Violet, Boyd, and Gosalyn walked up Kilmotor hill. It had been a few days since any of them had seen Huey.
"I heard something happened to Huey. Is he okay?" Boyd said.
Gosalyn shrugged. "Yeah, the other day when I was over here he fell and hurt his beak or something," she said.
"I hope he's alright," Violet said worried.
"I don't think him hurting himself is the worst of his problems," Gosalyn said.
The two other kids looked at her. "What do you mean?" Boyd asked.
"Um, hello! His babysitter is clearly evil!" she exclaimed.
"Who? Fenton?"
"No, Gandra is evil," Gosalyn said.
"How? You barely just met her!" Violet debated.
"I just feel it. After your the daughter of St. Canard's greatest detective, you pick up a few things." Gosalyn put her hand on her hip and held a proud posture.
"I thought your dad was a movie star," Boyd said.
Her face turned red. "Uh, yeah he is, definitely!" she said nervously.
Violet and Boyd exchanged a look and shrugged.
When they reached the house, Boyd knocked on the door. "Huey! We're here for study group!" he called.
They heard the sound of the door unlatching and it opened, with Huey standing there. The three friends were amazed to see the duckling in red wearing braces.
"I just got back from the orthodontist," Huey explained. He spoke with a bit of a lisp, trying to adjust to have metal in his mouth. It felt unnatural for him. He welcomed his friends inside. Violet, Boyd, and Gosalyn could hear laughing.
"What is that?" Violet asked.
Huey sighed and rolled his eyes. "That's Dewey and Louie," he said.
"Brace face!" Dewey burst from another room. Huey facepalmed.
"Do you want me to punch him for you?" Gosalyn asked.
Huey quickly shook his head. "No, Gos, you don't need to do that!"
She seemed a bit disappointed.
Taking his friends up to his room, Huey locked the door. "Now we won't have to deal with them," he sighed. They set out their school work and began study.
"I don't know why you're so worried about what your brothers have to say about your braces," Boyd said. "They are necessary in your case and you're still the same person."
Huey smiled at him. "Well, I'm glad you think so," he said.
"Huey's a brace face!" they heard from downstairs. Huey bit his tongue upset, but reminded himself to just suck it up. It wasn't something worth losing his temper for.
After his friends left, Huey tidied up his room. The door opened with Louie and Dewey standing in the doorway. Louie flipped a dime in the air. "And that, dear Dewford, is how you pick a lock," Louie smirked. The two boys walked inside the room.
"So, Hue, what ya up to?" Louie asked.
"Just cleaning up a bit," Huey said. He picked up a few toys and shoved them in a toy bin.
"Hey, mom says that if it makes you feel better, we can stay up late tonight and watch a movie!" Dewey said.
"Yeah and we can have popcorn and gummy bears, too," Louie added.
Huey shot them a look. "You guys know I can't eat that stuff, right? Don't you know anything about braces?" he said.
The two boys looked apologetic until Louie perked up, "Other than the fact that they make you look dorky, no I don't know much about them." Dewey snickered at that.
Huey rolled his eyes angrily. "Can you two just shut up!" he snapped.
Dewey and Louie were taken back. "I'm sorry, Huey. We didn't know it bothered you," Dewey apologized.
"You didn't know calling me a brace face and teasing me about foods I can't eat, and saying I looked like a dork was bothering me?" the duckling in red said.
Dewey rubbed the back of his neck and looked down.
"Oh, come on, you looked like a dork before you got braces," Louie said.
That was it.
Huey jumped on top of Louie and the two went wrestling on the floor. Dewey just watched the scene play out. He was pretty sure Louie was crying.
Della soon stood in the doorway. "What's going on up here!" she said. Her eyes widened at the sight of Huey and Louie in a fistfight. She wrestled Huey off of the duckling in green. "Huey what is going on!" she said.
Huey's face was tear-stained. Louie had a black eye and a few bruises. Donald came into the room. He ran to Louie's side and began examining his wounds in an overdramatic way.
"Huey!" Della said. She knelt down to his level and set her hands on his shoulders.
"Louie said I looked like a dork!" he cried.
Della shook her head. "Huey, that's no reason to beat him up!" she said.
He broke down into a sob. Why did I beat him up? I'm supposed to be responsible. I'm the oldest. I'm supposed to be a good example.
"Huey, you're grounded! Now come on, Louie, let's go get some ice," she said, taking the youngest triplet's hand. She walked out of the room with Donald and Dewey.
Once they were gone, Huey slammed the door. His blood boiled, but he didn't know why. His heart was hurting but without reason. He leaned up against the door and out a stream of tears.
Flashback...
Huey stood proudly at the front of the woodchucks. In a few moments he would be announced a senior woodchuck. He had prepared his whole life for this. He was ready. He spoke under his breath every word Launchpad said. "A senior woodchuck goes above and beyond to make everything around themselves better." He had memorized the duties of a senior woodchuck. He felt butterflies in his stomach. He prepared himself to step forward when called.
To his surprise, Launched said Violet's name instead of his. It must be some sort of mistake. The humming bird stepped up to the front of the room. Everyone cheered for her, especially Lena. The duckling's face turned red. She stood next to him. "If you're a junior woodchuck, how come I've never seen you at any events?" he asked her. "I prefer to focus on the real work of woodchucking," she replied. She flipped open her sash to reveal several more rows of badges.
Huey's eyes widened. That was a lot of badges. "And our second contestant, Dewey's brother!" Launchpad announced. Huey blushed and smiled awkwardly, caught off guard. He wasn't even called by his real name. But it didn't matter. As long as he won.
...
Huey puffed out breath. How was she beating him? He took off his hat to grab his guidebook before remembering he didn't have it. The competition didn't allow for it. He sat down on a nearby stump. His hands and skin were blistered from the lightning rain. He looked around for some aloe Vera plant. He grumbled under his breath. "Stupid lightning rain! Stupid race! Stupid Violet! Stupid rules!" He took in a deep breath to calm himself.
...
Violet swooped down and caught Huey before he fell into lava. Huey tucked in his tail scared. "Always look out for a fellow woodchuck, no matter the cost," she smiled. Huey looked down. She really was a better woodchuck than him. He was nothing but a loser. Especially after he had left her with that bear. He bit his beak. She deserved to win this, not him. His eyes began to water.
Huey stumbled on the hard rock as she set him down. They talked a minute before they decided Violet should win. She set her flag in the pole. To their surprise, nothing happened. "Well, that was anticlimactic," she said. Suddenly, the ground began to sink underneath them. Fear overtook Huey. He ran to her feet. "What's going on! What do we do! You're the senior woodchuck! I respond to authority!" he cried. She awkwardly pet his head.
Later, Della started yelling at Launchpad, demanding Huey had won. The boy rubbed his arm. "Mom, I didn't win," he said. She ignored him and kept rambling insults at Launchpad. But Huey knew deep down he didn't deserve to win. He wasn't smart enough to compete with Violet. He wasn't strong enough to compete with Violet. He had dumped everything he had ever been taught just so he could beat her. And even that wasn't enough. She was better than him.
Crying, Huey curled up in his blanket. Huey felt pain in his heart. Maybe that hologram had been right. His family didn't love him. They just put up with him. He could go missing, and they would never notice he was gone.
An idea struck him. He quickly pushed it away. I can't run away. I have responsibilities. What kind of example would I be if I ran away? He rolled over in his bed. But then again, if I ran away I wouldn't have any responsibilities. I could be... free.
Huey bit his beak. He couldn't run away. He took in a breath and flipped through his guidebook. He stopped. If he ran away, he wouldn't have to look to a guidebook for answers. He wouldn't have to uphold a good image. He wouldn't have to impress anyone. Maybe he could.
Using several blankets tied together, Huey climbed out the window down the side of his house. He watched the open night. The stars glittered in the distance. It was an eerie quiet, and yet, Huey didn't stop.
When he was low enough to the ground, he jumped off the blankets. His eyes passed from the window to the fence. He took in a deep breath. "What are you doing, Huey?" he asked himself. He traced his braces with his tongue, indecisive.
The duckling in red crept across the grass down the steep hill. When he made it to the gate, he took one last look at the mansion. He hoisted his backpack full of his belongings over his shoulder. Then he turned to the gate. He realized the first flaw in his plan. He wasn't agile like Dewey or Webby, and he had no clue how to get over the bared gate. From his bag he took out his junior woodchuck guidebook. He wasn't ready just yet to give that up.
After climbing over the gate according to the guidebook, he raced down the hill.
He had done it. He ran away. He felt so free, but yet saddened all at the same time.
Gandra snuck into the garage. She glanced around, making sure no one was watching her. She wore a deep black outfit, making her almost invisible in the dark. She crept to a portrait of Scrooge McDuck. She quickly grabbed the key built into a pole. She turned it into the painting.
It took her a while, but Gandra found the chamber with the Possession gem. She smiled and looked up the long pillar. She shot a line of wire up to the top. Gandra ziplined up to the top. There sat her prize, shimmering in green. She grinned and circled it. She had to get it carefully so she wouldn't fall under its spell.
She slipped it into a bag and immediately realized how heavy it was. "Dang! How could something so small be so heavy!? I kind of feel bad for Huey now," she complained to herself.
She tapped a comlink in her ear. "Director Bradford? I have the gem."
Thanks for your support! Disclaimer, I've got nothing against people with braces! My two best friends have braces.