Chapter Text
To say this was one of the worst days in Dewey's life was an understatement. In fact, it was one of the worst weeks of his life. He simply didn't understand how one could screw up so much in one week.
And not only just messing up, but making almost everyone he's ever loved either upset or annoyed with him. But what happened to make this day the worst of all? Alone in his shared room, crocodile tears were running like rivers on the young duck's face. Where did he go wrong?
-Flashback-
Day one.
It was just a normal day. Or so it seemed. Dewey was setting up his Dewey dew-night set for a "very special episode" according to him. Going to and fro between his set to set up various props, he didn't notice the loose cable that must have fallen on the ground in all the commotion. And when he did notice it, his foot had already got caught up in the cable causing him to trip and land ungracefully over his set's desk as well as other props coming and crashing down on him.
"Ow.. Stupid cable..." The duck grumbled. Digging himself out of all the boxes, he finally dug his way up and dusted himself off.
His back was sore from the impact, presumably from slamming it into his desk. Turning around to face his desk, Dewey's face dropped into a deep frown. Too many boxes of props and who knows what were covering his desk.
"NO NO NO NO NO! This is going to take forever to clean up!" The blue shirted duck groaned glancing at the clock. "And only 30 minutes until the show starts!"
Without a moment to spare Dewey started cleaning up the best he could with the amount of time he had. As he got closer and closer to where his desk would be he noticed something was..off? The area where it usually sat was shorter than usual.
Clearing up the last of the boxes, Dewey's heart sank at what he saw. There, his lovely show host desk, was snapped into two. Had he really hit the piece of furniture that hard? It does explain why his back was that sore but still.
The duck let out a defeated sigh. "Looks like the show will have to be cancelled until I get a new desk… " God knows when that will be.
Day two.
Sure the broken host desk dampened Dewey's spirits a little bit but it's not like it was the end of the world. There were other things to his life other than hosting a talk show.
Racking his brain to see what he should do for the day, Dewey decided on visiting one of his best friends. Launchpad McQuack.
Dewey began sauntering over to where the pilot would be. Probably in the garage where he usually was. Once he reached his destination he began looking for said pilot.
The garage was currently occupied by a plane of some sort. Looked a little old or something, Dewey couldn't describe it.
"Hey Launchpad you here!?" The blue duck called out.
"Oh, hey Dewey! Is that you?" Hearing a few clangs and an "ow" emitting from the front of the plane, Dewey made his way to where the plane's propellers were. Once he got there he saw Launchpad rubbing the back of his head.
"What are you doing?" Dewey asked.
Launchpad's eyes lit up at the question. "Well you see, I'm just fixing up this old rare plane I somehow managed to get my hands on! Once she's all good to go I'm gonna take her on a test flight!"
Dewey seemed to catch up on the excitement. "Wow! Can I help fix her up?"
It was then Launchpad let out a nervous chuckle. "Sorry buddy, I was planning on fixing her up all by myself considering she's an old plane and rare and all."
Dewey's smile faltered. "Oh yeah, haha, I totally understand!"
Launchpad gave the blue shirted duck a small smile. "I'll be right back, gonna go get some more oil and tools."
Dewey watched as the pilot walked away before turning his attention back to the old plane. Upon closer inspection he noticed a loose bolt. And was that loose bolt bothering him.
"Maaaaybeeee I can help just a little bit… " He murmured to himself. Looking around he saw the wrench. Swiftly grabbing it he tried tightening the bolt.
"Which way was the correct way to tighten a bolt?" Dewey questioned. He kept turning the wrench until the sound of metal hit the pavement. Hard.
As in a deja vu, Dewey started his mantra of many "no's" again. He quickly grabbed the pieces of metal and tried to "fix it." And by that it was just frantically shoving the metal back into place.
"Hey Dewey! What was that loud noise?" Oh great. Launchpad was already back.
Letting go of the wrench Dewey rushed up to Launchpad. "H-hey Launchpad back so soon?" He gave a nervous grin.
"Sure am! The stuff I needed wasn't that hard to find!" Launchpad took a step towards the plane's front again when Dewey stepped in front of him.
"M-maybe you should take a little break? I mean you wouldn't want to work yourself too hard hehe.."
Launchpad just stepped past him "No can do buddy! I want to finish this baby as soon as poss-" The pilot instantly dropped all the things he was holding upon seeing the unfortunate site of his plane.
"W-what happened!?" The pilot let out in exasperation.
"I can explain!" Dewey let out a shout. "There was this loose bolt and it was just bugging me and I-" Launchpad cut him off "I think you should just go Dewey.. " he said in a defeated voice.
As Dewey made his way to the entrance of the garage he tried to apologize once more. "I-I really am sorry Launchpad… " But his apology just fell on deaf ears.
Day Three.
Okay maybe breaking his host desk and a really old rare airplane his best friend was looking forward to working on was really bad in the span of two days but there was what? 5 more days left in a week? And why just 5 days when there was still many months and years to go! Surely these two days can't hinder the middle triplet's happiness?
Honestly, he still felt a little guilty, actually VERY guilty, about what he did to Launchpad's airplane but today was a brand new day! Maybe him and Launchpad could laugh it off and he could ease the guilt eating him up.
Grabbing a pep from the fridge and taking a swig of it, Dewey rushed towards the door leading out of the kitchen. He was stopped short when he bumped into someone else his height.
"Ow, hey! Watch it!" Oh, he bumped into none other than Webby. "Oh! Haha, sorry about that Webby!" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Anyway, what are you doing here in the kitchen?"
"I'm just going to grab a few things to feast on while I update my adventure journal!" Webby smiled pulling the journal out from the side of her arm. A look of confusion spread across her features as she stared at the cover.
"Dewey! You accidentally spilled some soda on it!" Webby exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Webby! I'll clean it for you!" Dewey snatched the journal from her hands and laid it on the kitchen counter along with his soda right beside it.
Running to the area where the rolls of paper towels usually sat, Dewey grabbed them and hastily ran back to where the journal was. He must have tripped over his own feet because next thing he knew was he came crashing into the counter and paper towels flying all over the place.
How unfortunate that his crash into the counter made his soda can tilt and fall...All over Webby's journal…
"DEWEY!" Webby let out grabbing her journal in a rush. "Look at what you did!" She let out a horrified yelp. "My adventure journal…All of my hardwork….ruined.. "
"Why don't you just make a new one?" Dewey nervously suggested.
"I CAN'T 'just make a new one'! Do you know how much time and energy went into making this!?"
Huh. This seemed familiar, almost like something similar happened yesterday to another best friend. "Webby I'm-"
"Just go Dewey." She let out harshly "I don't want to see you right now… " And with that, Dewey fled the kitchen.
Day Four.
Ruining his host desk and things his friends held dear was an awful feeling. Launchpad still hasn't talked to him and neither was Webby. They would just look at him with annoyed expressions or cold ones. And that was a feeling Dewey could not stand. It hurt.
Sitting on the couch and glancing at his phone, Dewey noted the date. His uncle Donald would be leaving today for a few days to go see his friends. What were they called again? The Three Cocktails? Three Cockroaches? He couldn't remember.
Deciding to bid his uncle a goodbye, Dewey got up from the couch and made his way to the houseboat in the back of the mansion.
Upon arriving to the houseboat he heard a few frustrated yells from his uncle. Boy, did he know how that felt. Walking up and opening the door, Dewey saw his Uncle Donald wrestling with his suitcase and was his uncle losing horribly.
"Need a hand Uncle Donald?" Dewey strolled up besides him. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Donald replied with "Please."
Dewey put his pair of hands on one end of the suitcase while Donald did the same to the other side. One the count of three they pushed the suitcase closed.
"Whew, thanks Dewey. I should have asked your brothers for help when they were here 20 minutes ago." His uncle said with a smile while ruffling his head feathers.
"No problem Uncle Donald, at least I can do one thing right… " He mumbled the last part. Upon hearing what Dewey mumbled, Donald gave a small frown.
"Oh Dewey, what's wrong?" Donald moved his suitcase aside and sat down on the bed where he was packing it on. He pat the spot next to him motioning for his nephew to do the same.
Taking the spot, Dewey sighed. "It's just that I messed up a few things over the past few days. Like my host desk and a few important things Launchpad and Webby had… "
Donald pulled Dewey into a side hug. "We all make mistakes Dewey. Why don't you go and try talking to them about it? It'll probably make you, and them, feel better and that way everyone can push past it? You can also ask your brothers for advice too."
As much as Dewey wanted to do that he couldn't face them right now. Why? Wasn't he the confident adventurous one? Maybe it was just the guilt he had? But wouldn't talking to them make it go away? And talking to his brothers about his problems? He didn't want to do that, he wanted to do things by himself! It was just his stubborn personality. As much as his uncle's advice had sound logic, he didn't want to do it that way. He'll figure out what to do about all of this later. On his own terms.
Putting on a fake grin, Dewey falsely agreed. "Yeah, maybe you're right Uncle Donald!" Donald smiled in return and pulled Dewey into a tight hug. When they pulled apart, Donald looked at the clock on the wall. He suddenly got up. "I'm going to be late!" He yelled. Hurrying to grab his suitcase he gave Dewey one last hug. "Things will get better, alright? Launchpad is going to take me to the airport, I don't trust him to fly me to where I'm supposed to go… " Donald grumbled the last bit. "But I can talk to him too if you'd like."
Dewey just put on a soft smile. With a kiss planted on his head, Donald bolted out the door. "THINGS WILL GET BETTER!" He called out behind him.
But that's where his uncle was wrong.
Day Five and Six.
Right now, Dewey was hastily packing for an adventure his Uncle Scrooge had just announced on short notice. But then again all adventures were on such a short notice. Launchpad still wouldn't talk to Dewey directly, to which Dewey just assumed he couldn't understand what his Uncle Donald was saying and just ignored it or that Uncle Donald was yelling at him the whole time and simply forgot. Even Webby would just acknowledge him slightly and in harsh ways. He guessed that he just really didn't know how much that journal meant to her. I mean it was almost like it was her life's work or something of the sort.
It still hurt nonetheless. He did crave attention damnit but not like this! Come to think of it, he hadn't talked to his brothers in awhile either. Maybe they were busy with their own adventures. Like Louie and his quest to be wealthy just like Uncle Scrooge or Huey with the Junior Woodchucks or helping Fenton. Maybe it was for the best he hadn't seen them too much. Wouldn't want to make them mad either.
He wondered if Launchpad or Webby told them about his screw ups. Is that another reason why they didn't see each other too much? No, it can't be...he's just getting paranoid.
"OI, KIDS, HURRY UP WILL YA?!" The sound of Scrooge yelling from downstairs snapped him out of his thoughts. Grabbing what else he needed and stuffing it into his backpack, Dewey rushed down the stairs. And of course, as luck would have it, he tripped on the last step and right into Louie.
"Hey! Watch will ya Dewey?! Made me almost drop my phone!" Louie glared at him.
"Sorry… " Was all Dewey could mumble. Louie said something under his breath and just turned his attention back to his phone.
"Alright kids, listen up!" Scrooge began but Dewey wasn't paying attention, his mind was elsewhere. Like potentially messing up on this adventure and god knows what. Did he get Uncle Donald's bad luck? But instead of it just screwing him over it was upsetting or annoying people in the process? And why all of the sudden? Could it be a curse of some sort or was it all just a fluke? He wishes his Uncle Donald didn't leave. That way he could talk to him about it and how he handles it.
"And most importantly- Dewey are ya even payin attention?!" Uncle Scrooge snapped him out of his thoughts and all eyes were on him. "Uh, yes Uncle Scrooge!" The middle triplet said standing up straight.
"Right." Scrooge said in a dubious manner. "Anyway we need ta leave now because we won't arrive until our destination until tamorrow! Most likely around mornin or noon. " Turning to face Launchpad the Scottish duck asked "Sunchaser all ready Launchpad?"
"Yes sir, Mr McDee!"
"Great! Then let's go!"
Everyone proceeded to make their way out the doors with Dewey lagging behind.
Time skip
Being on an airplane with two people mad at you and the anxiety of messing up more was not a great feeling. Currently Launchpad and Uncle Scrooge were discussing their course to the destination while Webby and Huey were talking about who knows what. Louie was just on his phone listening to music and playing a game of some sort.
It tied his stomach up in knots each time Webby glanced his way and then just happily continued her conversation with the older triplet. He was just glad Launchpad couldn't see him. He doesn't know when they'll even arrive at their destination or what this adventure will even entail.
All of this thinking made the middle triplet tired but the anxiety kept him up. It was a vicious cycle really. Trying to sleep to just forget the pain of being ignored but you just can't. It drove Dewey mad!
In the end, he just decided to sleep it off, well try to anyway. He'll probably need all the rest he can get before exploring. The one thing he seemed to be good at it seemed.
As Dewey fell deeper and deeper into his slumber he heard the voices of Launchpad, Uncle Scrooge, Huey, Webby, and the taps Louie's phone made fade out into nothing.
-----
"Dewey, wake up! We're here!" He hears a voice as well as someone shaking him awake. Gasping out of surprise Dewey shot up from his sleeping position. Looking around wildly he saw the source of the voice. It was just Huey.
"Whoa there, You alright?" Huey asked, a concerned look evident on his face.
"Mm fine" Dewey responded rubbing his eyes. "How long was I asleep for?"
Huey quirked a brow "Quite a while, maybe 10 hours? You were snoring too!" He mused.
"I was..?"
"Yeah, you were. Louie tried to shut your beak with tape because he wanted to sleep too. I told him he probably shouldn't."
Louie appeared beside Huey, hands in his jacket pockets looking tired. "You should have let me! How am I supposed to spot secret entrances for treasure now that I'm off my game!" He grumbled.
Dewey let out a shaky chuckle. "Sorry about that."
Louie sighed "Just don't do it again on the way back." And with that the green hooded duck made his way towards the exit of the plane with Huey following in suit.
Dewey got up to stretch and pop his joints and bones from his awkward sleeping position. Satisfied with all the pops and snaps he made his way towards the exit as well.
"Here it is kids! The Temple of Anubis! Said to contain some of the most precious Egyptian gems and artifacts!" Scrooge exclaimed.
Everyone ooo'd and ahhh'd in wonder and excitement. "Alright, as I said before we need ta be careful in here. Lots of dangerous traps lie around so watch your step! Just one trap being set off could potentially destroy the whole Temple!" The trillionare duck warned.
'Dangerous? And can fall apart at one moments mistake?' Dewey thought. When did Uncle Scrooge say that? Was he giving the run down on this place when he was off in his own thoughts? Oh well, it's nothing he can't handle! He's the adventuring confident triplet after all! Time to show everyone what he can be! Be the hero and maybe get back on speaking terms with his friends!
Regret. Instant regret. Being impulsive was one of Dewey's fatal flaws. Maybe he should have listened to Huey and NOT press a tile on the wall he thought was correct based on "adventure instinct" in an old Egyptian Temple because he didn't want to figure out a puzzle because that was boring. God, how stupid of him to forget their uncle's warning too about how sensitive this place can be.
Him and his brother's somehow got separated from the others. Not that Dewey minded. The awkwardness would kill him from the inside if it hadn't already. He wanted to prove himself first anyway before facing his "best friends." And he was with his family. His own brothers. Shouldn't that be comforting?
Apparently that's not the case when you're sharing a small piece of Temple floor with two other people while lava rises up from the bottom after the tiles fell away. How cliche can this predicament be? Whoever made this trap was not creative in the slightest.
But enough about that because the screams and shouts of his brothers brought Dewey back to reality.
"DEWEY WHAT THE HELL!? WERE YOU EVEN PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT UNCLE SCROOGE WAS SAYING ABOUT THIS PLACE!?" Huey screeched.
Louie huffed in response and crossed his arms. "Clearly he didn't Huey. Always have to be the adventurous one don't you Dewford."
Ow, Louie was using his full name.
"Don't worry! I-I can figure this out!" The middle triplet stuttered out.
"Even if you do we're probably not going to get the treasure! The whole damn place must be falling apart by now! You've probably endangered Uncle Scrooge and the others! They probably don't know why the whole place started falling apart either!" Huey seethed.
Oh yeah. He forgot about them for a moment. Webby and Launchpad would probably be even more mad and annoyed at him and Uncle Scrooge would probably be furious.
Ignoring the biting words of his brothers Dewey searched around frantically for anyway, anyway at all, to stop the rising lava. Frantic eyes eventually landed on two buttons nearing the top of the roof. They were slightly separated from each other. All of the other buttons sunk in when Dewey pressed the wrong one. These had to be the way to stop the molten earth from cooking them alive.
Turning around he saw Huey desperately flip the pages of the Woodchuck Guidebook presumably searching for a way out. Without thinking Dewey grabbed the book out of Huey's hands.
"DEWEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING-!?" And without hesitation the blue shirted duck threw the book at the first button. It landed on target and the button sunk in. One down, one more to go.
Dewey quickly looked around for something else he could throw. His mind got an "a-ha" moment when he realized Louie usually carried his phone on adventures. Sure Dewey would throw his own phone but he forgot it at home when he was in a hurry packing and Huey usually never carried his on adventures.
Just as quickly as Dewey snatched the older triplets book, he grabbed Louie's phone out of his jacket pocket and took aim yet again. Throwing it and hearing a faint scream of "NO!" in the background it landed on the second button. Success! It hit its target yet again! At least that was one lucky thing Dewey was able to do!
The roof started to shake and flooring came crashing around them. Even after the flooring came down the room wouldn't stop shaking. That was their cue to leave.
"Let's go!" Dewey shouted and began to make his way to the exit. His brothers followed in suit.
----
They barely made it out before the temple crumbled. Upon diving out of there Dewey scrapped his knees and elbows on the ground outside. After the dust settles he saw a pair of spats in front of his face. Oh no.
"What in the blazes happened in there!?" Scrooge yelled.
"Yeah Dewford. What happened?" Louie let out harshly getting up and dusting himself off along with Huey. Damn, would he stop using his real name!? Everyone turned to face him. All with irritated expressions.
"I uh… " Dewey started twiddling his thumbs and struggled to stare at the expecting face of his uncle. "May have accidentally set off a trap heh.. "
"You WHAT!? Dewey did ya not hear a single thing I said!?"
Dewey flinched. "Must have slipped my mind… " His voice tapered off.
"Slipped yer mind!?" Scrooge responded incredulously. "What part of 'There's a lot of traps so don't touch anything' did ya not understand!?"
God, why was everyone staring at him with angered expressions. A bigger knot tied into his stomach. He wanted to tell his uncle about all the shit luck he's had and what he accidentally did to his friends the other day and the guilt that swirled his mind about it, but he couldn't simply apologize because it worried him to no end, or how his hobby got put to an abrupt stop but that would be a ridiculous thing to add right now. It was just a hobby. Not like it was an outlet or anything… Why was it hard to say something?!
"Uh.. " He began but Scrooge was having none of it.
"Dewey, ya were fortunate that me, Launchpad, and Webby were out here gettin tools to get the treasure! If not we probably would not have made it! And nothin excuses ya either from putting yer brothers in danger!"
"Or destroying our things trying to get us out from his mistake in the first place." Huey said under his breath.
An aggravated sigh escaped from Scrooge. "I want ya to sit in the back of the plane for the rest of the trip and think about yer actions and how they affect others. And ya are ta go straight to yer room when we get home. Can ya at least understand that?"
Tears threatened to escape Dewey now. His throat was closing. "Y-yes Uncle Scrooge… "
Without another word, Scrooge turned around and headed for the plane. Webby and Launchpad following and giving Dewey side glares. His brothers for some reason stayed behind.
If he thought it was a hope for comfort he was dead wrong. Any hope for that was squashed by what his brothers had to say next.
"Well, I hope you're proud Dewford." Louie began. "Because you're just one giant screw up right now."
Ouch.
"And putting our lives in danger too? For what? To prove yourself? Webby told me about what you did and I thought that you'd at least learn your lesson about not doing anything impulsively or hastily! That you'd at least slow down and think!" Huey added.
Dewey was speechless. He hadn't heard Huey or Webby talk about him the whole trip. Must've been when he was asleep. Now he wishes he was awake the whole time.
Flapping his beak open like a fish out of water, Dewey struggled to form words.
"Typical, got nothing to say about your actions yet again." Huey muttered.
"Let's just go. There's no point in talking to him." Louie stated. But it's what they said while they were leaving that made Dewey's heart snap like a broken toy.
"Some brother… "
----
The moment they returned to the mansion was around nighttime. Dewey rushed out of the Sunchaser and into his ,unfortunately, shared room. It was hard not to cry on the whole way home but once that door was locked and closed Dewey let the tears flow. He sniffled and bawled for what seemed like hours.
They were right. He was a screw up. Who needed a brother like him anyway? He'd just weigh everyone down. Why stick around? They'd probably be better off without him. Not like they cared.
Wiping his nose with his sleeve. Dewey pulled out a spare backpack. He packed it with a few spare clothes, some snacks from his snack stash, and some money he took from Louie's own money stash.
He thought about taking his phone but there was no point. Who was he going to talk to? Besides his Uncle Donald who appreciated him for who he was despite mistakes. In the end he just left it.
Getting out a piece of paper he wrote a little note. It'd probably get tossed but he supposed it was for a type of closure. Getting on his backpack he headed towards the window and opened it.
The solution was simple.
He needed to go away.