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Lena shook the leaves out of her hair and took a defensive stance next to Webby. The bushes continued to ruffle and shake, but nothing had emerged from them yet.
The two had been fighting off the Beagle Boys all night, and they weren't about to give up, not when they were so close to their destination. They weren't going back to the junkyard for Ma Beagle to do whatever her twisted mind wanted with them; they would fight to the end.
Finally, after what felt like hours, something came out of the bushes.
On instinct, Lena yelled out and attacked only to be taken down with her hand held behind her back.
Webby, however, took a moment to realize she knew this yellow-clad duck. "Chloe! She's my friend, you can let her go!"
Chloe looked up from Lena over at Webby. She let go of Lena's arm and rushed over to Webby, scooping her up in a big hug. "Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"
"I'm fine," Webby replied, giggling. "I just went on a little adventure with Lena while the boys took the kayak out."
"Who's Lena?" Chloe asked, putting Webby down.
"That would be me," Lena answered, clearing her throat. "And who are you supposed to be?"
"Oh, um, I'm..." Chloe stuttered, realizing this was the girl whose arm she'd nearly broken.
"Lena, this is Chloe Duck, my big sister!" Webby happily answered.
Chloe nervously held her hand out. "Sorry for almost snapping your arm."
Lena raised an eyebrow but still shook Chloe's hand. "Sure, nice to meet you."
"Now, what exactly are you guys doing here?" Chloe asked, turning back to Webby. "The boys said they left you on the beach, which I'm going to give them a stern talking-to for."
"Oh! I picked up a distress letter that turned out to be a prank, and..." Webby began to explain before a noise sounded off in the park.
Lena quickly looked around and saw the slide had a fort at the top. "Up there!"
The three of them quickly ran up the slide and ducked under the walls just as three mime beagles entered the park. One used stilts, another used a tight black jumpsuit, and the third was big and looked like he had two faces on both sides of his body. The three of them climbed around the park jungle gyms, looking for the ducks they were after.
The radio Lena was holding buzzed.
"Tumblebums, the brats have been spotted in your turf. Bring them to me, and I'll have a happy birthday after all! Over and out!" the voice of Ma Beagle rang out.
Chloe rolled her eyes and looked over to Webby. "Why are the Beagle Boys after you? What exactly did you two get into?"
"We shoved their mom's face in a cake," Lena whispered nonchalantly.
"Wait, really?" Chloe snickered.
Lena groaned. "Yes, try to keep up, banana girl!"
"Hey!" Chloe whispered loudly as she began to stand up.
"Girls! We need to work together to get out of here!" Webby insisted, holding Chloe's arm back.
Chloe sighed. "You're right. I'm gonna call the boys and tell them to get to the manor."
She picked up her phone and dialed Louie's number. After ringing three times without an answer, Chloe tried Huey, then Dewey, getting the same result every time.
"Maybe they don't have any reception," Webby suggested, shrugging her shoulders. "Dewey tends to get really caught up in whatever he's doing, so he probably just ignored it anyway."
"True," Chloe agreed, peaking out at the Beagle Boys. "Looks like we're gonna have to get out of here on our own. Only question is, how?"
Webby stood next to her and looked out as well. "I don't know. If it was the normal guys, we'd have no problem whatsoever. We've faced them so many times, I have their individual weaknesses memorized."
Chloe shrugged. "Well, these are just those guys but clowns. And if there's one thing I know about clowns, it's that they're clumsy. I think I have an idea."
As the beagles continued searching the playground, a loud whistle suddenly sounded off, getting their attention. They all looked over to see Webby was standing out in the open, her back seemingly turned to them. They all charged her at once as Chloe watched from the fort.
The beagle on stilts bent down to grab Webby, but she simply tripped him, causing him to hit the ground. Chloe jumped from the fort and swept the skinny one off his feet and onto his brother, and the girls both knocked over the big one onto his brothers, knocking them all unconscious.
"We did it!" Webby cheered. "Lena, did you see that? It was... Lena?"
Webby and Chloe looked around to see they were alone, other than the unconscious beagles in a pile.
"She... left," Webby said dejectedly, her head hanging down.
Chloe walked over and put her hand on Webby's shoulder. "What do you say we go back to the shore and wait for the boys?"
Webby nodded, and the two made their way back to the bay. Once there, Chloe tried calling Huey, Dewey, and Louie once again, getting the same result as before, none of them answering. She looked over to see Webby hunched over with her head resting on her knees.
Chloe walked up and sat down next to her. "Everything okay?"
Webby shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought... maybe you, me, and Lena could have what the boys have. But I guess that's not gonna happen now. She only hung out with me until I wasn't cool anymore."
"That's insane! You're one of the coolest people I know!" Chloe replied. "And honestly, maybe Lena leaving was for the best?"
"What do you mean?" Webby asked, looking up at Chloe.
"Well... I'm probably judging a bit too quick here, but I'm not sure Lena would've been the best influence on you," Chloe answered before putting her arm around Webby. "But don't worry. Knowing you, you'll make tons of friends in no time. You just gotta be patient. And until then, you'll always have me."
Webby smiled and leaned into Chloe's body. Her attention was caught by a bottle floating by. She got up and grabbed the bottle, taking the note out of it. "Dear Webby, I was captured by the Beagle Boys, pleas help, Lena.
"Wait, is this another prank?"
Another bottle floated by, and Webby picked it up as well.
"This is not a prank," Webby read before cheering up. "She didn't leave, she was captured! Wait, she was captured! We have to help her!"
"Woah, hold on," Chloe said, grabbing Webby's arm. "We don't know exactly what we're walking into."
"We can't just leave her!" Webby pleaded.
"All I'm saying is maybe we should get Scrooge to help us. We've never faced more than three of the Beagle Boys at once," Chloe explained.
Webby sighed. "Look, Lena and I broke into a junkyard, defeated the Tochitos, and were British together."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Chloe replied.
"But Lena does!" Webby finished. "And that's why we have to go back for her! Outside of the mansion, Lena's the only one who's ever given me a chance. We can't just leave her!"
Chloe saw the look of desperation on Webby's face. She couldn't have said no if she wanted to.
"Alright, but we have to be careful," Chloe conceded.
Webby quickly hugged and thanked Chloe before running out along the shore. Chloe followed, and the two came to an amphitheater, where seemingly hundreds of Beagle Boys, all wearing different attire, were waiting around. Toward the edge, Lena was tied to a pillar with her hands behind her back, several long ropes holding her in place.
Webby quietly climbed up the stage behind the pillar and began untying the ropes.
"Webby! You came!" Lena quietly cheered.
"Of course I came, we're the Beagle Birds, remember?" Webby replied. Unfortunately, she pulled a little too hard on one of the knots and fell back, turning the lights on and alerting the Beagle Boys to her presence.
They quickly tied Webby up to the pillar next to Lena, but with only one rope.
"Once we hand you two over to Ma, she'll have the best birthday present ever!" Big Time taunted.
"And we got some early Mother's Day shopping done too," Bouncer added, holding up a terrified Huey, Dewey, and Louie, making Chloe gasp internally.
Once the Beagle Boys turned their backs to Lena and Webby, Chloe quickly climbed up to Lena and began untangling the rest of the knots.
"That was your plan? Throw yourself into the middle of the Beagle Boys?" Lena sarcastically asked Webby.
"Hey, I was trying to save you!" Webby countered. "And it was better than your plan to just leave us to deal with them!"
"Well, if I'd known you couldn't handle it, I wouldn't have done that!" Lena retorted, turning back to Chloe. "Think you could move faster than, I don't know, a snail's pace?"
"I am working on it! There's like a thousand knots here!" Chloe whispered back.
"Ugh! Just use a pocket knife or something!" Lena told her.
Chloe put her hands up. "I could just not untie you and save Webby. How does that sound?"
"Chloe, just help her," Webby insisted.
"Why? All she's done is get you into trouble. Why should I help her at all?" Chloe asked, crossing her arms.
Lena groaned again. "Now I remember why I avoid family. All they do is..."
"Fight?" Webby guessed, looking between Lena and the distracted Beagle Boys.
Meanwhile, the Beagle Boys were discussing the plan for when their Ma arrived.
"Alright, so when she pulls up, we all jump out and yell surprise!" Big Time instructed. "Any questions?"
"Yeah, I have one," Lena spoke up. "Which one of you gets to hand us over?"
The Beagle Boys confusedly looked between one another. "Come again?" Big Time asked.
"I mean, you could all hand us over and share the glory, or..." Lena trailed off.
That got the Beagle Boys going. They all made arguments as to why they should be the ones to hand Lena and Webby over until someone got hit with a bottle, and it turned into a free-for-all, the smoke machine coming on as well. Chloe finished untying Lena as Webby scaled up the pillar and bit her rope off. Chloe spotted Bouncer in the chaos and launched herself at his chest foot first, knocking him over and causing him to let go of the boys. Chloe helped Dewey up, and the four of them ran back to the kayak and started paddling away.
Back at the manor, after everyone commended Lena for her plan, Webby and Lena faced each other.
"This was fun! Let's do it again, but without the whole mob coming after us thing," Lena joked.
"Most certainly, Brittonia," Webby said in an English accent.
"Until next time, Englabeth," Lena replied in her own, not-so-great accent.
Chloe rolled her eyes and ushered everyone else inside. She then turned to Lena and said, "I'd invite you in, but I don't know you too well, and Uncle Scrooge doesn't like strangers coming in, so..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get the message," Lena replied. "Just tell Webby I'm free whenever she wants to hang out."
"Sure, I'll do that," Chloe said sarcastically.
"Oh please, I know you had fun with me tonight," Lena teased with a sly wink. "I know I did."
Chloe's bill turned a light shade of red as she groaned. "Just... go already!"
Lena snickered to herself as she walked away from the manor as Chloe stormed inside.