Author's Note: So, hah ha ha. My anti-anxiety medication is giving me nightmares and insomnia. That's funny, right? I sure do love being up at 5:30 in the morning. Oh boy.
Here are the original author's notes that were in this chapter:
The computer ate my chapter. ("A sea monster ate my ice cream!" *dies*) I needed to edit it and repair what was missing from it, which included an entire scene.
I also added some clarification regarding the alarm system and additional information elsewhere.
Webbigail Vanderquack awoke disoriented. This wasn't her normal, comfortable bed and her Grammy wasn't the one waking her. Confused, she turned over and opened her eyes. Doofus Drake stood in front of her; he was thinner and his gaze, normally clouded over with the thought of whatever sweet he wanted next, was keen. Webby blinked and yesterday crashed over her. The mirror, the transportation to this alternate universe, and now this strange Doofus Drake staring at her. Her heart pounded, and she inched backward.
"Hi…" she said. "Where are the boys and the other Webby?"
"I watched you sleep," Doofus informed her. Webby blinked, unnerved.
"And I smelled your hair while you slept," he added. "You smell different from the Webby I know."
Webby was seized by a sudden urge to run for the hills and not look back. This Doofus was nothing like the innocuous Doofus that had befriended the triplets. For one thing, he was creepy. Who watched someone while they slept? And then smelled their hair?
"I like you, new friend," Doofus said. "I've already given you a friendship bracelet."
Webby looked down to find a golden bracelet around her wrist. She offered Doofus a weak smile.
"Thank you," she said because that seemed the proper response. "But where are the others?"
"What others?" Doofus returned. He perched in front of her and smiled. "There are no others. You're my new and only friend. And I'm keeping you."
What was that supposed to mean? Webby's heart rate kicked up another notch and she smiled weakly at him. She tugged at the friendship bracelet, meaning to give it back, but it was stuck to her wrist. Perplexed and growing alarmed, she tugged harder.
"It won't come off," Doofus said. "It also doubles as a manacle that keeps anyone from leaving me. It didn't work with Louie, but it'll work fine for you. I've fixed it. And besides, you're way better than Louie, who lied to me about not having brothers. You're pretty and a girl."
Okay, she was pretty close to freaking out now. She could've used the other Webby to kick this boy's butt. Normally, she didn't advocate that type of violence, but she doubted this Doofus would get the message otherwise. It was a shame because the Doofus she knew was a walking fat joke but otherwise innocent. This Doofus was terrifying.
"Yes, I am a girl…" she agreed. "But didn't your parents tell you not to kidnap someone? It's rude."
"My parents do what I tell them," Doofus said, leaning in and sniffing her hair. "And I told them to abduct you."
Webby yanked so hard on the bracelet that she thought she was going to pull her arm out of its socket. She could taste her heartbeat in her mouth and felt it pounding in her throat. It looked like Doofus was right. This bracelet/manacle was not coming off.
"Could you please return to me to McDuck Manor?" she asked politely, hoping there might be a chance she could reason with him. "I'm not from around here, I'm from another dimension, and I'd really like to go home now."
Or at least back to the security of normal, non-creepy people. She couldn't picture one of the triplets sniffing her hair or watching her while she slept. She pushed herself to her feet and glanced around; it appeared she was in Doofus's bedroom, which was another level of creepy she didn't want to think about.
He had pictures of himself around his room, along with a four-poster bed and every convenience and luxury. It dawned on her that he'd been watching her sleep in his bedroom. Webby let out a dismayed quack and floundered back, panic overwhelming her. She could've used that thing that Louie had, that cell phone if she'd known any phone numbers offhand. Right now, she was drawing a blank.
"That must be why I've never seen you before," Doofus said. "Don't worry. You're in your new home now."
"No, I have to go home," she pressed. "The mirror that I went through is in McDuck Manor and I have to go back there. Please?"
"You're in your new home now," he repeated, his face turning hard. He snapped his fingers and a maid appeared. "Bring her some breakfast. We'll be eating on the balcony."
"Doofus, she looks scared," the maid ventured. "Maybe we should take her back."
"She belongs to me," he hissed. "She's mine. I'm not returning her."
"She belongs to her family," she pressed. "You can't keep people."
"Yes, I can!" he thundered and grabbed Webby's arm. He squeezed it hard enough to hurt and she yelped in pain. His grip was bruising, and she attempted to pull away only for him to hold her tighter.
"You're not a very nice person!" she snapped at Doofus. "You can't keep me, I'm a person and not a thing! Let me go or I'll…I'll…I won't do anything you want me to do!"
As far as threats went, that was terrible. She wouldn't have been intimidated by it. Judging by the look he gave her, he wasn't impressed either. She bit back another pained cry. Why couldn't he let go of her?
"You don't have to do anything. As long as you stay here and never leave me."
It sounded like a threat, one far more imposing than hers. She quacked again, waving her free hand and slapping Doofus across the face. She put as much power behind the slap as possible in the hopes he'd release her. He did, out of shock, and she bolted, running past the maid and trying to find her way out of the mansion.
It didn't help that she'd never been over to Doofus's house, in either universe, and she didn't know where she was going. It also didn't help that she could barely concentrate over her arm throbbing. She didn't have to look at her arm to know it had black and blue marks now.
There had to be an exit. He couldn't keep her. Desperate, Webby skidded into the kitchen. A side door led to the outside and freedom. Webby wrenched at the door and her bracelet stuck fast, pinning her to the door. Hyperventilating now, she kicked and shoved at the door.
"Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!" she pleaded.
"Fleeing somewhere?" Doofus called, and she screamed. Her bracelet was stuck fast to the doorknob as if it were magnetic. It might've been.
"Let me out!" she pleaded with him. "I'll be your friend if you want, but you can't imprison me!"
"I already paid for you. I gave the other Webby $20. That should cover it. Also, I didn't like that you slapped me. You shouldn't have done that, Webby."
"I'm sorry…" she said, although she wasn't, not really. "I'll stay, I promise, just take the bracelet off."
"I don't think I can believe you. You're not being a good friend. I'm going to have to punish you."
Webby shrieked, kicking at the door and punching it. Her wrist was stuck fast, and Doofus stepped closer to her, pinning her between him and the door. She swung with her free hand and he grabbed it. She was having a hard time drawing enough breath, but she managed to scream in the vain hopes that someone would come to her rescue. Perhaps the maid and the butler would take pity on her.
"You don't appreciate me. No one does," he said with a long-suffering sigh. "But you'll have plenty of time to learn. You're not going anywhere. Ever again."
"They're going to notice I'm missing," she said, hoping against hope that it might convince him.
"They won't know you're here," he said, pressing her closer against the door. He was entirely too close, close enough for his hot breath to hit her face. She kicked at him.
"You're nothing like my Doofus! You're not a friend at all! You're too mean!" she cried.
"I'm going to leave you stuck to the door to let you think about what you've done," he decided, stepping back and giving her breathing room. Webby's eyes had filled with tears and she was hiccup crying. Her lower beak quivered, and she yanked pointlessly at the door.
"It looks like you won't need breakfast at all," he said. "That's a pity. I would've given anything you wanted."
He leaned in again and whispered in her ear, "I'll be back."
Then, watching her struggle in vain to extricate herself, he left her alone in the kitchen. Webby gasped, choking on her sobs. She couldn't reach the wall phone, which was across the room. She could only go as far as the bracelet and her arm reach allowed, which wasn't more than a few feet.
While part of her was appalled that he'd paid for her and thought that was okay, a small part of her was resentful that he thought he could buy her for $20. She was worth more than that.
"Help!" she cried. "Anyone! Help me!"
"You shouldn't have made him angry," the butler said and shook his head. "You won't like him when he's angry."
"I don't like him now. Why is he like this?"
"No one ever says 'no' to Doofus Drake," he replied. "I'm sorry."
Then he proceeded to leave her too. She couldn't extend herself to the utensils' drawer, which might've had something sharp enough to cut off the bracelet. It would've injured her too, but at this point, Webby was too desperate to care. How could the butler and the maid be so heartless? The maid had argued in favor of releasing her, but not hard enough to make a difference.
Webby screamed and then sobbed, wishing she could defend herself and attack as well as the other Webby. The other Webby would never have gotten herself into this mess.
Webby 1 awoke feeling cold air on her feathers and she frowned, rolling over. The window was open. She hadn't left it open. Moreover, she'd thought that security would've sounded an alarm if anyone opened a window or door from the outside. Then again, Magica might've blazed through their security and destroyed it in her last attack. Webby wasn't sure.
Not that it mattered. Pinned to the floor was a $20 bill, which reminded her absurdly of Gladstone Gander. She glanced from the open window to the bill and then to the empty sleeping bag on the floor. Webby 2 was gone. Her stomach sank and she left the bill where it was (Louie would probably grab it later) to seek out the triplets. While she doubted they'd seen Webby 2 either, it was a good place to start.
The triplets were half awake when she knocked on their door. Huey answered, being the most alert of the three, and blinked sleep out of his eyes.
"Webby?" he said. "What is it? It's 7 a.m."
"Have you seen the other Webby?" she burst out, impatient.
"How could we have seen anything?" Louie replied, still slumped in his bunk. "We've been asleep. What's wrong, Webs?"
"She's missing," Webby said, grimacing. "She's gone, my window is open, and someone left me $20."
"$20?" Louie exclaimed, all vestiges of sleep gone. He sprang to his feet. "Lead on, sister."
"It's probable that whoever took her left the $20 and the window open," Huey surmised. "But we can go investigate."
"Are the security cameras working?" Webby pressed. "It doesn't look like our alarm system is."
"World's richest duck, can't spare a few bucks for a good alarm system," Louie said with a shrug. He shoved aside his blankets and approached her. Dewey thrust aside the blankets too and stretched, yawning.
"I don't think that's what happened," Huey said. He pulled on his hat and gestured for her to lead on. She did, with the boys falling into line behind her. The growing sense of wrongness tightened her throat. Had someone really come in here and then paid $20 for the other Webby? Why?
Huey investigated the scene of the crime while Louie, to no one's great surprise, pocketed the money.
"You can't keep that," Huey hissed. "It's evidence. You just got your prints all over it."
"If the security cameras are working, we won't have to dust for prints," Webby pointed out.
"Why would the security cameras be working but not the security system?" Dewey asked, frowning. He'd noticed her agitation and also that her bandages needed to be changed again. Webby had observed the latter too but was preoccupied with their current predicament.
"Passive versus active security," Huey theorized. "You can monitor people, but you can't send out a signal."
"Maybe you guys should check the archive room and make sure she didn't try to escape through the mirror," Webby said. It seemed exceedingly unlikely, though.
"We'll go with you to the camera room first," Huey said. They proceeded in a less than orderly fashion down the hall and then bumped into Scrooge, who had been walking and reading the morning paper. Dewey and Webby steadied him, lest he fall over, and Scrooge looked over the top of his newspaper to frown at them.
"What's the big hurry?" he asked.
"Webby 2 is gone and we were hoping we could look at the security footage," Webby said.
"What happened to the DT-87? And the alarms on the windows and doors?" Scrooge said, scowling.
"Probably Magica," Huey said.
Scrooge cursed and then looked up at them. "You didn't hear that. You definitely won't tell Donald that you heard that."
"Of course not," Louie answered, doubtlessly filing away the obscenity for later. Webby rolled her eyes.
They trooped over to the security room while Scrooge, putting his paper aside for the time being, pulled out his cell phone to repair the alarm system. Of course, if it had been Magica, Webby doubted any measure of mundane fixing would ameliorate the problem. Scrooge probably needed a whole new alarm system. She didn't mention that she and Huey had gutted the DT-87. That was beside the point and also, she didn't think Scrooge would take kindly to the news.
Scrooge fired up the cameras from last night, all the while grumbling about his system not working, and he zoomed in on the one directly near Webby's window. There weren't security cameras in the kids' bedrooms, just in the master bedroom, to allow them their privacy. After speeding through a few hours of nothing, Doofus and his parents appeared on the screen.
Scrooge turned on the sound in time for them to hear Doofus announce his plans and leave the $20 bill in Webby's room. Louie pulled it out of his pocket and, looking guilty, shoved it back in. Webby doubted he'd keep it now. Money might be money, but to hold onto it would be to admit that what Doofus had done was all right.
Muttering darkly to himself, Scrooge turned toward them. "We have to go over there and have a talk with him."
"We can handle it," Louie assured him and Scrooge raised his eyebrows.
"We can," he promised. "We'll get Webby 2 back. I promise."
The older duck gave them a skeptical look.
"This sounds like something the adults ought to settle, not the kids," he said.
"Maybe normally, but this is because he has a beef with us," Dewey said.
"How does he know what I smell like…" Webby muttered. "We've never even met. How does he survive being so creepy?"
"It's a mystery, Webs," Louie said, draping an arm around her shoulders. "A real mystery. So, can we go? Besides, it's not like his parents are doing much adulting."
"Or any, for that matter," Scrooge said darkly. He'd stopped the footage on them making their escape with their ill-gotten cargo. Webby 2 remained asleep, but it was too much to hope for that she was still asleep now. To wake up to Doofus sounded horrific.
"You can go," he allowed. "But I still want to have a talk with Doofus's parents before this is all over. He can't get away with kidnapping."
"He won't," Webby vowed. "I have a plan."
"And I'll be along in an hour in case your plan doesn't work," Scrooge warned.
A half hour later, after a bandage change, and a failed attempt at a plan, they arrived at the Drake mansion. Scrooge had promised them he'd be right behind them and, indeed, she thought she'd heard Launchpad start the limo not long after they'd left on foot.
"You ring the bell," Louie said. "I've had enough of that creeper."
"You ring it," Dewey argued. "You're the one who actually knows him."
"If by 'know', you mean trying to flee him with my life, then yes, I know him," Louie shot back. Webby stifled a groan as the two boys continued to argue. Huey was attempting to break it up and step in between the two but wound up complicating matters further. He was swept up in the argument too.
"I'll ring the bell," Webby said, rolling her eyes. She waited for the servant to answer the bell and then offered her most winsome smile.
"Hi, I'm Webby," she said brightly. "And we'd like to see Doofus Drake."
The butler gave her a cursory look. "And who are you?"
"I just said," she said, wilting. "I'm Webby. Webby Vanderquack."
The butler's eyes widened and, without warning, he slammed the door in her face. The wind of it struck her cheeks and she blinked, doing a double take. Well, that was rude. The boys had desisted their debate to gawk too.
"Guess you're not rich enough," Louie said in an offhand voice. "Doofus only wants the richest of the rich kids to hang out with."
"He recognized my name," Webby said, folding her arms across her chest. "He knows who I am. That means the other Webby must be here."
Webby rang the doorbell again and this time, when the butler answered, his face was tight with apprehension. Sweat gleamed on his forehead and she thrust her foot in the doorway to prevent him from shutting her out again. She couldn't help but think that he wanted to flee and badly.
"You're here for her, aren't you?" he asked and she nodded.
From what she could see, the conversation could go two ways. The first way, he could recognize that Doofus had kidnapped someone and release her. The second way, which was apparently the one that he'd decided on, involved him pushing her out of the way. Unfortunately for him, Webby was too fast to allow it. She threw herself into the room and the boys barreled past the butler before he had a chance to leave them out again.
"Dude, your son kidnapped someone," Louie said. "Don't you even care?"
"Son?" Webby repeated. "That's his father?"
"Yeah, his mom and dad are the maid and butler," Louie said. Webby shot him a dirty look. That was information she probably could've used before they'd set out.
"He's going to be very upset I let you in here…" Doofus's father fussed. "And you won't like him when he's unhappy."
"I don't like him now," Louie muttered. Webby had to agree.
"Can't you talk to him?" Huey asked, frowning. "I mean, he is your son. You can't let him walk all over you."
"You don't understand!" the butler burst out. "You can't control him!"
"Where is he?" Webby said, fearing they were getting nowhere fast. She heard a yelp coming from her left and, without waiting for permission, dashed in that direction. She didn't worry whether the others were following. Instead, she followed the sound to its source, a doorknob on a door leading to the exit. The other Webby, Webby 2, was tugging desperately on a bracelet around her wrist that seemed magnetically attached to the metal.
"Hello, Webby," Doofus said and Webby whirled, assuming a defensive position.
"You have to let her go," Webby said. "You can't kidnap people."
"I'm one of the richest kids in the world," Doofus said dismissively. "I can do whatever I want. Besides, she's not going anywhere. Are you, Webby? Either of you."
His eyes gleamed maliciously. "I wondered what would happen if we ever met. I've heard a lot about you. You're much prettier in person than I thought."
Something near her made a gagging sound. She thought it was one of the boys, but they hadn't accompanied her yet. Perplexed, she looked down and saw her shadow...but it wasn't her shadow, per se. It looked like…
A bracelet slammed into her right wrist and hit it with enough force to crack it. Webby yelped as the bracelet dragged her to the door knob's other side, where she met Webby 2's eyes with resignation. This was turning into some rescue. Ugh.
"Now I have both of you for my collection," Doofus said. He surveyed them critically. "Oh, yeah, and your shadow talks. That's weird. But it makes you rarer."
"My shadow...talks?" Webby said, nonplussed. Her shadow wasn't doing anything interesting now and she stretched experimentally. Nothing happened. And the pain from her wrist was bringing tears to her eyes. When she'd slammed into the doorknob, she thought she'd heard something snap.
"It was talking last night," Webby 2 said. "I would've told you, but…"
"Lena?" Webby whispered and Doofus stepped forward.
"Now that I have both of you in my collection, I'm afraid I can't let you go," Doofus said. "You see, no one else has both our universe and an alternate universe version of them."
He smiled and it sent chills down Webby's spine. She thought she heard, very faintly, a whispered apology. She wanted to focus on that, but they had bigger problems right now. Yanking on the bracelet was not an option-grinding the metal against her wrist sent agonizing pain up and down her arm. She looked at it and then had to glance away again-it was hanging at an odd angle. Definitely broken.
"Great, since when do you end up captured?" Louie complained. The boys arrived, accompanied by Doofus's parents.
Louie stared at her. "Your wrist…"
"Yeah, she's not in mint condition anymore," Doofus said. He pressed on Webby's broken wrist and she bit back a scream. The other Webby kicked him and, encouraged by the other Webby's violence, Webby belted Doofus across the face with her free hand. He snarled, trying to decide which one he needed to subdue, when they moved in concert, kicking and punching. He couldn't fend off both girls and Webby 1's blows had a great deal more force behind them. She felt something give beneath her foot and Doofus screamed. It had felt like a rib under her foot, but she wasn't positive.
"Find the release!" Webby 1 commanded while Doofus was doubled over.
"We have it," Doofus's mother said, pressing a button on a small device on her wrist, and the girls sagged, Webby 1 collapsing to the floor and cradling her right wrist. Doofus snarled, rounding on his parents. This might've been more impressive if he weren't half-crouched from whatever injury Webby 1 had inflicted.
"Did he hurt you?" Webby 2 asked quietly. Her eyes shone with concern.
"Not as bad as I'm gonna hurt him," Webby snarled and pushed herself to her feet with her good wrist. The pain brought tears to her eyes and it was hard to concentrate, but that didn't matter. She could worry about that later. Instead, as Doofus confronted his mother's treachery, Webby swept his feet out from under him and then kicked him in the chin, snapping his head back. She followed this up by slamming her foot on his chest and taking his breath away. He tried to struggle away and she pressed harder.
"Why did you do that…" Doofus whined and Webby wasn't sure whether he was asking this of his mother or her. She could feel her wrist bones grinding together and it was singularly one of the most painful things she'd endured in her young life. It wasn't making her charitable toward him.
"Wait," Webby 2 protested. "The Doofus I know would never hurt anyone. He's not like this. That means there must be some good inside of him."
"He kidnapped you," Dewey said, nonplussed. "He kidnapped you and was going to 'add you to his collection'. Your definition of 'good' might need some tweaking, Webby 2."
"We're leaving," Webby 1 hissed. "We're leaving and you're going to stop stalking McDuck Manor. Got it?"
"Can't...breathe…" Doofus choked and she let up slightly, enough for him to gasp air into his lungs. She hadn't stepped off him. The bracelet might've fallen off, but it meant she could see her broken wrist out of the corner of her eye. The sight of it at such an odd angle sent her stomach churning.
"There is good in you, isn't there?" Webby 2 protested, kneeling by him. "You're not that bad a person."
"You should go," his mother said. "Now."
"And you should probably see a doctor to get that set, Webby," Huey said. "I can make a makeshift splint in the meanwhile, but I'm not a doctor."
Webby nodded, stepping off him. Sudden resentment for her condition rushed through her and she kicked Doofus again hard in the side. He groaned. Maybe the pain was making her short-tempered. She could also see, out of the corner of her eye, that her shadow appeared to be moving slightly out of sync with her.
"Let's go," she said, keeping a close eye on Doofus in case he had another trick up his sleeve. Given the way he was groaning and rolling around on the floor, he probably didn't, but she didn't trust him.
They backed out of the room and all of them had their eyes on Doofus until it was safe to look straight ahead and then flee. Webby gritted her teeth; running jostled her wrist and she slowed to a walk as soon as they were out of the mansion. Huey cast his gaze about for materials to make a splint.
"I can't believe you did that," Webby 2 said in awe. "You beat him up."
"You're not defending him, are you?" Dewey said. "Because that was pretty indefensible."
"No...I mean, I don't know if there is good in him, but...that was still...pretty cool," she said. She beamed at Webby 1. "The boys are right. You are...a badass."
She blushed when she said this. That was probably the closest she'd ever come to cursing.
Webby 1 might've brushed off the adulation or at least told her not to think about it, but she was clamping her beak against a pained outcry. Huey had found a branch and, with Dewey's help, was ripping a shirt into strips to bind her wrist to her body. Dewey had given up his t-shirt for the cause.
"You're really getting run through the ringer, aren't you?" Louie said quietly. He squeezed her shoulder and Webby could only breathe freely once Huey had finished the splint. It still hurt, mind you, but not to the same extent.
"Let's go home before Doofus gets any other ideas," Webby 1 said. She thought she could make the trip home without too much distress. Of course, she could be wrong.
Thankfully, they didn't need to go too far. Uncle Scrooge and Launchpad were just around the corner and, after Scrooge scowled at Webby 2's bruises and Webby 1's broken wrist, he ordered them to return to the manor to pick up Mrs. Beakley and then from there, straight to the hospital.
Webby waited until Webby 1's wrist was set and she wasn't gritting her teeth against the pain it caused to ask her the burning question she'd had since the rescue.
"Who's Lena?" she said.
"She was Magica's shadow, but she was my best friend," Webby 1 said. They sat in the ER and waited for the discharge papers. "She called herself Magica's niece."
"Like Minima?" she asked.
"I don't know who that is…" Webby 1 said, frowning. "But...Lena was my best friend and then Magica destroyed her; she sacrificed herself for me."
Webby 1 looked down and tears brimmed in her eyes. She hugged herself with her good arm. "I miss her so much."
"But what does that have to do with your shadow?"
Webby 2 looked up at the others. Louie was trying to cheat someone out of money, Dewey was sitting to the side and staying out of the conversation, but he looked concerned regardless, and Huey was talking to the doctor about proper aftercare for Webby's injury. They were so different, the boys. Webby still couldn't get over it.
"Doofus said my shadow talks," Webby 1 said. "I think...I hope...Lena's still with me, as my shadow now."
"Oh!" Webby 2 exclaimed and then blushed. "I kinda forgot, because of everything that happened. But you're right. Your shadow did say something. She said to tell me that 'Lena has your back'. She also called me girly."
Tears slipped down Webby 1's cheeks. "So it was her."
"Hey," Dewey said. "Hey. I guess she didn't vanish after all."
"We have to bring her back somehow," Webby 1 said, lifting her head defiantly. "All those magic books I secreted into the manor. We have to use them to bring her back. She had a corporeal form before. She can have one again. I just have to figure out how."
"Maybe Minima can help," Webby 2 volunteered.
"I still don't know who that is…" Webby 1 said, frowning at her. She swiped at her eyes and her shadow moved as if it were trying to help too.
"You said Lena's Magica's niece, right? Minima is Magica's niece from my dimension, except she's not her shadow. She's real," Webby said.
"Lena's real…" Webby 1 muttered. She hugged herself tighter and Dewey hugged her too.
"Minima knows magic too," Webby pressed. "She's one of my friends."
She frowned, looking down. "She's my only friend. The boys are too mean and I don't like Doofus."
"Do you think she could help?" Webby 1 asked, lifting her head.
"If I can get her through the mirror…" she replied, frowning deeper. "But the mirror's broken. They'd have to ask Magica to fix it."
"We're not asking our Magica," Dewey said. "She almost killed us. She came pretty close to wiping out all of us."
"She tried to kill you?"
"Oh, she did a lot more than 'try'," Webby 1 muttered. "Like Dewey said, she came pretty close. She wanted us dead."
"I don't know if my Magica is that evil…" Webby said, squirming. "That sounds kinda extreme."
Webby 1's shadow scoffed, at least, that was what it sounded like. Webby 1 twisted around to try and see her, but there was nothing unusual about her features to her. She wilted, discouraged.
"Lemme guess. None of your villains routinely try to kill you," Louie said, returning from his failed attempt at grifting.
"Not...really?" Webby 2 said, frowning at them. "Doesn't that scare you?"
"We can handle it," Dewey said.
Webby 2 hugged herself. That sounded scary, a lot worse than her universe. Maybe that was why the others were tougher here- they had to be. It made her want to go home, but, at the same time...things were better here too. The triplets treated her as an equal. Uncle Scrooge didn't consider her slightly better than the help. Sure, Doofus was creepy and she couldn't defend herself. Oh, she didn't know now. She wasn't sure what she wanted anymore.
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows anywhere.
"We can't do anything about the mirror from this side," Huey remarked. Mrs. Beakley was coming around to pick them up; they could see her heading toward them from the nurses' station.
"We're going to have to wait until they repair it on their side. But they did try to send you a note. I think."
"It came out as confetti," Dewey commented. "But they were trying to apologize. They probably feel guilty."
"They should," Webby 2 huffed and then stared at the floor. "But I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I let them get to me."
"You've got to stand up to us, I mean, them," Huey said. "You can't let them push you around like that."
"And they seriously need to grow up," Dewey said. "The last time I checked, girls don't have 'cooties'. They're acting like you're something contagious."
Webby 1 was silent, hugging herself and staring at her shadow. Tears still slipped down her cheeks and Dewey hugged her.
"I promise, when the mirror's fixed, I'll come back and bring Minima," she said. "I'll help you guys. You've helped me."
"You got kidnapped because of us," Louie pointed out. "We didn't really help you."
"But you've been so nice…" Webby protested. "And you didn't have to be."
"Just because your version of us are jerks doesn't mean we are," Louie said. He was back to scrolling through his phone and she wondered what held his interest.
"Besides, 'these ducks don't back down'," Dewey said and Louie looked up from his phone, tucked it into his pocket, and threw a spare pillow at Dewey's face.
"It still sounds way better when Uncle Donald says it," Louie informed him.
"Will you help me stand up to them?" she asked.
"If you'll help me bring back Lena," Webby 1 said. She bit her lower beak and Dewey's grip on her tightened.
"It's a deal," she said. "I'd say 'shake on it', but maybe you shouldn't, in your condition."
"We can shake," Webby 1 said. Webby's gaze flicked to her broken wrist. Her shadow was moving strangely and the friendship bracelet was moving back and forth on its own. Lena, Webby 1 had said. Webby wondered whether she was anything like Minima.
She offered her hand and they shook just as Mrs. Beakley came back around.
"I'm not going to ask," Mrs. Beakley said stiffly. "Are we all ready to go?"
They nodded and Mrs. Beakley smiled at Webby 1. "You've had quite a week."
"I know, but, maybe...things are turning around," she said and smiled at the other Webby. Webby 2 smiled back and blushed, ducking her head.
