Strangers in Duckburg

Chapter One: How It All Started

Today was supposed to be a normal day. All that was supposed to happen was me, my older brother Mark, my little sister Mandie, and our parents were going to Disneyland. But, on the car ride there - things went from bad to worse. First - the air conditioning broke. Then, two of our tires became flat. And lastly, the little shack in the middle of no-where, where we ended up after pushing the car for miles, had some weird symbols and portal thingy.

That was when things really got weird. Because when we went inside to escape a rain storm (life really had it out for us) Mandie started playing pretend. She likes this show DuckTales, and ever since she saw part one of the last episode of season one she cannot stop talking about it. And since she couldn't see what was happening in part 2 of the season one finale, she began making it up on her own.

Mandie's six, by the way. She has black curly hair, brown eyes, and always carries her teddy bear with her. I'm twelve, with green eyes and more of a dusty brown hair. Mark is sixteen, with black hair and brown eyes like Mandie. I have no idea how old are parents our - I never really thought to ask them. But I do know where I got my hair and eyes from - my dad has brown hair, but his eyes are brown. My mom has black hair, but green eyes - and I got something from each of them.

Anyway, Mandie started playing pretend, singing the theme song to DuckTales and dancing crazily around the weird floor symbols. Mark was listening to something on his earphones and standing in the middle of the room, while mom and dad were at the edges of the main circle surrounding the symbols. (My parents love archeology and from what I heard this circle looks a bit like something Egyptian - even though we're in America).

Meanwhile, I was following Mandie around, trying to make sure she was safe. I mean, really, she was just dancing around this random circle with a bunch of symbols on it - what if it was a giant portal or something like in Stargate, only, you know, on the floor?

"Mandie - be careful," I said, my hand stuffed in my jacket pockets. If only our tires had not given out and our car's air conditioning system worked - by now we would have been in Disneyland, where I could ride as many roller coasters as I wanted before I barfed my guts out, and then ride twice as many.

"D-d-danger, right behind you," Mandie sang, ignoring me. She jumped on what looked like a duck symbol. I walked around it, getting more and more frustrated all the time. Why couldn't she listen to me for once? I am her older sister...

"Mom, Dad," I said, stopping and looking towards my parents. "Mandie's dancing around the weird symbols on the floor and she won't stop!!"

"Micha," Mom said, glancing up at me. "Leave your sister alone."

"But mom -" I tried to protest. This always happens - mom and dad always tell me to chill out. But they don't know Mandie - she gets into all sorts of trouble. One time, while playing pretend she was Batgirl, she ran her bike into our neighbors fence. Another time, she left a huge mess in our kitchen trying to make a power shake like that guy Dwyane Johnson played in The Game Plan.

"Michaela Frieda Johansen," Dad said, still looking at the floor. "Listen to your mother."

"Fine." I pouted, folding my arms and frowning at the floor. "But if Mandie opens a portal to an alien planet or something - don't blame me."

"You really need to chill Micha," Mark said from the middle of the floor. He had one earbud out. Great. He'd been listening. "She's only six."

"Whatever." I responded, glaring at the floor now. All these weird symbols were creeping me out... "When can we leave?"

"Geez, Micha - you are so strung up today." Mark responded, and I stuck my tongue out at him. We get along pretty well most days - but being stuck inside a car with my whole family for days didn't do me any favors. "Just relax, okay? Look around here - we're somewhere dry, and we have our car - This place isn't Disneyland but it's not that bad."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, gesturing at the floor. "What about the floor? What's it all about? What if it's a-a curse or something??"

"You've seen The Mummy way too many times..." Mark replied, rolling his eyes and putting his earbud back in. I only saw The Mummy twice. It was the sequels I've seen multiple times. But I wasn't going tell him that - he would just roll his eyes.

"Ugh - I wish we were anywhere but here..." I said, walking around the circular symbol with a line drawn under it. In my anger, I stomped on the symbol, and a phrase I would come to regret. "Heck - I even wish we were in DuckTales!"

Suddenly the symbol began to glow under my feet. Surprised, I didn't move. What the heck...was this really happening? Despite the fact that I would act faster then it would take someone to snap a finger to save Mandie - I couldn't budge from my spot. Something held me there.

"Woah - what's that?!" Mandie exclaimed, running towards me. I wanted to move and push her away - but I couldn't. I was literally glued to the ground. "Mom, Dad, Mark - look at what Micha did!!"

"What on Earth -" Dad said, jumping up. Mom was just staring - but she snapped out of it when Dad spoke. They both rushed over to try and brag Mandie and me away from the symbol. But when they stepped on the light, they were stuck. Mandie was too, now - only she didnt' seem to mind.

"What did you do?" Mark asked me, and I just shook my head. What had I done? I didn't even know!

"I'm stuck!!" Mom cried, trying to manuall pry her legs off of the symbol. It wasn't working. "Mark - get your sisters away from this thing!"

Mark took a step forward, and as soon as he stepped onto the circle, he was stuck. One foot in, one foot out, he was stuck. Just like the rest of us.

Moments later the whole floor lit up - and the light went up and started to swirl around us. I stared up at the hurricane of light, feeling strange. I was getting dizzy, and it felt like I was starting to fall.

"What's happening??" I heard dad shout. Why was he shouting? My thoughts were getting kind of fuzzy. My eyes flickered as I glanced around. I realized that the five of us were swirling around in the vortex of light - and it looked like were falling? Like water down a drain.

"I don't know!!" I heard mom shout back, somewhere from behind me. "Micha, Mandie, Mark - are you here?"

"Mommy?" Mandie cried out, and I felt her hand grab my leg. Human touch brought me back out from my...comatose state. I bent down, as much as I could when falling, and wrapped my arms around Mandie, pulling her close to me in a hug.

"I've got you!!" I said, hopefully loud enough for her to hear. A loud roar had started up in the vortex - it was like listening to a plane at close range. I shut my eyes tight and hugged Mandie close, my senses being overloaded by everything around me.

Then I blacked out.

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"Who is that?" A strange voice said, waking me up. I felt someone shake my shoulder, and could hear the faint clink of coins. "Hey - hey wake up!"

"Dewey, I think she's unconscious." Another voice said. They sounded vaguely familiar...but I couldn't put my finger on where I'd heard them from. I tried to make myself wake up to see who they were, but my eyes refused to open - and my whole body hurt. No way I would be able to wake up, let along sit up.

"I vote we show Uncle Scrooge and let him deal with this," Another voice added. Now, I know I'd heard Uncle Scrooge before. I wracked my brain for information before I blacked out again. Where had I heard it from? Who did I know had the name Scrooge? Then it came to me - A Christmas Carol. Ebineezer Scrooge was an uncle...but why would I be in A Christmas Carol?

The only thing I could think of was that this was some sort of dream. What else could it be? With that comforting thought in my head, I let myself slip down into darkness.

This is my newest fanfiction - and it's something I've been mulling over for a long time. Reading several other stories where humans went to DuckTales got my mind turning - and I began to wonder, what if a whole family went to Duckburg? Well, now I get to find out. Till next chapter!