duckvember 2018: 3. game duck & 5. competitive duck - Duck Siblings (HDLW), Daisy’s Triplets (AMJ), Gladstone Gander & Donald Duck.
game over! or try again?
summary: Louie found a new indie video game made by an unknown developer inspired by their favorite superheroes! Hurray! Only problem? The last level seems impossible to complete. Could anyone in the mansion do it? Also, obviously the Duck Avenger is the best character to play with, right? No, Gizmoduck! No, Darkwing Duck! ...Huh, better ask Uncle Donald.
word count: 1994
n/a: inspired by this wonderful piece by @neon-shesh. april, may and june’s designs inspired by @avespecora, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants writing.
“Oh, come on! Not again!”
“Umm, Louie, what are you doing?”
Huey looked at Louie, sprawled on the floor dramatically, holding his phone like had betrayed him. Louie just looked at him with this indecipherable expression and then showed him his phone. A pretty high score was glowing in the screen and the words of two options: ‘try again!’ and ‘game over’. It showed too, the international high scores. The colors looked cool and the little animation too, Huey murmured appreciatively.
Huey sat beside him. “But you have a really high score, and into the internationals too, Louie! Why are you so frustrated? What is the game about?”
Louie sighed and got up like it was a trouble for him to do that but he smiled anyway, happy to ramble about his new discovery. “A person on the internet developed this new indie game with superheroes from real life! They have the Duck Avenger even when he’s retired. You can choose between Gizmoduck, Darkwing Duck and the Duck Avenger. I chose the Duck Avenger, of course, he’s the most badass.”
“I would like to argue that. Duck Avenger was the most badass, he retired, he’s no more. Gizmoduck, however, it’s a new superhero and he has so much-.”
Louie interrupted him immediately. “Yeah, yeah. I will fight you on that later because that doesn’t change the fact that the Duck Avenger is the most badass. Anyways, the game is pretty simple. But I can’t past the last level no matter how much I try. It’s stupid, I’m thinking it’s rigged.”
“Maybe the character is not the one adequate for the level?”
“That’s ridiculous, they’re all supposed to pass the levels.”
“Well, only one way to find out. Come on, let me try it with Gizmoduck.”
Louie passed the phone to him and Huey tried it. It was, like Louie said, an actually simple game. Like some Mario Bros game. But the animation was actually pretty cool and fluid and the levels were even more interesting. Until he got to the last level, and he lost. Multiple times.
“This doesn’t make sense! I have changed every little thing that went wrong went I played and none of them work?”
“I told you! It’s rigged!”
Dewey entered the living room and looked at his brothers being a little too mad at a simple phone. “Guys, what are you doing?”
“We are playing this game and none of us can pass it.”
“Oh, can I see? Mmm. I will choose Darkwing.”
“So, Launchpad made you like it, huh?”
“Shut up. Pass the game.”
.
“WHY THE HELL I CAN NOT PASS IT?”
“WE KNOW!”
“THIS IS RIDICULOUS!”
“Boys, whatcha doing?”
“WEBBY, TRY THIS!”
“Oh, ok. HEY, IS THAT THE DUCK AVENGER? I WILL CHOOSE HIM!”
Louie just smiled proudly. “Good choice, little sister. Good choice.” Huey and Dewey just rolled their eyes.
.
“WAIT, WHY I CAN NOT PASS IT?”
“UGH, COME ON, NOT EVEN WEBBY?!”
“THE GAME IT’S RIGGED, I TOLD YOU!”
“Maybe the developer made a mistake?” Huey took his book out of his hat and looked out for the page on developing independents video games.
Louie and Dewey rolled his eyes. “Not everything can be in that book, Huey.”
.
“Even Uncle Scrooge tried, and he lost too. Well, he didn’t like to play, kept saying that’s it was a ridiculously simple game and he shouldn’t lose his time. But when he kept losing he almost threw my phone like it personally offended him. No good.”
“Cousin Fethry tried too, but well, he didn’t really understand the game either. He thought it was cool though.”
“Well, atI least I’m glad they all have great taste. They all chose Duck Avenger.”
“Yeah but, boys, we have not found a way to win. Granny didn’t want to even try it though.”
“Launchpad tried too, he lost with Darkwing and he was actually good at playing it.”
“Maybe we could ask Uncle Gladstone? I mean, if someone it’s able to win, it’s him, right?”
All the kids looked at each other and then nodded. All of them went to look for Gladstone.
.
“Do you think anyone is going to ever catch up that you fucked up that last level on purpose so no one can find the secret passage, April?” May asked, making her basketball’s ball turn around in her finger while resting on her bed.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, I don’t know why no one is finding the secret passage in the last level!”
“Well, you should fix it, dear sister. Like me and this little buddy. Right, little buddy?” June cheerfully said from her place in her own bed. She was trying to fix a little robot she was making.
“I. Am. Trying. To. Fix. It! You’re not helping!” April declared, furiously typing on her computer.
May and June just rolled their eyes and shrugged, continuing to do their own thing.
“Girls, let’s go! April, to your programming classes! May, to your basketball practice! June, you volunteered to that activity in the park!”
“Yes, aunt Daisy!” May and June responded and went to look for her things. April made a frustrated noise and started to write even faster. “UGH, WAIT, JUST A LITTLE. I STILL NEED TO SEND THE UPDATE.”
“I’M NOT WAITING. APRIL!”
“UGH, OKAY.” April ended giving up, taking his things frustrated, putting her laptop in her bag. Well, she could just apologize to the gamer community later and post the update, she supposed.
.
“Sorry, little beans. Guess video games are not my thing, not even for my luck.” Gladstone did seem weirded out by the result too. He didn’t lose the game but for a really weird reason his character (the Duck Avenger, Louie was glad most of his family had such great taste) got stuck in a weird way, he didn’t lose like everybody else, he wasn’t killed even once but his character kept moving and moving without another obstacle on the way but the way didn’t end for minutes. Until they themselves stopped the game. It was like the game couldn’t let him lose but it couldn’t let him win either. It was actually ridiculous.
Webby sighed but smiled. “It doesn’t matter, Uncle Gladstone. Thanks anyways.”
Louie raised a brow and looked Huey and they both nodded. They were thinking the same thing. “In a way, Uncle Gladstone didn’t lose, he’s actually the only one that didn’t lose, and he never died in the game,” Huey concluded.
“The game is rigged, it’s impossible Uncle Gladstone had not won.” Louie ended saying.
Gladstone seemed to consider it too and then he smiled. “Have you asked Don to play it?”
“Do you think the most unlucky duck in the world can win this game?” It wasn’t like Dewey wanted to underappreciate his Uncle Donald but it was just. Good luck vs. Bad luck, you know.
Gladstone shrugged, an easy smile on his face. “Why not try it? Don holds a lot of surprises.” Also, he is going to flip out if he sees someone has done a game of PK, he deserves a little pleasure once in a while, he thought. “Good luck, kids!”
The kids looked at Gladstone going away to whatever business he had. Well, that only left them with an option.
.
“Kids, I’m kinda busy.” He was still repairing the boat, he didn’t know why the thing could just hold it together. All the kids made puppy faces. Donald sighed, it wasn’t fair. “Ok, ok. Give me that. Wait, is that the Duck Avenger?” He seemed to blush but Webby wasn’t so sure.
For a reason unknown to Webby, it was like that simple phrase lighted up something between the boys that she had not seen before. She blinked confused, the air smelled like competition out of nowhere. She looked at Donald and made a simple question. “Who are you going to choose to play, Uncle Donald?”
It seemed like the wrong question when the boys’ aura of competitiveness grew even more. Louie was the first one to attack, trying to be smooth about it. “It is incredible that the Duck Avenger is in a video game and he deserves it because he is super badass, you should choose him, Uncle Donald.”
Huey jumped next, his spirit wasn’t going to submit to the younger and more spoiled brother. “But Gizmoduck is a promising young hero! He has so much room to grow, and he is super smart and heroic and-!”
Dewey, not about to be left behind, jumped too, interrupting his older brother, determined to make his Uncle choose his hero. “But Darkwing Duck is amazing too, he is a great detective and does some pretty sick moves! You should choose him, Uncle Donald!”
Donald tried to calm them down. “Wow, wow. Calm down, boys. Let’s see.” Donald looked at the screen and then nodded. “Ok, I’m choosing Gizmoduck.”
Huey made a pleased cry, his fist in the air. Dewey and Louie looked at him, feeling betrayed. “But Uncle Donald!”
“Well, Huey is right, Gizmoduck is a promising young hero. Darkwing Duck is from another city and he has more experience, and Duck Avenger is retired, so. Anyways, this is just a game, it really doesn’t matter who I choose.”
“Ha! In your faces!” Huey jumped, happily, the winner of the unsaid competition. Dewey and Louie groaned.
“Huey,” Donald warned.
“Sorry, Uncle Donald…”
Webby tried to regain the attention to their actual issue. “Well, let’s play, Uncle Donald!”
Donald lost more times than any other person they asked for, the kids were about to give up until, eventually, he screamed ‘It says this is the last level!’, the kids jumped and hovered around him to see the screen. It was, in fact, the last level. They all felt dread over their bodies. Even Donald was starting to tense over this simple game. He started the level and the kids even felt like they couldn’t breathe. For now, it was going well. He avoided the obstacles even when the kids distracted him with their shouts of ‘be careful!’, ‘no, to the left!’, ‘uuuuugh’ and ‘jump, no, run, no, just walk!’. He was almost getting to the same point that Uncle Gladstone was. He only needed to make a simple jump and not fall into the hole. Simple enough.
He fell. The kids’ spirits fell too. Nobody had ever felt into that hole, it was an easy jump.
“NO!”
“UNCLE DONALD, HOW? WHY DID YOU LOSE LIKE THIS?”
“WHY? WHY? IT WAS A SIMPLE JUMP!”
“UGH, SO CLOOOOOSE.”
“Um, kids, I fell into a secret room.”
All the kids stopped their wailing, confused and asked at the same time. “Secret room?”
In fact, there was a secret room. The kids started to shout again, happy and almost hysterical. Donald kept moving his character until he got to a door. It read ‘FINAL BOSS’. They all gulped. Donald made the character enter the doctor without much thought.
Donald did give the final boss, Negaduck, a fight. It was sad that he lost, anyways.
Donald sighed, mad at himself, feeling the dread of the disappoint he probably left in the kids. “I’m sorry I didn’t win your game, kids. I-”
The kids couldn’t care less, they all hugged him. Donald returned the hug, greatly surprised but confused nonetheless.
Huey was the first one to talk. “Are you kidding? You were the only one that found the secret room, Uncle Donald!”
“Yeah, that was pretty cool!” Dewey followed.
“Especially since not even Uncle Gladstone could. I mean, he didn’t lose, but he didn’t win either. It was weird.”
Donald was even more confused now. “Not even Gladstone?”
Webby smiled and reassured him. “Not even Gladstone. You’re the best, Uncle Donald!”
Donald smiled harder and hugged them harder. The kids just laughed, happily, hugging him in return. Who knew that what they actually needed was some little of bad luck?
