A/N Hey guys! So, unless it's a big episode, I'll be doing two episodes as one in this fic. Thanks to all the support y'all have given this story and me! This episode is a combo of The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks and The Great Dime Chase. Enjoy!
Louie bit his lip, cheeks red, and walked along side Feathry and Huey. "So," he laughed awkwardly. "A club was the most appropriate place you could think of to take two ten year old boys?" The green triplet kept his head down and stepped quickly, not wanting to spend more time by the bar than he needed to. Loud music blared loudly, making it hard for Louie to think straight.
Feathry ignored him and stopped. He glanced down at his phone. "Hang on just a sec, Little Donald."
Louie let out a breath. He turned to talk to his youngest brother, but Huey was nowhere in sight. "Huey?" he called.
"Nice tattoos! Where'd you get it?" Louie spun around to see Huey talking with a man with a tattoo of a naked duck. "You know, I've got a tattoo myself," Huey said, putting on a cool voice. He showed off his arm, which had a scribbled pen drawing of what Louie assumed to be Dewey. But he couldn't really tell.
Louie's eyes widened and he pushed his brother away from the man. "So sorry to bother you sir!" Louie yelped, giving a weird smile. He noticed Huey's bang feathers on fire. He quickly blew them out before it became a problem.
Huey just grinned. "He seemed nice."
Louie and Huey met back up with Feathry. Huey tugged on the older duck's suit. "Hey, cousin Feathry, you said we could get McDuckalds," he said, bending up and down on his knees.
"I know, but first, I'm here to talk to someone," Feathry said, trying to look over the heads of people. His face lit up when he saw a brown haired owl walk towards him.
"Is that Feathry Duck I see?" She walked towards them and shot finger guns at Feathry.
Louie face palmed and sighed. He couldn't have thought to pick a different place to meet?
"Boys, meet Zan Owlison. She's the co-CEO of Waddle and I asked to meet with her about possibly being a spokesman."
Doesn't the company usually reach out and not the spokesman? Louie shook the thought away and turned his attention back to the adults.
Owlison nodded. "Yeppers. Feathry, you didn't tell me you had kids! They're just adorable!" She knelt down to the boys' level and smiled.
Louie looked her over. She wore a loose T-shirt and black yoga pants. This woman was CEO of one of the largest tech companies in the country?
"Say, are you guys twins?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Triplets, actually, but number 2 decided to stay home," Huey said.
"O M Goodness, too cute," she said, putting a hand on her heart. Louie raised an eyebrow at her.
Feathry cleared his throat. "Anyways..."
She stood back to her normal height. "Right. So, about being Waddle's spokesman. Can I get you a drink while we talk?" She proceeded to ask for two drinks, and a man slid them across the counter to her. The two adults sat down, and Huey took a spot next to Feathry.
The boy reached for his cup, but Feathry stopped him. "Nope. That's 'adult juice'." He slid the cup away from the red triplet, and Huey frowned.
...
Dewey moved as quietly as he could, scanning over his bedroom. Feathry had given it to the boys to share. Huey had complained about sharing, but Dewey liked it. It helped him not to be so afraid of the dark.
With his brothers gone with Feathry, Dewey practically had the whole room to himself. He was finally alone.
He crept along the floor, glancing back occasionally, in case somehow one of his brothers was there. And there he saw it. On the floor against the triple bunk bed was a green backpack. Louie's backpack.
Dewey unzipped the pockets and started shuffling through it. "Come on, I know he has it in here. Where is it?" he mumbled to himself.
"Where's what?"
Dewey jumped at the voice, nearly dumping the contents of the backpack all over the floor. "Webby!" Darn, he had forgotten about her.
In the mayhem, a small piece of paper flew out of the bag. It landed at Webby's feet. She looked at it curiously and picked it up. "Hey, what's this?"
Dewey's eyes widened, and he tried to take the thing he had been looking for from her. It was a small photograph.
"Who's that?" she asked once Dewey had it.
"It's, um, a picture of my mom," he said quietly. He smiled sadly at her image, rubbing his thumb over it.
"Ooh, she's pretty. I didn't know you had a mom," Webby said, looking over his shoulder.
Dewey inched away. "Yeah, that's the problem. We don't know what happened to her. I think Louie does, but he won't tell us."
"Oh, that's too bad."
"Yeah."
"Well, I'm gonna go have a tea party! Wanna come?" She smiled at him, twirling a stand of hair around her finger.
"Wait, Webby, I want to figure out what happened to her." He focused his eyes on Della's image, memorizing every curve, detail, and impurity on her face. He had always hoped, always told himself that she would come back some day.
"Oh. Right." She blushed, embarrassed, and thought a moment. "Oh! I think I saw something with her name on it here!"
Dewey perked up. "Really?"
"Yeah, it was a box Feathry had, but I think he put it somewhere in the garage."
"W-well, then, we- we have to find it!" Dewey allowed a small smile to cross his face. Could he actually do it? Could he figure out what happened to her?
...
Huey was so bored. Feathry and Owlison just went on and on about business, business, business. At least, that's what it sounded like to him. And Feathry wouldn't even let him have any of that, so called, "Adult Juice".
"Mmm, maybe," Owlison said, getting up from her seat.
Huey perked up. And like a kid waiting for their parent to quit talking, one question came to his mind: Is it finally time to go yet?
The dog running the bar raised an eyebrow at the business woman. "Right, the bill," she mumbled, and began checking herself for money. When she came up empty, she frowned. "Shoot. Misplaced my wallet. I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached, lol."
Huey liked the way she said lol. He had no idea what it meant, but it sure sounded cool.
"I've got it," Louie said, passing some cash across the counter.
Huey took note of that. Paying for stuff is responsible.
Owlison smiled at the green triplet. "Aw, thanks sweetie! Hey, Feathry, how about this." She cleared her throat before continuing. "You let me borrow your kiddos for a min, and if they do a good job, I'll let you sponsor my Project: Behold and they can intern at Waddle!" She threw her arms out in a welcoming gesture.
A job? Boring!
"A job? Amazing!" Louie's face lit up and he eagerly nodded. Then he cleared his throat and took on a calmer demeanor. "I mean, uh, I- I would like that... ma'am." A smile stayed on his face.
Huey took note. Responsible people look calm.
"I wouldn't mind it," Huey said, puffing up his chest. He glanced at Louie to see if he noticed how "responsible" he was being. But his older brother paid no attention.
Feathry rubbed the back of his neck, saying, "Uh, sure. If they'd like it."
"Yes, please!" Louie said, losing his neat composure again.
"Alrighty then, it's a dealio!" She turned and started walking to the exit of the club.
Before Huey and Louie could follow, Feathry stopped them. "Alright boys, this is a big deal, so I want you to be on your best behavior."
Huey tilted his head and smirked. "Well, I told other people I'd be on my worst behavior, so..."
That earned a glare from both his brother and cousin.
Noted. Responsible people don't reference things in an attempt to make a dumb joke.
"I'm serious." Feathry put a hand on Louie's shoulder. "Please don't blow this."
"You don't have to worry about me, Cousin Feathry," Louie said confidently. Huey bit his lip. He wished he could look as responsible as that.
"I bet my lucky penny on it," Feathry sighed.
"What?" Huey tilted his head curious.
"Oh, it's just, um..." The older duck bit his lip and dug into his coat pocket, searching for something. Finally, he pulled out a small, copper penny. "It's a penny my Uncle Scrooge gave to me when I was your age. You know, after the 'incident'. But I never ended up getting rid of it or losing it, so I just call it my lucky penny."
"Wait, what happened to Uncle Scrooge?" Huey asked, even more confused.
"Come on, Hue. We've got to get going if we want to catch a ride with Miss Owlison," Louie said, grabbing Huey's wrist and ignoring his question.
"Wait, I really wanna know!"
"Good luck boys," Feathry called after them.
Louie dragged Huey out the door.
"Is no one else curious! Am I the only one who cares?" Huey shouted to no one in particular.
...
It didn't take long for them to get to the Waddle building. Louie tried to push down his excitement. He would get a job. Technically an internship, but never mind that. He reminded himself that he would only get it if he did a good job, but that didn't keep his hopes down.
She led them past the courtyard, where different people were testing out Waddle technology. Some people rode by on Waddle brand hover boards. "Here we have the high speed hover boards, the low speed hover boards, and..." A smirk crossed Owlison's face as they watched people struggle to mov their boards. "The no speed hover boards. That one was made as a joke, but people wanted it, so... That's business for ya," she chuckled.
They made their way into the main building, with pearly white walls and the bight blue W logo on just about everything. Louie noticed that instead of stairs, they had escalators. He bit his beak curious.
As if reading his mind, Zan said, "Escalators! Stairs of the future! Makes you question why moving sidewalks are only in airports."
"Isn't that a lot more expensive?" he asked.
"Your mom, heh." Louie just seemed to be more lost by this woman. She had already used "lol" in a sentence, and now a "your mom" joke? He shook himself. Despite her lack of professionalism, this was still potentially his future boss and the woman Feathry wanted him to make a good impression on.
In the middle of the space was a desk with a dark brown top. Owlison moved to stand by it. She crossed her arms confidently. "Oh yeah, and before you ask, yes, it is made of chocolate! Boom!"
Huey's face lit up. "Really?" He grabbed a chunk of the desk top and shoved it in his mouth. And then proceeded to immediately spit it out.
Louie rolled his eyes. "Why would you eat it if you know you don't like chocolate?"
"Because I though it would taste different! This is rich people chocolate, Louie!" Huey continued to spit and shudder.
Owlison raised an eyebrow. "What kind of monster doesn't like chocolate?"
"Me! I don't like chocolate! Or any sugar really, but especially chocolate."
"Huh. Weird." She shrugged and went on with the tour.
Owlison led them down the halls of the company, finally ending up at a large office. A large W hung on the wall behind a desk towards the back of the room. At the desk was a chair and computer. A parrot sat in the chair, typing something on the computer, with very good posture, Louie might add.
"Little gentleman," Owlison began, stepping towards the desk. She put one hand on her hip and with the other, she leaned on the desk. "Meet Mark Beaks, other co-CEO of Waddle."
The so called Mark Beaks looked up from the computer and scanned over the boys. Louie put on a calm and collected face, hoping to make a good impression. After seeing them, Beaks glanced at his partner.
"Children? Seriously Owlison?"
Louie's heart sank.
"To be fair, the green one paid for drinks earlier, so there."
Beaks rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer work. "Whatever."
Louie shook himself and coughed. "Uh, it's Louie actually."
"And I'm Huey!"
Louie mentally face palmed. Ooh boy. How could he have forgotten a very important factor to all this? Huey was with him. The chances of him getting this internship was lower than he thought.
"Uh-huh. Owlison, I'm trying to do actual work, so..." Beaks raised an eyebrow at her.
"Pft, work? Like what?" She punctuated the statement with a snort laugh.
He took in a deep breath and got up from his seat. "I don't know why I constantly ask myself why I hate working here when the answer is standing right in front of me." Running a hand through his hair, he left the room.
Louie looked to Owlison for direction. "Well. He's fun." She waved a hand, dismissing it. "Anyways, who wants to start?"
"Oh! Me!" Huey shouted, raising his hand. Louie winced.
"Amazing. Oh, by the way, there's only room for one intern, so one of you won't get it. Cool? Cool."
Wait, what?
...
Dewey smiled quietly to himself, holding the small photograph close. Webby skipped alongside him, humming. "We're almost to the garage," she said. To be honest, the mansion was a bit big for Dewey to keep track of it all. The move from a trailer to Duck Manor was a little discombobulating, so much so that he asked Webby for directions pretty much anywhere.
"Do you really think the stuff in that box will give us some clues about my mom?"
"I don't know. But I hope so. Then you could go find her and be a happy family and live happily ever after!"
Dewey just nodded. They continued the rest of the way in silence, Dewey admiring the random art pieces on the wall. The quiet was nice, calming even. Mid-morning sun drifted in through the large windows. A few birds tweeted outside, accompanying Webby's humming. Some fears about finding Della crept into his head, but he pushed the away. He was just happy to maybe have something a bit more than an old photograph that his brother kept to himself.
Webby saw the garage door before Dewey did. "Look," she pointed. She ran up to the door and was about to open it when she was stopped.
"Webbigail, what are you doing?" Bradford Buzzard came from around the corner and stood in front of the two kids.
"Oh, we were just looking for that bo-"
Dewey clapped a hand over her mouth before she could finish. He laughed awkwardly. "Booooooo... Body armor. Yep. For... the... dogs...?"
"We don't have dogs." Bradford crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. How could Dewey have forgotten about him too? He hadn't interacted with the butler much in his stay here, but he was sure he didn't want to tell anyone else about his quest to find Della. The boy's heart started to race.
"We're going to buy dogs." Oh gosh, Dewey was not the liar of the family.
"Why?"
"Because... why not." Dewey's inner voice started screaming. Abort! Abort! Abort the mission!
Bradford just squinted at them. "Well... um... that was a rollercoaster. Now, tell me what you're really doing."
Dewey exchanged a glance with Webby, asking for help with his eyes. He took his hand off her beak and prayed she wouldn't tell.
"We were going to check out the other bin."
"You know you're not supposed to go in there," Bradford said, crossing his arms.
Webby put her hands behind his back and rocked on her heals. "I know. I'm sorry. It was my idea."
Bradford melted into a smile and ruffled her feathers. "Alrighty, thanks for being honest. Now, master Feathry and your brothers are out and about, so in the meantime why don't you help me clean?"
Webby nodded and Bradford walked past them, expecting them to follow. The pink duckling went after, but Dewey hesitated. He took a look at the garage door, frowning. He had been so close.
"Dewey!" Webby called, snapping him back to reality. He shook himself and went along with them.
...
The receptionist handed Louie and Huey two tablets, checklists lighting up the screen.
Louie smiled. "Look how organized this is!" There was no way Owlison had come up with these.
"Uh... yeah. These are really neat." Huey looked over his tablet, nodding to himself.
Louie looked at his brother sadly. Only one intern.
"Come on, Huey, you don't really want the internship, do you? It's just a bunch of work, so I'm not so sure you could handle-"
"What! No! I can do it!" Huey puffed up his chest, trying to look confident Louie guessed.
"Probably best you just forfeit and let me take on the job."
Huey looked over Louie and smirked. "So that's how you wanna play it, huh? Well, for your information, Huey Duck does not forfeit! Huey Duck is a winner, so don't think you can trick me into backing down!"
Louie shrugged. It was worth shot. He glanced down at the checklist. Task 1: phone calls.
...
Louie struggled to keep up with all the incoming calls. He frantically moved to punch the buttons on the phones. He leaned over the desk, his ears filled with ringing. He grabbed the phone. "Uh, this is Waddle, please hold!" He pressed a button, answering the next caller. "Waddle, please hold!" His heart raced with how fast it was all moving.
"Please hold."
"Will you hold for on second?"
"Waddle, please hold!"
"Please hold!"
He only stopped a moment to catch his breath. He could do this. He could take a couple calls.
"Uh-huh, so then he says he got this penny from some Uncle Scrooge, who knows who that is, and then..." Louie spun his chair around to see Huey, reclining back in his char. He held the phone up to his ear with his shoulder, fidgeting with a rubics cube he had found on his desk.
"Who are you talking to?"
Huey fell back in his chair, dropping the phone. "Uhhhh..." Louie raised an eyebrow. "Dewey," Huey finally said, smiling nervously. Louie rolled his eyes, got up, and pressed the button to hang up with the blue triplet. "Alright, that's fair."
The green triplet walked back to his desk, imagining how many calls he must've racked up now. He sat down and took more calls.
"This is Waddle, please hold."
"Hold please."
"Please hold."
A feeling of someone watching him came over the duckling. He glanced around himself. Standing just a few cubicles away was Mark Beaks. The parrot began to walk away when he noticed Louie noticing him staring at him. A curious feeling lingered over the boy, but the sound of phones ringing brought back his attention.
...
Next on the checklist: typing notes.
Owlison gave the boys each a sheet of handwritten notes that they had to type up on the computer. Louie was a little worried about this task, since neither boys had ever even touched a computer, but after a while, Louie got the hang of it. Now the only problem was deciphering the CEO's sloppy handwriting.
He squinted down at the sheet.
"Hey, Louie?"
"Hang on... is that an 'a' or an 'o'?"
'Well, clearly it's a 'c'."
Louie looked up at his brother. "What do you want?"
"Um... I don't know how this thing works." Huey poked his index fingers together nervously. He turned back to his own computer and stared at the screen. Louie glanced over at his brother's screen to see a string of "dhjdghjkhfghvbhfbfiuhsdfiuhfj".
"Uhhhh..." Louie looked over the keyboard, frowning. He finally decided on pressing the "ESCAPE" button. That resulted in the computer letting out a weird sound and a large "ERROR" message flashing across the screen.
Louie flinched and Huey pulled his hat over his head.
"What is that!?"
"It's gonna explode!"
"I broke it!"
"It's gonna EXPLODE!"
At that moment, Mark Beaks walked in the room. He rolled his eyes, making Louie flush. He wasn't making a good impression at all. "You didn't break it and it's not going to explode. Here, watch." The parrot leaned over and pressed a few buttons on Huey's computer keyboard. The error sign disappeared, and Huey let out a sigh of relief.
"Heh, uh, thanks," Louie said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yep," was all Beaks said before walking away.
Louie turned his attention back to his own computer and glanced down at the notes. He moved to type them up, going a decent pace for having never used a keyboard before. After getting a few sentences in, the seen turned black. He was caught off guard, but not wanting to overreact again, he waited. Maybe it was supposed to do that. A moment of nothing passed. Yeah, he didn't think it was suppose to turn off like that.
He looked around, trying to see if Mark Beaks was still in the room. To Louie's fortune, he was leaning against he wall, marking something down on a clipboard. The green loving duckling was about to ask for help when he noticed something. A couple inches from Beaks was the electrical outlet. And Louie's computer was unplugged.
Louie raised an eyebrow. Did Mark Beaks unplug it?
...
Number 3 on the list was lunch.
Louie got a list of what everyone wanted in the office. Most of the orders were short, not to mention some people had brought their own lunch. He smiled confidently. At least one task would be easy.
Louie was just walking down the hall, collecting the lunch orders, when he realized there was someone he missed: Mark Beaks.
Louie shrugged off his nerves. Sure, he and the CEO had gotten off on a rough start, but he was probably just imagining that he unplugged the laptop. Right?
The boy knocked on Beak's office door. "Come in!" he called. Louie entered.
Beaks frowned when he saw the boy. "Oh. It's you."
Louie forced a smile and made his way to the desk. "Mr. Beaks... sir... I'm collecting lunch orders. Would you like something?" He caught himself standing a little straighter than usual, all to impress this man.
Beaks was quiet for a moment, working on something. Louie squinted at his project. A small robot with a lightbulb for a head. The parrot tightened a few screws. Without making eye contact, he said, "Yeah, um... can I get Subway?"
"Subway?"
"Yeah, it's like the Monopoly of restaurants. I want a foot long on Italian herb and cheese bread with..." Mark went on with his, drawing on and on about toppings.
Louie deadpanned. He got the joke now. Monopoly and Subway both took forever. He wrote down everything Beaks listed, though the parrot talked a little fast to keep up.
After what felt like forever, Mark was interrupted by Huey. He burst into the room, carrying a box over his head. "Check it out! I got pizza! Everybody loves pizza!" He smacked the pizza box on the table, beaming proudly.
Mark Beaks glanced between the boys and was... smirking? What was up with this guy? Did it just make him happy to see Louie fail?
Louie deflated, looking at his list of food orders. All for nothing.
"Hey, Louie, did you see the pizza?" Huey said, smiling and waving a slice in Louie's face. "Very efficiency of me, right?"
Louie leaned his head on his palms against the desk. "Efficient, And sure. Why not." There was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm in his voice.
Huey's smile wavered, but Louie didn't notice.
...
Owlison reclined back in her cushioned seat, scrolling through Instagram. Not only was she a big CEO, but she was also a big social media influencer too. She hovered her thumb over the record button, with her other hand fluffing her hair up. Had to look fabulous for her fans. She worked in the advertising department, while Beaks did the actual technology stuff. Whatever, sciencey gibberish she didn't quite understand. But it was making money, so he must be doing something right.
She finally started the video. "Sup, peeper! Just here to remind y'all that Project: Behold is coming out later this year! What is it, you may ask? Well, that's a little secret, but to sum it up, it's gonna be everything you hoped it'd be, and nothing you're expecting! Waddle is so stoked to be presenting this product to you, and-" She stopped, spotting something through her clear office doors. She squinted at the figure, noticing how fast it was moving. "Hmm, hang on guys. I hope to see you all at the release! Ttyl!"
She stopped recording, getting up from her seat. Finally, the figure entered the room, throwing the doors open. She snapped a quick picture before shoving the phone in her pocket. Before her stood a brown plumage duck, dressed in suit and ties, like those guys from the movie Ducks in Black.
The duck ran a hand through his hair. "My name is Fenton Cabrera, and just to jump to the point, I've been hired to steal your Project: Behold. So just take me to it and we can get this over with."
Owlison looked over Fenton. She let out a whistle. "Wow, you're a lot hotter than I thought you'd be."
He was taken back. "What?"
"Well, being as famous as I am, it was almost inevitable that someone would send a bounty hunter after me, but I just never imagined he would be so attractive."
Fenton rolled his eyes and reached for a gun in his jacket. "Come on, take me to the thing or whatever so we can get this over with."
"You think we'll have an enemies to lovers plot?"
"Shut up!"
...
After a whole afternoon of cleaning, only interrupted at one point by Huey calling, Dewey and Webby were let off the hook. Aka, Bradford let them go after Dewey almost lost his hand in a garbage disposal incident.
The two ducklings went into the garage to begin their search for the box. Dewey still had a few nightmares from the last time he was in here. He shuddered at the thought. He wanted to get the job done fast, but he also didn't want to be alone, so they searched in different places but where they could still see each other. Dewey was shuffling through a pile of stuff when Webby decided to break the silence of the cold garage air.
"Why didn't you want to tell Bradford?"
"What?"
"When he asked why we were going into the garage. Why didn't you tell him about your mom?"
Dewey bit his lip, moving stuff off a box labeled "F x M" with a broken heart scribbled around it. "Uh... I guess I don't trust adults."
"Makes sense. Can we tell your brothers when they get back?"
Dewey flinched and his eyes widened, forgetting about investigating the box. "No! We can't. Louie would shut us down for sure and Huey probably couldn't keep the secret." He did want to tell his brothers, but a part of him was scared to. Actually, most of him was, like usual.
He turned back to the broken heart box, just to find a bunch of old picture frames and some tissue boxes and stuffed animals. Looked like Feathry had a hard breakup at one point. It was hard to imagine his confident uncle like that. He moved onto another set of stuff.
After several hours of looking, Dewey and Webby were both tired and frustrated.
"Ugh! I can't find it anywhere!" Dewey sat down on the hard, concrete floor. He let out a couple of coughs, as rearranging the room had lifted up a bunch of lint and dust.
"It's like it's not even in here!" Webby took a seat down next to him. "It's like it's not even in here..." she repeated to herself. After a moment of quiet, her eyes widened. "Dewey..."
"Yes?"
"Don't be mad."
"Why would I be?"
"Um... the box..."
"The box?"
"The box isn't in here."
"What?"
Her cheeks turned bright pink with embarrassment. "The reason we couldn't find it is because it's not in here. I forgot that this one time, Feathry moved to a different place because..." She narrowed her eyes, trying to remember. She turned even more red than she was. "I... was playing dress up. Heh."
Dewey let out a soft chuckle.
"What! There were some of her clothes in that box, and I thought they were very pretty," she said, getting to her feet. She put her hands on her hips, as if that was enough justification.
Dewey snickered a bit, but then it hit him. "That means you don't know where the box is, do you?"
She frowned sadly. "Sorry, I don't. I'll try to remember, but the first couple of years in the mansion are a little blurry for me."
"It's alright Webby. It was a good try." He had gotten his hopes up, and that was his fault, not hers.
...
Just a little while longer and Louie could go home. That was all he could think of while doing seemingly pointless tasks around the company. Every time he thought he was done, Mark Beaks would find some new random thing to do. Mandatory dance break? Who ever heard of such nonsense!
And he couldn't complain to Owlison about it because she was off giving some random duck a tour!
"I'm done doing everything you've asked! Am I allowed to leave yet?" Louie said, trudging his feet into Beaks' office. He flopped down on the floor in front of his desk, awaiting whatever errand came next. But it would all be worth it. Louie had said that so many times to himself, he had almost completely forgotten what he was doing this for.
Beaks looked over his desk at the boy. "Huh. You're a persistent little guy, aren't you?"
Louie was too out of breath to answer. Otherwise he probably would've screamed.
Huey came running into the room. It wasn't an urgent run. Just a run full of energy, like Huey normally had. "Hey Beaks! Hey Louie! What's going on in here!"
"Your brother is being lazy and taking a nap."
THE AUDACITY! OF. THIS. MAN.
"Well, I'm not lazy! I'm vibrant full of energy!" The red clad triplet rocked on his heals, smiling proudly. "I've done a bunch of stuff, like a super responsible person! Right, Louie?"
Louie just groaned.
"Cool, cool, cool. Unlike you two, I'll be staying here overnight, so how about this. Mmmm..." Mark pretended to think, though Louie was sure he already knew what he was going to say. "Whoever gets me a good coffee gets the internship."
Louie sat up. "Wait, what?"
"Already on it sir!" Huey gave a salute before running out of the room.
Louie jumped to his feet and raced off as fast as he could. After a bit of running, he found Huey already at a Starbucks built into the company building. Huey bounced up and down, eager for the drink. Louie had to move fast if he was going to win.
He placed an order and waited impatiently, tapping his foot.
"You ready to lose, Lou? Huey teased, smirking.
"Ha! You wish!" Louie didn't usually talk so harsh to his brothers, but right now was an exception. He was at war.
As to be expected, Huey's drink was finished before Louie's. But once Louie got his, he probably earned the world record for quickest speed walking. Huey was usually faster than Louie, but right now, the green triplet was running on pure competitive spirit. And that made up for all the natural energy Huey could ever have.
Louie got there first, surprising himself a little. But no time to think about that. Mark waited in front of his desk, working on his lightbulb project again. He set it down when he saw Louie. He blinked. "Wow. I was not expecting you to beat that red kid."
Louie ignored him and shoved the coffee cup towards the adult. "I've got it! I win! So you'll give me the internship, right?"
"Uhhh..." Mark eagerly looked around, searching for an excuse. His eyes landed on his watch. "Nope. Can't have my 4:30 coffee at 4:29. Unacceptable."
Louie sank. What?
Huey stumbled into the room, holding the coffee in both hands. "I know how clumsy I can be, so I took extra care, just like a responsible adult, right Louie?" He passed it to Beaks, who took it with a smirk.
"At exactly 4:30. Great job, red kid. You get the internship."
Louie's eye twitched.
Huey's face lit up. "Really? Like, really really? Louie, did you hear! I got the internship!"
Louie couldn't do anything but nod.
"So, I guess I'll be seeing a lot more of you. Louie, was it? Really sorry to see you go." Mark took a sip of his coffee and made his way out the office.
"I bet you are," Louie said through gritted teeth.
"Louie, are you good?" Huey raised an eyebrow to his oldest brother.
"Nope."
"Are you... upset because I won?"
"Partially, yes."
"Louie, you're kinda freaking me out. Do you wanna sing a song?"
Louie mentally face palmed. He could not believe his brother sometimes. "No, I don't want to sing a-" He let out a sigh. "How is that your solution? You're so stupid."
Both Huey and Louie went quiet. Huey rubbed his arm, avoiding eye contact with his brother.
"Huey, wait, I didn't mean-"
"Whatever. It's what everybody thinks anyways." Huey stared at the ground, walking out of the room. Louie frowned, wanting to say something, anything, but he had said enough already.
Louie watched after his youngest brother, guilt bubbling inside him.
"Well... that's not where I expected this to go." Beaks was still watching them, leaning against the doorframe.
Louie shot him a look. "You are really frustrating."
"Yes, that's what I was going for."
Before Louie could respond, an alarm blared overhead. Both birds flinched and covered their ears, but the alarm continued.
"What is that?" Louie called over the whooping.
"It's the lab's security alarm! Something's going on." Mark rushed out of the room, urgency in his voice. Louie followed.
...
Huey didn't cry. The sensation was foreign to him. But that didn't mean he wasn't upset.
He sat on the floor of some hallway, leaning against the wall. He pulled his knees in close, staring at the pearly white floor. He rested his head on his knees, frowning.
Huey was used to being called stupid. Heck, his uncle told him 20 times a day. The boy preferred verbal abuse to physical abuse, to be honest. But it hit different when one of his brothers said it.
Suddenly, an alarm rang through the air. Huey looked up, wondering what the cause of the alarm could be. Mark Beaks ran by, followed by Louie. The latter stopped when he saw Huey.
"Huey?"
Huey ignored him and stared back down.
"Huey..." Louie sat down next to the red triplet. "I'm sorry for what I said back there."
Huey sighed. "No, you're right. I am stupid." It was a fact that had been drilled into his head since the day he could speak English.
"No you're not. I was just being a sore loser." Louie stretched his legs out in front of him and fidgeted with his hands.
"But you're right. Even I know it. I'm just the duke of making a mess. I didn't mean to make you mad."
"Nah, I'm the one who made a mess of everything. And I wasn't mad at you. I was mad at Mark Beaks! I'm pretty sure he's been sabotaging me all day!" Louie threw up his arms frustrated. Then he took n a somber expression. "But that's no excuse for the way I treated you."
"Well, I did suggest you sing out your feelings."
That earned a snort laugh from Louie. Huey smiled softly. "So, you're not mad at me?" he asked.
"Nope."
"Good, because I didn't really want the internship anyways," Huey said, smiling nervously. That was a load to get off his chest.
Louie blinked. "What?"
"I... just wanted it to impress you. To make you proud of me. I wanted to prove I could be responsible like you."
"Huey, I am proud of you! You're the best youngest brother I've ever had!"
"Hey! That means I'm better than Dew- Ooooooh, I see whatcha did there." Huey nudged Louie.
After the chuckling died down, Louie went on. "But, I'll let you in on a secret: I'm probably not the perfect example of responsibility. I mean, just look how I treated you."
"Aw, Louie, you're trying and that's what matters." Huey talked with his hands a bit, waving them around. "And you'll always be responsible in my eyes." He pulled his brother in for a long hug.
The boys sat, not speaking, but the ear splitting alarms went on.
"You think we should go check that out?" Huey asked, tilting his head.
"Yeah, we probably should."
...
Mark Beaks rushed into the Waddle lab to hear voices.
"Is this some kind of joke?"
"Nerp, I'm telling the truth, bruh. Project: Behold is-"
Before Owlison could finish her sentence, Mark found them in the testing room. His heart raced as he analyzed the situation. There was Owlison, hands on her hips, next to a brown duck in a suit. He had a gun pointed at her. Mark's eyes widened. "Owlison! What's going on?"
"Oh, hey, Beaksy," she said, like she wasn't in a life threatening situation. Mark wished she would act more mature, especially now.
The other duck moved the gun towards Mark, and he threw his hands up. "Where's Project: Behold?" the duck said.
Mark raised an eyebrow. "Project what?"
The duck narrowed his eyes. "Don't play dumb with me. Where is the tech Waddle has been promoting for the past several months!"
Mouth gaping, Mark turned his eyes to Owlison. He honestly had no clue what Project: Behold was, let alone ever heard of it until now. "I... haven't been working on anything like that, unless Zan decided to name one of my projects that."
"It's like I've been telling you, Fenton. Project: Behold doesn't exist. It was just a marketing tool I used to get more investments. Yah know, capitalism."
"That is not what capitalism is," Mark said, glaring at her.
She waved her hand at him. "Anywho, I made up a fake project to get people to give us money, and I knew I would have to worry about 'wet-blanket' Mark over here because he never checks his social media! Pretty genius, right?" She smirked, leaving both men irritated.
"You did what!"
"This is getting ridiculous. I'm calling my employer." Fenton, as Owlison had called him, dug in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He started dialing.
In the little moments of silence, Mark glared at his business partner. She was the most irresponsible person he had ever met, with even less integrity. They wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for her.
Owlison's phone started ringing. She held it up to her ear. "Wassup, Owlison here."
It was worse than he thought.
Fenton glanced from his phone to the owl. "You- You're my employer? Why?"
"Yes, why Owlison? That seems to be the question right now," Beaks said, crossing his arms. This was probably the most annoyed he had ever been with her. This was life and death, and she thought it as a game.
"Simple. Now I can say Project: Behold was stolen, and Waddle gets to keep the money. Boom. Guess you could I thought through my plan very well, eh?" She crossed her arms and held up her head proudly.
"Didn't think this one through," Fenton said, stepping closer towards her, gun still armed. Mark moved forward, but Fenton pulled another gun from his coat and aimed it at the parrot. "No one move unless I say you can."
Owlison glanced between Mark and Fenton, a slight tinge of worry starting to show on her face. "Woah, dude, chill out! I hired you, and your job is done. You can pick up your check on the way out!" She held up her hands defensively.
"I don't like being toyed with. Come on!" Fenton stood behind Owlison, pushing her forward with the nose of the weapon.
Mark's heart thumped loudly in his chest but he tried to keep a cool head. "Let her go!"
"Don't move I said!" Fenton too a shot with his other gun at the ground, just missing Mark's feet. The parrot took a step back. "That was a warning."
At the sound of doors opening and closing, Mark looked to the entry way. In walked Louie and that red kid, (Mark hadn't cared all that much to remember the other's name). Mark's heart sank. Oh no.
The boys were startled for a moment, processing the scene. Fenton looked surprised when he saw them. "What's this? Kids?"
Louie looked between Owlison and Mark, fear in his eyes. And Mark felt helpless to do anything about it. The red one took a step behind his brother.
After a moment, Fenton spoke again. "Alright. New deal. Owlison, the red kid, and I are going to the roof. If you try to follow, I shoot the boy. Now I've got a hostage."
Louie and Mark's eyes widened. Huey (Was that his name?) rose his hands up, shaky. "I'm not sure I agree with this deal, especially since I have no clue what's going on," he said.
Fenton ignored him. "Understood?" He moved his gun from Mark to the duckling.
"Why are we going to the roof?" Owlison asked.
"So I can toss you off it." They left, leaving Mark and Louie alone.
Trembling, Mark fell to his knees. His mind raced for a million options for what to do next. But each one felt futile. He took a deep breath and got to his feet.
"W-what are we going to do?"
Mark glanced up towards Louie. "I... I don't know."
Louie started pacing around in circles, talking to himself. It would've made Mark smile in a different situation. "We can't go after them because then he'll kill my brother, but if we don't go after them, he'll kill Miss Owlison. Oh my gosh, someone is going to die. This is horrible. And after I called him stupid! I'm a failure! I failed! What are we going to do!"
Mark took him by the shoulders. "We're not going to waste time by going on about nonsense! You didn't fail and no one is going to die! Even if Owlison brought this on herself, but still! We're going to figure this out."
"But I am a failure if Huey dies! I'm supposed to protect him!" The boy threw his arms up, freaking out. "Even you think I'm a failure! That's why you gave the internship to Huey!" He ran a hand through his hair.
"Louie, I've got to be completely honest with you... I didn't give the internship to you because I thought you did a really good job on everything."
"Did- Is- That's- Ummm..." The boy had a confused expression and he tilted his head. "What?"
Mark got to his feet. "Come on, we don't have time for this. We have to go save Owlison and your brother."
"But-"
"We can have a heart to heart later. Right now there are lives at stake." After a moment, Louie nodded and followed after him.
"So what's the plan?"
"I'll think of it on the way there."
"Oh yeah, that makes sense, just like how you hire people!" There was noticeable aggravation in Louie's voice. Mark rolled his eyes.
...
Huey bit his beak, praying his brother would come save him. "Move it kid!" the older duck shouted when Huey moved too slow. The red triplet gulped. They stepped out of the stairway door and onto the roof. Huey raised a hand over his eyes, adjusting to the bright sunlight. He felt the grass under his feet, enjoying it in case these were his last moments. Noted: the grass on the roof of Waddle was soft and warm. It was kind of comforting. He wanted to ask how they grew grass on the roof, but he figured that would be an inappropriate question right now.
Huey exchanged a glance with Owlison. She looked just as scared as he felt. But he tried to put on a brave face. He was probably failing, but whatever.
Fenton walked them to the edge of the roof. He pushed Owlison a bit, causing her to stumble. Thankfully, she didn't go over the edge, but she did get a view. "That... is a long way down." She spun around to face her captor. "How about you leave me alive and I will double your pay?" She forced a smile,and Huey hoped he would take the deal.
When all Fenton did was glare at her, she frantically said, "Triple! I will triple your pay! Triple triple? That's 9 times as much!"
"How about you don't hire people to do stupid jobs for you?" Fenton said, smirking. Note to self: Huey did NOT like this guy.
Owlison gulped. Louie get here quickly.
"Hey!" All eyes moved towards Mark Beaks, who stood by the air vent.
In one quick movement, Fenton grabbed Huey and held a gun to his head. "What did I say?" Huey struggled, heart pounding so hard he thought he would burst. His beak trembled as he shut his eyes tight.
"Let's not do anything too rash now," Beaks said, stepping closer.
"I told you what the terms were!" Fenton pressed the barrel to Huey's head harder. Some of his old bruises started to feel sore again. Huey winced and kicked at his attacker, but it was futile. "Quit squirming red, or I'll end it now." Huey did as told.
Beaks and Fenton narrowed their eyes at each other. Fenton took a few steps away from the edge of the roof. Huey looked for Owlison, who was slowly edging away.
A shout came from somewhere, sending a jolt through Huey's body. Fenton yelped, and in the chaos let go of Huey. The red triplet did a roll and landed hard on the grass. The boy shook himself, breathing heavily, trying to decipher what was happening. Louie had jumped on Fenton's back, wrapping his hoodie over his eyes.
"Louie!" Huey cheered, a wave of relief washing over him.
Fenton tried to shake of his attacker, stumbling backwards. The bounty hunter stumbled backwards, Louie still on his back. And they were heading straight for the ledge.
"Louie! Watch out!" Huey jumped to his feet, breath accelerating.
Fenton tripped over the edge and Louie's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. The two let out a yelp as they fell over. Fenton fell first, then Louie. "Huey!"
Huey jumped for his brother, reaching for his hand. The boys latched hands, dangling off the edge of the company building. Huey was not just holding Louie, but Fenton too since he had grabbed onto the green triplet's ankle. Huey had Louie, but who had Huey? He glanced back to see Owlison and Beaks, keeping him from falling.
"I'm going to kill you!" Fenton growled, drawing all their attention back. Louie kicked at him idly. Huey could feel his grip slipping. He threw his other hand on, holding them up with all his might.
"I've got you Louie," Huey said in a strained voice. The boys locked eyes, and for the first time in a long while, Huey saw real far in his brother's eyes. The red triplet gave a sad smile. "I've got you."
Fenton let out a laugh, making Huey raise an eyebrow. "Oh man, it's been a while since someone put up a fight. Being a bounty hunter has it's perks, but this is the most fun I've had in a long time!" Louie and Huey exchanged a worried glance. He gave Huey a smirk, putting the boy on edge. "I'll be back." Fenton let go of Louie's leg and dropped down.
The red triplet's eyes widened, his arms feeling lighter. He saw Fenton land on one of the trampolines below, saving him from a gruesome fall. He looked up, then turned and walked away.
...
Owlison and Beaks pulled Louie and Huey up. Once on solid floor, Louie bent over to catch his breath. His mind was so jumbled with fear he couldn't make any clear thoughts. All he could do was convince his heart rate to go down.
Once they had all calmed down a bit, Huey broke the silence with, "So... you think he'll be back?"
"I hope not," Louie said, with a slight chuckle. He flopped down on the grass and sighed.
Beaks and Owlison remained standing. "So, Zan, did you learn your lesson?"
"Yuppers, next time I'll tell you when I hire a bounty hunter against me."
"Also, oh I don't know- DON'T COME UP WITH TERRIBLE MARKETING PLANS WHERE YOU LIE TO EVERYONE!"
"Yeah, and that too." Louie rolled his eyes at her.
Beaks sighed. "Alright, we've all had a stressful day, I'm going home." He started walking back to the stairway.
"I'ma do the same. New intern, you coming back on Monday?" she asked, shooting Huey finger guns.
He took off his hat and fanned himself with it. "Nope. I resign. It's crazy here." Louie chuckled.
Owlison put a hand on her hip. "Fine, that's fair. Sorry for risking your lives and stuff."
That reminded Louie of something. He jumped to his feet.
"Hey, Lou, where ya going?" Huey asked.
"I'll meet you down there and call Feathry or Launchpad to pick us up," Louie said, stepping in the stairwell.
He raced down the stairs, trying to catch up with the inventor. He caught him two floors down. "Mr. Beaks?"
"What's up, kiddo?" Beaks turned his head to the boy, but kept waking.
"What did you mean when you said you didn't hire me because I did a good job?"
"Well..." Mark thought a minute, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age. Trying to work hard and impress people who don't care. You're persistent. Like me."
Louie tilted his head. "I don't follow."
"It sucks working here. I mean, we were just almost killed because of Zan's recklessness. So... I tried to keep you from getting the job because I knew if you got it, you would stay here. You would be persistent and just think if you worked harder, maybe you could impress someone. But the smart thing to do is just get a different job."
Louie knit his eyebrows together, confused. "But then... why didn't you quit? What's so bad about being CEO?"
"Being CEO of Waddle was never my dream. I wanted to be a lawyer. I got a job here to pay the bills, and then I got stuck. Hehhe, I ask myself everyday why I still work here, and sometimes I think the answer is right in front of me..." His eyes wandered to a poster on the wall. It had a poster of Owlison that read "Remember: You're replaceable!" He smiled at her image, blushing a bit.
"So what you're saying is... I don't know, I still don't get what moral you're trying to teach me."
Beaks sighed. "Just... achieve your dreams. Don't settle. Don't get a job here. It's terrible."
"Got it." Louie smiled, now knowing that the parrot didn't hate him. That felt nice. "What should I do then?"
"Work hard at whatever you do. Teach yourself a skill and use it to succeed. Some people call it Capitalism, others call it the American Dream. Anyways, the point is, I think you're a good kid with potential."
"Thanks." Louie started to feel warm inside.
Beaks pulled a piece of paper and handed it to Louie. It was his business card. "Give me a call if you ever need anything."
"Uh, oh yeah. Can I use your phone to call my uncle? I don't have one."
Beaks hesitated, then grabbed a phone from his pocket. "I'm not sure I'm allowed to do this, but I'm the CEO so... Keep it. Free of charge."
Louie took the smooth device in his hands. He rubbed his thumb over it and looked at Beaks in disbelief. "Really?"
"Really."
Out of nowhere, he hugged Beaks. He even took himself by surprise, but he shook the feeling off. "Thanks."
...
Later that night, everyone was asleep at Duck Manor. That was, until Webby snuck into the boys' room and woke up Dewey.
He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "W-Webby? What's up?"
"Shhhh," she said, holding up a finger to his beak. She nodded towards the door, guest urging for them to talk in the hall. Dewey yawned and followed her out.
Once he softly closed the door behind him, he turned to his friend. "What is it?"
She grinned. "I remember where Feathry put the box!" she whisper shouted.
His eyes widened. "Really? Are you sure? Last time you seemed sure but then it wasn't in the garage."
"Well, I'm sure this time. I think." She rocked on her heals, eyes on the ground.
"Where is it?"
"In Feathry's closet!"
"What?"
"Yah, well, I was trying to remember, and I'm pretty sure he put it in there." She waved for him to follow and started heading towards the direction of his cousin's room.
"Are you crazy? We'll wake him up and then he'll want to know why we went in there!" He waved his arms.
She kept walking. "I can't hear you!" she whispered in a singsong tone.
Dewey sighed and went after her, arms sagging. "Phooey."
They poked their heads into Feathry's room, careful not let the floorboards creak underneath them. Dewey was better at it than Webby. Probably from training not waking Donald all those nights he got up to go to the bathroom in the trailer. And it helped a little that Feathry snored really loud. Made Dewey thankful that Huey just kicked. He would probably be unable to get any sleep with his cousin.
They made their way into the closet, which was bigger than Dewey expected. Webby pointed up at a shelf. "Look!"
Dewey squinted at a scribble on the box. The label said, "Della's Stuffz." Huh. Convenient. He reached for it only to discover he was too short.
"Give me a boost," Webby said, putting her hand son his shoulders. She started hoisting herself up before Dewey had even readied himself. He bit his beak to keep from yelping. She now stood on his shoulders, his knees shaking underneath him. She wobbled a bit. "Keep steady."
"Got it," he wheezed.
She grabbed the box, adding to the weight on the blue triplet. He would've fallen over if she had stayed on him one more second. She jumped down and set the box down. "Let's see..." She shuffled through the contents as quietly as she could, which to be honest wasn't that quiet.
Dewey decided to do it instead. It was mostly clothing. Sweaters, overalls, tank tops, and some skirts. There was also a picture frame which held the same image he had seen in the garage. A few other miscellaneous objects. There was a journal that Dewey thought to grab. He could search it for clues later. On top of the box was a note. "What's this?"
"Let's see..." Webby took the paper and squinted at it. A second of silence passed.
"You can't read, can you?" Dewey tilted his head, curious.
She turned pink and handed the note back. "I can, I just... It's dark, okay?"
"Okay, okay!" He held up his hands defensively. Webby crossed her arms. She watched him expectantly. He turned his attention back to the page. "It says, 'Dear Feathry, I can't take this anymore. By the time you're reading this, I'll already be gone. I'm leaving my things to the three most wonderful boys in my life. I'm sorry for the lies, but you've already seen me for the last time. Don't call. I've already got something set up at the Spear. Goodbye. -Della."
He looked at Webby. "What does that mean? The Spear? The three most wonderful boys?"
She shrugged. "I'm just as lost as you. Maybe she means you and your brothers?"
"Maybe..." Dewey folded the note and put it in the journal. "We need more answers."
"And we'll find those answers. Together."
...
Fenton paced the floor of his base, lost in thought. He needed to up his threat level. He was a highly trained bounty hunter, and he had been beaten by kids! That couldn't happen again. Though it was fun to have a challenge for once, it was a little disappointing to have it come from preteens. He needed something. Something no other hunter would have. Something like some sort of gizmo. Fenton was never one for science though, but it would set him above the rest. Maybe there was somewhere he could get one.
End of Episode 3! Thanks for the support! The next episode is called The Forgotten Promise of Agent 22!