Chapter Text
Louie Duck flinched as the cave entrance slammed shut behind him. "Well, that's not ominous." He shoved his hands in his pockets, shuffling to join the rest of his family.
Fethry lit a torch, giving the group some light as they trudged through the temple. "Alright, kids. I've got an interview with someone later today, so let's get this done quickly." His attention fixed on the map, moving ahead of the others.
The four kids waddled along behind, Huey in front, followed by Dewey, Webby, and Louie. Their steps bounced off the walls of the tunnel. Louie's eyes scanned over everything, watching for any possible traps that might be laid out. He hadn't been too thrilled over this trip, seeing as it had been on a whim. The rest of his family, however, had eagerly rushed off to find some treasure without researching the details of what they were even looking for.
A shout broke Louie's thoughts. Dewey had walked into a spiderweb and was now running in panic. Louie took after him, catching the back of his shirt as he almost fell into a pit placed inconveniently in the middle of the path.
"Careful, Dew." Louie wiped the web off his brother's face, who gagged in disgust.
Huey came to stand on the edge of the pit, holding his toaster, Bready, close to his chest. "Cool! Death pit!" His voice echoed back, making him laugh.
"And that's why we brought some rope. Nine out of ten, adventures will usually need rope." Fethry handed the torch to Webby before unrolling his spool of rope from his side. Whiping it around, he threw it across a rock hanging from the ceiling. "Huey, you can tie a knot, right?"
"My Junior Woodchuck Badges would say so," Huey said, sticking his beak up confidently.
"I didn't know you had your knot tying badge," Louie said.
"I don't, but Doofus has shown me enough times. I'm sure I can figure it out." Huey took the free end of the rope, bending his knees in anticipation for the jump.
Fethry tightened his grip on the other end of the rope. "Great. Swing across, then tie your side down over there."
Louie stepped forward, stopping his younger brother before he could jump. "Uh, are we sure this is safe?"
Fethry shot him a look. "We're in a dark mysterious cave, and you want to know if swinging across a death pit is safe? Of course it's not."
Huey tried to move past Louie, the toaster tucked under his arm. "Can I jump now?"
"Maybe I should go, just to be sure-"
"I'm gonna jump!" Before Louie could stop him, Huey swung across the pit. Louie tensed with fear for his brother. Huey landed with a flip, bowing after his terrifying performance. Webby cheered for him as he tied down the rope.
"See? That wasn't so bad." Fethry ruffled Louie's feathers, but that didn't help him feel any better.
"Exactly." Huey stomped his foot, the stone beneath sinking.
The floor of the death trap rose at the trigger. Small holes dotted the ground, and after a second click, arrows began launching out. They dug into the ceiling and threatened to cut through anyone who walked across as well.
Dewey frowned at the barrage of arrows. He waved his finger, as if counting.
Webby came to stand next to him. She clapped her hands when she realized what Dewey was doing. "Ooh, it's a pattern!"
Dewey nodded, turning to Fethry. "Step, turn, step, turn, step, turn, dodge, and step."
Fethry made a move to start across the arrows, but Louie stepped in his path. "Wait, we're going to try to cross the arrows?" Louie held his hands out cautiously. "I just think maybe we might die."
The other three kids groaned.
"Louie, don't you think you're being just a bit overprotective?" Fethry frowned at the young duck. "We've definitely gone up against deadlier things than arrows."
"No, I am being the moderate amount of protect-"
"Weeee!" Webby cartwheeled across the arrows. Dewey followed after, tiptoeing through. He held his breath as he did so. Fethry went along, using Dewey's pattern.
Knees buckled, Louie stood on the opposite side alone. His eyes watched the arrows zoom past as he wondered how the others had made it across alive.
"Come on, Louie! It's fun!" Webby waved her hand, smiling at him.
With a sigh, Louie edged towards the arrows. "Fine."
...
Plucking an arrow from his hoodie, Louie followed into the treasure chamber. "Where do you even find these maps to dangerous temples?" His hair stood on end, frazzled from all the traps he had to save his brothers from on the way to the chamber.
Light poured in from a hole in the roof, perfectly framing a golden statue on a pedestal. It stood in the center of the room, just waiting for someone to pick it up and activate whatever trap came with it.
Fethry stepped up to it, wiggling his fingers in anticipation. He checked it from separate angles, trying to find the best way to remove it. Louie watched, tapping his foot. Fethry's hand hesitated over it, questioning.
"Just grab the stupid statue already!" Louie burst. Fethry jumped at Louie's shout. "Can we get the 'Woah' over with and move onto the 'wait, what?'" The adult's gaze lingered on the kid, confused. Louie sighed. "Every adventure starts with 'Woah, a cool tresure!' then moves to 'Wait, what? The treasure is guarded by some monster, or curse, or whatever feels like killing us?' and finally, 'Ah! We're in danger! We should've listened to Louie when he said do NOT touch the murder treasure!'" Louie glared at Fethry.
Fethry let out a laugh. "Oh, come on, not every adventure plays out like that. Adventure is supposed to be unpredictable and-"
"Woah!" Huey picked the statue up off the pedestal. Fethry exchanged a glance with Louie. The pedestal rumbled as it sunk into the ground. Huey frowned. "Wait, what?"
"Well, that doesn't mean-"
The wall openedd up, and a builder rolled forth. It picked up speed, directed for the family. Fethry scooped up Huey, and the other kids took off running and screaming with him.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
...
Dragging behind Huey into foyer, Louie's legs were ready to give out. He flopped down onto the carpet as Bradford vacuumed.
"Hey, Bradford!" Huey's hard pitch shook Louie's brain.
"Hello, kids," Bradford greeted, not looking up from his vacuuming. He sucked up Louie's head feathers, fluffing them up like a chicken's. "How was the latest adventure?"
"It was amazing!" Huey paced, full of energy as usual. "After I trigged the trap on the statue, there was this giant boulder-"
"Which I had to save us from."
"And then there was a snake pit-"
"Which I had to save us from."
"And lots of fire!"
"Which I had to save us from." Louie let out a groan, rolling over onto his back. He shut his eyes. Maybe he could just take a nap right here on the carpet. Just shut off his brain and take a minute to breathe between adventures.
"Kids!" Fethry stood at the top of the stairs, beaming. Louie sat up to see better. "You'd never guess what I found in the base of the statue!" Holding the golden statue up, he pressed a button on the side. Its mouth popped open, and Fethry removed a scroll from it. "A map to more treasure. You know what that means!"
"More adventure! Wooh!" Huey jumped up, hollaring while Louie covered his ears.
"Pack you bags, because we're heading to-"
"Actually," Bradford stopped him. A sense of relief washed over Louie, and he hadn't even heard what the vulture had to say yet. "You have that interview for a new secretary in about five minutes. She's waiting for you in your office."
"Dang it, I forgot about that." Fethry frowned. "Well, when I'm done with the interview, then we can go." He marched off, and Huey and Webby ran up the stairs to get ready.
Dewey stood over his older brother. "You coming?" He took Louie's hand, pulling him to his feet.
"I guess..."
...
"Ew, is this used gause?"
Louie sat on his bed, watching Dewey go through his backpack. Dewey stared wide eyed at the fabric, sticking out his tongue.
"When was the last time anyone went through this first aid kit?" Dewey dug deeper into the bag.
Louie pulled his blanket over him, frowning. "Who knew life as a treasure hunter would be so... exhausting?"
Stealing a glance back at Louie, Dewey frowned. "You're not excited?"
"Excited to run around making sure no one dies? No."
"Aw, come on, Lou. No one's going to die." Dewey flipped through the Band-Aid wrappers in the first aid kit, realizing they were all used up. "I hope. I mean, adventuring has been a tradition of our family." Dewey tried on a smile.
"You remember what happened to mom, right?" Louie raised an eyebrow.
Dewey zipped up the bag and threw it over his shoulder. He clutched the straps tightly, smiling awkwardly. "I am trying to have a positive outlook on this whole risking-our-lives-for-fun thing, and you are not helping."
"Sorry."
"Look, if you don't want to go, why don't you talk to Fethry? I'm sure he'll understand." Dewey walked out of their room, leaving Louie with his thoughts.
Louie decided to go with Dewey's idea and started his way to Fethry's office. Being ever the overthinker, Louie started to weave an argument in his mind for why they shouldn't go on an adventure. It was dangerous, they might get hurt, and someone could get killed.
Louie's footsteps came to a stop when he realized he'd thought the same point worded three different ways.
A familiar voice broke his attention. It floated to him from down the hall. Louie frowned. Fethry had talked about hiring a secretary, but surely it couldn't be her. Louie really hoped he didn't choose her.
His pace picked up, and he found himself running for Fethry's office. He slid to a stop in the doorway, which waited wide open. Fethry sat at his end of the desk while the person he had dreaded sat on the other side. Louie gasped, interrupting the two's conversation.
"Daisy! What are you doing here?" Louie marched into the room.
She frowned at him, though it wasn't much different from her natural resting face. "I should ask you the same thing."
Fethry glanced between them. "You two know each other?"
"She's Uncle Donald's ex-wife." Louie spoke as if the woman wasn't even in the room. He turned his back to her.
"Wow, my family really doesn't tell me anything." Fethry avoided eye contact with Louie, wincing. "Would you be upset if you knew I already hired her?"
"Yes." Louie crossed his arms.
"Me too." Daisy glanced at the duckling. "But, after I kicked your freeloading uncle out, he thought it'd be funny to max out all my credit cards, so I need a job." She pursed her beak.
"So..." Fethry turned to Louie with a smile that said please get along.
Louie sighed, putting out his hand to Daisy. "Fine. I guess you weren't that bad to live with."
"Your vote of confidence is overwhelming," she said in monotone. She shook his hand. "And for the record, I won't be staying here. Even if I was homeless, I wouldn't stay here."
"No one offered it..." Fethry rose from his seat, moving to walk her out.
"Good." She stared at Fethry, expression unchanging. Half the reason Louie never liked her was because she was impossible to read.
Fethry coughed in an attempt to break from her stare. "Alrighty, then. I'll see you out. We've got an adventure to get to anyways."
The word triggered Louie's memory. He chased after the two as they made their way out to the hall.
"Hang on, now. We don't really need to go on an adventure, do we?"
"Why not? It's fun." Fethry glanced back at Louie.
"Yeah, but wouldn't you rather enjoy a cozy night in? I mean, litterally doing anything less dangerous would make me happy." Louie punctuated his case with an awkward laugh. "Maybe a movie night?" He followed them down the stairs, desperate to stay home. "Or make-your-own-pizza night?"
Fethry waved his hand, as if considering the option. "We're not cooking with Gladdy in the kitchen."
"Game night?"
Fethry stopped.
Daisy hesitated, her eyes darting to the door. "Mr. Duck, sir?"
"Game night!" Fethry pumped his fists in the air. "Louie, you're brilliant! Game night! WOOOH!" His beak spread into a grin. "Oh man, I'm going to go tell the rest of the family! Daisy, stay for game night." Before Daisy could protest, he ran off cheering. "Game night!"
"But-" Daisy glanced back at the door. She rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ugh, I hate game night."
Louie caught himself smiling. "Well, i think I just solved our problem." He held up a hand and made it talk. "Wow, Louie, thanks for saving us from that boring adventure," he said in a high pitched tone. "No need to thank me, just looking out for my family." His voice settled in a heroic manner.
Bradford and Launchpad burst into the room, the butler panting heavily, and the pilot with a crowbar like he was ready to attack someone. "Did Feathry just say game night?" they said in unison.
Louie lost his confidence from a moment ago. "Yes... Why?"
"That's not good." Bradford began pacing.
Launchpad's eyes widened. "This is awful."
Louie stared at them, his stomach dropping. Things were bad if Bradford and Launchpad agreed on something. "What is it? What's so wrong with game night?"
Bradford folded his hands. "Fethry is just a little competitive."
"'A little' is an understatement." Launchpad ran a hand through his hair.
Fethry appeared back in the foyer, making trumpeting noises. "Alrighty, people, it's game night! Pick a partner!"
Gladdy, Dewey, Huey, and Webby trailed after the red clad duck.
Fethry locked arms with his unlucky cousin. "I call Gladdy, because none of you would have a chance of winning if he wasn't on my team."
"Yay!" Gladdy cheered.
Fethry took on a smirk. "And to keep stakes high, the loser has to sleep on the roof tonight."
Gladdy deflated. "Fethry, heights and bad luck don't mix."
"Then you better not lose."
Gladdy gulped.
Launchpad slowly backed away. "That's my que to leave."
Bradford caught him by the collar of his shirt. "If I'm suffering this, so are you."
Shooting the old bird a glare, Launchpad grumbled something. "Hey Fethry, hate to go on such short notice but I've got... stuff. Yeah. That's it."
"Aw, but you're going to miss game night!"
"I think I'll live."
"Ok," Fethry said with a frown.
Launchpad smirked at Bradford. Bradford sighed and let him go. Clicking his tongue, Launchpad marched off. Louie and Bradford weren't too disappointed.
"I'll be with Huey!" Webby called out. She gave Huey a hug, one he did not appreciate.
"Ew, girl cooties! Fethry, can I be on a team with Bready instead?" He raised hand and shoved Webby away with the other.
"Does Bready have thumbs?"
"No."
"Then that's my answer."
Huey frowned while Webby grinned.
Dewey inched towards Louie. "Louie, save me. Fethry's very loud right now, and it's scaring me."
Louie questioned what he had gotten himself into. "I'm with Dewey then."
Bradford held his hand out to the new secretary. "I suppose I'll be your teammate, Miss Daisy."
She ignored his hand, crossing her arms. "Fantastic," she said, bitter about being forced to stay.
"Great!" Fethry rubbed his hands together as he wore an evil grin. "Let the games begin!"