Chapter Text
“Uncle Scrooge!” Louie called. He and Huey and Dewey were in front of their uncle’s room, hoping that he was in there. A few moments later, the door was opened by a grumpy looking duck wearing a towel around his waist.
“What is it lads?” he asked in his thick Scottish accent. “I was just in the middle of me money bath.”
“Well, the thing is, I made a wish on a magical star that was supposed to make my brothers disappear but instead I got sisters so I made another wish that was supposed to make the last wish reverse and make my sisters disappear but there’s another girl who lives a the mansion that’s basically like a sister to me so she disappeared too and the star that I was supposed to wish on again apparently already passed so I have ABSOLUTELY NO WAY HOME!” Dewey said, all in one breath.
Scrooge took a moment to scratch his chin, then looked down at Dewey. “All I can say is…wait, can you start from the beginning again? I didn’t catch everything.”
Dewey let out a long sigh, then explained everything from the very beginning again, except this time he went slower. When he was finished, Scrooge shrugged and said, “I’m sorry lad, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to bring your ‘sister’ back. I mean, unless you want to wait 50 years.”
“I’m sorry Dewey,” Huey said, making Dewey jump. He had forgotten his brothers were there.
Dewey looked down at the floor. “Are you sure, Uncle Scrooge? You’re the most adventurous person I know. There must have been some kind of person you know or magical artifact you’ve found along the way!”
Scrooge hesitated, a look of reluctance, and…regret crossing his face. He knows something, Dewey realized. In a moment, the look was gone and Scrooge was back to his usual scowl. Dewey turned to his brothers to make sure they saw the look too. Louie was, unsurprisingly, scrolling on his phone, but Huey’s eyebrows were furrowed together as they often were when he was trying to piece things together.
“There is…” Scrooge’s beak was pursed as conflicting emotions flickered through his eyes. “Nope, I can’t think of anything,” Scrooge answered quickly, then shut the door in their faces.
“Wait!” Dewey yelled, turning the doorknob. Twisting it, he found it to be locked. “Uncle Scrooge, you’re hiding something!”
Dewey wished for a moment that he could be as convincing as Louie could be. Or that he could list all of the practical reasons why Scrooge should help them, like Huey could. Dewey looked at Huey for help. The oldest triplet’s eyes wandered from Dewey to Scrooge’s door, a conflicted look on his face. Dewey knew that Huey was debating whether to help him or not. He couldn’t blame Huey, after all, he probably did sound half-crazy insisting that they all knew Webby but suddenly forgot her. Huey shared Dewey’s adventurous spirit, but always stayed practical and logical, thinking things through before making decisions.
Sighing, Huey joined Dewey at the door. “You owe me for this,” he whispered to Dewey, then said, “Uncle Scrooge, look. I know Dewey may sound delusional, or under Magica’s influence or whatever. But I wouldn’t be telling you this if there wasn’t some part of me that believes him. I know it sounds crazy but…I think Dewey might be telling the truth. He’s never gone this far to trick us before. That’s usually Louie’s thing.”
Louie looked up from his phone and shrugged, agreeing.
“If there’s one thing I know, it’s my brothers,” Huey continued. “Dewey would never lie to harm his family. And neither would Louie–”
“Oh, I totally would,” Louie said, smiling.
“Not helping, Louie,” Huey whispered loudly, giving his younger brother a look.
“Kidding! Sort of,” Louie replied.
The oldest triplet turned back to the door. “Look, what I’m trying to say is, if there’s anything you know that could help Dewey, what’s the harm in just giving it a shot?” Huey and Dewey leaned eagerly towards the door for an answer.
Silence.
Either Scrooge was ignoring their pleas or simply refused to help them.
With an exasperated look on his face, Louie put his hand on Dewey’s shoulder. “Dewey, if he’s not telling us something, it’s for a good reason. It might be dangerous or deadly or whatever. Or he doesn’t believe you! And frankly, I don’t either. Leave the conning to me, okay?”
“Instead of telling Dewey to give up, can’t you try to help your brothers for once?” Huey pleaded with Louie.
“I’m not telling him to give up, I’m just saying convincing Uncle Scrooge is never gonna work,” Louie argued.
“And how is that supportive?”
“Hey, I’m just trying to be honest here!”
As Huey and Louie continued bickering, Dewey groaned. Great. Now he was never gonna get help from his brothers. He realized this was a weird and unusual position to be in, as he was usually the one getting pulled out of a fight, not the one trying to stop it. “Guys!” Dewey finally exclaimed. “Arguing isn’t gonna solve anything.” Dewey cringed when he realized how this was exactly what their Uncle Donald would say to them. Oh boy. He sounded just like a parent now.
Louie rolled his eyes. “Who died and made you king?” he muttered under his breath.
“Well, excuuuuse me for trying to be responsible! I mean, honestly Louie, you could try to help us and stop being so useless for once!”
Louie scoffed. “Useless? Is that all I am to you guys? Useless?” he asked, his voice getting quieter. Louie was never one to easily open up and often covered up his true emotions with a sarcastic or smart-alec remark. Although he was trying to act nonchalant, Dewey saw a flicker of hurt cross his face and realized he hit a nerve, making Dewey immediately regret his words. “Louie, I didn’t mean it that way,” he tried to explain.
Louie shook his head and waved Dewey off, trying to act casual. “Sorry, but this is starting to get ridiculous. I’ll be in our room if anyone needs me,” Louie said, and hurried off.
Dewey glanced at Huey, wondering what they should do. The oldest triplet was looking at the direction Louie had left, and Dewey could tell he was worried for their younger brother.
“Maybe we should just go too,” Huey suggested. “I’m trying to help you out, Dewey, but it looks like Uncle Scrooge won’t budge. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe Louie’s right. This is honestly going nowhere.”
If there was anything Dewey didn’t know how to do, it was giving up. “Okay Huey, you can go, but lemme just try one last thing.”
Dewey knocked softly. “Uncle Scrooge? But… I love my family more than anything else, and I swear I would never lie to harm anyone. Keeping the Spear of Selene from Huey and Louie at first was a stupid decision, they are my brothers after all. And you don't hide things from family, especially since the whole Spear of Selene thing tore us apart during the Shadow War but …wait, where was I going with this? For Pete’s sake, old man, just open the door!” Dewey exclaimed. He paused hopefully, listening for Scrooge’s response. Not hearing one, he turned to Huey. "Ughh, okay Huey, what can we use to blast this door open?" Dewey started walking down the hallway, looking for anything that could possibly be weaponized. "There's like, a bajillion swords in this place, NO WAIT. I'll try to kick it down first, and you can--" Dewey's voice faded off when he realized that Huey was still standing by the door, as it slowly turned open.
Scrooge stepped through, his face grim. “Come with me,” he said, motioning for Huey and Dewey to follow him.