Arriving in Mouseton, Webby let out a squeal. "Ooh! Mouseton looks so pretty!" she said, her face pressed against the window.
Dewey stared down at his phone, reading a blog about the town. "According to this, Mouseton is home to famous celebrity, Mickey Mouse," he read aloud. The plane shook a bit, the sound of gears turning, telling them they were arriving.
"Alright kids, I'm going in for the landing," Launchpad said.
Dewey was a bit surprised when Webby took his hand. He looked up at her. "I'm getting ready for the crash," she said. Dewey tried not to blush, misreading her.
After they landed/crashed, Dewey helped Webby out of the plane. She limped a bit due to her sprain.
"You alright?" he asked.
She nodded. "Where's the Vanderquack knife forgery?" she asked, gesturing to his phone.
He looked it up in the GPS. "Just a few blocks. Do you think you can do it?" he said.
She nodded determined. "Hey Launchpad! We're going to go explore for a bit. We'll be back later," Dewey called to the pilot. Launchpad nodded, carrying some cargo, and the two went off.
They were soon able to find the forgery. It was a humble little establishment. The sign had a nice cursive font in orange, Vanderquack Knife Forgery and Weapons. Webby stared up at the sign, holding her breath. Who knew what secrets lied just beyond the door.
Dewey squeezed her hand, taking note of her hesitation. She smiled before the two stepped in. The place was filled with weapons of all sorts, but mostly blades. They went up to the duck sitting at the front desk, eyes wandering at the shop.
The duck at the counter had shaggy white hair and wore an orange polo shirt. He looked about fifteen and had a watch on his wrist. He glanced up from a gun magazine he had been looking at, even though the store didn't sell guns.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
Dewey pushed Webby forward, urging her to speak. Taking in a breath, she slid her dagger over the counter. "Hi! I'm Webby! I need to know the origin of this knife, please!" she smiled.
The boy took the knife and examined it in his hands. "I don't think I've ever seen a knife like this," he commented.
"So it wasn't made here?" Dewey asked.
"No, it was. It has our signature stamp on it. It's just one of a kind," the duck corrected.
Pulling out a pocket knife from somewhere on him, the duck forced the hidden compartment open. "For example, none of our other knives have a secret thing like this," he added. He smiled at them. "My uncle runs the shop. I'll ask him about it. You're welcome to stay here while you wait," he said. "By the way, I'm Liam," he said, holding out a hand. Webby shook it and thanked him. Then he went back into the employees only room.
Liam found his uncle unpacking a few boxes of new knives. "Hey, uncle Ben?" he asked. His uncle looked up.
"Hey Liam! What's up?" he asked. He was standing on top of a ladder, pulling a box from a high shelf.
Liam handed him the knife. "A little girl came in here asking about the origin of this blade. Do you know anything about it?" he wondered.
Ben, as his name was, climbed down from the ladder to meet his nephew. Taking the blade into his hand, Ben examined it. His eyes widened.
"Uncle Ben?" Liam questioned. Ben looked up and tried to act like everything was normal.
"Who did you say this little girl was?" he wondered.
Liam looked back to the store front. "Uh, I think she said her name was Webby," he replied.
Ben nodded. "Well, I guess we should tell Webby that we don't know where her knife came from," he said, walking to the counter.
Webby and Dewey were waiting there patiently. Ben handed the knife back to Webby. "Sorry, kid, but I don't know where this knife came from," he said. Webby frowned, disappointment on her face.
"Aw! You mean we came all this way for nothing?" Dewey whined. Liam glanced between Ben and Webby. His uncle's eye always twitched when he was lying, and right now, it was twitching. Liam bit his beak.
There was a brief moment of silence, then Ben turned to leave. After his uncle went back through the employees only door, Liam looked back to the ducklings. They looked like they were about to leave too, halfway to the door.
"Wait, don't go," he said.
Webby stared back at him. "Why? What?" she asked.
"My uncle knows where that knife came from, but he's trying to hide it," he said.
Dewey and Webby spun around to face him. "Really?"
"Yeah. If you want, I can take you back and we can look through our archives," he offered.
Webby jumped up. "Yeah! Let's do it!" she beamed.
...
The vacuum hummed loudly as Beakly cleaned the halls. She passed by Webby's room. "Webby, when you make a mess, clean it up," she said, noticing some trash on the table. She started to collect it into a bin, but then she spotted something. A small note with familiar handwriting. Handwriting long since almost forgotten, but not quite yet. She lifted it up to her view. After reading it, she let out a gasp. She knew that handwriting too well.
"Webby!" Beakly called. No response. She tried again but no answer. She climbed up to the attic of the room. A laptop sat on the bed. Beakly scanned the screen with her eyes. Vanderquack knife forgery. She clicked her tongue. "Oh, Webigail, you don't know what you're getting yourself into," she sighed.
She climbed back down into the main room. Huey passed by the doorway. "Huey! Do you know where Webby is?" she asked, trying not to show worry in her voice. He shrugged. "I think she went to Mouseton with Dewey and Launchpad," he said. Beakly face palmed.
"Is something wrong?" the red triplet wondered.
She shook her head, her mind distant from the conversation. Her heart shook with fear and worry. "Not yet," she said.
Then the housekeeper rushed out of the room. Huey watched after her for a minute, then went back to whatever he was doing.
Beakly grabbed her purse. She had to get to Mouseton before Webby found something she wasn't meant to find. Beakly fumbled around with the door handle. Why was she so shaky? Her phone rang, startling her. She slipped it out of her purse. Reading the caller ID, she gasped. He hadn't called her since...
Answering the phone, she said, "Hello? Ben, why are you calling me?" She could hear a sigh on the other end.
"I thought we agreed to keep them apart?" he said, a bit annoyed.
"Is Webby there?" she wondered, despite knowing the answer deep down. She cursed herself under her breath.
"Yes. What did you tell her?" Ben asked.
"Nothing!" Beakly defended.
There was silence on the other end. "She came here asking about her knife. I don't even know why you gave it to her," Ben spoke up.
Beakly frowned. "Well I didn't think that there was a secret message in it!" she said.
"Wonder why what happened happened," he said sarcastically. "Bentina, I'm starting to think you don't think anything through."
"That was years ago! I'm different now!" Beakly grumbled.
"Yet still the same old Beakly. No wonder she hated you," Ben said.
Beakly's anger grew. "Well, are you going to do something about it before she gets herself killed!" she argued.
Ben hung up on her. Beakly glared at her phone after realizing he had left. "Ugh, I've got to get there quick," she said to herself.
"Hey, Mrs. B," someone said behind her.
She spun around to face Della. "Della! Just the person I need! How fast can you fly me to Mouseton?" Beakly asked.
Della shrugged. "In the words of my son, no can Dewey. Launchpad took the Cloud Slayer and I don't have another plane," she said. Beakly frowned. All she could do was hope it wasn't too late.
...
Liam led Webby and Dewey to the back of the shop. He showed them to a small bookshelf.
"Aren't you worried about your uncle finding out we're back here?" Dewey asked.
Liam shrugged. "I think he's busy with a phone call, so he won't check on us," he said. He squatted on his legs to the bottom shelf. "So, what year was your knife made?" he wondered. Webby thought about it.
"Well, it was made before I was born, so, that's eleven years ago," she thought out loud.
Liam nodded. Then, taking a thick book with a year printed on the spine from the shelf, he slapped it down at a table next to them. A cloud of dust blew up into their faces, causing them to cough. "This is a log book from that year. It lists the customer, who or what the knife was for, and additional information for contacting the customer," he said, skimming through the book.
Turning to Webby, Liam asked, "You wouldn't happen to know any of those things, would you? It would help figure out what page it's on."
Webby put a finger to her beak.
"Is there anything Mrs. Beakly told you about it?" Dewey wondered hopefully.
She nodded. "Granny told me it was my mother's, so try the last name Beakly," she said. Liam nodded and turned the pages quickly.
The three ducks gasped. "The page that would have that name is ripped out!" Liam exclaimed.
Dewey took the book. "That can't be! Oh, come on, can't at least some part of this mystery be easy?" he whined, turning to the next page just to be sure.
Webby rubbed her fingers over the small shreds of paper in the crease disappointed. "So we're not any closer to finding out what happened to my parents," she frowned.
Liam put his hands up. "It sounds like you've got some family drama," he said.
Webby laid her head on the table. "Yup, but that's what I get for having a spy for a grandma," she sighed.
Liam took a seat at a chair. "Sounds like some interesting family. All my uncle and I ever do is work this shop. Who are your family anyways?" he wondered.
"My uncle's Scrooge McDuck," Dewey replied.
"Really? Scrooge McDuck!? The richest duck in the world!?" Liam jumped up. Dewey nodded.
"That's amazing! I'm actually a sort of McDuck enthusiast, if such a thing exists," he laughed.
Webby picked her head up from the table. "Really!? So am I!" she beamed. It made Dewey smile to see her spirits picked up. Webby and Liam started nerding out about Scrooge and all the information they knew about him. Dewey just smirked at the scene.
"Wow! Living with Scrooge McDuck would be amazing!" Liam dreamed.
Dewey could see a light bulb come on in Webby's head. "Hey! Why don't you come with us back to Duckberg?" she suggested.
Liam smiled, nodding quickly.
Dewey raised his hand. "But what about your uncle?" he asked.
Liam scribbled on a piece of paper and taped it to the door. "Bam! Now he'll know I'm gone," he beamed.
Dewey face palmed. "Duckberg's a while away, don't you think he'll worry about you?" he questioned.
Liam waved it off. "I go out on a whim all the time, I'm sure he'll understand."
Webby smirked at Dewey. "Sounds like you," she joked. Webby and Liam left the room together. Then after a few moments left with his thoughts, the blue duckling followed.
A/N so when I first wrote this, someone on here reminded me that the oc from one of my one shots was named Liam. I had forgotten about him, so just to be clear, these are two different Liams, got it? Good. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!