Bradford Buzzard woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He picked it up off the nightstand by his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to adjust to the screen's light. He sat up and put on his glasses, trying to make out the burry letters in the caller ID. He glanced at a clock on the nightstand. 3 AM. Who would be calling him at this hour? He looked at the screen and read the name. HIs eyes widened.
"Oh shoot," he whispered. He tried to push the "answer" button just as the call ended. "Shoot."
He got out of bed and made his way down to the kitchen of the manor. He frowned at the phone. She didn't call back, so maybe it had been a mistake. He smiled sadly. Hopefully she wouldn't call back. And everything would be fine.
A voicemail notification appeared on the screen. Bradford sighed. He pressed it and held the phone to his ear.
"I'm ready."
The voice was crisp, sending a chill down Bradford's spine. His heart sank. He frowned. He knew she would call eventually, but he always hoped it wouldn't be so soon. Five years of waiting, and he still wasn't ready. He was probably less ready than he was then. "Shoot."
He glanced at the fridge, his eyes landing on a photograph of him and Webby. He looked at it with sad eyes. How would he explain what had happened to her. Next to the photograph was a calendar. On today's square, it was marked out with multiple layers of black marker. It had an arrow pointing to it, and scribbled in Feathry's handwriting, it said, "THIS DAY NO LONGER EXISTS!" That made Bradford chuckle a bit. Only a little.
Bradford sighed. Maybe that could work in his favor.
...
Huey walked around the manor, trying to find something to do. He walked into the foyer to find Bradford and Webby there. Webby had a bright pink backpack on her. If you asked Huey, she wore too much pink. He tilted his head. "Whatcha doing? Are you going somewhere?"
Webby smiled at him. "We're going to go get ice cream. To get out of the house." Bradford nodded.
Huey raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean to get out of the house?"
Webby smirked and shrugged. "Well, you know, it's that time of year again."
"Like a period?"
"What's that?"
Bradford's eyes widened and he covered Webby's ears. "Heh, it's nothing pumpkin." He gave Huey a look. "No, Huey, not like that. It's Master Feathry's birthday."
Huey's face lit up. "His birthday!? How come no one told me! I've been bored all morning!" He bounced up and down, pumping his fists.
Bradford folded his hands. "Feathry doesn't really like to celebrate his birthday. So much so that he's never told the media when it is. Could you imagine how big a party would be for the most famous duck in the world?"
"I bet it would be cool!" Huey nodded fast, excitement bubbling inside of him. Noted: Feathry needed a birthday party.
"That's not the point. Anyways, every year Webby and I get out of the house and spend the day together." Bradford ruffled her feathers, and she smiled.
"So you're saying that to make up for all the years he didn't have a party, I should throw him one?" Huey smirked, nudging the vulture.
Bradford sighed and face palmed. "No, Huey, don't do that." He glanced down at his watch. "Look, we don't have time for this, so, just, don't do anything crazy." He opened the door for Webby.
She tilted her head. "We have a time frame for ice cream?"
"It's, uh, special ice cream."
"Okay...?" She stepped out the door and Bradford followed behind her. The shut the door, leaving Huey to his own devices.
"Oh man, this is going to be amazing!" Huey grinned to himself then ran off. "Louie! Dewey!"
...
"Gentlemen, I bet you're wondering why I called you here today." Huey stood before his brothers, them sitting crisscross on the floor of their bedroom. Dewey slowly raised his hand. "Please, no questions until the end," Huey said. The blue triplet put his hand down. "Through my great detective skills-"
"Detective skills?"
"Yes, Louie, my detective skills. Now listen. I found out that-"
"How come Louie got to ask a question?" Dewey tilted his head at his younger brother.
Huey crossed his arms and sighed. "Dewey, what is your question?"
"Can I go to the bathroom?"
"In a minute! Just let me get through what I was going to say!" Huey took a deep breath. He had to get through this fast. "IfoundoutthattodayisFeathry'sbirthday,okay?"
"Oh," Louie said. "So do you want us to bake a cake or something? That's a nice way to celebrate."
"Now can I go to the bathroom?"
"No! Just stop asking or else you will never go to the bathroom again!" Dewey put his hands in his lap and stopped. Huey sighed, closing his eyes and folding his hands. "Okay. I think we should throw a party."
"Wouldn't he already have a party already set up?" Louie raised his hands after he asked the question. Huey mentally face palmed. Did his brothers know nothing of proper listening etiquette? This was a very serious conversation. Someone's birthday was at stake!
"Well, you see, that's the thing... Feathry doesn't want a party."
"Oh. Okay, well then that saves us a bunch of work." Louie started to get up.
"What? Why?" Huey stood next to his brother.
"Because now we don't have to set up a party." Louie shrugged.
"No, now we have to try harder to make it the best party ever, because then he'll like his birthday again. Boom!"
Louie raised an eyebrow. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea..."
Huey clamped his hands together and got on his knees. "Pwease Wouie?" He gave the green triplet the biggest doe eyes ever. Tilting his head a little, his lip pouted. Louie could try, but he couldn't resist this.
"Huey..."
"Huey, don't do that please."
"Hue..."
"Are you fake crying?"
Finally, Louie gave in. "Alright, fine, we'll help you set up a party." Works every time.
Huey jumped to his feet and dropped the act. "Yes! Thank you Lou!" He hugged Louie, who had his arms crossed.
"Yeah, yeah." Louie smirked. "So what did you have in mind?"
"Well, I was thinking that Dewey could be DJ, Bready could make the guest list, and you could serve punch."
Louie slowly nodded. "Uh-huh... You wouldn't mind if I helped, uh, Bready with that guest list, would you?'
"Go ahead," Huey said. How sweet was that? His brother and his best friend, joining forces.
Dewey jumped to his feet. "Wait, I don't want to be DJ," he said nervously. He blew his hair out of his face, but it just flopped back down.
"Yeah you do. Check it out." Huey grabbed a yellow helmet from his bed. He put it out to the middle child. "Ta-da!"
"You want me to put this on?" Dewey tilted his head, biting his beak. Huey nodded. "I'm not so sure about this..."
"Oh, come on, it's not so bad." Huey moved to put the helmet on Dewey.
He put out his hands defensively. "I'm claustrophobic!"
"Pft, Santa doesn't exist anyways, so you'll be fine." Before Dewey could protest gain, Huey shoved the helmet on him.
"Oh my gosh! I can't see anything! I can't breathe! I'm going to die!" Dewey shouted, but it was muffled by the helmet. He tried to pull it off unsuccessfully.
"Relax, Dew, you're not going to die," Louie said.
"My point exactly." Huey crossed his arms and smiled proudly. "Also, your DJ name is DJ Daft Duck."
After trying multiple times to wrench the helmet off, Dewey gave up, head on the floor. He sighed and raised his hand.
"Yes, Dewey, you may go to the bathroom," Huey said.
"Thank you." He walked, arms sagging. The weight of the head piece made him have to drag it along. Huey and Louie just watched him.
Huey turned to his oldest brother and rubbed his hands together. "I've got a party to plan!"
...
Webby hopped along the driveway, making her way to the limo. She smiled warmly, excited for her and Bradford's tradition, as usual. She reached for the door handle on the limo, but the vulture stopped her. "Webby, we're going to take the other car today."
She tilted her head curiously. "How come? Isn't Launchpad going to drive us?"
"I- I thought maybe I would drive this time, and it would be just the two of us." He gestured to a green Jeep on the other side of the large driveway. Webby shrugged and did as told. She got herself into the passenger side and buckled up. She wasn't usually allowed in the diver's seat, but Bradford sometimes let her on special occasions. She figured this counted as one of those.
She kicked her legs softly, humming to herself as they drove. She stared out the window, watching all the people they passed. She saw a dog with a bow tie, which made her chuckle. Did he tie it himself? While watching out the window, she saw them pass the ice cream parlor.
"Uh, Bradford? I think you passed it," she said, pointing out the window.
He didn't make eye contact with her. "Oops," he said. He sounded sad.
Webby frowned. "Bradford?"
"..."
"We're not going to get ice cream, are we?" Her stomach knotted as she tried to figure out what he was doing.
Bradford sighed. He kept his eyes on the road. "Webby, do you remember when you moved in with Feathry?"
The question caught her off guard. "Sorta... 5 years ago, I woke up there, and you told me that it would be my new home. And you explained to me to stay away from Launchpad and be careful around Feathry because 'They're bad examples and it would be safe if you stayed with me.'" She deepened her voice at that last part, quoting his words as well as she could remember. She laughed lightly and put her hands in her lap.
"And you don't remember anything else before then?"
"Nope." Webby always found it weird that she didn't recall anything before moving in the manor, but she had summed it up to "I was too young to remember anything."
"No matter what, you know I always have your best interests in mind, right?"
"Yeah... What's going on?" She noticed her heart rate had gone up, but she tried to calm herself down.
"Nothing that I wanted to happen." For the first time, he glanced at her and smiled. But it was a sad smile, fear hiding behind his eyes. Webby knew it. "But it'll be alright," he finished. He ruffle her feathers on her head.
They were silent for the rest of the drive. The conversation had sucked all of the joy out of the air. It made Webby feel stiff and uncomfortable. What made this year any more different than the last years?
5 years ago...
Webby let out a yawn, sitting up in bed. She glanced out the window, seeing the sky was still dark. She rubbed her eyes and climbed out of bed. Her stomach growled and she frowned. "I'm hungry," she said to no one at all. Her bedroom was on the second floor of a suburban home, out a ways from the rest of Duckburg. The house stood on the edge of the water, a light house towering it. The soft sound of waves crashing filled her ears.
Webby walked down the stairs, making her way to the kitchen. After pouring herself a glass, she drank it in silence. Her eyes wandered. Down the hall, she saw another bedroom door open. She just stared at it, curious. She had never been allowed in that room, thus the door was always locked. But not tonight.
Webby's curiosity overtook her. She got up and crept towards the room. Maybe she could just get a peak. Her granny was probably sleeping anyways. That was her bedroom after all.
When Webby peered through the door, she was surprised to find her grandmother wasn't there. "Granny?" she ventured to call out. But she immediately regretted it, remembering she would probably get yelled at if she was caught snooping.
When there came no response, she squinted in the dark. "Granny?" she tried again, just to be sure.
Webby stepped into the room and turned on the light. Huh. Her grandmother wasn't there. And it didn't seem like she had a babysitter. Webby smiled a bit, realizing she had the whole house to herself. She didn't know how long, but any amount of time would make her feel like she was in charge for once. It was nice.
But now another question lingered in the air. Where did her granny go? Webby made a list of places her grandmother would go in her head. Come to think of it, her grandmother was very discreet with where she went, and whenever the duckling tried to ask a babysitter, they would ignore her.
Webby sighed and walked to the front room. She weighed two options in her head. She could go back to bed. Or she could try to find her grandma. One of those sounded a lot more exciting than the other.
Walking to the closet, she selected a pink coat and slipped it on. It would be an adventure, like the ones her babysitters read to her in the stories. Piece of cake.
...
Feathry sat on the edge of his bed, hands in his lap. "Alright Feathry," he said to himself. "It's just a normal day. Nothing special about today. Just a run of the mill, average day. Yup." Trying to convince himself didn't work too well. He knew it was his birthday and there was nothing that could change it.
He started pacing. He sighed. "Stupid birthday." Stupid 13th birthday to be more specific. He shook the thought. That was 14 years ago. He was fine.
"Just gonna spend the day to myself. Alone. Good plan." He took in a deep breath. "All I need is a drink of water." He stepped into the master bathroom and turned on the faucet. But he didn't fill a cup. He just stared at it. His heart rate quickened and his stomach knotted.
He turned off the water and went back to his bed. His aquaphobia always got worse on his birthday. Heck, that 13th birthday was the cause of it. If Feathry could erase any day of his past, it would be that one. Everything changed after that day.
His phone buzzed, snapping him out of his trance. He yelped and answered. "Feathry Duck speaking!" His voice came out squeakier than he wanted. He cleared his throat. "Oh. Mark. Hi."
Mark Beaks spoke on the other end. "Hi. So I did some digging, and your case might be easier than expected."
Feathry nodded, despite that the parrot couldn't see him. "Uh-huh. How so?" He walked towards his bedroom door. Maybe some fresh air would do him some good.
"Well, if you could convince a judge that Donald abused them, he could get his rights taken away. That shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"Right," Feathry said, closing his room door behind him.
"You said you checked the boys for bruises once?"
"Yeah, but they were kind of reluctant and I doubt they would let anyone else see." Feathry heard a shuffling, causing him to spin around.
"That's okay, just keep track of it. Now, um, how long have they been staying with you?"
A shadow was cast on the wall, making Feathry raise an eyebrow. "A while now..." He was distant, noting that the shadow looked unfamiliar. "Hang on, Mark, I'll have to call you back."
"But I've-" Feathry hung up before the other man could finish. He slipped the phone into his coat pocket and followed the shadow. He saw a figure run down the hall.
Feathry chased after the figure. He jumped on top of it, landing at the top of the stairs to the foyer. The figure yelped and Feathry got a better look at it.
"Please don't hurt me! It was Huey's idea!"
"Dewey?"
It was Dewey, dressed in some weird costume with a helmet. The helmet screen displayed a digital sobbing emoji.
"Surprise!"
Feathry looked to the open foyer to see Huey, Louie, and other miscellaneous guests, complete with balloons and streamers. Louie tooted a horn and Huey threw his arms open.
"Are you surprised?"
Feathry got to his feet and helped Dewey up too. "That's one word for it I guess..."
Huey ran up and took Feathry's hand, leading him down the stairs. "Bradford told us it was your birthday so I decided to throw you a party!"
"Look, I appreciate the sentiment but-"
"I've already tried, there's no use talking your way out of it," Louie said, rolling his eyes with a smirk. Feathry couldn't help but notice how the green triplet had dressed for the occasion. He wore a neat white suit with a green bow tie to top it off.
"So, um, can I ask what happened here?" Feathry asked, smiling a bit.
All three boys stood together. "What do you mean?" they asked in unison (though Dewey's part was a bit muffled).
"Well, Dewey looks like a robot, Louie is dressed like he's going to Church or something, and Huey's on fire."
Dewey and Louie looked to Huey, who was indeed on fire. Just the tufts of his bangs, but still. Louie patted it out. "He does that sometimes," he said.
"Well?"
"Huey made me wear this and now I can't get it off," Dewey said, pointing to the helmet. The digital face changed to look annoyed.
"And Louie?"
"What? Can't I just look nice?"
"Alright, and then what's the deal with all these costumed people in my house?"
"I made the guest list, and everyone here is kind of a big deal, so to throw off the media, it's a costume party." Louie smiled proudly.
"With the help of Bready," Huey was quick to point out.
Feathry scrunched his face. "Bready?"
"The toaster Huey stole from your garage," Dewey said.
"Mmm-Kay." Feathry put his hands together and nodded. "Why don't you go tell everyone that the party is over and we can have a cake?"
Feathry thought he heard Louie tell Huey, "Told you so."
"Wait, but we wanted to give you the best party ever!"
"I'm good! I don't need a party! Or a birthday! I hate my birthday, so just send everyone home and I'll be happy!"
Huey waved off Feathry's statement. "Nonsense! When I'm done, we'll have partied so hardy, you'll never be able to stop partying!"
Feathry sighed. Oh goody.
...
Bradford finally stopped the car near a rocky cliff overlooking the bay. Webby climbed out of the car, clutching her doll close. "Where are we?"
"A place I'd hoped I'd never return," Bradford said. He waved for her to follow and led the way.
A towering light house stood on top of the cliff. Down about half a mile away at the bottom of the cliff was a house. It was small and worn, like it hadn't been used in years. It had a familiarity to Webby. It made her breathing heavy. She'd been here before. And yet she couldn't remember when.
"Bradford?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you hold my hand?"
"Of course."
She took his hand and together they walked up to the lighthouse. The wind whipped at her legs, giving her the chills. She pulled her strewn hair out of her face. In a moment which felt like forever, they reached the door and Bradford knocked.
"Who's there?" a voice came back.
Bradford rolled his eyes. "You know who I am and you know why I'm here."
The door opened, revealing a tall dog. He looked down at the two and and smirked. "Bradford. Didn't think you'd ever be back here."
"Me neither, but Beakley called."
Webby's eyes widened. She knew that name. Once, a long time ago.
"Step in, she's eager to see you. Or rather, the girl." The dog opened the door wider and the two stepped inside. Webby stood closer to Bradford, intimidated by how threatening everything looked in here. Upon closer inspection, she wasn't even sure this was a lighthouse. There were tables with assorted gadgets and plans. The lighting was red, adding to her fears.
Bradford led Webby up the stairs of the lighthouse. At the top was room, the door opened. Webby moved to stand behind Bradford. An older duck stood in the doorframe, dressed in purple. Webby couldn't help but feel like she was familiar. That made her more nervous, giving her hot flashes.
"Bradford, it's been a while! How are you?" The woman smiled, but not in a friendly way.
"Let's just get this over with. What do you want?" Bradford narrowed his eyes at her.
"Fine. I want..." Her eyes wandered toward Webby, and the little duckling shrunk behind the butler. "Webby! My, you're so big!" Without warning, the woman scooped Webby up.
She let out a yelp. "D-do I know you?"
The woman set Webby down, tilting her head. "You don't remember me?" She glanced at Bradford, who just rolled his eyes. She knelt down to the duckling's level. "Webby, I'm you're grandmother."
...
The party was only 30 minutes in and it was already losing its vibe. Huey couldn't let this night go bad. The red triplet noticed the guest of honor staying off to the side, not talking with anyone. It was kind weird to see the guy who often snuck into parties he wasn't even invited to for the publicity to suddenly be so anti-party. He stepped over to his cousin.
"Hey, Feathry, what's up?"
"Just wishing this party wasn't happening," he said, giving Huey a look.
He blew a raspberry. "Pft! Nonsense, this party is great!" Feathry rolled his eyes, his head resting on his fist. Huey grabbed a cup from the snack table and held it out to the older duck. "Here, maybe you just need to drink some wate-"
"NO!" Feathry smacked the cup out of his hand, making the boy flinch. Water spilt on the carpet. They exchanged a look. Feathry cleared his throat. "I mean, uh, no thank you Huey. Hehe." He avoided eye contact.
"Okay...?" Huey knew he had a few of water, but he didn't know it was so extreme. "I'll be right back."
He walked off to go find his brothers. Dewey was still struggling with the helmet and Louie was conversing with the party guests. "Staff meeting!"
...
Huey pulled his brothers off to another smaller room. Louie crossed his arms. "What's up Huey? I was in the middle of a conversation."
"Guys, I don't think Feathry is enjoying this party."
"Well, duh, I could've told you that, and I'm terrible at reading people!" Louie threw his hands up. "I say we do what Feathry said and just send everyone home!"
"No, wait, we just need to spice things up!" Huey half smiled.
"Bum bum bum!"
Huey and Louie raised an eyebrow, turning to the middle child. Dewey pressed another button on his electric keyboard, resulting in a thunder noise. The digital face on his helmet changed into embarrassed one. After going through all the keyboard functions, Dewey's digital face turned into an annoyed one.
"DJ Daft Duck," Huey said. Dewey didn't respond and kept pushing buttons. Huey sighed. "Dewey." The blue triplet looked up. "You can stop. There's no sound effect that fits with the conversation." Dewey's arms sagged, defeated.
"Come on, Huey," Louie said, drawing their attention back. "A party is supposed to be a celebration of life, letting the guest of honor know how much he's appreciated. He can't know how much he's appreciated if he's not enjoying himself."
Huey frowned. "I just wanna prove I can do something right. Just... Maybe we need some kind of entertainment. You can do magic tricks, right?"
Louie gaped. "I- Uh- Sorta?" He shrugged. "Not very well."
"Good enough!" Huey shoved his oldest brother out of the room and to the main party room.
Louie's eyes widened. "I don't approve of this."
Huey ignored him. "Who wants to see a magic trick!" He pushed Louie into the ring of people.
Feathry stepped forward, raising a curious eyebrow. He smirked in a snarky way at the green triplet. "Yes, Louie, what kind of magic trick do you have for us?"
...
As if this party wasn't bad enough, the boys were doing cheap magic tricks. Feathry rolled his eyes. Oh boy.
Feathry had once found joy in figuring out how fake magic tricks were done, but he had grown out of it. Of course, there were always real magic tricks, but he had a resentment towards those too, due to his uncle's love for them. Scrooge had almost gotten Feathry and cousins killed in situations with those ones, when they were younger. On multiple occasions.
Louie shrunk under his cousin's gaze. "Uh..." Huey handed him a pack of cards. "Card trick! Yep, a card trick. Pick a card, any card!" He forced a grin and held out the deck to one of the party guests. A dog drew a card. "Memorize it and don't tell me what it is. Then put it back in the deck." She did as told and Louie shuffled the cards. He drew the top one. "Is this your card?" He smiled confidently.
"Nope," the dog said.
Louie flushed. "Really? Well how about this one?" He drew the next one. She shook her head. He stared at the deck, then shoved it in his pocket. "Eh, card tricks are boring anyways, heh." Huey face palmed.
Feathry smirked at the green triplet. "Anything else?" he remarked. Ok, he was starting to enjoy the party just a little bit.
Huey shot his cousin a look. "You have a bad attitude." Feathry chuckled.
"I can make a coin disappear... I think." Louie held out his hand with a nervous smile. "Anyone got a coin?"
"Sure." Feathry dug into his pocket and pulled out a small copper penny. It wouldn't hurt to humor them. He handed it to Louie. "My lucky penny. Wow me Louie." He crossed his arms.
"Okay." Louie took the penny in one of his hands. "Here's the penny. And now..." He waved his hand over it. It was gone. The three party guests gasped. Louie smiled. "Hey, I actually did it!"
Huey moved his hand, about to give his brother a thumbs up when the penny fell from behind his hand. Dewey's digital face frowned.
"Oops," Louie said, staring at the coin.
"Pft, you guys are funny," Feathry said, smiling.
Suddenly, a blue ora appeared over the coin. It began to float. Louie's eyes widened.
The guests oohed and awed. "Wow, okay that's actually cool," Feathry said, slightly impressed.
Dewey pressed a keyboard button. An anime-ish "Wow!" sounded.
"Louie, that's neat! How are you doing it?" Huey stared at the rising coin.
Louie took a step back. "T-that's not me..."
The lights went out. The sound of someone rattling a door. A camera flash. An ominous voice spoke into the dark, "The party's just begun."
5 years ago...
Webby walked up to the light house, sea water spraying her. Maybe she could use the light to figure out how to get into town. Clutching her small doll close, she opened the door, stepping into the dark tower. A chill went up her spine as the door closed shut behind her. The only light came from a few candles, though it didn't help much.
She stepped through the building, up the stairs to the top. After the first few steps, she heard voices. It sounded like crying. And shouting.
"TELL ME WHERE THE GAUNTLET IS!"
Her heart pounded in her chest. Who could be up there? At the top of the stairs, there stood a door to a room. Beyond that door were the shouts and cries. She ventured to open it.
WARNING: This part gets a little dark!
The young girl's eyes widened and she gasped. There, tied to a chair was a female duck. She had tears in her eyes and a gag in her mouth. Blood dripped down her beak in red ribbons. She had a back eye and greasy ragged hair. Terror written on her face. Her wrists and ankles bled too, ropes tightly binding her appendages behind her back. Bruises dotted her and her feathers ruffled.
Webby screamed, shutting the door. She's began to hyperventilate, unable to get the image out of her head. She shut her eyes tight, but all she could picture was the blood. The scars. And the five-year old started to cry.
Her beak quivered, her heart racing. Surely that wasn't real. Whatever she saw wasn't real. Someone couldn't be so cruel to do that to someone. Surely.
The door opened, startling Webby. She jumped back with a yelp. Her hands shook, pulling her Quacky Patch doll close to her chest. A figure moved to stand in the doorway, but Webby couldn't make out any features in the dark. She just knew that whoever this person was was the person torturing that poor girl.
The large figure approached her. Webby took steps backwards, her mouth gaping. She should've stayed at the house. She should've gone back to bed. She should've never left.
The figure reached out for her, making the girl scream. Taking another step, her foot fell on air; the top of the stair case. She lost her grounding and fell back, hitting her head hard against the stair corner. And she blacked out.
...
"My..." Webby forced herself to meet eyes with this woman. "My grandmother?"
The woman nodded. "Oh, my sweet Webby, I've missed you!"
Webby looked to Bradford for answers, but he kept a straight face. A million questions ran through the girl's mind. "But how? If you're my granny, how come you've never come for me? You and Bradford clearly know each other."
"That's a question for another time. Come along, dear, I want to talk to you."
"You're not going to answer her, Bentina?" Bradford narrowed his eyes at the woman.
Bentina, as she had been called, ignored him. "Webby and I have much to discuss, so you can be going now."
Webby spun around to see if Bradford would really leave her. Terror filled her.
"No, I think I'll be staying." He crossed his arms.
"Don't make me use force. Not in front of her."
"Why do you need her?"
"Bradford-"
"Answer me Beakly!"
Beakly sighed and pulled a radio out of her pocket. "Send someone up here to collect Mr. Buzzard."
In a matter of moments, two men dressed in yellow uniforms and helmets came up the stairs and grasped Bradford firmly by the arms.
Webby stiffened. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"I gave him a chance to cooperate," Beakly said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Bradford!" Webby took a step towards the vulture.
Bradford yanked his arms away from the men and put his hands up. "Alright. I'm going."
"You're leaving?" Webby frowned. She was still unsure about the woman who claimed to be her grandmother.
"It'll be okay, Webby. I'll see you in a bit." He glared one last time at Beakly, as if warning. Then he turned and went down the stairs.
Webby turned to Beakly. The older woman held out her hand for Webby to take. But she didn't.
Beakly put her hand down and led the way to a room. Webby followed, hands tucked close to her body. They made their way through a door. Webby took a step, entering the room. She looked around at the wooden interior. Flashes of memory pasted her vision. Blood, screaming, darkness.
Webby shuddered, her heart rate accelerated. She'd been here too. Did all this have something to do with those years before the mansion? The ones she couldn't quite remember?
"Why am I here?" she asked aloud, without looking at Beakly.
"It's been quite a while, Webby." Beakly sat down on a bed against the wall. It creaked loudly, adding to the dirty feel of the place. She pat a spot next to her.
Webby glanced back at the door, then took a seat next to her grandmother. "I have so many questions."
"I'm sure you do."
"How come we haven't met until now?" Webby tilted her head, frowning.
"Oh, we have dear. A long time ago." Beakly stared off, as if she was reminiscing. "You and I used to live down the hill in a little house."
"What happened then? H-how did I end up at the mansion? Did you know I was there?"
Beakly smirked. "You're too curious for your own good. Have you ever heard about the organization FOWL?"
Webby bit her lip, putting her hands in her lap. "No... is that like SHUSH?"
"Ah, so that old buzzard told you about one and not the other?" Beakly rolled her eyes. "FOWL is the Fiendish Organization for World Larceny. We're an organization that's set on saving the world from the supernatural."
"We're? You're part of it?" From what Webby had heard about SHUSH from Bradford, there always seemed to be some part of the story missing. And now she knew. SHUSH had a counterpart: FOWL.
Beakly nodded. "Yes, I am. And with that in mind, the only way we can save the world from the supernatural is to find the supernatural."
The girl tilted her head. "Like magic and stuff?"
"Yes, surely a girl like yourself would know all about that sort of thing?" It was a question. Webby found it odd that she would ask that. Webby had never seen any kind of magic or such. There was the temple of Atlantis, but that was more traps and architectural wonder than magic.
"No. I'm just a normal average girl."
The older duck clicked her tongue. "Webby dear, you are anything but average. You're special." Then she leaned in. "That's why I know you're lying to me."
"What?"
"Bradford must've told you something in your years there! Are you sure you know nothing about the supernatural? Perhaps where any mystical objects are located?"
Webby scooted a few inches to the edge of the bed. "N-no, he never told me anything about that. Just that SHUSH was a secret agency."
Beakly stood up to her full height. Webby tucked in her tail, intimidated by this woman's size. "Webby, why would you lie to your grandmother? All you have to do is tell me what you know. It's that simple." It was kind of creepy how calm she sounded.
Webby glanced from Beakly to the door. "I- I-" She took in a deep breath.
"Webby..."
And the duckling took off out the door.
...
The lights turned back on. Louie shuddered. What the heck had just happened?
He looked around. Everything seemed normal, except Feathry was missing. "Uh, guys?" He frowned at his brothers.
Huey's eyes were wide and Dewey's helmet had a shocked expression. Louie noticed the coin had fallen back to the ground. He put it into his pocket for safe keeping, then turned to the other guests. They all looked frightened. "Uh... We are experiencing some technical difficulties! Staff meeting!"
Grabbing his brothers by the wrists, he dragged them to the room Huey had taken them to earlier. After closing the current doors, he turned to them.
"I think we have a problem."
"Yeah, no kidding!" Huey threw his hands in the air and began pacing. "You were supposed to make the coin disappear, not our cousin!"
"I have no clue what just happened!" Louie's heart began racing, worry and confusion filling his mind.
"You don't think he was kidnapped, do you?" Dewey said quietly.
"By one of the guests?" Louie put his hands on his hips. "Ridiculous, I know most of them personally."
"Louie, who exactly did you invite to this party?" Huey asked, raising an eyebrow.
Louie turned pink. If he told them that, he would have to tell them why too, something he didn't feel like sharing. "Well, you know, a couple people from here and there- Anyways, it isn't important!" He shook his head. "There's only one thing we can do."
"Keep this party going."
"Call the police."
Huey and Louie exchanged a glance after talking over each other. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Louie raised an eyebrow.
"Keep this party going! We can't let people know something's wrong. We have all the suspects in there, what if we took the opportunity to make them think... it's a murder mystery party!" He smiled at Louie.
"Emphasis on the murder part!" Dewey said, waving his hands.
"That's a horrible idea, we should call the police."
"Please, I can figure out who it is! Just give me a chance..."
Louie raised his hands defensively. "I would but this is serious." Huey glanced around the room, frowning. Something tugged at Louie inside. I mean, could Louie really deny his brother the opportunity to prove himself? What kind of brother would he be if he said no? Just look at that face! The precious face of his baby brother. Louie sighed. "Alright let's solve a mystery."
"Thank you Louie!" Huey smiled at his oldest brother before leaving Dewey and Louie in the room.
"Boooooo!" Dewey pressed the button repeatedly on the keyboard.
Louie glanced between the blue triplet and the one who had just left. He face palmed. "Aww, he just tricked me again, didn't he?"
"Oh yeah," the keyboard said.
Louie rolled his eyes. "You'd think by now I'd be able to see through it. Come on, I guess." He waved for his brother to follow out the room.
...
Dewey was really sweaty. This helmet was really sweaty. This whole situation was really sweaty. Everything was just sweaty.
"Alright, everything's fine, people," Louie said to the guests. He waved his hands, trying to calm all of them. But they still seemed on edge.
"THERE'S BEEN A MURDER!" Dewey looked to see Huey standing on top of the mantle above the fireplace. The guests gasped and turned their attention to the red triplet. Dewey mentally face palmed. "In Savanna!" Huey threw his hands up in the air.
Louie moved in front of the guests. "No! No there hasn't. No murder. No one died. I mean, someone in the world probably died, but no one here died. Well, actually, Duckburg is kind of a big town, so it's possible someone might've died, but no one in this mansion has. I think. I hope. Oh, gosh, wait a minute-"
Dewey rolled his eyes and pressed the air horn button. At least this keyboard was good for something. And despite how claustrophobic it was, the helmet helped hide his eye rolls and sighs and mumbles that he would otherwise be too scared to do in public.
Louie shook himself. "Anyways, the point is, we think someone might've kidnapped our cousin Feathry." There was another gasp from the crowd.
"And our prime suspect, her!" Huey pointed dramatically at the beagle. She took a step back. "She was standing closest to Feathry when in happened!"
I mean, sure, why not just start accusing everyone? Dewey interrupted the thought. That was sarcastic and mean.
"I would never kidnap anyone," she said. Dewey liked her country accent. "I promise it on my dear papa Beagle's grave!"
Huey jumped down from the mantle and started circling the woman. "Uh huh, sure. Am I to believe that you, Miss- wait a minute who are you?" Dewey also had the same question. Louie hadn't been too open about who he invited.
The woman took off her mask, revealing her light brown fur and dark eyes. "I'm Bethany Beagle, but most people call me Ma, on account of the orphanage I run." She put a hand on her hip and smiled. "And I have no reason to kidnap Feathry."
"Like the orphanage we usually pass on the way to school?" Dewey asked. Louie nodded.
Huey put a finger to his chin. "I don't know all that much about you to make a fair judgement on whether or not you did it."
"She probably didn't." Louie crossed his arms. "Most people don't kidnap people."
"Well it has to be someone in this room!" Huey threw up his hands, frowning. "And there's only six of us!"
"Six? Are you implying that Dewey or I did it?" Louie crossed his arms.
"I'm just making sure we know all the options."
Huey and Louie started arguing. It seemed like a lot of that was happening lately. Dewey sighed and frowned. Sure, living in the trailer was terrible, but at least they didn't fight so much. They had had bigger problems to deal with than petty arguments.
Like where they would get their next meal from. Or if they would make it to school on time without anyone asking questions. Or when Donald's next outburst would be.
The thought of Donald made Dewey's arms hurt. He rubbed his arms, reminiscing the scars. He'd tried to get used to the pain over the years. Thankfully, his injuries were covered so no one else could see.
Those scars came from Donald.
Jerk.
Once he realized he did it, he froze. What was it about the helmet that made him feel such freedoms to think such things?
He shook himself back to reality. Huey and Louie were still debating. The blue triplet took matters into his own hands. He stood between his brothers and separated them with his hands. Then he pointed upward. His brothers followed the direction with their eyes. To the chandelier.
"Hey, the lights went out. That's our first clue!" Louie smiled.
Huey tilted his head. "Buh?"
"If we could figure out how the lights work, we could figure out how someone disabled them."
Huey nodded. "Buh."
Louie had a curious look. "Now to find out how to figure out what type of system runs the lights."
Huey smiled. "I got ya bro."
Louie and Dewey had been turned away from their brother. When they turned to face him, he was no longer there. There was a moment of confusion before they found him.
He was on top of the chandelier.
Dewey's helmet made a sound of alarm and his heart jumped. Oh my gosh! Huey get down from there!
"The Blackout!" Huey grinned and waved one hand dramatically (he held onto the chandelier with his other hand).
"Hue- H- How did you get up there?" Louie tilted his head, raising an eyebrow.
Huey ignored him. "It was mysteriously caused during Louie's magic trick. But if we follow the power source..." He jumped, grabbing the power cord to the chandelier. It almost hurt Dewey to watch. Huey slid down the cord, giving the blue triplet a heart attack. He finally landed on the mantle.
Why couldn't you have just climbed up there! Dewey's brain shouted. This helmet was doing something to him.
Louie glanced up at the ceiling, which was now partially broken. "That's gonna take a pretty penny to fix."
"What about a haunted penny?"
Louie smirked at Dewey. "Ha ha, very funny."
They turned back to the youngest duckling. "The power's coming from this painting." He pulled open a painting hung up above the mantle. The painting was of Feathry winning an Emmy award or something, Dewey didn't really care.
Wow. He needed to get this helmet off as soon as possible. He was being a little too honest with himself.
Behind the painting was an elaborate system of switches and lights. A branding plate was on top. It read "DT-17."
Ma Beagle let out a whistle. "Wow, a DT-17. That's one of the nicest security systems around."
A short duck stepped forward. "Is that one better that the DT-87?"
The third guest spoke up. "Eh, it's debatable, but some things are better in one and some things are better in the other," she said.
Dewey was surprised at all the guests random knowledge of security systems. Interesting.
"Whoever could've disabled this would have to be some sort of master hacker," Huey said, pacing.
The third guest stepped closer to the painting and smiled. "Like spelt with a Z and with cool gadgets!"
Huey snapped his fingers and pointed. "Yes, exactly!"
Dewey and Louie exchanged a look.
"Bruh, that's like top tier hacker."
"I know right?"
Dewey cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but who are you?"
The guest pushed her hair back out of her face. "Why, I'm glad you asked helmet kid. I am, that's right, THE master hacker spelt with a Z in question!"
"Wait, did you just admit to-"
"Zan Owlson, the one and only!" She threw off her party mask, then smirked, hand on her hip. "Shabam!"
Dewey raised an eyebrow and turned to his oldest brother. "Hang on, I thought you said she almost got you killed a while ago."
"Well, I tried to invite Mark, but he was busy, so she came instead," Louie said.
Huey smiled, high-fiving Owlson. "Wow, you're so cool."
"You know it," she said, leaning against the mantle.
"She just admitted to hacking the lights," Dewey said quietly. It was probably even quieter to everyone else because of the helmet. Dewey hated this thing.
"Yeah, Owlson's now out number one suspect," Louie said stepping forward. "Why'd you hack the lights?"
Owlson looked down and fidgeted. "Well, I wasn't trying to hack the lights. A master hacker would probably be able to hit their target, heh."
"You're telling me you accidentally hacked a state-of-the-art security system? I don't buy it." Louie crossed his arms and frowned.
"Yes, believe or not, I did!" She put her hands on her hips. The two glared at each other a moment before she continued. "I was trying to get to the security camera footage."
Dewey's eyes widened. Wait a minute, the mansion had security cameras? He didn't really like the thought of being watched.
"Why?" Louie asked.
"For footage like this!" She held up her phone for the triplets and other guests to see. The video started with Bradford cleaning a sliding glass door. Then he left, followed by Dewey entering the space. He walked straight into the door, getting knocked back. He was startled for a moment, but shook it off.
Dewey's cheeks turned hot red, adding to his claustrophobia. Good thing no one could see how embarrassed he was.
Owlson started laughing. "Ha! He thought the door- hehe- was- ha- open! But then it wasn't! Haha!" She smirked and started scrolling on her phone. "This vid will viral in a heartbeat, XD."
Besides the fact that she had just said XD out loud, Dewey was concerned that she would actually post the video. Before she had a chance, he jumped up, snatched the phone, and threw it away.
Owlson shrugged and grabbed a second phone from her pocket. She started heading towards the door. "Anywho, hope you find your cousin, but I'm out! Peace!" She chuckled to herself, walking backwards. When she spun around, she walked smack into the door and fell back.
Dewey snickered under the helmet.
"Hehe, no one was recording that, right?"
Huey picked up Owlson's phone that she had dropped. "Hey, she took a selfie when it was dark." He squinted at the device.
"That was probably what the flash was." Louie moved toward the door Owlson had just walked into. He checked the handle. "Huh. Locked. Why would someone lock us in here?"
"BUM BUM BUMMMMM!" Dewey pressed a button. If the door was locked, that meant they were locked in with a kidnapper, possibly a murderer. He gulped.
"Maybe the picture has clue. Enhance." Louie moved to stand next to Huey. The red triplet shook the phone. "Enhance!"
"Dude, just use your fingers," Louie said, reaching over and doing it himself.
"Right. I still don't know how this thing works."
...
Huey narrowed his eyes, noticing a second figure in the picture besides Owlson. The third guest next to the door. "Whoever that is probably locked the door." The three boys looked up to the last guest. A roundish duck.
The guest put up his hands defensively.
"Louie, who is this?"
"Uh... Flintheart Glomgold... of Glomgold industries..." Louie fidgeted his hands nervously.
Huey and Dewey shot Louie a look. Noted: Next time Louie does NOT make the guest list.
"Why would you invite him! He's Cousin Feathry's greatest rival!" Huey threw his hands up dramatically.
Glomgold tilted his head, taking off his mask. "Is that really what he calls me when I'm not around? Wow."
Owlson leaned on Glomgold's shoulder. "Huh. A woman who runs an orphanarium, Waddle's CEO, and the richest duck in the world." She twisted her beak. "Wonder what we've all got in common."
"Yeah, that's a good question." Huey raised an eyebrow at his oldest brother. It was an odd pick, especially since they really only knew one of them. "Louie?"
"Uh... better question!" Louie put his hands on his hips, turning to Glomgold. "Why were you trying to leave?"
Huey had almost forgotten about Glomgold. "Yeah! Did you kidnap our cousin!"
"No, what? Why would I do that?" The older duck shook his head. "Nah, I was going to get my present out of the car because I left it in there."
Huey waddled over to the man and stood on his tippy toes to be at eye level. "A present? Like the present of MURDER???"
"No, when the green kiddo invited me, I knew I had to find the perfect gift for Feathry." He waved his hands as he spoke. "Sure, I don't like him, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to treat him well. I couldn't find anything worthy of him, so in the end I just shoved a gift card into and envelope and came over."
Huey narrowed his eyes at him. For all he knew, they could've all done it. "Uh-huh, sure. What's up with your voice? Are you covering up something?"
Louie sighed and face palmed. "Huey, he has a South African accent. It's not a cover up for anything."
"Oh." Huey stood back to his natural height and put a finger to his chin. "Well... he could still be lying!"
"Alright! That's enough of that, little bro," Louie said, taking Huey by the shoulders.
"That's it! I know who it was! Staff Meeting!" Huey wiggled out of his brother's grip and they went back to their "staff room."
Huey shut the curtains behind them.
"Well, who was it?" Louie asked.
"It was... someone." Huey frowned. "Look, I don't actually know, alright!"
"What?"
Dewey's helmet eye rolled and he pressed down on the "booo!" key.
"Hey! Don't you roll your digital eyes at me!" Huey snapped. Dewey raised his hands defensively. "You guys know I'm not the smart one! Why did you trust me with this!"
"BECAUSE YOU ASKED!" Louie crossed his arms, glaring at the youngest. Noted: maybe next time listen to Bradford.
"You should've told me no! You're the responsible one!"
"Huey!"
"Louie!"
"Dewey!"
The boys looked to the middle child and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I thought we were just shouting names, heh," Dewey said muffled.
"Well we have to tell the guests something!" Louie began tapping his foot anxiously.
"Alright, I'll tell them Louie died and Dewey and I are mourning, so then they'll leave us alone."
"Wait, that's a bad id-"
Huey was already out the room.
He stepped in front of the guests.
"Well?" Ma Beagle asked.
"Um... Louie has died, and now we are sad, so you guys call all go home now." This plan sounded better in his head.
"What?" the guests said in unison.
Huey nodded, biting his lip. "Yep. He died. Just now. That's the story we're going with." Noted: Next time, just don't. That'll solve a lot of problems.
There was a shuffle behind him, then Louie stood next to him.
Huey laughed awkwardly. "Look at that! He's alive! Back from the dead Louie, that's what we call him."
"No one has ever called me that." Louie deadpanned.
"Is he a ghost?" Zan said. At least someone bought it.
"Yerp. Ghost Louie, that's what we call him." Huey may not have been the sharpest, but he was smart enough to know that this was quickly going down hill.
"Hey, um, speaking of ghost..." Glomgold took a step back, drawing everyone's attention. He was looking straight at Louie.
Huey followed their eyes to see Feathry's penny floating out of Louie's pocket. Dewey's helmet took on a surprised expression. "B-B-B-Bless me bagpipes." Huey chuckled to himself, distracted. Heh. Bagpipes. Funny word.
Right! Floating coin! Pay attention!
Louie yelped and smacked the coin away. It remained buoyant in the air, only bobbing a little. A dark haze emerged from the coin. Soon enough smog poured out and it began surrounding the guests. It circled them quickly before making each of them disappear with a scream.
"My!"
"Yip!"
"Gah!"
The triplets huddled together, watching as the fog began to form a figure.
"I think something's up with Feathry's penny."
"What gave that away?"
"This whole party was a disaster!" Huey began bouncing on his heals. "Feathry disappearing, and then your weird choice in guests, and then now a ghost!"
"My weird guest choice!" Louie glared at his brother. "I'll have you know, I had a very strategic reason in inviting who I did!"
"Strategic? How could-" Huey gasped. "You invited a bunch of business people! Ha! You were using this party for your own personal gain!"
"I was trying to get my foot in the door! And don't try to act like you weren't using this party too!" Louie crossed his arms. "No one wanted this thing except for you!"
"Excuse me!"
"YOU GUYS WE HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS!" Dewey shouted in the chaos.
They all turned their attention back to the ghost.
"We're gonna die."
"Called it." Huey and Louie shot a look at Dewey. Not the time for snotty but true remarks!
The figure evened out into a the shape of a duck. Its eyes glowed red and he stared down at the triplets.
"Um..." Louie gulped. "What do you want... Mr. Ghost... sir?" He smiled anxiously.
The ghost's voice came out distorted and gravely. But Huey was able to make out, "My... daughter..."
Huey shoved Dewey forward. "Would you settle for my older brother?"
The ghost just growled, narrowing his eyes. He began floating towards them, raising his arms threateningly.
"You know what? We're gonna take that as a no..." Huey and his brothers backed up slowly.
Louie pushed his brothers away from the ghost quickly. "Run!"
...
Webby hoisted herself up on the stair railing and slid down. Holding her headband on, the rush blew her hair back. She reached the bottom and jumped down.
"Bradford!" she called out. She raced for the door of the lighthouse. "Bradford where are you!"
She was about to leave when the door slammed shut. She gasped, taking a step back. The dog from earlier had closed it. He stepped towards her slowly.
"Where are you going, little lady?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"I- I- Where's Bradford?" The words caught in her throat. She had to get out of here, and fast.
The dog was standing over her now, his shadow covering her. Webby stiffened and gulped. Aw phooey.
She was ready to accept her fate when there was a shout. She peeked open one eye to see Bradford standing over the unconscious body of the dog.
"Bradford!" She grinned with relief.
"Come on, let's go," he said, ruffling her feathers.
She nodded eagerly. "I like that idea."
"Webbigail!" Bradford and Webby looked up.
Bradford took her hand. "Beakly will be here quickly, we have to move!" They exited he lighthouse as fast as they could and headed for the car.
Webby slid herself into the passenger side, slamming the car door shut. Bradford turned the key, frantically trying to start up the engine. "Come on. Come on!"
The sound of revving, and the vehicle started up. He shifted the car into reverse and they pulled away.
"We can get lost in traffic," Bradford said when they reached the main road.
Webby breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath. Her heart was still pounding from all the excitement. She stared out the window. The sun was beginning to set over the bay of Duckburg. Her mind wandered to all the things her grandmother had told her.
"Bradford-"
"What did she tell you?"
She looked up at the vulture. "What?"
"What did Beakly tell you?" Bradford's eyes stayed locked on the road as he spoke.
"Well, uh, she just told me about FOWL, and she asked if I knew anything about magic. But magic doesn't exist... right?" Webby tilted her head, knowing there was something more.
Bradford sighed. "Webby, magic does exist."
Webby gasped, but it was fake. "What! What an interesting fact, that I definitely didn't already suspect. At all!"
Bradford chuckled. "But why would Beakly think you knew anything about that sort of stuff?"
"She said she thought you had told me." Webby fidgeted nervously in her seat. The question was burning inside her. Finally, she summoned the courage to ask. "Bradford, where was I? B- before I moved into the mansion? And why did you bring back there?"
Bradford looked solemn. "I had made a deal. With Beakly."
5 years ago...
Beakly caried an unconscious Webby up Kilmotor hill in the rain. Beakly should've known the girl would find out. Sooner or later.
After the girl had walked in on an interrogation, Beakly knew it wouldn't be beneficial to keep Webby at FOWL headquarters anymore. Or to keep her around. At all. But one more say might help her decide what to do with the girl.
Beakly found herself on the steps of the mansion. She knocked on the door. Sure, it was the middle of the night, but she knew he would probably still answer.
It was only a moment before the old buzzard opened the door. He looked surprised to see her. "Bentina? What are you doing here?"
"I've got a situation. Where's the owner of the house?"
"He's up in his room sleeping, but-"
"Then he won't even notice I'm here," Beakly said, making her way past Bradford, into the house. She stepped into the parlor and set the girl on the coffee table. Bradford followed after her. He gasped when he saw the duckling.
"Is she..."
"No, not yet. 22, I'm going to kill her." Beakly kept her eyes on the girl.
"What? But she's a little girl! Why? Also, I go by Bradford now." Bradford crossed his arms, frowning.
"Heh, same old 22. You were the only one I could go to for advice. She saw an interrogation, and now she has to die." Beakly began searching through the room. "Now, where do you keep your knives?"
"Beakly, no." Bradford picked the girl up from the table. "I won't let you."
"Why are you acting so soft? You were one of the greatest FOWL agents we ever had, and now that you're retired, you stop what needs to be done! Unless..." Beakly scanned over his body language. He stared at the ground, fidgeting awkwardly. "You never were a FOWL agent. You worked for SHUSH the whole time."
"It doesn't matter now. My spy days are behind me. But you are not killing this girl." Bradford moved farther away from the woman.
Beakly rolled her eyes. But an idea popped into her head. There was always the chance that Beakly would need Webby again in the future. And if she did kill her, there was a chance that the board of FOWL wouldn't approve.
She put a hand on her hip. "Fine. I'll let the girl live. But on two conditions."
Bradford raised an eyebrow. "Two?"
Beakly nodded. "You take her in. She gets to live here and you make sure she's stays out of trouble and what not. And second..." She smirked, stepping towards Bradford. He hugged the duckling tighter. "I still keep tabs on her. All I have to say is 'I'm ready,' and you bring her to me."
"And if I don't?"
"If fail to return her within the next 24 hours, well, the deal is off. And she dies. One way or another. Got it?" She traced the child's face with her hand, but Bradford pulled away.
They exchanged a glare, before finally Bradford sighed. "Understood."
...
"After a while, I hoped she'd just forgotten about it entirely. But then last night she called." Bradford frowned, finishing his story.
Webby glanced down. "My own grandmother tried to kill me."
"Webby..." Bradford glanced at her. "She's not your family."
"But, she is."
Bradford shook his head. "Maybe by blood, but she doesn't act like it. Family is who cares for you. Like me, Feathry, and even though they just moved in, the boys care for you too."
A small smile crossed Webby's face. "You didn't mention Lsunchpad."
"No. I didn't." He chuckled a bit, making her laugh too.
After a moment of calmness, Bradford said, "Of course, now our family will have a target on our back. Beakly doesn't give up easily."
"And we'll face her together! Because nothing is stronger than family!" She smiled warmly at the buzzard.
Bradford smirked. "That's the spirit. Now... do you want to get some ice cream?"
"Of course!"
...
Beakly stood next to the dog on the balcony of the lighthouse. They stared out into the city of Duckburg.
"Should we go after them?"
"No need Duckworth." Beakly put her hands on the rails, smirking. "Now she knows Bradford doesn't tell her everything. And she'll come back when she wants answers."
Duckworth crossed his arms. "The board isn't going to like that very much. We needed her. To stop-"
"I know that we needed her!" She glared at Duckworth, anger rising. "Patience is a virtue!"
"Not my virtue," Duckworth grumbled. Beakly ignored him. Her plan would come together soon. She just had to wait.
...
The boys were cramped together in a suit of armor, hiding from the ghost. Dewey sat on top, head poking out, followed by Louie and Huey at the bottom as the legs. Welp, this was not what Louie thought he would be doing today.
"I can't breathe in here!" Dewey whisper shouted.
"Chill, Dew, we'll get out of here if we be quiet." Louie was positioned awkwardly, wedged between his brothers.
"I should've listened when Bradford said 'Feathry doesn't want a party, so don't waste your time.'" Huey spoke with his best Bradford impression. "But I didn't! And now Feathry is probably dead!"
"And we'll be too, if you don't stop talking!" Louie tried to cover Huey's beak, but he couldn't reach him.
"It's all my fault! This is the worst party ever!"
"Dude! You need to stop talking!" Louie gave his youngest brother a quick nudge.
"Guys," came Dewey's squeaky, almost inaudible voice. "The ghost found us."
"AAAAHHHHH!" Huey and Louie shouted in unison. Huey started running, moving all three of them in the armor. The breastplate fell off, leaving Dewey, Louie, and Huey's torso exposed. Now that they could actually see the ghost chasing them, they started screaming more.
The ghost formed an ax out of purple smog and raised it above his head.
They continued racing though the halls of the mansion, but the ghost stayed on their trail. He swung the ax, hitting Dewey's helmet and giving Louie a jump scare. The helmet broke off and Dewey let out a gasp for breath.
"Thank goodness! I never want to see that helmet again!" Just as the words left Dewey's mouth, the ghost swung again. The blue triplet ducked just in time. "NEVER MIND I WANT THE HELMET BACK!"
The was a whoosh as the ghost transformed into smoke. Louie looked forward, seeing that they were coming to a fork. "Huey! Turn right!" They continued going straight. "I said turn right!" He glanced down at his brother to see a frightened expression on his face.
"I'm not controlling the armor! The weird ghost thing is!" Huey yelped. Louie looked down and found that the legs of the armor were covered in the smoke. And they were heading full speed for the wall. "Guys, if we're going to die, I have a confession to make," Huey piped up. Dewey and Louie decided to do that too.
"I like to sniff dryer sheets!"
"Sometimes Bready gives me nightmares!"
"I was the one who called the cops on Uncle Donald!"
"WAIT WHAT!"
The armor crashed into the wall, smashing into pieces. The triplets landed on the ground amongst the rubble. The ghost seemed to have disappeared, but it was only for the moment. Louie shuffled to his feet, eyes wide. He dusted himself off, then helped Dewey up.
Huey sat up, laughing. "Ha, Louie sniffs dryer sheets." He stood up and started heading down the hall. "Come on, we have to figure out what that ghost wants and save Feathry."
"Wait, Huey, what did you say?" Louie asked.
"Let's go save Feathry?" Huey tilted his head.
"No, just before that," Dewey said, stepping towards the youngest.
"Uh... nothing. We should stop wasting time." Huey tried to keep walking, but Louie grabbed his wrist.
"You called the cops? When?" Louie couldn't believe it. He had just thought they had found Donald out some other way.
Huey bit his lip and avoided eye contact, rubbing the back of his neck. "That night. After you and Dewey fell asleep. Look, I..." He sighed before continuing. "We hated it there, and even though you two acted like it wasn't that bad, something needed to change, and so..." He smiled awkwardly, fidgeting with his hands.
Dewey hugged Huey, catching him off guard and almost knocking off his cap. Louie ruffled the boy's feathers. Huey cleared his throat. "Alright, guys, enough sappy stuff. It's not that big of a deal..." He chuckled lightly.
"Yes, changing the course of our lives isn't a big deal." Louie rolled his eyes with a smirk.
Dewey and Huey parted from the hug. "Thanks Huey."
"No problem Dew." Huey took a deep breath then put his hands on his hips. "Now. About the ghost?"
"We know he wants his daughter... whoever that is," Louie said, shrugging. "We don't know that many girls, so my guess is as good as anyone else's."
"Heyo! I've got an idea!" Huey started off down the hallway to their bedroom. Dewey and Louie exchanged a look before following him.
...
"This is will help us communicate with the ghost!"
"You've had a lot of bad ideas tonight, but this by far is the most... creative."
"Thanks."
The boys stood in the foyer, Huey with an 8 ball in his hands. "The ghost is somewhere in this house. So we ask it questions, shake the ball, and then we'll have our answers!"
"Is that how ghosts work?" Dewey wondered, huddling close to Huey.
"Let's see..." Huey shook the ball, and a response appeared. Yes- definitely. "Well, there's your answer."
Louie took the ball. "Who is your daughter?" Then he shook it next to his ear. The triplets leaned in so they could all see. Reply hazy, try again. "Huh."
"You have to ask yes or no questions. Try, does your daughter's name start with an A?" Dewey said, taking the toy. He squinted at the answer. "My reply is no."
"What about B?" Huey's answer came out the same. "C?" My reply is no.
Louie took a turn at the 8 ball. "That's not getting us anywhere. Um... We'll get back to whoever the daughter is later. Is Feathry alive?" He rolled his eyes when he saw the answer. "Most likely. Thanks for the clear answer ghost." He thought up another question. "Are the guests alive?" Yes.
"Wait, how come it doesn't know for sure whether or not our cousin is alive, but it knows the guests are?" Dewey tilted his head.
Louie ignored him. "Are the guests still in the house?" My Sources say no. "Is Feathry still in the house?" Yes.
"Well, that's good news.Where is he?" Huey got a turn at the ball. "Wait, never mind, it's yes or no. Maybe-" Huey took a step forward and tripped. The ball rolled forward and landed on: Better not tell you now. "Rude." He frowned.
"If we find your daughter, will you give us back Feathry?" Dewey picked up the toy and shook. It is certain. "And if we don't?" Outlook not so good. His eyes widened.
"Enough guessing games. Is there a way we could eliminate possible people with less questions?" Louie said, putting a hand on his hip.
Dewey nodded. "How about, Does your daughter's name start with a letter from the first half of the alphabet? That wipes out A through M." After passing the ball between his hands, it said yes.
Huey grabbed the toy from his brother. "Does it start with a letter from the second half?" Before Dewey could stop him, Huey bounced up and down.
"It just said yes, why would we need to check the second-"
"It also says yes."
"What?" Dewey checked the ball, and it did indeed say yes. "That's weird..."
Louie took the toy. "Hang on. Ghost, do you have two daughters?" The ball said Signs point to yes. "One who's name starts from the first half and one who's name starts from the second half of the alphabet. Well, that clears things up."
"No it doesn't."
"I was being sarcastic Huey." Louie began pacing. "How are we going to find two girls without a clue to who they could be?"
An idea came to Huey. He leaned over to Dewey and whispered something. Dewey nodded. Then he whispered it to Louie. But before they could enact Huey's plan, smoke emerged from the floor. It formed into the ghost and it's eyes locked on the red triplet. He shrunk under his gaze. He waved to the ghost nervously. "Hey, you think he heard our plan?"
"You mean the one where we just forget about finding his daughters and go find Feathry ourselves? Yeah, maybe." Louie grabbed his brothers by the wrists and they ran for cover. They raced through the mansion, not caring to look back to see if the ghost was actually following them. They found themselves in the kitchen. Louie slammed the door shut and started barricading it with whatever he could find.
"I'm starting to think near death experiences are going to be a regular thing today," Huey said. He huddled up next to Dewey, frightened. Once Louie finished with the door, they had a moment of quiet. Just the sound of them breathing.
The quiet was interrupted by a loud bang and rattle. Huey nearly jumped out of his skin. They looked to the source of the rattling. The kitchen pantry. They all looked to each other. Dewey and Huey's eyes landed on Louie. They watched him expectantly.
The green triplet sighed and walked towards the pantry door. His hand hovered over the handle, hesitating. Finally, he drew in a deep breath and swung the door open.
"Aaahhh!"
"Ahhhh!"
"Feathry?"
...
"Boys?" Feathry fell out of the pantry, out of breath.
"We thought the ghost got you," Huey said.
"Well, he did, but he just locked me in there until you guys showed up." Feathry got up and dusted himself off. "It sounded crazy out there. Did you guys get rid of the ghost?"
"Nerp, it's still out there trying to kill us," Dewey said, pointing to the kitchen entry.
"Yeah, and it came from your penny! So explain yourself Feathry!" Louie held up. the coin to the adult.
Feathry took the coin and looked over it. "I had no clue this thing was haunted. But I'm not surprised. I did get it from Uncle Scrooge. And now I get his ominous warnings about it." He mustered his best Scottish accent. "Feathry lad, don't lose this! Guard it with yer life! It holds unknowable dangers." He laughed to himself. "Eh, something like that. And we all thought he was crazy."
"About getting the ghost back in?" Louie wave his hands frantically. "He said he was looking for his daughters, but we don't know who they are."
Before Feathry could say anything, the door to the kitchen burst open, the ghost floating through. The duck's eyes widened. He had seen the ghost before, but it was in the dark. Now that Feathry could actually see him... He had met this ghost once before. When he was alive. 14 years ago. On is 13th birthday.
Feathryshook himself back to reality. "Come on, kiddos, let's go!" He ushered the boys out the back door quickly. The back door led out to the backyard. The sky was completely dark now, and the air was cold. The ghost followed them outside. Feathry took a few steps back until he felt something wet under her feet. He glanced behind him to see they were a few feet from the pool. Filled with water.
He shut his eyes and breathed in and out. He couldn't let his fear of water get to him. Not when they had other problems to deal with. He turned back to the ghost.
"Feathry... Duck..." came its gravely voice. A chill went up Feathry's spine.
"Feathry, what are we going to do?" Louie asked.
"Um..." Feathry tried to clear his head. He rubbed the penny in his hand. He just had to get the ghost back in the coin. Easy.
The ghost lunged for him. Feathry yelped and held out the penny. The ghost was stopped and started being sucked into the coin. Only a bit, but it was something. "Ha! It worked!" Feathry beamed.
Before the ghost was entirely pulled in, it snarled. He made one last rush at Feathry and knocked him backwards.
The two flew back, into the pool. There was a loud splash and a stinging sensation as they hit the water. Feathry started to hyperventilate and all he could think about was the water.
Don't freeze up. Don't freeze up. Focus!
But he couldn't. When his head was dunked underwater, his mind filled with memories. Everything was the same as it had been then.
His birthday. Water. And someone else. Last time there was thrashing too. Feathry had made it out okay in the end then, but someone else hadn't. And now it was the same someone else. The ghosts of his past.
Feathry couldn't breath. He needed oxygen. And it didn't help that his body didn't want to cooperate. He shut his eyes tight. He could've move. He was too scared. He remembered all too clearly that 13th birthday.
"Feathry!" One voice rang through and snapped him back to reality. 14 years ago it had been a girl's voice. And now it was Dewey's.
His eyes shot open. The ghost was keeping him from coming up. He tried to fight it off, but it was hard to fight something that wasn't physically.
The penny. He still had it in his hand. He pressed it closer to the ghost, and it sucked him up quicker. Finally, the ghost disappeared into the coin. Feathry swam upward, desperate for air.
He climbed up on the side of the pool, dripping and coughing. He flopped down on the concrete, out of breath.
"Feathry! You did it!" Dewey beamed.
Feathry had no energy to speak, so he just gave the duckling a thumbs up. He held up the coin. "Got... him." His heart rate still went racing. He shut his eyes. Just a quick nap.
"Feathry."
"Just... let me rest my eyes for a sec." When he had finally caught his breath, he got to his feet. His head spun. He walked to the edge of the pool. His hands trembled. Taking a deep breath, he chucked the penny into the water. Then he turned to the triplets. "Well, we'll never see him again."
"Hopefully," Louie added. "Did you know that ghost?"
Feathry stiffened. "No... why?"
"He called you by name. So he knew you." Louie tilted his head curious.
Feathry started to walk inside with the boys. "Huh. Weird. Anyways, why don't we go inside and... chill or something."
"I like that idea," Huey and Dewey said in unison.
Louie glanced at his cousin suspiciously before following them inside.
...
"We're back!" Webby yelled in a singsong tone when they entered the mansion. Bradford shut the door behind her.
Dewey came to great her. "Hey. What'd you two do?"
"Eh. Spy stuff. You?"
"Ghost stuff."
"Cool."
"Cool."
14 years ago...
"Can I open my eyes yet?"
"Never!"
"Not yet."
Feathry nearly tripped over a root in the hard dirt. "You guys?"
"Alright, fine, baby," Donald remarked, smirking at his cousin.
Feathry now got a view of their location. They were going up an incredibly steep hill through brush and trees. "Wow. That's high. Where are we going?"
"Well, we know how much you love your birthday," Della began. She stood behind Feathry and pushed him upwards. "So we set up a little surprise on the cliff side."
"But I thought Uncle Scrooge said we were grounded," Feathry said, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you want a birthday or not?" Donald chuckled and continued up the terrain.
"You guys," Della said softly. "I know we thought it was a good idea to do this on a cliff, but I'm not so sure now."
Feathry and Donald looked back at her. "Why?"
There was a rustling in the trees behind her, then a fourth duckling fell through the brush, face planting. "I'm good!" he said.
"That's why." Della smirked, then went to help Gladstone up. She yelped when she saw he was covered in bugs and random insects.
Gladstone pulled out a lint roller from his pocket and rolled the bugs off. "Okay, to Feathry's secret birthday party we go!"
Feathry chuckled.
"Hey, Feaths, race ya to the top!" Donald began running before Feathry could process the challenge.
He nodded. "Oh, you're on!"
The cousins continued up the hill. They finally made it to the top, where Donald, Della, and Gladstone had set up a small, circular fold up table. On the table was a poorly made cake with 13 candles.
Feathry smiled at it, then turned to hug his cousins. "Thank you! You guys are the best!"
Donald ruffled his feathers. "Anything for you."
Della smiled. "Yeah. If no one else is gonna look out for us in this world, then we've got to look out for each other."
"Now let's eat cake!" Gladstone cheered, pumping his fists in the air.
They all hated the cake. But no one wanted to be rude, so no one complained, and they all ate the entire cake.
"What'd you wish for?" Gladstone asked, putting an arm around his youngest cousin.
"I'm not aloud to tell you, or else it won't come true. Especially you, Mr. bad luck charm," Feathry laughed.
"Alright, that's fair." Gladstone sat down in the dirt and patted on his knees, content. "I would wish that we all stay best friends forever. This is nice."
"There was never a doubt," Della said, taking a seat next to Gladstone. "We're family. And that's how it's always going to be."
"Agreed," Feathry and Donald said in unison.
Thanks for the support! Next episode: The House of Unlucky Gander!