STORY

Scrooge McDuck stomped furiously down the office floor. Everyone in his path wisely jumped out of the way, back behind their desks, under their chairs and into whatever drawers would fit them. When Scrooge McDuck was on the warpath, no one was safe from his wrath.

"Back to work! Stop gawking!" He shouted at whoever happened to look him in the eyes, and slammed the door to his office. A few reams of paper near the door scattered off their respective cubicles as he did so.

Inside the office door, Scrooge stomped to his desk and grabbed the old-fashioned phone that was currently ringing.

"Any news?" He shouted into it, "What do y'mean it'll take time? Find out! I want to know yesterday!"

He slammed the receiver down on the phone and began pacing the office, growling and muttering to himself.

"I just cannot believe it," he said to himself, "I cannot believe it!"

The phone rang again, and he made a mad dash to grab it. "McDuck here," he said, then, "Finally! Where?...Well, get on it then! I want that plane surrounded!... What d'ya mean, impossible? We'll see about that!"

He carried the phone to the office door, dragging the wire behind him, and opened the door. "I want everyone ta stop what you're doing and listen ta me!" He shouted, not bothering to cover the phone as he yelled, "I want you all ta get in your cars, drive ta the airport and create a blockade around the planes. Don't let any of them take off, understand?"

He then closed the door with his foot, apparently oblivious to the strange expressions his employees were making.

Silence. Then, a flurry of excitement as everyone grabbed their coats, purses and wallets.

"What's going on?" One of the newer employees asked.

"Listen, I've worked here for twenty years," a veteran responded, "And Mr. McDuck hasn't told us to stop working once, not even the year of that record snowstorm."

"This has gotta be important," another employee chimed.

"But doesn't that sound illegal? I mean, couldn't we get into trouble?" The newby asked.

"Doesn't matter, this is Scrooge McDduck we're talking about." The veteran employee said, and without further explanation everyone quickly rushed out the door, heading to their cars in the employee parking lot.

Meanwhile, back in the office, Scrooge was still on the phone.

"Yes, yes, I have the information right here," he said, pulling a notepad out from his desk, "I didn't think it would come in handy...Right, okay, I'll give it to you then. Just make sure that neither of those two dim-witted yahoo's leave the country!"

Slamming the phone down on the receiver, Scrooge grabbed his top hat and cane before opening his office door and racing towards the elevator.

"Ack, I just hope we get there in time," he said to himself as he raced past all the empty cubicles and down the stairwell.

Out of the stairway, down the hallway, in the front driveway. Scrooge hailed a taxi and jumped in the car, and within seconds was traveling down the highway.

"Faster, faster!" He shouted, "I cannot afford ta miss that flight!"

The taxi zoomed towards its destination, the flustered taxi driver doing his best not to get pulled over.

"You're lucky all the cops are in the next town over for the festival, bud, or else we'd definitely be getting a ticket right about now." He said.

"Are you kidding? It's because the cops aren't here that I'm in this mess! Faster!"

Eventually the car pulled up at the airport, and Scrooge actually gave the man a tip as he left.

"What the heck are all those cars doing on the runway?" The taxi man wondered aloud just as Scrooge slammed the taxi door behind him.

The richest duck in the world then proceeded to run as fast as he could towards the airfield.

"Any sign of them?" He shouted at the group of his employees, who had all parked their cars in varying places around the airfield and were lounging around outside their vehicles.

"Any sign of what?" Someone who was closest to McDuck asked.

"Good, they haven't left yet." Scrooge said cryptically, slowing down.

"Well well, if it isn't Mr. McDuck!" A stranger spoke, approaching Scrooge, "Look here. You might be the richest duck in Duckburg, but that gives you no excuse to send all your employees over to my airfield!"

"We'll deal with that later," Scrooge said, "Right now, there are two scoundrels coming here, and they must not be allowed ta leave the country."

"Fine, I get it, I get it." The airport duck sighed, "We'll make sure to stop them and get back whatever they stole from you."

"Good lad," Scrooge said.

"That way you can get out of our hair," the airport duck muttered below his breath.

"Wow," the newby employee whispered, "So that's what they call the perks of the rich, huh?"

"Nah," another employee whispered back, "The old duck's just so stubborn that it's easier to let him get back his stolen gold than fight him over it."

"So, do you know which flight they are getting on?" The airport duck asked.

In answer, Scrooge passed him a notepad of paper, the same one he had taken from his office desk.

"Right," the airport duck said, "So, they're from Duckvania? We've got a private jet that's scheduled to leave there in half an hour, so that might be theirs. The names are different though, but they could have used fakes."

"Fine. Just don't let them on that or any other plane. Incidentally, which one is that jet?"

The duck pointed it out, and Scrooge immediately headed for it.

"Hey, wait!" The airport duck said, chasing after him, "What are you doing?"

As soon as the two of them were gone, another car drove onto the runway.

"Hey, what gives!" The man in the driver's seat asked, sticking his head out the window and laying on the horn, "The people inside said the airport was closed because you guys are parked out here! What kind of demonstration is this?"

He honked again, and the woman next to him in the passenger seat looked angry.

"Sorry sir, just a little situation that will shortly be resolved." One of Scrooge's employees said.

"I don't care what it is, get moving!" The man shouted, "My wife and kids want to get back home to Duckvania."

"Did you say Duckvania?" The employee asked.

"What, are you deaf?" The man asked, "Get going!"

"Honey, just go!" The wife said, "Mow those people down if you have to, we have to get to our plane!"

The man honked again, but nobody moved. It was suddenly very clear that these were the people Scrooge was after.

A few of Scrooge's employees privately wondered if they should perform a citizen's arrest, but then again, the family wanted to go to where Scrooge was. Should they just let them through, or not?

"That's it!" The man said, deciding for them, "Get out, Sweetiepie. We're walking to the plane."

"But-"

"We have to. We can't stay here any longer."

So the family got out of the car and herded their children towards the private jet on the other end of the airfield.

"I hope you people have enough sense to stay back when our plane takes off," the man muttered.

They were halfway to their plane when the sirens first became audible.

The family paused. "Is that-" the woman began.

"Hurry!" The man shouted, and pushed the children in front of him.

Suddenly they were sprinting towards the plane, even as the first cop car rounded the corner to get to the airfield. Unfortunately it was delayed a few seconds, since all the cars were in the way, but Scrooge's employees all had the good sense to jump in their vehicles and move them just enough to create a path. The police then swerved around the family's parked car and headed straight for the family, but the delay had given the folks more than enough time to get to their plane.

"Haha! Made it!" The man said, pulling open the airplane door.

"Not quite!" Scrooge McDuck said, standing inside the airplane.

The kids shouted, and Scrooge jumped out of the plane just as the woman screamed.

"I suggest you hold still!" Scrooge said, rolling up his sleeves.

But before McDuck could start wrestling with the man, the first police car arrived. Faster than you could say 'Jail', they handcuffed both the man and the woman and were reading them their rights.

"I wonder what they stole," the newby employee said, watching the entire show, "I mean, whatever it was must have really been worth something. And small too, since none of those people had any luggage with them."

"You still don't get it, do you?" The veteran employee said, gesturing with a nod of his head at Scrooge, "Look closer."

Confused at this very cryptic command, the newby looked again.

The man and wife were being placed in police cars now. Scrooge hadn't moved from standing next to the plane, but he was busy talking to the police chief, who was apologizing for the lack of a decent police force while they were all at the festival in the neighboring town. The kids from the family were all surrounding Scrooge, and one of the three was even holding onto his tailcoat...oh. The nephews.

THE END