The Moon Chapter 2-14: GlomTales!
I wake up the next morning alone in my bed. My eyes are crusty from crying last night. When did Mom leave? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The clock in my room says it's just after noon. I rub my eyes with the palms of my hands and get changed, making my way downstairs. I overhear Uncle Scrooge, Mom, my non-grounded brothers, and Webby outside while making myself a sandwich, and watch Louie rush down the stairs and slam the front door open.
"You're heading to Big Rock Candy Mountain?! Oh, I am going."
Mom says, "No, you are still grounded."
I can barely hear Uncle Scrooge say something while ushering the other kids away, and Mom continues.
"Your last 'dream' made you take treasure from the past, which almost destroyed time, space, and your family! Now, to your room! You can come out when you learn that no good ever came from cockamamie schemes."
Louie stomps back into the mansion, slamming the front door behind him and storming off to the stairs. I wordlessly offer him a peanut butter sandwich and he takes it, angrily chewing while stomping up to his room, loudly slamming the door. I start eating another finished sandwich and make my way outside, everyone halting what they were doing and staring at me as I step outside the mansion. The peanut butter feels thick as I swallow, feeling incredibly anxious already.
"Uh... Why are you all staring at me?"
Dewey adds, "You were saying some really weird stuff last night."
"All we're trying to ask is if you're okay. You seemed pretty serious last night."
My heart beats fast, thumping painfully in my chest. This isn't a conversation I wanted to have. This is why I didn't bring up any of that stuff before. I wish I'd just kept it to myself.
"I'm fine, okay? There's nothing to talk about." They're looking between themselves. This is why I keep stuff to myself. I knew they'd react like this! "Look, you guys just go have fun on your adventure and I'll stay here. Keep Louie company."
Uncle Scrooge says, "Now, lad. We have to talk about this eventually. There's clearly something tearing you apart inside, and it does ye no good to keep it all locked up." He humorlessly chuckles. "I would know."
"I'll be fine. Just go have fun without me. You've done that just fine for the last decade, why should one more day make any difference?"
Mom starts trying to say something, but I just shut the door, tossing my sandwich in the garbage before heading upstairs to my room. I'm not hungry anymore. I flop back onto my bed, hands covering my eyes. I shouldn't have said that. I should've just kept acting like everything is fine.
If you tell yourself something long enough, it becomes true, right? So why isn't everything fine yet? Why do I still feel like this? They've all been so welcoming and accepting, but I still don't feel like I belong here. Like I even matter. After a while, I hear my door quickly opening and shutting. I remove my hands from my eyes and sit up to see Louie trying to hide in my closet.
"What the duck are you doing?"
He shushes me, and a minute later the DT87 opens my door, scanning for something. Louie, most likely. Just as it's about to scan my closet, I clear my throat, getting its attention, giving Louie time to move underneath my desk, where it's already scanned, while it's distracted.
"It's rude to just burst into someone's room, y'know. I'm not even the grounded one! Can you please just leave?"
The DT87 turns around, finishing its scan, and moving on, staring me down as it slowly exits my room backwards. The door finally shuts, and after a minute of silence, Louie and I let out simultaneous sighs of relief.
"So, you gonna explain to me why you risked both of us getting lasered by the robotic babysitter?"
Louie crawls out from under my desk before responding.
"That thing won't let me do anything! I'm just trying to sneak out to Big Rock Candy Mountain to have the best adventure ever and sneak back home before they know I even left." He chuckles in the way he does when he's cooking up a scheme. "It's the perfect plan."
He opens my window, tying a rope to the nearest leg of my desk.
"Do you have some kind of death wish? That desk isn't sturdy enough to counterbalance your weight, and if you fall, you won't be going anywhere but the hospital! And even if you do miraculously manage to get out without a scratch, how do you even plan on getting anywhere?" Louie's about to respond when he looks out the window, gasping. "What? Did DT get outside or some- What the..."
The Iron Vulture, a sky pirate ship Dewey told me they encountered last year, lands in the backyard, a bunch of villains pouring out toward the manor. Louie steals my phone from off my desk.
"Must call Gizmoduck. Must call the military. Must call anybody!"
A fake dial tone plays, Mark Beaks saying, "We're sorry. The number you're trying to reach has been blocked 'cause we're invading your house! Alright, see you in a sec, 'kay thanks. Bye."
I hang up the phone, pocketing it. Louie and I look at each other, nodding before we both race downstairs, finding the villains in the foyer after Magica uses a strange device to banish Duckworth.
Glomgold says, "Daddy's home."
He laughs manically, and Louie and I exclaim in unison, "Oh no! Magica DeSpell!"
Glomgold growls, stepping forward.
"We've come for McDuck and family. So, uh, are the others here?"
Louie stutters out, "N- No, they're all gone."
I add, "T- They went on an adventure."
"Oh, I see. Family meeting- Augh!"
He turns around just to almost smack right into Ma Beagle.
"Unbelievable. You didn't even check if they were home?"
"Don't start with me, Katherine."
The pirate captain, I think Dewey said his name was Dan Carnage or something, asks, "Dewey's not even here? But these ones mean nothing to me!"
"Look, we're here. Why don't we annihilate the twerps as sort of a warm up?"
Louie smirks, walking over to them.
"And then what? What was your scheme here, exactly? Just show up and fight?"
Ma Beagle rolls her eyes.
"Of course not. I'm sure Flintheart had a perfectly good plan, and... Ugh."
The villains all turn to Glomgold, looking incredibly ticked off while he waves his hands in front of himself defensively.
"My scheme was to bring us all together like a family, and then our family destroys his family! How is that not a plan?" The villains all start to advance on Glomgold. "A good scheme is like a family. It can be big, complicated, frustrating, and people may not always understand it. But when the individual parts come together, they can achieve the impossible. And a family united is the finest scheme of all!"
Big Time starts tearing up until Ma Beagle scoffs.
"Who cares? In half an hour, McDuck's gonna win the bet, and become twice as rich and powerful."
Beaks adds, "All those resources."
Magica adds, "All those magical artifacts. None of use will be able to destroy him."
Dan adds, "He will become untouchable."
Big Time asks, "What now, New Pa?"
"Even if I lose my fortune, we can still kill McDuck."
Ma Beagle says, "Well then, your fortune goes to his family."
"Then we'll destroy his whole family!"
He starts laughing maniacally, and Louie joins in the laughter.
"I know how you can win the bet." He slides an arm around my shoulder. "But we want in."
I whisper to him, "What are you doing?"
He whispers back, "Just go with it. I promise you won't hate it."
Louie writes up a contract, having the villains and I sign it before he does. I give him a curious side-eye, but he just keeps smirking. What exactly is he planning, and what did he get us into this time? We head onto the pirate ship, and it takes off into the sky. The villains exit once we land, fighting with our family. After a few minutes, Louie leaves the Iron Vulture, tucking the contract into his pocket.
"Hey! Everybody knock it off!"
The family all asks in unison, "Louie?"
I exit behind him, rubbing my right arm with my left hand.
Uncle Scrooge asks, "Lads, are you helping them?"
I try to say something before Glomgold exclaims, "That's right, Scrooge! You didn't win the bet; I did!"
The family asks in unison, "Wait, what?"
"It was I, Flintheart Glomgold, who convinced all the other villains to band together."
"And it was I, Louie Duck, who convinced them to hand their resources over to Glomgold. Combined, they actually have more money than you." The villains start lugging all their combined treasures out of the plane for dramatic effect as he pulls out the contract. "I saved your lives, but..."
Uncle Scrooge looks horrified.
"Glomgold wins the bet? Bless me bagpipes."
Glomgold exclaims, "I did it! I won the bet, and your company with a scheme sorted out by your own nephew! Or, should I say, my new partner. And the other kid too, I guess." Uncle Scrooge gasps, and Glomgold starts gloating to the other villains that he screwed them all over. "And now I have your money, and your money! I don't need any of you! I am the richest duck in the world! I am unstoppable! I am Flintheart Glomgold!"
He starts laughing maniacally, and Louie once again joins in.
"Yup! Flintheart Glomgold won. His name is one all the paperwork. Only, your name's not really Flintheart Glomgold. It's-"
Uncle Scrooge and Glomgold exclaim in unison, "Duke Baloney!"
"'Flintheart Glomgold' is a fake identity. So all your money, all your money, and all your money goes to your new partners, who are- Hold one one sec, just let me check right here- Oh right, me and Lucky. Always read the fine print, trademark Louie Duck." He turns to me, winking as he says, "See? Told ya you wouldn't hate it."
Glomgold exclaims, "What?! But that was my scheme! I got the family together! I was gonna steal their money from them after I won! I-" The other villains approach him from behind, looks of anger and betrayal evident on their faces. "...Can explain."
Magica growls, "Let me get this straight. You stole all of our fortunes and lost it all to children?!"
Big Time tears up, exclaiming, "I wish I never had a New Pa!"
He runs away crying, and Ma Beagle strikes Glomgold with her handbag.
"You scarred him for life!" She continues hitting him with her handbag. "That's my job!"
Burger tries to punch a dazed Glomgold, accidentally punching Bouncer and breaking his fingers at the same time as he yelps in pain. Glomgold is them confronted by Dan.
"How could you betray us after such a dramatic speech about family?!"
The two duel until Glomgold disarms his opponent with his cane, backing up as Beaks approaches, using his phone.
"Face Punch app!" He ends up punching himself instead, falling over. "Ow, ow, ow. Selfie mode."
Magica tackles Glomgold, exclaiming, "You've made a powerful enemy! I have enough hate in my heart for two Scottish billionaires!"
Louie and I walk over by the rest of the family as we all watch Magica beat up Glomgold.
Uncle Scrooge asks, "Should we do something?"
Glomgold screams, and Louie shrugs.
"Eh, it'll take care of itself."
The villains corner Glomgold on the edge of the cliff as Glomgold puts on a new fake beard until he jumps, falls into the ocean while screaming, and swims away.
The other villains take back their fortunes, board the Iron Vulture, and leave. We watch them until Mom approaches, her arms crossed as she glares at Louie and I.
"I swear I had no part in this, Mom. It was all Louie."
Louie eyes me down in shock.
"Are you seriously-" He clears his throat, turning back to Mom. "Mom, I know I messed up before, but seeing all the angles is what I'm good at."
Mom's glare turns to a smile, and she picks up Louie and hugs him.
"Okay, but you need to take care to not hurt the ones you love. And I'll be here to help you see the angles you can't. Now, all you have to do is turn the new company over to Scrooge, and everything will go back to normal."
"I have no problem giving up my share."
Uncle Scrooge approaches Louie with a smile, "Louie!" When my brother doesn't respond, he repeats, confused. "Louie?"
Louie's rubbing his chin, getting that familiar schemey look on his face. I don't like where this is going.
