Chapter 2
o0o0o0o
"In this shirt, I can be you
To be near you for a while
In this shirt, I can be you
To be near you for a while."
o0o0o0o
The early morning following the attack…The Family
Donald's stomach turned as he watched the footage of Louie's kidnapping again. He studied it, trying his best to find any sign of where F.O.W.L. was taking his nephew. He stared at the screen silently as he watched Louie and Della's moments leading up to the first shot. He smiled at the sound of his sister's giggle as Louie joked with her to get his way out of being eliminated from their game. But that smile instantly fell as Donald watched his nephew take off but stop in his tracks, grabbing onto his neck. He despised the feeling he felt when he watched Louie collapse into Della's arm. Tears stung his eyes from anger as he watched the three F.O.W.L. agents attack his sister, resulting in her, too, getting tranquilized.
He watched in disgust as they kicked Della's body to the side and aggressively picked Louie up. The three stood there momentarily, laughing and contacting the F.O.W.L. headquarters that they had successfully captured "triplet number 3." Then, somehow, the tape skipped ahead to when Dewey found Della. Not even Gyro could explain why this had happened.
Donald sighed as he leaned back in his chair, glancing down at his two nephews sleeping in his lap. Although they were eleven, they were still certainly small enough to fit in Donald's lap, especially with the extra room from missing the third one. He sat in silence, staring at the two. Even in their sleep, they clung to each other and Donald's shirt like they were in danger. It almost felt wrong only having two ducklings in his arms; he was so used to holding the three. Donald fought back the lump forming in his throat as he thought about Louie.
"Donald." a voice said, taking his attention away from his boys. He looked over to see Beakley standing in the doorway with a peaceful look on her face. "She's waking up." Donald's heart began pumping as he gently put Huey and Dewey down on the couch. Not waking up the boys after transferring them was a skill the duck had mastered, so it only took a moment.
As he followed Beakley up to the room that Della had been placed in for monitoring, a memory from the first time Della had gotten hurt on an adventure flooded his brain. She was knocked so hard in the head that she was unconscious for two days and lost almost a week's worth of memories.
They arrived to see Della sitting on the bed, looking around at the machines, and Gyro, confused. As Donald appeared in the doorway, her heart rate increased, knowing by the look on his face that something terrible had happened.
"You feeling okay?" Donald said, cautiously walking towards her bed.
"What happened?" Della said, ignoring the question.
"You need to rest. I will get-" Donald said before he was interrupted by his sister.
"Donald, what happened?" She said once again, this time more assertively. Donald glanced over at Gyro, who had a worried expression on his face just seeing Della's elevated heart rate from the stress. The room was filled with silence for a bit longer as he drew in a deep breath.
"You were attacked." Donald said, "You and Louie. They left you, but…" Donald paused, "F.O.W.L. has Louie."
"WHAT?!" Della said, instantly ripping off the cords, causing the machines to flatline and panic. Gyro quickly turned them off to lower the stress in the room; however, Della kept fighting to get past Donald.
"Della, stop!" Donald said, pulling his sister back.
"We have to get him back!" Della said, tears streaming down her face, "We have to find him, Donald!"
"I know, Della! I know!" Donald said, finally pushing Della enough to make her stop, "We're still trying to figure out where they took him, but for now, you can't let yourself fall apart!" The room fell silent as Donald and Della stared at each other with glossy eyes.
"How could I let them take him?" Della said, tears still running down her cheek.
"It wasn't your fault, lass," Scrooge said, entering the room. "None of us could have fought like you did to protect him." Della shook her head as more tears escaped her eyes.
"I thought we defeated them… Bradford's gone." Della said, glaring up at her uncle.
"That's what we all thought. And from what little information we are going off as now, we don't even know if Bradford is involved." Scrooge said, readjusting his hat. Donald squinted, watching his uncle closely. Outwardly, Scrooge seemed to be somehow handling this situation well. But Donald could tell that Scrooge was in a full rage and grief stage by the redness in his eyes and the plain fact that he loved his family more than anything.
o0o0o0o
The day following the attack…Louie
Louie's head felt cloudy, and his memories were hazy as he slowly regained consciousness. Confusion washed over him as he tried to piece together what had happened. His last memory was of being at home in McDuck Manor with his family. His eyes fluttered open, and he found himself in a completely unfamiliar setting. Dim lighting created shadows over the cell, and the cold, sterile air pricked his flesh. Disorientation set in as he realized he was no longer in the comfort of his great uncle's mansion. As his surroundings came into focus, Louie's heart skipped a beat. The realization that he had been kidnapped struck him like a bolt of lightning. Fear gripped his chest, causing his breath to hitch.
Gazing at the cold, white metallic walls, he felt the weight of isolation bearing down on him. The absence of familiar sights and sounds intensified his sense of vulnerability. The silence was deafening, broken only by the distant hum of machinery, a constant reminder of his captivity. He could tell that whoever kept him here had some pretty advanced technology knowledge as he studied the locked door and the fingerprint lock mounded next to it.
With his head still leaning against the wall, he turned it to examine his own state. Despite the excruciating headache and the oddly numb sensation all over, Louie seemed to be untouched. He returned his gaze back to the door and racked his head to remember what events even led up to him being locked up in some techy geek's lair. He squeezed his eyes shut, hating the fact that he had absolutely no recollection of the day before or-
Where's Huey and Dewey?!
His eyes shot open again as he forced himself to have the strength to pull his head away from the wall. He frantically glanced around the room in search of his brothers—or any of his family members in that case. Just then, a loud alarm blared, and the door slowly lifted up. He squinted his eyes as the brighter lights from the outside hallway blinded him. But he didn't look away from the tall, broad silhouette of a person standing before him. Slowly his eyes adjusted.
"Hello, Llewellen." the voice said. Louie gasped as Bradford stood, towering over him with a cocky grin on his face.
"Bradford?! I-I thought you were gone!" Louie studdered, more shocked than worried at this point.
"I was," he said, removing his hands from behind his back. He slowly began to walk towards the small duck sitting on the floor. "But I'm back and stronger than before." he blinked, and his eyes turned into a glowing shade of red. Louie's heart dropped in fear. "You see, after our last meeting, I realized something. Adventure isn't what your uncle loves most in this world, it's the very essence of love and unity he shares with his family." Suddenly, all the walls surrounding them turned into a portrait of their family. Louie looked around, his heart pounding in fear and tears stinging his eyes seeing them. He stood, slowly walking to the middle of the room to look around in confusion at the pictures surrounding him. "After I was saved and brought back, we spent endless hours perfecting our most brilliant plan to eliminate adventure."
"Uh-huh. Just like the plan that went so well for you last time?" Louie said, rolling his eyes and turning towards the vulture. "Just face it, Bradford, you can't eliminate adventure."
"Correct. I can't eliminate adventure. But I can eliminate what keeps Scrooge McDuck adventuring." Louie's stomach turned at the evilness in Bradford's tone. Suddenly, an invisible field grabbed Louie, lifting him off the ground and pinning his arms against his sides, causing him to grunt in discomfort. He was then turned around to face the picture of his family once again; however, this time, a huge X covered Louie's body. "One by one, I am going to kill each and every member of the McDuck family… starting bottom to the top." Slowly, more X's began to over his family members. Louie's mind swirled with a whirlwind of emotions—fear, confusion, anger, and a profound longing for the safety and familiarity of his family. He fought the tears stinging his eyes and turned to the vulture.
"Then why am I still here?" Louie said, trying his best to keep his brave demeanor. "If you wanted to kill me, why haven't you." In all honesty, Louie was horrified. But he knew that cowering to Bradford's threats would only feed him what he wanted to be fed. Plus, he had talked himself out of bad situations countless times before; why break that streak now?
"Well, that wouldn't be any fun, would it?" Bradford said, taking a step towards the duckling. "I need to make certain Scrooge never even thinks about adventuring ever again. I need him to see what he's put onto his family because of his recklessness." Bradford then pulled out a remote, giving Louie a sinister look,
"Smile. You're brothers will see this."
o0o0o0o
"There's a crane
Knocking down
All those things
That we were"
o0o0o0o
The day following the attack…The Family
Screams filled the McDuck manor causing chills to run down Donald's spine. In a matter of seconds, he bolted down the stairs and burst into the lounge, followed by Della, Scrooge, Beakley, and Gyro. They were expecting to fight a gang of F.O.W.L. agents there to kidnap the boys, but instead, they found Huey kneeling in front of Dewey, panic written all over his face. The duckling in blue was on his knees, tears running down his face as he held onto his head. His breaths were hitched, and he seemed to be in a state of shock.
"It's Louie." Dewey studdered, "I could see Louie-" he sobbed in fear as Donald gently grabbed onto his nephew. Huey stepped back, his hands trembling.
"In your dream?" Donald said, brushing his hand across Dewey's sweaty head.
"No! I-It wasn't a dream!" Dewey said, grabbing onto Donald's shirt. "I saw him! And I could hear him." Just as Dewey finished, Huey suddenly gasped and grabbed onto his head.
"NO!" Huey screamed as he stumbled backward. Della grabbed onto Huey's arms, catching him from falling, and held him close to her chest.
"Huey, honey, what's going on?" Della said, trying her best to calm him down. Huey's eyes shot open, and he looked up at his mother with huge, watery eyes.
"It's Bradford!" Huey said, "Louie's with Bradford and-" Huey was cut off by another flash and he yelped.
"He's hurting him!" Dewey yelled, squeezing his eyes shut as he experienced the same vision. Donald's heart dropped into his stomach. He couldn't handle this anymore. He let go of Dewey, stood up, and rushed out of the room, not wanting to make the situation in the room any worse by having an outburst. Scrooge glanced down at the boys, and then quickly followed Donald out of the room to help him and keep him from harming himself. He learned in the years that Donald and Della lived with him that Donald needed something to physically beat; otherwise, that thing would be himself.
"I think F.O.W.L.'s somehow connecting the triplet's brains telepathically," Gyro said, kneeling down and gently lifting Dewey's head. Suddenly, the visions came to a stop, and both Huey and Dewey's eyes shot open. The room fell silent
"26.348558." Dewey whispered. "145.319444." Huey followed.