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Louie glanced up from his phone when he heard his bedroom door open. “All ready then?” he asked almost passively, his attention clearly more dedicated to his screen.
“All the lights are off, the curtains drawn and I got our flashlight,” Huey said. He wiggled the flashlight between his fingers to show it off; even though Louie wasn’t looking.
“We playing with vents and phones?” Louie asked.
Huey looked towards Webby and Dewey who excitedly nodded their heads, “yerp.”
Louie gave a nod, “have you guys decided who’s gonna be gorgon first?”
Dewey and Webby’s hands shot up, “ooh ooh, pick me!” they said at the same time.
“Dewey,” Louie said before anyone else had the chance.
“Yes!” Dewey cheered.
“Aww, how come Dewey gets to go first?” Webby said.
“You were gorgon last time. Besides, Dewey might cry if he doesn’t get to be gorgon,” Louie said.
“Hey!” Dewey cried. The others giggled as Dewey grabbed the flashlight from Huey and stormed out the door mumbling. They waited for his steps to fade and then Webby shot her hand up.
Huey chuckled, “sure you can be doctor.”
Webby pumped her fists in the air and tried not to yell with excitement.
“So what’s our strategy?” Huey asked.
“I think I’m gonna stick to the vents mostly, and just pop out if I see a piece or you guys need healing,” Webby said.
“Good call. We can’t move through the vents as well as you, so Dewey probably won’t be able to get you,” Huey said, “I’ll try to stick close to the vents myself so you can get me back up quick if I get caught.” Webby nodded and they both turned their attention to Louie.
After a few seconds of no one talking Louie realized they were waiting for him to say something. He shrugged, “I think I’ll just hang out in the tv room by the kitchen.”
Huey and Webby shared a look, silently debating whether they should try to convince him to be more active or not. “Could you check the kitchen for us since you’ll be close anyways?” Huey asked. Louie gave a “sure” making the other two smile.
Huey and Webby went back to discussing strategy until they got a message from Dewey. Once they got the okay, Webby jumped into the vents as Huey cautiously made his way into the hallway. Louie waited for a bit before following Huey out the door. He didn’t bother to stick to the shadows or anything as he made his way to the kitchen.
When Louie got to the foyer he noticed something in the chandelier. He grimaced as he realized Dewey had somehow gotten the flashlight head up there. No way was he about to try to get it himself. No, that was definitely more a job for Webby. He would message her and Huey about it when he was comfortably seated on the couch.
Louie knew he probably wouldn’t find anything in the kitchen. Dewey probably “hid” all the flashlight pieces in absolutely ridiculous places to show off or whatever. He still went to “check” anyways. He wanted a pep and he knew the others wanted him to participate. So he went in, quickly scanned the room, then grabbed a pep and left.
After flopping down on the couch of the tv room Louie opened his pep, then his phone. Two messages since the game started. Webby had found a battery on top of one of the pictures of Dewey and his mom in front of the Cloudslayer. The one where they had flown through an unexpected storm on their way to some daring adventure. Huey had gotten caught in a spare room only a minute ago upstairs in what they call “Scrooge’s wing”. Webby had already tagged him back in. Louie let them know about the flashlight head, including that he didn’t want to get it himself.
The game went as expected. Huey found the body of the flashlight on top of a suit of armor while Webby went to get the head. Dewey tagged Huey two more times and got jump scared by the DT-87 security bot before spotting Webby. She was trying to get the last battery but he chased her into the vents, losing her almost immediately and giving up looking not long after. When he’d returned to check on the battery, Huey was just grabbing it from its spot on top of a mounted spear. He tagged his brother but it was already too late. Webby came for him, put the pieces together and caught Dewey in the beam of light.
They had all mostly stuck to “Scrooge’s wing” since most of the pieces were there. Louie had only seen Webby for a second when she was getting the head and he glanced up from his phone. Other than that he had just been sitting comfortably on the couch alone. It was a rare calm moment in his life and he enjoyed it.
Dewey never liked losing, so he begged to be gorgon again. Huey was the doctor this time. He and Webby stuck closer together so she could distract Dewey when he encountered Huey. Again, everyone mostly stayed in one area but this time it was the first floor in the wing with the kitchen. So Louie actually got tagged and found two pieces instead of one.
Louie had found a battery hidden on top of the fridge and the flashlight head behind the tv. Both were actually hidden instead of just hard to reach like before. Still, he didn’t feel like climbing the counter so he only grabbed the head. He let the other two know about the battery as he went back to sitting on the couch.
Dewey first tagged Louie early on while checking on the flashlight head. Louie had distracted him a bit while letting Huey and Webby know where he was. Once he got confirmation that they had the battery, he let the conversation die and Dewey seemed to remember he was playing a game. Huey and Webby came out of the vent behind the couch to tag Louie back in once Dewey walked out. Louie just stayed on the couch though.
The second time Dewey tagged Louie Dewey had been looking for the other two. He was sure Huey would’ve tagged him back in by then so he tagged him again. Louie let the others know he was out again, even though it barely mattered and shortly thereafter they came by to tag him back in. Webby had found the flashlight body under a bookshelf so all that was left was the last battery. They asked Louie if he wanted to help them look for it but he waved them off saying they probably had it.
A few minutes later Dewey managed to tag Webby but Huey had hidden in another suit of armor while he was busy with her. There Huey found the last battery. So when Dewey went out of earshot he crawled out of the armor, tagged Webby back in and put the flashlight back together. They rushed off in the direction Dewey had gone, careful not to be too loud as to not give away that they had the flashlight now.
Dewey had checked a total of two rooms before giving up looking for Huey. He had only really glanced in the rooms but it was boring looking for people. He decided to check on Louie and found him in the same spot he had been pretty much all game. He asked if Huey had tagged him back in yet and Louie shook his head. Dewey wasn’t sure if he trusted him, but when Louie pointed out that he hadn’t been moving anyway he decided he was right. Even if Louie was back in, it wasn’t like he was really doing anything or going anywhere. If he tagged Huey and Webby but they said the game wasn’t over yet, he could probably come back and tag Louie no problem. He left the tv room only to get caught in the beam of the flashlight.
Not liking how this round was shorter than the last, Dewey insisted on being gorgon again.
Huey and Webby asked if Louie wanted a turn being doctor but he declined. So Webby went again so they could split up more. Louie was tempted to stay in the room this time in case the game was even shorter but he knew better. Dewey was getting frustrated and would put even more effort into hiding the pieces. This was confirmed when almost twenty minutes passed before he told them they could come out.
Instead of going straight to the kitchen or even the tv room, Louie went to the room under the stairs leading up to the triplets’ bedroom. He wasn’t surprised when he found the bulb for the flashlight under an umbrella holder filled with swords. Dewey had split the flashlight into more pieces to give himself an edge. It wouldn’t work though, Huey was too smart and Webby too skilled. They made a crazy effective team the rare times they partnered up instead of the usual Dewey-Webby and Huey-Louie combos. So Louie decides to throw Dewey a bone.
Louie put the bulb in his pocket and pulled out a spare pep. He opened it as he walked to the tv room where Dewey was waiting for him.
“What took you so long?” Dewey asked, glaring skeptically at his brother.
“Grabbed a pep first,” Louie shrugged and took a sip from the can. He walked to the couch unfazed by his brother’s skepticism and ability to tag him out.
“Have you really been spending the whole time sitting on the couch drinking pep?” Dewey raised a brow.
“I’ve also been scrolling through the web,” Louie said. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, set down his pep and held out the now empty hand to Dewey.
Dewey hit Louie’s hand tagging him out, “should’ve known. Sorry I didn’t come by first game.”
“No worries,” Louie said as Dewey left. Dewey let him know he’d check in on him in a bit before getting out of view.
Louie didn’t tell his team mates he was out or that he had the flashlight’s bulb.
That game lasted a lot longer. It took a while for Huey and Webby to find all the the other pieces but they did. All the pieces were much more spread out but hidden in typical Dewey hiding spots. The lens was hidden under an unstable pile of boxes in a storage room near Scrooge’s office. The head was in an old pirate’s chest in the garage. The lid for the battery compartment was on the back of a sword mound in the hallway under the one with the triplets’ room. The body was inside a fireplace in one of the lounges by Webby’s room. One of the batteries was hidden on top of a tall bookshelf in a study near the triplets’ room. The last battery was in an urn in the wing with the kitchen.
Webby had translated the markings on that last one since a green mist came out of the urn when opened. Luckily Dewey hadn’t accidentally cursed them all… again. The mist just made you think of summer nights, just after sunset and smelt like freshly cut grass. Apparently a whole village died of frostbite because of it though. It had been meant to give them hope through the winter but they’d left it open and lost track of reality.
With that scare out of the way the game continued. After a half-hour of running around Huey and Webby became frantic. They started being less careful, almost releasing two ancient evils before Webby messed up in a way that finally got her caught. Shortly after that Huey was caught and the game was over.
When Louie got the message, he quickly put the bulb where he found it and started up the stairs to the triplets’ bedroom. He was almost at the top when Huey, Dewey and Webby got to the foyer.
“Hey Louie! Wanna see where I hid the last piece?” Dewey asked excitedly.
Louie groaned, “I’m almost at the top though.” He tried not to react as he realized he shouldn’t know he’d need to go down the stairs to see it.
“Aww common, pleeeeeease?” Dewey asked, none of the others seeming to notice Louie’s slip up.
Louie sighed, “fine.” He grumbled a bit as he went down the stairs, not enough for them to complain, just to lightly tease him about being lazy.
They all went to the room under the stairs that hid the bulb. Dewey looked around for a moment before remembering where he hid it. He proudly moved the umbrella holder showing off the bulb they couldn’t find. Huey’s brow furrowed and Webby’s eyes widened. Louie didn’t react but no one was expecting him to.
“Oh wow, I can’t believe I didn’t check there,” Webby said.
Huey scratched near his hat, “me neither, I thought I checked this room three times.”
Dewey’s smile brightened, “guess I really gave you the run around. You couldn’t even think properly!”
“I guess so,” Webby said.
Louie groaned, “we saw the stupid hiding spot, can we go already?” Everyone rolled their eyes fondly and they went up the stairs.
Now that Dewey had finally won he was ready to move on and let someone else be gorgon. Louie barely acknowledged when Huey left to hide the flashlight, or when Dewey claimed the role of doctor. He just scrolled on his phone until the game started. After Webby climbed into the vents Louie finally looked up from his phone. He smiled as he watched Dewey stick his head out the door.
“Coast is clear,” Dewey said, as if they hadn’t made a rule about guarding the door at the beginning of a round.
“Copy that,” Louie said, his voice indifferent despite his smile. He shook his head as Dewey rolled into the hallway. Time for another round of gorgon with his frankly ridiculous family.