Nickel looked at the paper before him, frowning. Looking up at his visitor, he asked her, "This is the map?"

"Yup." Ma Beagle replied, putting a cigarette in her mouth.

Nickel looked down at the haphazard diagram before him, detailing the exterior of McDuck Manor and a handful of rooms. He must not have hidden his displeasure well, because he heard the crime boss chuckle, "I told you, you'd be disappointed. My boys only got inside a few times, after all."

"Eh. It's a start." Nickel replied, studying the map closely. "Better than the zero rooms I had before. And all of these rooms have the same level of protection? No rooms with more security than normal?"

"Those ones there? No."

"Hm." Nickel stroked his chin, feeling slightly put out.

The two of them were in Nickel's office, a ceiling fan spinning lazily and ineffectually overhead. Nickel stood over his desk, casually reading the map and making notes on a nearby wad of paper, while Ma Beagle watched him carefully, reaching into her bag and pulling out a lighter.

"Well, let's put that to the side for now. Time for a different exercise." Nickel declared, pushing the map aside. Pointing to the corkboard hanging from his wall, he requested, "Can you look at the names I've got posted up there and just tell me which ones you recognise?"

Ma Beagle looked over to the corkboard, then back to Nickel, a frown on her face. He made a more insistent gesture, and she rolled her eyes. "I hope you brought me here to do more than play a matchin' game, Fed."

She stood up from her seat and walked over to the board, lighting her cigarette as she studied the various labels that had been tacked onto the board.

"…I do mind if you smoke, by the way." Nickel said matter-of-factly. "Thanks for askin'."

"Don't care." Ma Beagle retorted.

Nickel folded his arms, annoyed, but forcing himself to bite back with a retort. He looked down at the map again, tilting his head in interest as he noticed the frayed edges of the paper. "When was the last time this map was updated?"

"About five years ago." Ma Beagle replied, still reading the board. "My boys add to the map every time they try to get inside."

"You haven't attacked the house since?"

"My boys haven't attacked the house since."

"Hm." Nickel pulled out his coin, rolling it between his knuckles. "Do you reckon they might try again, in the near future? Just in case there's an opportunity to add more to this thing."

As she studied the corkboard, Ma Beagle replied, "I wouldn't hold my breath, Fed. My boys have been trying to get into that house for years. They never get far. Between the constant failure, and half of them gettin' put away by your people, I reckon they've moved on to more… reliable ventures."

She blew out a plume of smoke from her mouth, then jabbed at a label on the board that read, 'The Stop-Watch – 9/5/2018'. "That one." She grunted.

"You know about it?" Nickel jolted from his seat with a grin.

"Aye. Glomgold used it to try and drive McDuck crazy in 2018. Stops time or somethin' like that." Ma Beagle puffed on her cigarette, grunting, "Would have loved the chance to use it for myself, but apparently it was destroyed."

"…Hm." Nickel walked up to the corkboard, taking a length of blue string and tying it to the tack pinned onto the name. "Alright… any others you recognise?"

"Eh… this one's familiar." Ma Beagle pointed to a label that read 'Nightmare Catcher'. "Only heard about it in passin', though."

"Good, good… do you know where it is now?" Nickel asked, taking another length of thread.

"In McDuck's hands." Ma Beagle looked around at the other names with a frown. "…I assume you think the same can be said for… whatever these are supposed to be?" She gestured at the labels. "You wouldn't be takin' an interest otherwise."

"Eh… can't say, really." Nickel replied, tying the string between the label and a photo of Scrooge McDuck in the middle of the board. "I'm not allowed to discuss case details with civilians, I'm afraid."

"…Right. Sure."

"You don't recognise any of the other names here?" Nickel asked as he finished tying the string.

"Eh. They all sound magicky to me." Ma Beagle said dismissively. "Never took an interest in that crap."

"Hm." Nickel walked back to his desk. "Alright, then… let's go through some questions, then. Just some basic ones."

The two of them took their seats once more as Nickel said, "Let's say that McDuck had somethin' that he wasn't supposed to have. Somethin' that, if the United States government knew he had, would land him in some scalding hot water." He pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, smiling enigmatically as he asked, "As one of his oldest enemies, where do you think he would hide that somethin'?"

Ma Beagle's eyes flicked towards the corkboard, then back to Nickel.

"…Nothin' specific?" She asked.

"Just somethin'." Nickel replied.

Ma Beagle shrugged. "He has a bunch of hiding holes, but whatever you're lookin' for is in the house itself. If there's any trait that defines McDuck, it's paranoia. He's not content that his property is safe unless he knows where it is and what's guardin' it at all times. If he has somethin' that he doesn't even want the government to know about, he'd keep it somewhere close."

"…Mm-hm." Nickel started to make a list on the paper. "What about his… 'Money Bin'?"

"Not a chance." The crime boss replied, puffing out a cloud of smoke with a scowl. "That goddamn place is a monument to himself. He wouldn't put anything in there that he didn't want people to see."

"Thought so… still a little frustrating." Nickel said, scribbling down a note. "Believe it or not, the Bin would have been easier to get into."

"Oh, I believe it." Ma Beagle remarked.

"Still, nothing's impossible." Nickel continued. "Just have to find the right way to go about it…"

"Which is where I come in, right?" Ma Beagle asked, glowering at him. "You want my boys to try their luck attackin' that damn place again, fill out that map you've got there?"

"Nah, I don't think so." Nickel replied. "The most valuable thing you can do now is to tell me everythin' you know about his family."

Ma Beagle frowned. "His family? Buncha interlopers, not much more. Why do you want to know about them?"

"Oh, just in case one of them knows somethin'." Nickel replied casually.

Ma Beagle stared at him silently for a moment.

Then, she snorted, an amused smirk crossing her muzzle. "You're gonna try to interrogate his family?" She asked derisively. "That a joke, Fed?"

Nickel looked up at her innocently. "Why would I be joking?"

"Fed, if you think anyone in that family is gonna tell you squat, then you've got another thing comin'. You'd have better luck grillin' the front gate for info."

"Oh, I imagine it'll be difficult." Nickel replied, writing some more notes down. "But you never know, the kinds of things kids let slip these days…"

"The brats? You have even less of a chance. You try your little smart-ass detective schtick on them, and they'll laugh it off in your face." Ma Beagle told him confidently, leaning back in her chair.

Again, Nickel felt a twinge of annoyance that he forced himself to ignore. "I think I know what I'm doin', thank you." He replied tersely.

"You obviously don't. Take it from me, Fed. Those kids weren't cowed by the likes of me, and they won't be cowed by the likes of you." She pulled out her cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke in his face. "Of course, my boys might get it into their heads to… I dunno… maybe nab one of them while they're headin' back from school and take them to an abandoned warehouse? Spend a couple of hours 'coaxing' the information out of them?"

"…You're saying that I should torture children?" Nickel deadpanned.

"Hey, you said it, not me." Ma Beagle chuckled darkly. "Course, my boys won't be able to get close to them, not with what they have in the junkyard. But if they had some help from-"

"Yeah, I'll stop you right there." Nickel interrupted her. "Not only is torturin' kids evil in a… really quite perverse way, it's also very, very illegal. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm doin' this by the law. It's the only way this'll work."

"Oh, don't give me that crap!" Ma Beagle complained, frustrated. "Don't you FBI louts spy on your own citizens?"

"Unethical and illegal are two different things." Nickel retorted, reaching for a nearby mug of coffee and taking a sip. "I'm not a Saturday morning cartoon villain like you. I'm just doin' my bit to rein in McDuck's particular brand of chaos. And all I need from you is information on how to do it. Now…"

He put down the mug and clicked his pen, smirking at her. "Everything you know about McDuck's family. Personalities, weaknesses, potential skeletons in the closet. If you wouldn't mind."

Ma Beagle stared at him for a moment or two, an odd frown on her snout.

"…Yeah. Alright." She muttered, extinguishing her cigarette on the desk table.


The McDuck family didn't have dinner at the table as often these days. Most of the time, the kids had dinner in front of the television or in their bedrooms, with the dinner table reserved for the adults. Tonight, however, they all ate at the great table, feasting on a lovely dinner of steak, salad and chips. Scrooge sat at the head of the table, as usual, with the rest of the family before him. The triplets sat on one side of the table with Della and Webby, while Donald, Daisy, the twins and Mrs Beakley sat on the other. The food was delivered one plate at a time by the spiritual servant Duckworth, leaving the family to talk amongst themselves.

Webby didn't talk much during dinner. She mostly picked at her food piece by piece, trying to at least look happier than she was.

Once dinner was over, Webby went back up to her room to retrieve a notebook, containing the pitch she'd written earlier. Returning to the dining room, she saw that only the boys were still in the room, talking among themselves. They looked at her as she came in, their conversation petering out and being replaced by a dense silence.

"…Hey, Webs." Dewey said awkwardly.

"Hey." Webby muttered a reply.

"How are you feeling?" Huey asked warily.

"Fine." Webby replied, looking around the room with a frown. "Where'd everyone go?"

"I think they're just getting stuff for the next adventure." Huey replied. "Maps, texts, you know."

"Ah." Webby murmured, sitting down in the chair next to Dewey. Turning to him, she apologized, "Hey, I'm sorry I wasn't at your game. I just wasn't really up for it."

Dewey scratched the back of his head, saying, "Nah, it's good. You're going through stuff, I get it. I'm sorry it, uh… didn't work out with Lena."

"It's fine."

"Well…" Huey chimed in, grimacing regretfully. "We're more sorry about pushing you towards it."

"…Huh?" Webby frowned confusedly, then she blinked. "Oh, with like…?"'

"When we told you that we were positive she felt the same way, yeah."

"Oh, that's not your fault." Webby told them, shaking her head. "I mean, how were you supposed to know?"

"I dunno." Dewey sighed in remorse. "I just think that if Louie could figure it out, then at least one of us-"

Louie, who had been looking down at his phone, turned to look at his brother with a disbelieving expression. "Dude."

"…Oh."

Webby blinked. "He what?"

"He didn't say that!" Huey told her quickly, trying to diffuse the coming argument. "He just said-"

"You knew?" Webby demanded, rounding on Louie.

"Literally all I said what that I never got that impression from her!" Louie argued. "From Lena, like- I dunno, I never saw it."

"You-" Webby stared at him, words catching in her throat. Finally, she demanded, "Then why didn't you say anything?"

Louie seemed to flinch at the sudden attention directed at him. "I- I dunno, it… wasn't my business." He muttered defensively. "Besides, everyone else was telling you to go for it, I assumed they knew something I didn't."

He pulled his phone back up to his face, fiercely ignoring the other three as they stared at him.

"…Okay, well… it's still fine." Webby mumbled, turning away. "It doesn't matter."

A silence fell over the three of them, Webby folding her arms and leaning on the table while the triplets looked between each other awkwardly.

Suddenly, the doors flung open, prompting the four of them to turn around in their seats. Running into the room were May and June, both with joyous expressions on their faces.

"Webby!" May cried, throwing her arms around Webby excitedly. "Mom's letting us go!"

Webby eyes lit up. "Huh?"

"Mom said we can go on the next adventure!" June said excitedly. "She said it's okay!"

Webby's demeanour changed completely, an elated smile overtaking her beak. "Really?" She gasped.

"Under the condition that you're sensible!" Daisy's voice rang out from beyond the door.

One by one, the adults walked into the room, each of them carrying files, tablets and bundles of maps. Scrooge led them, declaring loudly, "Right! Lads, lasses… let's get into this!"

As the various different documents were laid upon the table, the kids stood up from their seats, sweeping their gaze across the spread of lore and mystery. Webby in particular was starting to vibrate with excitement, a manic grin across her beak.

"Now, we're goin' to be doin' our next adventure a little differently than the last few." Scrooge told them. "First and foremost, we're goin' to be increasin' the size of our little party by two." He gestured towards the twins. "May, June, we've been overlookin' you two for far too long. Welcome aboard!"

The girls beamed happily, looking at each other in glee. Before they could celebrate too hard, Daisy suddenly told them from across the table, "But, as part of the deal, I want you two to promise me that you won't take any unnecessary risks, okay?" Relenting, she added more gently, "I know that you're strong enough to handle whatever happens, but I still can't help but worry about you two. So, please, be careful."

"Yes, mom!" May and June replied in unison. As they did, Daisy stood up from the map she'd been laying across the table, looking over at Donald beside her. Looking up from the stone tablets he was putting he down, he gave her a supportive nod and a smile. She smiled back, and looked over at the boys.

"I assume that's okay with you boys?" She asked.

Webby looked over at the boys, who seemed to have frozen somewhat. Her smile flickered. She'd been told about what had happened in Paris, with June and the mercenary, and she could see in their faces that they remembered that moment very vividly.

"…Yeah. That's fine." Louie said nonchalantly.

"Y-Yeah. 'Course, that's awesome!" Dewey added, slightly too quickly.

"Absolutely. We're happy to have them." Huey agreed neutrally.

Webby's smile returned, this time in relief rather than elation.

"Secondly!" Scrooge told them, returning attention to him. "We'll be lettin' the six of you decide where we'll be goin' next! We've been doin' things my way for a while now, and it's high time we let you lot decide! These outings are about you, after all."

"Each of us put together one adventure for you to choose." Donald quacked, gesturing at the documents, now organised into four piles. Pointing at the pile before him, he said enthusiastically, "Daisy and I put this one together, it's about getting this idol from-"

"Boring! Cliché!" Della interrupted, shoving her brother out of the way with a yelp. "How about an adventure where you go underground and do battle with an ancient warrior for prestige and glory?"

"Prestige and glory do sound like prizes worth dying for." Dewey mused, to the undisguised wariness of his brothers.

"Right?" Della said with a grin, sitting up on the table as Donald pulled himself back up, glaring at her. "It's way cooler than a boring old treasure hunt!"

"You mean more dangerous." Daisy rebutted tersely as she helped Donald to his feet.

"Eh. Means the same thing." Della said with a shrug.

"Now, now. Let the young un's decide for themselves." Scrooge said gently. Turning back to the kids, he told them, "Now, we'll leave you alone to figure it out for the most part. All we'll do is explain what each adventure's about, and we'll leave the rest up to you. Once you've all decided on somethin', I'll start makin' preparations. How does that sound to you all?"

The kids nodded and declared their satisfaction as one, already standing up and looking through the assorted documents. Scrooge clapped his hands happily, declaring, "Excellent! Alright, we'll start with Donald and Daisy's adventure, then-"

"Before we begin," Mrs Beakley interrupted, looking over in Webby's direction. "Webby, I believe you had a suggestion for an adventure?"

All eyes turned to Webby, who was staring awe-struck at the piles of lore and adventuring potential on the table. She looked up with a start, blinking and saying, "Huh? Oh! Right, yeah!"

"Uh…" Daisy spoke up as Webby fumbled around with her notebook. "I thought we were going…"

"We can review her suggestion the same way we reviewed these ones." Mrs Beakley told her, anticipating what she was going to say.

"…Alright." Daisy relented, stepping back.

"Hm… alrighty." Scrooge took a step back as Webby made her way to the head of the table. "What's your idea, Webbigail?"

"Okay, so, there's this place I've wanted to go for a while, but we never got the chance." Webby explained eagerly. "It's a network of caves called the Clairvoyant Crystal Caverns!"

Scrooge double blinked. "Wait, the-?"

"Behold!" Webby declared with a cry, opening up her notebook to show the rest of the family. Pasted upon the paper was a collage of printed photos of cave tunnels and fissures, lined with growths of jagged magenta crystals. Handwritten notes surrounded the photos, explaining the contents of each one, and an entire page was dedicated to a coloured-in drawing of a single crystal with a label that read, 'Eats your brain!'

"…Ah." Mrs Beakley said, realising where this was going.

"Within this remote maze of caves and tunnels grow incredibly rare Clairvoyant Crystals, gemstones imbued with faint psychic power!" Webby explained, a familiar twinkle in her eye. "In times long past, budding psychics would travel to this cave, using the crystals' power to hone their powers of clairvoyance and telekinesis! However, the cave was overrun by the crystals, greatly increasing the psionic force in the cave and driving people to madness! The psychics abandoned the cave, but not before hiding their last secret at the very bottom – a mystic scroll, detailing the method to unlocking your psychic prowess and becoming the master of your own mind!"

Webby looked around at the family, grinning widely and waiting for a reaction. Her smile flickered when she was met by hesitant, worried looks.

"…Uh…" June spoke up first. "So, anyone who enters the cave goes mad?"

"…Yeah." Webby replied.

"So, how would we get to the bottom?" Louie asked.

"Oh!" Webby flipped the page over and showed them a picture of a helmet that she'd coloured grey. "Uh, the psionics are blocked by most common metals. Lead's the best at blocking it, so if we just wear lead-lined helmets-"

"Didn't Uncle Scrooge go there?" Huey asked confusedly.

Webby froze. "Huh?"

"Yeah, Uncle Scrooge already went to that place." Huey recalled. "I remember him talking about it back when he was with the… other team."

A tense silence fell over the room. The other team. The one that Scrooge had adventured with a couple of years ago. The one he had tried and failed to keep secret from the family. All eyes turned to Scrooge, who was holding his cane and looking away awkwardly.

"…Erm… yes." He muttered. "I did go there with Goldie and Gyro… though I thought you already knew that, Webby."

"W-well, I mean… yeah…" Webby stuttered, still forcing a smile as she turned around to look at him. "But you never found the scroll, remember? Because you came back before-"

"I chose to come back because I'd came to my senses." Scrooge interrupted her. Looking at her pityingly, he explained, "Even if I hadn't been in the wrong, adventurin' without you all, I never should have gone to that place. It was far too dangerous, and for too little a reward. Who cares to learn antiquated mystic mumbo-jumbo anyhow?"

Webby's smile slid from her face. She looked down at the floor, trying to ignore the feeling of everyone staring at her back.

Mrs Beakley moved up to her and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Gently, she told her, "I think we should stick to the adventures we've prepared for you. But perhaps we can help you put together your own for the next time."

"…Yeah." Webby replied, forcing a smile as she closed her notebook. "Yeah, that… that makes sense."

"Good. Now, then…" Scrooge said as Beakley guided Webby back to her seat. He gestured over to Donald and Daisy, saying, "Now, let's explain each adventure, startin' with you two. If you would?"

"Alright… as I was saying…" Donald grumbled, shooting a dirty glare at Della. "Daisy and I prepared a simple adventure to retrieve this idol…"

With that, the adults started to explain each expedition they'd planned, detailing the locale, the dangers and the reward at the end of it. The children listened with rapt attention, Huey and June taking notes as they did. Even Webby was roused from her unhappiness by their presentations, swept up once again in the adventuring fantasy.

Nobody noticed Scrooge relax the vice grip he had on his cane.