Tbo: Hey, BarnMaker is adorable, what do you expect?
dalek117: You successfully theorized what was going to happen in DBDA, and HERE YOU ARE READING MY FUCKING MIND! IM IMPRESSED. IM MIND FUCKED XDDDD
Not Ponytails or Cottontails: Heh, me too
caetlyn27: *Scrooge narrows his eyes* "We'll see."
riverajocabed1: What is WITH you and dalek117 reading my fucking mind? YOU TWO ARE WIZARDSS! CONFIRMED. And I LOVE HOW FAST YOU'RE UPDATING DBDA! And don't worry, literally 99% of that review is going to be answered XDDD
A longer chapter to make up for my 1,000 word piece of shit last chapter
ooo
Previously on One Thing Leads to Another…
Huey yelped when Webby aimed her grappling hook at him before realizing who he was.
"H-Huey?" she asked in shock.
"Actually," Scrooge said. "We're all here."
"What were you two thinking?!" Scrooge snapped harshly, pacing back and forth.
While the rest of their friends waited outside the Sunchaser, Scrooge had seated Louie, Launchpad, and Webby on the plane seats while he and Beakley lectured them like children.
"Sneaking off to Mexico, lying to us for all these weeks! I expected Louie to do this, but you Webby?!" Scrooge asked.
Ms. Beakley whirled around and glared daggers at Launchpad.
"And you, Launchpad! You're not the brightest, but I can't believe you escorted these two here! Do you have any idea what kind of danger you put them in?!" Beakley asked.
Launchpad looked down and Webby felt guilty—he had just woken up to this.
"STOP!" Webby shouted. "Stop yelling at him! It was all my idea!"
She stood up and faced Scrooge.
"Do you have any idea why I did what I did?!" she asked.
"Webbigail—" Scrooge warned.
"ANSWER ME!" she roared.
Scrooge stayed silent.
"Exactly," Webby snapped, pointing at the two of them. "You don't know why I did this! For years I always wondered about my parents. But the second Dewey asks about them, granny talks about it like it was nothing! Like it was my origin story! If it was that easy for you to suddenly tell a family secret, then it should've been easy for me to avenge my mom and dad!"
Scrooge felt a pang of hurt: the way she said 'family' sounded so exclusive, like some sort of club that he wasn't a part of. He considered Webby his niece, but it hurt to know that she didn't feel the same. Beakley looked like she'd been run over by a truck. Scrooge looked down guiltily.
"I need some air." Louie muttered, stepping outside, where the rest of his friends were waiting.
"Dude, are you okay?" Huey asked in concern.
His little brother looked horrible: there were a few cuts on his face, and his hair was a tangled mess, like it had been caught in a tornado. His clothes were dirty and torn, and he walked with a light limp, like he was trying not to attract any attention to it. The worst part were Louie's bloodshot eyes: they looked wild, like he was a cornered wild animal.
"I'm okay." Louie said, his voice dry and raspy. He was exhausted and needed some nicotine. Louie reached into his pocket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes and silver lighter.
"Oh no you're not." Lena snapped, grabbing his cigarettes.
"Lena, I'm not in the mood." Louie growled.
Violet shuffled uneasily at his cold tone—Louie was a level headed guy, and it was rare to see him angry. When he did get angry, however, it was something you would not want to be within five feet of.
"Well, get in the mood," Lena huffed angrily. "You're not smoking. Not when you look like you've been killed and then resurrected 4 times."
"She's right," Huey said. "You're hurt, Louie, and the last thing you need is to be doing is smoking."
"I'm only going to say this once: give me back my fucking cigarettes." Louie said.
"No." Lena said evenly.
"GIVE ME BACK MY FUCKING CIGARETTES!" Louie bellowed, lunging at Lena.
Lena didn't flinch. Huey and Dewey held him back, but he stopped thrashing against them and began to cry. Huey and Dewey's eyes widened—whatever happened on their adventure had clearly done a number on him. Huey and Dewey slowly set Louie down until all three of them were sitting in the ground. They didn't talk for a while and let Louie cry. He slowly fell further and further until his head was on Huey's lap. Huey gently ran his hands through his soft hair, while Dewey rubbed his shoulder in comfort.
After a few minutes of consoling and comfort, Louie stood up and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand.
"I'm sorry for snapping." he said, sniffling.
"It's okay, Lou." Violet said gently.
Just as Lena was about to speak, Webby stormed out of the Sunchaser and Dewey caught her arm.
"Let go." she growled.
"No." Dewey said calmly.
"LET GO, DEWEY!" she shouted.
"ENOUGH!" Dewey boomed, making even Webby flinch. Then in a much softer, more dangerous tone, he repeated, "Enough. I've had enough of you snapping at me, my brothers, your two best friends, and your grandmother. You're hurt, angry, and vengeful, but I've had it with you."
Webby was stunned. They were all stunned. Dewey angrily walked past her and into the Sunchaser.
Violet gently put a hand on Webby's shoulder. "He's going to need some time to cool off. He's been through a lot."
"Yeah?" Well, so have we." she finished, gesturing towards Louie.
Webby looked straight ahead, and the gang said nothing. Then, she sighed, and followed Dewey into the Sunchaser.
"Dewey?" she asked timidly.
"Webby, please." he sighed.
"So you're leaving me behind too?" she croaked, teary eyed.
He whirled around, shocked that Webby would even ask him such a thing, and then Dewey finally saw it; the thing he'd been waiting for—regret. Regret for her past actions. Regret for what she had done. She regretted hurting him and fraying their relationship.
"Webby!" he rushed towards her and wiped her tears away.
Dewey held her and they spent a long time like that, letting their touch talk for them. He gently cradled her head, breathing in her scent, softly kissing her hair. Webby buried her face in his chest and shivered—she longed for his physical contact so much the last few weeks without him.
Beakley and Scrooge watched them from a distance, and softened.
"I will never leave you," Dewey said fiercely, pulling away from their hug and looking her in the eye. "I'll be everything to you. If anything happens to you, I'll be right there at the brink of it. I love you Webbigail Vanderquack. I'll never leave you behind."
Webby sobbed and Dewey held her against him. Even Scrooge and Beakley got a little misty eyed themselves.
"Dewey," she said breathily. "I hope you know that you're my entire world, right?"
"I do, Webbs. I love you." Dewey said softly, kissing her forehead.
"I-I love you too. I want to go home." she sobbed into his chest.
He gently rubbed her lower back. Just as Scrooge was about to gesture for Launchpad to take them home, his phone buzzed.
"Hello?" Scrooge asked.
"McDuck. It's been awhile."
Scrooge shuddered at the suave, confident voice. "Steelbeak."
Webby and Dewey were beside him in a flash and motioned for Scrooge to put it on speaker phone.
"Is 22 there too?" he asked giddily.
Scrooge scowled. "You've caused my family enough trouble. Enough."
"Cool it, old man," Steelbeak snickered like a child. "I just need a favour."
"And why would I help a snivelling bastard like you?!" Scrooge snapped.
Steelbeak chuckled. "Because you have something I want and I have something you want."
"Liar," Scrooge decided. "I don't associate with people like you."
"What could you possibly want?!" Scrooge snapped.
Steelbeak scowled. "I want my girl back. I want Black Heron back."
"Like we'll tell you where she is." Webby snorted.
"Is that the girl?" Steelbeak snorted, uninterested. "Awful agent by the way. I really was expecting a proper fight."
Webby seethed. "Fuck you."
"Nothing like her parents," Steelbeak chided.
Webby growled. "You were the coward who ran away and drugged Louie to fight your fights for you, asshole!" she snarled. "Hang up the phone, Scrooge."
Steelbeak laughed. "I wouldn't do that."
"Hang up." Dewey snapped.
Steelbeak clicked his tongue. "Dewey, you of all people would want to hear this—"
"Enough!" Scrooge growled.
"It would be a shame if something happened to Della."
With that, Steelbeak hung up, leaving everyone stunned.
ooo
Huey paced around. "There's no way he knows what happened to Mom. She's on the moon, we know that!"
"We don't even know if she's dead or alive." Louie frowned.
Dewey was the most agitated. "Well, we need to try!"
"Absolutely not!" Scrooge snapped. "He is too dangerous. Are you seriously considering trusting a villain?"
"Actually," Beakley said. "As horrible as he is, Steelbeak is honest."
"Are you defending him, 22?!" Scrooge snapped.
"No," she said sternly. "I'm saying that even though he's a huge jerk, he's an honest jerk. The thing he said about Della is true, Mr. McDuck. He does indeed have information about Della."
Scrooge found an opening. "We don't know if it's accurate."
"Then I guess we'll just have to trust Steelbeak." Beakley argued.
While Scrooge and Beakley angrily glared at one another, Violet observed her friends: Lena was frowning, Huey and Louie's expressions were stoic, considering they didn't care much for their mother. Webby was looking down in thought, her eyebrows knit together deeply. Maybe she was going to get justice for her parents after all, but her expression was jumbled and conflicted. She did want to go home, she really did. She wanted to forget this adventure and all the mistakes that she had made within the past few weeks, but now, so much could be achieved if Webby did take down Steelbeak—she would be avenging her parents' deaths and answering the triplet's biggest 'what if'. She would be taking down the biggest drug suppliers in Calisota, and the most wanted F.O.W.L villain.
Violet took a deep breath. The death or capture of Steelbeak would achieve a lot. That said enough about his character.
Scrooge stomped his cane against the ground loudly. "This is the last we speak of this," he snarled. "We can't be poking our heads where it doesn't belong."
Dewey glared at him. "This is about my mom, Uncle Scrooge."
Scrooge turned and scowled at him, but immediately faltered, because staring back at him was the little boy who almost risked his life, climbing the Sunchaser to retrieve a small piece of paper containing information about his mother all those years ago.
"If you think that I'm going to go home while knowing that there's a chance to know whether she's still alive, I hope you know you're dead wrong." Dewey said gravely.
"Dewey," Scrooge sighed.
"I know it's dangerous, Scrooge!" he snapped. "But it's a chance I'm willing to take."
Scrooge hardened. "I'm not putting our family in danger for some mission that has an unlikely chance of success!"
"I," Louie started, standing up and stretching casually. "Don't care much for Della…" he said, looking at Dewey, who winced. "But I do care about Dewey. He's been waiting for this moment for 8 years, Uncle Scrooge. I don't care if I get put in danger, we're the Duck family. Danger is bound to find us. We've been on plenty of adventures before, why is this one any different?"
Scrooge looked at him, conflicted.
"We're just going to tell him where Heron is," Louie continued. "That doesn't mean we're letting her out."
"Steelbeak is dangerous—" Scrooge tried.
"Steelbeak has already brainwashed me and tried killing me multiple times," he snapped. "As far as I'm concerned, that's a small price to pay for information about our mother."
Beakley set a hand on Scrooge's rigid shoulders. "Mr. McDuck, please. Consider this for the sake of your family and Calisota. Steelbeak runs the drug cartel."
Scrooge sighed. "Alright. But we're going to have to be careful."
He held his hand out, and Dewey stuck his hand on top of his, followed by Louie and Beakley. Huey, Lena, Launchpad, and Violet all joined Scrooge.
"We're a team. For Della!"
"For Della!" everyone, minus Louie, yelled.
ooo
Scrooge checked them into a hotel later that night and the rooms looked something like this: Scrooge and Beakley, Louie and Lena, Huey and Violet, and Dewey and Webby.
The first thing Louie did was step into the shower. The cuts stung against his skin and he gritted his teeth. He hissed in pain when he ran his soapy sponge over his sore arm from where Steelbeak and his freak robot had injected him with the mystery liquid. It painfully occurred to him that he could go haywire or berserk at any given time.
You needed a stronger dosage.
That part troubled him. Webby jolted him out of his first trance by reminding him of who he was, but he was terrified that this time around, he couldn't be saved. He still vividly remembered the horrible, icy feeling of being 'possessed' and under Steelbeak's control. It was as if he was watching himself through a screen and couldn't help but stare as he tried to kill his old friends. Nobody knew what was inside of Llewellyn Duck.
He stepped out of the shower, a fluffy white hotel towel snugly wrapped around his waist. Louie yelped when he saw Lena standing there, a stern hand placed on her hip.
"L-Lena! Knock next time!"
Lena snorted. "Oh zip it. As if I haven't seen your penis before."
Louie blushed—it was true. One time, when they were sixteen, Lena had accidentally walked in on Louie while he was… pleasuring himself in his room. He still cringed from how bad the whole situation was.
"I'm a guy," he defended, grabbing another towel to dry his hair. "I had needs, Lena."
"That's no excuse," Lena grumbled, rummaging through the hotel's cabinets and grabbing the First Aid Kit.
"Woah, woah, woah," Louie said. "Do you even have any experience with First Aid?"
Lena snorted. "Nope. I have some experience with magic." she corrected.
She made Louie sit on the counter of the bathroom and he winced when Lena used her magic to stitch his minor cuts together. She gently bandaged up his chest and upper arm.
"You look cute all worked up." Louie smiled.
She glared at him. "You're lucky you're hot, otherwise I would have smacked you."
"Smack me harder, Daddy," Louie smirked.
Lenae rolled her eyes and kissed him. He gently circled his strong arms around her slim waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him in closer.
"You were that worried about me?" he asked seriously.
She gently rested her head against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.
"So much," she admitted. "Especially when Webby told us that you were under Steelbeak's control. Do you have any idea what he injected inside you?"
He sighed. "No clue. But I'll try my best to fight it."
Lena frowned. "Maybe bringing you near him isn't such a good idea."
He smiled, and gently pressed his forehead against hers. "You scared, DeSpell?"
"I'm no pussy, Duck."
He snickered. "That, I'm counting on."
"Get dressed," Lena smiled.
Louie dug some clothes from his duffel bag—a pair of black sweats and light green tank top. He slid them on and hopped on with Lena on their king sized bed. The night started off innocent, but Lena quickly turned it into a heated makeout session. What their relationship status was, Louie wasn't sure yet, but he sure didn't mind kissing her. Louie sighed. He wasn't even sure if he'd be himself forever.
Which partially made it harder getting close to Lena.
ooo
Dewey lied on the bed while Webby showered. It had definitely been a random turn of events, but he was glad for the outcome—he was going to take Steelbeak down, he was going to avenge Webby's parents, and he was going to find out some things about his mother. Dewey sighed. It was difficult to talk about his mom; Huey and Louie didn't care for her, but Dewey did. It was a weird obsession that had died down over the years. But… but he was still curious. You couldn't blame him for wanting to know what happened to his mom. After all, wasn't that the whole reason Webby even came to Mexico in the first place?
The water shut off, and his worries melted away when he saw her:
She wore nothing but a white bathrobe, and her hair was still damp. Webby gave him a small smile, and Dewey felt his heart stop: that smile represented so much—it showed how much she had grown in these past two weeks.
"Dewey… I'm sorry—mmph!"
She was cut off when he smashed his lips on top of hers. Webby cupped his face while Dewey wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing her so hard that she thought her eyes might pop out. She melted into the kiss and he pulled away. They leaned their foreheads against one another, kept their eyes closed, and smiled.
"You're not mad? she asked, not breaking their current position.
"No, I love you."
She pulled him in for another kiss. "I love you more."
Webby laughed with delight as Dewey carried her to the bed.
ooo
Huey studied Violet intently: while he had been skimming through the pages of the JWG, she had been channel surfing for over an hour, her mind barely paying attention to whatever was playing on the TV. She never stayed on one channel for more than a few minutes.
"You okay?" Huey asked carefully.
It took her awhile to register his question. "Hmm, oh! Yeah."
But Huey knew better.
He set the JWG down and gently grabbed the remote from her hand, setting it down on the mattress.
"What's up?" Huey asked, leaning on his side.
Violet sighed, and hugged her knees against her chest. "I'm worried. We're off to meet Steelbeak and I'm scared."
To her surprise, Huey laughed. "I'd be worried if you weren't scared, Violet."
Huey opened his arms and Violet rolled over so that she could snuggle against his chest. He rubbed her back.
"I don't know what'll happen, but one thing's for sure: as long as I have you by my side, I'll be okay." he said earnestly.
Violet smiled. "Cheesy much?" but most of her fear had gone away.
"Only for you, Vi." he smirked, before gently pressing his lips against hers.
ooo
Alright folks, I'm here for another MANDATORY VOTE FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER
1- A Donald and Daisy update back in Duckburg
OR
2- The gang confronts Steelbeak
Love ya!
—Jordan :)