Chapter Text
Gyro rubbed his eye and yawned, glancing over when he heard the familiar buzzing noise of his phone.
With a sigh, he picked it up. He would usually ignore it- it was too much of a distraction- but the text was from Della. He’d learned from experience that she would just keep texting until he answered.
9:36 P.M.
DELLA: dude u coming? were gonna start without u
Gyro ran a hand back through his hair, leaning back in his chair at his desk in the empty lab under Scrooge McDuck’s money Bin. He’d forgotten he’d told the Duck cousins he would come watch the latest released Harry Parrot movie, it was the fourth one in the series.
GYRO G.: I forgot, sorry. I won’t be able to make it.
DELLA: awww why not?
GYRO G.: You know why. The deadline is in two weeks.
DELLA: uuughhh who even cares? just come hang out. i’ll even let you bring some black licorice…
GYRO G.: You can’t just bribe me into it with licorice. And how do you know I don’t already have some here?
DELLA: because ur lame and u never bring candy to the lab
GYRO G.: Fine, you caught me. But I won’t be able to make it tonight, sorry. Maybe after this stupid machine is finished in a few weeks.
DELLA: wow you must be really tired of this thing if youre calling it stupid
GYRO G.: I haven’t had time for a normal sleep schedule in a month.
GYRO G.: ‘Tired of it’ is an understatement.
DELLA: ugh that machine is so stupid. why are u still doing it anyway?
GYRO G.: Because Mr. McDuck asked me to, obviously.
DELLA: just tell uncle scrooge its too much
GYRO G.: I already got this far, I don’t want to give up now.
DELLA: ok, i guess. do you want us to wait for you?
GYRO G.: Nah, go ahead and watch it. I can come watch it later. Isn’t Fethry leaving soon anyway? Watch it with him while you can.
DELLA: ok. ttyl! love you!!! <3
GYRO G.: Love you too, Dels.
DELLA: HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT?!
GYRO G.: Exactly 87 times.
DELLA: huh, i thought it was more than that... but stOP CALLING ME THAT.
GYRO G.: Good night, Dellie.
DELLA: >:(
Gyro laughed as he set his phone back down, then turned to the machine before him, the one he’d been working on for the last two months. Sleek and shiny, it was about as big as a large retro TV set. It had a circular base that was about four feet in diameter, rising up at an ablge for about a foot before leveling off like a plateau. Three spires ran two feet upwards from three separate edges, then arced down suddenly and ending in a sharp two-pronged fork.
He ran his fingers over the name emblazoned on the side of the platform.
Ego Machine
It was nearly ready.
The Duckburg University had requested a special machine for their students to be able to ‘split the complex personalities of gnats,’ and Scrooge had asked Gyro to build it. Of course the inventor had said yes, the more random and creative the idea, the more interested he was in it. By now he was tired of working on it, but at least it was better than building another car.
Looking it over one last time, Gyro continued what he’d started before Della texted.
Testing it.
He wasn’t expecting it to go right the first time, but he needed to see exactly what he was doing wrong to be able to fix that. And he always had plenty of gnat test subjects, caught by him and Della on the grounds of McDuck Manor.
He climbed to his feet and walked over to the tiny habitat at the edge of the lab, yawning. It was late, and he was tired, but it would be nice to get this done before he turned in. Gyro pulled a special petri dish out of his pocket, one that had a second mesh lid under the normal plastic one. It was designed so that after the plastic lid was removed, the mesh underneath would be able to let the ray of the ego machine pass through without letting the gnat out.
Opening a small door on the side of the habitat Gyro used a net to easily catch three gnats, quickly pulling both lids off the dish and putting the bugs inside, managing to screw the lids back on before any escaped. They plinked against the side of the glass, confused at the sudden change in the space around them.
After closing the habitat without any other gnats escaping, Gyro walked back over to the machine. He set the petri dish down in the middle of the platform, and checked if the prongs were angled right.
Everything was in place.
Gyro picked up the remote control. It currently was simply just a small box with a switch, but he planned on adding more features to it once he was sure the machine actually worked.
Looking over one everything one last time, a jolt of excitement ran through him.
He wasn’t finished, this was simply just the first test, but he was almost there. After this it would just take a few more tests and adjustments, and he could finally move on to something new.
Besides, there came the thrill of something going right. Of one of his inventions coming to life (whether figuratively or literally), and Gyro watching excitingly as everything worked smoothly. It was a sense of satisfaction that Gyro would never get tired of.
Stepping closer, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then flipped the switch.
It whirred to life, and only seconds later arcs of strange violet electricity shot from the six prongs, combining in the air above the middle of the machine before shooting downwards to hit the petri dish.
Gyro realized with a shock that he’d forgotten to take the top lid of the petri dish off.
He leapt forward to yank it out of the way, but it was too late. The bolts reflected off of the top of the dish, and now that he was hovering over it, they shot upwards to hit him full in the face.
Gyro screeched and reeled back, tripping over his feet and landing hard on his tail feathers. Luckily he’d closed his eyes so the bolt hadn’t blinded him, but there was a strange sensation spreading through his body. It felt suddenly like his weight had increased tenfold, almost like the force of gravity on him had escalated dramatically.
There came something tickling at the back of his mind, a presence pressing against the edge of his consciousness. He didn’t know what it was, but there was no way he was going to let it in.
Leaning forward to support himself on his hands, Gyro crouched down further, trying to form mental walls around himself and press the darkness back, but it was no use.
It was stronger than he was.
As it forced its way across his consciousness, Gyro could pick out that it was made up of many different emotions, swirling around themselves as they expanded. Fear, hate, sadness, jealousy, anger… All of them flashed through his mind, leaving him drained as he felt each one in a span of mere seconds.
Suddenly the emotions expanded, and Gyro cried out. A faint noise started building in his ears, he clamped his hands over them. The ringing quickly got louder and louder, before it drowned out the sounds of his gasps. It brought with it an incredibly painful pressure.
From the center of the darkness and emotions, a much darker form began to take shape, morphing into a strange look. He didn’t know what it was, but it felt bad. Gyro tried to fight back against it, to visualize it leaving, or just try to ignore it.
Stop fighting, Gyro.
I’m everything you need to be.
What the hell did that mean? What was going on? What was this?
In spite of the figure’s assurances, Gyro continued to fight back against it as much as he could. As far as he knew, dark entities forming in one’s mind were never good things.
But it was too strong for him.
Gyro got out one last scream,
Before his consciousness disappeared.
The chicken crouched on the floor of the lab slowly and gingerly collected itself, coming to rest on its hands and knees.
It raised its head, looking out at the space around it. Its eyes were an unusually bright green, there was a sort of deeper and darker emotion in them. They sparkled strangely in the light.
The bird stood, a smile forming on its beak.
“Don’t worry, darling.”
It ran a hand back through its hair, fluffing it up from its head.
“I’ve got it from here.”
--Sixteen Years Later--
Gyro felt arms wrap tightly around him, and a chin coming to rest on his shoulder. He leaned his head against the other bird’s temple, smiling softly. “You’re headed home?”
“Mm hm,” Fenton made a quiet noise of affirmation. “I need to get some sleep. You should too.” In the last week or so, the duck had been busy with Gizmoduck duties, and had recently set a bedtime for himself so he could get enough sleep to patrol during the day. There’d been an ‘anonymous’ tip-off (a letter had shown up at the police station, signed with a muffin scribble in the corner and clearly written with a pink glitter pen) that a certain abandoned Glomgold office building was being used as a hideout for an illegal organization, and the police had immediately investigated and ended up arresting quite a lot of Eggheads. The ones who’d gotten away were being tracked down with the help of Gizmoduck. “You’re starting to look like the Mad Ducktor.” Fenton added, teasing.
Gyro self-consciously traced the circles under his eyes, which, now that Fenton pointed it out, he realized they could’ve rivaled those of his clone’s. “Am not!”
Fenton gave a soft skeptical hum. “You need sleep.”
“I will soon,” Gyro promised, setting down his pencil and leaning back in the office chair he was sitting in. The lab around him was mostly dark, it was just past midnight. “I have to finish this. Oh, have you seen the clone spray?”
“What?!” Fenton practically yelped right in Gyro’s ear, startled. “You still have that? You know if the Mad Ducktor-”
“I know, I know, that’s why I want to find it, so I can get rid of it. There was some I never used, and Mads will probably freak out if he discovers I still have it. But I can’t find it anywhere.”
“I haven’t seen it. But could it have been destroyed when F.O.W.L. blew the lab up?”
Gyro’s brow furrowed. “Hm, probably. I guess that did it for me then, and I don’t have to face Mads’ wrath.”
It got quiet for a moment, before Fenton kissed his husband’s temple. “At least take a break right now, if you’re not going to sleep?”
“Fen…”
“C’mon, mi amor. Lil’ Bulb told me he wanted to go crab-hunting down at the shore, right Lil’ Bulb?” They both looked over at the robot, who was standing on the edge of the desk.
Lil’ Bulb looked up as he heard his name, blinking. “I do not recall-”
“Right Lil’ Bulb?” Fenton repeated pointedly.
The little robot glanced between Fenton and Gyro, looking a little confused. “Yes, I suppose that would be enjoyable.”
Gyro snorted. “Fenton-”
“I’ll make you some coffee to take down there before I go, just at least go to clear your mind or something. Don’t come back until it’s finished though.” He kissed Gyro’s temple again before pulling away.
“I guess I could use a break…” Gyro said, sitting up and stretching.
“See?” Fenton said as he walked away.
Gyro smiled, flopping back in the office chair and staring off into space as he thought. It was late, he was tired, and he probably should go back with Fenton… No, he wanted to hurry and finish this. He could go home tomorrow morning when it was done.
Home.
Once upon a time, that word had meant nothing to Gyro. A home was just a house, a couple of walls with a roof created solely for the purpose of sheltering a living thing. He’d found it ridiculous when people tried to make it anything more than that. His house wasn’t even all that exciting, it was where he would sleep- which he used to think was an annoying waste of time, after all, he could be in the lab working instead of doing nothing- and occasionally feed a stray cat, but that was it. He preferred his lab much more, especially on the off occasion that he got to sneak a stray cat into it.
Now though?
Now he knew it was so much more than that. Now he couldn’t wait to get back home. Back to his family, back to the familiar rooms chock-full of memories. Back to the dozens of pictures on the walls, back to the cats, back to the new piano, which had been a gift from someone Gyro was happy to call a friend.
Most of all, it was back where his two favorite people lived. Where they lived with him. Gyro could hardly believe it. Before, he thought he would never want to live with anyone- that sounded like an invasion of privacy, not to mention the headache of having to put up with another living person- but even more shocking, it’d never occurred to him that someone would actually want to live with him. And while he still wished there was a way around sleeping, he found it was worth it to wake up next to Fenton, with Boyd bursting in the room, ready for the day.
Fenton returned a minute later with a steaming paper cup, putting the lid on as he walked back. “Here.”
Gyro stood and Fenton set the cup down on the desk, before pulling Gyro close and softly kissed him. Gyro quickly reciprocated, and the duck wrapped his arms around him and dipped Gyro, still kissing him.
The inventor squawked against Fenton’s beak, and the duck giggled, pulling back a little to better look Gyro in the eyes. “You need some sleep, if that was enough to startle you.” He teased.
Which was true, Fenton dip-kissed him enough when they were alone that Gyro should’ve seen it coming. “I know, I know, I will.”
“Now?” Fenton asked pleadingly.
“Soon,” Gyro replied, leaning up to press their foreheads together. Fenton was still holding him up.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Fenton said, and Gyro chuckled.
They straightened up, and Fenton handed Gyro his cup. “Thanks.” The inventor said as he took it. “I won’t be long. I’ll see you soon.”
“You had better not take long.” Fenton said with a smile. “G’night.”
“Goodnight, love you.”
“Love you too.”
They kissed again before grabbing their coats and going their separate ways, Fenton to the elevator and Gyro and Lil’ Bulb to the stairs, Gyro heading to the parking garage. His footsteps were loud and echoing in the large empty garage, and he headed for the small exit at the back.
Gyro punched in the code to open the door, then propped it open with a stray cinder block, left over from the time they’d had to repair the wall from a Beagle Boy attack. He stepped through as Lil’ Bulb leapt down off his shoulder, disappearing immediately in the high grass on the shore.
The inventor walked to the edge of the beach, just out of reach of the wet sand. His coffee was the perfect temperature, Fenton somehow always knew how to make it just right. Gyro sat down, closing his eyes for a moment and relishing in the feeling of the sea air blowing in his face, whisking through his feathers.
It was late January and the weather was quite cold, it hadn’t snowed in a few days, but it’d come close. Gyro was thankful for the hot cup to keep his hands warm. He sat in the sand, looking out at the scenery.
From here there was a great view of the city, the water, and the sky, it was almost picturesque. From the way the stars twinkled and the moon shone bright over the multicolored lights, Gyro was pretty sure one of his sisters had had a photograph of something like this hung in her room at some point when they were kids.
He sighed, setting his coffee in the sand next to him as he brought his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them. Maybe Fenton was right. Maybe he was overworking himself a little too much. It was nice to come out and take a breather. He hadn’t slept in a few days, and was exhausted.
Two years ago, a few nights without sleep wouldn’t have fazed him. He was used to running on little rest, he took pride in the fact that he didn’t get as tired as most people.
But after adopting Boyd, and especially after Gyro and Fenton had started dating, the duck had been more persistent in getting Gyro to rest, and eventually Gyro had started a normal sleep schedule for himself. Now, two years later, he was tired after just one all-nighter. Going several nights without sleep left him incredibly exhausted.
His current project was some Gizmoduck-inspired weaponry, which he was saying could be used for anyone, but he mostly wanted to use it himself. The last time F.O.W.L. had attacked and had attempted to kidnap the Mad Ducktor it had felt incredible to finally be the strong one, the one who was supposed to get them all out of there. If F.O.W.L. or anyone else came after them again, Gyro wanted to be able to fight back, or at least keep himself from being the weak link damsel in distress. These weapons would be the way to do that.
Gyro’s coffee was gone all too soon, and he sighed, standing. He was enjoying this, being able to relax and think about something other than an invention, but he had to get back to it. It was strange how much had changed in such a short amount of time. Before, his inventions were all he wanted to think about. Now, he was making himself take a break from turning the plans over and over again in his mind.
He stared out at the water for several more minutes, lost in thought, not wanting to turn in.
He didn’t see the figure suddenly jump down from the “Staff Only” sign above the door just behind him. He didn’t hear it land softly, the sound of the waves covering the noise of pink-soled boots crunching in the sand.
He didn’t hear the footsteps either, nor see a small purple light detaching itself from the figure and dropping to the ground, disappearing in the grass.
Gyro only felt the arm around him, and the rag being pressed against his beak. He yelped and struggled for a moment, caught utterly unawares.
It only took a few seconds for the world to go dark, and Gyro collapsed.
The Mad Ducktor grinned as Gyro slumped into his arms, holding Gyro up with one arm as he stuffed the rag back in his pocket. He quickly lifted Gyro up, the inventor’s head falling against his shoulder. “Hm, sorry darling.” He said, the grin on his beak entirely contradicting his words. “It’s for the best.”
Mads looked up, holding Gyro against him. “Blacklight! Did you get him?”
Sure enough, the little lightbulb returned, dragging a lifeless version of itself behind them. Mads’ smile grew. “Excellent job. Neither of them saw it coming. Now let’s go!”
The lightbulb climbed up the villain’s long back coat, pulling Lil’ Bulb up behind them. They settled on Gyro’s stomach, before the Mad Ducktor hit one of the buckles on his boots with his other heel, and shot off into the star-filled sky.
Gyro woke with a groan.
He was sitting on a surprisingly comfortable surface, his back pressed against it and his head tipped back. He blinked, lifting his head and waiting as the world slowly came into focus.
It didn’t take him long to notice that he was sitting back on an old couch, his wrists and ankles tied together, his arms behind his back.
The space around him was mostly dark, and the first thing Gyro noticed was the folding table not far from the couch. He was in an old wooden room, and faint outlines of equipment could be perceived at the edge of the room, mostly obscured by darkness.
He’d been through this before.
He’d been kidnapped, yet again.
Gyro groaned, his head falling back against the couch. “Oh, screw me…” he grumbled. He knew the terror was going to set in in a moment, but right now he just felt annoyed. Why did this keep happening? Couldn’t people just leave him alone? Why was he always the one left helpless, waiting for either his superhero husband or his supervillain clone to come rescue him?
“Why darling, I’m shocked! I never thought you’d be so forward!” A voice came from behind the couch, and Gyro jumped, twisting as far around as he could with a squawk.
“M-Mads!” Gyro squeaked, his eyes following the clone as he walked around to the front of the couch. His natural panic due to the situation diminished greatly, after seeing his kidnapper. “Uh… Ignore that. What do you want?”
“Are you sure you want me to ignore that?” The Mad Ducktor asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning mischievously.
Gyro pulled away from him as much as he could, slightly repulsed. “Yes. What do you want? What time is it?”
“Hm, two in the morning.” Mads answered. “And I want you.”
The inventor scowled. “I know, we’ve been over that too many times. But why would you kidnap me? You could’ve just come by the lab.”
The Mad Ducktor burst out laughing. “No- that’s really why I captured you. I want you here with me.”
“I can’t right now Mads, I have a project to finish-”
But he was cut off by more of Mads’ laughter. “You- you really think-” He broke off, still cackling. “We’ve really grown too familiar with each other, haven’t we?”
“What do you mean?” Gyro asked, he was now incredibly confused. Mads almost never kidnapped him, and by now surely their relationship was developed enough that his clone wasn’t going to hold him hostage. If Mads wanted to spend time with him, that would have to wait until later. He didn’t understand what was so funny.
Mads studied Gyro, tilting his head. “You know, it only makes it more funny that you’re serious about this.” He took a few steps forward, standing over Gyro and looking down at him. “The thing is, I’m not playing. You’ve actually been kidnapped, you’re actually staying here with me.”
“What?” Gyro asked, leaning back to look up at Mads. “You- you can’t- Why? You know I’d be miserable here with you, and you won’t be able to hold me here without hurting me at some point, which you can’t do.”
The Mad Ducktor leaned down to him, a smug grin on his face, like that of a hunter who had just cornered their prey. “Come now darling, that’s hurtful! Besides, what if I found a way to make it enjoyable for you?”
“You couldn’t.” Gyro grumbled. “You’d have to just let me go.”
Mads traced a hand along the underside of Gyro’s beak, the action sending ticklish shudders through Gyro’s feathers. “Oh darling, I’m not planning on letting you go.”
The inventor pulled back, glaring. “Why are you acting like this?”
“Like what?” Mads asked, a hint of curiosity in his features.
“You’re being weird and manipulatively evil, it usually means you’re going to kill someone or blow something up or-”
“Or attack a room full of people with a chandelier?” Mads suggested, smiling. Gyro was at least partially glad to see that the smile was genuine, it didn’t have any malintent in it.
“Yes.” The inventor looked into his clone’s eyes. Despite Mads’ act, he wasn’t scared or unnerved by it, because he knew it was just that. An act. Mads was never like this when he was being genuine; while he did have a malicious streak, it was mostly teasing when it came to Gyro. “Why are you doing this?”
The Mad Ducktor finally pulled away, straightening up and taking a step back. “Hm, I have my reasons, darling.”
“...Mind sharing them?” Gyro prompted, slightly annoyed at how vague the other bird was being.
“Well, the first one is you’re here so I can convince you to join me-”
“Never going to happen.” Gyro immediately didn't let him finish. “Why would I?”
“Oh,” Mads waved a hand. “It’s because I have this.” With a speed that would’ve put the fastest draws in the Wild West to shame, he whipped a small laser gun from his coat, and fired a purple bolt at Gyro.
Gyro gasped as it hit him, and a strange feeling spread through his body. It almost felt like he was being electrocuted, but not quite. His limbs suddenly felt heavy as his vision clouded, the edges going black.
He looked up at Mads, who was stalking closer, smirking. “W-what was that?”
Mads inspected the gun. “Oh, this little thing? Well… you’ll find out soon enough.”
The darkness at the edge of Gyro’s vision was getting thicker, seeming to spread back through his head. He managed to summon enough of his thoughts to form words, however that was slightly hindered by his tongue feeling thick and heavy. “W-w-what-t w-wa-as t-t-that?”
Mads leaned down to his level. “If you must know, then...” He held the gun down so Gyro could read the label on the side.
Ego Machine II
Gyro had to read the words several times before his brain fully processed them, and when he did, the jolt of shock fought some of the darkness back, arcing though it like bright lightning. “W-what?!”
The Mad Ducktor grinned. “You see, I realized that if I ever got what I wanted and finally was able to destroy Scrooge, you might suffer some of the backlash. He’s your employer, after all! We can’t have that happening, now can we? So if you were on my side, you’d be safe from that. I knew you wouldn’t be… enthusiastic about it at first, but this little device here could help you fit in right away.”
Gyro had to slowly piece the words together like a puzzle, his thoughts were scattered by the ever pressing darkness. “W-why are you d-doing this?”
“Darling, I just told you!” Mads said, chuckling.
“But- I thought- You- After everything-” He hadn’t been expecting a betrayal from Mads on this level. He hadn’t expected anything like this, period. The ego machine was something from the past now, and it’s return was like a right hook to the gut. He’d thought that they were close enough that Mads wouldn’t even consider turning on him like this, his shock didn’t help the scattered emotions zooming around his head.
He was brought back to reality by a hand under his beak, tilting it upwards to gaze into the bright green eyes inches away from his. “You thought what, darling?”
I thought you’d never do this.
I thought you were better than that.
I thought you were going to actually consider my feelings.
I thought you knew what this feeling of losing control of your emotions was like.
I thought you knew that it’s absolutely terrifying.
I thought we’d figured out our relationship.
I thought you were a friend.
Gyro didn’t answer. He couldn't answer. He remembered this feeling. The darkness, the weight… It was something he’d gone through once and re-lived in his nightmares for years afterwards. He could feel the hurt, anger, sadness, stress… all of it, build up heavily in the back of his mind, and let out a screech.
If he’d had his eyes open, he might’ve seen the Mad Ducktor flinch, or flicker of concern that crossed his face. The villain let go of his face, and Gyro fell back against the couch, writhing from the pressure in his head.
“It’s for the best, darling.” The Mad Ducktor quietly assured him as he took a step back.
Gyro hardly heard him. There was a loud ringing noise in his ears now, he shut his eyes tighter against the increasing pain. The darkness, merged with the negative emotions, began to take form.
No no no no no no no no no...
He repeated the words over and over in his mind as the form became more clear. It was all he could think to do.
No no nononONONONONONO-
Stop fighting, Gyro.
I’m everything you need to be.
NONONONONONONONONO-
He got out one last scream,
Then his consciousness disappeared.
Mads watched, slightly concerned, as Gyro finally went still, falling limply against the couch. “Hm, that took longer than I thought it would.” He stepped closer, leaning down to press a kiss against Gyro’s forehead. Gyro had fought it harder than Mads had been expecting, which only dragged out the pain. “Sorry, darling. But you’ll thank me soon enough.”
---
Fenton woke up alone.
He stretched out, expecting to feel Gyro next to him, and let out an annoyed grumble when he didn’t. Really, after he’d promised several times he’d be back soon, he still wasn’t home when the sun came up? Fenton should’ve tried harder to talk him into coming home. After lying there for a few minutes, the duck sat up, popped his back, and made his way out to the kitchen.
Boyd was eating cereal at the kitchen counter, one of the cats, Marie, in his lap. There were a few other cats gathered around on the floor, waiting for him to accidentally drop something. “Did dad come home last night?” The parrot asked, carefully scooping a spoonful of cereal, determined not to let the cats steal it.
Fenton shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“That’s the third time this week!” Boyd exclaimed. “Is he getting any sleep at all?”
Fenton sighed. “I don’t know. At this point I swear I’m going to go in there and drag him home by his tail feathers, this is getting ridiculous.”
“Papa!” Boyd squeaked, giggling. “Don’t do that, that would hurt!”
“Yeah, well, if it gets him home…” He put an arm around Boyd, and kissed the little parrot’s forehead. “You’re okay staying at Huey’s again? I’m really sorry about this. I’ll make sure he comes home tonight though.”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” Boyd leaned against him. “You promise you’ll get him home?”
“I promise,” Fenton answered, resting his head against Boyd’s. They both knew Gyro meant it as nothing against them to be at work for so long, the inventor just had a habit of getting so sucked into a project that nothing else mattered to him for a while. It was something the two of them had slowly pulled him out of, but it still happened every now and then. “Will you pin my hair up for me?”
The duck was in dire need of a haircut, he’d been so busy the last month with the new Gizmoduck case that he hadn’t had a chance. He didn’t have much time to cut it the way he wanted to, and had resorted to quickly pinning it up in the back in the mornings, so it looked mostly how it was supposed to. Otherwise, it looked unkempt. Gyro said he liked the way it looked when it was long, dashing almost, but Fenton thought it made it look a little greasy. Usually Gyro would pin it up for him, but the inventor wasn’t here now.
“You bet!”
After getting ready for the day, Fenton dropped Boyd off at McDuck Manor, then headed to the Bin. He was determined to get Gyro to come back home today, and he’d left the Gizmoduck armor there.
On the elevator ride down Fenton crossed his arms and scrunched his face down into a frown, ready to not take ‘no’ for an answer. He would have to be firm, and prepared himself to act gruff.
The elevator doors opened, and Fenton stormed into the lab. “Gyro!”
“Boo.”
Fenton jumped, whirling around to see the Mad Ducktor leaning against the wall next to the elevator, arms folded, eyebrow raised, the picture of nonchalance. Fenton had walked right past him without noticing. “Mad Ducktor!” The duck yelped, surprised. “Uh, what are you doing here?!”