Hello everyone! I'm sorry I'm late. Today is a very special Holiday for us, so I had a busy morning, and in addition, will be moving (hopefully soon) to a new house, and to show this house to our family, we've celebrated a little party there, which has finished recently. On the other side, I guess you all know the news. DUCKTALES IS COMING BACK ON SEPTEMBER 21th! WOO-OO!

Okay, after that, as every week, here you have a new chapter! This chapter takes place a few hours before Gizmoduck comes to McDuck manor. Also, for this chapter I've decided to rescue a POV I haven't use for a while. Also, if I'm not wrong, this is the… second time where Launchpad properly appears. I think I've him a little forgotten. Anyways, I hope I'll like the chapter

As always, I'd like to thank Empro-8 for helping me editing this story. Honestly, without her help this wouldn't be as good as it is, so thank you very much Empro-8 you're amazing!

Welp, I'll stop talking and let you read the chapter, enjoy it!

23.- These ducks don't back down

Dewey would be lying if he said he didn't feel like everything and everyone in the mansion had been falling apart since Huey disappeared. First, there was the dream he and Louie had a few days ago regarding what Huey was experiencing. Dewey would like to forget this dream if he could, but it seemed permanently inscribed in his memory banks.

The dream still affected him. Seeing his brother locked in that space, so thin and desperate to get out of there... seeing how Graves was looking at him. Seeing how little food they gave him… but above all, nobody talking to him... Dewey wouldn't have lasted so much time without talking to anyone. He knew it perfectly well. How had his brother been able to resist so much? It was a mystery.

Then there was what happened after the adults saw what Gyro and his team had brought. Dewey, despite the fact that the children weren't allowed to see it, could imagine what was in the files they had brought. Gyro, Fenton and Manny had basically already said it... or so Dewey believed, because after showing them exactly what they had found, Dewey saw his uncle Donald walk out of Scrooge's office completely white... whiter than normal. He looked like a specter. Like an... automaton moving aimlessly. What had his uncle seen?

"Uncle Donald?" He remembered asking. But his uncle didn't answer. He didn't react. He didn't even looked at him when the boy asked the question.

"Uncle Donald, are you okay?" Dewey repeated. But again, the adult duck didn't answer. He was still staring blankly, contemplating some indeterminate space.

Why did his uncle seem so affected? What had Scrooge's scientists shown them? Dewey remembered sharing a worried look with Louie and Webby. His uncle Donald seemed... to be... a living dead duck...

"Wow, he looks like a zombie." Louie muttered, and Dewey couldn't have agreed more with that description. That really was what his uncle Donald looked like. Much to the children's dismay.

And so, it had continued for the rest of that day. The two youngest triplets had tried their best to get their uncle Donald back to normal, to make him react, but it was totally useless. In addition, on the same night team Science came in, he and Louie had dreamed about Huey again. This time they had even spoken to him! A great achievement if he was allowed to say so. Naturally, the next morning, the two younger brothers had immediately gone to notify Scrooge of this new event. They decided to first tell their great-uncle Scrooge because they assumed that uncle Donald was still acting like a zombie. No, they couldn't tell that dream to him, it would just sink him even deeper.

What Dewey didn't fully understand was that after telling his dream to uncle Scrooge, the rich duck had thrown them both out of his room. Especially after telling him that in his dream, Huey was dressed as Beaks. For what reason had he done that? Was that detail related with the information that the kids were allowed to see? What did Scrooge know that they didn't? Why couldn't they know?

It's been five whole days since that dream. Fortunately, their uncle Donald seemed to have recovered from his zombie status. Or, having overcome his shock, as Mrs. Beakley called it.

As with every day, Dewey had got up without wanting to do anything, something strange for Dewey. But that's the way it was. He felt like doing absolutely nothing. Yet another sign that things weren't going well at the mansion. But... Dewey felt that nothing would improve until Huey returned home. No, until his brother was safe, he couldn't-

"What are you planning to do today?"

Dewey jumped at his brother's sudden question, but tried to hide it quickly and was quick to reply:

"Well I'll... do as always I guess, sit down and wait to see if hopefully we receive news from our brother."

Louie, raising his fist high and with a bored expression, said:

"Woo-hoo, it looks like a great plan."

Dewey looked away. He couldn't see outwardly how his younger brother felt, but inwardly he did and the truth... the middle triplet didn't know how to comfort or help his little brother. It was Huey who always consoled them both when they needed it. But, to be honest, Dewey didn't even know how to do it.

After a few silent moments, he finally managed to say:

"I know. What are you going to do?"

Louie didn't even look at him, just shrugged his shoulders and tiredly replied:

"I guess the same as you."

The bedroom door slammed open, causing the two children to jump. The open door was preceded almost instantly by the housekeeper's granddaughter's scream who, speaking with much enthusiasm, perhaps excessive:

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Webby." the boys responded dully. Dewey quickly realized that Webby had a huge smile on his face.

Oh, oh, whenever Webby smiled like that it was because she was planning something and Dewey feared he would soon find out. It was demonstrated when the girl explained:

"I just came up with something we can do."

"Do what?" the two brothers asked, although without any real motivation do whatever she proposed. The young girl, who seemed not to have noticed the disappointed tone of her friends, continued talking excitedly as she explained:

"We know that Gyro and his team are trying to find Huey through Beaks' GPS, right?"

At this point, Dewey raised an eyebrow and, unsure of where this was going, simply replied:

"... yes..."

"What are you thinking about Webby?" Louie asked, sitting up from where he was lying. Webby smiled even more than before, cleared her throat and gestured in a Web-unique way, proposed:

"Well, how about we try to find out where Beaks hides Huey on our own?"

Standing up, Louie spoke before Dewey could even think of anything to say. He said:

"Really? And how do you plan to do that Webby?"

"We could go to Waddle and sneak into his car," the young girl replied, slightly puzzled by the tone Louie used to ask her. Dewey looked at Webby and then at Louie. After sighing, he thought that for once he had to be the voice of reason, although he would never admit that to Huey of course. So, approaching Webby, he put a hand on her shoulder and said:

"Webby... I don't think that's possible..."

"Why not?" the girl asked suddenly annoyedly. Dewey backed unprepared for her defensiveness.

"Er..."

Dewey heard his brother sigh and then he explained:

"Because Beaks probably... no, he for sure has cameras in his building, don't you think he would see us coming if we tried to get into his car?"

"He won't see us if we're careful." the housekeeper's granddaughter tried to argue, but that statement didn't seem to convince Louie, who, crossing his arms, spoke again:

"Maybe, but Beaks knows us. He'll recognize us the moment he sees us and will probably think we are up to something."

Webby let out an annoyed snort. It seemed she didn't expect to meet such resistance from the two brothers. But honestly, from the three of them, the only one who could accomplish what she was proposing, was Webby herself.

Even then, Webby didn't seem ready to give up, because she continued:

"I don't think he'll see us if we get-"

But she couldn't finish her proposal because this time it was Dewey who interrupted her by saying:

"Webby stop it, stop it at once, we can't do anything."

Webby turned to look at him with wide eyes, it was as if the young girl couldn't believe what she had just heard from her friend. Webby's gaze shifted from one duckling to the other, and suddenly, her brow furrowed. This time she was speaking angrily, lecturing them both:

"And what are you going to do then? Just wait? Sit around all day? It is your brother who is missing! If I were in your place, I would go out of my way to find him!"

Dewey was surprised by the young girl's sudden outburst, he really… he hadn't expected that. Although, on the other hand, Webby was right. Huey was missing, and doing nothing was the same as abandoning him. If they could do something, however little, to find him, they couldn't miss this opportunity. Huey wouldn't be sitting around like they were. Dewey was ashamed of himself. Had he really given up? If the answer was yes, it would be the same as saying that he no longer expected Huey to return one day.

The middle triplet looked at his younger brother, who seemed as confused and ashamed as he was, and looking again at his friend, finally replied:

"You're right Webby... as always."

Webby's glare disappeared and a soft smile replaced it. At that moment, Louie approached the other two ducklings and rubbing his hands together in a ready-to-scheme fashion. He asked:

"Okay, where do we start?"

For the next… hour or two, Dewey didn't even know how long they'd been on it, the three ducklings set about wuietly discussed the best way to sneak into Beaks' car, Webby naturally proposed doing so by executing intricate and complex espionage moves that her grandmother had taught her… something that neither he nor Louie (although Dewey would never admit it) were capable of.

While they were discussing that, Louie got tired and momentarily went to the window to distract himself. There, he saw Gizmoduck land in the driveway. He quickly alerted to the others that Gizmoduck had just arrived. If the superhero was there, it could only mean that they finally had news of Huey, hadn't they? Why else would he be here?

The children's suspicions were confirmed when Duckworth appeared breaking through a wall saying that he had been sent to watch over them. Naturally, the children didn't believe that, not even remotely. They ran right through the ghost butler and hurried down to the living room, where they discovered what was obviously Gizmoduck relaying news about Huey's whereabouts.

Dewey couldn't contain his excitement. They were closer than ever to finding and rescuing his oldest brother! Unfortunately for him, it felt like a bucket of ice water was being thrown at him when the adults announced that none of the children would participate in the rescue mission. it wasn't fair! They wanted to help collaborate. They resisted as much as they could until it was their uncle Donald who told them they couldn't go with them.

It was only their Uncle Donald that could make them leave the room. Although at this point, Dewey wasn't willing to surrender. No way, no how. And even less so after what Webby had said to him and Louie. As soon as they had left the room and were out of earshot, the triplet dressed in blue gathered his siblings in a huddle and said:

"We've got to get on the plane before the adults do it."

Webby turned to look at him and asked:

"So how do you expect to do that if Duckworth is following us?"

"Leave that to me." Louie answered from Dewey's other side. He then turned to the butler and with an innocent voice and a confident smile on his face, said:

"Duckworth, we're a little hungry. Could you get us some cookies or something to eat in the room please? We'll go there and wait for you."

The butler raised an eyebrow and speaking in his usual voice, albeit with a slight, barely noticeable, sarcastic touch, said:

"I hope this is not a bluff to get rid of my young Louie."

"Pfff, what? No way." Louie shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt and closed his eyes, still smiling, as he always did when he was bluffing. If it wasn't because he and Huey already knew, Dewey would probably have fallen into that trap more than once... actually... the middle triplet had fallen more than once into his brother's scams. Although, being fair, Huey used to believe Louie's lies in a much higher proportion than Dewey ever did.

The younger triplet then opened his eyes and, taking one of his hands out of his pocket, he put it on the back of his immediate older brother and said:

"Can't you hear Dewey's stomach? My poor brother is starving. And you know how bad it is when Dewey is hungry, don't you?"

Needless to say, Dewey was shocked when he heard a noise much like a hungry stomach coming from... from him? But how…? From Duckworth's face he must have heard it too, because with a slight tone of nervousness, he said next:

"... Yes, some of that has reached my ears."

Louie's smile grew and in a voice that anticipated victory, he then said to the butler:

"So, you can see that what I say is true. Go get something to eat please, we'll wait for you."

Duckworth nodded and flew straight for the kitchen. As soon as the ghost disappeared, Webby turned to the youngest of the triplets and cheerfully said:

"I wonder if he'll bring us chocolate chip cookies... or coconut cookies... maybe he'll bring them ginger-"

"Webby, that was to distract him, now we can sneak onto the plane." said Louie, interrupting her.

Louie removed his hand from his brother's back and then Dewey realized. Louie had his phone in his hand and had used it to reproduce the sounds of a hungry stomach. Naturally he had put it on his back to pretend that it was Dewey who was hungry, something... dishonest, but certainly realistic, since it was Dewey who was always the hungriest of the three brothers.

Dewey jumped slightly when Webby's voice sounded again:

"Oh, oh yes, to distract him, anyone would have noticed... hehe."

Dewey shook his head; they had fooled Duckworth. There was no time to lose! With a determined voice, the duck dressed in blue said:

"Well, let's not waste any more time. We have a plane to catch."

Getting into the plane without anyone seeing them was incredibly easy. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long for the other passengers to arrive and the plane to get going. They had succeeded! They were on the plane! They were going to help rescue Huey! All they had to do was keep themselves hidden until-

"Kids? What are you doing here?"

Oh Phooey, why did Mrs. Beakley have to come too? Why a spy? It wasn't fair! Almost instantly, uncle Donald's voice was heard when the now hysterical duck shouted:

"What?! Are the boys here?"

There was no point in them hiding anymore, so, coming out of their hiding place, the children sheepishly greeted them, saying:

"Hello Uncle Donald. Hello Uncle Scrooge."

"Hello Granny."

Dewey saw his great-uncle slap his forehead as he said irritated:

"Oh, curse me kilts lads. What have you done?"

How could he ask that? It was obvious, isn't it? Crossing his arms, the blue-dressed duckling answered with another question:

"What do you think?"

"We are here because we want to help rescue Huey." added Louie, folding his arms as well.

Shaking his head, Beakley spoke:

"What about Duckworth?"

The children looked at each other and then Dewey began to respond awkwardly:

"He... stayed in... the... kitchen."

The middle triplet could hear his little brother sigh and most likely had closed his eyes too. Then the youngest triplet said:

"We mislead him so we can sneak onto the plane."

"Wow, now I understand why that ghost tried to stop us from taking off." said Gizmoduck suddenly. Dewey had forgotten that the superhero would be here too. Quite obvious, though, considering that they had long known that, when the time came, he would be a part of the rescue team.

Ignoring Gizmoduck's comment, the youngest triplet looked at his uncles and Mrs. Beakley and seriously said:

"Look, we know that you don't want us to be involved in all this, but you can't prevent us from doing everything in our power to help rescue our brother. We won't abandon him."

Dewey smiled proudly and looking at his little brother, praised him saying:

"Well said Louie."

Scrooge and Donald looked at each other and then at the kids. Scrooge said:

"Well, it's too late to go back, we've no choice but to take ye with us. We'll decide what to do when we get there. "

Dewey looked at his brother and Webby with a huge smile. They had succeeded! They would be part of the rescue team! Dewey was so excited that he could almost feel Huey back there with them. He just hoped that feeling would soon become a reality-

Suddenly the plane staggered, causing them all to fall- Almost instantly a loud crash indicated that true to form, Launchpad had crashed.

As everyone tried to get up, the pilot announced cheerfully:

"We're here!"

After all the time passed, and especially after their second dream I guessed the boys started losing hope. Thankfully they had Webby to cheer them up. Did you liked how Louie managed to help them sneak into the plane? And Beakley finding the, I've to admit this part was funny to write, as well as the end of the chapter with Launchpad crashing the plane… again. Did you like the chapter? If so, you can leave a review, I always love to know what you think about it!

Okay, after say that, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I also would like to thank you all those who've read this story, those who follow it or have it among their favorites and I'd like to especially thank: puppydogs68, GiddyReflections and LunaWolf44 for their reviews. Thank you very much, I really appreciate it!

LunaWolf44: Yeah, I liked Gyro in this chapter :) he can seem to be uncaring an distand, but deeply, he's a good guy and cares about others.

Also yes, if there's someone impatient and anxious, this is Donald. Knowing he can rescue his nephew, he'll want to do it as soon as possible.

And this question was answered after this chapter, and yeah, Duckworth tried to tell them about it. Honestly, I got fun writing this part. Hahaha. And yeah! Huey's closer to be rescued!

Puppydogs68: Yes, they have it, now is time to go there and rescue Huey (if Beaks hasn't a hidden secret plan). Thank you! I'm glad you liked Manny, Fenton and Gyro's conversation, I really liked to write it :)

See you in the next chapter