| Here in Duckburg | |
| Season 3 Interludes & Sidetracks, Episode 12 | |
| First Aired (USA) June 8, 2025 (FF) June 8, 2025 (AO3) | |
| Episode Guide | |
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"Here in Duckburg" is the eighth sidetrack and twelfth side-story of Luz Clawthorne, and the first to be part of Book 3.
Synopsis[]
The Clawthornes get a break as another family whose history has been rewritten is granted focus.
Plot[]
We begin this story… with a seagull.
This seagull was in flight over the bay of a city, the city… of Duckburg. The seagull decided to land on a boat, which did not go unnoticed by a fisherman.
"Bah!" the fisherman shouted, scaring off the seagull, which flew over to another boat… only for another fisherman to scare off that seagull. And the next fisherman on the next boat did the same.
The seagull flew away from fishermen and their boats. It flew up higher into the sky, over the harbor and soon over the city. It eventually started to fly down again and as it got closer to the ground, it realized that it was in the suburbs of Duckburg. Flying over several houses in the suburbs, the seagull chose one to settle on and it soon landed on the chimney of a pink house with a garage and long porch. A house at 13 Quack Street.
Inside this house, three brothers were preparing to start their day.
"Okay, who wants pancakes?" called out a white feathered duck boy wearing a red beanie over his combed over feathers in addition to a red short-sleeve jacket, a light-red shirt, and red pants, while his webbed feet were bare. He was holding up a spatula and a pan full of burnt pancakes.
"Um, Huey, that looks burned," his brother said while looking over his shoulder. This triplet wore green. He wore a green visor hat over his feathered head, which had bangs hanging over it. He also wore a mint-green sleeveless shirt and green baggy pants which had a lot of zippers. His hands were stuffed in his pockets. "And this is why you should've allowed me to cook breakfast."
"You are not the one trying to earn a meal preparation badge. Plus, I just wanted to make sure we started the day right, Louie," Huey said.
"Um, what is that supposed to mean?" Louie asked.
"Um… I mean…" Huey said as he avoided eye contact with his brother. He then saw that his scrambled eggs, which were in another pan, were burning. "Ah! My scrambled eggs!"
"I told you not to cook!" Louie shouted as they saw the scrambled eggs burst into flames…
"Make way, coming through!" shouted the last brother, who wore blue. He had a crew cut-style top on his feathery head and was also wearing a blue shirt, a white baseball button shirt over it with blue accents, and blue shorts. He is shown holding a fire extinguisher, which he quickly used to spray foam over the stove. "Ha! The Dewster has saved the day once again!"
"Great, there goes breakfast…" Huey said while looking over the mess, including the burnt bacon. "And the bacon's gone."
"Not the bacon!" Dewey cried out in anguish, realizing that he had been too late. "What are we going to eat now?!"
"You two do remember that we have cereal, right?" Louie pointed out, causing the two brothers to turn to Louie and see him pointing to the box of cereal on the counter…
And so, the three brothers, known as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, decided to enjoy cereal for breakfast while also leaving some breakfast in front of another chair at the table that was currently empty. The plate was decorated with buttered toast and microwaved hotdogs covered with ketchup.
"Do you really think hotdogs are a good substitute for sausages?" Huey worriedly asked Louie.
"Hey, gotta improv with what you got," Louie reassured his red clothed brother. "Besides, it's better than what you were trying to make."
"This is why I'm considering taking home economics to learn how to cook," Huey mentioned.
"Don't you have enough classes?" Louie asked him.
"Of course not," Huey said, offended by the notion. "There is always more to learn."
"Ah, learn, learn, you know what we should be doing at school today?" Dewey asked with a mouth full of cereal. "We should try to get the attention of Venissa Featherly."
"The school's morning news announcer?" Huey asked, knowing who Huey is referring to.
"As well as Roxanne Featherly's kid," Louie added.
"Should that mean anything to me?" Huey asked, not impressed. "So what if she is the daughter of that television reporter lady?"
"Because that means she has influence," Louie pointed out. "And money. And that makes her one of the popular kids at Duckburg Middle."
"Exactly!" Dewey shouted while pointing to his green-clothed brother with an enthusiastic expression. "And if I'm going to get noticed by the popular kids like her, I need to Dew something grand, something spectacular, something… Dewpendous!"
"Dewpendous is still not a word, Dewey," Huey told his blue clothed brother.
"It will be when the Webfoot Dictionary accepts my new word entries!" Dewey declared.
"Didn't they send you a letter asking you to please stop sending them your made-up words?" Huey reminded him.
"You know, being in with the popular kids wouldn't be too bad," Louie pointed out. "I mean, just think of the birthday parties, for one thing…"
"Ooh, yeah!" Dewey shouted while standing up in his seat. "I heard that Venissa Featherly's last birthday party had the largest water slide in all of Duckburg!"
"Exactly," Louie said. "These rich kids always love to show off." He chuckled to himself. "Can't say I blame them."
"Ugh, I don't know which one of you is worse," Huey said in a deadpan tone. "Honestly, I don't see the point of trying to get in with the 'it' crowd, unless they're looking for an IT like me, of course."
"Maybe they could use someone to do their homework for them?" Dewey suggested to Huey.
"Plus, you could charge them for an extra profit on tutoring," Louie said while Huey just rolled his eyes at them.
"And what about you? Are you going to get roped into Dewey's activities?" Huey asked Louie.
"Oh please, I already got my own schemes," Louie brought up with a smile, although Huey didn't look impressed.
"I am definitely going to see you or Dewey on television someday for all the wrong reasons," he muttered while looking at his brothers.
"Hey, that's only if I'm caught," Louie pointed out. "And this time, nothing is going to stop-"
"Llewellyn Duck," said a female voice, causing Louie to stop mid-sentence. "I really don't want to get a call from the principal's office… again."
Upon hearing his full name called, Louie visibly winced while his brothers hid their snicker. Louie slowly turned around to see who was coming in…
"Cause the last thing I need today is to get called up while I'm at work," said the white feathered female duck with long white hair, a blue headband, a white button shirt, black tie, black pants, and a black security guard hat on top of her head. "So can I at least trust that you stay out of trouble for me today, Louie?"
This was Della Duck, the mother of the three boys. A Della who appeared to have never been absent from the lives of her boys. A Della who still had both of her feet…
"Yes, mom," Louie replied with a sigh as Della walked over and affectionately rustled her youngest son's feathered head.
"Atta boy," Della said with a smile as she went to sit with her sons, seeing the breakfast they had laid out for her. "Aw, you boys made me breakfast… toast, and hotdogs." She then noticed the stove covered in fire extinguisher foam, along with the burnt breakfast that was in the trash. She let out a sigh. "Huey, were you trying to cook for your badge again?"
"I was trying to make breakfast for everyone, mom," Huey replied with a nervous smile. "Like Rule 7 of the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook says: 'Never let failure hold you back and always be willing to try again.'"
"The Junior Woodchuck Guidebook also has Rule 117: 'Don't cause a house fire'," Della pointed out as she started to eat her breakfast.
"Right, that rule…" Huey said as he quickly pulled up his guidebook.
As Della ate, she noticed the clock on the wall and her eyes widened. "Oh crap, look at the time!" she shouted as she stood up, grabbing a handful of food to stuff into her mouth and gulp it down with one big swallow. "Get up, get your bookbags, and get into the car now!"
"Is it school o'clock already?!" Dewey exclaimed. "I'm gonna miss my chance!"
"Come on, everyone, move, move, move!" Della ordered as the boys got up and grabbed their backpacks.
"But what about brushing our teeth?" Louie asked as he grabbed his bookbag.
"You can have the mint gun I keep in the car," Della replied as she opened the door to the garage. "Go, go, go!"
The three boys quickly rushed into the car while Della got in the driver's seat and opened the garage door. Della looked back at her boys to make sure they were all in their seats. "Seatbelts and helmets on?"
"Yes/Got it/Yup," the triplets confirmed.
"Great, cause we're going to have to take the shortcut to school again," Della said, starting the car before any of them could object as she drove out of the garage, turned at the end of the driveway, and headed down the road with the mission of dropping her sons off at school.
Della's driving… left a lot to be desired, to say the least.
"Hey, I'm driving here!" Della shouted at another car while taking a turn. "Can you believe some people? Here I am, a single mom trying to bring my three sons to school. Do they not read my bumper stickers or see the family sticker on the door?"
"Mom, I think it's best if you remain calm while on the road," Huey advised while he and his brothers hung on for dear life.
"I think we still have a few minutes to spare if you slow down…" Louie said while gripping his seat belt tightly.
"Yeah, and can you roll up your window? I think the wind from your window is messing with my hair," Dewey said while trying to fix his hair.
"Don't worry, I'm calm. I'm cool. And I'm not going over the speed limit," Della said as she started to slow down, to the relief of her sons. But then she saw another car cut her off, making her suddenly hit the brakes. "Hey! I have the right of way!" she shouted, poking her head out of the window to shout at the black sedan car. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, pal! You better hope you can drive far enough or else you're going to face a very angry mom!"
The black sedan continued to drive while Della glared at it. "Uh-huh, yeah, you better keep driving, you blowhard piece of worthless garbage! GAAAAH!" she shouted at the sedan before she pulled herself back inside the car and let out a sigh. "Okay, I think we're almost there." she said, suddenly very calmly.
But in the back seat, the three boys looked terrified and continued to feel uneasy as Della started driving away, the three of them silently hoping that they would be able to make it to school in one piece this morning…
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Della finally managed to drop the boys off at their school.
"Alright, now I want you boys to be on your best behavior today," Della said as she gave the boys a big hug. "I love you three so much…"
"Come on, you can let go now, mom," Huey said while noticing some of the nearby students looking over at them. "People are staring…"
"Yeah, my Dewey-cred is getting lower on the social ladder with each second," Dewey said while trying to escape the hug.
"Yeah, I think we have enough, mom," Louie said, though he actually seemed to be the least bothered by the hug. "And you don't want to be late for work…"
"Right, but just a few more seconds…" Della requested.
"Mom," the boys told her, prompting her to let go.
"Okay, okay, you boys enjoy the school day while Deputy Della is off to her job!" Della declared as she got back into the car and started to drive away.
"Good morning, boys," said a teacher who came over to greet her students. She was a blonde haired dog woman wearing glasses, a blue shirt with an orange vest, and blue pants with blue mary janes. "Your mother seemed to be in a rush pulling in today…"
"It's nothing to worry about, Miss Pennypacker," Louie assured her. "She's just running a little behind schedule."
"Well, at least she didn't hit the sign for the bake sale-" Pennypacker saw Della's car run over the sign. "Nevermind…"
"Come on, let's get inside before we're late for class," Huey told his brothers as the three headed inside the school building.
Inside the school, the Duck triplets were walking down the hallway together, passing by many of their classmates.
"Alright, if we head straight to class, we'll be able to get into our seats before Ms. Crowsbeak takes attendance," Huey told them as he pulled out his planner. "Now, we should set up a plan for today-"
"Actually, Huey, I already have my own plans for this morning," Dewey revealed. "So I'll be heading off…"
"Yeah, I got something to do elsewhere as well," Louie admitted. "And we do have a few minutes before the first period."
"Really? I thought we were going to class together…" Huey said while looking down.
"Chin up, bro," Dewey assured him. "Look, after we do our own things, we'll go and do your thing."
"Yeah, like help you learn how to cook for your badge," Louie brought up.
Huey smiled at his brothers. "Well… I guess I can come up with an excuse for you two's absence when you're inevitably late again."
"And it better be a good excuse," Dewey said as he held his fist up. "To the Quack Pack."
Huey and Louie held their own fists up, bumping them together. "Quack Pack!" they declared.
"Well, see you bros, later! Dewey out!" Dewey declared as he did some somersaults before running off in the other direction.
After seeing Dewey leave, Huey turned to Louie and sighed. "Well, Louie, I guess now you are going off to find your… friend?" he asked, guessing what plans Louie had for the morning.
Louie smiled as he heard the obvious disdain in his brother's voice, knowing full well who Huey was referring to. "Actually, I don't have to," he said while looking over Huey's shoulder.
"Hello, Huebert," said a female voice behind Huey.
Huey's eyes widened. "Gah!" he shouted, giving a startled jump while turning around and backing away from the girl who had snuck up behind him. This girl had slightly dark jasper-colored wavy hair tied into a ponytail and slightly dark chardonnay feathers. She had green eyes, an ochre bill, and she wore a jade green bomber jacket with a hooded lavender T-shirt underneath, black jeans, and gray sneakers. She was someone that Huey knew all too well. "Oh, hello, Gosalyn…" he said while crossing his arms.
"How's your morning been? And why do you smell like burnt bacon?" she questioned Huey.
"Oh, that is on a need-to-know-basis," Huey said, his arms still crossed. "And you do not need to know."
"He almost set the kitchen on fire while cooking us breakfast," Louie explained, much to Huey's annoyance.
"Louie!" Huey shouted in exasperation while turning to his brother.
"Yeah, that checks out," Gosalyn said with a smirk. "Honestly, don't you know that you don't have to cook for yourself when you have an adult around to cook for you? I thought you were smarter than that, Huebert."
"Hey, I want to actually learn how to take care of myself, thank you very much," Huey declared. "Which is how I earned the Self-Reliance Badge."
"Wait, there's a badge for that?" Louie asked. Both Gosalyn and Huey nodded. "Huh. Well, I guess this is where we part ways, Huey. We won't be stopping you from going to class and claiming those early morning seats that you love so much."
"Yeah, smell ya later, Huebert," Gosalyn waved as she and Louie began to walk down the hall together, though before she was out of sight she turned around and stuck her tongue out at Huey.
Huey just narrowed his gaze at her before sticking his own tongue at her back. Once she and Louie were gone, he turned around and began to walk to class… alone.
Meanwhile, Dewey was roaming the halls. Eventually he found who he was looking for and he hid from them behind a corner before peeking out to listen in on the conversation between a group of his peers.
"I'm telling you guys, my birthday party at Funso's Fun Zone's is going to be a blast," said a green feathered girl with straight blond hair, blue eyes, and an orange beak. She wore a pink t-shirt with a hot-pink heart, blue jeans, pink sneakers, and a purple jacket. "And the best part is that everything's already covered thanks to my mom's positive news coverage of the place."
"Your party's going to be lit, Venissa," said a popular kid wearing a letterman's jacket.
"Yeah, there's going to be a DJ, access to new game prototypes that haven't even hit the market yet, free food, and of course complimentary gift bags for all attendees," Venissa said with an excited grin as she looked over her phone. "Everyone is going to want an E-Vite to this birthday bash…"
Upon hearing about the birthday party, Dewey smiled to himself as he began to think up of a plan to impress Venissa Featherly enough to get an invite. One way or another, he was determined to get an invite to that birthday party and get the attention from Venissa and the other popular kids.
So he was going to Dew it.
"Time to bring out my A-game," Dewey said as he held up his phone and started to play some music.
Venissa and her friends stopped their conversation when they heard the sound of K-Pop playing. They turned to see Dewey, who was standing in the middle of the hallway, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"Oppa… is Dewey-style!… Dewey-style!"
Dewey put his sunglasses on and started to walk down the hallway as he sang through the song. "A Dewey who is fun and extra all day, can make a party live through the night of March of 15th,"he sang as he took a few steps, then twirled as he danced. "A Dewey whose heart is enough to make it live! A party that would be nothing to miss!"
Venissa watched Dewey and his performance with an unreadable look.
"I am the Dew, the Dew who will do you any favors any day. A Dew who plays guitar and skateboard down the park! A Dew who makes sure he doesn't over-Dew it," Dewey sang while he kept on dancing. "Such a Dewster."
"Spectacular, extravagant," Dewey sang as he pointed to Venissa. "Hey you(Hey!) Yes, it's you(Hey!) If you want to, find someone, take me(Yeah!) Yes, it's me(Yeah!), and I'll show you the best time of your life~"
Venissa raised her eyebrows at this while the students in the hallway seemed to be into Dewey's dance.
"Let's go Dewey-style! Ya!" Dewey sang as he danced, the students cheering him on as he jumped up and swung his fists. "Whoop! Whoop, whoop, whoop, let's go Dewey-style!"
But then, the music suddenly stopped, causing the cheering to stop as well.
"Hey, who turned off my music…?" Dewey asked as he turned around… and saw a teacher in front of him, his phone in her hand. "Oh… hey, Mrs. Griswald."
"Dewey, what have we said about playing loud music in the halls?" demanded the curly-haired dog teacher in a purple dress and red triangular eyeglasses.
"Uh… maybe if you just wait-" Dewey said as he turned around, only to see Venissa walking away along with her friends. His face fell. "Oh man…"
"Dewford…" Mrs. Griswald said to him with a strict tone.
Dewey sighed and turned to his teacher with a deflated look. "How much trouble am I in?"
"The principal's office," she told him, although it sounded like she was used to saying this to him at this point.
"Yeah, that… that checks out," Dewey replied with a sigh.
Meanwhile, in a classroom, Huey had already taken his seat at his desk. While he waited for class to begin and for his brothers to make it before the bell rang, he was greeted by another student.
"Morning, Huebert," said the girl who took her seat next to him. She was a violet hummingbird with a dark, purple beak, freckles, and talons. She had purplish-black hair with a curly tip, and the end being in a bun with a dark-green band. She also had blue eye shadow, a long-sleeved green shirt with light blue accents, black pants, and a tail with white ends.
"Hey, Violet," Huey said. "Good morning to you too."
"Your brothers are cutting it close again?" Violet asked as they both pulled out their books and their completed homework.
"Yeah, Dewey went to try to impress the popular kids, while Louie is… actually, I don't want to know what Louie is doing," Huey said with a sigh. "But that's nothing new for either of them, isn't it?"
"Not at all, your brothers and their patterns of behavior are very predictable," Violet pointed out. "How is your mother doing, by the way? I hear that she works in the security business now."
"Yeah, she started recently," Huey confirmed. "I wonder how she's doing…"
Across town, Della looked at herself in a mirror as she got ready.
"Alright, Della, you got to bring your A-game today," Della told herself. "The boys count on you, everyone counts on you. The safety of the people is in your hands." She smiled. "Nothing can stop me…"
She put on her security gear, which included sunglasses, her radio, and cuffs hanging from her belt. She then walked out of the employees only area.
"Cause nothing will stop Della Duck!" Della declared as she opened the doors, ready to work at her current job as a security guard…
...for the local shopping mall, where most of Duckburg's citizens went to shop and eat. And these citizens were being protected by none other than one Della Duck, who kept her determined look as she grabbed her mall security scooter and began her patrol, keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity.
"Toy store, intact," Della said as she looked around at the stores. "The Jersey Store, still selling jerseys. The Game Pit, good but should check out later to see which games to buy for the boys. Edge Hook is still edgier than ever, and the Slapstick store… still selling college-aged gags."
As she passed by the stores, one Beagle Boy, Black Arts Beagle, was coming out from the Edge Hook. When he saw Della, he immediately made an effort not to get seen by her. It was a Beagle Boy instinct to avoid security of any kind… even if he was making a genuine effort to break away from the family business and pursue his own ambitions of stage magic.
Later, over at the food court, Della was looking around for any trouble. So far, nothing. But then her eyes caught some teenagers at a table. They appeared to be playing with their food… but Della knew someone playing hooky when she saw it.
"Pardon me," she said as she went over to confront the teens
"Uh… can we help you, ma'am?" asked a local teen with a scratchy voice.
"Oh, just patrolling around and, well… I was wondering why you were not in school today?" Della asked them, deciding to get to the point.
"Um, we're just, like, having a senior skip day," a teenage girl claimed.
"Really?" Della asked. "Though I guess I could call in to your school just to make sure. What school do you kids go to…?"
The teens looked at each other… and scrammed, making a run for it away from Della.
"Hey! Come back here!" Della shouted as she started to chase after the teens while pulling out her handheld radio. "Report, I need all exits and entrances blocked! I got four school skippers on the loose!"
"What?" asked a voice on the other end. "We're just going to block all exits just because of a few teens who decided not to go to school today. Forget it!"
Della growled, realizing that she was alone. "Education is important!"
She looked ahead and saw that the group was now splitting up into pairs of two. She decided to chase the first two as they dashed up the escalators, taking them up to the upper floors of the mall. Della pursued them up the escalator, the teens looking panicked as they realized that Della was right on their tails.
"Come back here!" Della shouted as she chased the two teens, picking up the pace. "Stop where you're at!"
The teens kept running until they saw that they were being blocked by a crowd, forcing them to stop in their tracks. It seemed like all of these shoppers had gathered at this clothing store because it was having a discount sale.
"Oh great, discount at 'The Line, The Stitch and Wardrobe!'" the teenage girl shouted.
"Come on, if we can get around-"
The teenage boy tried to find a way around the crowd… before Della cut them off, getting in front of them.
"Gotcha," Della said with a smirk, having caught up to them. "No escaping from me now…"
The two teens took a step back, looking nervous as Della prepared to bring them… until the girl looked at the crowd and had an idea.
"Hey! There's a sale at the Lower Than Five Dollar store!" she shouted, drawing the attention of the customers.
"What are you-?!" Della suddenly realized that the group of customers were rushing in a new direction… her direction. "Oh crap!" she shouted before she was trampled in a stampede, while teens got out of the way and were able to make their escape. "Ah! Ow! Eek!"
After the stampede had passed, Della was left lying on the floor. She groaned, but still managed to get up and look around, causing her to realize that she had lost the teens that she had been chasing after, much to her frustration. "Ah, phooey!" she shouted in anger.
Back at school, Louie was in another hallway selling his various merchandise…
"That's right, Louie Inc. has exactly what you need," Louie said while giving his salesman pitch. He was standing by an open locker that was filled with school supplies like pencils, paper, rubber bands… and other items like pre-written book reports as well as school contraband like trading card packs, gum, silly bands and comic books. "Need some extra paper for a report you're writing? I got you covered right here! Have a book report due and you haven't got started yet? I have several book reports from previous classes right here! And if you want a rare Hokemon card? Well, I got all the packs right here." In front of him was a group of students who had gathered to buy from Louie's inventory. Meanwhile, Gosalyn was just around the corner, playing lookout. "Believe me, this is the place you want to spend your allowance at."
"Do you have a report on The Great Quacksby?" one student asked.
"I need some extra pencils for a test today!" another replied as he held up his own cash.
"Give me a booster pack!" one demanded.
"Alright, settle down, fellow students," Louie told them. "I got you all covered. Whatever you need, I have it right here. That's a Louie Inc. guarantee. So just form a single line and then we will start getting you all settled."
The students formed a single line as they began to buy from Louie's contraband. The youngest Duck triplet grinned as he sold them the extra supplies, book reports, trading card packs, and more. This was a good gig for Louie, who knew that wherever there was demand, there was opportunity for someone like him. He knew how to find the right angles...
As he made sale after sale, Gosalyn continued to stand on lookout as she looked around. When she spotted a teacher coming over, she turned to Louie and she whistled through her fingers.
"Yo, Lou! The law's coming," she hissed.
Hearing this, Louie acted quickly. "Alright, shop's closed! Everyone scram if you don't want to get detention," he told his classmates while waving his arms around, causing the students to scatter. As the students ran off to avoid getting caught, Louie quickly put all of his stuff back into the locker then closed it shut. He then leaned against the locker and began to whistle innocently as Gosalyn walked up to join him, just moments before Mrs. Griswald showed up and noticed Louie and Gosalyn standing there.
"Hey, Mrs. Griswald, how's it going?" Louie asked the teacher while playing innocent.
"Louie Duck," she said while narrowing her eyes at him, knowing that out of the triplets, Louie was the one every teacher needed to beware of the most. "I thought I heard something. What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, I'm just hanging around, chatting with my good friend Gosalyn," Louie claimed.
"Yeah, we were talking about… Beethoven," Gosalyn claimed, the two smiling at each other.
Mrs. Griswald looked at them. She had her suspicions, even if she couldn't prove anything. "Well just a while ago, I caught your brother, Dewford, dancing around like a hooligan."
"Yeah, Dewey can be like that when he has too much sugar in his system," Louie said. "But as you can clearly see, I'm not doing anything wrong."
Mrs. Griswald glared at Louie. "I just know that you're up to something," she said.
"Oh come on, teach, what could I possibly be up to?" Louie asked her, acting innocent. "I've been on my best behavior today… "
Huey, meanwhile, was dealing with a very common thing for any school duckling to go through: bullies.
"Oof!" Huey grunted after getting slammed into a locker by his bully. "Come on, Tank, be reasonable..."
"Oh, I'll be reasonable alright," said the chalky feathered goose teen with gray reddish hair. He was hefty and was wearing a black t-shirt with a skull, gray pants, black spiked armbands, and black combat boots. "Just give me your lunch money, and your beak won't get twisted around!"
"Tank, what you're doing and saying doesn't make any sense," Huey told him.
"What are you on about?" Tank asked with his eyebrow raised.
"Okay, so I don't know how open you are to criticism right now, but you're really just acting like and falling in line with the typical stereotype of a TV bully," Huey pointed out. "I mean, outside of the skull shirt, the armbands, and the boots, you are making these common threats that are biologically impossible for you to perform, the worst you can do to me is twist my arm, not twist my beak. Also, why do you need my lunch money? I don't even have lunch money on me. Our school gives out free lunches for all students to have, especially those who might not be getting enough to eat at home. It kinda sounds like you're just repeating the things you hear on TV."
Tank listened to Huey and nodded thoughtfully. "Huh, you know, you may have a point there, Red," he admitted. "I am just kinda following the stereotype, aren't I? I'm not really doing anything to make myself stand out."
"Hey, I don't blame you," Huey said calmly. "But, I mean, you don't always have to fall back on the same tired clichés. You can be original."
"Yeah, I guess you may have a point," Tank replied while rubbing the back of his head. "Say, do you know the cliché of bullies shoving nerds into their lockers?"
"Yeah, I do question that though," Huey admitted. "Like, why would the lockers have enough space to fit a person inside? Are they even big enough for a person?"
"Why not find out?" Tank asked as he grabbed Huey's collar, lifted him up, opened the closest locker, and then shoved Huey in before slamming the locker shut on him. "Haw-haw! Later, Red!" he shouted as he started to walk out.
"Tank? Tank! Let me out!" Huey cried out as he banged from inside the locker he was trapped in. "This is not how you should be reasonable!"
Fortunately, Violet soon came down the hallway while reading a book. She stopped when she heard the banging sound coming from the locker, as well as Huey calling out for help.
"Help! Anyone?" Huey shouted as he banged on the locker.
"Huebert?" Violet asked in surprise.
"Violet? Thank goodness, you're here," Huey said in relief.
"How did you get locked inside the locker?" Violet questioned. She looked and sounded curious, but also worried.
"Tank. I tried to be reasonable with him, and I may have gone through to him a little," Huey admitted. "But then he shoved me in the locker. I'm honestly surprised that I could fit in here…"
"Don't worry, I'll go get help," Violet told him as she rushed off to find a teacher or janitor to get Huey out.
"Great!" Huey shouted from inside the locker. "I'll just be here. Waiting…"
Meanwhile, with Dewey…
"Well, I tried to get Venissa's attention, but the dance didn't work out," Dewey said with a sigh. He was currently outside the school. "But there is another thing I can do to get attention…"
Dewey stood up, revealing that he was standing… on top of the school's roof… with a makeshift glider next to him.
"Jumping off the school roof and gliding down to the ground will surely get me that E-vite!" Dewey declared as he went to set up the glider he had, somehow, brought to school. Although the glider did look crude and hand-made, probably not something you should put too much faith in… unless you were Dewey, who looked confident as he began to walk to the edge of the roof. "This will be just like that movie I saw once…"
Back at the mall, Della had recovered from the stampede as she grumbled about the teenagers having escaped from her grasp.
"Dirty, rotten, teenage school skippers getting away from my authority," Della grumbled while adjusting her shirt and hat. "They don't pay me enough for this job… at least, not yet…"
But then she saw something that caught her eye… a trio of thieves going into a jewelry store with the intent to rob it. And she knew these three were thieves… because she had her own personal experience with them. It was hard not to recognize them either, since they all wore the same green hat, domino masks, red shirts with a 'B' print, blue jeans, and black shoes.
Yep, these were the Beagle Boys.
"Alright, we better not mess this up this time," said the short, plump Beagle Boy who was talking to his taller brothers; one who is muscular and the other slim. "Burger, you take the jewelry, while Bouncer can rope in the hostages."
"Rope in?" asked the muscular Beagle with the five-o'clock shadow.
"Tie them up, Bouncer," the short leader clarified.
"But what about mall security, Big Time?" Bouncer asked him while Burger gave a nod.
"Oh please, we regularly hold up armored vans, we can handle some mall cops," Big Time boasted. "It ain't like they are real cops or anything. They're not even paid enough to deal with master criminals like us. So who's going to stop us?"
"How about me, boys?"
The three turned around to see Della Duck standing there in a fighting position, much to their shock.
"Della?!" Big Time exclaimed. "You work here now?!"
"Yeah, I thought you still had that office job," Bouncer said as he and Burger immediately held their hands up, not wanting to mess with Della Duck.
"Isn't this like your fourth job this year?" Big Time asked. "Seriously, what's wrong with you that you can't have a steady job like us?"
This irked Della, who glared at Big Time while cracking her knuckles. "You know what? I'm in need of a stress reliever…"
Big Time realized that he said the wrong thing and he sweated nervously while turning to his brothers. "Come on! We can take her down!" he declared.
Bouncer and Burger looked at each other. "Um… are you sure?" Bouncer asked.
"There are three of us and one of her!" Big Time shouted at them. "Come on!"
Big Time then charged at Della, who gave a smirk as Big Time went to throw the punch, which she easily dodged before she tripped him over. "Come on, Big Time, what's the rush?" she asked as Burger tried to grab her, only for her to pull him by the shirt and head-butt him hard, knocking him back. "I see your ma still hasn't taught you how to treat a lady."
"She taught us to not underestimate you, Della," Bouncer said as he cracked his knuckles. He lunged his fist towards her, but Della jumped back and landed on a desk. She saw Big Time and Burger both getting up and getting ready to charge at her, so Della jumped up and grabbed a sign hanging from the ceiling. She swung down to take the sign off and she slammed it down at Bouncer, knocking him back. She then kicked him to the face.
"Oof!" he grunted as he hit the other protective glass desk.
"Maybe you don't underestimate me, but that doesn't mean you can beat me," Della said as she swung the sign around, hitting both Burger and Big Time. "You know, I always thought that I should be a sign spinner? What do you think?" she asked as she turned to face Bouncer, who threw a punch at her. She blocked his punches with her sign, then swung the sign into his stomach. "Have you been working out, Bouncer?" she asked while dodging and blocking his punches.
"I have!" Bouncer confirmed while Big Time came from behind Della while yelling. Della obviously heard him and she swung the sign back, hitting him in the face. "Thank you for noticing!"
"No problem!" Dela said with a smile before moving behind Big Time and smacking him in the rear with her sign, sending him tumbling into Bouncer. "By the way, give my regards to your mother the next time you see her! I hear her birthday is coming up again!"
Big Time groaned as Della grabbed him by the shirt collar, pulled him up, and punched him in the face, sending him flying into Bouncer, both of them knocking over a stand for earrings, sending them scattering all over the floor of the store.
"Well, Della, looks like you still got it," she said as she went to cuff each of the Beagle Boys while the store's clerk popped up from behind the counter.
"Look at the mess you made!" he complained.
"Hey, I caught the bad guys, didn't I?" Della asked him with a shrug. "Be grateful."
"I just had my counters cleaned and-" He gasped. "My earrings!" the clerk shouted while seeing the knocked over jewelry. "They're everywhere…"
After she finished cuffing the Beagles and calling for the other mall cops to come get them, Della heard her cell phone ring. She pulled it up and saw a picture of her hugging her sons as her phone's wallpaper. When she realized that she was getting a call from the school, she sighed.
"Great…" she said before she answered the call. "Alright, what did Louie do this time?"
"Actually, Della, it's not Louie this time…"
Meanwhile, back at the school, the locker that Huey was trapped in was finally opened, freeing Hey from his wrongful entrapment.
"Yes! I'm finally free!" Huey declared as he tumbled out of the locker. He quickly got back on his feet and looked around to see who he had to thank for freeing him. When he saw who it was, he gasped in shock and pointed at her. "You?!"
"You're welcome, Huebert," Gosalyn said with a smirk as she held up her lock pick, twirling it around in her hand. Violet was standing next to her.
"Sorry, Huebert. I know how you feel about Gosalyn," Violet told him while scratching the back of her head. "But she knew how to pick locks and-"
"It's alright, Violet, getting Gosalyn was a good call… even if I don't like Gosalyn that much," Huey muttered while glaring at Gosalyn, who just smiled at him. "But at least I'm free, so… I guess I should-"
"Eh, save your thanks. I'm just doing this as a favor to a fellow Junior Woodchuck," Gosalyn said before she changed her expression. "Of course, since you're free, you should go and check up on your brother."
Huey sighed. "Of course. Let me guess, Louie got himself caught, didn't he?" he asked in a deadpan tone.
"Oh, it's not Louie," she told him, causing Huey to realize who she meant. "Dewford… jumped off a roof."
Outside of the school, many students had gathered as they watched Dewey Duck… being tended by school nurses after his makeshift glider had crashed.
"What in all sense were you thinking of by jumping off that rooftop, Dewford?!" ranted one of the nurses who was helping to bandage Dewey's leg while his arm was being tended to by one of the other nurses.
"What? It worked in that movie I saw," Dewey replied as Louie walked up to him while holding a soda. "Louie! Got one for me?"
"Sorry, but no," Louie responds casually. "But you are going to be in so much trouble when mom gets here."
"Or she's going to be super impressed by what I attempted to do," Dewey insisted, causing the two nurses to look at each other and shake their heads at Dewey's delusions.
"Dewford!"
Dewey and Louie turned to see a car pulling up. Coming out in a rush was Della, who ran through the crowd of students, who quickly moved out of her way to let Della see her son. She gasped when she saw the crashed makeshift glider, then Dewey with the nurses… and the bandages. "WHAT THE HECK, DEWEY?!"
"Hi, mom…" Dewey said while waving to her with an awkward smile.
"Ah, Della, so glad that you're here," one of the nurses said while waving to her. "Your son almost killed himself for this stupid stunt."
"I can see that," Della replied as she glared at her son. "Dewey, what were you thinking of pulling a stunt like this?!"
"Calm down, mom, really, it's not that bad, I didn't even break any bones this time," Dewey assured her, not realizing that he was only making his mom madder. "See, if you could let me explain-"
"Explain, what, young man?!" Della shouted as she began to give him a scolding "Out of all the crazy stunts that you've pulled, this has to be one of the worst! How in the heck could you put your own life at risk?! This is not what I taught you!"
"But you did crazy stuff like this all the time when you were my age," Dewey defended himself. "I was only trying to be like you, the great Della Duck and her brother Don-"
"Don't finish that sentence," Della hissed, angry at her son for using her, and especially for using her brother, as an excuse for his actions.
While Della continued to scold and rant at Dewey, Huey finally caught up to Louie, wincing when he saw the crashed glider. He tried to his green-clothed brother. "Everything…?"
"Alright? Oh yeah, Dewey will live," Louie replied casually while watching their mom put their brother in the wringer. "This actually covers my betting pools " he whispered.
"Sometimes I wonder how we're all related…" Huey said in a deadpan tone while watching their mom finishing up her scolding.
"And once I take you home, we will have a long discussion about why that stunt was not okay!" Della finished before she took a breather. Her face was red as a tomato from all that yelling, but after a while it faded back to her white, feathered skin. She sighed. "Man, that was a lot," she said before she looked back down at Dewey. "But do you understand now, Dewford?"
Dewey, who looked like he had been scarred emotionally by the scolding of a lifetime, winced when she used his full name, but quickly nodded. "Yes, mom…"
"Wow, that was crazy."
Dewey and Della turned to see that Venissa Featherly had shown up. She was looking at the crashed glider before she turned to Dewey. "That was some crazy stunt you did, um, Dewey, right?"
"Y-Yeah! Dewey Duck," Dewey confirmed, his face lighting up from the attention.
"Well, I just want to say that I am impressed. I mean, jumping off from the roof with a glider? No student has ever tried that," Venissa commented.
"Yeah, and for good reason," Huey said, his arms crossed.
Venissa tapped on her phone. "I am totally sending you an E-Vite to my birthday party, just to see what other crazy stuff you'll do."
"Whoa… t-thanks! I am an expert of Dewing a lot of crazy stuff," Dewey said while trying to play it off coolly.
"Well, I'll be seeing you later then, Dewey " Venissa replied with a smile before she turned around and began to walk away.
Dewey smiled to himself. "Worth it," he said before he noticed his mom's glare, which made him sweat nervously.
On the trip home, to say that Della didn't look happy as she was driving would be an understatement. The triplets sitting behind her looked worried, especially since their mom was being quiet, which meant she was probably furious.
"So how busted am I?" Dewey asked his brothers in a whisper, wondering whether he should already be planning his funeral or not.
"I'd say… we should avoid talking to her right now," Huey whispered. "Especially considering that she had to leave work early because of the stunt you pulled."
"Oh," Dewey said as the realization of just how much he screwed up began to truly sink in. "That is bad…"
"Yeah, you are pretty much double grounded for what you did," Louie said with a nod. "Probably not going to Venissa's party."
"Oh what? Really?" Dewey asked with a groan.
"Look at the bright side, at least we got to leave school early," Louie pointed out.
"I don't see how that's a bright side…" Huey grumbled as they made it back home.
Later that day, Della heard a knock on the door. She walked over to answer it and she had this huge smile when she saw who it was.
"Hiya, Della!" waved the anthropomorphic dog who wore white gloves, a white shirt with a long-sleeve orange vest complete with a blue bowtie with red polka-dots on it, brown pants, and long brown shoes.
"Goof, glad you're here," Della replied while dressed in a black jacket with a blue shirt and khaki pants. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. My babysitter cancelled on me at the last minute, so I really appreciate you agreeing to watch over the boys for tonight."
"Why it's no problem, Della. I'm always happy to watch the boys for ya," Goofy said as he was let in. "I heard about your new job at the mall," he brought up. "How is that comin' along?"
"It's usually pretty quiet at the mall, but there is occasionally some excitement," Della told him. "How is Max, by the way?"
"Oh, he's doing swell. He's up hanging out with PJ for the night," Goofy said.
"I heard that Max finally got his driver's permit," Della brought up with a smile "Let's hope he does better on the road than you did, eh Goof?"
"A-hyuk, you don't have to remind me of that," Goofy replied with a nervous look, reminded of how he used to handle the road. He then noticed the triplets sitting on the couch. "Hiya Huey, Dewey, Louie," he said, waving to them.
"Hi, Goofy," the triplets waved to him while looking incredibly bored.
"Gosh, Dewey, I've heard that you fell off the roof today," Goofy noted while seeing Dewey's bandages.
"He didn't fall, he jumped," Della muttered under her breath.
"Are you alright, son?" Goofy asked Dewey.
"Oh, these bandages? Yeah, these are from a totally awe…" Dewey noticed his mother's glare, causing him to immediately change up his wording to avoid his mother's wrath. "Awe… shucks that I did something I shouldn't do."
"Well, I'm just glad that you're alright, Dewey," Goofy said. "Take it from someone with my experiences with rooftops…"
"…just how many rooftops have you fallen from exactly?" Huey asked, causing Goofy to let out a nervous laugh.
"Alright, so their dinner is in the fridge, and make sure that they finish their homework before they go to bed," Della told Goofy while grabbing her purse. "And make sure Dewey doesn't perform any more stunts in the house. He is grounded, both literally and metaphorically."
"But I'm too injured to try anything," Dewey pointed out.
"Are you?" Della asked her son, knowing that a few bruises would never stop him. She looked back at Goofy. "Keep your eyes on them, and whatever you do don't let them get you roped into one of their schemes."
"Don't worry, Della, I got it," Goofy said with his cheerful attitude.
Della then turned to the boys. "Now remember, you three. Listen to everything Mr. Goof says and be sure to be in bed by nine. No tricks, no schemes, and definitely no trouble. Understand?"
"Yes, mom," the triplets replied in unison.
Satisfied with their answers, Della finally left. She had plans for that night…
…and those plans involved Della making her way to one of Duckburg's best bars downtown. There, she was meeting up with her friends.
"Daisy! Ortensia!" Della shouted, waving to her friends.
"Della!" shouted the two women that were meeting up with Della.
One of them was Daisy, who was a white duck that resembled an American Pekin Duck. Her feather color was lighter, and she had a shorter and slightly more orange bill. Her hair was styled in a sort of fluffy, soft and swirly kind of way with a ribbon bow tied around it. She had light green eyeshadow as well as mascara. She wore a long, sleeveless pink dress.
The other, Ortensia, was a black tuxedo cat with white fur on her face. She had a black button nose, short triangular ears, and her hair was styled like a bobcut. She wore a green sweater top and skirt, green high-heel boots, and her tail was out.
"You girls ready for a crazy night?" Della asked with a grin.
"Oh, nobody wants to party more than Orty here," Daisy said while pointing to Ortensia, who smiled.
"I have definitely been looking forward to getting out of the house for this," Ortensia admitted to the two.
"Just so you girls know, drinks are on me!" Della declared as the three hollered out a "Woo-hoo!" before they went into the bar…
Back at the Duck home, Goofy checked the fridge and took some food out, placing it in the microwave to heat up for the boys.
"Are you sure you don't want us to do that, Mr. Goof?" Huey asked him while the boys were at the table. "Cause we know how you are with appliances…"
"Oh don't you worry, Huey, I know how to microwave the food your mom made for ya," Goofy said as put the time into the microwave. "Should be ready in just a few minutes."
"You know, maybe we should do something nice for mom when she gets back," Dewey suggested.
"Are you just saying that in hopes that she won't be as mad at you?" Louie asked his brother with a smirk.
"No… well, not completely," Dewey admitted before he let out a sigh while giving a guilt-ridden expression. "But I honestly do feel bad for making her have to leave work early because of my stunt at school. So I think that… we should make dinner for her. As a way to try to make up for what I did."
Huey and Louie looked at each other, considering the idea. They did believe that Dewey genuinely felt bad about the whole day and wasn't just trying to get out of being punished… and they did like the idea of doing something nice for their mom.
"Well, I guess making dinner with an accompanying adult this time could help me with getting that badge," Huey said.
"Well, I don't see why I should help…" Louie said, pretending to hesitate as he crossed his arms.
"It's mom, and I'll give you twenty percent of my leftover Halloween candy," Dewey offered, making Louie smile as his brother fell for his scheme.
"Did I hear forty percent?" Louie asked.
"Thirty-five," Dewey told him.
"Thirty-seven."
"Forty."
"Deal!" Louie said before Dewey realized what he had agreed to.
"Wait, I meant… nevermind," Dewey said while Louie grinned victoriously.
"Say, did I hear that you boys were planning on making dinner for your mom?" Goofy asked while watching the microwave. "Because I think that sounds like a great idea!" He then heard the microwave ding. "And your food's ready!" he declared as he opened the microwave and went to grab the container full of food… only to burn his hands on it. "Gosh! Hot, hot, hot!" he cried as he hopped around with the container in his hands until he slipped on a rag on the floor. "Yah!"
The boys watched as Goofy fell and the food that was made for them spun around in the air before dropping onto Goofy's head. They winced, although to be honest none of them were really that surprised. Huey was the first to ask "Are you alright, Mr. Goof?"
"I'm fine, boys," Goofy responded while food was all over him. Louie and Huey went over to help him up. "But nothing's broken… of course, now your supper's ruined."
"Well, maybe so," Louie said. "But maybe… we can all work together to make a new dinner, enough for us to eat, and for you and mom to have for later."
"Really? You'd let me cook with y'all?" Goofy asked in surprise.
"Of course, since we need to make this the best dinner mom could ask for," Dewey said. "Help us out, and we'll be on our best behavior throughout the night."
Goofy smiled. "Why I'd be happy to help you boys out in making something nice for your mom. It'd be like when my Maxie helped make breakfast with me in the mornings."
Meanwhile, at the bar, the trio of Della, Daisy, and Ortensia were having their drinks.
"Ah man, now this is what mama needed!" Della declared after taking her sip. "Let me tell you girls, I have had the most frustrating day. Not just from my job…"
"Let me guess, Louie?" Ortensia assumed, knowing about all of Della's sons' antics.
"Dewey, actually," Della said as she pinched the bridge of her beak and shook her head. "He jumped off a roof…"
"Really? Is he okay?" Daisy asked, she and Ortensia looking concerned.
"He's fine, but he is also grounded," Della said with a sigh as she leaned back in the seat of her booth. "I don't know where he gets that recklessness from…"
The two women shared a deadpan look. They had a pretty good idea where Dewey got his recklessness from… but they didn't say anything about it.
"Well, it sounds to me like he might be acting up because of a need for attention," Ortensia said while looking at her own drink. "I mean, you're lucky to just have three. I have 420 bunny children and I love all of them equally… even if they can drive me a little crazy," she said with a forced laugh, although it was obvious she needed this get-away more than either of her friends.
"Did they also jump off roofs?" Della asked her.
"No, but fifty of them did recently sneak into Oswald's little rabbit hole, aka his 'man cave', and decide to have a paintball tournament in there," Ortensia admitted with a small chuckle.
"Dang, Waldo must have been furious," Della said. "My boys never did anything like that, although there was that time they tried to deliver newspapers in our neighborhood…"
"Oh, come on, how bad could that have been?" Daisy asked.
"They broke several windows and windshields, which I had to pay for," Della explained to her friends. "And Louie tried to turn it into a pyramid scheme…"
"…okay, that does sound pretty bad," Daisy said while taking a sip of her drink. "I mean, I have stories about my nieces, but they're nothing compared to what I hear about your boys."
Della nodded with a sigh. "What can I say?" she asked. "Out of all my adventures, motherhood has been the most… challenging."
"Amen, sister," Ortensia said, nodding in agreement.
"Although speaking of my nieces, your sons should really meet them at some point, Della," Daisy suggested. "They're triplets as well."
"Yeah, that would be nice," Della said, liking the suggestion. "So how about you, Daisy? How are things going with your job?"
"Well, being Emma Glamour's private assistant… isn't glamorous, ironically enough," Della replied with a sigh. "She hardly ever listens to me whenever I try to remind her of some appointments. Including the ones involving her own son, who she has me constantly cancel on."
"Really? I didn't know Glamour even had a son," Della replied. "What is he like?"
"Never met him, but I think there's a reason why she barely mentions him," Daisy told her with a disgusted look. "I heard he's this self-proclaimed 'genius' who is constantly trying to get his mother's attention. I think he made a start-up company down at Silverbeak…"
"So he is one of those annoying tech bros?" Della asked. When Daisy nodded, she let out a groan. "Oh, those guys are the worst. I would never work for one of them."
"Same," Ortensia responded. "I mean, not that I work. I'm fine with being a full-time mother, considering that taking care of all those kids is a full-time job. I don't really need the money anyway, although Oswald still insists on helping to provide by working at my father's bank."
"He isn't at home helping with the kids?" Daisy asked.
"I can handle it myself most of the time, though my brother-in-law, Julius, comes by and helps with the kids from time to time," Ortensia mentioned.
"How is Julius, by the way?" Della asked Ortensia. "I haven't heard about him in a while."
"Oh, he's doing the usual… a few flim-flams here and there," Ortensia mentioned with a sigh. "Although he is certainly more reliable than my brother, Homer, who hardly helps out."
"What about your other brother-in-law?" Daisy brought up. "How's he doing?"
Ortensia smiled. "You mean Mi-"
But before Ortensia could finish answering, they heard some cat-calls.
"What's up, ladies?"
The three women turned to see a group of guys popping up, one of them leaning on their table while flashing a cocky grin "What's a bunch of beauties doing out here all alone?"
"Y'all look like you need some male company," another replied with a grin.
"Sorry, but we were just enjoying ourselves just fine before you showed up," Daisy told them.
"Yeah, go back home and play with your toys or something, young man," Della told him. "Cause you don't have anything we would be interested in…"
"Plus, I'm already married," Ortensia brought up while showing her ring.
"Oh come on, I'm sure you ladies need some of us men to accompany you," the guy insisted as he tried to sit beside Della while the other tried to sit beside Daisy, hanging their shoulders around them…
The two duck women looked at each other, sporting smiles. Then they each swung their fists at the two guys, sending them flying into another table, the rest of the guys looking shocked as the two women sat up.
"Let's show these boys why 'not interested' means not interested," Della said as Daisy cracked her knuckles.
"Yeah, it can be something to talk to my therapist about later," Daisy said as she cracked her neck, ready for a fight.
"Come on, we can take care of a couple of ladies-"
Before he could finish, the leader of the group of guys was struck by another punch from Della, sending him flying.
"YAAAH!" the two duck women cried out as they pounced on the men and began to beat the crap out of them.
Ortensia, however, just sat back, casually sipping her drink while watching her friends beating up the guys. She winced when she saw one of the men hit the jukebox. "We're never coming back here, are we?" she asked herself with a sigh.
Back at the Duck residence… everything was a mess.
"Well, we really outdid ourselves this time," Louie admitted while the boys stood before their kitchen. The kitchen was splattered with a mess of food, along with water coming from a broken pipe. The stove was on fire, which Huey had to put out with the extinguisher. Tables and walls were stained, drinks were spilled on the floor, and the fridge was somehow dented…
"You think Mr. Goof is alright?" Huey asked while looking up at the ceiling… which had a Goofy-shaped hole in it.
"I'm okay!" Goofy replied from the top floor… well, kinda. His head had gone through the ceiling of the top floor, so his head was outside while the rest of his body was hanging on the second floor.
"Well, we should at least try to get this cleaned up before mom gets home," Dewey suggested. "Huey, Louie, you two get the mops."
"Why do we have to clean up? Why not you?" Louie asked before Dewey pointed to his bandaged arms. "Oh yeah, right…"
"Hiya, Della!" Goofy called out from the roof, causing the boys to realize that it was too late.
Mom was home.
The door opened and a worried Della rushed in. "Boys, are you all-?!" She came to a stop upon seeing that the kitchen was a mess. "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE KITCHEN?!"
"We… tried to make you dinner," Dewey said with a nervous look.
"With Mr. Goof's help, of course!" Huey pointed out.
"In hindsight, we probably should have known better," Louie admitted.
Della looked up at the ceiling, then around the kitchen. She let out a long sigh.
"Let's just get Mr. Goof down from the ceiling," she suggested, which the boys didn't argue with for a moment.
After getting Goofy down from the ceiling, Della and the boys would say their goodbyes.
"Thanks for getting me down, and um, sorry about the mess in your home, Della," Goofy apologized. "But I can help fix up your roof and kitchen if ya want."
"Thanks for the offer, Goofy," Della said, appreciating the offer but being reluctant to accept it. "But uh… I think you have already done enough."
"Well, I'll leave you to think it over," Goofy said as he began to walk away. "Bye, everybody!"
"Bye, Mr. Goof!" Dewey shouted.
"Tell Max we said hi!" Huey said while waving goodbye.
"Don't fall into any wells!" Louie advised him.
"A-hyuk! I'll be sure I won't!" Goofy replied as he took a few steps out of the house… only to step on a skateboard somebody had left out on the sidewalk, causing him to roll down the neighborhood. "YEEEEEE-HOHOHOOEY!" he cried out as he rolled away while Della and her sons watched.
They all winced and closed their eyes when they heard a loud crashing noise. After a few moments of silence, they heard Goofy shout "I'm okay!" and they sighed in relief.
"Sometimes I worry for Mr. Goof," Huey admitted with concern.
"Ah, I wouldn't worry much," Della replied with a shrug. "He can survive just about anything."
"Uh, mom?" Dewey asked as she pointed to the car that was now pulling up in their driveway.
"What in the… " Della said as she looked at the car. It was the same black sedan from earlier that morning. Of course, Della didn't recognize the sedan right away, but she did immediately note the person coming out of the car.
"Ms. Della Duck," said the large anthropomorphic black bear with a deep, Russian-accent. He wore a pair of sunglasses, a black suit, and a blue tie.
"Um, and you are…?" Della asked before she was handed a card. She read it and her eyes widened. "Oh no…"
"Vladimir Goodenov Gryzlikoff," the bear told her. "Social worker."
"Social… aw phooey!" Della shouted as she realized that she had completely forgotten that a social worker was coming over that day. "Um… okay, I didn't realize that you'd be coming here… today…"
Vladimir looked up, noticing the hole in their roof that had been caused by Goofy's head. "Perhaps we should talk inside."
"Oh, why would we do a thing like that?" Della nervously asked. "After all, it's a beautiful night, we can just… talk out here while looking up at the stars."
"Should we go in to clean up?" Louie whispered to his mom.
"I don't think so," Vladimir told Della in a strict tone. "I would prefer it if we talked inside…"
"Hehe, right…" Della said as she nodded to the boys to head inside. "Let's go in then…"
Inside, Vladimir looked around, noting the mess that was around the house. While he checked around, Della desperately tried to make this not look as bad as it seems.
"As you can see here, we were doing, um, a little redecoration around the house," Della lied while Vladimir noticed that the kitchen table had fallen apart. "As for the damage, um, well…"
"Why is there food everywhere?" Vladimir questioned while looking around. "Is this… normal for this house?"
"What?" Della asked before shaking her head. "No, no, of course not."
Vladimir noticed the broken pipe getting water all over the floor. He gave Della a look.
"That's… recent, I swear," Della nervously claimed. "I haven't gotten the chance to fix it yet."
Vladimir noticed the burnt stove. "And this stove?"
"Well, my boys were, um, helping to make dinner for me," Della admitted. "They wanted to do something nice for me while I was out. But they had someone here to watch them. Another adult. A family friend, actually."
"Yeah, Mr. Goof," Dewey mentioned, causing Vladimir's eyes to widen in surprise.
"You left Mr. Goof in charge of cooking? In your house?" Vladimir questioned as everything started to make sense to him.
"You know Goofy…?" Della asked him, looking and sounding even more nervous.
"It was a brief previous case, but he did prove himself… despite being a bit of a hazard to himself," he responded before turning to Dewey. "Dewford, right?"
"Uh, yeah…?" Dewey asked. "Wait, am I famous or something? Did my roof stunt already go viral?"
"'Roof stunt?'" Vladimir repeated, his eyebrow raised.
"Uh, he means that, well…" Della tried to explain, but Dewey cut her off.
"Don't worry, mom, you've always told me to take accountability for my actions," Dewey replied before turning to the social worker. "You see, there is this really awesome movie where the action hero jumped off the roof with a glider-?"
"Uh, what Dewey means is, um, something from the school roof fell onto him!" Huey shouted in an attempt to shut his brother up.
"What? No, I jumped off from the roof," Dewey corrected. "Can't believe you got that one wrong, Huey."
"Oh… Dewey…" Della said with a sigh while shaking her head.
Vladimir, however, did not look amused by this. "Is that why your son is covered in bandages?" he asked Della, who panicked.
"Look, this isn't as bad as it looks," Della tried to claim. "His injuries weren't even sincere. No broken bones this time-"
"This time?!" Vladimir asked and Della fell quiet, realizing that she was not helping her case in the slightest.
"I mean…" Della tried to say before she realized that she had nothing to say.
Vladimir was silent for the moment, then he sighed and spoke. "You don't mind if I speak to the boys and asks them some questions, do you Ms. Duck?"
"Um… okay," Della said as she turned to the boys. "You three should go talk to Mr. Gryzlikoff… and be honest with him, okay?"
Of course, she was hoping that they didn't say anything too concerning…
Soon, Dewey was on the couch, facing Vladimir, who was interviewing him.
"You know, you don't really look like a social worker," Dewey said.
"I'm a special classification," Vladimir responded.
"Wait, are you a secret agent?" Dewey asked while tilting his head. He then got excited by the thought. "Ooh, have you ever killed anyone?"
"…I believe that we're getting off topic," Vladimir told him. "Let's talk about you, Dewford."
"Oh, we're talking about me? Then I am happy to fill you in on everything you need to know about… the Dew!" Dewey shouted while putting his sunglasses on.
"…where did you get those from?" Vladimir asked in confusion.
"So about me," Huey said as he held up his sash full of badges. "As you can see, I've earned a lot of my Junior Woodchuck badges. Have you ever been a Junior Woodchuck?"
"No," Vladimir admitted. "They did not have Junior Woodchucks in my country."
"Oh, well, how about camping?" Huey asked. "Because I love camping. You learn all sorts of useful skills like making fires, tying knots…"
"In my home country they leave you out in freezing winter to survive or die," Vladimir told Huey. "That is our version of 'camping'."
Huey chuckled nervously. "Um, how about basic arts and crafts?" he asked, although he was actually scared to hear an answer…
"I would like to say that I should not have to say anything without the presence of a lawyer," Louie said, only to see his mom standing behind Vladimir, shaking her head as she signaled him to say something positive. "Which is something I'd say as my… comedy act! Yeah!" he laughed, reeling it in. "Oh it's just me, Louie, telling all these jokes…"
"Would you say you're happy here?" Vladimir asked.
"Oh yeah, totally, of course I'm happy here," Louie told him while acting all defensive. "What, do you think I'm not happy?"
"I eat from all four food groups a day, look both ways before I cross the street," Huey listed off. "Take long naps…"
"Of course I'm happy, because I always get attention from all of the crazy stuff I do," Dewey said while Della shook her head no. "I mean, I'm not happy?" Della shook her head even more. "I mean, I'm… um…. Dewey?"
"At school, I was actually part of the junior football team… as their waterboy," Huey said pridefully while holding up a photo of him as the waterboy. "I'm a part of a lot of different clubs too, including science club, geode mining club, rocket making…"
"…I asked if you were happy," Vladimir reminded Huey.
"Shh, I was getting to that," Huey said as he continued. "I'm also on the debate team…"
"Hey, I get to play all the video games I want, watch TV, and there is still a good few years before I have to worry about all the adult stuff going around," Louie admitted with a shrug. "Like, how long do you think it will be before we hit another recession?"
"Oooh~ what you Dew to me? Oh, it's what you Dew to me?" Dewey suddenly started to sing. Despite there being no music in the background, he broke into song. "Oooh, what you Dew to me? Oh~ what you Dew to me… what you Dew to me-"
"You don't think I'm over-achieving, right?" Huey asked while laying on the couch like this was a therapy session. "I mean, I try to be the best Woodchuck I can be…"
"Look, I don't know what they said, but I can tell you that I'm in no way connected to half of the pyramid schemes going around town," Louie said while playing innocent. "I mean, I'm just a kid…"
"So you wouldn't know anything about a charity called Louie's Kids?" Vladimir asked, causing Louie to become nervous.
"Um…"
"Sure, I even got some singles," Dewey said as he held up a mix-tape to Vladimir. "Sure, they're mostly covers, but I think they're Dewey-approved. Go on. Take it."
Vladimir didn't take it.
Finally, it was Della's turn to have a talk with Vladimir. She looked nervous as she faced the large social worker.
"Ms. Duck," Vladimir said.
"You know, you can just call me Della," Della recommended.
"Ms. Duck," he repeated, much to Della's dismay. "Are you currently employed right now?"
"Yeah! Yes, I am, actually," Della confirmed. "Mall security."
"And how long have you worked there?" he asked her.
"Well… not too long," Della admitted. "I actually arrested some thieves there today, though I had to leave early…"
"Because of Dewford's stunt?" Vladimir questioned, which made Della feel uneasy again.
"I mean… I had to pick him and the boys up after that," Della said while rubbing the back of her head.
"Ms. Duck, do you know why they specifically assigned me here as your new social worker?" Vladimir asked her.
"Um… no?" Della admitted while looking intimidated by the bear.
"Because I am the one they call when things go wrong," Vladimir told her. "Like the incident from your previous job…"
"Hey, it wasn't all that bad…" Della tried to deny, but Vladimir wasn't buying it
"Committing assault and landing in court could hardly be described as 'it wasn't all that bad,'" he told her sternly, causing Della to wince. There wasn't a hint of malice nor annoyance in his tone and body language, however. Rather, he was taking this seriously.
Della felt goosebumps along with the desire to get the heck out of here, but she knew she couldn't. She was incredibly uncomfortable while sitting across from Vladimir, but there was nothing that she could do about it. She was reaped.
"Although according to your file, you were saved from any serious repercussions thanks to the intervention of your… uncle, if I am correct," Vladimir said. "You are very fortunate that your uncle paid for your legal defense… Della," he told her, using her real name, though something about the way he said it didn't make Della feel any better. "Or else you would've spent a lot of time away from your children…"
"I… I know," Della said as she lowered her head, remembering just how… ugly she was during that time. It wasn't just one of her worst days, it was one of her most… embarrassing ones. Especially since she had to go to her uncle for help.
"Look, Mr. Grizz… Vladimir… I think I'll just call you Vlad," she told him while Vladimir looked at her stoically. "I can assure you that despite anything you might have heard, I am not a threat to my boys."
"That is for me to determine," Vladimir told her.
"I would never do anything to hurt them," Della promised.
"Your house, right now, speaks otherwise," Vladimir said while pointing to the ceiling. "I hope that you don't plan on sleeping here tonight with a hole on your roof, Ms. Duck."
"What? Of course not," Della assured him.
"Then you do have a place to stay?" he asked her. "Close friends? Neighbors? Relatives?"
"Yes, I got relatives, lots of them, actually," Della said. "Why, I practically already have my Uncle Scrooge readying his guest rooms right about now."
That was a lie, since she hadn't called her uncle yet. But at this point she was desperate enough to say anything to save face.
"Well, that is good to hear," Vladimir admitted before looking back up at the hole. "Though, I do expect that hole to be fixed…"
"Yeah, I already got that covered," Della claimed. This time it was just a half-lie, since Della remembered that Goofy had already offered her to help fix up the roof. "So uh, is there anything else?"
"No, I think we're done here," Vladimir said as he stood up, much to Della's surprise. "Your sons are happy. That's a good thing. I hope that the next time we see each other, Della, it will be under better circumstances."
"Oh, you know it, Mr. Grizz, sir!" Della declared as she watched Vladimir leave the house and head to the car. Della went to the window and watched him get inside his sedan before driving off, causing her to sigh in relief. She then turned around and called out to her sons.
"Boys! Get upstairs and have your things packed!" Della told her sons. "We're going to stay at your Uncle Scooge's for a while."
"Really? We're staying over at Scrooge's?" Louie asked in excitement.
"So we're not sleeping here? Are we moving?" Dewey asked as they began to head upstairs. "Were we about to be homeless?"
"It's just until the roof is fixed," Della said as they heard a crashing noise. They looked back over at the kitchen and saw that the entire kitchen ceiling had come down. "So glad that the social worker wasn't here to see that."
"That was the bathroom…" Huey pointed out as they headed upstairs to their rooms.
In her room, Della grabbed her suitcase as she began to pack her things inside.
"Alright, toothbrush, my soap, shampoo… maybe I should just borrow Scrooge's, he's always got some to spare," Della said to herself as she looked over at her dresser and the pictures that were on it. Some were with her and the boys and some were individual photos of her sons. But there were also photos of her uncle, as well as photos of herself and… a white feathered duck with a yellow-ochre bill dressed in a blue sailor's uniform with four golden buttons and white accents, and a white sailor cap with black accents.
Donald Duck. Her brother.
The photo also showed a much younger Della, back when she was wearing a brown coat with a green scarf, yellow buttons, and goggles while wearing cargo shorts.
Della remembered when that photo had been taken, back when she was training to become a pilot and back when Donald was enlisted in the Navy (at Scrooge's insistence in order to straighten him up and force him to grow out from his rebel band phase).
There were other photos of Della and her brother as well. From their high school graduation, to one of their shared birthdays where she pushed him into the cake, and then there was one when they were kids right before they went on their first adventure with their great uncle…
Della went over and picked this photo up. And as she stared down at it, Della realized that she had been brought to tears when she saw that her tears were hitting the photo. With a sniff, she let herself break down a bit, since seeing these photos of her brother got her to remember all the good times they had, all the adventures they had gone on…
…and all the adventures they would never have, thanks to Donald's disappearance.
"Donald…" Della whispered to herself, covering her own beak while trying to keep it together. "What am I going to do…?"
After they finished packing up, Della and the boys began the drive to McDuck Manor, home of Scrooge McDuck, the world's richest duck.
"Now boys, remember that this is only a temporary stay," Della said as she drove up to the manor. "And we are guests, which means we have to be on our best behavior and not break anything expensive, or anything cursed…" she muttered. "Oh, and remember to stay away from his garage."
"Well, even if we do get cursed, that's probably better than staying in a crappy motel while our house gets fixed," Louie pointed out.
"Yeah, it'd be nice staying over at Scrooge's for a while," Huey agreed. "Ooh, maybe we can celebrate Christmas in the manor this year."
"Probably not," Dewey pointed out. "You know how both mom and Scrooge are with, um… Santa."
"Oh, he knows what he did," Della mutered, still believing that Santa was an untrustworthy con man according to Scrooge. Of course, this wasn't shared by the boys since, obviously, they were still kids who idolized Santa.
As Della pulled up, she saw standing on the doorsteps was her uncle, waiting for them. Once she parked, Della opened the door and got out to nervously face her uncle. "Hey, Uncle Scrooge…"
"Della," replied the elderly white, anthropomorphic duck with a yellow bill. He wore his traditional red coat with a black top hat with a gray band around, and black spats on his webbed-feet. He was porting a pair of glasses over his bill and was carrying a cane.
Della felt awkward upon seeing Scrooge again, since their relationship was one with a lot of ups and downs. But despite this, whenever she needed help, he had always been there for her. And Della couldn't deny that, even though they were here temporarily, she felt like she wasn't just back at the manor…
It felt like she was back home.