"So, wait a minute, if you're one of Scrooge McDuck's nephews, you must be used to this sort of thing–getting captured on an adventure." Philbert raised his chin high, a cocky smile spreading across his face. He scooted closer, his voice dropping to a rather loud whisper. "So, what's your brilliant scheme to get us out of here?"

Louie rubbed the back of his neck, sinking against the cold cement wall.And I thought he was unbearable before he knew who I was. Now I actually have a name to live up to.That made his skin crawl in the same way that being a teenager under Scrooge McDuck's roof had in highschool. "Trust me, kid, if I had come up with a way out of this, we wouldn't be sitting here chatting it up."

Philbert was quiet for a moment longer than usual. "You're a triplet, right?"

"Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret answering that question?" Louie hesitated, his tone growing shooter by the minute. He scrubbed the side of his face, exhaustion from the past twenty-four hours clouding his brain. While Philbert had slept in the car, he couldn't sleep a wink. Insomnia was bad enough without being captured by thugs and bombarded with dozens of questions from an adolescent.Now I know how Uncle Donald felt. How on earth did he manage to raise three of these jabber-mouths on next-to-no sleep? Man, do I need some caffeine.

"Well, why don't you just use your triplet-telepathy?"

He raised his brow, his expression a mix of exhaustion and incredulity. "Triplet-telepathy?"

"Yeah! I've researched it as part of my study of extraterrestrial life and bizarre phenomena. If you focus reaaaaal hard…" he squeezed his temples, "you may be able to send our location to your brothers."

What world does this kid live in?"You think that just because we share DNA that we can read each other's minds like some kind of psychic?"

Phil rolled onto his back laughing. "Are you kidding? That's ridiculous! Only aliens with antennas can do that. I mean, like sending a vibe–a kind of biological frequency that will help them find us."

"Cheesesteak, sure, my brothers and I share the same DNA, but in every other way, we're worlds apart. It's a rare moment when we actually agree on something. The only time we're ever on the same page is when we're causing trouble. Besides, they're probably back home in Duckburg by now."

Philbert's face fell for a second, his smile flickering. "But wouldn't they be out looking for you?"

Louie's mind flashed back to the gas station. He and Philbert were stuck in the car, held "captive" by Gus. The RV sat just across from them, only a few yards away. Dewey had been walking out of the station, arms full of chili dogs, completely oblivious. Louie could've easily waved him down, gotten his attention, maybe even rolled down the window for a quick rescue. But instead, he had convinced Philbert to grab his violin from the RV and come right back, sealing their fate by returning to captivity undetected. A prickly knot settled in his stomach. Knowing his brothers, they were probably out looking for them—and still were.My family doesn't know what's good for them.

"Louie?" Philbert's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The kid's eyes were wide with concern.

Louie folded his arms across his chest and looked away.There's no point in giving him false hope.He should've known by now that sticking with him was a bad idea. "Even if they are looking, there's no way they'll find us. I found the tracker Webby placed on me and got rid of it a long time ago."

"Maybe you just need to vibe harder!" The kid paced around the room, his brows furrowed. "After all, brotherhood has to be stronger than some technological doohickey anyway. Those things malfunction. You're brothers, and no one can break that bond."

This kid is officially delusional."Life doesn't work like that." If it did, he wouldn't have been on thisadventureto begin with. He would have known his dad, and his family would have been whole. Louie sat down on the bench, his gaze following the cracks in the cement floor. "Trust me, family bonds can malfunction just as much as technology can, Cheesesteak."

Philbert stopped pacing, his eyes narrowing as he processed Louie's words. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again, quieter this time. "That's pretty cynical for a guy with family like the stars."

Louie frowned, looking up just as Philbert handed him the family photo again—the one from the moon-vasion, with all their friends and family gathered together.

"Stars–more than I can count."

The moon-vasion felt like ages ago, a blur of excitement and chaos, but looking at the photo made it feel fresh again. He met Philbert's gaze and felt a pang in his chest. Philbert wore the expression on his face that Louie knew all too well. Loneliness. They had more in common than he liked to admit. "It's just you and your dad, isn't it?"

Philbert was quiet for once as he gave a singular nod in response.

Louie hadn't realized until that moment how much he'd taken for granted—how many people he had orbiting around him, how many stars he'd been given. He exhaled slowly, the gross, nagging tug of honesty prickling at his spine. It made his whole body seize up. His next words scraped against his instincts as they left his mouth.

"I didn't mean it like that. Look, I'll say this—my family's always been there for me, and I can't picture my life without them. But… having a family doesn't magically fix everything. You can still feel alone, even with two brothers constantly on either side of you."

When his words didn't seem to lift the shadow in Philbert's expression, Louie ran a hand through his feather and tried again. "But you're right. I should quit being such a downer. What was that thing you wanted me to try again?"

The cloud over Philbert's face started to lift and a smile fluttered across his lips. "You mean it?"

Louie rolled his eyes, catching Philbert's contagious smile. "Yeah, really. Teach me how to vibe. Although, fair warning—Dewey's brain is usually off in the stratosphere, and Huey's too logical to pick up on any twin telepathy nonsense."

"Just close your eyes already," Philbert said with a huff, a tone of amusement in his voice.

Louie obeyed, keeping his lips tight so his expression wouldn't ridicule the kid.
"Now, think about one of your brothers and try to tell them how to find us."

"Wow. Easier than texting. We should all just vibe from now on."

Philbert grumbled. "Don't make fun. Do you have any better ideas?"

"Touché." Louie shrugged, letting his head rest back against the wall and his thoughts drift. He pictured Dewey first—loud, theatrical, charismatic Dewey—but no matter how hard he tried to stay focused on him, his mind kept veering back to Huey.Get out of my head, Huey, I'm still mad at you.

That was the perk of having two brothers–he could ditch the one he was annoyed with and always have a second to count on. But the frustration kept Huey front and center.

Why do you always have to be right? Why can't you just, for once, see things my way? I have just as much to offer as you or Dewey do. And why did you have to fight us on finding Dad? I wish you'd just believed in us... in me. Life would be so much easier if I didn't care what Huey thought.

The mental rant looped and simmered, until gradually, the tension in his shoulders loosened. His breathing slowed. The storm of thoughts softened into fog, and for the first time in what felt like days, Louie's eyes stopped twitching from exhaustion. He drifted off to sleep.