Hello everyone! How are all of you handling all this situation? I hope you're fine, or as fine as you can be. Welp said that, I bring you a new story, actually not a new story but a translated version of my story 'Guerra de Genios'.

I'm very, very, very grateful to EmPro8 since she helped me editing my translations. Without her, this story would harder to read and some parts probably hard to understand. I'm really blessed for having her help.

That said, I really hope that you'll enjoy it! Let's begin.

War for Genius

1.- Interest or obsession

The situation had finally calmed down. What was previously an uproar was now just the whispers of the few people who were still gathered around the building. Everything seemed to be a happy ending now. Well… happy more than less because all the people were safe, but not overly happy because apparently Gizmoduck had died saving all of them. But Mark Beaks was not happy, he was not at all. What had happened there that afternoon was going to ruin much of his and Waddle's image, and that was somewhat difficult to recover.

After what happened, just a few minutes ago, he'd been viewed as a complete idiot. More than that, he was portrayed as an irresponsible person who puts people in danger rather than helping them. And all this mess caused by a comment that angered him, a simple comment pronounced by someone who had long since stopped admiring him, without Beaks having done anything to deserve such contempt from that person.

Mark's eyes traveled to who was truly responsible of everything that had happened there that afternoon. A young duckling dressed in a red shirt and a cap of the same color (Huey if he remembered well). The boy was there, standing next to one of the journalists who had come to cover his press conference. Mark focused all his attention on him and glared at him, eyes full of fury.

If it hadn't been for the interference of that kid, his press conference wouldn't have become a potential massacre. But that wasn't the case. When he came down with the Waddleduck suit for his daily press conference, there was the duckling, manifesting against Waddleduck. Why? Mark had seen the news the previous day, and he knew that boy had been very excited about the appearance of a new robotic superhero. Why did he change his mind when that superhero started working for Waddle? What was wrong with the fact that even he himself as CEO and principal image of Waddle, had decided to be the new Waddleduck? Seriously, that boy was a real headache.

But there was something else about this young duckling, something that the boy was capable of solving. Something the manufacturer of the Guizmo Suit and even Mark himself had failed to solve! And that something was to give to the suit an organic processor and not an artificial one. An organic processor that wouldn't explode if overloaded. How could the young boy come up with such a conclusion or even be capable of fixing the suit's connections to make this a reality in an emergency situation? It was a mystery, but that in turn showed him one thing: That boy was a genius.

Actually... Mark had already realized that this child was... efficient, organized, diligent and a committed worker. Except when he went crazy after appointing the other child as vice president. But pushing that little detail aside, Beaks saw it after having fired them both for the entire TAH-DAH project incident. Yes, after the two brothers left, Mark reviewed the work the two ducklings had done, and realized that the one who wore red had done in a few hours the work that many of his employees did in a few days. He was so good that with just a few hours he knew almost perfectly the internal distribution of his company.

If all his workers were as efficient as that boy, his fortune would probably now be greater than the fortune of Scrooge McDuck himself. Ah, but he'd to realize that when it was too late. He'd spoiled a unique opportunity.

Focusing all his attention on the kid again, an anger started to rise inside of him. He was furious with the boy, but at the same time he was fascinated. Ideas kept coming to his mind of everything that he could achieve if the boy worked for him. He had so many ideas, so many plans… but as much as he wanted the kid being at his service, he knew for sure that that was something that wouldn't never happen, he'd never accept a job at Waddle again.

Suddenly, Mark saw how the kid looked down to the water and shouted:

"Hey, there's someone there!"

The police officer who had been circling the area quickly approached to look, and Mark realized that her face paled. She had probably recognized whoever was there, because he almost instantly heard her scream:

"¡Fenton!"

Fenton? Wasn't that the name of the one in the Gizmo Suit? Did it mean that Gizmoduck had survived? Great, the other top responsible for his downfall.

From where he was sitting, Mark saw how the health aids quickly came to help Fenton. They put him on a stretcher and took him to an ambulance, with the police officer always by his side. As they passed him, Mark found that he was indeed the one wearing Gizmoduck's suit before he appropriated it.

Mark felt his anger grow even more, between Gizmoduck and that little duck dressed in red, they had ruined everything. Also, the Waddle's CEO still remembered (not with much enthusiasm) that the same duck accused him of kidnapping his great-uncle during the birthday party of even though he didn't do anything! And on top of that he was expelled from that house in a very bad way, thrown without ceremonies through a window. Not to mention that the kid was able to throw his last replacement mobile phone over the rooftop. How could someone be so cruel? Those were some of the motives that made him feel resentment against the boy. He wanted make the kid pay for all the humiliations he'd suffered every time they crossed paths.

But, how to accomplish such a feat? What was clear to Mark was that he didn't want the typical revenge of torturing his victim until he begged for his death. No, that wasn't his style. And he also really wanted to have this kid, and the ideas he could have, at his service. And maybe… maybe there was a way he could get it. He'd try to talk with the boy, hoping if by some miracle he'd accept to work for him, and, if he did, Mark'd have him sign a contract that would link Huey to him for life. But, in case of not accepting, he'd have to resort to... other methods to get that new employee.

Mark knew that he was starting to get obsessed with the boy, it's the same that happened with Gizmoduck. But to be honest, what he saw the kid to do just a few minutes ago, playing with the cables and connecting them to the first one so that the connections he'd established would perform the function he wanted, it was something really brilliant. And in such a short time and under pressure and risk of his own life? Simply magnificent. He needed this child, at any cost.

Speaking of the young duckling, it seemed that the boy was leaving soon, because he saw him take his mobile phone, probably to give someone the advice that he was coming back home and after that, he started to walk away from the place.

Mark immediately stood up and he turned his back on the boy so that he wouldn't see him. From his position he was keeping an eye on the red duckling's movements. And when the duckling passed by him, Waddle's CEO quickly spun around and grabbed the child by the arm, and dragging him to the other side of the ambulance he had been leaning against. He wants to speak quietly, without anyone seeing and disturbing them.

To feel that he was suddenly grabbed and diverted from his course made Huey let out a frightened Yelp. But Mark ignored it. He was going to talk with him, whether the boy liked it or not.

When he was sure that nobody could see them, he dropped the duckling and turned to face him, saying with false enthusiasm:

"Hi kid!"

The young boy dressed in red frowned and crossed his arms. He asked with an angry voice:

"What do you want now Beaks?"

Okay, this will be complicated. It was clear that the young kid was still furious with him, if he wanted to have the slightest hope of getting the boy work for him, he'd to… lie. Pretend to succeed. Thankfully, he was pretty good on it, first of all, he'd to pretend shame and sorrow for whatever that happened and then he'd have to move on to admire and flatter the boy for how well he'd solved the problem, yes, if he followed that strategy, that should work:

"Well, you see… I… wanted to apologize for all what happened here and also… I wanted to say that you've left me very surprised, more than that, impressed about how you've got that the GizmoDuck suit user have the completely control of its functions."

Beaks didn't know if Huey knew who was the one inside the armor, so he decided to keep it as a secret, just for if the boy preferred to admire a secret identity hero over than know who was hiding under that helmet.

On the other side the Waddle's CEO checked joyfully that Huey's features softened slightly at the mention of his work with the suit. Yes, flattery had worked.

The boy with red cap put down both arms and with a bit excited voice he said:

"Really?"

Beaks smiled, maybe he'd make the duckling work for him willingly. So, while still smiling, he replied:

"Yes, of course."

Then the kid adopted a reflexive pose, his and his gaze drifted to the ground, after a few seconds, he looked back at Beaks and said:

"Okay, I accept your apologize, but I think you should publicly apologize to everyone who has been in danger this afternoon, not just with me,"

Beaks felt his blood starting to boil, how dared a ten years old kid to suggest how had he to act? Mark tried to calm down himself, he didn't want the kid seeing through his mask. Instead of that, he stared looking the boy in silence, because the kid was looking the ground again, he seemed to be searching the best way to say whatever he was going to say next. When he talked again, his voice got out a little hesitant while he said:

"And… thanks for… the praise."

After saying that, the young boy turned around to leave, but Mark called him to stop him, and when the young boy turned around again, he talked to him saying:

"Hey, there's something I wanted to talk with you. Would you want to work for Waddle?"

The kid did not hesitate with his response:

"No!" he answered quickly and dryly.

His response was so instantaneous that Beaks was speechless. He hadn't expected the young boy to be so blatant with his refusal. Recovering as fast as he could from his shock, the Waddle CEO said:

"Are you sure about that? I'm not suggesting you to be a simple intern, I offer you a real place in my company."

Huey's crown only grew deeper. His hands were clenched into fists and with a hard voice he answered:

"I'll never work for you again Beaks. Never again."

And after say that, the boy turned and stormed away. Beaks watched him go, the mask he'd worn so far fell and revealed how furious he really was. He looked after the duckling with narrowed eyes and when he disappeared from view, he said in a sinister voice:

"We'll see that, Huey."

Welp, this was the first chapter, what do you think about it! Did you like it! If so, please don't hesitate to follow or/and put this story among your favorites, and please, do not doubt on leave a review here. It's always nice to know what readers think.

See you in the next chapter!

Pilyarquitect