Who is Julie McDuck?!

Moonvasion! Part 2

(3rd person POV)

A small group of rebels including Scrooge, Mrs. Beakley, Duckworth, and Manny sat at a table at Chum's before Launchpad bursts in.

"There you are! I thought we were meeting at Thumbs, not Chums, because I wrote the name of the emergency meeting place, 'Chums', on my thumbs!" he explained, wiggling his thumbs. "You can understand the mix-up."

Beakley, Duckworth, and Manny all looked at him blankly.

"Also, everyone's been captured by Moon guys," Launchpad added. "And where's Josh and his lady?"

Mrs. Beakley sighed, walking over to another table were Josh sat with Sam and Diane, her son squirming in her arms. Mrs. Beakley put a hand on the young woman's shoulder.

"Would you like me to hold him for a moment, dear?" she whispered. Diane smiled, gently handing Jake over to the housekeeper and turning her attention back to her husband's arms. The green veins were still prominent on his inner forearms, and, even worse, they were crawling up to his elbows.

"Joshua, I should've never let you join that battle against Lunaris!" Diane groaned, running a thumb over his open palm. "It was obviously too dangerous."

"Yeah, well, you know me; making stupid decisions is kinda in my blood," Josh muttered, shooting his father a glare. "But it doesn't do us any good worrying about it. As long as I don't take another hit, I should be fine."

"Joshua, look at me," Diane said firmly. "I don't care that you ran away from the family; it hurt us, but I'm just glad you're back. And if anything were to happen to you-"

Diane stopped mid-sentence, clasping a hand over her beak to try to contain her sobs. "I-I just want you to be a part of our lives. Not just for me....but for Kylee and Jake, too."

Sam rose from the table, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "I'll take the blame for this one; it wasn't all Joshua's fault. I-I should've been there."

"Been there for what? When I got blasted, or for the majority of my childhood?" Josh snapped, narrowing his eyes.

Sam sighed before whispering to his daughter-in-law, "Diane, could you give me and Joshua a moment, please?" The woman nodded, walking over to the table Beakley, Manny, and Launchpad were at.

The elder man sighed. "Joshua, I understand if you don't want me to be here or even in your and your sister's lives. And it looks like my absence had something of a...snowball effect in your own life. But, you have to understand, I DIDN'T leave because I didn't want a daughter."

"Then WHY?!" Josh almost screamed.

"Because I wanted to keep you all SAFE," Sam replied in an even tone. "Uncle Scrooge has so many sworn enemies, and I thought, if I was out of the picture, nobody would come after my family. Nobody would be able to connect the dots that you and the rest of the family were McDucks...but I was wrong..."

"Yeah, no kidding," Josh muttered, crossing his arms. "Seems like it only made it worse..."

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry," Sam lamented. "For leaving you, your sister, and you mother...and for everything that came after."

Josh sighed. "Thanks...but you might have to wait a while to meet Julie. She's with Della and the other kids."

Sam chuckled. "As long as get to meet my girl, that's fine with me."

They turned back to see Scrooge lying his head on a table, looking frustrated. "Ugh, I have no idea what I'm doing. I cannae see how to beat Lunaris. Every plan I come up with, he's one step ahead!" Scrooge groaned, putting his top hat back on. "I'm afraid there's no sane way to stop him."