The Guardian Trap

Chapter 3: Switched

"Which means they'll have to meet again!" June squealed.

"Face to face." Huey added in awe, smiling.

"After all these years." May nodded.

"Thank you, told you I'm brilliant!" Dewey beamed triumphantly.

WHUMP!

"April!" Dewey cried.

"Sorry!" April apologized. "I won't do it again."

"No, no, that was good!" Huey smiled a tiny bit more as his brother grabbed April's hands. "Be assertive!"

Maybe things would turn out ok.

-

"Ok," April announced, "I'm ready."

Dewey grinned as Louie placed the amulet in Huey's hand. The two eldest triplets stared at it for a moment.

"What exactly do we do?" His older brother asked. Dewey thought a moment.

"Both of you need to hold it," he instructed, "and focus on each other."

There was a moment of silence as both of them closed their eyes. Both of the eventually opened their eyes.

"Did it work?" Huey's body asked.

"Depends on if you're April or Huey." Louie replied.

"April." April confirmed.

"This feels so weird..." Huey muttered, fiddling awkwardly with the bottom of April's jumper. "How does Webby wear a skirt all the time?"

"Alright! First switch down!" Dewey cheered, running to grab the amulet. "Me next! June, let's-"

"Who let you decide what order we switch in?!" May demanded, grabbing the chain. "Maybe I wanted to go next!"

"It's my sister's amulet!" Dewey argued. He was getting really annoyed.

"Guys, stop fighting!" Huey begged. Dewey couldn't take his older brother seriously like that, so he just focused on getting the amulet away from May.

That's when the world seemed to shake slightly. Dewey shut his eyes to fight off the headache, and opened them again when it faded. He was faced with himself.

He and May screamed.

"Get me out of here, get me out of here!" He exclaimed. May seemed to share his sentiments, and they quickly grabbed the amulet again and made sure they switched back properly.

"Ok, I'm back." Dewey sighed. "Now, let's switch with the right people."

June approached him, and he handed her the chain. There was that headache and the shaking again.

"It worked!" He cheered, high fiving June. "Can I just say right now that you are looking good?"

"Right back at ya, Blue!" His cousin winked. He heard a groan from behind them.

"Can we PLEASE switch now?" Louie begged. "I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Calm down, silly, wait your turn!" June exclaimed, dropping the amulet into Louie's hand. Dewey cringed slightly. June's words in his voice worried him the slightest bit.

"PLEASE let this work." May sighed. They waited a moment before both of them opened their eyes again.

"It worked," Louie confirmed, "now we should get going."

"Remember, you're going to find out how Uncle Donald and Aunt Daisy met." May reminded.

"And you're going to find out why they broke up." Dewey nodded. They all put their hands together before lifting it up in cheer and heading out the door.

"Launchpad should be picking you guys up from the airport," Huey said as they continued walking, "he'll probably be the last to notice anything off if at all."

"On the other hand....Webby." Louie pointed out. Webby would likely notice immediately, Dewey remembered.

"We'll figure it out when we get there." May assured. "We'll be fine."

-

"Is there anything I can get you, girls?"

It took Louie a moment to realize that the flight attendant was talking to them. He looked up from the movie he was watching, and nodded.

"Could I have some pretzels?" He requested. "And a Pep?"

The flight attendant nodded kindly, and plopped a bag of salted pretzels and a Pep onto the surface attached to the seat.

"Thanks." He replied, opening the can as the attendant wheeled the cart away. He took a sip, but it wasn't as it usually was.

The bubbles felt too fizzy on his tongue, and his stomach ached as he swallowed it down. What was going on?

"I think there's something wrong with this soda," he whispered to Dewey, "it makes me feel funny."

"Ugh, airport food," Dewey lamented, "I forgot what that tastes like. Let me try."

Dewey took the can, sipped it, then placed it back down. He shot Louie a confused look.

"It tastes perfectly fine to me," his older brother said, "maybe you're sick?"

"I felt fine until I drank the Pep." He insisted.

"Maybe May cant drink soda."

Louie's eyes darted up to Huey, who was reading a book. Can't drink soda?? That was a thing???

"You sure?" He asked. Huey nodded, looking up from his book.

"Some people can't drink soda, because it makes them sick," he informed, "maybe May is one of those people. And you're in May's body...."

"Ugh, why didn't she tell me this in the first place?!" He cried, slouching down into his seat.

"You'll be fine." Dewey assured.

"Whatever." He grumbled, before changing the subject. "Do you think Aunt Daisy will like us?"

"Well, yeah, she thinks we're April, May and June!" Huey pointed out.

"No, I mean....us, us." He sighed.

"I don't see why she wouldn't," Dewey said, wrapping one of June's pigtails around his finger, "I'm pretty cool."

"Why do you keep doing that?" Huey asked. Dewey shrugged.

"It's fun," he stated simply, "and June has really nice hair. That's one thing we have in common."

Louie rolled his eyes. Dewey and his hair. It was kind of stupid in his perspective.

".....April's hair is really soft." Huey admitted.

"Really?!" Dewey snickered. "I gotta feel."

"No, you are not touching my hair! April's hair? Whatever! You aren't touching it either way!" Their older brother exclaimed, leaning away from Dewey's outstretched hand, holding the book away in defense. Louie pulled out his phone and pressed record.

"Please? Just once!" Dewey begged.

"No- Dewford, how would you like it if I touched your hair?!" Huey rebuked.

"I'd DIE." The middle triplet declared, leaning forwards.

"Then leave mine alone!" The oldest cried, leaning against the walls.

"You already said it's soft! That just tempted me!"

Louie stifled a laugh as he sent the video to May. Only the airplane ride and things were getting interesting. Now if only he could have a Pep, then everything would be perfect.

"Could you kids shut it and color in a coloring book?!" A man, a large tiger in a Hawaiian shirt, sitting behind them yelled.

"We're ten!" Dewey yelled back.

"What do little girls like? Dolls? Marbles? Dolls and marbles?" The tiger asked. "Play with some dolls and marbles."

"I'm taking a nap," Louie declared, "wake me when we land."

Needless to say, Louie had a feeling that this would turn out to be rather interesting.