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Quote from user: Baar Baar JinxI do think it's odd that Barks would tease us with this "secret" that Scrooge has and then not expand on it.
I'm not sure it can be called "tease". Barks needed Miss Penny Wise to live in a regular-sized house, so it could convincingly be converted into a gingerbread house by Donald's screw-up. Barks also needed a reason why it was very, very important for Scrooge not to upset her. The possibility of losing his fortune would explain why it was so important to Scrooge. Since Miss Wise lived in an ordinary house, she presumably wasn't a multi-trillionaire... so how, exactly, would she be able to cause Scrooge losing his fortune? Barks's solution: she has a note that somehow can make it happen. End of explanation.

It's only a tease if you believe there's a greater, intriguing backstory behind that note and that Barks had the necessary number of pages to tell that backstory, but chose not to. In reality, it was a toss-away idea in a 10-pager.

Quote from user: Baar Baar JinxNot something he generally did.
Barks sprinkled nuggets like this throughout his stories, whenever Scrooge would make a toss-away reference to some old exploit.

Within the last hours,i came up with an idea about a fanfic with Pennywise's secret.When i'm done with this one,i'll start writing it.For the time being,
enjoy the third part of my story.

PART 3

Scrooge is the only person to attend Glomgold's funeral.While they're burying him,the richest man on the planet is shedding tears.
Scrooge(thinking)-I guess there is always somebody to cry,even for the death of a creep.
When he's about to leave the graveyard,a smartly dressed man stops him at the exit.
Man-Mr.McDuck,this letter is for you.
Scrooge-Huh?Who are you?
Man-I used to be mr.Glomgold's right hand man.Long ago,he asked me to deliver this letter to you,in case he was the first of the two of you to die.
The man leaves and the baffled Scrooge starts reading.
Letter-My hated Scrooge,
As you know,i'm dead,otherwise you wouldn't have got this letter.First of all,i want to make one thing clear.Don't think i've softened,because i
haven't.I hate you as much as always.So,don't expect any sentimental crap in this letter.
There is one thing i've been keeping secret from you during those years of our rivalry.I would feel awfully ashamed if you knew.But,now that i've
kicked the bucket,it doesn't matter anymore.So,i want you to know.I assume you remember a young man you met in the late 1880s,when you were
searching for gold in South Africa,who tricked you,stole all your possessions and abandoned you in the African jungle.Well,I was that man.

Scrooge receives the biggest surprise of his life.He keeps reading...
Letter-When you started gathering billions and became famous worldwide,i immediately recognized you.After that,i kept an eye on your progress,
until our ''first meeting'' in my money bin.That's why i was always so obsessed with surpassing you.That's why i even allied with criminals and a witch
just to destroy you.

Scrooge starts crying again,not knowing for sure whether it's anger or pity.
Letter-All those decades,i had persuaded myself that the reason i hated you was for the way you had humiliated me back then,when we were both
penniless ducks.Lately,though,after my plan to eliminate you with Beagle Boys' and Magica's help failed,i realized the true reason.I admire that you
became that rich by being honest.In other words,i admire that you did the hard way what i did the easy way.
When you sent me to prison,you told me that,no matter how much money i obtain,i'll still be a nothing if i'm not honest.You were right,after all.All my
life,i've felt a nothing.If i could turn time backwards,maybe i would try living the way you did.But now i'm rotten to the core.It's too late for me to
change my heart,my ways.
I hope we meet again in another world,even though it's highly unlikely.I've ruined many lives to become a trillionaire.So,if there is an afterlife,i'll
most likely go to Hell,whereas you'll most likely go to Heaven.
That's all,
Flintheart

Scrooge(thinking)-Rest in peace my friend.
Now,McDuck is ready to go to Dawson.Back with more action,next time.

Quote from user: Matildahe somehow got himself in debt for a chunk of money (but not his entire fortune, he was over-dramatizing as is his wont) to Penny Wise back in Duckburg. Perhaps he tried to pay it off soon after, but she kept telling him, "Oh, no, really, it was nothing, don't even think about it"--because she really didn't care about money; but he can't believe that, so he has continued to be afraid that one day she would call the debt in with all its interest. (Actually, she probably threw away the note shortly after he gave it to her.) Personally, I like the idea that an old woman of modest means could claim a chunk of Scrooge's fortune but doesn't because she has everything she wants in life.
Since this is a fanfic thread, here's the fanfic-iest explanation I can think of:

Years ago, Scrooge was diagnosed with cancer. While being treated in hospital, he was tended to by a caring nurse: Miss Penny Wise. Scrooge was scared he would die but at the same time so grateful for Miss Wise's care that he gave her a written note, stating he would donate his entire fortune to her if he survived. After he got cured, he quietly "forgot" about the note... and since then has been worried about Miss Wise cashing in on his promise.

If cancer isn't serious enough, we can combine it with another disease.

Quote from user: Robb_KHe is not dishonest.
Well...except that you and I both know that I could link to a whole bunch of examples from Barks of him being pretty unambiguously dishonest. If you want to claim that he's fundamentally honest all the time, you have to excise quite a bit of material. Certainly, that's what Rosa does.

I mean?¦gosh. Scrooge tricks Donald into doing salvage work for him for free? Scrooge tries to trick Donald into selling him his house by creating a monster? Scrooge tricks Donald and Jones into destroying their houses so they'll sell cheap? Scrooge tricks a king into giving him a barrel of gold for a stove? Just say when.
I mean, okay, if you're defining "honest" in incredibly narrow terms, then I guess Scrooge could qualify?¦but really, how honest is that?

Quote from user: GeoXI mean?¦gosh. Scrooge tricks Donald into doing salvage work for him for free? Scrooge tries to trick Donald into selling him his house by creating a monster? Scrooge tricks Donald and Jones into destroying their houses so they'll sell cheap? Scrooge tricks a king into giving him a barrel of gold for a stove? Just say when.

I mean, okay, if you're defining "honest" in incredibly narrow terms, then I guess Scrooge could qualify?¦but really, how honest is that?
I think that Scrooge would not act like he does towards Donald towards total strangers or his tenants, unless they were crooks or villains or cheating others in some way. I think he feels he can mistreat Donald to teach him lessons about the way he should behave related to money and work, and he also feels entitled to do that because he often supports Donald with work when no one else will hire him. Whenever Donald is desperate, Scrooge helps him, even if he tries to take advantage of him in doing that. i don't think he would do that to a poor widow with children. He might trick and abuse a lazy "goldbrick" tenant, who is trying to get away without paying his rent, but he wouldn't try to scare a normal homeowner out of his house just to build a factory somewhere. He feels he can do that to Donald, because, deep down, he feels that he will probably semi-reluctantly leave some of his riches to Donald when he dies.

Quote from user: GeoXI wouldn't really disagree with any of that. In fact, I've often thought that Scrooge's general dickishness on the page must be only part of the story; he probably helps out his nephews in small/big ways more than he'd like anyone to know, and he probably just surreptitiously overlooks a lot of the debts Donald supposedly owes him.

BUUUUUT?¦

at the same time, you can't really deny that this is us putting our own spins on things. It's quite obvious that in the above stories, Barks wasn't thinking about any of this; within the individual stories, Scrooge was being a dick just 'cause. Point being, we have to do a little extrapolating of ours to come to this particular interpretation of his character. We're not really doing anything different than Rosa did in this regard.
You are correct here. Assumptions have to be made, because Barks didn't spell everything out clearly. Don Rosa made assumptions and I've made assumptions. All us chillen's made us some assumptions. If I criticised some of Don Rosa's assumptions, it is because I disagree with those assumptions. It's a matter of personal interpretation and taste.

Having been somewhat more than an acquaintance with Carl Barks (as was Don Rosa, as well), and having discussed Scrooge's character with Barks for at least several hours (if you add up the time in 3 meetings and several letters, and a few telephone calls), I have my own idea of what Barks had in mind for Scrooge's character and motivations. I believe that he would NOT have agreed with an honest person to do something and then deliberately NOT follow through by not keeping his word. Nothing anyone here has written has convinced me to change my mind. The Scrooge I know from Barks would probably NEVER have agreed to give his entire fortune to a nurse, EVEN if she promised to cure him of cancer. But if he signed such a paper in a weak moment, the nurse would have been a scoundral taking advantage of a woozy, drugged old man, and all bets would be off (because Scrooge's morals ALLOW him to welsh on agreements made with villains who are cheating him. But, IF he made any kind of agreement while in full consciousness and with all his faculties, in good faith, with a decent, honest person in good faith, he would keep that agreement. If it would be so very distasteful for him to keep his word in that case, he might approach the decent person, and ask her or him if they might find it in their hearts to tear up the agreement or soften the terms. But if that person would refuse, Scrooge would feel compelled to keep his word and follow through.

If NOT, I dare say, that he would NOT be an acceptable Disney protagonist character. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, and come from a bygone era. But, we from the 1940s and '50s thought people who lie, cheat, steal, don't keep their word, willingly refuse to do their part for society(their fellow man) CANNOT be a good role model, and cannot be a hero (or SHOULD not be a hero) to children. I was raised by my grandparents, who came from the 1880s and 1890s, and drove horses and wagons, and I also knew some people who were born before the US Civil War and before people had last (family) names in their countries. So, I am even more old fashioned than my old age would indicate.

PART 4

Scrooge is standing a few metres away from Goldie's hotel.He gulps.
Scrooge(thinking)-Why can't i move?Come on idiot,it's not that hard.Just put the one foot in front of the other,then again and again...
Suddenly screams can be heard coming from the hotel.Scrooge regains his strengths,runs and bursts in.What he's about to see is another shock.In
the main hall,all the people are gathered over something.The old duck approaches and sees his one and only love on the floor.
Scrooge-NO.GOLDIE,I LOVE YOU...
He feels being pushed.Doctors behind him are trying to find their way to the patient.
Doctor-Move sir.Move,move.
A doctor checks her pulse.
Doctor-I think she's dead.
Scrooge screams so loudly that everything else in the hotel stops.

Scrooge is silently watching the priest burying Goldie.The second funeral he goes to in only a few days.The doctors said they hadn't found anything
wrong with her.She probably just died of old age.
Scrooge(thinking)-Goodbye,my love...

A few days later,in Duckburg,Scrooge is standing and gazing at the bin's window.Hortense goes close to him.
Hortense-You look fine.
Scrooge-Yeah,i think i've got over it.
Hortense-If only you hadn't gone to the funeral of that jerk first,you'd have made it in time.
Scrooge-No,Hortense.I realized i was just not destined to be with her.Life had other plans for me.When i was still young,at some point,i decided to go
and tell her how i feel.But,then,i had an accident with my sled,which made me reconsider.Now,when i took that decision again,once more something
prevented me from doing so.
Hortense-But,you had the right to be happy,Scrooge.It's so unfair.
Scrooge-Maybe i was never cut out for a family life.The hunger for glory is in my veins.If i had finally married her,we would both end up being
unhappy.Our love would have eventually crumbled.
Scrooge smiles.
Scrooge-Consider this one as well.If i had stayed in Yukon with her,you wouldn't have met your husband.My nephews would've never existed.
Hortense smiles and kisses him.

Gladstone moans tied,while the Beagle Boys are leaving from the multi store's warehouse,having taken money and merchandise.Suddenly,one of
them slips as if the floor was wet,even though the cleaners hadn't come yet!This causes his brothers behind him to fall as well.All of them drop
unconscious.Their falling causes a knife on a shelf to fall exactly next to Gladstone,in such a way that it cut the ropes while falling,without hurting the
duck at all!Gladstone immediately unties the tissue around his lips.When the thieves wake up,they find themselves tied,with Gladstone standing in
front of them.
Beagle Boy-So,are we waiting for the police,now?
Gladstone-No,i didn't call them.
B.Boy-What?
Gladstone-Look,i know that life made you this way,but it's never late to change,like i did.
B.Boy-Spare us the preaching.Do you think that,even if we wanted to,it's possible?We're infamous,nobody will ever hire us.
Gladstone-I will.
B.Boy-Are you kidding?
Gladstone-I know it's a risk,but don't think i started this chain of shops because i needed money.I only want to help people like you.I offer you a
chance for a better life.Take it or leave it.
B.Boys all start crying in happiness.
B.Boy-We don't know how to thank you.Now,we can offer a better life to our grandpa as well.He never was a good role model to us,but he's taken
care of us all since we were kids.
Gladstone-What happened to your parents?
B.Boy-They were all killed in an accident with explosives,while they were trying to rob a train.
That's all for today.In next episode,the father of Donald's nephews shall be revealed!Don't miss it.