Huey groaned. Where was he?

It was dark, cool, and damp, and smelled old and musty, kind of like an old dungeon. Water dripped somewhere behind him, and there was a small source of light coming from a barred window above him. Moonlight streamed from the window, illuminating his family's sleeping faces. In front of him, Scrooge was calmly asleep on Webby's shoulder while Dewey was fast asleep on his lap. There was a torn blanket over Huey, and he assumed they had woken up before him. Huey tried standing up, but immediately fell over. He cursed when he hit the musty dungeon floor, and winced when he realized that his arms and legs were shackled.

Webby stirred at the sound and slowly opened his eyes, careful to avoid waking up Scrooge.

"Webby…?" Huey asked warily.

"I'm here." she said.

"Where are we?"

She groaned. "Steelbeak's prison."

Then she smiled at him.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Happy birthday." Webby smiled.

Huey smiled. He'd been so wrapped up in the mission that he'd completely forgotten that today was April 15th: his and his brothers' birthdays.

"I can't believe I'm spending my nineteenth birthday in prison." Huey groaned.

Webby chuckled.

"WHAT'S ALL THAT NOISE?!" an Eggmen boomed.

"Nothing." Webby muttered.

"Nothing what?" he taunted.

Through gritted teeth, she grumbled, "Sir."

He smirked and left them. Huey frowned.

"Why are you showing respect?" he asked.

"Because if we don't, we end up like that." she said, gesturing towards the cell in front of them.

Huey squinted his eyes, it was hard to see it in the dark. Then he saw it: a frail old man, covered in bruises and welts. Huey gasped and felt a sudden urge to help him. He tried standing up again, but was stopped by the cuffs on his legs.

"We need to get out of here!" he exclaimed.

Webby sighed. "Huey, we're in no position to fight back. Everyone's tired, we don't know where Louie, Lena, and Granny are, and we don't even know Violet and Launchpad's status. We need to be patient."

Huey groaned, and leaned his head against the cold, gray wall of the room. "Della…"

Her expression darkened. "I'm sorry about your mother."

Huey frowned. "She's not my mother… not yet anyway."

"Huey, she's been locked up in here for a decade," Webby reasoned. "Cut her some slack."

"No." Huey growled.

Webby frowned at the change of emotion.

He scowled. "If she never went to space in the first place, things would've been different. I would've had a mother. Donald wouldn't have moved out of the mansion, I could've known you sooner…" he lowered his voice. "Louie never would've cut himself and he wouldn't have had abandonment issues."

Webby gasped. "You knew?"

He looked up, his eyes full of pain. "It was when we were fifteen. I went to the bathroom late one night and saw Louie was hunched over the sink, gripping a knife. His wrist was bleeding and he looked so angry, so hurt. He didn't try hiding the knife or anything, and without looking at me, he asked: Why did she leave us?"

Webby's heart twisted at the words.

"The way he said it, even after all these years, still haunts me. He's doing better, but instead of cutting, he's smoking. But I let it slide… because whenever I see him lighting one, I know he's still breathing. So no, I won't cut her some slack. She ruined the family. You want to know why I even agreed to this mission?"

She shook her head no.

"Because of you. Because I know how bad a person Steelbeak is. He took away your family from you."

Webby scowled. "And he's doing the same thing to you!" she snapped. "He already has Louie under his control, and he also has your mother. Huey, you need to let go of all this bitterness and resentment, because as soon as we rescue your mother, it is guaranteed that you need to reconcile."

There was a tense silence.

"I know she's hurt you, but she's still your mother. And I know that's not a valid reason, you don't even know her. But at least promise me you'll give her a chance."

Huey looked down, strands of his hair masking his eyes. Webby caught her breath. Huey was an easygoing guy, but she'd never seen him so angry and hurt. The moonlight sharpened his defined features.

After a brief silence, he spoke. "I won't promise anything… but I'll think about it."

She smiled. "Thanks. I'd hug you, but I can't."

He chuckled.

ooo

Steelbeak clapped Louie on the back.

"Welcome back!"

"It's good to be back, sir. I did what you asked."

Two Eggmen threw Lena and Beakley onto the ground before Steelbeak.

"22, shadow girl." he greeted. "Throw them in the dungeon."

Steelbeak placed a hand on Louie's shoulder.

"So I received some intel on Heron's location. She's in a maximum security prison in St. Canard. Would you like to be a part of the task force to break her out?"

Louie's eyes widened. "It would be an honour, sir."

Lena blinked back tears when she overheard Louie talking about ways to break into prison.

"Lena, it's alright." Beakley tried, but Lena barely heard her.

Everything felt pointless now.

Her Louie was gone.

She lost.

ooo

"You got company."

Webby yelped when Lena and Beakley were thrown into the prison.

"Thank goodness you're safe!" Scrooge said.

"Where's Louie?" Dewey asked.

"Steelbeak has him under his control again."

"Oh no." Dewey winced.

"Don't you see?! The plan failed. Now Steelbeak's going to win, Louie's going to become a criminal, we're going to rot away in some prison." Lena spat.

"Calm down." Scrooge said.

"Calm down?! How can you tell me to calm down while we're in some lighthouse with our arms and legs shackled?" Lena asked in disbelief.

"Because Launchpad and Violet haven't been caught, and Louie still has his weaknesses!" Scrooge snapped. "Focus on the positive, Lena!"

"She's right, Lena. Take a deep breath." Webby instructed.

Suddenly, there was a rattling noise, like someone was dragging a metal pipe over the bars in the prison.

"Face each new sun…" came a familiar, calm voice.

Huey and Dewey shuddered. Webby and Lena raised their eyebrows. Why did they look so terrified?

"With eyes clear and true, unafraid of the unknown…" the voice continued.

The rattling sounded closer, and he finally came into view.

"Because I'll face it all with you…" Louie finished menacingly, gripping his khopesh.

Scrooge lightly gasped as his nephew: his light hair was slicked to the side in a neat side part. He wore a dark green tailcoat jacket unbuttoned over a black vest and white collared shirt. He sported a black bowtie, with black dress slacks and polished black dress shoes. There was a holster strapped to his belt, only this holster wasn't made for a gun, but rather a sword. Worst of all, Louie's eyes were a chilling blood red.

"So," he greeted. "Was that a nice song?"

Nobody dared to say a word.

"No? Well, I thought it was pretty good." he continued. He calmly put his sword in his custom made holster and stretched. "You there!"

He pointed at the injured elderly man.

"Was it a nice song?"

The man was petrified and said nothing. Louie started getting annoyed.

"I said," Louie snarled, punching the metal bars so hard that his knuckles began bleeding. "If it was a nice song!"

Everyone gasped when they saw blood trickling down Louie's knuckles and onto the cement floor. When the elderly man didn't answer, Louie lost his temper.

"Eggmen!" Louie snapped, and two rushed to his side

"Yes sir?" they squeaked.

"Take him to solitary." Louie growled, gesturing to the old man. "And one of you go get me some bandages!"

Louie turned back to his prisoners, and they watched in horror as the man was dragged towards solitary confinement.

"Y'know," Louie said, dragging a stool so he could sit down and chat. "I really thought that the McDuck clan would put up a proper fight."

Before Dewey could remind him that he was apart of their family, Webby jabbed him in the ribs.

"We're off to rescue Black Heron. Let's see you fools try to stop us." Louie taunted.

With that, he kicked the metal stool away, where it hit an Eggmen. He crumpled to the ground.

Scrooge let out a breath he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding. "Well… he's gone."

Huey looked at the old man's empty cell, and prayed that Violet and Launchpad were okay.

ooo

Violet and Launchpad were not okay.

She knew things had gone wrong when she tried contacting Lena, but got no answer. Her last known phone signal was used at the warehouse.

"We're the gang's only hope." Launchpad said

"We don't even know where they are." Violet groaned.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Violet panicked. "Didn't you say that was the beeping if there was a potential threat to the plane?!"

Launchpad gritted his teeth in concentration as he tried steering the Sunchaser upward. Violet turned her head to see 2 small jets chasing after them.

"Oh boy." they said in unison.

ooo

Short chapter, but this is a "overlap" chapter. So there was something wonky going on last night, and I can't see any of your reviews which is pissing me off. Hopefully this chapter will jar my account a little.

I'm praying! :)

-Jordan