Rise of the Riptide! | Ducktales 2017

(3) Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty

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The day Ariel declared as one of her worst was also the same day she discovered her powers.

Long story short, she learned about her emotion-controlled powers the hard way. It was her first day of school and she just wanted to leave a good first impression. All it took was one school bully to summon a tidal wave his way. That had earned her quite a few screams and kids calling her a witch.

It took some experimenting, but Ariel came to the conclusion that she had the power to control water. Well, not her exactly, but the green shell she'd worn on her neck. She played around with random glasses of water in Donna's bar, lifting the liquid in and out of the cups without laying a finger on it.

She was quite clumsy starting off of course, but she amazed herself with what she could do. It almost made her feel better about the rumors, even if they only helped confirm them.

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After the incident, Ariel was homeschooled. It's not like she could return to her old school, it was the only one in the town and the children were too afraid of her.

It was lonely, especially with Donna always being too busy to spend time with her, but she found ways to keep busy. Living a sheltered life above the bar wasn't all bad! She had lots of time to educate herself on subjects she actually enjoyed, mainly marine biology and chemistry. Donna allowed her to experiment at home as long as she wore goggles, which led to a lot of random mini kitchen explosions.

As years went on, so did the rumors. Donna had reassured her that the kids would move on eventually, and some did. But there were still some kids who believed that if they crossed the Sea Witch, she'd send the ocean out to swallow them whole.

That's why she avoided places most kids would be. Sometimes she'd go to the library very early in the morning, where the nice librarian would give her fun book recommendations. Usually she'd head down to the beachside when no one was there, where she'd play around with the water and test her powers. And sometimes she'd opted to just stay home.

That was until Donna offered to let Ariel help her out around the bar.

Ariel was absolutely thrilled at the idea of helping out her guardian/aunt-figure around downstairs. It meant spending time with one of the few people in her life who wasn't afraid of her.

Ariel loved her Aunt Donna. While she wasn't always available for her - what with her acting as the manager and entertainment for her bar and all - Ariel appreciated her efforts. Sometimes she wondered what it'd be like to have parents, but it left a burning ache in her chest so she never dwelled on the thought for too long.

She wasn't ungrateful for the guardian she got- Donna was amazing! She had many talents. For one, Donna was quite musically gifted, so she'd sometimes give Ariel vocal and guitar lessons. They bonded the most through their musical sessions. And Donna was quite protective too. While Ariel didn't like being babied, whenever rumors would spread about her in the bar, Aunt Donna immediately stopped them. It made the bar a safe place for her.

It wasn't exactly home, but it was something.

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