The Other Side of the Known Universe

WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?

Louie thought he would at least be messy when he fell into the cake. But instead, he was not only completely clean but also he somehow landed on the floor by the step ladder. He fell on his side confused. "Ouch! What was that?" he said in pain. He got up to his feet and rubbed his side. That's when he heard Dewey calling him.

"Louie? Where did you go?" Louie rushed out of the kitchen, sure he would be in trouble if he was caught there. He ran out to meet Dewey. "Right here," he said to his brother. Dewey looked up at him with a confused expression. "Are you cold?" Dewey asked. "What do you mean?" "You have your hoodie on." The blue duckling shifted the cake in his hands. "I always have my hoodie on," Louie replied, puzzled. His brother just shrugged. "Whatever."

The two of them stepped out of the establishment. Louie immediately noticed that the sky had grown significantly darker. It was smoggier and the air seemed less breathable. More of the buildings around the bakery had smashed windows and looked run down. Street was torn up and there were some billboards that read, "Flintheart Glomgold: Richest duck in the world." Louie felt off and suspicious.

Louie glanced at Dewey. Outside, Louie noticed that Dewey also looked a bit off. His sleeves were longer and draped over his hands. His hair looked sad and droopy, flopping over his face. He blew upwards to push his feathers back, but they just flopped back down. "Something weird is going on," Louie said under his breath.

They walked back to the mansion together, Louie more skeptical than he had ever been. Dewey stood at the door with the cake in his hands. They stood there for a while. Dewey raised an expectant eyebrow. Then, after rethinking it, began trying to open the door with his foot. "What are you doing?" Louie asked, smiling at the strange scene. "Oh, well first I was going to wait for you to open the door for me, but then I thought you weren't opening it because you were busy, so I was going to open it myself but then-" Dewey monologued. Louie stopped him by opening the door. "Oh, thanks!" Dewey said awkwardly. Louie followed his older brother inside.

Dewey handed the cake to Louie. "Okay, go put this in the fridge. Launchpad said he wanted a surprise party so he can't see it." Louie took the cake from Dewey. Louie twisted his bill and raised an eyebrow. "I thought Launchpad didn't remember it was his birthday?" "He was the only one who did," Dewey replied. Louie shrugged. "I guess I heard you wrong."

Louie walked to the kitchen. He opened the fridge door and put it in the fridge, hiding it behind the pep. He closed the fridge door. Behind the door was a little girl. Louie gasped in fear. The girl had a pixie cut with a big pink bow tied around her hair. She wore a pink skirt and a pink shirt. Louie squinted at her. It was a while before he realized who she was. "Webby?" "Yes?" she asked. "Did you get a hair cut, or do something new with your outfit? You look different," he said, trying to hide his shock. She thought a minute before shaking her head. "Nope, not recently." Louie just kept getting more and more confused.

Suddenly, Huey came running in the room with a flaming toaster. "Coming in hot!" he shouted, waving his cap through the air while running. A fork was shoved in the toaster. Huey ran the toaster over to the sink and doused it in water, putting the flames out. Louie watched with amazement at his oldest brothers acts. Once the red duckling pulled the fork out of it, he began petting the toaster. "Um, Hue, your hair's on fire," Louie said. Huey glanced up at the small flame dancing in his curly hair. He gasped as he patted it out.

"Well, I know better than to argue with you now. If you don't want to be fed with a fork, I won't feed you with a fork," he said, still rubbing his hand on the toaster. "Huey. You do realize you're talking to a toaster, right?" Louie asked. Huey made an offended face, jaw dropped and eyes widened.

"Um, excuse me! Where are your manners! Tell Bready you're sorry," he said, throwing back on his cap backwards. Louie was taken back. "Bready?" The green duck asked. Huey looked annoyed. "Since you've somehow lost your marbles, I will reintroduce you, even though you've known her since forever." Huey shoved the toaster in Louie's face. "Bready, Louie. Louie, Bready."