In his office, Bradford Buzzard stared at the monitor. It was dark, the only light coming from the screen. He liked it better that way. Then he could focus all his attention to the monitor. No distractions. There was a low humming from the machinery running. The entire room had a red hue to it. The vulture was alone, going over the recording of the woodchuck race.
The footage their robotic mosquito had uncovered proved almost useless. The only thing it seemed that FOWL had gained from it was the knowledge of the McDucks finding the journal. Bradford was determined to find something they could use in the footage. Nothing but the family getting caught in lightning rain, the hummingbird winning the badge.
There was one part he found strange in the video. The red nephew talked to himself a few times. He would even get mad and reason with himself. "I know!" he shouted to himself. "Ah! Why are you on fire!" the duckling asked to the air while crossing a makeshift rope bridge. The boy seemed to be having some type of moral breakdown.
As Bradford rewatched it for the fifth time, he realized something. The nephew was trying to reason with himself and justify his wrong doings, just to get something as simple as a embroidered badge.
Bradford thought for a minute. He could use that. If this kid was willing to throw out his moral code if he wanted something bad enough, Bradford could easily find a way to turn the boy against his family. He could break clan McDuck from the inside out...
Huey shook the dice in his hands. "Come on, give me doubles!" he said. He rolled the dice on to the board. Two sixes. Huey jumped in his seat and cheered. He moved his piece the appropriate amount of spaces on the board.
"Top that!" he sneered to Gosalyn, who was sitting across from him.
"I will, thank you," the red headed duckling said. She picked up the dice.
The robot boy sitting next to her was confused. "But that would be impossible. He got two sixes, which is the highest amount you can get," Boyd said.
"Yes, that's true. How do you expect to get more than Hubert?" Violet, who was sitting opposite from Boyd, asked.
Gosalyn rolled her dice. A five and a six. "Aw, man," she drooped.
"Ha!" Huey smiled. Gosalyn moved her piece eleven spaces.
"Why are you upset? If you had gotten one more you would have gotten in jail," Violet said.
"Huey, are you trying to get Gosalyn's competitive spirit up so she'll try to land on the bad spaces?" Boyd asked Huey in a whisper, not wanting Gosalyn to hear.
Huey leaned back in his seat. "Maybe."
They were all sitting at a small, square fold up table in Huey's room. The four of them continued with their board game until Boyd won.
"It makes sense that Boyd would win since he's a robot and could calculate the best moves to play," Violet said.
"I just went easy on you guys, that's all," Gosalyn said.
They heard a knock at Huey's bedroom door. "Come in!" he called.
Della walked into the room. "Hey, kids! How's study group coming along?" she asked.
"We took a break to play a board game, but we just finished so we'll get back to it," Violet replied.
Della left and the kids began to clean up their game. "Okay, back to studying," Huey said once they were done. He pulled some textbooks out of his backpack and set them on their table.
"Man, I hate studying. My dad only made me come to study group because he thought my grades were slacking," Gosalyn said.
"I don't need to study because I already know anything that's on the internet, but I came because I thought it would be fun to hang out with you guys," Boyd said.
"Yeah, we invited more people, but nobody else showed up," said Huey, a bit disappointed.
"That was a waste of ten pieces of printer paper for the sign up sheet. Us four are the only ones that came," Violet added.
"Didn't Webby sign up too?" Boyd asked.
Violet nodded. "But being the easily excitable girl she is, she probably forgot, even though we are doing it in her own house."
Just then, a burst of confetti came from all around them. Webby jumped down from the ceiling. "Wrong! I would never forget to attend something to support you! I've been hiding so I could surprise you! SURPRISE!" she shouted. She honked an air horn in Gosalyn's ear. The duckling certainly was startled. She nearly jumped out of her seat. Then she squeezed Violet tight in a hug.
Later in the afternoon, after study group, Huey and Webby waved their friends goodbye.
"Kids! I've got an adventure for ye!" Scrooge shouted when Huey and Webby came back inside.
Dewey slid across the carpet of the foyer. "What kind of adventure?" he asked eagerly.
Louie came in behind him, staring down at his phone. "I bet it's a dangerous one," he said without looking up.
"You mean with booby traps!" Dewey smiled.
"Yep," his green brother answered still not even bothered to look at him.
"And puzzles?!" Webby wondered.
"Sure, why not?"
Dewey and Webby took each others hands and jumped back and forth. "Wooh-hoo!" the two of them shouted in unison.
As no surprise to the kids, they were going to a temple. And as no surprise to anyone, they got there with a crash. While Scrooge yelled at Launchpad for almost getting them killed, the kids took a look around.
The temple was tall and was built like a ziggurat. There was a door on each floor and the entrance opened up like a dragon's mouth. Gems were used as eyes in the sandy sculpture. Jungle foliage surrounded them. Smoke rose into the sky from where the plane "landed".
Dewey was already inside before anyone could stop him. Webby followed after him quickly while Huey tried to catch up. Louie trailed behind, knowing his life was probably on the line whenever he went on adventure.
Once inside, the four kids slowed their pace, not wanting to trigger any traps. Dewey pretty much touched everything. Huey grabbed him before he could touch a certain tile on the wall.
"What are you doing! Trying to get us killed?" he reprimanded his younger brother.
"Just getting a lay of the terrain," Dewey said. He pulled away from Huey, smiling. He ran up ahead of him and ran his hand across the wall.
Huey chased after him. He stood in front of Dewey. "Stop it! If uncle Scrooge was in here, he would tell you the same thing," Huey said. Dewey rolled his eyes at him. "That's because you two are boring, party pooping nerds! I don't need you to micromanage me all the time," Dewey said.
Huey stood his ground and pretended the insult didn't hurt. "Come on. All I'm asking you to do is stop touching everything. Besides traps, there's germs! You don't know how many people have touched that wall," he countered. Dewey raised an eyebrow at Huey, smirking. "Dude, it's a lost forbidden temple. I doubt many people touched the wall," Dewey said. He shoved past his brother and continued to venture through the temple. Huey grumbled and sucked up his pride. He went along with the others.
"Hey, what's this button do!" Huey heard Dewey shout. Huey was about to yell at him not to touch it, but the floor fell out from under him. "Huey!" he heard his friends scream. Huey tumbled down, terrified for his life. He yelled all the way down.
Huey fell into a rushing stream of water. He was smacked against rocks and earth. He choked on the hard water and his lungs burned. He tried to stop screaming long enough to catch his breath. He was repeatedly dunked under water. Huey needed oxygen but couldn't get any. Despite needed air, he continued to scream for help. But deep down he knew no one could hear him.
Huey felt himself passing out. Stay awake! Stay awake! he thought. But it's so hard. If I could just close my eyes for a second... No! Keep going! You'll drown! Don't give in!
The violent waves smacked him across the stones of the temple. He couldn't give up. He was going to be a scientist, a teacher, someone who left an impact on the world. If he died now, that would never happen. Again, the water shoved him against the rocks. He grabbed onto the ledge and held on for dear life.
The stream tried to yank him away from his only chance of safety. Huey refused to let go so easily. He heaved and attempted to climb on to the rock. The wetness made him slip. He thought it was all over, but he caught himself before the water could sweep him away. He pulled himself up harder. To his relief, he was able to hoist himself onto the rock and out of the stream.
Huey crawled on his hands and knees. He choked up water. Tears formed in his eyes from lack of breath. He beat his chest, clearing his lungs of all water. After wheezing out the last bit of liquid, he flopped down onto his back. He breathed heavily, exhausted. His arms were sore and his throat and lungs ached.
He laid there for a while, conserving his energy. He closed his eyes tight and took in deep breaths. When he could finally speak, he said, "Dewey! You idiot!" He tried to calm himself down. But that just made him freak out more. "You don't need to read the junior woodchuck guide book to know not to press random buttons in a cursed temple!" He threw his arm over his eyes, tired.
The sound of the rushing stream hit his ears. A small fly flew into the weak boy's face. He swatted it away, already annoyed. "If I ever get out of here, Dewey is going to get it!" he flared. The bug zoomed into his face again. He smacked it away. He stood up, a bit unsteady at first, still disoriented from almost drowning. "Now, to the problem of actually getting out of here."
Dewey, Louie, and Webby stared in shock after the oldest triplet. The tile that had fallen from underneath Huey now replaced itself and the ground was whole again. "Huey!" they called in unison. Webby walked over to the tile and stomped on it a few times. It didn't budge. She frowned at it. She looked to the boys. Dewey had a look of guilt, and Louie looked worried for his brother.
"Aye! What ye lads and lassie doing? Where's Huey?" Scrooge asked, walking into the temple tunnels. The kids looked to him.
"It was an accident!" Dewey shouted.
Louie glared at him. "No way! You seriously just pressed that button to get on his nerves!"
Scrooge looked between the boys. He tapped his cane on the ground. "Where's Huey?" he asked again in a more stern tone.
"Dewey triggered a trap and Huey fell down a tunnel," Louie said angrily. Scrooge turned his gaze to Dewey. The boy in blue tucked in his tail and looked down.
"Which way?" Scrooge asked. He tried to keep a cool head. He knew Huey could handle himself and they had fallen into traps a million times. What he needed to do was find him quickly. No use losing their heads over it.
Webby walked over to the tile he had fallen down."Here, uncle Scrooge," she said.
He examined it a bit. "Dewey, trigger the trap again," Scrooge instructed. Dewey pressed the button again. The floor opened up. Webby almost slipped and fell in, but Scrooge caught her with his cane. They looked down the hole. There was a waterfall that dumped into a raging stream.
Louie and Dewey gazed down the hole. "Do you think he..." Louie was choked up by fear.
Scrooge shrugged. "I doubt it. Your brother's a lot stronger than you give him credit for." Dewey held his breath in tight without knowing it.
"Well, no use standing here gawking at this hole. Our best option is to continue through the temple and try to find a way to reach him," Scrooge said, taking control of the situation. He marched forward and Webby followed. Dewey and Louie lingered a bit, still looking down after their brother. "Oy! Come on laddies!" Scrooge called them. The two boys hurried after their uncle.
Gandra knocked on the door to Bradford's office. She walked in, impatient for his response. "Sir, I just thought I'd let you know, Black Heron is building a-" she began.
Bradford shushed her. She was a bit offended but regained her cool. On the monitor was a moving image of a young duckling in red. She sighed.
"Sir, are we spying on the ducks again? I thought we had already decided that that was useless?" she asked.
Without looking at her, Bradford shook his head. "No, we do have something to gain from this," he said.
She set a hand on her hip and watched the boy. He tripped over a few rocks. A bit bruised, he picked himself up and dusted off. Gandra remembered meeting that boy once, but she didn't remember his name. "And what's that?" she wondered.
Bradford pointed at the monitor. "That boy is what! He could be a powerful asset," he told.
Gandra rolled her eyes, not really believing him. "Sir, he's on their side. How do you expect to convince him to work for you?" she asked.
The camera zoomed into the boy's face. The kid in red smacked the camera away. "Gah! Stupid bug!" he said over the raspy audio.
Bradford turned to two eggheads controlling the camera. "Quit it, eggheads! I don't want a close up of his face! Where did you learn to steer!" he shouted at them.
"Well, sir?" Gandra pressed on.
He sighed. "First, I have to see if he's good enough to be a FOWL agent. I'm testing him."
"Testing him?"
Bradford was getting fed up with Gandra's questions. He turned around to face her for the first time. "Gandra! Since you so graciously volunteered, you can be in charge of this mission," he said.
She was taken back. "Me? I barely know the kid!" she defended.
"You met him once, and that's enough for me. Once I give you the okay, you can begin work on your new assignment."
She grinded her teeth, wanting to protest more, but she knew better than to go against him. She lowered her head. "Yes, sir."
Huey went through the tunnels on the cave. He was cold and wet and his clothes stuck to his chest. He tripped a lot because of how many rocks he had to climb over. And it didn't help his mood that a fly kept ramming into his face. He waved the insect away with his cap.
He was just about to yell at it when lava shot out of the ground before him. He yelped and jumped back. The lava shot straight up through an opening in the ceiling. Huey's eyes followed the lava. "Louie! Watch yer step!" he heard his great uncle say. Huey smiled hopefully. His family was right above him. He tried to call out for them, but the passage to them closed too quickly.
Huey began to jog in the direction of his family. But he stopped when he heard a low humming. He stood and listened. It sounded like a machine. Several machines actually. He twisted his beak curiously.
Suddenly, a small metal orb flew up into his face. The duckling took a step back, a bit surprised. Huey poked a finger at it. It had a large robotic red eye and just hovered there. "Hey, cute little robot," he began. "Are you lost down here too? Ow!" It shot a laser at him. He rubbed his side. It was a small sting, but it didn't hurt him to much.
But then it shot a few more lasers at him. He hopped from foot to foot, dodging the laser. "Hey! Quit that!" He smacked the robot to the ground and stepped on it hard. The robot squeaked, powering down. He let out a sigh, glad to be rid of one of his problem.
Then more mechanical hums buzzed in his ear. Out of nowhere, several more robots came. The duckling's eyes widened. "Oh boy," he said and took off running.
Heart pounding, Huey raced back through the tunnels. He knew he was losing a lot of ground, but he didn't have time to worry about that. For now he just had to evade the robotic drones. He moved to turn, but a quick laser blocked him. He jumped back and gave a scream. He ducked down, dodging another shot. The precision and speed of these drones was amazing. If he wasn't in danger, he would be admiring the build of these murder bots.
The drones backed him into a wall. He frantically looked around for a way of escape. They surrounded him. He bit his beak. "Aw, come on! Why are you so set on killing me!" he said.
One of the drones answered by shooting at him. He ducked down, but the laser got his hat. A small flame grew on hit. He freaked out and threw it on the ground. He stomped on it and put out the flames. "Man! That was my favorite hat!" he cried.
The small bug that had been flying around hit him in the face again. Huey groaned and tightened his fists. "Ugh! First Dewey gets me stuck down here! Then these razaphrazan robots try to kill me! They ruined my hat and this STINKING BUG KEEPS FLYING IN MY FACE!" he burst. Steam came out of his ears and his face turned red. He let out a scream and charged through them.
He smashed several of them but an army still remained. He cooled down a bit, and smashed one last bot. The rest of the drones turned to him. He took off running again, annoyed at Dewey for getting him in this mess.
He swooped behind a boulder. He held his breath, not wanting to give away his hiding spot. This was the first chance he had to think. He tried to come up with a plan but he was too frustrated. He found himself thinking of Dewey and how he didn't listen to him. But to his surprise, it wasn't just Dewey he was mad at. He found himself getting annoyed at his whole family, picking out certain moments when he disliked them.
He shook himself. Now wasn't the time to complain. Now wasn't the time to get mad at people that had hurt him at various points in his life. Now was the time for him to figure out the situation. He was supposed to be smart. He could do this.
Huey let out a sigh when he was sure the drones had passed him. He turned to leave, but walked into a drone. He gasped and on reflex, swatted it. It crashed into the boulder and sunk to the ground. He stared at the deactivated droid. He thought a minute. "Wait a minute," he said to himself. He picked up the orbital robot, rolling it around in his hands as he examined it.
"I could use this," he said. He opened up the drone and tweaked with the wires a bit. When he was done, he closed it up. He waited for the bot to start up. It turned on with a ding and the glowing red light turned green. The boy in red took out his phone and pulled out a controller type app. "Yes!" he cheered to himself. He controlled the robot for a bit, waving it in a small circle. "Now, to deal with these droids." He peeked from around the rock and saw the robots searching for him.
Using the app on his phone, he controlled the drone to the middle of their crowd. Then, using another button, he shot a bunch of lasers out. He blasted them all out of the air. The red duckling grinned victorious. "Ha ha!" he cheered. He used his bot to smack against the other ones. Huey was amazed at how many robots he was able to take out.
He was proud when there was only one bot left. He strode over to it. He lifted his foot up to crush it, but startling him, a hologram was portrayed out of it. He watched it peculiarly. A dark virtual figure stood before him. He couldn't tell what animal it was or what gender. He could just see the black image and barely make out a face. Then it spoke in a male voice. "Hello, Hubert Jet Duck."
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