Chapter Summary:

A little insight into the life of Huey ends up being partnered with his classmate, Webby, someone who always intrigued him. Huey, being a duck who sticks strictly to the facts, struggles to understand her insane theories and stories. But maybe he could learn how to loosen up...

Hubert Duck was a simple duckling. Hubert, otherwise known as Huey to some people, was an exceptionally bright duck. He likes to think he is, anyway. He prided himself on being organized and smart in school. Huey was a Junior Woodchuck, after all. He has to be organized and prepared for anything!

Huey was also glad to say that he was a straight "A" student. Some kids his age might've thought that he was something like a nerd, but he doesn't think so. He just…likes doing school work. That's normal, right?

Speaking of which, Huey was getting ready for school at the moment, as he did every day. Right now, he was eating breakfast, going over a mental checklist for what he needs to prepare for the day. He needs to be ready, after all.

Lunch?

Check.

Bag?

Check.

Homework?

Done and check.

A healthy and nutritious breakfast?

Check?

Huey looked down at the bowl of cereal which he was eating right now. Was this healthy? Mm…good enough. As long as it's enough to get him through the day until recess, then he should be fine.

As Huey was going over his checklist again, he felt a playful hand ruffle his hair underneath his cap.

"Good morning, Huey!"

Huey laughed as he waved off his mother's hand. Della Duck looked down at him and smiled.

"Morning, Mom," he greeted back, fixing the cap on his head. Huey's mom, Della, was wonderful in his opinion. They had no problems, even though it was just them. Della, for the most part, was always very proud of her son and Huey always tried his hardest every day to make sure that never changed.

He always makes sure it stays exactly like that, no matter what.

Della sipped some coffee from the mug she held in her other hand. She was what some of his friends called a "cool mom". He doesn't really know what defines her as a cool mom, though. To him, she's just his mom. He's not really sure about what other moms are like, honestly.

"Are you ready to go?" Della asked, looking at the clock.

Huey quickly puts away his thoughts, consumes the last of his cereal, and nodded. "Yep!"

There he stood at the front of his school. Huey had bid his mother goodbye mere minutes ago and had already started walking towards the building.

As he walked, Huey saw other kids walking in, talking to their friends. There were various things that were very interesting about his school, Huey thought.

One thing was the fact that you could easily pick out each type of friend group there was. He was sure that this was only a stereotype in movies, and it was. However, he could still note several friendship groups who dared not mix together. It was rather strange at first, but it had become normal for him.

Huey did, of course, have his own group of friends. He had plenty who were very similar to him. Most of them were as punctual and as hard-working as he was. He's heard people call him and his friends the "nerdy ones", but he prefers the term the "responsible ones". He just likes it better, that's all.

In reality, his group of friends consisted mostly of fellow Junior Woodchucks.

Huey walked down the crowded corridor, dodging the other rowdy students who were passing through just as he was. It was crowded, but it wasn't anything too bad in his opinion. However, he would appreciate it if he weren't shoved to the side by the stronger kids so much. Other than that, his school was nothing like the crazy schools that are depicted in the media. So he's glad for that.

After making his way through the corridor, Huey had finally reached his locker. He opened it, put his bag inside, took his books out, and then sighed.

Did Huey ever get tired of this bland routine? Not really. He's grown used to it, even though it is somewhat uninteresting. But at least with this routine, he can predict what will happen next and always be ready for it.

That doesn't mean that he doesn't want more out of life- he does- but he knows it will come in due time. For now, he just needs to make sure he excels in his classes so that he WILL have a fulfilling future. That's all he needs to focus on.

That's another thing too. Kids his age always complain about school. They complain about the work, relationships, and teachers. Huey has never really faced problems like these, so he doesn't know what they're talking about.

To him, the school work is fun and important. He doesn't have relationship problems because he's not focused on any of that stuff. And the teachers…were fine. Some were less than fine, but the good teachers make up for it!

He has no idea why people complain.

"Hey, Huey, have you done your homework?"

It was the first class of the day, and as per usual, the student who sat next to Huey in the class was asking if he had done his homework before the teacher arrives.

"Yes," Huey answers, taking out his homework, already predicting what will happen next. He has no idea why it's so hard for the others to just do their work, but hey, it's not his problem.

"Can I-?" the student starts before getting interrupted by Huey handing him the homework. "Thanks!"

"Just…make sure not to copy it too much," Huey warned, not wanting any of them to be caught. The other student dismissively nodded and started jotting down everything Huey had wrote in his own book.

Huey sighed and looked around the classroom. Since the class hasn't started yet, some kids have still not shown up and neither has the teacher. Only the ones who want to be super early are here- students who prefer being early and punctual, and the students who have yet to finish the homework.

"Hi, Huey!"

Huey snapped out of his thoughts and saw his classmate, Webby Vanderquack walk into the room and approach him, a bounce in every step.

"Oh, uh...hey, Webby," he replied, slightly surprised that she had talked to him at this time. Sure, they were friends to a degree, but they never really talked outside of class. Not that he minds talking to her though.

Suddenly, her expression turned somewhat sheepish. "Hey, so um-"

"You want to see my homework?" Huey guessed, judging by the expression on her face. He probably should've guessed earlier that she would ask him something school-related. Webby nodded, smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah! Sorry, I know I usually don't ask you for this and stuff, but I had a really busy week so I couldn't really do my own work so I figured that I'd ask you- IF that's okay with you, I mean, because you know, I know a lot of kids ask you as well and so I figured I would too..!" she rambled all in one breath, trying to get it all out.

Huey merely grabbed his work from the student next to him, ignored the student's protests and gave it to Webby.

"Just be quick. Class will start soon," he warned her, as she took the book from him. Webby beamed.

"Thanks, Huey! You're the best!" she thanked him, giving him a smile before dashing off to her desk to finish off her work. Huey couldn't help but smile slightly.

To Huey, Webby can be an odd duck sometimes. Like, she believes a lot of fictional myths and they would sometimes debate about what's real or not. But even so, at the end of the day, she's still more imaginative than a lot of people his age, surprisingly enough.

Not only that, but she was one of the most unpredictable people in his life, which he appreciated. She was one of the few unpredictable factors in his day. Another reason why he wants to be friends with her outside of class. Perhaps, she'd make his life more interesting.

Webby had returned his book by the time the bell rang. The other students and their teacher, Mr. Quackson, had walked into the room.

"Good morning, class," Mr. Quackson had greeted, somewhat tired.

"Good morning, Mr. Quackson," the students replied back, most in a monotonous way. Everyone other than Huey, who sat up straight in his seat and replied back with more gusto.

"I hope you all did your homework, which I'll remind you is due today," the teacher, said. Huey had a proud expression on his face, knowing that he was fully prepared and organized. He knows that some of the others haven't even finished their work for whatever reason, so he's glad that he's not one of those students.

Mr. Quackson started to walk up and down the aisles of the desks, collecting the work from each student. As Huey was sitting at the front, he gave in his work with his head held high.

When Huey looked behind him, he saw some students give in their work as well, and he saw some who were trying to explain to their teacher why they had not finished it.

It was the usual excuses.

"Sir, my pet ate it."

"I didn't have time."

"I did it, but I lost it."

It was the classic excuses that others used when they were caught empty-handed. Huey shook his head exasperatedly and turned his head to the front again. They wouldn't have to use excuses if they just DID the work…

Mr. Quackson returned to the front of the class, holding the stack of books he had collected from the kids.

"It's good to see that at least some of you were able to complete the worksheet," he said, putting them on his desk. "Now, who remembers what topic were we looking at last class?"

Huey shot his hand up. "Space, sir."

"That's right. Now can any of you name all the planets in our solar-"

Huey shot his hand up again, ready. "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus-"

A kid behind him giggled.

"-and Neptune. Pluto as well if you decide to count it," Huey answered, ignoring the immature giggle that came from his classmate.

Mr. Quackson sighed. "Yes, that's correct. Thank you, Hubert. Now, who remembers which planets have rings?"

Huey raised his hand once again but did not call out this time. Mr. Quackson took this opportunity to look for a different student with their hands up. As soon as Huey realized that he was not being chosen, the young duck tried waving his hand slightly as a means to get his teacher's attention.

Mr. Quackson pointed at a student who sat at the back of the class, with her hand raised.

"Saturn and Uranus?" she guessed. A few others giggled at the planet's funny name. Mr. Quackson nodded in approval as Huey lowered his hand, disappointed that he couldn't answer it. He knew the answer too…she didn't even include all of them…

"Correct," Mr. Quackson said. "However, there's two more. Does anyone know-?"

"Jupiter and Neptune!" Huey blurted out without raising his hand, taking the opportunity to answer before anyone else can. Mr. Quackson stared at him and gave him a look for calling out. Huey frowned sheepishly and looked down at his desk.

"Jupiter and Neptune have rings," Huey continues, feeling uncomfortable now that everyone was looking at him. "They're just not as visible as Saturn's or Uranus's."

"…Correct."

"Know-it-all…" a student not-so-subtly coughed, making some others laugh. Huey tried not to let this faze him, as it didn't matter. He got the answer right, and that's all that matters.

Besides, this was also normal for him.

He doesn't understand what he is doing wrong, though. He doesn't really understand why his classmates laugh when he enthusiastically answers a question, or he doesn't understand why his teachers don't like it when he calls out to correct them on a mistake. What was the problem? He was just doing what was expected of students…

Why is it so funny that he likes participating in class?

Why is it not good for him to point out others' mistakes?

Huey doesn't understand.

He tries not to let it bother him. He should be proud. He should be proud that he's participating in school, like his mom and the other teachers says he should do..! So it doesn't matter if the other kids laugh at it. They're just…not as enthusiastic as Huey was.

Besides, Huey's doing this for the sake of having a fulfilling future. His life at school will dictate his future. If he does well now, he'll do well when he's an adult…right? That's what he always thought anyway. It's something that these other kids don't understand.

…

Huey thinks about this way too often.

"Well, since we are on the topic of outer space, we're going to focus more on the planets in the solar system," Mr. Quackson said, snapping Huey out of his thoughts. "You'll need to get into partners-"

Huey could see some students making eye contact with their friends, silently establishing a partnership by merely looking at each other.

"-and the two of you will need to create a poster based on one of them."

As soon as he finished talking, some students immediately sprung up from their seats and made their way to their friends, desperate to not be that one person without a partner. Huey was in no rush. He didn't really know who he wanted to be partnered with, nor did he care. He'll probably just end up doing all the work, which was fine with him.

"Hey, Huey! Wanna be partners?"

Huey perked up at her voice. He turned around and Webby was standing right next to him once again, cheerfully asking to be his partner.

"R-Really?" he stuttered, sort of surprised. Webby looked at him, slightly worried.

"Oh, sorry-! Do you already have a partner or-?"

"No, no! I don't!" Huey reassured her, panicking. He was afraid that she was going to leave. "I was just…uh…yeah, sure, I'd be fine with that..!"

Webby's expression calmed down, relief showing on her face. "Okay, good! I was scared for a second, haha!"

"Alright, does everyone have a partner?" the teacher asked. When he got a nod from every student, he continued. "Okay, now, you can choose whichever planet in our solar system that you want to make a poster on. The poster just needs pictures and information. Now, you can get to work."

Huey instantly got focused on the task. He turned to Webby as all the other students scurried around, getting the resources they needed. "So…which planet do you want to do?"

"Hmmm…" Webby hummed in thought, thinking hard. "I don't know. Any ideas?"

"Ah, I don't really mind," Huey assured her, smiling. Webby puffed her cheeks up, thinking.

"Hmm…oh!" she piped up. "We should do Mars!"

"Ooh, Mars?" Huey repeated, intrigued. That was an interesting planet. Mars, named after the Roman god of war. The red planet. Home of the largest mountain in the solar system. "Why?"

"So that we can include something about MARTIANS!"

…

Huey stared at Webby. There was her over-active imagination again. The one that he respected but at the same time, it was a little too imaginative.

"Webby, Martians don't really exist," he told her, looking at her weirdly. Webby gasped.

"Yes, they do!" she insisted, her eyes lighting up with enthusiasm. "They're the aliens who live on Mars! They're planning an invasion on Earth in the near future, you know?"

Huey chuckled. "Webby, all of those stories about Martians are just fictional. You know the difference between fiction and real-life right?"

"Huey, those "fictional" stories have to have been based on something!" Webby said, putting her hands on her hips. She shook her head, grinning. "You sweet, naïve boy. They're planning to invade Earth! Right now, they're just occasionally sending in UFOs to scout out the planet, like how we send astronauts to scout out space! I've seen videos of them!"

"Those videos could be fake, you know? People can edit them. Even then, those might not even be UFOs from other plants. They could just be…uh…" Huey faltered. He reached under his cap, took out his trusty Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, and flipped through the pages. "Ah! They could just be drones coming from somewhere on Earth. But just because we don't know what they are, it doesn't mean they're UFOs!"

Webby crossed her arms. "Huey, do you even know what UFO stands for?"

"Unidentified Flying Objec-…" Huey answered almost immediately, pausing when he realized what she meant. "Oh."

"Seeeee?"

"But what you're saying is that they're being sent from Mars. And I'm sorry, I don't believe it," he says, grinning as he put the JWG back under his cap. Webby made a playful, frustrated face.

"Mark my words, Hubert Duck, I will get you to believe it one day!"

Huey couldn't help the smile on his face. "Right."

By the end of the class, Huey and Webby had only finished their research and hadn't actually gotten a start on the poster. Huey suspects it's because they got distracted a lot. They had a lot of small debates about what was real or not- werewolves, ghosts, terra…somethings…

Regardless, they'd have to finish this for homework.

"Um," Webby started when the class was dismissed. "Maybe we should finish this sometime this week after-school…."

"I can take care of the rest if you want," Huey offered. What he didn't expect was for Webby to shake her head.

"What? No..! I can't leave all the work to you!" she says as if it were a fact. "Would it be okay if I go over to your house sometime?"

"M-My house?" Huey stuttered, surprised. "What about your house?"

For once, Webby was the one stuttering. "Uh, my house? U-Um…I don't think that's a good idea. It's not a problem if we work on it at yours, is it?"

Huey wasn't really sure why she didn't want to do it at her house, but she probably has reasons. "Of course not, it's fine. Ah, but…do you mind if we do it after school today…?

"Oh, that's fine!" Webby agreed, beaming. "Is it alright if I go with you to your house when school ends?"

"Yeah, that works."

Webby beamed and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was recess and everyone had already gone out to play. "Ah! Sorry, I gotta go. I'll see you later, Huey!"

And off she went, leaving Huey alone in the classroom. It took him a moment to realize what a rash decision he just made.

…Oh geez. What did he just agree to..?! He's not ready to have someone over at his house! It's probably a mess! He needs to clean it up before she sees..! And he even hasn't let his mom know-! Oh no, his mom's probably going to be really embarrassing, too. See? This is why Huey doesn't make last-minute preparations!

Okay, just calm down, Huey. It's not that bad, right? Once they get home, he'll just try to quickly clean everything up before Webby sees the mess. And his mom probably won't be THAT embarrassing, right? She is a "cool mom" after all…whatever that means…

It'll be fine. He just needs to calm down.

…

This was a terrible idea.

Huey heard the bell ring, signaling the end of the day. The teacher dismissed the class, making all of the students eagerly pack up and head out the door, glad that school was finally over. Huey quietly packed up his things, being one of the few students who were still in the classroom.

"Hold on, I'm just gonna grab my stuff really quickly!" Webby informed him as she walked past, flashing him a smile.

"O-Okay," he replied as he was once again reminded that she was actually going over to his house.

Webby grinned and left the classroom, leaving Huey to contemplate whether or not he was going to regret this. No. He just needs to calm down.

Huey left the classroom and stepped out into the crowded hallways of the school, dodging some students who were running to the exit as if their lives depended on it. This was the most chaotic time of the day, in his opinion. It's like he's at risk of getting trampled on at any moment…it wouldn't be the first time, anyway.

Huey dodged the rowdy students and made his way over to his locker. He took out his bag and looked around. Webby still wasn't back, so he assumes that she's still at her own locker.

He heaved his backpack on his back and made his way over to Webby's, avoiding the students who charged past him.

However, as he made his way over, he saw Webby talking to someone, which probably explains what was taking her so long. Huey gripped the strap of his backpack, wondering if he should walk up and let her know that he was there…

Webby was chatting animatedly to a boy in green. For some reason, Huey wasn't sure if he should approach, so instead, he stood a few feet away, waiting for her to finish her conversation. He must say, he felt kind of awkward…

Just as he was contemplating walking over, Webby noticed him standing there.

"Oh! Sorry..!" she apologized to Huey. She quickly grabbed her backpack and shut her locker. She turned to the boy in green. "Sorry, I'm going to a friend's house today. Maybe some other time?"

"Aw, boo…" the boy playfully booed. He chuckled and shrugged. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Webby thanked him and skipped over to Huey, a smile plastered on her face. "Ready to go?"

"U-Uh, yeah…" Huey replied, awkwardly. "Let's go."

Huey and Webby weaved through the crowd of students in the hall and made their way out into the schoolyard. Huey blinked as the sunlight hit his face. He saw all the students pour out of the halls, headed for the school gate. Huey and Webby made their way over to the gate.

"Do your parents know you're coming over to my place..?" he asked, cautiously. Webby's eyes widened a bit as it hit her.

"Ohhh..!" she gasped in realization. "THAT'S what I'm forgetting..! Sorry, could you just stay here for a bit? I just need to let my friend know."

"Okay…" Huey replied, not really knowing who she was referring to. Webby shot him a look of gratitude as she ran off and headed towards the gate. Huey, once again feeling awkward, stared down at the ground and kicked a small rock at his feet. For some reason, he always felt awkward when he was waiting for someone. Doesn't everyone?

Luckily, it did not take long for Webby to return to him.

"Sorry! It's all good now!" she apologized, sheepishly smiling.

"Okay, good. My mom's picking us up. That's okay with you, right..?" he asked, nervously. Webby didn't seem to understand why he was so nervous. Huey doesn't really either, to be honest.

"Yeah, of course!" she assured him as they passed through the school gate. Huey immediately spotted the bright red car which his mom drove in. It was with the other parked cars in front of the school. He saw Della in the window, too.

Huey led Webby to the car, praying that his mom wouldn't say anything embarrassing. Please, please, please don't.

Della looked out the window and saw Huey and a girl walking to the car. Oh..!

She opened the door and stepped out of the car as Huey and Webby approached her. Huey could see the grin on his mom's face. Oh great.

"Hey, Mom," he greeted, giving his mom a quick hug.

"Hi, Hue!" she replied, hugging him back. She pulled away and looked at Webby with a grin on her face. "Who's this?"

"Hi! I'm Webby!" Webby introduced herself in her own Webby-ish way, holding out her hand. Della laughed and shook Webby's hand eagerly.

"Oh, so you're Webby!" Della said. Huey's mentioned her before. "You're Huey's-?"

"Classmate. Friend. She's my friend," Huey answered. "Um…is it okay if Webby goes with us to our house today? We need to work on a project."

"Yeah, sure! Do your parents know?" Della asked. She seemed to be cool with everything.

"…Yup!" Webby responded, looking away and nodding.

"Perfect!" Della opened the car door and sat down inside. "Hop in, kids. Get ready for take-off!"

Huey exasperatedly shook his head and opened the car door, letting Webby sit in the back seat first. He then took a seat next to her, hoping that Della wouldn't do what he thinks she's going to do.

"Lady and gentleman, this is your captain speaking." Oh great. She's doing it. "We are now preparing for take-off, so make sure to buckle up!"

Webby seemed amused by Della's plane humor, even though she didn't quite get it.

"She used to be a pilot," Huey explained, seeing Webby's slight confusion.

"Oh! Cool!" Webby exclaimed, genuinely amazed. "I actually know a pilot too!"

"Well, it's the coolest job in the business, after all," Della jokes as she starts the car. "Isn't that right, Hue?"

"Hmmm…" Huey pretended to hum in thought. "That's up for debate."

Della feigned a gasp of betrayal. "Gasp, how dare you? I'll have you know, being a pilot is serious business."

As Della drove, they turned a corner. As they did so, she made a noise mimicking a jet plane's engine, making Webby laugh and Huey flush.

"Mooom..!" he whined, kind of embarrassed about how silly his mom was being in front of his friend. He covered his face with his cap, cringing. "Do you have to make the noise every time we make a turn?"

"Yes, it's very necessary," Della replies, clearly enjoying embarrassing her son. "Why not, right?"

"But judging from your introduction telling us to put on our seatbelts, I thought we were on an airplane, not a jet!" Huey says matter-of-factly, adjusting his cap back on his head.

"It's a...very sophisticated jet!" Webby answers as if she knew this from the beginning. Della laughs.

"What she said!"

Huey didn't bother to refute that. In all honesty, he liked playing along with Della's silly humor most of the time. It was fun! However, when it's in front of a friend from school, he can't help but feel really embarrassed. Still, Webby doesn't seem to mind. She's actually enjoying it, which is good.

It wasn't long before they arrived at Huey's house. As they parked in the driveway, Huey felt a little bit antsy. He had forgotten about how much of a mess the inside of his house was..! He can't let anyone see that..!

Immediately he got out of the car and quickly ran to the front door. Webby and Della followed him afterward, wondering why he looked so panicky.

"Are you okay-?" Webby asked, staring at him weirdly. Huey opened the front door and looked back at her.

"Uh, stay here for a bit, I'll be right back..!" Huey hurriedly says before dashing into the house and closing the door, looking panicked.

As he disappeared into the house, Webby looked at Della, confused. Della chuckled awkwardly. "He's fine, don't worry. He's just really nervous about having someone over at his house."

If Huey had been around to hear that, he would've been even more embarrassed than before. However, the young duck was currently running around the house, picking up any messes that he spotted.

"Why is this house such a dump?!" he said to himself, picking up a random book that he had left on the couch. In reality, his house actually wasn't that much of a mess. But he was worrying too much to realize that.

Huey was now running around with the pile of random objects that he found lying around. He scurried around, looking for a place to put all of it in. He needs to get rid of it all before-!

"Huey, honey, are you done in there?" Della's voice called from outside the front door. Huey froze.

"U-Uh, yeah, hold on..!" He responded, feeling the panic within him grow stronger the longer he kept them waiting. Huey eventually ran over his room and threw the objects in there, making sure to close the door afterward so that Webby won't see. They aren't going into his room, anyway.

Huey ran over to the front door and opened it, seeing Webby and Della waiting there.

"Sorry, sorry..!" he apologized. "I'm done, you can come in now."

He stepped aside and let Webby and Della enter, feeling somewhat exhausted from trying to clean the house in a matter of a few minutes. He followed them afterward, making sure to close the front door.

"So, um…" Huey says walking over next to Webby. "We can work over there if that's okay with you."

He pointed to the living room, which had a couch, a coffee table, and a TV, along with some other small furniture. It was relatively average for a home, but he hoped she wouldn't care. Webby smiled and nodded.

"Okay, sure!"

The two went over and sat on the couch, taking off their backpacks. Huey spoke up, glad that they could finally work on the project without any more distractions. "So I was thinking that we could start-"

"You kids need anything?" Della asked, interrupting Huey as she passed by the living room. Huey groaned.

"Moooom..!"

"Hehe, alright, alright, I'll leave you two to it," Della chuckled. It's not every day that Huey has a friend over, so this was kind of fun to her. Della then left, leaving Huey and Webby alone.

Huey sighed. "Sorry about that."

"Oh nah, it's fine! I like your mom! She's cool!" Webby told him, beaming. Huey smiled, relieved.

"Well, in any case, I got all of our research notes here from school so I think we're good to start on the poster now," Huey says, reaching into his backpack. He pulled out his notebook – which he and Webby wrote in earlier as they were researching.

"Good, because I got the poster paper riiiight here!" Webby excitedly says, pulling out two giant rolls of paper out of her backpack. One was smaller than the other. Webby looked at both of them and held them up. "What do you think? A1 or A2? I'm thinking A2."

"What? Where did you get those?" Huey asked, perplexed. "And…how did they both fit in your backpack?!"

"I got them from the cupboard in the classroom, duh," Webby answers. "And don't question my backpack, it can hold a bunch of stuff! It holds my lunch, my books, my night-vision goggles, my grappling hook—"

"…Why do you have a grappling hook?!"

"Why wouldn't I?" Webby shrugged. She stared at him. "…Is…Is that not a normal thing for kids to have?"

Huey scratched the back of his head. "Generally…no, it's not."

"Oh. Well, I kinda bring it with me everywhere I go…" Webby laughs sheepishly. She unrolled the A2 sized paper and laid it down on the coffee table in front of them. "A-Anyways, we should get started."

Huey merely stared at her. Wow. He knew even less about her than he thought. What kind of crazy life does she live where she has to carry around a grappling hook and night vision goggles?! Maybe this is why Huey's so intrigued by her. Because she's NOT normal. It's definitely not a bad thing, of course.

Huey shook the thoughts out of his head and flipped through his notebook, looking at all the notes they took. "Alright, well, where should we start? We could start by making a section about Mars' moons, we could do something about how scientists are currently finding ways to support life on Mars, or we could do a section about…"

Huey stared at the notebook exasperatedly, seeing some information that he did not write. "…Martians. Webby."

"What? It's important information!" Webby shrugged, innocently. Huey rolled his eyes.

"It's not factual information."

"Yes, it is!" Webby moved over and looked over Huey's shoulder. She pointed at the book. "I wrote all the facts about Martians right there, see?"

"Alright, fine, we'll compromise. We'll say that there have been rumors of there being life on Mars. Does that sound alright to you?" Huey asked, flipping through the book. Webby thought about it for a few seconds, then smiled.

"Alright! We should probably put all the information in now so that we can decorate it later."

"Yeah, you're right," Huey agreed, nodding. "Real information, I might add. Not fake ones."

Webby crossed her arms. "Are you talking about my Martian thing? I'm telling you they ARE real! Do you really think we're the only living beings in the universe?"

"No," Huey says. "I believe we're the only living beings in our Solar System. We haven't gone that far into the universe to know for sure."

"Well, there's tons of evidence of life being on Mars! Like, the UFOs we see in those videos or the strange, extraterrestrial objects we see crash down onto Earth! Or the fact that people have SEEN aliens before!"

"Webby, I'm 100% sure that all of those were either fake or you saw them happen in movies."

Webby huffed in frustration. "Maybe. But Scrooge McDuck has seen them! He said so once! He said he saw a Martian crash down onto earth!"

Huey rolled his eyes and opened the notebook he had earlier, flipping through the pages. "I don't buy it."

"What?!"

"I don't buy what McDuck says. I mean, yeah, he's a great business guy and he's also very adventurous. I've heard lots of stories about him. But sometimes those stories seem really…I don't know…fake," Huey said honestly, reading the information in the notebook.

Webby was appalled. "Excuse me? Mr. McDuck's stories ARE real!"

"I'm not saying that they're all fake, I'm just saying that some of them don't seem…possible. Like the time he told a story about having dinner with the ghosts of his relatives, or the time he said he rode the Loch Ness Monster across a large lake…things like that are what I find difficult to believe."

"Oh yeah? Well, which one of Mr. McDuck's stories DO you believe?" Webby asked, crossing her arms.

"I believe that he climbed Mt. Neverrest. I believe that he did go to Egypt and explore the pyramids. I believe the fact that he did, in fact, find out that Bigfoot was just a shaved bear," Huey answered, listing it all down. "Because those things are actually possible."

"I'm telling you now, Huey, all of Mr. McDuck's stories are 100% real!" Webby said, sounding really confident in her statement.

"Webby, he has no proof for a lot of those stories! Besides, how would we know? We don't know Scrooge McDuck personally."

"No, I-!" Webby exclaimed, before shutting her mouth. Her eyes darted to the right for a split second. "Right, right, we don't know Scrooge…but still!"

"Yeah, well, until I see it for myself, I won't buy it," Huey shrugged, nonchalantly. Webby was silent for a few seconds, seemingly thinking hard about something. She then snapped her fingers, an idea forming in her head.

"I got it!"

Huey turned to look at her, confused. "Got what?"

"There's a small crater in the park near Funso's that I'm 99% sure is from an alien spaceship..! Or a meteor..!" Webby told him, excitedly. She jumped up from the couch and stood up. "We should go check it out. And once we get there, you'll believe that aliens are real for sure!"

Huey stumbled as Webby grabbed his hand and pulled him up from the couch. "W-Wait but, what about the poster?!"

"We can do that later. Come oooon, Huey! Let's go on an adventure!" she said, sounding very eager for this "adventure". Webby looked at him with excited and pleading eyes, trying to convince him.

Huey sighed. She seemed very determined to prove to him that aliens are real. Usually, he wouldn't have the time for this sort of thing, especially since there's a task that needs to be done. Huey was not one to procrastinate…

But…

"Alright, fine. Let's go check out this crater."

Webby cheered, pumping her fists. "YES! ADVENTURE, ADVENTURE, ADVEN-"

"But I'm only doing it to prove to you that aliens aren't real!" Huey added, amused at the disappointed look on her face.

Webby shook her head, her smile reappearing. "Then get ready to eat your words, Hubert!"

Huey rolled his eyes and then called out to Della. "Mom?"

"Yeah?" Della's voice came from another room.

"Can Webby and I go to the park?"

"Alright, just be careful..!"

Webby grinned and looked at Huey. "Wow, your mom's so cool..! My granny wouldn't agree to that so easily. Let's go!"

Webby started making her way to the front door, signaling for Huey to follow her. Huey frowned. "Your grandma?"

"Mhm!" Webby replied, skipping out the front door. Huey followed her, curious.

"You don't live with your parents..?"

Huey watched Webby's expression falter from its usual happy look for a few seconds. It was a while before she shook her head and smiled again. "Nah. My parents aren't…here. Come on, the park's this way!"

"Oh…" Huey said, kind of feeling guilty for bringing it up. He doesn't exactly know what she means by "aren't here" but he can make a few guesses. "Sorry for asking-"

"No, it's okay!" Webby waved it off. They started walking down the path, down the neighborhood. Webby put her hands behind her back as she looked at Huey. "…What about your dad? Where's he..?"

"Oh, um, he's just working in a different city," Huey explained. He wasn't really expecting her to ask. "St. Canard to be specific. Sometimes, my mom and I would fly over to visit him- you know, with her having experience as a pilot and everything."

"That's cool!" Webby replied, grinning. "I just kinda live with my granny and…um…yeah, that's it."

Huey doesn't know why, but he couldn't help but feel like she wasn't telling him the complete truth. Still, it was none of his business, anyway. Huey wasn't nosy.

"Oh, look. The park is just around there, see?" Webby pointed in front of them, subtly changing the subject. Huey saw a moderately big park just around the corner. Oh. There it is. It was closer to his house than he thought. He just never really went outside often enough to know it was there.

As they got closer, Huey examined the park. There was a playground. Lots of small children were playing happily on the playground equipment as their parents watched and chatted. Somewhere nearby, a man was walking his pet. And also in the park was a large field, full of bright and healthy grass.

Not bad for a park. He hasn't really been to that many to begin with, but from what he can conclude, it has everything that a park should.

"So, where is this supposed crater?" Huey asked as they walked in. Webby then suddenly grabbed his wrist and led him over to the large field.

"It's on the other side of here!" she said as she dragged him along. Huey stumbled, trying not to trip and fall as she speed-walked over.

"Slow down..!"

It was a while before they got to the other side of the field. Huey was now staring down at what indeed looked like a moderately large crater in the ground. There was a noticeable dent in the dirt inside of the crater. A dent which seemed to take the form of an alien's face.

"Soooo?" Webby asked as she watched him stare down at the crater. "You believe in aliens now, Huey?"

"U-Um…"

Huey wasn't really sure what to say about that. Sure, the crater could've been caused by anything, but the mark of the alien's face..?

"Mm…" Huey hummed in thought. He and Webby jumped down into the crater, walking towards the dent. Huey then knelt down and touched it, as if he were a detective examining the crime scene. "I…still don't believe it."

"What?! Huey, do you not see what I'm seeing?" Webby asked, appalled. "An alien's clearly been here..!"

"Or – consider this…!" Huey said, putting his hand on his chin. "That dent could've been made by someone with an alien mask on..!"

"Why on earth would they-?"

"It could've been a prank! If someone saw a crater here, maybe they thought it would be funny if they shoved the mask in the dirt to leave a mark to make everyone THINK a real alien was here..!" Huey explained, searching for some kind of logical explanation. He'll admit, the likelihood of that happening is…low, but it's not impossible. It makes more sense than Webby's theory anyway!

"Mhm, you seriously believe that?" Webby said, crossing her arms. This boy was being awfully stubborn.

"Or there was a sci-fi convention in this park, where everyone had to dress up as aliens. And maybe someone wearing a mask slipped and face planted into the crater, thus creating the dent..!"

"Huey – "

"OR maybe the thing that made this crater just had a deformed part on it that looked like an alien's face that imprinted the pattern into the ground..! But whatever it is, it's not a real alien..!" Huey said, somewhat erratic. There was a logical explanation in this. He just needs to find it-! "Or maybe-!"

"Huey!" Webby said, smacking his arm to snap him out of it. "Calm down!"

Huey snapped back to reality as soon as he felt Webby smack him. He blinked for a few seconds before looking back at her.

"...Ow."

"Sorry. But it's okay if you can't figure it out, you know?" Webby said, chuckling. "Sure, I love solving mysteries, but the fact that it's a mystery is kinda fun, don't you think? We don't KNOW where it came from! No need to lose your head over it."

"Mm. I guess…" Huey reluctantly agreed. Webby put her hand on his shoulder and looked down at the mark in the dirt.

"Besides, don't you think that it's more fun to keep theorizing fun conspiracies rather than being stuck with a boring reality?"

"Boring reality?" Huey repeated. "Well…whether it's boring or not, we have to face reality every day don't we?"

"Yeah…" Webby nodded, looking down. "But I like believing there's more to everything than we know. It helps keep me excited by the mystery!"

Huey was silent. Webby always did live with her head in the clouds. He always liked to keep himself grounded. He wanted to make sure he's aware of the real world so that reality can't knock him off balance. Webby wasn't scared of that, though. She seemed to be living in her own world most of the time.

It was something he could never really understand.

Although, he always appreciates a new perspective on things…

"So…you don't have to worry about not knowing the answer!" Webby continued. She took out a Polaroid camera from seemingly out of nowhere and snapped a picture of the face mark in the dent.

Huey watched as the camera printed the picture out. Webby got it, shook it and then looked down at it.

"And hey! Maybe we could try figuring this mystery out together!" she suggested, excitedly giving him the photo. "That sounds fun, yeah?"

Huey took it and looked down at it. Webby wanted them to solve the mystery together? She treated it as if it were a game and the way she proposed it, it actually sounded kind of…fun. Sure, he and Webby had a lot of differences when it came to theorizing. Huey always tried to find the most realistic outcome and Webby always tried to find the most interesting outcome.

However, maybe that would actually be helpful. Huey was genuinely curious about whatever this was and he always DID want to be better friends with her. So…perhaps this will be fun. Maybe this is what he's been missing…

Huey let a grin appear on his face.

"Let's do it."

That's the end of Huey's introduction chapter! I'm planning on making a chapter for Huey, Dewey, and Louie each before getting to the real one-shots, just to show what kind of people they are in this AU!

If you wanted to know more about the AU, then I would suggest looking for my posts about it on Tumblr, because I really go into detail about it there. However, if you don't want to, that's alright. I'm hoping to cover everything about this AU in these one-shots, so I hope you enjoy!

Until next time, guys. Bye!