Louie takes a deep breath as he looks around the corner at the docks, not too far from where he used to live before Uncle Donald moved the boat to the mansion. He watched as Toppats were loading cargo onto a watercraft to bring back to their ship. Spotting the one in charge, he readies himself and walks up to them.
A female ? named Carol Cross, one of the heads of the Clan, was making sure stuff was being loaded precisely and on time. "Hey, hurry up! Unless you want us to be late and piss off Captain Boone?" Her saying that got them working faster. However, she sees a small figure in green approaching, realizing a kid has stumbled upon this. "Oh for the love of~" She says to herself. "Hey, kid! The hell are you doing coming over here?! Don't you know it's rude to interrupt people at work?"
"Hmm, depends on the kind of work lady." He says smugly. "If honest, then probably. But, if they are stealing stuff..."
Cross glares at him, gets out some money. "Look, here's some money for you to leave now and forget seeing this, capiche?" As she hands him a rather large sum of cash, easily a hundred thousand
Louie grins and pushes it away. "Why would I want to forget it if I am going to be a part of it?"
Cross narrows her eyes. "What are you getting at kid?" As she readies to reach for her sidearm.
"I'm asking to join your clan! I wanna be part of this, you know?"
Cross gives him a confused look and then her eyes go wide as she recognizes him. "Wait, I know you! Y-you're one of the McDuck kids!" As she puts her hand away from her weapon, makes another realization. "Wait a second, you're the one who hired us as part of the staff for that exhibit ceremony at the museum!"
"Yeah, I- Wait, you're what?" Louie asks dumbfounded, had forgotten. "How do you remember that?! I don't even recognize you!"
"I'm the waitress that fought your 'sister'." She clarifies.
"Oh, yeah, now I remember you..." Louie trails off. "So, can I join?"
"Just, uh, just hold on a sec kid, I gotta call someone..." As she turns around and contacts someone, talking semi-quiet. "Captain, a bit of a situation... No not caught, at least, not in the way you think... Some kid here wants to join the clan... Captain, he's one of the McDuck kids... The green one... Yes the one that managed to hire us as staff for that job... What do I do? I can't kill or hurt him, nor kidnap him. He won't take the bribe... What?! B-Boone are you sure about this? He's just a kid and... W-well, I guess that makes sense, but, what if his family finds out... Okay..." Cross sighs. "Got it, understood. Will do... Out."
Louie grins, as despite not having heard the conversation except for one side, has a fairly decent idea of what this means.
Cross turns to Louie, arms crossed. "Captain wants to see you, see if you have what it takes to be a Toppat. So, get on the boat, we leave in five."
Louie smirks smugly. "Thank you..." He remarks, boarding the vessel.
Some time later, Louie is brought aboard the ship, this time as a guest, as he looks at the sight of the massive rear cargo bay that functions as a sort of port within a ship.
"C'mon kid, the Captain wants to see you." Cross says, leading the kid there, annoyed as, given this ship's size, she will effectively be a babysitter. Or would, if not for the rapid transport across the ship reducing the time.
The two get into a people mover and sit down as it carries them across much of the ship.
"Pretty sweet setup here! Pods just to move people around? I wish the mansion had these!" Louie says, putting his hands behind his head as he sits back.
"They were installed because of the size of the ship. We are literally a giant floating city, and no one wants to be exhausted when they get where they need." Cross explains. She already does not like Louie much, just from his apparent nature. Lazy, cocky, smug. All things a Toppat should NOT be in her opinion.
After about 20 minutes, they arrive within walking distance of the location, at which they disembark and head there, entering some sort of boardroom/meeting room, in which the Captain of the ship, Boone, is waiting.
"Ah, Lady Cross, thank you for bringing him here." The otter smiles, the female Toppat blushing at the name she was called, illiciting a smirk from Louie. "Please, kid, have a seat." He invites. Despite being a head of the Clan, he is rather young, not even in his thirties yet.
"So, you're the guy in charge around here?" Louie asks as he takes a seat in the rather comfortable chair.
"One of them. I am ultimate commander of this ship, but in terms of the Clan itself, power is shared. Miss Cross is one of the co-leaders, and deserves such." He points out, surprising Louie that the leadership is rather young.
"Aren't you guys a bit young to be the head of a criminal organization?"
"Aren't you far too young to leave your family and join a criminal organization?"
"Touché."
"So, care for anything to drink?" Boone offers.
"Got any Pep?" Louie asks with a lazy grin.
"Which kind?" Boone inquires.
Louie grins more solidly, intrigued. "How about Cherry Pep?" As he asks, Boone gets his phone, taps a few times, and a small flying robot brings an ice cold can of Cherry Pep in front of Louie, who promptly takes it, opens it, and starts to drink from it. "Cool~"
"So, might I ask why a member of Clan McDuck, specifically one of Scrooge McDuck's great nephews, wants to join the Toppat Clan? Not that it is a bad thing really, given the McDuck family's renowned capabilities."
"Eh, I like the treasure and all, but not the hard work nor adventuring that generally comes with it." As Louie loudly sips from the can.
"I see. And, what exactly can you offer us? What are your skills?"
"Well, I can see all the angles and I'm great at lying. I could probably help plan things out and act as a distraction and such."
"I see. Well, given your history you are known for causing a lot of trouble for your family and others, Llewellyn Duck."
Louie's eyes go wide as he nearly spits out some Pep. "H-how do you know my full name?"
"I have the Toppats keep a close eye on influential, wealthy, power, and other figures, your family included. Also you literally hired twenty of our members as staff for the amethyst unveiling, and used your real name." Shows the document from the hiring. "I literally have it on record."
"Ah. Right. So... Is that a yes?"
"We will see. You have to prove yourself first."
"Excuse me, sir? Can we talk in private, please?" Cross asks, to which her and Boone go into an adjacent room to discuss the matter. "The kid is not Toppat material. You of all people should know that! Plus, he is a McDuck! They will come looking for him! You cannot seriously be thinking of recruiting him!" She whispers to Boone.
"I know. I'm not actually going to. Remember, this is Louie Duck after all. The lazy one. All we have to do, is show him it is more work than he thinks, and he'll go back to his family. No one gets hurt, no fighting happens, we all win." Boone explains.
"What about his family!?"
"Look, we will get there when we get there, alright? If stuff is about to get too serious, I'll call him, alright? And between you and me, I'd rather make them all honorary Toppats."
"Ugh, this won't end well, I can feel it..."
"I don't have a headache yet so nothing is wrong enough to worry." As he places a hand on Cross's shoulder. "You trust me, don't you?"
Cross looks to the side, blushing slightly, sighs. "O-of course."
"Then keep trusting me, I got this..." As he exits the room with her. "Alright kid, best I show you around and start testing you to see if you are Toppat material."
Louie grins. As far as he knew, this would be a piece of cake...