Once a Triplet

Chapter 1

It had been a quiet day in Duckburg, which was not a good thing. It meant the other shoe was going to fall. It meant something was going to happen. Something bad. Something... Dangerous. And sure, the rest of his family thrived on danger, but for Louie, he would prefer a little less catastrophe. So, even though it should have been a quiet, lazy Saturday, he was anxious. Waiting for something to go wrong.

Then the question, posed by Della, "Where's Huey?" The other shoe fell.

Dewey shrugged as his other brother joined him and their mom in the foyer of Scrooge's mansion.

"Probably organizing his Junior Woodchuck guidebooks in alphabetical order or something." Dewey guessed as he headed towards the stairs to grab his video camera from their room.

Louie waved off Della's comment as well, following Dewey upstairs and cornering him when they were alone.

"Should we maybe worry about where Huey is? Maybe something is going on?" He didn't want to jump to conclusions or start panicking immediately, but it had been so quiet. And quiet never ended well.

"Why?" Dewey asked, pushing the door to their room open. "I'm sure he's....."

Dewey stopped in his tracks. The room was a mess, books and comics all over the floor, the blankets untucked, and a picture of the Duck family on the floor, the frame cracked and splintered. 

"Fine?" Dewey finished, a warble of uncertainty in his voice. He didn't notice Huey's hat, crumpled on the floor, no sign of its wearer in sight.

"Yeah," Louie said, eyes wide and horrified, picking up the hat and waving it in the air, "I'm sure he's fine." Sarcasm dripped from his voice, masking the fear.

Dewey took the hat from his brother. "Huey never goes anywhere without this! Where do you  think he is?"

"If I had any idea where Huey was then we would already be there, looking for him! The only one who has any idea where Huey is is Huey." Louie went to the closet and pulled down Huey's conspiracy board, a few red threads hanging loose. He studied the board a little longer and made a guess.

"Uh, maybe the marina? Or the Beagle Boys' hideout. Or maybe Funzo's.  I could be, might be... Definitely, probably am wrong..." He doubted himself more when he was anxious, and this definitely made him anxious. His brother could be seriously hurt or worse.

"Hey, don't panic. We'll find him!" Dewey reassured his brother enthusiastically. Actually, Dewey was just as anxious as his younger brother was, though he didn't like to show it.

"Find who?" Another bright voice asked, making the two boys jump. Webby rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet, clasping her hands behind her excitedly with stars in her eyes, ready for another adventure.

"Huey is missing. The room is a wreck and nothing is okay," Louie said, "And we can't tell Mom or Uncle Donald because they'd freak out."

"Wait, what? Wouldn't they want to help find him?" Webby stopped bouncing, a confused look on her face.

"I just... If we can't find him today, we'll let them know,." Louie suggested.

"Oh. Okay, well let's get searching!" Webby said gleefully as she skipped into the hallway, the boys following behind.

Louie had a feeling she didn't get it. Huey was missing. Someone had probably taken him, there had certainly been some sort of struggle. That wasn't something gleeful. He was glum and quiet as he walked behind her.

Dewey noticed the trudge in his brother's steps and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, a light squeeze reassuring him that they would do this together. "Hey, Webs?" Dewey called down the hall to the bubbly, pink dressed girl.