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Having his saving the world moment makes Louie feel like he can relax. How wrong he would turn out to be. But for now he's the most relaxed he's been in a while and it feels great. He goes on adventures with his family, which, okay, are not relaxing, but they're more relaxing than whatever the fuck the moonvasion (trademark Louie Duck) was. He hangs out with his siblings, and they get into their own kind of trouble. And he practices his bending, but not because he feels like he has to. It can barely qualify as practice anyways, it's mostly just seeing what cool things he can do with it. So yeah, his life is pretty great right now.
Which is what he deserves.
Of course now all of Duckberg knows he was the Avatar, which is not ideal. They kept coming to him for favors and with offerings till his Dad told them off. His Mom threatened to strand them up in the atmosphere and now the town is terrified of the two of them. It is awesome.
And it means he can go into town again without being a spectacle. People will look sure, but they won't approach him and that's all he cares about. Of course if something bad is happening, that's a different story. But everything has been quiet since Lunnaris had been defeated. Although how long that will last is anybody's guess. As if sensing his thoughts a loud sound suddenly comes from one of the stores.
He looks over to see some sort of creature sprinting out of it holding something while the owner shouts after it shaking their fist. Alright. Go little thief.
The creature runs past him and he sees the store owner give chase so Louie gets its attention and directs it towards a busier part of the crowd. And, look, Avatar, he knows, but that guy totally had it coming. Capitalism sucks and he will not help it in any way.
What he will do is go after the creature and make sure it has somewhere safe to go. When he finds it he sees it at the end of an alleyway. "Ah, backed yourself into a corner, huh? Happens to me all the time." He tells the creature, which turns out to be a fire ferret. Huh. He hasn't seen one before. It's cute.
The ferret looks at him curiously. "Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you. You're pretty slippery, aren't you? Me too. Although," He lets out a huff, "Maybe not now. It's hard when everyone's eyes are on you, isn't it?" He asks softer. The ferret takes a few steps towards him and he smiles as he held out his hand, letting it sniff at it. "What'd you take anyways?" When the ferret gets close enough to him he can see an apple in its forepaws.
"Yeah, you need that more than whoever could buy it." The ferret splits it in half and offers a piece to him. "Oh, no, I'm good. Just had breakfast." He tells it, even though he hasn't eaten in hours. He'll grab a snack when he gets home, this ferret doesn't have that luxury. "We got a lot in common huh, little guy?" He chuckles a bit. "Hope you have a family to ground you out." He doesn't think there's such a thing as a morally gray Avatar but he does toe the line.
The ferret lets out a sad noise. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Can't imagine what I'd do if I lost my family." Where would he be without his Uncle, who always nourishes his business sense without any sort of expectations, business or otherwise? Or his parents, who support him in everything he does and are always there for him when he needs them? Or his sister, who brightens up his day without saying a single word? Or his brothers, who he doesn't have the words to describe what they mean to him or how much? Who the thought of something happening to them feels him with an emotion he can't explain?
God, without his family... The universe would've made it's first mistake in Avatar deciding.
"You're alone, huh?" The ferret nodded. "Maybe you don't have to be. It's a big mansion, you could have your own room. Uncle Scrooge might be against me keeping you, but he doesn't decide anything around there anyways. What do you say?" He asks, holding out his shoulder.
The ferret stares at him for a few seconds, and Louie isn't quite sure why he's offering this, but he feels, some sort of connection with this ferret. He doesn't know how to explain it. He only hopes it feels it too. The ferret jumped on his shoulder and he grins. "Atsuto." He decides.
When he gets home his brothers are waiting for him, because of course they are, and of course they spot and love Atsuto almost immediately.
"How are you gonna convince Mrs. Beakley to let you keep them?" His oldest brother asks, and well, he hadn't thought about that. He figured his biggest issue would be his Dad.
"I saved the world, I deserved a pet?" He suggests with a shrug. His brothers look at him blankly. "Yeah, that felt weak." Atsuto sniffs something and takes off for the kitchen. "Crap." They run after them and get there to see their Dad holding Atsuto in his arms with a raised eyebrow.
"Care to explain?" So Louie does. And by the end of it his Dad has softened up. "Well, okay, but they're your responsibility, Louie, that means you have to feed them, bathe them, make sure they don't get into anything they're not supposed to."
"So like a kid?" Dewey asks.
His Dad gives Louie a look. "Exactly like a kid."
"Okay." Louie can do all that, if it means Atsuto gets to stay. His Dad must see his resolve because he smiles.
"Okay. Now let's see what we have. They don't look like they've had a lot to eat lately." Atsuto lets out a sad noise and his Dad gives them a comforting scratch behind the ear. "You don't have to worry about that anymore, there's plenty of food here."
"Yeah! I'll even show you my secret stash!" Huey glares at Dewey.
"I knew you had one!" Louie laughs and walks over to his Dad. Atsuto immediately jumps on his head.
"I was wondering when you'd find yours." He looks at his Dad with confusion. "Your animal companion." He explains. "Every Avatar has one." Oh. Oh. Now it made more sense. That would explain the snake in Dad's sitcom wish too. Louie doesn't even like snakes. Man, that whole thing was weird. But not as weird as the world-eating-serpent or the creepy house full of classic movie monsters. Yeah, maybe his life hasn't been as relaxed as he would like it to be. Oh well. He's used to it by now.
"How does having an animal companion work?" He asks his Dad as he watches him sort through the meat in their fridge. Louie should probably look up how to take care of ferrets soon.
"They're someone who will be your most loyal companion, they'll follow you anywhere, they'll always be on your side. It's like having a forever best friend basically."
"I already have two of those." His Dad smiles. Louie pets Atsuto. "But I guess one more couldn't hurt." He thinks for a second. "Aren't animal companions supposed to be associated with your first element?" He knows he saw that somewhere for sure.
"When benders were more divided sure, but nowadays everyone's mixed together. 'Sides, animals are in tune to climate and there's all sorts in Calisota." That makes sense. Last week he saw a couple of white hamsters. "Mickey's was just a regular dog. Pluto. He got him when we were little and they were inseparable ever since." Louie smiles, he likes when his Dad talks about his old life, and with Mom back he was doing it a lot more often. His Dad looks at him, "I'm sure you two will be the same."
Louie's looking forward to it.
Huey wants to go with Scrooge to see Taurus Bulba's latest project, Louie can see a million ways for that to go wrong. Dewey wants to get Launchpad's friend on his talk show, he can see a million ways for that to go wrong too- but funnier. He chooses to go with Huey. There's a bit of a holdup when the lab refuses to let Atsuto in, but Scrooge takes care of that.
His Dad was right, he doesn't go anywhere without Atsuto.
This proves to be an advantage as as soon as they see the ramrod Atsuto's reaction to it let's him know something's off. Ah it's just as well, a machine that can make anything sounds too good to be true anyways. Huey tells him about his suspicions and that confirms it. So they, and Scrooge, confront Bulba and find out something terrifying.
They need to shut the machine down right now. Taurus beats them to it, it's activated again and some weird people that look like they're from Launchpad's show come out. Oh, boy.
In all the commotion the triplets loose Scrooge and almost end up getting caught by Bulba, but thanks to their bending they get away. Louie isn't sure what they're doing but they're away from Bulba which is all that matters. They roam down the halls as they wonder how to stop him, their first step being finding out what happened to Scrooge. Atsuto smells something so they follow them and find a room with glass prisons, and Bradford Buzzard occupying one of them. What is he doing here? Something's going on here, and one look at his brothers says they're thinking the same thing.
"Bradford? What are you doing here?" Dewey questions suspiciously.
"Well I saw the chaos, and was concerned about your dear Uncle Scrooge's well-being." Louie narrows his eyes. Sure, that was believable. Huey seems to think it has something to do with the cost of this whole thing but that doesn't sound like the whole truth to Louie. Bradford's hiding something, and he doesn't have time to worry about what it can be.
"It'd be wrong to leave him in there, right?" He asks his brothers. Dewey gives him an iffy hand gesture and Huey glares at both of them. Louie sighs as he picks Bradford's lock. "You coming or not?" He says he is, which is just terrific, like Louie doesn't have enough on his mind right now. He resolves to keep Bradford as far away from his brothers as he can and lets Atsuto smell for a way out. They find a room full of vines and oh man does Louie have a very bad feeling about this whole thing.
They get out of the room mostly okay but Louie is really ready to ditch Bradford and he knows his brothers are feeling the same. But then they find the ramrod and Louie realizes just how wrong he was at thinking he'd finally be able to relax.
Bradford works for FOWL. Bradford is the leader of FOWL. Huey greatly underestimates the situation by calling him a bad guy. Mrs. Beakley had told Louie all about FOWL and having this information makes him instantly get in front of his brothers. He doesn't feel responsible for them, no that's Huey's job, but he does feel protective. And Bradford is about to see just how much.
He reaches for them and Louie instantly knocks him back with a huge gust of wind. Dewey stands beside him while Huey works to get their Uncle back from wherever he is. But whatever showdown is about to happen gets interrupted by Bulba and his goons coming in. Wonderful.
They hide behind a pillar and watch as Launchpad and Gosalyn enter the scene. The two of them handle the villains so the triplets go back to their original plan, which hits a snag as soon as they realize Bradford is missing. Whatever, they can deal with him later, the most important thing is finding their Uncle. And after a few minutes, they do.
"A sea monster did not eat my ice cream."...Sure, yeah, whatever. "Lads, yer okay!" He wraps them in a quick hug then moves them all out of the way of the ramrod. Gosalyn goes up to the computer and Dewey tells her to keep looking for her grandfather and what did he and Huey miss? They do their own thing for like ten minutes.
The ramrod is about to explode and suddenly Louie has bigger worries on his mind. He doesn't know what happens next but there's an explosion and all he can do is create a protective sphere around his family. The dust settles and he concentrates on his brothers to bring him back to himself. He comes back to the ramrod in rubble, Drake and Gosalyn in an embrace, and no Bradford anywhere.
"Your little adventure fantasy is coming to an end, McDuck." Louie feels everything crash around him and all he can do is rely on his brothers to keep him upright. He wants to go home now.
Louie is quiet on the way back, and Louie is not usually quiet so he can tell this worries his family greatly. He had his world saving moment, it's supposed to be over. There isn't supposed to be anything else that can hurt his family. But he heard Bradford's threat loud and clear, they all did, and now it's starting again.
"This isn't all on you, Louie." Huey tells him quietly.
"Everything's gonna be okay." Dewey says just as quiet.
"We'll figure oot how ta deal with, FOWL, lad." Scrooge promises. Louie snaps out of his funk and looks up. Right, they are the McDucks, there's nothing they can't handle as long as they stick together. The weight of the world is not on his shoulders again.
He can breathe. "I know."
Atsuto curls into his lap and he starts petting them, drowning everything else out. It's been a long day and he wants to go to sleep. He feels his brothers slump into him and relaxes even more. Everything will be okay.
He manages to hold onto that belief until he's locked in his Uncle's money bin. Well, him, Atsuto, his Mom, and his Uncle are locked in. Scrooge wants to test out his new security system and they're the perfect people to do it. It goes well- well, well for him and his Mom horrible for his Uncle, until it doesn't. Until they're locked in for real.
Until the robot version of Scrooge is taken over by Bradford and attacks them for real. He and his Mom use their bending against it but somehow it's bending proof. Because of course it is.
They glare at Scrooge, "What? Ae had ta account fer everythin'."
"As did I." Bradford's voice came through the robot. Something suddenly shoots out of it and comes right for Louie. He ducks out of the way just in time. "Hmm. Shouldn't have expected anything less from the Avatar I suppose." The room freezes. His Uncle unfreezes, looking more murderous than Louie's ever seen him. "Oh, did you not think I knew that? I've been watching your family for years, Scrooge, of course I knew. But no matter, none of you will be making it out of here anyhow." What happens next is a blur, everything happens so fast for him to remember, and his mind is kinda occupied anyway.
When he regains his bearings it's to his Mom kicking the already deactivated robot and his Uncle on his phone with someone. "Mom?" He asks shakily. She stops what she's doing and comes over to him, bending down to his level.
"Louie, Honey," She pauses and grabs his shoulder. "Nothing is going to happen to you, okay? Nothing." But honestly he doesn't care, his biggest concern is his brothers, just like they always are. And if Bradford knows he's the Avatar... well, the thing he's always worried about happening could very well happen.
They're in very real danger, and there's not a thing Louie can do about it.
The rest of his family gets to the bin and he can tell they know. His Dad is marching up to Scrooge, demanding to know what exactly happened and his siblings are running up to him and grabbing him in a tight hug. He hugs them back just as tight.
"We'll figure this out." Huey is saying, repeating. And Louie wants to believe him, he always believes his brothers, but this time is different. This time he doesn't know if things are gonna be okay, if he and his brothers being together is gonna be enough, and he hates that. But they are together, all of them are, and he just has to keep holding onto that.
They all do.
His siblings put down the sword that Dewey had apparently gotten from who knows where and his Dad pulls him aside.
"Nothing is going to happen to them, okay? We won't let it." He tries to reassure Louie.
"You don't know that."
He sags down, "I don't. But what did I use to tell you when you guys were terrified of something like this? That if something happens I'll do whatever I can to fix it, and this time I'll have some help." He grips Louie's shoulder. "We are Ducks. We can handle whatever life throws at us. You kids can handle yourselves, your brothers can handle themselves, so try not to put everything on your shoulders, okay?" Yeah, easier said than done. But- they are capable, Louie knows that, and the three of them are a team- whatever one can't handle the other two can. It's been enough so far, it just has to stay like that.
Getting the Sword of Swanstantine proves to be harder than Louie thought it would be. He splits up from his brothers and it's terrifying but Violet is awesome and a great partner in crime. The two of them manage to outsmart Rockerduck and it turns out Louie is known for more than just being the Avatar.
They get the hilt and reunite with the others, including some FOWL agents. Heron and Rockerduck weren't the only ones there, go figure. Louie freezes then unfreezes, ready to do his part in defeating them temporarily, but they threaten them and Scrooge tells them to drop the pieces. He's unsure why his Uncle says that when they have bending and magic on their side but figures he has a plan of some kind and decides to go along with it. He's proven right when the sword assembles itself and comes right back to them.
Inner strength. Yeah, alright.
They're dressed up in armor and it's their turn to do the threatening. The FOWL agents retreat, but not before throwing a shot at Louie. Which, rude. He doesn't need that today.
"Attacking children, very mature." Lena says sarcastically and becomes his favorite person at the moment.
Scrooge treats them to kebabs and he can't say he likes the taste but they deserve something after the day they all had. "Better than the spice, huh?" He wryly asks Violet who shrugs. O-kay, then. He gives part of his kebab meat to Atstuo and they swiftly munch down on it. At least one of them likes it.
"I do have to wonder how Rockerduck thought telling those criminals your name was a good idea."
Louie snorts, "He probably thought they'd wanna capture me or something. Didn't take into account they might think I was cool." Which is something he's still trying to wrap his head around if he's being honest. He's done stuff, actual stuff that's gotten the respect of known criminals. And that was before he saved the world! Forgive him if it's a bit hard to come to terms with.
"Can't see why they wouldn't." She replies matter-of-factly. He hides a smile.
Yeah, he is pretty cool, huh?
Things change after the reveal of FOWL. A lot of things. None of the kids are allowed to go out alone, or without an adult. The adults get a seriousness about them they never had before, even Mom. Adventures are limited to finding the missing mysteries. And Louie always has eyes on him. Always. Which, okay, kinda fair. Everyone's been affected by this but it has been the hardest on him, but Huey and Dewey had held on tight to him, as if refusing to let him go off some unknown handle. They aren't the only ones looking out for him of course, the others are doing their part too- in between dealing with everything else.
His parents are making sure he doesn't try and handle everything on his own- that none of them do, really, but they check on him the most. His sister offers him techniques to defend everyone and makes forts with him when they're both overwhelmed. His Uncle lets him come to the money bin and swim in the coins whenever he wants. Even Mrs. B does her part with keeping him well rested, fed and makes him drink more than Pep. It helps more than he likes to admit.
He gets used to the new normal, then they fail an adventure. Scrooge replaces them, though Mom tells them that's not what's happening, and Selene comes by looking for someone to replace Zeus. They each take their shot at it, and each time goes horribly wrong.
Then they have to fight a Titan. Yeah.
Scrooge says he's not trying to replace them so that's a plus, but Louie is tired, and stressed, and that's never a good combination. "Louie Duck does not deal with stress well." He says as he collapses on the couch.
"I think you're doing a good job." His Mom replies, running her hand through his hair.
Louie quirks his shoulders, "It could be worse, I could be Huey Duck. Why do things never stop?"
His Mom sighs, "Cause it's life. Life doesn't stop, no matter how much we want it to. Things aren't great right now, but we'll find a way out of it. You and me... we'll figure out the angles, okay? There's a way to solve all of this, we just have to start looking for it."
He sits up. Angles... why didn't he think of that? And with the two of them on the job, the two sharpest people in the family- yes, even more than Scrooge, they can come up with something. FOWL is... terrifying and their family is in the most danger it's ever been in and he's gonna have a big part to play in this, he can already tell, but as he learned months ago their family is their greatest strength. And FOWL can't touch that.
At the behest of Mrs. B his and his brothers bending training starts up again. Webby trains beside them and the four of them quickly become a unit of their own. He and his brothers have always been a great team, but now they're even more refined. His siblings are pretty evenly matched, which is good, and he can wipe the floor with all of them, which is -admittedly- fun. Perks of being the Avatar.
But the four of them can't train together for too long, nor can the triplets really train with anyone but each other. Maybe it's because he's the Avatar but when people go against all three of them they tend to tire out quickly. And it's the opposite for the three of them. It's super weird, but it's like the energy that overwhelmed other people seems to empower each of them.
They like testing it out, and it's how they spend time together for a while. Their lives have been super busy lately, and with different things. Huey's been helping Scrooge with the missing mysteries, Dewey's been helping Webby with defense stuff, and Louie's been with their Mom- trying to figure out FOWL's plan.
It's the most they've been apart... ever.
Louie hates it. He feels a disconnect with the world he's never felt before and it terrifies the hell out of him. He knows they can sense something is off because they're more touchy with him than they've ever been.
"Do you think I'm the reason our lives are so hectic?" He asks them one day after they're training is done, when they're curled up under a tree with Atsuto.
"We are related to Scrooge McDuck. That's probably most of it." Dewey answers, and it only makes him feel a little bit better.
"You're not the reason FOWL's after us, Louie." Huey softly says, correctly guessing the reason he asked that question in the first place. Dewey had probably guessed too, and went with a different approach. They are good at that. "We don't even know what they want, and all of their aggression has been targeted towards Uncle Scrooge." He reasons.
"Even if you were, it'd be worth it."
Louie smiles, "I missed you guys."
Louie hasn't been to the forest in a long time, for many reasons, and his whole being aches because of it. His Dad goes out with him as soon as he realizes. Louie needs calm, his Dad tells him, and connection. It's vital to everyone, but especially the Avatar.
His Dad knows a lot about the Avatar, more than Louie does. He supposes it's nice to have a mentor of some kind, none of the others had really had that- not in the same way. But Louie knows what it brings up for him, even if it is getting easier. Calm, Louie, you need calm. Stuff like that is for later.
Or maybe he just needs a nap.
Atsuto wacks him with their tail lightly, as if being able to hear his thoughts. Rude, he can sleep if he wants to. But it seems in Huey's absence they's taking up the role of caretaker. They tend to do that, fill the role of whichever or both of his brothers when they're not around. Like they know how much Louie depends on them. It's sweet. Right now it's also annoying.
He's tired, he's only gotten more tired, and he just wants everything to stop. He relaxed, he stopped worrying about what could happen. What a horrible choice that was. And now he doesn't know how to deal with it.
Everyone else is helping, but they have their own things to take care of, and they can't be with him 24/7. So it's something he has to do on his own, at least partly. Maybe he just needs more moments like this, moments where nothing is happen, moments where he can just be.
He doesn't think he's ever just be'd before. Just him. Just Louie. No labels or expectations. No weight or pressure.
How does he miss something he's never had?
Louie is becoming painfully more and more aware of his own morality. He's been looking more into the pervious Avatars recently and finds that very few live to be an old age, hell Mickey only lived til his early twenties! He tries not to freak out about it. He fails.
And of course he as no one to talk to it about. He would freak his brothers out, and that's the last thing he wants. He would make his parents and Webby sad. He doesn't know what he would do to Scrooge but he knows it's nothing good. Well, maybe there is one person...
"So you're contemplating your own morality, huh?" Goldie O' Gilt asks him. And it's true- his relationship with her is a big load of complicated right now, but he needs someone objective and she's his best option. "Wish I could say I haven't been there but being around a while gives you a unique perspective on it. To cherish it." Funny, you'd think it'd be the opposite. "Everybody dies, kid, even your Uncle and I will one day. You just have to make most of the time you have, no matter how short."
"I don't wanna leave everyone." He admits softly, which is the true crux of this. Cause yeah, he'd come to terms with that other stuff eventually, but leaving his family is something he can't ever be okay with.
"No one does. But I mean, who says you even will? Yeah, some Avatars die young but some don't, you have no way of knowing which one you'll be." She gives him a look. "So stop dwelling on it and go be with your family."
Yeah, he can do that.
With everything going on Louie decides it's time to buckle down and try out water bending again. Then decides that his Mom was right and that he shouldn't rush it. He has air down to a tee, and his firebending is pretty far along -or it will be whenever he gets it back. That's pretty good for twelve years old and offers a variety of skills.
Besides, sometimes it's more fun to watch his brothers practice. Which is he doing with Dewey today -Huey being busy with Junior Woodchuck stuff and unable to join them.
It's nice, Louie's been trying to take things easy lately, give himself a distraction from his thoughts. And, well, no one's better at distractions than Dewey. Plus, he keeps messing up his techniques and getting wet -which is funny- and Louie's pretty sure he's doing it on purpose. It's less funny when Dewey gets him wet too.
"Sorry!" Dewey yelps. Louie splashes him back with his own bending and then it's on.
The next few minutes can only be described as war as they and their backyard gets more and more soaked, each of them trying to get the upper hand on each other by any means necessary. Whoever says sibling wars aren't serious are lying. Both of them collapse on the ground with laughter and giggle until their sides hurt. Then they just lay there breathing heavily. But it's a good exhaustion, the kind you get after doing something you really enjoy. Louie thinks he can be doing anything with his brothers and enjoy it.
"We should probably do something about all the water, right?" Dewey asks him. He shrugs with another giggle. "It's nice to hear you laughing again."
Huh? "What do you mean?"
Dewey turns his head to him. "Ever since we found out about FOWL you've been different, serious, it was like you weren't letting yourself have any positive emotions." And, well, that isn't exactly wrong. "It's just nice to see you letting go again I guess." Of course he and Huey noticed, noticed something Louie himself hadn't even noticed. But if he thinks about it Dewey is right. He hasn't really been happy since the FOWL reveal. How could he be, knowing what's at stake? But if he doesn't let himself be happy he doesn't know what he's fighting for. What all of them are fighting for. And then what?
"Yeah, yeah it is nice. Glad you pointed it out, Dew."
"Anytime." He promises.
"BOYS!" They burst out laughing again.
Louie and Dewey aren't allowed in the backyard by themselves for a week after that and Louie thinks that is very fair. Of course, their Dad's lecture had stopped when he realized how wide Louie was smiling. Then all he said was to keep in the pool next time. They agreed, because it had been too much fun to not do again. So now he and his siblings are in said pool, and have a plan to swim together once a week.
Atsuto is also there, lounging poolside because they don't like when their fur gets wet and that's fair enough really. They do play volleyball with them though, even with his brothers complaining three against two isn't fair. They still win somehow and the complaints stop.
They start gloating and that's when the splash war starts. Atsuto hightails it, which again is fair enough, and this time he and Webby are the victors. It's the most fun Louie's had in ages.
He thinks that Goldie was right, that being with his family is the best thing for him, and he hopes he can keep having moments with them- no matter how long it's for.
They're back in Dismal Downs and Louie has complicated feelings about this place so he tries to distract himself with possibly becoming rich. He and Huey look for the Blessed Bagpipes and Huey wants to do it the long, boring way that Louie does not want to do. So he gets Downy's help and she shows them a room full of bagpipes. Great.
Louie feels something off about this whole thing. Something is obviously up since the castle is already back but he doesn't know what. He wants to leave it to the grownups, but Avatar, he's kinda automatically involved. But when he brings it up with Huey his brother pauses their squabbling.
"Why do you think that? You're still just a kid, Louie. The adults can handle this one." And, well, it's hard to argue with that. A few minutes of silence go by before his brother speaks up again. "You remember you're more than the Avatar, right?"
That he can argue with. "Of course I do! I'm also a McDuck, and a brother, and a son, and the best chef this family has after Dad. I'm Louie Duck. It's just, a lot of responsibility. Shouldn't I be involved in fixing everything that could harm this family?"
Huey looks at him sadly, "Not everything. You said it yourself, you have a lot of responsibility, responsibilities you shouldn't even have. Let someone else handle these things. Uncle Scrooge and his parents'll figure out what's going on. We can focus on finding the bagpipe." And that settles it. Until it's revealed someone from FOWL has the bagpipes. Until said person zeros in on him and his brothers and points his glove at them. Until he realizes this is the Phantom Blot guy the girls told them about.
Cause, see, he can let the adults handle things when they don't directly affect his brothers. It doesn't matter that he and Huey are fighting, it doesn't matter that Dewey thinks he's Scrooge's favorite. They're in danger, and that just won't do.
So Louie throws himself in front of them and everything goes black. When he comes to it's to the statute room in shambles and his siblings crying. They hug him when they realize he's awake and while he doesn't know what happened he hugs them back.
"How are you feeling?" Webby asks and he doesn't really know how to answer that.
"Tired, mostly. What happened?"
"What-" Huey let out a disbelieving breath. "What happened? You're kidding, right?" He brushes off Dewey's attempt to stop him. "Phantom Blot took your bending, Louie, that's what happened. You collapsed, we thought you were dead, Louie." Oh. That... oh. "Of all things-"
"You were in danger!" He protests. Dewey lets out a pained noise.
Huey presses on, "You act like the only thing that matters when something like this happens is that we're okay, but what happens when you're not!? What about us!? How do we move on from that!?" And he had never thought about that. Not like that. It's true he never wants to leave his brothers, his family, but he always thought they would be okay eventually if he did. Of course they would be, they were McDucks, they could bounce back from anything. But Huey and Dewey are his triplet brothers before anything else. "Why don't you ever think of yourself?" Huey asks him brokenly.
Oh.
It turns out having your bending temporarily taken from you messes up your body and mind a bit. He's on bed-rest for the next couple of days, but he doesn't think he'd be up to moving anyway. Huey hasn't said much to him since the incident but he doesn't leave their room unless he absolutely has to, same as Dewey, and Louie takes that as a sign they'll be okay.
It might just take a while to get there.
He gets where Huey is coming from, of course he does. If one of his brothers had done what he did he would've reacted the same way, the fact that they absolutely would and probably will one day terrifies the hell of out him. But if he was back there he'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Of course he would, they're his brothers- Avatar or not he will do anything for them. But what's the point if he leaves them alone? What's the point if he ends up alone?
"I'm sorry." He says softly. Huey and Dewey look at him. "Not for protecting you. Never for that. For almost dying."
"Don't." Dewey says with a hard glare. "Do not apologize for that. It was Phantom Blot, okay? Not you. Just... why was that the first thing you thought of? Why couldn't you do something that didn't put you in harm's way? You're the sharp one, Louie, if anyone could've thought of something else in that situation it was you."
"I didn't even think of anything else." He admits. "There wasn't a lot of time to and I was panicking, I just went with my first instinct. You guys are everything to me, if something happened to you..." His eyes widen. "I don't know what I would do." But something did happen to Louie, and his brothers don't know how to handle it. "I'm okay, I won't do something like that again." He promises.
"And what if we end up in that position again?" Huey challenges.
Louie doesn't even what to think about that, but, "I'll figure something else out. I won't put myself in danger like that again, not if it means I have to leave." They soften up and run to hug him. He doesn't think everything is okay between them all of a sudden, but he hugs them back and knows a while might be closer than he thought.
When Louie's up and active, well active-ish, again they meet Santa and he thinks that's the coolest thing ever. They get to help Santa deliver presents and he's proven wrong.
By the time they're done he's ready to be non-active again. He collapses on the foyer steps and it's a testament to how much they've repaired things that his brothers don't immediately rush over to make sure he's okay. His Dad checks on him though, and Louie can't really fault him for that. "Do you think you'll be able to get plenty of sleep tonight?" He asks him when he's done.
"Yeah, why?"
"We need to check your bending tomorrow." Right. They need to make sure he still has the skills he had before. Nothing feels wrong but that doesn't mean anything really. He won't know 'til he tests it. He really hopes nothing's wrong.
The next day he and his parents are outside as soon as breakfast is done. Louie is nervous but knows they have to do this sooner rather than later. "Test out each of your elements first." His Dad instructs and that's what he does. Air is fine, he's kept what little he knows of water, but when he tries to firebend nothing happens.
No, not again.
He tries again but gets the same result. "Maybe it's cause you haven't unlocked again yet?" His Mom suggests. Hopefully that's the reason. But,
He tears up and his parents quickly grab him in a hug. He collapses into them and starts crying. It's just not fair! Why does he have to be the one to suffer when Phantom Blot's the bad guy? Why is he always the one in this position? He almost died, how fucked up is that?! He will do anything for his brothers (anything but leave them again), he just wishes he isn't put in that position so often. He wishes the bad guys don't have a million reasons to target him.
He wishes being the Avatar doesn't come with so much baggage.
Huey is- not avoiding him but not hanging out with him either. It hurts. He knows why, things are still weird between them, but that only makes it harder. He wants to talk to Huey, but he doesn't know what to say, how to make this better. And he's pretty sure that's a first. Well, it's not like the three of them fight a lot in the first place, but when they do it's pretty easily smoothed over. It's never lasted this long, not even when Dewey kept a secret about their Mom.
Not that they're really fighting, per se, but things aren't as okay between them as they usually are. And Louie doesn't like that, he does some pretty stupid things when he doesn't have his brothers. Like causes a typhoon that almost destroys all of time and space. He just wants to fix things, but he also knows he can't rush it, that Huey has to come around in his own time. And if there's one thing he'll have patience for it's his brothers.
Still, things feel weird and he's not used to that with them.
"You and Huey aren't still fighting, are you?" Dewey asks him when they're hanging out one day.
Louie looks up from his phone, "No it's just... complicated." Which is still an understatement really. It's maybe the most complicated thing he's ever had to deal with, and he had to save the world once. But that wasn't as personal to him as this is, the stakes weren't as high, and isn't that saying something?
He doesn't think that's a good way to be the Avatar, but between being a triplet and being the Avatar he'll choose the former every time.
"That in between stage?" Louie nods. "I do not envy you."
He doesn't envy himself either, he wishes none of them were ever put in this situation, but, "We're gonna be okay." He knows himself and he knows his older brother, there's nothing they can't bounce back from.
"Duh. I just, don't think it's a good idea to be fighting right now, or in between." And that... is an excellent point. Dewey is always good at that.
"Why aren't you mad at me?" He asks curiously.
Dewey looks down for a few seconds before joining him on his beanbag. Louie smiles slightly at that movement it causes. Atstuo is not as amused. "I was more worried than mad." He says as Atsuto gets up and settles on Louie's bed. Alright then. "But I believe you, that you won't do something that stupid again. Seeing you like that was the scariest thing I've ever been through, but I know it'll take more than that to keep you down." Dewey smiles mirthfully but genuinely.
"Duh, I'm the Avatar."
Dewey shakes his head, "No, you're Louie Duck."
Louie finds Huey in the mansion's library and he wishes he can say he is surprised by that. But he knows how he gets in times like this, knows how much comfort he finds in figuring things out- in knowing everything he possibly can about a situation. The two of them have that in common.
"Hey." He says slowly, awkwardly. Huey looks up from his book. "Can we talk?"
"I think we need to." Huey agrees. Louie sits down. "I want you to know that I'm not mad at you anymore." Louie nods, he figured that. "And I believed when you said you wouldn't do something like that again."
"Then why are things still weird?" He asks.
"I can't stop thinking about it." Huey confesses, distraught. Louie feels everything inside him stop. "We lost you, even if it was just for a few seconds. That few seconds... everything felt off- incomplete. It's not right if it's just two of us. I don't know how to move past it." Huey sobs. Louie quickly grabs him in a hug. He still doesn't know what to say, but maybe he doesn't need to say anything right now, maybe he just needs to be here.
He hates that he did this to them, to everyone. He hates that he left after being so scared to. (He hates the implication that he would die without his bending, but that's for another time.) But what he hates most of all is that he didn't reach out to Huey sooner. He figured he just needed time to deal with everything, but that didn't mean Louie couldn't still be there. He will be here now. And he will never not be again.
"You just have to give it time." Louie promises. That's what he and Dewey have done, and if Huey needs some more then that's okay. "You're gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay."
Huey pulls back from the hug and wipes his eye. "We already are." Louie hugs him for a different reason.
He's relaxing, with the past couple of days he's had it's well needed. There's also a ferret on his chest but that's more pleasant than needed. Atsuto is sleeping, which means he has to stay still because waking an animal from it's nap is the worst thing anyone can ever do. He can't complain though, it's the perfect excuse to turn his brain off. Not that he really needs one but his body likes to trick him into thinking he does. He thinks it can fuck off sometimes.
Okay, that's mean, but sometimes when your mind and/or body are your own worst enemies a little meanness is needed.
That's not a very relaxing train of thought.
Atsuto shifts on his stomach and he thinks they have the right idea. Nothing FOWL related is happening, his family is all safe and sound in the mansion, and his brothers are in the room with him doing their own things. Everything's okay.
Nap time.
With both of his brothers off on an adventure with their Mom Louie is left bored. He could've gone with them, but being in a plane that Dewey is steering sounds like a death wish. Okay, that's a little much, he's sure his immediate older brother will get the hang of it. Eventually. In the meantime Louie is more than content to stay on the ground.
Bored out of his mind.
He entertains himself by hanging out with his sister and Atsuto, avoiding Scrooge when he tries to talk to them about the missing mysteries. He's been really stressed about that lately, and it's starting to freak everyone else out. Louie's sure he has his reasons, but, like, come on man, take a break every now and then. And anyways it's not like he and Webby are the best people to go to about them, well, maybe Webby is, but he definitely is not. The only things he knows is what Huey tells him and Dewey when he's hyperfixating on them. Which is a lot to be fair, but he doesn't, quite, understand it. Just because his brother talks a lot doesn't mean he always makes sense. Luckily, Louie knows how to read Huey-nese by now. Still, it is so much information at once.
All this is to say he is not the person to go to about this stuff.
Come to think of it, Dewey doesn't make sense sometimes either. Like Huey he says a lot at once, but it's much less organized and even he doesn't always know what's he's saying. Louie knows how to read him too, but it's not always precise.
Maybe it's a triplet thing. Louie's pretty sure he has his moments of conjumbledness too.
Wow, what a word.
His brothers eventually join the three of them and tell them what they missed, Webby leaves to hear what Mom got up to, and Huey collapses on the floor. Two adventures in two days must be hard. Dewey pokes him with his foot to make sure he's still awake then plops down on the floor himself. Louie shrugs and joins them.
"At least you stayed in reality this time, huh?" Dewey asks with a grin. Huey lifts his head up and starts ranting about how, 'Gizmocloud is reality just a different one and it's going to change the world, Dewey.' as he and Louie share a smile.
Eventually Huey calms down and joins them in their sitting positions. "Today was fun. Dewey's gonna be the next ace pilot in the family according to Mom." Dewey pushes him lightly and rolls his eyes, but Louie believes it honestly. He knows what he said, thought, earlier. But that was just because it was his first time, once he knows what he's doing Dewey will be an amazing pilot.
"Looks like our lives are kinda following the adults', huh?" Dewey notes. "Hope they don't turn out as bad."
Huey grabbed his brothers hands, "They won't. I can't go one day without talking to you guys, let alone ten years."
"Sap." He deadpans with a smile. But, he is right. Sappy as that is. He can't imagine going one year without his brothers, it sounds like the most excruciating thing possible. Ten years... there's just no way. They'll never have to go through that, not if he has anything to say about it.
No, not if they have anything to say about it.
Facing his Uncle's greatest enemies after what he did to them is terrifying, facing Doofus Drake is- there is no word for how horrifying that is. But, if he's going to defend his Uncle he just has to deal with it.
Defeating Glomgold is easy enough, as is defeating Ma Beagle, both were horrible before Scrooge met them- he didn't do anything to make them worse. The trouble comes when it's Magica De Spell's turn. Cause the thing is... Scrooge was in the wrong for that one. As horrible as she was, nobody deserved to lose their sibling. He can't imagine that kind of grief, but his Dad can and his brothers touched it for a few minutes.
Oof, that had to be a horrible wake up call for his Uncle.
And what he did after that... Louie can't defend that. Scrooge can't even defend that. And it makes Louie think, does he really want to deal with this stuff the rest of his life? Does he really want to deal with Doofus the rest of his life? But, what did he do to Doofus? Crash one of his parties? Is that really a justifiable excuse for the torment he's put Louie through? For the nightmares he's given him? The panic attacks? No.
"For the past three years you have tormented me every time you saw me. You have tried to kidnap me, you made me a pinata and almost had me beaten with a bat, you licked my entire face not five minutes ago! I have had numerous nightmares and panic attacks because of you, I can't go anywhere close to your house without freaking out. Because I made the mistake of wanting to be your friend. I may of made you share your money, but you have done far worse to me for far longer. I do not forgive you." Doofus' face is blank but Louie feels a hand be placed on him and looks to see his Uncle staring at him sadly.
Louie gives him a tight smile. He didn't know. Louie didn't even know how bad it was until a few seconds ago. Doofus suddenly disappears and reappears on the innocent side of the balance. Louie looks at the Bailiff who gives him a slight nod.
He tries not to cry.
His Uncle gets out of his seat and looks at Magica, "Ae dinnae want ta define by the mistakes Ae made but rather, by the humility o' admittin' them. So, from the deepest reaches o' my heart, Ae'm sorry." Magica doesn't accept it. "No! This isnae a trick! Ae'm actually sorry." She appears on the guilty side of the scale and the Bailiff tells them she's entitled to Scrooge's Number One Dime.
She gets to gloat for about five seconds. "Wait!" Louie gasps. "He created you! But you might say, you created him too! Scrooge made his enemies his enemies, but they in turn helped make him who he is today. Without his villains, he would've never been forced to connect with people." Magica fired blasts of magic at him but he deflected them. "Or be one step ahead of the cons and cheats." Ma Beagle throws a crowbar at him from the innocent side of the balance, which, rude, but he dodges it. "Or, as we've just seen, be humble in his old age. So if she's entitled to what's his, he's entitled to the same level of justice." He slams his fist in his hand and the balance smiles.
The Baliff tells them Scrooge gets to keep his Dime which pisses Magica off and she sends more magic at them. Louie prepares to protect himself and his Uncle but Scrooge pushes him behind him before he gets the chance. But it doesn't really matter because they're back at the mansion before it can hit them.
They have a sweet moment that Louie intentionally ruins because he really does not want to clean up all the gribbles and goes to find his siblings. Who are, cleaning, up, gribbles. Oops. He sighs and gets to cleaning, just because he'd leave his Uncle to it doesn't mean he will them.
"Yew know, my enemies arenae the only anes who made me who Ae am." His Uncle tells him later that evening. Louie lets out a hum. Scrooge smiles at him. "My family had a great hand in that ta." Oh. That, okay. "And Ae'd say, they did a much better job." Yup, that did it. Scrooge wraps him up in a hug and pats his back. "Let it oot, lad, it's been a long day."
Understatement. Such an understatement.
Dealing with Doofus puts a backtrack on whatever progress he was making. He doesn't feel like he can relax at all. Though it felt so good to be able to say all of that, like a release he didn't know he needed, he can't help but worry that Doofus will want vengeance. Again. He's so fucking tired of dealing with him, he's got enough on his plate thank you very much.
"Louie. Louie!" Right, he's talking to someone. Or was.
Louie snaps out of his thoughts. "Sorry. Go on."
"Pay attention, this stuff is important!" Gyro snaps at him.
"I only pay attention to people I respect."
His Uncle frowns at him. "You never listen to me."
"I said what I said." His siblings giggle but his Dad gives him a disapproving look. "Sorry." He says again. Gyro continues what he was saying and promptly loses Louie once again. It's something about FOWL and how they're going to take them down once and for all but Louie can't focus right now. He wants to tap his fingers, but his brothers are holding his hands and he thinks that they're doing it for that reason.
They're trying to give him something to ground him, and he appreciates it, but he really needs to fidget right now. He taps his foot instead and his parents shoot him a worried look. He can't do this.
He gets out of his seat and runs out of the room before anyone can stop him. He hopes no one chases after him. This is an important meeting, he's ruined it enough. But of course someone does, because someone always does. He isn't allowed to be alone lately, it's really starting to annoy him. He just wants to think.
"So you defended Uncle Scrooge in Karma Court, huh?" His Mom sits next to him on the floor. "You gonna be a lawyer one day?" She causally asks. Okay, he sees what she's doing, he can play this game.
"Maybe. It'll help my lawyers defend me at least."
"You have lawyers?"
"Two of them. You know them as my brothers." She laughs at that and he smiles. "I can't pay them in money, but they seem to take hugs just fine."
"Lucky you. Donald always wanted a soundboard for his music." It's his turn to laugh. "Honey, I, I can't imagine what that was like. Being in that position, seeing Doofus. None of that could've been easy. We're all proud of how you handled it, but you can let go now. We can take it from here." She pulls him into a hug. "He won't do anything to you, never again. You never have to deal with him again." That's... a relief. That's too good to be true. "I mean it, between Donald and I's protectiveness, Scrooge's resources, and 22's 22ness, he won't lay a finger on you, or your siblings. I promise you can relax, Honey."
Can he? Okay, sure, they'll handle Doofus, but there's still a million things going on. But, he doesn't have to shoulder any of it alone, he already knows that. And maybe there's a light at the end of the tunnel coming up. He just has to keep looking.
His Mom squeezes him, "Cheer up, tomorrow's a happy occasion."
Oh yeah, Webby's birthday is tomorrow.
Webby's birthday party starts out normally before turning into an infiltration mission, as it's supposed to. What better gift for her than finally taking down FOWL once and for all? He ends up in a group that Dewey takes charge of and apparently Louie's the only one who sees how bad of an idea that is. No offense to his brother.
But maybe it's better he did so Louie doesn't have to, not that his family would really let him. But he has to take charge at some point, right? Although, he did already save the world.... Argh! Now is not the time to be thinking about this!
Everything ends up being cleared out, everything except two tubes holding girls that, look, like, his sister? "Wait, what?" Webby asks, taking the words right out of his mouth.
They end up taking the clones home, because of course they do, and Gyro starts to perform tests on them. Louie, not wanting to stick around for boring stuff, decides to comfort Webby instead. Plus, they just got kicked out.
She turns out to not want to look into the clones, and yeah, sure, he totally believes that. But trying to stop Webby from doing something is like trying to stop Scrooge from doing something. Impossible. "Be careful, okay?" He tells her quietly. "Something's not right here." And if his siblings can count on one thing from him, it's his intuition. She nods.
"Should we go save Huey from having a panic attack?" Dewey asks him after she leaves.
It's a good idea but, "I don't think we'll be allowed back in." He makes his way for the den. "I'm not the only one who thinks this whole thing's weird, right?"
"That's why we just got kicked out." Which, true. "Weird how?" His brother adds on, knowing him well.
"It's just too much of a coincidence. They take everything with them, everything that can possibly incriminate them, but they leave the clones? That doesn't make any sense. It's like they wanted us to find them." They widen their eyes. "Mrs. B's had to of figured that out by now, right?"
Dewey gulps, "Let's hope so."
Louie doesn't like this. Louie does not like any of this. He's trying to distract himself with the Ottoman Empire finale but it's not working. He can't stop thinking. "This was your idea." Dewey reminds him.
He sighs, "I know that! I just, this is bad, Dewey. Something made by FOWL is right in our house, probably with our sister! Everyone is in danger."
"Wow, way to sugarcoat it." Louie sighs again. "Look, we've got Mom, and Dad, and Scrooge, and Mrs. B. Everything will be fine."
"What if something happens before they find out?" He challenges. Dewey starts to get just how serious this is. "We need to find our siblings. Now."
Thankfully Huey chooses that moment to run in, completely out of breath. "Clones... FOWL... Swanstantine."
"We know." Dewey pauses. "Wait, what about Swanstantine?"
"The clones are stealing the missing mysteries for FOWL!" Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Wonderful. And of course Webby chooses that point to barge in. She says that it's all a big misunderstanding, that they just want to know what's going like the rest of them, but Loiue reminds her of what he said earlier. She pauses at that. "Webby, I know what I saw. I'm sorry, but they're not who they say they are."
"Then who are they?" That, is a great question. He and his brothers share a look. And one they're going to find out.
They look on the houseboat to see if June is still there but come up empty-handed so they go to Webby's room. Surprise, surprise, there the clones are, with the sword and the bagpipes. They attempt to justify it to Webby, attempt to turn her against her brothers, they attempt a lot of things. But none of them work. So they reveal their true colors.
"One of us should go find the adults, right?" Huey, ever the sensible one, suggests.
"No time!" Dewey, ever the one to play hero, shoots down. May leaves through the window with the mysteries and Huey wastes no time in going after her. "What the hell is wrong with him?!" His siblings once again taking the words out of his mouth. He spends so long being mad at Louie for that and then just- Whatever, he'll yell at him later.
June turns around with a glare and throws an arrow at Webby, which she narrowly dodges. "What the hell is wrong with her?!" It's Louie's turn to ask. But June seems content to ignore them and only go after Webby. Until she realizes something. "Wait," She says, looking right at him. "You're the Avatar!" Great.
Dewey sends a blast of water at her before she can go anything with that information and Webby sends the arrow back at her. "You're not taking me and you're not taking him!" Has Louie ever mentioned how awesome his siblings are?
"One of you is coming with me, I'll let you choose." And, nope, that's not happening. Either way that's a bad deal.
An ice spear suddenly shoots at June. "No." Dewey seethes. Louie's eyes widen and he silently thanks the gods that Dewey apparently held back when they were training. Another spear forms in Dewey's hand and he chucks it, making June yelp and scramble out the window. That's not ideal. But at least they're out of the mansion. Wait.
"HUEY!" The three of them scream and rush out to the yard but it's no use.
Huey is nowhere to be seen. And neither are the clones.
"Why am I always right?" Louie quietly asks. He feels two hands grip his shoulders. He grips them back.
"We need to find the adults. We... really should've just done that in the first place." Dewey admits just as quiet.
"I'll go." Webby tells them with a nod. She doesn't look any better than they do, but she's better at holding herself together. Louie's never envied that. She leaves after that and the remaining two turn their attention to the sky.
"It's not your fault." Louie says as they sit on the back steps. Dewey doesn't say anything. "Dewey, it's not. Think about it, they wouldn't have let Webby leave- it was only cause you scared June that she's still here. And if one of us stayed behind with her they'd be gone too. We didn't know he would do that, and he probably would've done something reckless even if we had gotten the adults." Louie places a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get him back."
Dewey smiles at him slightly, "When'd you get so wise?"
"About five minutes ago." Someone has to fill the void after all. He leans his head on his brother's shoulder and tries not to think about how something is missing. Someone is missing. He tries not to think about the danger Huey's in or what could happen to him. It's all he can think about. Louie dries one of his eyes, "Where's Webby and the adults? Shouldn't they be here by now?" They'd be here the second they heard something happened, he knows it. So why aren't they?
He and Dewey make the decision to go looking for them and find everyone surrounding an unconscious Scrooge. Well, almost everyone. Mrs. B is nowhere to be seen, and Louie finds that highly suspicious.
"Webby, did you-?"
"They know." She confirms. "We're trying to wake Uncle Scrooge up, so we can figure out what to do next." Their parents quickly pull him and Dewey into a hug and promise they'll get Huey back. Louie sinks into their arms and allows them to handle things for a few minutes. Dad sprays Scrooge which wakes him up with a sputter.
He leaps off the ground, "Bentina, she!-"
"She what?"
He rubs his shoulder, "She knocked me oot. She's gone rouge." They all gasp.
"No, Granny, wouldn't-" Webby shakes her head disbelievingly and looks at Scrooge. "She wouldn't do something like that." Dewey pulls her into the hug as Scrooge looks at her sadly. And Louie feels bad for her, really super duper bad, but they don't have time for this. Beakley can handle herself. Huey can't, not for long.
"Where's Huey?" Scrooge asks. Everyone else just glances at each other and his expression hardens. "Then we've got a rescue mission ta perform."
He and his siblings don't even have to look at each other to know they're tagging along when the plan to infiltrate FOWL headquarters is finalized. Their friends are a welcome surprise. But as each of them puts it,
"Fenton tried to help me get my people back. I'm gonna do the same for him."
"Huey made me not a killer robot."
"He's our friend."
And as he and Dewey puts it, "So are we gonna do that thing where you tell us not to go and we sneak along anyway?"
"Or are we gonna go get our family back?" Scrooge lets them pass and Louie tells Gyro he already found Huey using a tracking app on his phone when he tries to overcomplicate it.
His Dad looks worried when he sees him but sighs in resignation and Louie gets it, he's super scared of going straight to the people who want to do who knows what to him, the people who are the bad people he's always worried about. But it's Huey, and there's nothing he won't do for his brothers. Everybody knows that by now. Everybody. Which, is a problem, but right now he can't bring himself to care. He won't do anything stupid to save Huey, won't do anything to put himself or the others in danger. He'll be smart this time.
He's still terrified.
How can he not be? But he's not alone, he won't let anything happen to his family and they won't let anything happen to him. They'll get Huey back, defeat FOWL, and put this whole nightmare behind them. After everything's that happened, that's all he can ask for. Even if they don't defeat FOWL he just wants his oldest brother back. He can tell that his siblings feel the same way.
Scrooge explains the plan and it's a good one, the only problem really is that he and Dewey are in charge of the silver team. Way to throw them into the fire, Uncle Scrooge. But he thinks they're ready, he believes in them, and they can't afford to let him down. Not this time. Not when it's so personal. He's right, adventure's in their blood. They can do this.
His Dad gives him a hug and that makes him realize just how real this all is. He tries to hold himself together, the others need him, and he thinks he's pretty successful. Right until the adults leave.
He knows the others are looking to him for answers he doesn't have and for the first time he fully hates being the Avatar. He just wants to save his brother, right now that's all he cares about. But they're looking to him, and he's forced to look at the bigger picture. It's too much. Let someone else have that responsibility. Huey was the one that told him he shouldn't have all that responsibility, that it's too much for one person. Huey is gone.
And nothing's felt right since.
"Hey, fearful leader, looks like some of us could use a pep talk." Lena interrupts his thoughts. Oh, he so doesn't want to do that right now. But he and Dewey are in charge, and Dewey is busy holding the plane steady. His sister gives him a thumbs up and he sighs, delivering the worst pep talk ever and psyching himself out even more. Well, least he tried.
"What would Uncle Scrooge do?" Webby suddenly speaks up. "Would he just sitting here hiding and circling if we were fighting for our lives? No, he'd be smarter, tougher, sharper. Lena, drop that cloak!"
She does so and collapses, ignoring Dewey's, "That's what I was gonna say!" remark. They immediately get shot at.
Dewey takes them into a nosedive that Louie immediately protests, and once they're in the air again Dewey starts freaking out. This, he knows how to handle. "Forget them! I don't think even Scrooge could get us out of this one! But I'm not on his team, I'm on yours! So I have an important question for you: How do we Dewey this?"
"I know!" Dewey whirls them around to face the other plane and starts singing. Sure, okay. This time he'll trust his brother. They end up making the other plane swerve away but not in time and it crashes into them, sending both vehicles plummeting to the ground. He shakily gets off the ground and goes to join the others but is stopped by something grabbing him.
Everything goes black.
Something's off, something's been off since Huey went missing but now it's even worse. Dewey looks around and immediately realizes why, "Where's Louie?" The others also look around but Dewey knows what happened, one look at Webby says she also knows. He feels his heart drop but now is not the time to panic, now is the time to get his brothers back. If June thought he was pissed before, she better hope he doesn't run into her. "Let's go." He says in a deadly calm voice.
"Dewey-" Webby starts.
But for the first time ever he cuts her off. "Let's go, we're finding our brothers." He gently picks Atsuto off the ground, as soon as they realized Louie was gone the ferret broke into a frenzy. Dewey can't blame them.
They break away from the others and find an entrance while trying to figure out where to go first. He wants to save Louie first, hard as that decision is to make he knows his little brother is in more danger than his older one, but he knows they have to find Huey first. They're just two people -and a ferret- and god knows how many people are with Louie right now. They need to be smart, they need reinforcements. As much as it kills him, Louie has to wait.
He hopes he doesn't regret that decision.
Webby is quiet, whatever this building is is ginormous, and Dewey is not doing too hot without his brothers. For as long as he can remember it's been the three of them. They played together, they fought together, sure they were apart sometimes but it was always by choice. He's never had them taken away from him before, not for this long. He doesn't know how to handle it. He keeps a hold of Atsuto, because they're all he has of his little brother, and he stays calm and collected, because that's what Huey would do. But he needs them back, badly. He's never felt this kind of ache before.
They stumble across a circular room with lots of books in it and freeze, the room is not empty. Bradford quickly spots them and directs the clones at them. Webby shoves him away. "Go!" Dewey pauses. "Go! They want me! Go find Huey!" Webby demands and Dewey hates it, hates that he's losing all of his siblings today, but he's of no use if he's captured as well. He gives her one last look and runs off. Someone comes after him. And he knows it's stupid but he stops, because he's angry- he's never been so angry, because he hates every one of these stupid people and he doesn't think that lightly, because today has been long and he just wants to go home with his family. He stops and he blasts.
"Where is he?" He asks May, who is now trapped against a bookcase.
"Why should I tell you?" The worst possible response she can have. He isn't interested in playing games, and he doesn't have to hold back here. "Director Bradford is just doing what he knows is best."
"They're my brothers." She looks away at that.
Huey is so stupid. Huey is possibly the most stupid person to ever exist. Why did he go after May like that? He should've known his family would come after him, he put them all in danger. He put Louie in danger. He starts pacing, "This is bad, this is really bad, my family is coming to save me, my brothers are coming to save me. I'm leading them right into the fire. ...Louie is going to put through who knows what because of me. I should've stayed home." He rests his head against the glass and once again thinks about how he's the stupidest person alive.
What did he think would happen? He would be able to get the mysteries back all on his own? He had been immediately captured and once Bradford realized he couldn't manipulate him Huey was tossed in a glass box. He's surprised Bradford thought it would work in the first place, like he'd ever help the people who want to control his brother.
"Huey, they don't want to control the Avatar. They want to kill him." And that's when Huey goes ballistic. Vaguely he realizes he had been talking out loud and that's why Gandra said that, but it matters little in the grand scheme of things. He can't wait to be rescued, he has to find his brothers and get them out of there. He won't let anything happen to either of them. His fire bending fills up the box but doesn't hurt him and does nothing to the padlock. He's undeterred.
"HUEY!" He suddenly hears, making him gasp.
"DEWEY!" Thank god. Thank god they are okay. With the help of Gyro Dewey unlocks his cell and Huey immediately tackles him in a hug. His brother hugs him back just as fiercely. Wait, brother? "Where's Louie?"
"They took him." Dewey says distraught. Huey feels his heart drop.
No.
"Do you know where he is?" Is the first thing Huey asks his brother. He confirms his worst fears with a shake of the head. "We have to find him. Dewey, it's bad, they want to kill him. Where's Webby?" He suddenly diverts. He was so sure she'd be with his brothers since she hadn't gotten captured with him. He also thought Louie would be there right now so maybe he wasn't the brightest.
"Bradford got her, she sacrificed herself so I could save you guys. Go back, what do they want to do to Louie?" He blurts the whole thing out.
"Bradford hates adventuring of any kind, he wants to get rid of it forever, along with anything and anyone associated with it. He sees the Avatar as his biggest threat. He's going to use a void created by the Solego Circuit to destroy him. Forget about us, you need to go save your brother." Gandra tells them. She doesn't have to do it twice.
"Let's go find Louie!" They take two steps forward and are distracted by a silhouette emerging from above them, it splits into two and a rope is thrown their way. Huey quickly disintegrates it. "Alright, now you're really asking for it!" Dewey sends an ice spear their way.
"Since when can you do that?!" Huey exclaims.
"Don't go after people you shouldn't and you won't miss anything." Fair. He hurls a fire blast near them, not close enough to burn but to send a message. "How did you even get free?!" Dewey asks May.
"I got her out." June snarls at them. They share a look.
"So you get it? The instinctual need to look after each other, to always be there for each other, the pain you feel when the other is in danger?" Huey says. "You may not feel that with Webby, but you feel it with each other." It's the clones' turn to share a look. "That's what we feel, our brother is in danger, grave danger, we need to help him. Please, let us help him."
June looks at them sadly, "We don't where he is. Nobody but Bradford does."
May gets a determined stance, "But we know where to find out." Huey and Dewey share a grin.
May and June take them to a room that Webby is tied up in. They gasp. Her eyes widen when she sees them and she glares at the clones. "Get away from my brothers!" She spits out.
"Webby, it's okay, they're gonna help!" Dewey quickly tells her. Huey gets her down but she immediately gets in front of them, narrowing her eyes.
"They tricked us, they kidnapped Huey, they're the whole reason this mess is happening in the first place! Why should we trust them?"
"Because, we're identical siblings too." June says softly. Webby slackens. "We were horrible to you and we're so sorry for that-"
"There's no time!" May interrupts. "We have to find the other one."
"Louie." Dewey says with clenched fists.
"Right, yeah, Louie. We have to find him." And though they're on their side now it's gratifying to know that they're terrified of him. "We need to go to the archive room."
So they do so, and May and June share their backstory. Apparently they were created from one of Webby's feathers, the Stone of What Was, and water from the Foreverglades Fountain. "Why would they need to create you?" Huey questions. Webby fills them in on what she got up to after she was captured. Bradford needed her to get the Papyrus of Binding. She deduces that FOWL made the clones to do what she couldn't, but that failed so they needed her. It sounds pretty reasonable. It sounds like the last thing May and June need to her. "But that still doesn't make any sense, the Papyrus would only show itself to a descendant of Uncle Scrooge. That's not you."
"Yeah unless you were a clone of Uncle Scrooge." Dewey says offhandedly. Everyone's eyes widen. "Did Mrs. B ever give you a clear answer as to where you came from?" Webby shakes her head.
They arrive at the archives.
May shows Huey the computer records as Dewey sits with Webby and helps her digest the bombshell he just dropped. After a few minutes of searching they're able to find where Louie is through the cameras and Huey gasps. He's completely knocked out. Huey hardens his eyes and turns to his siblings. They look at the screen and harden their eyes as well. It's time to save Louie.
The six of them waste no time in rushing to the room Louie is being held. They run into eggheads on the way, but with all of their combined strengths they're able to handle them no problem. The only problem they run into is that the room is guarded. Heavily guarded.
They pull their heads out of the way before they're seen and come up with a plan. "We'll distract, you guys go save Louie." Or May comes up with a plan. Webby offers to stay behind as well and they don't have time to argue so the boys reluctantly agree. The girls run out and they give it a few seconds before peeking around. The coast is clear.
They run into the room before anything can happen and shut the door behind them. The room is mostly empty, except for one single box containing their unconscious brother. It doesn't seem like it can be opened like the other ones. Right now that doesn't matter, all that matters is waking Louie up. But how?
"Louie!" Dewey shouts, making Huey look at him incredulously. There's no way it's that easy. But low and behold, he somehow wakes up. Huey is on an off streak today.
The three of them run to meet each other as best as they can and place their hands on the glass. They've never been so relieved.
They're here, his brothers are here. Louie's never been more thankful and terrified in his life. Atsuto runs at the lock to try and break it, and considering he's never seen them do any amount of exercise since they first met he's immediately filled with unconditional love for his friend. His brothers quickly steady them and it only makes him love the two of them more.
Huey starts fiddling with the lock as Dewey fires rapid questions at him, "Are you okay? What happened? Has Bradford done anything else to you?"
"Fine as I can be, I got knocked out in all the commotion, and I don't think so." He's quick to answer back. "What about you guys?" They fill him in on what he missed and it only makes him angrier. And then confused at the end, Webby is what? "Man, you're gone for like five minutes."
His brothers smile at him, "It's more like twenty but okay." Huey corrects. Twenty minutes, Louie was out for twenty minutes. Who knows what could've happened? Who knows what else did happen? "I can't," Huey sighs. "I can't get it open." He says quietly, brokenly. Dewey and Atsuto join his somberness.
"It's okay." Louie smiles reassuringly. "We'll figure something else out."
"Or not." A voice says from behind his brothers. The four of them quickly look to see Don Karnage. "None of you are going anywhere." His brothers and Atsuto get in a defensive stance but are knocked back before they can do anything. Louie sees red.
The box shatters.
He's not in the Avatar state. And he might just be more dangerous for it. How dare he? How dare he hurt his brothers? How dare he lay a single finger on them?
No.
Never again.
Louie lifts his hand up and thrusts it, sending a slew of water towards Karnage. It hits him before he can even blink, knocking him out instantly. Good, serves him right. Louie immediately runs over to his brothers and checks them over. They seem fine aside from a few red marks which makes him sigh in relief. Atsuto lifts themself off of the ground and shakes their fur out. He leans down to give them a comforting scratch, "Glad you're okay, buddy, let's see if we can wake them up."
He gently shakes them and they slowly seem to regain their awareness. As soon as they realize he's out of the box they grab him in a giant hug. He sinks into their arms and wants to stay there forever but they all know that isn't possible right now. "Let's go save our family." Huey says, pulling him and Dewey away from Karnage's prone body and out of the room. The two of them share a look. God they really missed their older brother.
"Where's Webby and the others?" Dewey asks.
"Where's anybody?" Huey responses. And he's right, it's way too quiet for an evil organization's secret base. "Did they only send Don? That doesn't seem right."
"Maybe the girls' distraction was really good?" Dewey unsurely guesses. All Louie knows is that he doesn't like this at all. "Where would they be?" He pauses and gasps. "The ramrod!" The four of them take off in a sprint, Huey directs them outside- says a weapon like that would be too big to keep indoors and they don't have time to argue with him. Luckily, he's right.
Unluckily, their Dad just got thrown in. Without even thinking about it they move to save him. Dewey and Huey short out the control panel and Louie creates a strong enough air current to stop his fall and bring him out of the contraption, right next to Uncle Scrooge. "Junior Woodchuck guidebook rule number 1, always expect the unexpected." Huey says smugly. Bradford does not like that.
He flies down the podium's steps and raises his sword at Scrooge, but Webby comes in from out of nowhere and blocks him with their Uncle's broken cane.
"Get away from my Dad."
"Wait, what?" She tells him to run but something's keeping him in place. They quickly figure out it's the contract and Louie moves to grab it. He runs back to his brothers but something must happen to Bradford because the next time he sees him he's some kind of super villain. Wonderful. Louie pulls them behind the control panel just in time to avoid a blast. Their sigh of relief does not last long. Bradford takes out their Mom and Mrs. B in one fail swoop and without even thinking about it he's rushing forward. And he knows his brothers are right behind him.
Cause, see, when they fight an opponent at the same time something amazing happens. Don't know if you remember that, but it does, and it's what they need to win. Louie's the Avatar, and that's gonna help out, but that's not gonna be what saves them this time.
He already had his world-saving moment after all, didn't he?
The triplets land in front of Scrooge just in time for a gigantic blast to be thrown at them. They join hands and manifest something that's not quite bending but also is, it's all of their energies combined and made physical. They throw Bradford's blast back at him. And if Louie by himself could knock Karnage clean out Bradford stands no chance. He drops to the floor with a thud and Louie only feels more invigorated, he knows his brothers feel the same. Scrooge still can't move. "The only way to break the Papyrus' spell is to find a contradiction on the Papyrus." Huey is quick to fill them in.
Louie looks around for the contract, knowing he dropped it when he ran and sees his Dad skimming it over. "This contract is airtight! Uncle Scrooge only gets his family if he gives up adventure!" A light bulb goes off in all of their heads. And, of course, Bradford chooses that exactly moment to wake up. He can't even get off the floor so they pay him no mind and continue with what they are doing.
"This contract is flawed!" Bradford lets out a weak grumble of protest. They all smirk at his prone body.
"According to this Scrooge can be with his family as long as he doesn't adventure!" Louie takes over for his oldest brother.
"But family is the greatest adventure of all!" Dewey finishes. The contract disintegrates into thin air and Scrooge is freed. Bradford loses the sword and his armor. Not that he was much of a threat anymore. He protests that he won't lose to Scrooge and man, this is just sad. Louie almost can't stand to watch. Almost.
Scrooge steps over to him. "You didn't lose to me. You lost to my family. All of them." And that's when their close friends come into view, May and June in the front. Huh. Okay then.
Their Mom loops her arm around their Dad's neck. "So what do we do with him?" The adults discuss that while Louie looks around. Everyone is here, everyone he cares about. He's never been so glad to see them. He will never be annoyed with them not giving him any space again. He had space, it was bad. He doesn't need it again. Ever again.
His eyes land on his siblings and he's quick to tackle them in a hug. Scrooge comes over to them and centers in on Webby. Not that any of them can blame him. "Dad?"
She smiles, "Dad." He smiles back, though his looks a bit uncertain, and turns to the triplets. They nod. He grins and the two of them hug. The triplets run over to their parents and are swept up in a hug of their own. They laugh and run over to the others when they see them hugging and elect to join that one, their parents right behind them.
Louie has never been so happy in his life.
Getting catapulted into the open sky isn't what Louie was expecting to happen next but he can't complain. He can't say the same for his Dad. As soon as they're back on the plane he's reprimanding Launchpad with a tirade Louie is very glad will never be directed at him. He does have to wince in sympathy though.
He joins his brothers where they're sitting, Huey wringing out his hat and Dewey lamenting that he didn't get to do a cool flip while free failing. Louie wouldn't change them for the world. He almost lost Huey today, they almost lost him today, and that's terrifying to think about, but they are here. They are here and they made it. The thing he always worried would happen happened, and just like his Dad always said they made it right. He doesn't have to worry anymore. Everyone is safe. He can truly relax.
"Better it'll be easier to sleep now, huh? That you don't have so much baggage?" Dewey asks him. And, right, that, with everything going on he had forgotten about that.
"I don't think it'll be that easy." Huey interjects. "But you've got nothing but time now. We all do. We'll all heal, together." Louie smiles.
He looks at Astuto, who had crawled in his lap as soon as he sat down, dry as a whistle. He looks at his Dad, who's now animated talking to his Mom and Uncle about something. He looks at Webby, who is in the middle of an emotional conversation with her Granny. He looks at Launchpad, who's making lovey-dovey eyes at Drake, whos' getting teased by Gosalyn about something. He looks at Fenton and Gandra being the world's nerdiest couple in the corner, he looks at Boyd finally being cared for by a true guardian, he looks at Lena and Violet including May and June in one of their rituals.
"Together." He repeats.
There is a lot of weight that comes with being the Avatar, a lot of downsides, of baggage and responsibilities. He is twelve. He does not need to shoulder any of that alone. He never will. He has had his world-saving moment, his family has taken down the world's most dangerous organization. There is nowhere to go but up.
He doesn't have to be the Avatar anymore. He can just be Louie.