Dewey pushed the RV over hills for miles, following Launchpad in the Sunchaser. He glanced down when Louie's legs shifted behind the passenger seat. Oh right, the guys! He reached over and grabbed Louie by the ankle, pulling him into his sights. His brother covered his eyes from the sun and groaned.
Dewey winced. He looks terrible. "Ooh, you okay, Lou?"
"Mmmph… my head feels like it's split in half," Louie moaned and rolled onto his stomach, laying his head between his folded arms.
"What happened?"
"Banged it against the corner." He kept his head hidden in his arm as he pointed to the edge of the small hallway separating the halves of the RV.
"He rammed into us pretty straight on." He focused back on the road. I hope he's alright. "You should've seen it, Lou. Launchpad swooped in out of nowhere and practically carried Gus into the ditch. It was the smallest crash I've ever seen come out of Launchpad's flying! It was crazy!" He kept on talking, waiting for Huey to start talking over him while bringing Louie an ice pack.
"Shhh. Would you close your beak-for-once?" Louie murmured, slurring a little at the end.
Dewey swallowed hard. He could have a concussion with how hard Gus rocketed into us. I would've flown into the windshield if I hadn't been strapped in. He glanced down at his little brother whose eyes were closing.
Dewey turned his eyes back to the Sunchaser and reached behind him, yanking Louie's leg again. "Hey, stay awake." Where's Huey? Slacking on the job again?
"Hands-ff…" Louie rolled around and attempted to kick his hand away.
His aim is worse than usual, and that's saying something! "Hue-man, where are you?!" Dewey tried to spot him through one of the rearview mirrors. He could barely see his brother's foot through the slit in the curtain. "Okay, that's enough of that." He swatted Louie's weak legs out of the way. "I know you're tired but you probably have a small concussion. Stay awake and go make sure Huey's okay."
Louie growled and rolled back onto his stomach.
"NOW, knucklehead. You need to stay awake and Huey could be seriously hurt back there."
Belting a perpetual moan, Louie inchwormed his way through the curtain to the back of the RV.
Dewey focused back on the road ahead… only… where was the Sunchaser? Sitting up in his seat, he scanned the skies and the countryside around him. "Here Launchpad, Launchpad, Launchpad… where are you?" He breathed in a sing-song tone.
The RV made an awful grinding sound as they came up on a steep hill. "You can Dewey this, old girl." He revved the engine as she quickly lost momentum in the climb. "We're so close." The temperature gauge did the jitterbug. Finally, the old girl pulled herself up to the top of the hill and sputtered to a stop.
He scanned the countryside and smiled to himself. About a mile off the road, sat the beautiful big, red plane, nose-deep in a barn. "One thing you always can count on." Launchpad will always crash right where you need him to, when you need him to. Dewey let his foot off the break and the RV rattled down the hill. He rolled her to the side of the road by the farm and finally gave the old girl a moment to breathe. Steam hissed from under her hood and all of her bolts and mechanics shook as they settled to a complete stop. She practically coughed when Dewey turned off the ignition.
"Louie, you better not be sleeping back there!" He climbed out of the seat and immediately his legs turned to jello. "Wah!" he toppled over catching himself on the back of his seat. The adrenaline had sucked the life out of his limbs. Bleh, come on, legs, you're better than this. You won all of those dance competitions in highschool. You didn't quit on me then! He shook each of them until they felt strong enough to walk on. "Lou?! You awake?"
"Gah, stop yelling."
Dewey pulled back the curtain. His stomach sank. Uncle D is going to be furious. Every cabinet and closet had vomited their contents on the floor and the back window was shattered. He was afraid to see what it looked like both on the bumper and under the hood. Uggggh, and he's going to take it out of my pocket too, I just know it. Of all the times for Huey to be on his bad side. Uncle D would have picked him to be in charge of the stupid RV.
Speaking of his older brother, Huey laid limp in the middle of all the junk, his head resting against the dishrack. All thoughts about the RV flew out of Dewey's head. He climbed over the trash to get him. A massive gash adorned his forehead and his eyes were closed. Dewey finally let out a breath when he saw his brother's chest rise and fall.
"Hue?"
Huey opened one eye. The other one below the gash stayed squeezed shut.
"I'm trying to find the first aid kit," Louie mumbled, his eyelids drooping more every second as he fumbled through a compartment under the bench seat.
Dewey got to work clearing the pots and pans away. "Man, we better hide all of the mirrors from you, Huesen." He slipped a hand under his brother's neck and helped him sit up.
"Does it look as bad as it feels?" Huey grabbed a hold of his shoulder and sat up with a wince or two.
Dewey grabbed a shirt from the floor and wiped at the blood seeping down the side of Huey's face. "I wouldn't be too disappointed if I were you, though. I mean, girls love a guy with battle scars. Trust me."
That made him smile. "You think so?"
Dewey handed him the shirt and Huey pressed it to his forehead. "Oh definitely. You're gonna get the girls now. It's in a great spot. Not too close to your eye to be distracting but just enough to attract curiosity. You'll be like a man of mystery! Intrigue… draaaaaama." He pulled Huey's arm over his shoulder and helped to his feet.
"Ssssss-ow!" Huey seethed and fell against him.
"What? What is it?" Dewey dragged him onto the other breakfast bar bench.
"My ankle." Huey leaned his elbow on the table, holding the shirt to his head as he stared at his foot. "I probably sprained it trying to get my footing around all the junk when Gus plowed into us."
"Was that before or after you smashed your head into this cabinet?" Dewey smirked, poking at the busted cabinet just to watch it dangle from its hinges. "Uncle D would be so proud." He snickered.
Huey glared at him. "Do I look ready to laugh about it?"
"Hey, I'm just saying. If Captain Caution and his sidekick Safety Boy were wearing their seatbelts, it wouldn't have happened."
"Okay, Uncle Donald. Next time we get chased by a crazed gang leader, I'll make sure to wear my seatbelt."
Dewey pushed up his sleeves. "Oh, don't go calling me the Uncle Donald. You'll lose at that game, temper-head." I'm not Uncle D. If anyone is, it's him and his whole responsible leader persona and that Duke-mode he has. Pffft!
"Guys, keep it down. I can't think straight!" Louie snapped as he sank into the compartment, throwing more of Uncle D's stuff over his shoulder.
Dewey stepped back and shared a look with Huey. Yuuup, definitely has a concussion. He was about to say something more about the whole Uncle Donald thing when there was a knock on the RV door.
Huey lifted his head and winced, trying to open his other eye. Dewey placed his hand on his shoulder before heading to the door. "It can't be Gus. Even if he made it out of the wreck, I left him in the dust."
He barely opened the door before- "DEWEY! You're alive!" Two big arms snatched him and squeezed the living daylights out of him.
Dewey smiled, coughing and closing his eyes to keep them from popping out of his head. "Lau-aunch-pppaaaaad," he wheezed.
Launchpad dropped him to the ground, the widest smile on his face. "I came as soon as I heard you were in trouble."
Dewey gasped for breath and managed to pick himself up off the ground. "H-how did you know-?" He looked over his shoulder. Huey, still winking like a pirate, smiled at him and held up his phone. "Ahh, that makes sense now." Thank goodness he wasn't reading my blog.
"How on earth did you find us so quickly? Much less pinpoint our exact position!" Louie threw his arms out before crossing them.
Launchpad clenched his fist and stared up into the sky. "I sensed it. The odds were stacked against me, the air battered my wings, the fear of losing you all tore at my spirit… but the fire of courage and bravery, learned from my best friend Dewey, kept me going."
Dewey smirked and shook his head slightly. Of course, only Launchpad.
Louie rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Eh, yeah, forget it. Who cares how you found us? Just get us out of here."
Dewey looked up at his giant friend and smiled. "Thanks for coming, Launchpad. You really saved our butts back there." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Not that I didn't have it handled… you just…yeah, thanks."
Launchpad slapped him on the back with so much force that it shook his bones. "Anything for my best friend!"
"Right back at you, best friend!" He aimed the pew pew fingers at him and winked. "Now, let's push the RV to the Sunchaser and get out of here."
"Sure thing. Just let me… uh… let me make a call real quick." Launchpad stepped aside.
Dewey peeked into the RV to check on his brothers. Louie was struggling to wrap the bandages around Huey's head all the while being interrupted by "it's not tight enough" and "come on, Lou, haven't you ever taken first aid?"
"Well, then you do it, genius!"
"I can't see it!"
"Then shut up."
He let out a sigh, glad that they were mostly okay after the whole thing. What would I have done if anything happened to them? An icy feeling crept up his shoulders. He shivered. It'd only be a few weeks before he went to flight school and left them. What if something happens while I'm gone? What if Louie royally messes up again? What if Huey's temper takes him a little too far? If I'm not there to get them into danger then I'm not there to get them out when they run into themselves.
"Hey, Mr. McD!" At the sound of Launchpad's boisterous voice saying their great uncle's name, Dewey broke out of his thoughts and ran around the RV.
"Soooo I'm a little behind schedule. Crazy, I know. But it's aaaaaall good because I saved your nephews from…"
"Launchpad!" Dewey jumped in front of him, motioning with his finger across his neck.
"Huh? What's wrong, Dewey? Are we playing charades? You hate turtlenecks! Pearl necklace! Norwegian spinach monkeys!"
"What?" The old Scotsman's voice trolled through the phone. "Dewey? What are the boys doing there with you? They're supposed to be on that blasted road trip of theirs!"
"Launchpad, shhhh. We are not here with you." He kept his voice to a whisper and motioned for him to keep his mouth shut.
"Oh!"
Dewey let out a breath. He finally gets it.
"I meeeean your other nephews. I mean someone else's nephews-oh, that's them! They want to go ice skating, I better grab my tent! Goodbye!" Launchpad immediately turned and chucked his phone into the lake behind them.
Dewey blinked. Well, that was-nevermind. This is just greeeaaaat. Uncle Scrooge is going to be suspicious now.
"Did I do good?"
Sighing, Dewey patted his arm. "Yeah, sure, bud, sure. Let's just load up and get that plane flying again. Then I'll explain everything."
"You've got it, Dewey!" Launchpad smiled, leaning his full weight on the back of the RV. As he did so, the wheels slowly began to move and his body edged towards the ground. The RV rolled away, dropping Launchpad face-first in the dirt.
"Phooey! I forgot to put on the break!" Dewey gripped his hair, his stomach twisting into knots as the RV jostled down the hill towards the farm. Together, he and Launchpad raced after it.
The RV came to a crashing halt, right into the back of the Sunchaser. Dewey panted and shoved the door open to find his brothers tangled in a heap on the ground, their pupils spinning. The bandages for Huey's head wove around them, making them look like an unrolled pair of mummies.
Louie groaned and grabbed his head to keep his eyes from spinning. "This whole thing has Dewey written all over it."
"Heh, you guys alright?" Dewey rubbed the back of his neck.
When everything stopped spinning, the two turned to glare at him standing there in perfect health outside of the danger-mobile.
"Coincidence, Lou?"
"I think not."