Archive of Our Own

Having traveled from one mansion to another, Boyd was still impressed with the interior of McDuck Manor. From the countless pictures showcasing Scrooge McDuck’s greatest moments to the winding staircase, complete with a maroon carpet that appeared to be made of a rare type of velvet, it was even more fabulous than he expected. He’d seen it before but only in TV commercials and magazines and Louie’s Instaquack posts but never from the inside. Excitement started to spark his circuits as he took it all in, and Boyd almost found himself in a daze until a familiar voice shook him out of it.

“Boyd! There you are!”

The robot turned around to see his friend Louie casually walking toward him, followed by five other kids. Two of them appeared to be his brothers, looking similar and mostly different from their choice of clothing, and the one with the pink bow was probably the one who Louie had described as “basically his sister.” They were also joined by a duckling with a pink stripe in her hair and a purple hummingbird wearing a relaxed expression. Before he could even realize that the company was strange and almost overwhelming, the brother with the blue shirt spoke.

“Is this your friend, Louie?”

“Yep.” Louie clasped his hands together and put an almost protective hand on Boyd’s shoulder, giving him a nod of reassurance. “Everyone, meet my good pal and generous investor to Louie Inc., Boyd Drake.”

For a moment, the other kids stood in silence as they stared at Boyd and his friend, making the younger feel a little nervous. He raised up a hand awkwardly, giving a small wave. “Hi. I’m-”

“Oh. My. Gosh. He’s awesome! ”

The blue duckling who had spoken earlier let out an exclamation of joy that appeared to be contagious, for almost at once the rest of the children flocked him and began to bombard Boyd with so many questions he could hardly keep up with them all.

“No way! Are you actually a sentient AI?” the brother with the red hat inquired. 

“And how sentient are you?” the hummingbird piped up. “Do you have any sort of control panel or-”

“Do your eyes really shoot lasers!?” the girl duckling cut her off, getting very close to Boyd’s face as she did so.

Although he was glad they at least seemed interested in him, the attention was starting to get to be a bit much for Boyd. He was about to mutter a response when he felt something poke his back and turned around to see the tallest duckling, smirking and looking down at whatever was in his pocket.

“Nice phone charm. Is that you?”

Boyd glanced down to where her eyes were focused and gasped, noticing she was staring at his remote. He protectively grabbed it and smiled, hoping his sudden movement didn’t seem hostile. 

“Oh no! That’s not my phone,” he said with a laugh. “That’s my remote.”

“You have your own remote now?” Louie asked, pushing his way past his siblings. “But I thought your parents had it.”

“Well, they did, but they gave it to me.” Boyd pulled it out of his pocket, studying it close. “My parents think I need to have independence and free will, so they let me control myself.” 

What Boyd didn’t say was that this development wasn’t something he was used to. As he looked at his remote, its screen letting him know what all he’s capable of, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of confusion through his structure. He understood why his parents wanted that and knew it was a good thing, but he’d never been rewarded so much free will. Boyd tried not to think about it too much because he knew focusing on such things caused him to go a little...haywire, to put it lightly. 

Luckily, Louie’s voice distracted him from the edge once more. “That’s great, Boyd! Very good, very deserved if I must say so myself.”

“Thank you, Louie!” Boyd tried his best to smile.

“So when are we gonna get this show on the road?” the tallest kid spoke up. “I’m hungry.”

“You need to eat?” the blue one asked. 

“I literally sat next to you at breakfast today.”

“Oh, right! Boyd,” Louie caught his attention, “since this is your first time hanging out with us, we all decided to do something special in your honor.”

“Special?” Boyd blinked his optics. “In my honor?”

“Yep.” Louie grinned, patting him on the back. “We’re going to Funso’s Fun Zone!” He then replied with a sing-song rendition of the jingle, “Where fun is in the zone!”

A smile spread across Boyd’s beak for a moment. He’d always wanted to go to Funso’s! His parents told him they’d take him eventually, but they hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Upon that thought, his smile began to slip away.

“But I told my parents I wouldn’t leave the mansion. They really want me to stay here, with you guys so I’ll be safe.”

Louie stifled a laugh. “Oh Boyd, Boyd, Boyd. Funso’s is like the safest place ever.”

The duckling in the red hat raised a hand. “We almost got kidnapped there.”

“And?” Louie shot him a glare. “We almost get kidnapped everywhere we go, but that’s not important! Today is Boyd’s day, and I think we should do something a little more fun than staying in the boring old mansion and, what? Counting money? See, I’m bored already! Now, c’mon, let’s go to Funso’s!”

The duckling grabbed for Boyd’s hand and attempted to drag him away, but he didn’t budge. Confused, he let go and rolled his eyes. “Great, Huey, you scared him.”

“No, that’s not it.” Boyd cut in. “I just really don’t think I should disobey my parents.”

At first, Louie frowned but then his expression softened. He pointed to the remote in Boyd’s hands. “You can’t disobey your parents if you’re in control.” 

The duckling gave Boyd a wink, followed by the convincing looks of the others. He looked back down at his remote, which showcased his reflection in the glassy screen. Gulping down any of his remaining fears, he finally gave a nod and put the device back in his pocket. Louie was right. He could do this.

“Alright!”

Cheers erupted throughout the room, and Louie pumped his fist in the air. “Awesome! Look at you, making your own choices. High-five!” 

Grinning at his friend’s enthusiasm, Boyd gave him a rather energetic high-five. Perhaps too much, judging the way Louie clutched his hand afterward. He grinned sheepishly. However, before the two of them were about to leave, Boyd watched as the duckling in red grabbed his brother by the shoulder and yanked him away. While he assumed that the other thought his words couldn’t be heard, the robot’s hearing sensors were quite advanced and he could pick up on every sentence as if it were nothing.

“Louie, I’m not so sure about this,” the red brother said. 

“About what? Me trying to help a friend in need? I thought you wanted me to be more generous, Huebert.”

“No, not that. I’m glad Boyd’s here with us! It’s just…” His voice trailed off for a moment, and he cleared his throat. “Aren’t you a little worried?”

“Please, Boyd will be fine! He has his own remote now. He’s got this!”

“I mean about yourself.” The duckling wringed his hands. “Look, Boyd seems nice and all but he’s a robot. He isn’t exactly…”

“Wait a second, are you trying to tell me that Boyd isn’t real?” Louie appeared almost angry at the notion. 

“No, no, no! Not at all! I’ve spent enough time with Dr. Gearloose and Fenton to know that robots are definitely capable of portraying complex emotions, but I’ve also spent enough time with Dr. Gearloose and Fenton to know that those emotions can turn from positive to negative at the flip of a hat. And you told me-”

“Blah, blah, blah, nerd stuff, nerd stuff, nerd stuff,” Louie mocked him, brushing his brother off. “You might know about Gyro’s dorky robots, but I know about Boyd. He’s my friend, and he would never do anything to hurt me or you or anyone who didn’t deserve it. Probably not even anyone who did deserve it!” 

“But you said he-”

“He’s different now!” Louie snapped, becoming very defensive. Huey, as Boyd now realized he was called, opened his beak but decided not to say what was really on his mind. 

“Fine,” he gave in. “I hope this is the one time you’re right about something.”

“Oh, it will be.” Louie separated from his brother and walked over to Boyd, who did his best to act like he heard nothing. “Let’s go, buddy! To Funso’s!”

“Yeah!” Boyd cheered, although he was feeling anything but on the inside. 

As they boarded the bus to Funso’s, Boyd couldn’t get what Huey said out of his head. He didn’t like to admit to being hurt, especially since he knew the other duckling probably had good intentions, but his words had stung quite a bit. The last thing he wanted to do was mess everything up with his new friends, and he made a mental pact to try his hardest to be as normal as possible. To avoid dwelling on it, he decided to gather what he could from listening to his new friends’ conversations. 

He soon came to learn that the third triplet was named Dewey, the girl with the pink bow was Webby, the one with the pink in her hair was Lena and the hummingbird was Violet. Just by spending a small amount of time with them, Boyd was able to pick up on traits of their personalities. Huey was a Jr. Woodchuck, something his parents had considered getting him involved in. Dewey knew the words to every Powerline song, an artist he hadn’t previously been aware of but was able to play for them using his radio function. Webby really thought the fact that he could shoot lasers from his eyes was cool, but he refused to demonstrate on a crowded bus and for good reason. Violet showed him a deck of cards she’d brought along, which were supposedly meant to read one’s future and mentioned that she’d have to read his one day. And Lena, he discovered, was a little on the quiet side. That being said, he still hoped to get to know her as well as he felt he was getting to know the others!

Stepping inside Funso’s was like a fantasy to Boyd. Never in his life had he seen so many games and lights and colors all in one room, with plenty of kids running around. There was at least one giant ice cream sundae in view and what looked to be a large friendly walrus. He had no idea what to do first. It was all so interesting and fun looking! And yet, why did it all feel so familiar? He had no memory of ever going to this place before, but he had the strangest feeling that he did. Before he could ask Louie if he’d ever taken him here before, Boyd felt his arm get tugged on excitedly by Dewey.

“Boyyyyyd! Boydboydboyd! We have to try out this game over here! And this one! And this one! And- OH MY GOSH LOOK AT THAT THING,” he screeched in delight, pointing frantically at a shiny metal crown encased in glass behind the prize counter.

Everyone stepped closer to take a look at the crown, a few awestruck noises getting Boyd’s attention. 

“Do you think that’s real?” Webby grabbed a loupe from her pocket to examine it.

“Whatever it is, I want it,” Dewey murmured, starstruck.

“Looks like the things they sell at Burger Prince. Pass,” Lena waved off, nudging for Violet to follow her to laser tag. 

Webby pocketed the loupe in disappointment as she discovered the diamonds and gold on the crown were all nothing but pretty plastic. She followed after Violet and Lena. “Wait up! I brought my own gun!”

“Woah woah woah, Missy!” the goofy walrus shuffled over to Webby. “Funso’s has a big ‘real guns are a no-no’ rule! I’ll have to ask for you to hand over the- AHHHH!” The costumed employee screamed in terror as Webby delightedly fired her laser up into the ceiling.

“I AM A GOD OF DESTRUCTION!” she cheered, rushing after her friends to claim victory.

With just the triplets and Boyd left at the ticket counter, Louie looked around for any signage. “How many tickets is this thing anyway?”

“No tickets,” the employee behind the counter pointed to a poster with Powerline on it. “It’s the prize for the Boogie Boogie Revoloogie contest we’re holding in ten minutes.”

Boyd tilted his head. “What kind of game is that?”

Dewey let out a delighted noise as he grabbed for his brothers and Boyd, shaking them. “THAT. GAME. IS. MY. LIFE’S. PASSION! It is the ultimate test of dancing skills, which I have proven time and time again. We have to enter!”

“I think I’ll pass.” Huey held his hands up, trying to get out of the happy grasp of his brother. “I’m more for the games of vocal skills...a la...ka-ra-oh-kay?”

“I have real treasure at home.” Louie glanced at the crown unimpressed. “But I’ll watch and cheer on whoever is beating you.”

He was about to stroll off and leave Dewey in the dust until he caught sight of Boyd looking with deep interest at the crown and saw an opportunity to help his new friend feel more in-crowd.

“But I do know that our new pal here can probably go with you! Whaddya say, Boyd?”

“I’ll sign up if you do!  the android child offered with a shy smile to Dewey. “I’ve never been in a dance contest before!”

“Then now’s the time! You can learn from the master, young grasshopper!” Dewey slung an arm around Boyd’s shoulder, grinning as he held his hand up to get the employee. “Attention good sir! We’re both demanding our skills be put to the test and-”

“Just go get in line at the game,” the worker flatly cut him off.

Boyd was excited to perform in the contest. He’d danced before, for it was one of his many functions and one that the rest of his family found amusing, especially his brother. In fact, he wasn’t sure if Doofus found it amusing or humiliating. Either way, it made him laugh! And Boyd knew exactly how to work his remote in order to make him the perfect dancer.

He was a bit nervous having never even heard of the game before, but it was obvious from his first few matches that he was a natural. His dance function almost allowed him to synch up perfectly with the rhythm of the song, and kids began to crowd the competition, cheering on this mysterious stranger. It made him swell with pride as the children rooted for him and only encouraged him to keep up the good work. Then, it was the final match: him against Dewey.

As they both approached the arcade game, the duckling looked a little mortified. Instantly feeling sympathy, Boyd gave him a smile. “Good luck, Dewey!”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Dewey held up a hand to him. “Don’t speak to me. I’m in the zone.”

Boyd blinked, feeling a little disheartened at his response. “Okay! Sorry.”

The guy in the Funso suit was now orchestrating the contest and stood before them, readying the contestants. “On your mark...get set…”

Dewey looked ahead, completely focused on the task at hand. Boyd tried to do the same.

Funso waved his plushy walrus hands in the air. “Go!”

Pressing the function on his remote, Boyd began to dance to his best ability which was practically unbeatable. Throughout the competition, Dewey tried his hardest to keep up but ultimately was no match for who appeared to be the new dancing championship. Finally, he could not longer keep up with his robotic friend and fell to the floor, defeated. Everyone cheered in unison as Boyd was crowned the winner of the competition, causing the small android’s optics to light up in awe. 

“Wait, I won?”

“You sure did, kiddo!” Funso laughed, putting a soft hand on Boyd’s shoulder. “Congratulations, um...what’s your name again?”

“Boyd!”

“Congratulations, Boyd!” The mascot held the crown Dewey had been eyeing earlier above Boyd’s head and lowered it down until it was secure on top. “You are the Boogie Boogie Revolution champion of Funso’s Fun Zone. At least at the Calisota location.” 

As the crowd got their last joyous cheers out and went elsewhere, Boyd was left with Dewey. The other kids joined him as well, all of them patting him on the back and giving him various words of congratulations. 

“That was amazing, Boyd!” Louie gasped. “I didn’t even know you can dance.”

“Of course I can!” he chirped. “It’s one of my many functions.”

The duckling screwed up his face in confusion. “Huh?”

Boyd pulled out his remote, smiling. “Look!” He pressed the dance button, causing him to momentarily break out in a dance. 

“What!?” Dewey’s voice suddenly filled Boyd’s senses and he turned around just in time for the duckling to snatch the remote from his hands, shocking him. “You cheated!”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Dewey angrily pointed a finger in Boyd’s face. “You used your little doohickey to rig the competition, you super-powered refrigerator!” 

Louie gasped and held his brother back. “Dewey, don’t call him that!” 

He battled to free himself from his brother’s grip, causing the other kids to join for support. “You took the crown away from me! That was my moment! My moment!”

Boyd took a step back, stammering. “I-I didn’t know! I’m sorry.” He took the crown off his head and offered it to the duckling. “You can have the crown. I don’t really need it.”

Dewey composed himself and snatched it from him, giving him a cold glare. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t earn it!”

As he walked away, followed by all the other kids save for Louie, Boyd felt a crushing sensation wash over him. He didn’t know he was doing anything wrong! At most, he just wanted to show everyone his dance moves. Maybe he got a little carried away.

“Don’t worry about Dewey,” Louie said, gently patting Boyd’s back. “He’s overdramatic.” 

The android frowned. “I did cheat though.”

“Please, if cheating was a crime, I would’ve been in jail a long time ago,” he shrugged, “Why don’t we cap this off by playing some arcade games and-”

Louie’s suggestion ceased in his throat as he caught sight of all the hateful glares in Boyd’s direction from other children in the establishment, and then saw Boyd trying his best to shrink himself into the floor and out of sight.

“Oooooor we go somewhere else?”

“Yes please…”

“Okay, so Funso’s was a bust, but it’s too early to throw in the towel,” Louie assured Boyd as they trailed behind their friends, Huey and Webby leading an eager charge down the street, nearly bumping into passersby on the street.

“But you really had to pick the park?” Lena stepped back to give a side-eye to Louie. “The playground’s gonna be crawling with three-year-olds at this time of day.”

“Don’t blame me! It was Huey’s idea.” Louie rolled his eyes. “Besides, there’s plenty of other stuff around. If you need to go lean against something and scowl all mood-like, you can find a tree.”

Lena scoffed and caught up with the others, and Boyd took a curious glance to Louie. “Why is she like that?”

“Eh, she just is. It’s no biggie.” Louie waved off. “But anyway, turn on your sharp decision-making skills so you can pick what you want to do first once we’re at the park. Because I have no stakes in it.”

“O-Oh, okay!” Boyd chirped, laughing nervously as he tried to think of what to expect.

His parents had taken him to the park a week ago, but the trip had been cut off early because of a tantrum Doofus had thrown that resulted in an ice cream cart being burned and his brother being grounded. Well, with no bratty older brother to ruin things now, Boyd knew he had a better chance to find something fun to do! The weather was lovely enough to have attracted plenty of guests. Some of the recently settled Moonlanders were carefully observing the insects and organic plant-life in the field with cheerful naivety, Launchpad was busy chatting with Drake Mallard as they strolled through the grove of trees, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera was enjoying lunch with his mother at a picnic table, and Gyro Gearloose was on the lake in a swan boat currently getting accosted by the park rangers for being a public menace, screeching something about his rights to use a drone for non-warfare purposes.

Seeing all the social activities going on, Boyd’s mind drew a blank as to what it was he would want to do. He was still new to all of this. He looked to his friends for ideas, but they all looked pretty content to split off into different directions. His inner workings knotted with anxiety and he tried to speak up while they were all still in earshot.

“H-Hey!” he piped up. “Want to all do something together?” He smiled hopefully in spite of everyone’s neutral reactions.

“Like what?” Lena raised an eyebow.

“I...I don’t know...maybe...um…”

“Hide and seek?” Webby suggested with a smile, catching sight of all the trees, rocks and various park fixtures.

“Y-Yeah!” Boyd grinned. “Hide and seek!”

The children all looked at each other, then at Louie who gave an approving nod, silently pleading for them to do this for Boyd.

“Alright.” Lena shrugged. “We hide first, you find us, deal?”

“Great!” Boyd grinned, waiting for everyone to start slinking off, only to then quickly grab for Louie, tugging his sleeve frantically.

“What up?” Louie glanced to Boyd, sensing the worry.

“I don’t know how to play hide-and-seek!” the android whispered nervously. “What are the rules?”

“It’s easy. You close your eyes for thirty seconds and we all hide around the park, and you have to find us, and whoever you find has to help you find other people. The last person to get found wins.”

“Oh! That is easy.” Boyd sighed in relief. “Okay, you can go hide now!”

Louie gave casual finger guns, grinning as Boyd earnestly returned them and scurried off. Once he was gone, Boyd shielded his eyes as his friends took refuge, using his timer function to count down the seconds. When he’d reached thirty, his optics blinked open and a grin fell across his beak. He took out his remote and began to boot up his location sensors, which were mostly used for phones and loose change back at home, but he didn’t suppose it would hurt if he used them to find his friends! The first kid he located was Dewey, who was hiding (pretty badly) behind a shrub. Chirping gleefully, he reached behind it and tapped the duckling’s shoulder.

“What!?” he gasped, turning around and narrowing his eyes when he saw Boyd. “You found me? First? Out of everyone? C’mon!”

“Sorry.” Boyd realized the duckling was still touchy from what happend at Funso’s and decided to let him be for now.

He activated his searching sensors once more, scanning the area for the others. So far, he could tell that Huey was behind a tree and Louie was trying his best to hide behind a fountain. There was no sign of Webby, Lena or Violet. He frowned and was approaching the tree to retrieve Huey when Dewey’s voice caught him off-guard.

“Wait, you’re doing it again!” 

Shocked, Boyd turned around to face him. “Huh?”

The duckling crossed his arms. “You’re using robo-tech to scope us all out.”

“Is that not allowed?”

“No!” Dewey sighed, rolling his eyes and cupping his hands over his bill. “Everybody come out! Boyd was cheating again.”

Feeling even more humiliated as he watched the children reveal themselves and briefly wondering how Webby managed to climb that far up the tree in which she’d been taking refuge in, Boyd shrunk back. “I-I’m sorry, again. I didn’t know! I swear-”

“It’s fine!” Louie spoke up before anyone else could, rushing to his defense. “We can just start over. New places everyone! Boyd, count to thirty again. And no more robot stuff, got it?”

Although he was glad that his friend still wanted to take his side after all the trouble he’d caused, something still felt off to Boyd. He nodded weakly. “Y-Yeah!”

The game started up again, and Boyd used the thirty seconds of solace to get himself together. It was just a game. He could do this. It was just a game…

Webby was a little disappointed her climbing skills to reach the highest part of the tallest tree were wasted so soon. The second tallest tree just wasn't the same. But she did at least get a good view of the whole park and even caught sight of some of her friends' hiding places! She watched Boyd peek around the playground equipment, ousting Louie from his hiding spot in the tube slide and looking quite pleased to have found him without any aid from robot powers.

"'Ey pink. Mind if I hide below you?” Lena nearly startled Webby as she lounged on the branch directly below.

"Go ahead! Just don't give us away," Webby said, watching Boyd successfully find Violet and Huey and with Louie's assistance, Dewey.

"Well, might happen anyway." Lena crossed her arms. "Bot-boy is still too good at this game, x-ray vision or not."

Webby rubbed her chin in thought, grinning as she got an idea.

"What are you doing?" Lena tilted her head as she watched Webby remove her bow.

"Making this hiding spot worth it!"

Boyd looked high and low for Webby and Lena, finding this game was way more difficult without his x-ray lenses or signaling equipment...but it did make it more fun.

"Do you think they'd be hiding in a tree again?"

"Seems a little predictable…"

Boyd listened in on the chattering between Violet and the triplets, starting to feel happily included in the game and in the group. Before he could happily chime in to laugh at a joke Dewey told, his attention was caught by something laying in the grass of the forest, abandoned.

Webby's hair bow?

Picking it up, Boyd looked around, seeing nothing in the clearing nor the trees. 

"Webby?"

Suddenly he was beginning to feel very worried for his friend.

He turned back to face the others.

"Do you think something happened to We-"

" HIYAHHHHHHH !"

The sudden noise and feeling of something swooping in on him from behind startled Boyd and almost instantly activated his protective senses, assuming the attacker was why he wasn’t able to find Webby. Firing lasers from his eyes, Boyd boosted up the rockets in his feet to fly above the enemy and scope it out, ready to take whatever harmed his friend down. To his surprise, when he glanced down he saw Lena protectively cradling Webby and giving him a glare of surprise and slight anger. It took a while for the situation to process, but once it did, Boyd instantly felt guilt consume him.

“Oh no!” he squeaked in horror, coming back down to the ground and rushing toward them. “Are you okay? I’m sorry, I thought-”

“Why are you sorry!?” Webby gasped, enthusiastic in a way that made Boyd feel even more surprised. “That. Was. AWESOME!”

“Huh?”

She got to her feet and smiled at him. “You really think I haven’t had lasers fired at me before? I’m a natural at dodging obstacles!” The excited duckling began to jump up and down. “Do it again! Do it again!”

“Um…” Boyd stammered, looking behind him to see the other children giving him the same distrustful looks as they had back at Funso’s, except this time it felt even worse. He’d done something dangerous. He didn’t mean to, not at all! In fact, he was trying for the opposite. And Webby didn’t seem too bothered by it at all. But he still had…

Suddenly, the android began to feel a whole lot smaller and a lot less human. Panic coursed through his system, and he suddenly felt his inner workings start to get a little hotter than usual. A small spark emitted from him, but he was in too much of a shock to be too surprised by it. Luckily, Louie noticed and was quick to jump in before it got too much worse.

“Hey, Boyd!” He rushed over to him, patting his shoulder again but in a slow and careful way. “It’s fine. You were trying to protect Webby, even if you almost burnt her face off. It’s the thought that counts!”

Shaking his head and slowly starting to come back down to earth, Boyd tried to smile and Louie but failed. He rubbed at his arm. “I guess so…”

The expression on Louie’s face showed his quick rise in anxiety, until Boyd saw a lightbulb go off in the duckling’s head. “You know what? I think I’m tired of running around. Maybe we should go somewhere quiet…” He glanced toward Huey and Violet. “Somewhere with books?”

Both of the kids’ faces lit up as soon as Louie said the word “books.” 

“The library!” Huey cheered.

“Yes, please!” Violet grinned. “I was going to request we go there anyway so I can return my book on Ithaquack mythology that’s due next week.”

Huey looked at her, confused. “But you have a week left with it.”

She shrugged. “I’ve read it twice already. Plus, I like to keep ahead of schedule.”

“Fair enough.”

"Sorry we didn't warn you about Quackfaster," Webby lamented lightly to Boyd as she crawled between shelves.

"She can be...passionate about books," Violet added, already stacking books for Lena to reluctantly balance for her.

"Don't even worry about it!"  Boyd laughed nervously. "It's not like I thought she'd really try to paste my beak shut with library glue."

"Don't doubt her," Lena spoke behind the ever-growing stack Violet was giving her. "Hey Vi, maybe settle down on the selections? I don't got all day."

Boyd tried to stifle giggles as Violet and Webby immediately began to stack more books and challenge Lena, but before he could join in and stack another book, Lena deliberately dropped them, sending them tipping like a falling tree. Scrambling to pick up all the books before the nutcase librarian saw them, the girls and Boyd then all rushed in opposite directions. His initial plan to reunite with all of them was diverted when he discovered himself in the comics section of the library, shelves filled to the brim with issues. 

Immediately, Boyd's curiosity was piqued. He'd never seen so many comics before altogether, and never in the library! On the one trip he had made before, with mommy and daddy, he'd read through 50 science books and 12 language books and 54 great novels but no comics. Finding a comfy spot on the floor, Boyd began to sort through the comics, finding more than enough superhero comics and serials. Within minutes, he was in a whole other world, where heroes won, evil was vanquished and all was right with the universe. He was so nose-deep in St. Canard adventures, he didn't even hear Huey's delighted screech.

"OH MY GOSH, SCIENCEQUEST CHRONOSPHERE ISSUE 76!" The duckling pointed to a top shelf, frantically shaking Louie's arm as he jumped up and down.

"Gotta verbalize!" Louie yelped as Huey shook him. "What is it!?"

"I've been waiting for this issue to be on loan for eons!" Huey explained, clasping his hands together. "Finally! I can read it and decipher all the secret codes and analyze the story and photocopy the crosswords!"

"Have fun climbing the shelves," Louie craned his neck up to get a sense of the height. "And getting down."

Before Huey could wilt in realized defeat, he heard the gentle absentminded humming coming from Boyd, who sat on the floor behind them happily reading away.

"...I don't think I'll have to worry about that." he smiled knowingly to Louie.

Louie opened his beak to question it, but it appeared that Huey had his mind made up before he could say anything. The duckling sauntered over to Boyd and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to turn around to face him.

“Hey Boyd! You busy?”

“I was just reading.” Boyd set aside his comic for a moment. “Do you need anything?”

“Yeah, actually!” He clapped his hands together. “Don’t you have rocket boosters in your feet?”

“Yes!”

“Wonderful! Well,” Huey motioned to the shelf containing the comic, “there’s a comic up there that I really want, but unfortunately, my legs aren’t freakishly tall anymore.”

“Anymore?”

“Don’t question it! Anyway, I was wondering if you might be able to get it down for me?” He smiled. “Pretty please?”

Boyd stood upright, excited to assist Huey with whatever he needed. “Okay! Hold on.”

Booting up his rockets, the android tried to pay attention to the staring faces as he flew up to the shelf and looked for the comic Huey had asked for. “What’s it called?”

“Sciencequest Chronosphere issue 76!”

“Um...what was that again?”

Huey sighed. “The one with the big dinosaur on the cover!”

“Got it!” Boyd chirped eagerly as he rocketed to the top shelf and grabbed the book.

Just before he was about to descend, he caught sight of more and more comics on the shelves with interesting covers. He aimed the issue to drop in Huey’s waiting hands as he then sat on the top shelf, deciding to leaf through the comics. His smile shrank as he saw the title of the first issue ‘ DANGEROUS ROBOTS ’, viewing a scene of a stereotypical robot with saws for hands terrorizing people. He quickly shifted to the next one.

‘ ANDROID OF ANARCHY ’

The next one.

‘ THE METAL MENACE ’

With each issue in the stack, Boyd began to feel more and more unsettled but was unable to look away or discard the stack of comics. He felt strangely obligated to find at least one example, just one, of a robot that wouldn’t kill or maim innocent people. His hands shook as he stared at the last one, of a robot firing lasers from its eyes at a crowd of terrified children.

‘ ROBOTS ’, the comic had displayed in cryptic red letters, ‘ CAN WE TRUST THEM?? ’

“And what’s even better is this issue has scientifically accurate depictions of dinosaurs complete with feathers and beaks, and even the right time periods in order! I’m so jazzed!” Huey prattled on and on to his friends as they had all reconvened by the shelf. 

Before Louie could tell Huey to stop boring him, he suddenly felt a floppy light object drop onto his head. He looked up, slightly frowning. “Hey, Boyd! Watch where you’re putting the comics, you just-”

Even from the height between them, Louie could see the uncontrollable trembles in Boyd’s hands as the android child sat in frozen terror, staring ahead in a panicked stupor.

“Uh…” Louie looked down to the floor, stomach knotting as he saw the contents of the comic Boyd had been looking at and gulped. “Ooooohhhh boy…hey...Boyd buddy? Maybe put down those comics and find a nice magazine with cats on it and-”

Before the sentence could be finished, Webby shoved Louie out of the way of an uncontrollably fired laser that tore through the library carpet, leaving a scorch mark and the friends all confused and shocked.

“B-Boyd?” Louie called up from the shelf, seeing a pair of bright red eyes staring down at him.

“Does not compute…. DOES NOT COMPUTE! ”

Before any of the ducklings could say much, Boyd’s lasers activated. He couldn’t control it, no matter how he tried. When he realized what was going on, he tried to reach into his pocket for the remote but another spark overtook him, causing him to shoot lasers into the bookshelf ahead of him. Several onlookers watched as his rocket boosters started to fail, and he lost control, knocking into the bookshelf until it toppled over on top of the one next ot it and then the next one and the next one until there was a domino effect reaction. 

Onlookers ran as the bookshelves fell to the ground, Boyd still sputtering out of control and trying his best to calm down. Finally, there was a short circuit in his rocket boosters, causing them to fail and for him to fall to the ground. Someone caught him, who he would later crack open his optics to find was Huey. The duckling was looking at him with concern and fear clear on his face. Not knowing Boyd was able to comprehend his words, the android noticed him mouthing something akin to “I told you so” in Louie’s direction. 

Overwhelmed, Boyd tried hard to form words but his head was spinning and he hadn’t exactly wrapped it around the situation yet. His vision was fuzzy, and he tried so hard to block all the thoughts out of his head that he was a monster, a horrible device only good for hurting others, a menace...but why would he have done all of that if he wasn’t? Right as his laser function was heating up again, the harsh cough of the librarian startled him out of his panic. 

Quackfaster’s glare was almost twice as scary as the metal book grabber she wielded, directing both at Boyd and the other children.

“I believe it is time for you to leave,” she hissed in barely-restrained fury, silently giving them a five second headstart to run out before feathers started flying. Ten seconds later, the group of friends had bolted out of the library, tumbling down the front steps and landing in a pile on the street. 

“Everyone good?” Dewey groaned from the bottom of the pile.

“Mostly,” Webby winced, rubbing her tailfeathers as she stood up.

Louie was still collecting himself together when a nervous hand held itself out to him and he looked up to meet Boyd’s face.

“Are you okay?” Boyd asked worriedly, wanting to help Louie up. The duckling silently refused, getting himself up without meeting his gaze. Boyd then sensed that whatever attention in his direction was probably not the good kind.

“Dude.” Dewey frowned. “What was that about?”

“O-Oh gosh, I’m ever so sorry,” Boyd began, “I-I had no idea what came over me, I just saw the comics and I panicked and I couldn’t control it, I-”

Huey folded his arms, concerned. “If this is going to happen every time you’re faced with a dilemma-”

“But it doesn’t!” Boyd cut in desperately. “I just-”

“You very nearly incinerated Webbigail at the park,” Violet piped up, brow furrowed.

Boyd tripped over his words and apologies and explanations, tongue getting more and more tangled and stomach getting more and more tight. He looked to Louie for guidance, for words, anything. The duckling simply gave a look of disappointment and focused his gaze on the ground. He didn’t know how to help Boyd this time.

Eyes welling up with artificial tears, Boyd began to stutter. “I’m sorry, I- I mean I just...oh…” Without another thought, he bolted down the street as fast as his legs could carry him.

“Wait Boyd!”

“Come back!”

Boyd fired up his rocket boosters in order to get away faster, not even bothering to look back. He aimlessly flew throughout the streets, elevating slightly so he could avoid oncoming cars and the looks of pedestrians. After a while, Boyd wasn’t sure how long he had been on the run or if he should even stop. He just wanted to get away. He needed to, for the sake of his friends’ safety.

When he finally tired, he flew into an alleyway and powered off his rockets. Boyd tried his best to hide behind a rather large box, making sure nobody had come after him. Then, he allowed himself to process the situation. What happened? He wasn’t trying to do that! He’d never hurt his friends, ever! It wasn’t even something he’d ever dealt with before, and he wanted to explain that he genuinely didn’t mean it. 

But what if it happened again? He couldn’t control it. He’d tried, so hard. Maybe there was no use. Huey was right. He was dangerous. It would be best if Boyd just kept his distance from normal kids and accepted that he’d never be anything but a death machine, able to zap someone he cared about out of existence at any second.

He wondered what he should do now. Should he go home? Something was telling him to, but what if he hurt his parents or his brother? They really loved him- well, at least his parents did, and he loved them too. The last thing he wanted was to hurt such caring people. But if he couldn’t go home...then where?

As if answering his internal question, a sudden voice made its way into Boyd’s hearing sensors. 

“Boyd?”

He jumped and tried to blend into his surroundings, knowing it must be one of Louie’s friends. However, it didn’t seem to work.

“Boyd? Is that you?”

Before he had a chance to hide himself even more, Boyd realized that he didn’t recognize the voice at all. It sounded too mature to belong to a kid, and it was unlike any adult he’d ever come in contact with. Gulping in fear, he slowly rotated his head until his optics fell upon the figure approaching him. 

They were an adult, he’d been right about that. He’d also been correct when he said it was nobody he’d ever seen before. But even then, they looked familiar and very similar to him despite, as far as he knew, not being an android. Boyd was afraid but somehow the appearance of this stranger being so close to his made him feel almost comforted, as if they were meant to find him. He slowly began to reveal himself, sneaking out from behind the box but not letting his guard down. 

The stranger gasped. “Oh my gosh, it really is you!”

Before Boyd could ask for a name or any sort of way to recall the stranger, he found himself suddenly wrapped in tight squeezing arms, nearly getting flung off his feet.

“You have no idea how worried I was about you, buddy!” the man gushed. “Way to go and scare your old man like that.”

“I…” Boyd managed to cough out. “Do I...know you?”

Repeating the question in silent mouthing, the stranger then laughed. “Oh gosh, your circuits must have been all scrambled! It’s me, your dad! Mark Beaks!”

“You’re not my dad...” Boyd frowned. “My daddy and mommy are-”

“Oh no no no,” Mark, the parrot, corrected holding up his hands. “I mean, I’m your creator dad. Made you right in my lil’ old lab. Precious.”

When that didn’t illicit a response of recognition, Mark fished into his pocket pulling out his phone with a grin. “I even got proof, see?” He smiled, thumbing through the several photos he took of himself and what was evidently Boyd.

Okay, so Mark wasn’t lying. But it wasn’t making Boyd feel any safer. Seeing his own face on the screen just made Boyd even more confused, and he tried his best to remember something, anything from before he met his parents. Part of him was saying not to trust this guy, that he could just be a complete and utter fraud, but if that was the case, why did he have pictures of the two of them? And why did they look so alike?

“I...I can’t seem to remember you…” Boyd whimpered, numbers flying across his optics in frantic binary. “Why can’t I remember you?”

“Woah, woah, woah, calm down little guy!” Mark put a comforting hand on the little robot’s shoulder. “We’ll get this all figured out, I promise! Just breathe okay? Like I do in yoga. You like yoga?”

“I…”

“Okay, nix that. You like pie? Of course you do, I made you to like pie, let’s go.”

Boyd was in too much of an anxious fog to really object to the parrot taking him down the street, which could have proven deadly. But thankfully, he was evidently spared from any bad fate from his lapse of judgement as he found himself in a seat at a diner, being offered a slice of blueberry pie and a hot chocolate with whipped cream. He stared between the snacks and Mark Beaks as he poured at least six packs of Splenda into a mug of coffee.

“And the next thing I knew, I was scrambling all around the water park trying to find you!” Mark concluded his harrowing tale of how he lost Boyd. “I haven’t been able to sleep in weeks. I’ve been so busy out looking for you! So where have you been?”

“With my mommy and- I mean, the Drakes!” Boyd smiled, gently prodding the slice of pie he couldn’t exactly consume with his fork. “They...took me in, I guess?”

“Cool, I get it. They must’ve found out.” He narrowed his eyes. “Or stole you.”

Boyd gasped. “Oh, no! They wouldn’t do that! They’re nice.”

A sigh left Mark’s throat. “Well, what matters now is that you’re safe and sound with me, your real dad!” He smiled. “We are gonna have so much fun together now that you’re back.”

The other’s warm words left Boyd feeling delighted, but his smile faltered when a thought entered his head. “I should tell them that you found me! And my friends!”

“Your what?”

“My friends!” Boyd chirped. “Or well, at least I hope they still consider me a friend after...never mind. I’ll contact them!” 

Boyd reached for the remote in his pocket but was stopped by Mark’s voice. “What? C’moooon! You don’t need to do that!” 

“But...won’t they be worried about me?”

Mark shook his head. “Oh, Boyd…”

Confused for a second, Boyd started to respond but was stopped as Mark continued. “You see, Boyd, people like that...geez, how do I put this without making you upset. Um…” He took a deep breath before speaking again. “Alright, so do you ever feel like you’re...y’know, different?”

Feeling a little put on the spot by this man he just met, Boyd tapped his fingers against the table. “Yes. A little.”

His eyes grew wide and sympathetic. “That’s because you are. But it’s not a bad thing.”

Surprised at the second sentence, the android perked up slightly and dropped his fork. “Really?”

“Of course!” Mark smiled, warmth radiating from him as he spoke. “Listen, I know how these guys work. Sure, they might say they see you as a real person, but do they really?”

Boyd thought back to what happened at the library and frowned. “I don’t think so…”

“Exactly! They think you’re nothing but a lame old toaster.” The words hurt for a second, but then Mark’s voice grew comforting again. “But Boyd, I think you’re real.”

“You do?”

“Duh! I made you to be as real as you possibly can be. Why would I ever see you as anything else?” He scoffed. “You don’t need to waste your time with those closed-minded commoners when you’ve got me.”

The android cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Okay, so I know you’ve like forgotten most everything about me, but I’m kind of a big deal. And you know what I deal with on a daily basis?”

“No?”

“Robots. Bam! Just like you.” He pointed to Boyd playfully. “Point is, I get you, Boyd. I understand you. You’ll never be as real to anyone else as you are to me, your loving father.” Mark smiled again. “Come back home with me, please. You’ll have everything you ever dreamed of! My place has an arcade, a ball pit, a load of trampolines, just about anything a kid could ask for, robotic or not! And most importantly, you’ll have me, someone who wants nothing but the absolute best for his perfect, definitely real little boy.”

For a moment, the idea alone almost sounded too good to question. Boyd readied himself to agree but then stopped himself. “Gee, that sounds really fun! But what about my friends?” He nervously tapped his fingers together. “Will I still get to see them?”

Mark hung his head, seeming disheartened by the reply. “Awww, here comes the hard part of being a father: brutal honesty.” He made eye contact with the small android. “I didn’t really want to like...tell you this, but it’d probably be the best if I was honest with you because I love you and that’s a whole thing, soooo...while you are amazing and wonderful in every way, you are also kind of...weeeeell, broken.”

Boyd tensed up. “W-What!?”

“Yeah.” Mark almost looked ready to cry. “Oh, just before I was going to start repairing you, I had you ripped away from me.” He sighed. “It was something in the remote, I believe. You still have your remote, right?”

“Yes! It’s in my pocket.”

“Good, good.” He nodded. “Anyway, you were having these buggy spells. You would be doing fine one moment, and the next, you’d be shooting lasers every which way and sparking as if you were about to explode, and oh!” Mark cried. “My poor heart couldn’t take it…”

The gears in Boyd’s head began to turn, and he realized what Mark was talking about. “Oh...that’s what happened.”

“Oh no, is it still happening?” Mark clutched at his heart. “We gotta get you back so I can help make it better! Ahhh, I’ve been such a bad dad to my little boy.” He let out a loud sob.

“No!” Boyd was quick to butt in. “You’re not!”

He almost instantly perked up. “Epic! So we’ll get you back to my place and fix you up then, cool? Cool! Let’s get going but um…” Mark eyed the pie in front of Boyd. “You gonna finish that?”

“I can’t eat.”

“Awesome!”

While Mark scarfed the pie down, Boyd stared at his lap, fingers inching towards his pocket. He was thinking over everything Mark was telling him, and his head spun over how much sense it all made: why he felt so different, why he struggled to be ‘normal’ around his friends, why...well...why he was alive. And if that all made sense, then it only seemed logical that Mark Beaks...his real daddy...could fix him. Maybe he wouldn’t get to see his friends again, but would that matter if Mark could make things back to how they were, before he even had met them? He would be able to wake up in a world where his daddy loved him, and he lived a happy normal life, all without risk of hurting others. The plusses seemed to outweigh the minuses, and Boyd slipped the remote out of his pocket, holding it to his chest.

“Um...Mr. Beaks?”

“Please, call me dad! I’ve missed it,” Mark cut in, mouth full.

“I have my remote here if you’d like to see it.”

“Oh heck yes.” Mark shoved the pie plate to the edge of the table, slapping a wad of bills down. “Hand it over here for a looksie, champ.”

Looking between the remote, then at Mark’s expectant face, Boyd mirrored the parrot’s eager smile and slowly began to hand the remote over like a pull to a magnet.

“DON’T DO IT!”

Boyd instinctively pulled the remote back towards himself, both him and Mark looking in the direction of the shouts. Louie and the other children by that time had reached the table, having run through the diner much to customers’ confusion and annoyance.

“Guys?” Boyd looked at them, slightly puzzled.

“Aww, these your little friends, slugger?” Mark gripped the end of the table, tightening his dollar-a-minute smile.

“Boyd,” Louie panted out, catching his breath. “Whatever you do, don’t-”

“Louie, guess what!” Boyd cut in, almost bouncing in his seat with the news. “My real daddy is Mr. Beaks, and he knows how to fix me! He’s gonna make me all better so I don’t fire lasers around anymore. And I’ll get to live in his mansion!”

“That’s right, Boyd-y!” Mark gave him finger guns.

Boyd’s smile drooped only a little. “I won’t be able to spend time with any of you anymore, but at least I’ll get to be a real boy, and you guys don’t have to worry about me!”

“What?” Louie yelped, mortified.

“Dude!” Lena cut in, finally stepping in front of the pack. “Don’t listen to this guy. He’s lying to you!”

“He’s just using you,” Louie insisted. “Trust us.”

“B-but he’s my daddy…” Boyd frowned. “And he tried the first time around to make me real...I know I can be a danger to everyone and I’ve done nothing but spoil your day. If he can fix me, I won’t be broken anymore! Then everyone is happier.”

“That’s right.” Mark puffed out his chest, feeling smug at the guilty looks the children exchanged with each other.

Lena gave a dirty glare to the parrot, then addressed Boyd. “Kid, listen to me. I know everything he’s offering seems cool, but I also know what it’s like to be used.” She paused for a moment, as if recollecting her thoughts. “He’s just promising all this stuff to you so you’ll go with him. He can’t actually prove that he’ll fix you or make you real.”

“But he-”

“Trust me,” she said with a frown, “I’ve been there.”

Boyd felt his stomach begin to knot as he heard a tense, aggravated laugh come from Mark as he got up from the table. “Well, that’s enough chitchat. Say toodles to your chums, Boyd. We gotta go home and get you all fixed up. And a puppy!”

“A puppy?” Boyd perked up hopefully.

“Don’t listen to him!” Webby cried. “The puppy is a lie!”

“Come along Boyd!” Mark beckoned for him. “Hand me the remote while you’re at it?”

“Don’t give it to him!” Huey cut in.

“Please?” Mark batted his eyes. “Pwetty pwease?”

“He’s tricking you!” Dewey insisted.

“He’s a sham!” Violet added.

The opposing demands and cries from everyone crowding around him was getting to be more than a little overstimulating for Boyd, and he winced, gripping tightly at the remote.

“I...I can’t think!” he yelped. “Too much noise!” He jumped onto the table, suddenly rocketing through the ceiling.

Boyd sent plaster raining down on the table and his peers and landed promptly on the street outside. Almost immediately, before an angry diner manager could chew them out, everyone ran outside after him to swarm him again. The little robot didn’t stay still, instead running as fast as his little legs could carry him down the street.

“I’m sorry!” he cried over his shoulder. “But I can’t think! I have to think!”

He couldn’t get far before he stumbled, wincing as he did so and trying his best to clamber back on his feet before anything else could happen. However, he was too late. His friends stood on one side of him and Mark on the other, each closing in on the android as he clutched his remote tightly in his hands. So many voices were speaking over him, trying to coax him toward one side or the other, and it was starting to overwhelm him even more than it had before. He felt his system heating up as it did in the library and shut his optics, awaiting the worst when one voice overpowered the others.

“Wait, guys!” Cracking an eye open, Boyd saw that Lena had stepped in the center of the group of kids and was trying to make eye contact with him. She smiled in confidence. “I got this.”

Lena walked closer to Boyd, causing him to still for a moment. “I wanna show you something,” she offered, giving him a genuine grin that made him feel at least somewhat comforted.

“O-Okay…” he agreed, nodding. 

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and stood there for a while. Boyd was going to ask what she wanted to show him until he noticed something, a gentle purple glow gradually emitting from her. Then, it grew larger until Lena’s entire form was glowing a dark violet, something so unique and definitely nothing he’d ever seen from a regular duckling. His eyes sparkled in awe, along with almost everyone else’s, even Mark’s.

Suddenly, the glow stopped, and Lena smiled modestly before speaking. “I’m a shadow. I know what it’s like to feel not entirely real. I’ve dealt with it too, and I still do sometimes. But that’s why I hang around these guys.” She then motioned to the kids surrounding her, who were all looking at Boyd with welcoming smiles. “They’re like my family. They welcomed me when I needed it most and would do the same for anyone. Ducks, hummingbirds, shadows, even robots. And I think you’d be a great addition.”

Lena’s words made Boyd feel not only a lot calmer but strangely welcomed. After what happened at the library they still wanted him around? And not only that, there was someone in the group just like him (or at least close enough) who he could go to when he was having these problems? Blinking, he began to walk toward her but a sudden hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Wait, Boyd!” Mark gasped, pulling him back. “You gotta come with me! You need my help, remember? I made you! I can fix you! You need me!”

Suddenly wary of how frantic he was becoming about this, Boyd tried his best to shrug away. “I dunno, Mr. Beaks. I really wanna stay with my friends.”

“They’re not your friends! They’re just uh, using you! Yeah. That’s all they’re doing, trust me. You can only be safe with me. Just me. No one else!” He grabbed at the android’s hand, but Boyd pulled it away. This made his eyes narrow. “Boyd. Give me the remote. Now.”

“No!” he retorted, clutching the device and backing away. “Y’know, Mr. Beaks, I’m starting to think you’re not a very nice person.”

Mark gasped, clearly offended. “I’m a- you think- you- auuugh, screw this! Give me the remote, you little brat!” 

Knowing there was only one more result as he watched the parrot lunge at him, desperate for his remote, Boyd took all the courage he could muster and threw the object as quickly and far as he could, watching as it flew across the sky and into the distance to the point where none of them could see where it would fall.

Almost immediately, the kids began to panic, looking between Boyd and the direction he’d thrown the remote and all bracing themselves for the absolute worst.

“Boyd, what did you do?!” Louie began shaking the robot by the shoulders. “What! Did! You! Doooooooo?!”

Before Boyd could speak up, Webby screeched for everyone, including Mark, to hit the dirt. Watching everyone drop to the ground in a cowered stance, he tilted his head. “Why are you all doing that?”

“Your remote’s been thrown out of bounds!” Huey cried. “Who knows what could happen with you!”

“Is he gonna blow up?” Dewey mumbled into the ground, hiding his face. “Oh god, tell me if he’s going to blow up.”

“I’m not gonna blow up.” Boyd looked around at everyone in confusion. “At least…I haven’t yet.”

There was a long silence before the children started getting up, slowly crowding towards Boyd as they watched him carefully, waiting for him to spark or glitch or start firing lasers. 

“How do you feel?” Webby asked.

“Er...perfectly fine,” Boyd responded, slightly confused with himself. “Usually when my remote is too far away, my sensors go off.”

Violet stepped closer, taking a better look into Boyd’s optics and all around him. Then, she looked to the others. “It appears that he’s completely operational, even without his remote control system. Perhaps he’s gained sentience?”

“Ugh, just like Gearloose’s weirdo machines to get their own brain,” Mark suddenly scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I should have known.”

“Wait...” Violet frowned. “I thought you said you were his inventor.”

“It’s called a lie, sweetheart, look it up!” Mark waved her off. “I swiped Gyro’s weirdo kiddie-bot at an invention fair and gave him a makeover.”

Whatever anger at Mark’s thievery was quickly gone when Huey cheered, “Boyd! You know what this means right?”

“The crazy chicken at the park is my daddy?”

“Technically but don’t pursue that!” Huey still smiled. “This means that you’re sentient! Gyro’s inventions always go sentient!”

“And usually try to kill people,” Mark muttered.

“He doesn’t look like he wants to kill us.” Webby shrugged. “Do you want us dead, Boyd?”

“Not at all!” Boyd smiled.

“Settles it then! He’s cured.” Lena dusted her hands off. “That remote is history.”

“And my top secret plans,” Mark lamented aloud.

“What?” The kids looked back.

“Nothing!” the parrot cut them off. “Nothing, everything’s...fine! Ugh.” Mark stomped his foot and pouted like a bratty child before pathetically sulking off down the street. 

As Mark trudged away, Boyd nervously looked to his friends who were now surrounding him to show their support. A smile found its way to his beak.

“Thank you for sticking up for me.”

Lena gave him an affectionate pat on the back. “Hey man, if there’s anything I know, it’s that people like that weirdo are nothing but trouble. And that we’re glad to have you here as part of the gang.”

“I second Lena’s statement,” Louie piped up. 

“And I third it!” Webby cheered.

“Fourth!” Violet was quick to chime in.

“Fifth,” Huey added.

They all glared at Dewey for a second, who hadn’t said anything. Finally, the duckling sighed and smiled to Boyd. “Oh, whatever. I can forgive you for costing me the crown. Come here, Boyd!”

Dewey pulled the robot into a hug that the other kids all joined almost instantly. Boyd shut his eyes, taking in the warm feeling that emitted from being surrounded by others who loved him for what he was. For the first time in his entire life possibly, he felt the sense of belonging he’d always wanted to experience. He felt real.

When the hug broke, Dewey was quick to speak. “So where are we headed now?”

“No clue,” Louie added, turning to Boyd. “Do you have any ideas?”

Boyd tapped his fingers together, not expecting to be asked such a thing. “Well...how about we just go back to the mansion and watch a movie?” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “I think I’m still a little overstimulated. Sorry!” 

“No need to apologize,” Lena cut in, smiling at Boyd. 

Unanimous sounds of agreement filled the air as the kids headed back to the mansion together. As they were walking, however, curiosity got the best of Huey. 

“Hey, what did Beaks want with you anyway?”

Boyd processed the question. “I’m not quite sure.”

“Didn’t he tell you?” asked Louie.

The android thought for a moment again and shrugged. “No. Not exactly.”

“Maybe we should ask Gizmoduck to keep an eye on him,” Louie suggested, giving Huey a knowing glance.

“I’m sure if anything happens, it will be handled as quickly as possible and everything will be A-okay!” Huey grinned nervously, not sounding too confident about how right he was.

Boyd looked to Louie fearfully. “Do you think he’ll try to hurt me again?”

Louie frowned, clearly realizing that he couldn’t be sure of that. Before he could reply, Lena piped in.

“If he does, we’ve got your back.”

Realizing he couldn’t have said it better, Louie nodded to Boyd and gave a thumbs up. It was enough to make him feel both satisfied and loved.

As the group walked back, all idly chatting and going about their evening, the moon overhead started to grow brighter and more apparent until it shone down on everything below. The same moon could be seen from the Beagle Junkyard, a few blocks away from the diner where the fiasco earlier had happened. Mark had been idly spending as much time to himself as he possibly could to avoid facing the inevitable, mostly hanging out in the alley in which he’d found Boyd and playing rhythm games on his phone. But now his phone was dead and so was the backup one he’d salvaged, so he had no other choice but to walk to his current residence and face the music.

He kept the hood of his jacket over his head as he walked into the junkyard, trying to stay hidden so he wouldn’t be approached by any of Ma’s unruly sons. The last time he’d been stopped by one, it was the dumb emo one he’d met at Scrooge’s lame birthday party. Not only that, he took nearly half an hour to show him his low-tier party magician “skills” and took another half to lament on how his mother didn’t realize his talent. It was an experience he didn’t wish to repeat. Luckily, thanks to his natural grace, Mark was able to make it to the trailer at the top of the biggest junk pile without being noticed. 

Before opening the door, he took a deep breath of preparation. He knew what awaited him, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. The best he could do was to keep her and everyone else believing he had actually gotten Boyd back for as long as he was able to and break the news that he’d failed as quickly and nicely as possible! What could go wrong? Okay, a lot of things could and probably would go wrong but at least he had a plan! Or he did, until a sudden voice stopped him in his tracks and made him jump in fear.

“Is that you, Clark?”

Turning, he saw Magica De Spell sitting on the ripped arm-chair she’d attempted to repurpose as a throne, smirking at him. He gulped, his palms already growing sweaty. “Uh, yeah, yeah! And it’s Mark, actually but-”

“Good! Now, where is your little robot child thing-a-majig you promised me?”

So she was cutting to the chase. It was expected! But something about her glowering yellow eyes staring into his very soul made it a lot harder for Mark to stick to the plan.

“You mean, Boyd? Ummmm...well...Boyd is- it’s a funny story, actually! You might want to, um…...whoa, did you do something different with your hair today? It looks amazing! Hold up, wanna like take a selfie with me so I can-”

“You failed, didn’t you?”

Mark’s beak instantly clamped shut. 

“What’d I tell ya,” Ma Beagle barked as she stormed out of her room in curlers, fresh from her beauty treatment from Beauty Salon Beagle. “Don’t send an Einstein out to do an idiot’s job!”

Whistling for her boys, her three chief hench-sons toppled over each other as they rushed to her command, speaking in unison. “Yeah ma?”

“Do a favor for your ol’ ma: go out and club the robot kid over the head and bring him here.”

“And mess up super complicated circuitry?!” Mark yelped. “I’m smart but not smart enough to figure out Gyro’s tech when it’s broken!”

“Well, your hugs and kissies tactics sure didn’t bring him here!” Ma snarled.

“It almost worked, up until Scrooge’s brats stepped in,” Mark insisted. “If we just get them out of the way then we can-”

“No point in wasting our breath on them. Scrooge McDuck would have your butt handed to you in less than a minute.”

“So uh, are we clubbin the kid over the head or-?”

“Shut up!” Mark and Ma both snapped at the Beagle Boys.

“I have two words for this,” Don Karnage spoke up as he poked his head in from the backyard where he was conferring with his crew. “Song Number.”

“We already told you, no!” Mark, the Beagles and Magica all snapped at him. Ears drooping in sadness, he sulked back outside.

Mark turned back to Magica, surprised and honestly frightened that she hadn’t said another word on the matter. “So...does this mean you’re not mad?”

“Mad?” she asked, studying her fingers. “Oh, no.”

The parrot breathed in relief for a second before she continued.

“I’m furious !” Before he could blink, Magica was standing above him and glaring at him with enough fury to make him fall backwards. “I suppose it’s my own fault for believing you were anything but worthless yet I’m still so enraged! It wasn’t even a hard task or something I thought would help us in any way and you’ve still managed to ruin it.”

“Hey, of course it’s useful!” Mark was quick to defend himself or at least try to. “I get my tech back, I use Boyd to sneak into the mansion and grab some sort of magic artifact and bam! Your magic’s back.” He crossed his arms and huffed. “And I almost had him, I really did! He was right in my grasp, so close but then those kids came along and ruined everything. Especially that weird glowy one.”

“Why, I should have you thrown into the ocean and-” Magica abruptly stopped her tirade, eyes growing wide. “Wait, run that past me again.”

Mark blinked. “The thing about me getting beat by a bunch of kids or…?”

“The thing you said, what was it...a “glowy” one?”

“Oh yeah!” He tapped the bottom of his beak with his finger as he spoke. “There was this one little girl who had some kind of weird purple powers, talking all this stuff about how I was only here to “hurt” Boyd which I guess I kinda was, but-”

“What did she look like?” Magica cut in, not even letting him finish his sentence.

The parrot clicked his tongue in thought. “Taller than the rest, pink in her hair, had this weird purple glowy thingy in her chest...forgot her name. Something with an L, maybe Lyra? Laura? Lola?”

Magica looked up suddenly, as if she’d seen a ghost. “Lena.”

Mark gasped. “That was it, Lena! Ugh, you are just so good at these guessing games. Are you sure you don’t have psychic powers? Because you-”

She cut him off with a groan. “Stop trying to flatter me in hopes I’ll forget your failure.”

He furiously nodded and clamped his beak shut as Magica looked away, pondering what he’d just told her. Finally, she flipped around and fixated her stare on him once more, except she looked a little more docile this time.

“Actually, I believe your little plan might work after all.”

Mark gulped. “R-Really? I mean, that’s great! I’ll- oof!”

He was cut off when she roughly and very suddenly grabbed him by the collar of the shirt. “But in order for that to happen, I will be taking command of this operation, understood?”

“K-Kosher,” the parrot coughed out, dangling over the floor by an inch.

“Now,” she glowered at him, “think deep into your tiny walnut of a brain and find something, anything that you could use to track your ro-brat down.”

“W-Well, there was one thing, but it kiiiiiiinda got yeeted outta this atmosphere,” he admitted, sinking into his shirt sheepishly.

“What?”

“Hey, ma!” A Beagle burst into the trailer, interrupting Mark. “We done found one of those fancy doohickeys they use to fly tiny helicopters!”

“Were you born feet first?” Ma snapped in exasperation. “What kinda use would we put to that sorta thing?”

Her son twiddled his thumbs. “...We coulda flown it around and looked cool.”

Mark stared at the remote in the thug’s hand and wildly tried to squirm out of Magica’s grasp. “Waitwaitwait, that’s not an RC helicopter remote! That’s MY remote!”

Everyone looked to Mark in confusion.

“Boyd’s remote!”, Mark clarified with giddiness. “This is what I was trying to grab in the first place! BEAKS WINS!”

As everyone crowded around to see what was the big deal about the remote, Mark held it up and began to explain. “Y’see back when I first stole this thing from Gyro, I hacked into the controls and put in an ‘Overlord’ control. If I turned it on, that kid would do whatever I’d say, no matter what!”

“Well then!” Magica gripped his shoulder, shaking him impatiently. “Press it!”

“Right-a-roonie, lemme just-”, Mark pressed the ‘on’ button repeatedly, laughing nervously as it did nothing. “Just...needs a bit of coaxing…...er...anyone got a paperclip?”

“It’s broke, ain’t it,” Ma guessed, unimpressed.

“It’s not my fault!” Mark whined. “Boyd was the one who threw it, going all sentient and stuff…”

Magica grabbed Mark by the shirt again. “Sentient?”

“Yeahhhhh, Gearloose’s creations always do. Just a law of nature like birds flying and bees buzzing and women not being able to drive.”

Ignoring Mark’s last comment and silently questioning his stupidity, Magica narrowed her eyes. “Well now, this just got interesting. And I now doubly insist on taking control of the matter.”

“But I have the remote now! If we just fix it, I can-”

“I’ve dealt plenty with my remote-controlled minions going sentient. I have the experience to lead this charge,” she hissed at Mark and the rest of the Beagles. “And I highly suggest you don’t question it, understood?”

Everyone nodded in unease, satisfying the witch as she smirked. “Good.” She plucked the remote from Mark’s hands. “I have a bit of mechanical expertise myself, believe it or not.”

Mark suddenly popped up beside her. “Um, can I at least help? It’s my invention.”

“Your invention?”

“I stole it from Gyro fair and square. I know what Boyd is supposed to do more than anyone else.”

“Ugh,” Magica retched. “I suppose you can oversee the minute details. But you have to stay at least ten inches away from me at all times.”

“Done.”

“And you have to stop demanding selfies at the top of every hour.”

“Ooh that’s gonna be difficult!” Mark winced. “See, I gotta stay active on social media or-”

A glare from Magica shut him up quick, and her attention was diverted by Ma Beagle, who was crossing her arms irritably.

“So whaddo I do?”

“You, madam, will have your many disgusting children do surveillance on our little robot child and his friends. Every minute, every hour. Do not let them out of your sight.”

“Ya heard the lady!” Ma snapped her fingers at her sons. “Go get-a stalkin’.”

The Beagles all hustled excitably, high-fiving each other as they barrelled out of the trailer, leaving their eternally-disappointed mother to slump on her couch and question the last 40 years of life decisions.

Don Karnage cleared his throat as he stood at the window. “So...I realize I may be late into this conversation but-”

“You have a plane, yes?”

“I prefer the term ‘sky galleon’ but-”

“Fly over the city and get aerial view of the brats,” Magica demanded,  “and do it without singing.”

“B-But that’s our livelihood! We-”

“DO IT!”

“Right!” Don Karnage yelped, running out of the trailer.

Smirking in delight as she saw her plans coming into action, Magica smirked, monologging.

“Enjoy your independence while it lasts, robot child. Just like my last minion, I’m coming for you. We’re all coming for you.”

Her basking in evil glory was cut short as Mark slung an arm around her shoulder. “Hey, we make a great team, don’t we?”

“ Ten inches .”

“Right.”