"Quantum is being a coward again. I should have known… that whacked up nerd brain…" Gus barrelled into the car and slammed the car door shut behind him.

Heaving a sigh, Louie lifted one eyelid and glared over at him. "Problems?"

"Quantum… he's backing out. He doesn't want to touch the stuff after finding out that Bushroot wanted his hands on it. He's also afraid that the feds will track the serum back to Von Drake's and send all three of us back to prison. He said that the risks outweigh the benefits."

Louie rested back in his seat. "Oh, the whoas of dealing with brainiacs. You know, there's a reason I called Beaks. He's the only one dumb and desperate enough to buy the serum off us and sign a binding contract that states he's the serum developer. Beaks is also the only person with the money and means to have scientists alter the serum."

"I'm not selling to Beaks."

Louie kicked his feet up on the dash. "Do you have a better plan? Because, man, I would love to hear how you plan on making millions of dollars from a dinky little vial of growth serum when neither of us have any experience in chemical sciences,andwe have targets on our backs."

"I'm not selling to Beaks!" His grating tone made it all the more clear. He wasn't biting.

Time for the big guns.Louie snapped the lever on his chair and launched himself upright. "Then what's your big plan, huh?"

"I'll figure something out. I'll… I'll make Quantum do it for us." Gus glared at the steering wheel as his fingers slowly curled around it.

"Oh yeah, like that's smart. Then you'll have three people chained against their will. The odds are starting to stack, Gus, you can't keep kidnapping every person in your path. You don't have enough hands for that. This isn't prison and you're no longer a gang."

Gus turned and launched at him, grabbing him back his collar and aiming a fist under his chin. "Watch your tongue, Serpent, or you may just lose it."

Louie tilted his head back and closed his eyes, preparing for the same fist he'd felt a dozen times. "Hey, I want the money just as much as you do, but we don't have time for the long game. Mark Beaks is our best bet." He opened one eye to meet Gus's hard stare.

His fist didn't move an inch and neither did his face.

"I came up with a quick scheme that'll make both of us happy and it gets you more than the money you asked for. That was my end of the bargain." Louie pried Gus's fingers off his collar and edged them apart.

Finally, Gus dropped his fist into his lap and stared at the floor. Silence stretched across the car. Even Philly in the back had stuck the gag back in his mouth for fear of incurring the bully's rath.

"No."

Louie tilted his head. "What?"

"NO." Gus clenched his fists and punched the seat. "You're trying to play me again. This is just like the pudding incident back in juvie and this is exactly what you did when I caught up to you and the twerp in the RV."

Louie scooted back in his seat, glancing over at Philly. The kid looked petrified. He steeled his nerves and glared back at Gus. "Don't be ridiculous. We both want the money. I stole the serumfor us.I knew you'd catch up to me, so there was no point in going to find you. Beaks is the get-rich-quick, risk-free route, Gus. There's no other way around it."

Gus crept closer until he was pressing Louie up against the car door, his hand squeezing his shoulder. "You're always boasting the angles, kid. There's no way you're not playing me to some capacity."

Louie swallowed hard.The only angle I'm playing is the fast route away from you.He choked, trying to hold in the urge to gag.Besides, your breath could wake the dead.

"You want me to go with Beaks so that if anything goes south, you have two fall guys. Between the concept-stealing millionaire and the up and jailbird gang boss, if worse came to worse, who would point the finger at you? No, you're sly but I know how you work."

Louie winced when Gus tightened his grip on his shoulder.Well, I mean, he's not totally wrong."Hey, don't blame me. Between the two of us, who would they likely investigate more anyway? The whole gang leader thing… you did that to yourself."

Gus ground his shoulder into the window. "Say that again."

"Gah!" Louie squirmed and looked away to breathe past the awful goose breath. And there, walking only a few yards away…Dewey?! What on earth is he doing here? And who is that-oh nevermind! Phooey! If Gus spots him, I'm done for… or, rather, my brothers are done for. He'll think we're being followed.Which, by how nonchalantly Dewey was coasting into the 8-Twelve gas station, there was no way he knew Louie was cuffed in the car at the far end of the parking lot.Dewey's not that good of an actor, no matter how much of a theater kid he was.

Louie pushed back against the giant lug. "Fine! I've got an idea."

Gus loosened his grip and stared him down. "Do tell."

"But you have to get your butt back to your side of the car." Louie shoved him off and finally was able to take a breath of air that wasn't full of hot skunky onion. He glanced out the window to make sure Dewey was inside the gas station.

Gus folded his arms across his chest and followed his gaze out the window. "What are you looking at?"

Louie snapped his fingers to get Gus's attention back on track. "I'm just thinking. I'll need a violin." He quickly scanned the gas station parking lot.Where there's a Dewey, there's gotta be a Huey not far behind and hopefully… the RV.He spotted the tail of the old girl around the side of the building.

"A violin? Why on earth would you need that?"

"Because, we're going to convince Doctor Quantum that the serum has capabilities beyond his imagination. We need to at least showcase it. If he's anything like my brother, there's no doubt in my mind that we can get him onboard with a little bit of scientific anomaly." He smirked.Now… how to get a hold of it.

Gus rubbed his beak. "Where are we going to get a violin?"

Louie turned his head to the back seat and raised his brow at the little alien-obsessed brat.With stealth skills that could match Webby's.He took a deep breath.Now, to flex my own stealth.He pointed at the end of the RV. "That right there is my uncle's RV." He held his hand up when Gus started to go for the ignition. "Before you go all defensive mode, I don't think they know we're here."

"Are you insane? They have to have followed us here and that's all part of your plan, isn't it?!" Enraged, he grabbed him by the shirt again but this time, Louie grabbed his beak and pushed him back.

Louie's eyebrows narrowed. "I may not want to go into the Quantum deal but I definitely don't want my brothers tracking us down, okay? If I was to go back with them, my family would send me off with Scrooge, and last I heard, maybe even the military if they're mad enough. That's not what I want either. Stealing the serum was just as much of a risk for me as kidnapping me was for you. On top of all that, I wouldn't have gone with you willingly, if I wanted my brothers to rescue me. My brothers finding me, equals me going to Scrooge McDuck-prison. Are you tracking?"

Gus fell back in his seat and nodded. "Fine. Go on."

"My violin is in the RV. I am telling you the honest truth that if we get that violin, I'll give you one more shot with Quantum. If that fails, we arebothselling the serum to Beaks and we arebothwalking away. Do we have a deal?"

Gus narrowed his eyes.

Louie held his breath, having told a little too much of the truth this time than he was used to.Ugh, this feels gross but, every once in a blue moon, the truth is just a little better. But, if he doesn't follow me on this, I'm not sure what else he'll believe.

"How are you planning on getting the violin? I'm not letting you walk in there."

Louie smirked and tipped his head towards the back. "The kid can do it."

Gus rolled his eyes and reached to start up the car. "You're playing me again."

"No, this kid can do it. This kid had snuck into our RV and found the serum before I could get my hands on it to give it to you. He's a little ninja and I think he has what it takes to get it."
"And what if he alerts your brothers?"

Louie reached over and tugged the gag out of Philbert's mouth. "He won't because I trust him." He gave him a real hard look. "Right, kid?"

Philly scooted between their two seats. "Sure, I could easily slip in and out of there. But what do I get out of it?"

Louie smirked at Philbert and looked him straight in the eyes. "You get to be part of an adventure."

Gus groaned and shook his head. "We're not doing this."

Louie glared at Gus before continuing. "And if you get that violin and bring it back, Gus willpromisenot to wipe your mind when we get to Doctor Quantum's.Right, Gus?"

"IfI was onboard with this stupid plan." He shook his head and scoffed.

"And, as soon as money starts coming in, Gus and I will pay you a hefty profit and both you and your dad will be set up for life."

Philbert's eyes lit up. "Wait, you mean that? You'll pay me and Dad and I can just go travel the world together? He could quit his job?!"

Louie smiled at how much this kid really did resemble him. Already wants to live life the easy way. A kid after my own heart."Of course, cheesesteak, I told you you could trust me. We'd have enough to pay him off, right, Gus?"

Gus stared off at the RV for a very long moment. Louie could sense the greed gripping his body and holding him in a chokehold.

"Unless you have any better ideas…. We could go straight to Beaks, but since you don't want to do that, this is the only other option I see." He raised his eyebrow and waited until finally, Gus loosened his grip on the key and turned back to them.

Gus let out a sigh. "I suppose, either option has its risks. But you don't get a payoff without playing a little ball."

"I think that's called a playoff, not a payoff. You know, because youplayball." Philly spoke up.

Louie rolled his eyes and grabbed his beak. "Can it, Cheesesteak, it's a metaphor."We can't have him ruining it with his smartalec attitude.

Gus looked Louie in the eye. "It's a deal. Just as long as you stay cuffed in his car. If a single thing goes wrong, we're leaving." He turned to the kid. "And you're not getting a single coin of the money, loudmouth."

Philly gave Louie a big grin, one that held something that he had rarely seen anyone give him. Admiration? Did that little kid actually admire him?The kid's got taste, I'll give him that.He reached over and ruffled the boy's feathers. "Then, what are we waiting for? Let's play a little ball."