Once again, Scrooge was monologuing about the golden cricket, which was part of the reason we were going on this expedition. Yup, I was lucky enough to be included, as was Uncle Donald. I sat on the floor, next to Louie, who was looking out the window. I held on tightly to Louie's seat. Never been a fan of airplanes. I hate airplanes, being in high places. I am terrified of heights. Ugh, why did I ever agree to come on this trip?
"Wait, is that a neon hotdog?!" Louie exclaimed, as the others gathered around him. I thought he hated hotdogs.
"Yes, yes, the city of Macaw is very exciting to look at, but you'll only find empty distractions there," Scrooge rolled his eyes, as he approached an adjacent window. Right, we were making a pit stop in the city of Macaw. Which is cool, and all, but the only city I want to be in is Duckburg. And perhaps Tokyolk.
"I can't believe Uncle Gladstone is here!" Louie exclaimed. Oh, I can believe it.
"He's so charming," Huey stated.
"And funny!" Dewey added.
"He's a bit annoying, but I'm sure he means well," I commented.
"He's like the luckiest guy in the world," Louie continued. "Ugh, Uncle Donald, you must've had the best time growing up with him." Now that was funny. It wasn't hard to see that Gladstone and Donald did not get along very well. At least on Donald's part. They were practically opposites.
"He's the worst. Just the worst," Donald stated sourly.
"Now, Uncle Donald, he is your cousin," I pointed out.
"Gladstone Gander is a complete layabout. I don't know why we're responding to his call," Uncle Scrooge folded his arms.
"It was a call for help," Webby told him.
"You don't just ignore someone's call for help, even if they are... morally questionable," I defended.
"And like Uncle Donald says 'Family always helps family.'" Huey looked towards Donald.
"Why did I say that?" Uncle Donald asked himself. I rolled my eyes. That's debatable.
"Plus he's easily our coolest uncle," Louie said.
"Hey!" Donald exclaimed in defense.
"Sorry, coolest non-trillionaire uncle," Louie corrected.
Donald nodded, before realizing what he said, and returning to his sour mood.
"Eh, Uncle Gladstone may be cool, but Uncle Donald is my favorite," I defended. "Being cool isn't everything," I pointed out.
"Hey, c'mon, Uncle Donald is kinda cool," Huey offered.
Just then, Launchpad nosedived the plane, causing it to shake and Donald to panic. Although, I couldn't blame him too much, considering I was bordering on ripping the fabric on the seat with how tight I held onto it.
"We're all gonna die! I've wasted my life!" Donald shouted, putting a seatbelt on. And then the plane leveled out.
Everyone looked at Donald with deadpanned expressions, and he smiled sheepishly in response.
Launchpad flew the plane up to the docks, somehow, and landed the plane in the water. I'm not sure that physics would allow it, but, the plane is floating, so better than nothing.
Uncle Scrooge began directing Launchpad, and normally I would help him dock, but the group was leaving, so I followed them into a place called the "House of the Lucky Fortune." Gross.
"Is... Is this a casino? Is this, ahem, kid-friendly?" I questioned out loud, worrying about my brothers' eyes and their innocence.
Uncle Donald peeked into the place, before nodding and letting us in. We were met with an atmosphere that was practically screaming red and yellow. It was... unsettling. I felt a bit sick.
We all waited in the elevator, which went up extremely high by the way. I held tightly onto the railing of the elevator, knowing that I could very well die in this trust-box. Around the 38th level, Louie began freaking out.
"Why did I wear green? He always sees me in green!"
"Take it easy," Uncle Donald told him.
"To be fair, we always see him in green," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but when he does it, it's cool," Louie shot back.
Uncle Donald and I shared a look, before shrugging. Not much could be done with that one.
"Yeah, well, if Gladstone's so great, then why did he call us for-" Scrooge was interrupted by Gladstone's exclaims.
"Help! No! Don't..."
We all hurried to his room and opened the doors to see him getting a massage from a panda. Which, to be fair, looked very painful.
"Stop! Until you get that last kink out, Pei Pei."
The panda soon cracked his back in an almost unnatural fashion, and I grimaced. He sighed in relief. Ew.
"The worst," Donald reminded.
"Loose as a goose and ready to gander," Gladstone exclaimed. Then he saw us. "Kids! Uncle Scrooge. D-Money! Was so relaxed I didn't hear you come in," he strutted over to us.
Donald and Scrooge looked at him in apathy and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Pei Pei here is a miracle worker. Anyway, welcome to Macaw," he gestured to his extremely large room. Or maybe a hotel room? Maybe it was a condo? I don't know. "Help yourself to everything."
Well, at least the room was a bit nicer to look at. Less aggressive.
The kids ran off in different directions and Scrooge gave Donald a look.
I approached Gladstone and gave him a hug. "So, Uncle Gladstone, how have you been?" I asked.
"Lucky," He responded, with an uncomfortable laugh.
I grimaced and faked a smile.
"So, I thought you needed help," Donald approached him.
"Oh, I do need your help," Gladstone began. I saw him look to the side, nervously, before looking back at Donald and Scrooge. I followed his line of sight to the masseuse. He had now paused and was glaring at Gladstone. Hm. Weird.
"Spending all my winnings!" Gladstone announced, receiving a glare from Donald and Scrooge. "Oh, lighten up!" He exclaimed, and the masseuse continued to leave.
He then began to do an impression of Scrooge, spitting poker chips at his face.
"Haggis and top hats! Bless me bagpipes." He then sat grumpily on his coins, as part of the impression. His scottish accent was... bad to say the least.
The kids all laughed, and Scrooge glared at Gladstone before sighing. "This place is for no-account freeloaders, looking to get something for nothing," He complained.
Gladstone looked up at him with the signature Gladstone charm. I can understand why Louie likes him so much. They have similar ideas of being rich.
"Ah, that's true, Scroogey McBillions," I snickered at the nickname, receiving a glare from Uncle Scrooge, "And I am the best at getting something for nothing."
"Best Uncle!" Louie exclaimed, jumping into the pool of poker chips. He resurfaced, leaning against the side of the pool, doing a pose similar to Gladstone.
"Thank you, Gladstone, for your inspiring message," Scrooge responded, exasperated. "If you'll excuse us, we have a probably enchanted insect to inspect. To the temple!" He exclaimed, wiggling his fingers and making a face. This made the kids laugh, as they headed out the door. Uncle Scrooge may be brooding, but he really is good with the kids.
"Awe, but I wanna stay!" Louie complained, "Show me everything, especially the stuff you're not supposed to." He moved closer to Gladstone, who laughed in response.
"I love this kid! He's like me, but short and with a cheaper haircut," He ruffled Louie's hair. I grimaced at the statement. Cheaper haircut, huh?
"Now, you just gotta help me convince your Uncle Donald." I looked at him in surprise. Gladstone? Spending time with the kids? This trip gets weirder and weirder. Something's not right here.
Louie frowned. "Well, forget it then. Been nice seeing you, Uncle Gladstone," He got out of the pool, and headed to us at the door. Louie looked genuinely disappointed, and so did Gladstone. I mean... well, a couple hours couldn't hurt, could it?
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, D-Squared, you came all the way out here," Gladstone scrambled out of the pool, and headed towards us. "Let me show you guys around. It'll be good times."
He wiggled his eyebrows at Donald, and Louie did the same. Donald then turned to me, and I shrugged.
"I mean, they both want to hang out, it wouldn't hurt," I murmured to him.
Donald looked defeated, and turned back to Louie. "Fine, you can stay."
"I can?" Louie exclaimed in surprise.
"And Marina and I are coming with you!" I gave Donald a look. I like Uncle Gladstone as much as the next of us, but if I have to stop a fight between the two, I'm gonna be pissed. Though, I guess he isn't the best person to leave a 10-year-old with...
Louie groaned in response and Scrooge rushed the other kids off to the temple.
"Bye Kids! Love you, be safe!" I called after them.
~~~
Of course, we couldn't go anywhere with Gladstone unless we looked our absolute best, so he had us fitted for suits and stuff. Gladstone and Louie almost matched with their green suit jackets. He told me to pick out whatever, so I found a sleeved dress that connected at the back kind of like a halter top. It stopped above my knees, and was fitted very well. To match the look, I took my hair down, which was about as long as the dress.
"Geez, I need to get a haircut," I spoke to myself in the mirror. My bangs gathered together on one side and, if it weren't for my tawny feathers, I'd be the spitting image of Della. Ew. So I pushed my bangs back to where they were supposed to be.
I then approached Louie, who was admiring himself in the mirror. "This is the best anyone has ever looked!"
"Well, Green Bean, if you want to be a winner, you need to look like a winner," Gladstone told him. He then turned to me, and I saw his eyes flash in recognition, before he spoke again. "De- er, Marina, nice choice." I frowned, looking at Louie who was lost in his own world. We followed Gladstone up to the shopkeeper.
"And you can bill our clothes to the room please," He told the worker.
"Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Gladstone. I cannot do this," he then approached us, "It would be such a great honor for me to know that you are out in the world, wearing this suit."
Gladstone and Louie walked out, and I paused, waiting for Uncle Donald.
The shopkeeper stopped Donald. "Two thousand dollars, cash only."
"Now hold on a minute," I approached the shopkeeper, before earning a grimace from Donald. He shook his head, so I stood down and returned to Gladstone and Louie.
Donald soon returned, wearing a shirt meant to mimic a suit, and a beeping shoplifting tag.
"Just like the real thing, only cheaper."
Donald was then tackled by another panda. I looked to Uncle Gladstone, seeing if he would do anything. He did nothing.
"Oh man, Uncle Donald's gotta be the unluckiest duck in the world," Louie exclaimed.
I noticed a toad looking at Donald, then at Gladstone. Gladstone noticed as well, and grimaced. "I'm counting on it," He told Louie through gritted teeth, and steered him away from the area. I stayed with Uncle Donald, waiting for security to release him.
~~~
Uncle Donald and I were a bit behind Gladstone and Louie, so of course he ran into the casino area, and ended up falling on his way in. I helped him up, and we approached a slots machine of sorts. So Gladstone, ever the showoff, pulled the lever.
This attracted a crowd, and Gladstone hit all the pegs, causing the machine to spit out tons of coins.
"Do it again!" Louie told him, very amazed. I had to admit, it was impressive. Better than being on the airplane, at least.
I looked up to see Uncle Donald push through the crowd. Uncle Gladstone pulled him over to the machine.
"How about you give it a go, Donaldo?" Gladstone offered.
I noticed Donald see Louie making a coin-angel of sorts, before he pushed Gladstone out of the way. Was this really a good idea?
"Easy peasy," He squawked, pulling the lever. I grimaced, expecting the worse. Donald may be many things, but lucky is not one of them.
Donald hit none of the pegs, and the ball got stuck at the top of the machine. This got him angry, and he began shaking the machine. I quickly pulled Louie out of the way, before the machine fell on Uncle Donald. I looked down at the machine in shock. This was going to be a long night.
~~~
After getting the machine off Donald, we, once again, approached another casino game. It was one of those "wheel of fortune" things, which was extremely rigged, by the way. There were only 4 ways you could win anything, so not the most reliable gamble.
Gladstone spun the wheel, and it landed on "Free Pizza Dinner." Louie looked very excited, and I could've sworn I saw Gladstone wink and the wheel moved to "Free Pizza For Life." Which might seem pretty cool, but I feel like if it's the only thing you eat, it'll get boring after a while.
Gladstone took the voucher and handed it to Louie, who grinned. He then pushed Donald forward, a bit too roughly in my opinion. "Can't waste all the luck on me!" Why does he keep pushing him towards these things? We all know how Uncle Donald is, in terms of luck. It's like he's trying to embarrass Uncle Donald.
"I got this," Donald responded, letting his pride take over. He straightened up, before spinning the wheel. The wheel spun for a while before popping off of it's stand and spinning into a crowd of people. They all screamed and Donald grimaced. I looked away, doing my best to not listen to their screams. Yeesh.
"Attention. The 3:15 performance of Aquarioon: The Sacred Waters of Aquarien has been cancelled," A voice spoke over the intercom. I could've sworn I heard Huey scream "No!" from across the casino. I'll ask about that later.
We went to another part of the casino, and Donald was trying to guess the number of fingers the attendant was holding up.
I sat on the floor next to Louie and Gladstone who were watching Donald fail miserably. This was getting boring and frustrating really fast.
"How does he think he's holding up 27 fingers?" Louie asked.
"I don't know, Lou. I just don't know," Gladstone responded. I glared at both of them in response.
Donald continued to yell "27!" at the attendant, who gave an exasperated look. Donald had even climbed up onto the table.
Louie groaned. "Give it up, Uncle Donald. Please."
Uncle Gladstone hurried over to Donald, and pulled him off the table. "No, no, no. Let it ride. You're about to-"
"Two?" The attendant interrupted. "Two?! We have a winner! Congratulations, you won a brand-new Thunderclutch sports car."
I got up off the floor, and approached the booth, Louie following.
Uncle Gladstone caught the keys that the attendant threw at him, and laughed, seeming rather frustrated. "Great. This is the second car I've won for-"
"Four?" The attendant laughed, "You win again!"
Gladstone caught the keys again, and looked at the attendant in frustration. "Seriously?"
"Wow, you really can't lose!" Louie exclaimed. He grabbed the keys from Gladstone's hand.
"He's right about that," I commented, raising an eyebrow at the attendant.
"Yeah, I know," Gladstone answered, bitterly. He looked over at Donald. "So close, Big-D. Hey, how about we play-"
"Oh I give up," Donald sighed, exasperated. "I came to help you, and instead, you embarrass me in front of the kids."
Gladstone stuttered for a moment. "I'm not trying to embarrass you. I just wanted to give you and the fam a taste of the good life," He put a hand on Donald's shoulder. Ooh. I'm sure that statement was meant to be comforting, but it really didn't come off like that...
"By showing them I'm a loser?" Donald shot back.
Gladstone grimaced, before putting his chill facade back on. "Ugh, winners, losers, who cares? If you wanna impress them, keep playing. Your luck is bound to change." Alright, that was much better than his last statement. I thought of stepping in, before Louie honked the sports car's horn. I cocked an eyebrow at him, and he just grinned in response.
"Hey Uncle Gladstone!" He waved.
"I'm done," Donald stated before storming off.
"Wait no!" Gladstone called after him.
"Uncle Donald!" I shouted to him. He looked back at me with a sad look, before continuing to leave. Ah geez.
I turned back to Gladstone, who had a look of defeat on his face. Is he... actually worried about Uncle Donald? Huh, maybe he is different.
"Uncle Donald's taking a break, huh?" Louie asked. "Well then this is the perfect time for us to hit the big winner's tables." I sighed. Not the time, Louie. Read the room.
"I don't need you, I need him!" Gladstone shot back at Louie, before storming off.
I saw the sad look in Louie's eyes, so I pulled him with me and hurried after Gladstone. "Gladstone Gander, I don't know who you think you are, but you will not talk to my brother that way!" I shouted after him. Gods, this whole trip has been a bust.
~~~
We all ended up in the lobby, and I let go of Louie and stormed up to Gladstone as he got in Donald's face. "What is wrong with you?!" I demanded.
He ignored me and harped on Donald instead.
"I get it!" Donald shouted at him. "You're the cool uncle! I'm not. Have fun!" Donald stormed away from him and Gladstone looked back at me and Louie. I glared at him, and he hurried after Donald. Lesser of two evils, I suppose.
Once Gladstone got near the door, though, a chain appeared around his ankle, causing him to fall. I looked at him in confusion. We all hurried to Gladstone and Donald helped him up. Gladstone laughed nervously.
"Oh dang! Did I not mention I'm a prisoner here, and that's why I called you for help?" Gladstone asked through gritted teeth.
"What?" Louie asked. "Why didn't you just tell us?" Exactly!
"Because I'd find out." I spun around to see a giant toad with a sinister grin on his face. Oh no. Why can we never have a normal trip?
He did some hand movement and the whole casino turned into a series of cards. Including our outfits and Dewey's... tiger? ...What? I'll ask later. The kids all stood behind Scrooge, and Donald and I brought up the back of the group, defensively.
"I am Lui Hai!" The toad announced. "Ancient spirit of chance and fortune! Now, let's test your luck," He smiled menacingly.
"Aw phooey," I cursed under my breath.
"Finally! A proper adventure," Scrooge seemed oddly happy about this situation. I swear this man is an adrenaline junkie. "I sat through the waters of Aquanadon three times, when I could've been fighting a demon?"
"It's Aquarioon," Huey corrected. Dewey smacked him in response.
"Uh, yeah, you don't wanna mess with Toad. He's a luck vampire," Gladstone whispered to Scrooge. "He's held me captive here to feast off my natural good luck. I'm that delicious!"
"Are you bragging about that?" Dewey asked.
"Yeah, get over yourself already," I shot at Gladstone, who shrugged in response.
"I hoped Donald would break my lucky streak. You know, cause he's-" Gladstone explained.
"Bad luck," Scrooge commented.
"A total jinx," Huey offered.
"The worst!" Dewey complained.
I glared at the two. "He's right there, idiots!" I hissed. Read the room!
"Gladstone's good fortune has been satisfying, but surely, as the richest duck in the world, Scrooge McDuck's luck must be the most delicious feast of all." Liu Hai shuffled a deck of cards.
"Luck has nothing to do with my success." Scrooge defended. He had a point. I mean, he's like 154, if it took him that long to build a fortune, luck probably has nothing to do with it. But I didn't say that out loud, I wouldn't want to insult Scrooge's age.
"Oh really?" Liu Hai tempted.
"I'll prove it. One game. If I win, you set us free. If you win, we stay, permanently." The toad turned towards Scrooge, who approached him. Was this really a good idea? "Unless you think the spirit of luck and fortune will lose." Probably not the best time to tease a demon. Maybe we should have a talk about timing with the whole family.
"Hmm, I can't resist such a challenge."
"Yes! Thank you, Screwdriver McDollarsigns! I knew I could count on you," Gladstone thanked.
Liu Hai then showed us a board game below the platform we stood on. First to the end wins. But of course, he played by his own rules, so Gladstone was his contestor and Donald was ours. Winner goes free, the loser is doomed. So things were not looking very good. We'd need much more than luck to win this.
~~~
This whole thing was looking pretty rigged. Unsurprisingly, Gladstone had an easy stroll to the finish line, whereas Donald nearly died many times.
Gladstone reached a pinball machine, similar to the one we saw at first, and climbed up it with ease. He was almost crushed by a giant chicken thigh, but then skyrocketed up to the top by bouncing off of part of the structure. Wow.
I think he paused to apologize to Donald, but they were pretty far away, so I couldn't entirely tell what they were saying.
Donald sat at the bottom of the machine, and sighed, before a tiger appeared again and approached him. He cowered, and Liu Hai laughed.
"Oh, what's the point?" Donald asked.
"Come on, Uncle Donald!" Louie shouted, and we all turned to him, "So you have the worst luck in the world. Who cares? No matter how bad things get, like really, really bad, you keep going! It's kind of ridiculous. You never had the common sense to give up before. Why start now?"
We all cheered for Donald, and he got up and into a fighting stance and approached the tiger. His face got all red and he roared in response to the tiger. He turned back towards the machine with a crazed look. We all shouted our encouragement to him, with the exception of Uncle Scrooge.
He scaled the machine with almost no effort and shot up in front of Gladstone, crossing the finish line and therefore, winning the game. We all cheered in response.
Our surroundings soon returned to the casino again.
"Well at least I still have the luckiest buffet on Earth," Liu Hair defended, "Bad fortune, Mr. Gander." A chain materialized around Gladstone's ankle and Liu Hai tugged at it, before being stopped by Scrooge.
"Actually, Toad, Gladstone lost to Donald. So technically, Donald is the new luckiest guy on Earth, it's really him you should take," Scrooge shot at Liu Hai. I scrunched my face up, skeptically. I really don't think that's how it works. And I really don't think this is a good idea.
"Yeah!" Donald agreed. "Wait, no!" He shouted in realization.
"Hmm, a well reasoned argument. Donald Duck is my prize!" Lui Hai decided. Wait, wait, wait-
"That wasn't the deal!" Louie defended.
"All bets are off." Lui Hai snapped, and the chain around Gladstone's leg materialized around Donald's neck. He snapped again and we appeared outside the casino.
"Uncle Donald!" Louie shouted before turning to Scrooge. "I can't believe you just gave him up!"
I looked at Scrooge for an answer, still in shock. Did that really just happen?
"The kid's not wrong, Uncle McDuncle. What do we do?" Gladstone asked.
Scrooge counted to three, and backed up, pushing Louie with him. We all followed suit, minus Gladstone.
Donald soon came flying out of the casino, and landed on Gladstone. The toad vampire said something about his luck being awful and the next time I looked, the casino was gone. Huh... weird.
Louie ran over to Donald, and I let them have their moment. I turned to Scrooge.
"You knew toad would throw him out? Because of his bad luck."
Scrooge nodded in response. "Aye, that's what comes with being smarter than the smarties, lass." I rolled my eyes. Ever the egotistic.
The kids soon engulfed Donald in a hug, and I followed suit. This was a weird trip. I was ready to go home.
"How the heck did I win?" Donald asked no one in particular.
Gladstone went on a tangent about him still being lucky and a hero. The kids hurried to the plane, but I stayed and waited for Gladstone to finish his tangent.
"Eh, Luck's overrated," Louie answered.
"You done?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. I just looked at him, an angry expression on my face. He's really no different from the selfish college kid who liked to party. And here I was, thinking he may have changed. He held his hands up in defense, and my glare softened. I almost wanted to scold him, but...
"...It was nice seeing you, Uncle Gladstone," I told him, a ghost of a smile on my face.
He looked at me, before giving me his signature smile. "You too, Marina."
And with that I headed back to the plane, giving Launchpad a confused look, before entering the plane. There's no point in trying with him. Besides... it must be a lonely life when the only redeeming quality you have is your luck.
I took a seat next to Uncle Donald, leaving back. I stretched, before putting my hair back up, not having gotten a chance to do it before. I smiled at Uncle Donald, who smiled back, before resting my eyes and eventually drifting off to sleep.