, and Scrooge sighs, pinching the bridge of his bill. "And I assume you know this because we're down another bean...?" He asks, and she nods apologetically.
"I suppose rest will have to wait, then. Come on, everyone. We've got to keep moving." Scrooge says, and you all drag yourselves down the hall.