DuckTales: A Father's Tears Chapter 1

Thursday: Aug. 30, 2018

Time: 4:32 P.M.

         In the elevator of Scrooge McDuck’s money bin, Donald Duck, and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, were paying a visit to Dr. Gyro Gearloose to find some answers to the question that the kids were desperately asking: ‘Was Della Duck really their mother?? Or someone else…?’

         That was an entirely odd question, as he and Uncle Scrooge have always known that Della was gonna be a mother as she wanted to have kids. Though, given the circumstances that his sister was aromantic and couldn’t find someone to hook up with was a definite problem, and that back then, being as narrow-minded and self-centered as he usually was, Uncle Scrooge suggested that Della should have a child of McDuck blood and that she was not allowed to adopt from a foster home. Jeez, to think that Scrooge could be a little more sympathetic towards other kids as well as his own! Not like he ever wants kids…

         He remembered that his friend Uno Ducklair was working on a project to help with infertile issues for women who wanted to have children, the Genetic Incubator 3100. This machine was built to help families who have trouble having children to create the little bundles of joy that they desired, even in a very impossible way; creating an egg with someone else’s DNA sample. When the thought about the incubator project came to mind, Donald asked Della if she wanted to try it out, to which she instantly said ‘yes’.

         Memories came flashing back to when she announced that she finally had her kids, feeling overjoyed that he was gonna be an uncle. He felt so grateful that Uno had come through for him, helping Della to have her own baby. He was even more excited when he learned that she had triplets, and quickly rushed from the New Quackmore Institute to see them. (Thankfully, Daisy was left in charge of looking after the institute, so he felt glad that there was at least someone to get off his back. He loved her, but he started to get annoyed at her high maintenance attitude. He was really gonna miss Jose, Panchito, Xandra and Ari, they were great friends for when the Three Caballeros came together.)

         Sometime later, the…Spear of Selene happened, and Della was gone…

         ‘How could she have done it? Why did she do it? Why did she choose to leave the kids with him so she could go off an adventure, something that she couldn’t get enough of?’

         Those questions spiraled into his mind when he took the kids and left McDuck Manor, never looking back, as he could do nothing but be full of blame and hatred over Scrooge for building the stupid rocket that took away his sister. Their mother. He didn’t want the kids to go through the same thing that their mother went through by staying there, so he did whatever he could to get as far away from the manor to his houseboat as much as he could and took to learning how to take care of the boys as soon as he hatched. He wanted to give the boys the one adventure that they truly deserved: a family. Even though it was kinda broken, it was a family.

         “Are you sure we’re gonna find something down here?” Huey asked, doubting his brother’s confidence. “I mean, Uncle Scrooge just said that whether we’re related or not, we’re still family.” (Kinda ironic, given that the old coot didn’t approve of adoption before and now he does.)

         “We’ve got to prove Ducklair wrong about his stupid machine, don’t we?” Dewey replied as he was determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. “He’s not gonna believe us unless we find some evidence that would definitely convince him that Della really was our mom. I mean, they put the vial of her DNA in the scanner years ago, didn’t they?”

         “But what if Uno was right? What if it wasn’t Della’s DNA and one of the scientists used someone else’s on accident?”

         “Well,” Louie began. “Unless we know someone else whose initials are also ‘D.D.’, then chances are that it’s a lost cause…”

         Dewey turned to the youngest triplet with a frown on his face. “Louie, there’s no way that Uncle Donald could be…”

         He trailed off before he could finish. The thought about his Uncle Donald being their father? He mentally laughed as that was definitely hard to believe…

         “Boys,” Donald said with a stern tone, grabbing the attention of the triplets. He takes a deep breath before continuing. “I know that this is all confusing and you desperately want to find answers, believe me when I say that I am too, but now’s not the time to be arguing.” His face softens. “I don’t want this to turn out like it happened back before the Shadow War started…”

         “Don’t remind me,” Louie groaned. “We’ve had enough family drama that time.”

         “I’m hoping to find out these answers too,” he said as he gave a small smile. “At least, so you’d feel better, and we could put this situation behind us.” He turned to the middle child of the three and gave a small glare. “Not like we have any other choice right now…” This made Dewey shrug with a nervous smile.

         “Usually, the truth isn’t always a good thing,” the green-wearing duckling pointed out.

         “Maybe,” Donald said with a calmer smile. “But we’ve got to face it head on. I’ve definitely learned my mistake of keeping the truth about what happened to Della from you, and I’m definitely not gonna be keeping any more secrets that I find if it involves you three or if it’s any of your concerns.” He places his left hand on Huey’s shoulder and his right hand on Louie’s shoulder. “That’s a promise.”

         This made the triplets smile and calmed them down a bit. Learning about the Genetic Incubator 3100 prototype and how it functioned back then really got them asking for questions. Donald can’t help but think back to earlier at Ducklair Tower, where his old friend Uno, who was installed in an android so he could walk along other duckfolk, was telling him about a little mishap with the incubator project that could possibly change things forever.

Flashback

Thirty Minutes Ago.

Time: 4:02 P.M.

         Donald and Scrooge were in the office of Uno Ducklair of Ducklair Tower, the hidden homebase of Donald’s when he used to be Paperinik: The Duck Avenger, having an argument with the duck of the hour as he was explaining to his old friend and his uncle about the unfortunate catch that the Genetic Incubator had in its system.

         “It always turned out the same,” Uno explained as his elbow was on his desk and his hand was holding on to the side of his face. “No matter how much we change the programing, the results of the machine are still the same. The eggs always created children who were the exact same gender as the same-gendered doners whose DNA was in the scanner.”

         “But” Flashback Scrooge McDuck from earlier said in a state of disbelief. “T-that can’t be so simple, can it?!”

         “Yeah!” Donald from earlier said to back his uncle’s statement. “There must’ve been something that you guys missed!”

         “I assure you both that this is the truth,” said the researcher woodpecker that has ‘M. Iruma’ on her nametag. “Unfortunately, we didn't have the slightest idea of how the machine could've worked correctly that time...”

         “Then how can you explain those three?” Donald asked infuriatingly.

         “Well, the only other possibility,” Uno rubbed his chin as he was thinking out loud. “Is that…” his eyes widened. “No, surely not…”

         “What??” Scrooge and Donald asked eagerly, moving their heads closer to Uno which made him sink down into his seat.

         He looked at the duo with a flinch on his face. He really didn’t want to tell them this, but it seems that there isn’t any way out of this instead of forward. So, he continued his thought. “...someone must’ve mistaken someone else’s DNA for Della’s and accidentally placed that into the scanner instead…”

         The eyes of the adults have widened. That theory almost made some sort of sense, but… It couldn’t be true… It CAN’T be true…

         “And, if I recall correctly,” Uno continued as he opened one of his filing cabinets to pull out a file folder dated back to the year the kids were created. “There was only one other person that had their DNA donated to us around the same time as your sister Old Cape,” he smiled when he got to use his old friend’s nickname that he gave him years before. “And their name also had the initials ‘D.D.’ as well. And, on top of that,” he smirked as he showed the records of each doner that was there during that time. “They were also a male duck.”

         Examining the list, Scrooge and Donald looked in disbelief and shock that there was only one other name with the same initials as Della, and that this person’s name fits the description Mr. Ducklair had given them.

         Written along with ‘Della Duck’..was also ‘Donald Duck’.

         “It’s… my name?” Donald whispered under his breath, having trouble processing what was going on.

        Of course, the kids heard that. The looks of shock, fear and worry are shown on their faces as they burst through the door. The three adults jumped in surprise when Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby entered the room. They must’ve heard the screaming and came over to eavesdrop on them.

         “WHAT?!!” Screamed Huey. “Could that REALLY be true??!”

         “There’s no WAY that he is our dad!! DELLA was our mom!!” Screamed Dewey.

         “Is this gonna affect my chance to get Uncle Scrooge’s inheritance?!!” Screamed Louie.

         “DONALD IS THEIR FATHER?!!” Webby squealed as crazy joy had filled her eyes. “THIS IS THE CRAZIEST PLOT TWIST THAT I’VE EVER HEARD OF IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!”

                                                                        Flashback End

         It took about a few minutes to get the kids to calm down, saying that it wasn’t something they should be concerned about, but Dewey rebutted by saying that there was no way that Donald was their father, and that Della really was their mother. No matter how much the adult sitting at the desk told him, the latter wasn't gonna believe a word he said. Uno agreed that it may have sounded crazy to think that but given the facts about the discontinued project it’s the only close possibility they have. Dewey still refused to believe it, along with him and everyone else present, but Uno still insisted that it could be true.

         Dewey, always one to make blind choices instantly, decided that he was gonna prove that Uno was wrong about his machine and that Della really was their biological mother. Everyone else was a little on the fence about that idea, but Dewey was determined to give it a try for the good of his family.

         To that end, Dewey and Uno made a deal: If Dewey and his family could find evidence that he and his brothers were created from Della’s DNA, then he will admit that he was wrong and that he’ll leave well enough alone. If not? Then, well, it would be clear that he was right. The only condition was that the evidence had to be legit, which means that there would be no fabrications or tampering with the evidence that proves his theory right.

         Dewey, of course, agreed and the search was on. Which was why they were heading to Dr. Gearloose’s lab so they could perform a DNA test on the kids to see what proof they could find. The results of a DNA test would definitely be the best and straightforward evidence that they need.

         The elevator stopped, the doors opened, and the search was on!