Happily Ever Beginning

It was like being in one of those lame fake haunted houses at one of those cheap amusement parks Donald used to take the triplets when he couldn't afford a real vacation – where the paintings were designed that no matter where you were, you could feel their eyes on your. It was kind of the same – only much, much scarier.

Though the woman was two-dimensional and little more than a shadow on the wall, Louie felt eyes all around him, all over him, as if he was being swallowed whole. He kept his hands in the pocket of his hoodie, hoping to hide his trembling. He didn't know why he was reacting this way – the sorceresses was a shadow and nothing more, she couldn't harm a feather on his head. Yet. Yet. There was this feeling of being dipped into subzero water, and even though his brain was screaming at his legs to run, they remained motionless.

“You must be nuts.” He finally said, sounding more confident than he truly felt. “I mean, have you looked in a mirror lately? You might as well have 'I'M A VILLAIN' tattooed on your forehead. I wasn't hatched yesterday, lady.”

“That's Magica De Spell to you, boy.” The ancient one sneered before pausing and remembering what she was trying to do in the first place. “A-hem... you're a businessman in the making, child, I know that for a fact. You know the ins and outs of deals, and the sort of deal I'm offering you is one you can't miss out on. I can give you your heart's desire, all for one coin.”

“Pass.” The cliches in her villain seduction actually did some good, as it pointed out how ridiculous this all was. With strengthened fortitude, he stuck his beak up, and began to walk away, feeling much better. “I'm not going to hand over Uncle Scrooge's most prized possession for some gold and jewels. I can get those on any adventure. Sure, it'd be nice to do it without risking my tailfeathers, but that's why I have brothers – as meat shields.”

He expected Magica to rant and rave about being denied, some “you'll rue the day” tossed in there, but when she spoke again, her voice was far too calm. “Whoever said I'd give you something shiny to toss in the money bin? Child... I can give you the girl.”

Louie froze. He felt his heart stop, his foot pointed up as he had stopped mid-step. Some sensible part of him said to keep moving and ignore her, but instead, he stupidly tried to play it off. “What girl?”

“Don't play dumb with me, boy, you know exactly what I'm talking about.” Suddenly she was right in his face – Louie yelped, stumbling backwards – wearing a thin smile. “You think I didn't come to you without research? I know all about the bubbly little mermaid that waits for you in the bay, day after day, as you trade trinkets for treasure. It's so sweet... in a disgustingly sappy sort of way.”

Now Louie felt his heart move again, except now it was beating so rapidly he thought it'd explode right out of his chest. He considered himself a master of manipulation, a trickster of truths, but in this moment he couldn't think of any way to spin this. “She's... she's just a friend. She's got nothing to do with this.” Run, run, run his brain pounded. But he didn't.

“On the contrary – she's got everything to do with you and I. Adorable creature, isn't she? If you're into that sort of thing. The way she dotes on your every word, willing to swallow whatever fabrications you invent, even mutilating her own body just to have your favor.”

“She's not mutil-” He cut himself off. This was a trap, and he was being lured in. It took solid effort to turn his head away, and his mouth felt dry. “Okay, so... so maybe I haven't exactly been the best friend to her. B-But I'm trying to change, and she knows it!”

“How noble.” Magica said dryly before continuing. “But is that going to be enough for you? The way things are can't last forever. Everything is against you.”

He knew better than to ask. He was smarter than this. He was also a young boy. “What... do you mean?” His eyes carefully slid back to the shadowy form.

“Where to begin?” Magica sighed, moving around him in a circle. “You know her dear devoted Granny hates your kind. The moment she finds out what's been going on,” she snapped her fingers, “goodbye girl. Then you have the family... oh, they'll adore your fishy friend, they'll be happy as clams to meet her. And she'll be delighted to meet them – because they're so much more interesting than you.”

Louie's fingers curled up in his pocket. He tried to come up with some witty retort or snappy comeback and couldn't.

“Scrooge McDuck, world's richest man. Donald, the brave adventurer. Huey, the brilliant scholar. Dewey, the hapless explorer. And then there's... you.” She feigned a sigh, pressing her hands together, before gesturing to him. “Louie, who can... do what? Con an innocent fish-girl out of her scales? Lie his way out of trouble he got himself into? Who spends his weekends snoozing on the couch watching bad TV? Oh, Louie, Louie, Louie... you're just so... dull.”

“Shut up.” It was weak and pathetic.

“Do you really think she'll want anything to do with you, once she's spent time with the amazing Duck family? You'll be yesterday's news.”

“Shut up...”

“She's all yours now, but she'll leave you for something better, just like good old mommy did-”

“I KNOW, OKAY?!” He suddenly screamed at her, feeling humiliating hot tears prick at the edges of his eyes. “You think I don't?! I think about this all the time! I know they're all cooler and smarter and braver than I am! I've got nothing, and she doesn't care! She's the only person who's ever just wanted me! She – she wants to listen to me, and wants to help me, even though I don't deserve any of it! She likes me, and I can't...” his voice broke, and in that moment he wanted nothing more than to find Uncle Donald and cry into his chest. This wasn't fair, none of this was fair. He just wanted to keep her as his own special secret, and that couldn't last forever. He wanted to have something he didn't have to share with his brothers, as he'd done all his life. “I can't... lose her...”

He took a few deep, shallow breaths, and then he felt ice under his face – Magica's fingers were underneath his beak, and she tilted his head up. “Oh, you poor thing... but don't you fret.” she cooed, as if she hadn't helped stick the knife into his chest. “Because I can make her yours... forever.”

Louie's eyes widened. There was the bait, and he'd all but jumped into it. He could practically feel her pulling his strings like a ill-painted marionette. “You...can?”

“Of course!” She released the hold on his beak, plastering herself against the wall. “Once my powers are restored, there is no limit to what I can do. For that one dime, I can make sure you two live happily ever after.” She reached into the ground, yanking up Louie's shadow – side note, he didn't know how she did that, and decided he didn't want to know – before creating a Webby shadow, tail-and all. “All you have to do is give me what I want, and I can make it so she only has eyes for you.”

The shadows of Louie and Webby smiled as if all were right with the world, laughing silently as they embraced, him swinging her around as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The real Louie clutched his chest. This was wrong.

“She'll be yours and yours alone.” Magica was beside him now, her cold touch on his cheeks, whispering to his ear. “No one will ever tear you two apart.”

As the shadowy version of his longing played out, memories flashed in front of Louie's eyes like a beautifully cut viral video. The first time he met her, her curious head popping out of the water and trying to snatch one of his feathers. Her little mouth opening in awe as he handed over one of his great “treasures”, which was really a plastic fork. Her deep eyes that sparkled whenever the sun began to rest on the shore.

No no no stop stop stop

“The... the dime is... Uncle Scrooge's... it's his memories.” Louie felt his entire body shake as he spoke.

Louie laying down in the sand and Webby running her webbed fingers through his head feathers, the ticklefights that had no clear winner, how she was somehow warm and cold when she rested against him as they watched movies on his phone.

No no no no no no i'm better than this I have to be better than this

“Memories are for the past, boy. What about your future?”

And then came a memory that wasn't a memory, it was a longing, so deep and powerful that it stopped his breath, as he saw her perfectly clear in front of him, wearing that sweet smile that rarely left her face, and he just – and he just – he wanted so badly – her hand gently taking his own, leaning in – stop stop no no – lips pressed -

“NO!” He shouted so loudly he felt his lungs strain, and at last he finally did run, in the opposite direction from the forbidden images, running so fast that the world around him became a blur, and he was determined to keep running until he was safe in the manor again no matter how much his legs ached.

Magica clicked her tongue, annoyed. But she wasn't wholly disappointed, no. This wouldn't be the last time they'd meet, and she'd seen the look in his eyes. She had planted a seed... and now all she had to do was wait for it to grow.

Because she knew – as Louie refused to tell any of his family where he'd been, instead scrambling to his room, falling to his knees as his body gave out, he pulled his hoodie over his head, rocking back and forth – because he knew -

“Hi, I'm Webby!”

“I'm really glad I met you, Louie.”

“Why can't you believe it? We're friends. I'd do anything for you.”

He had considered.