Chapter 3 [i]Higher for Hire. Evening[/i] Kit sat down on the big easy chair at the office, trying to read the latest issue of his favorite magazine (Flyboy magazine) about planes, but his eyes kept constantly glancing at the clock. "That's so strange," he whispered. Then there was a knock at the door, to which he promptly jumped off the chair and quickly went to open it but, to his surprise, it was Molly and Wildcat. He blinked "Molly? Wildcat? What happened?" "Kit? Mommy's not here?" the little yellow bear cub girl asked, looking a bit scared "When Mommy never showed up to get me and Lucy, we called Wildcat." "Wildcat?" Kit asked, greeting the lion. "But wasn't you on vacations?" "Ah, yeah...but I wuz visiting Buzz...he had this thingie that wuz like "Eeek I'm sick!" and then I saw there was a doohickey where the thingamabob should be and we got it out, and it went "vrrroouummm" and then..." the mechanic continued but Kit was too worried to pay attention. "But Molly, how did you know Wildcat was there?" Kit wondered, looking puzzled. "He had told Lucy and Lucy told me, so we could call him if we needed." the little girl said. "But then..." Kit whispered "Where is Baloo? And Miss Cunningham? And Jon? The Sea Duck is gone but his motorcycle is still here...And I guess Miss Cunningham had a meeting today downtown, she was very excited about it...why haven't they come back yet...I hope they are ok..." The answer to Kit's thoughts would be found deep inside Pirate Island, where a certain bear momma was just waking up, to find herself staring at a cell door. "NNngh...what..where..." she blinked a few times and gasped. "Molly! I need to get her...wait...this is...oh no..." she said as she recognized the place she was in as one of the cave cells she once had been locked in. "It can't be... I'm... this is the Pirate Island!" She got up to her feet and walked to try the door but of course, it was locked. She pulled and grunted at it but it did not budge. "Helooooo? Anybody there??" she yelled. "Hey man! Watch out! I'm walking!" Rebecca's eyes widened as she recognized that voice. "Baloo?!" she gasped. Indeed, the big bear pilot was walking and complaining as she was pushed forward by the barrel of a gun. Both him and Jon Goldwing, who was no longer tied, were escorted by the pirates to a cell next to Rebecca's, shoved in and locked inside. "These clown's manners still need work" the big bear said. "Baloo!! You're here!!" Rebecca yelled, her head against the small opening on the cell door. "Rebecca??" The big bear jumped fast to his feet and rushed to his own cell door. "What in the world are You doing here?? This ain't vacation camp!" "I know! The rich guy from the meeting drugged me! Now that I think about it, he looked familiar...but what are you two doing here?" she wondered. Jon got up to his feet and answered her question. "We were scammed, Miss Cunningham. When we arrived Port Flamingo, I waited for Baloo at the co-pilot's seat and then heard the door opening on the back. I thought he was back already, but before I could do anything this big grey pirate grabs me and ties me up and then there's no way I can warn Baloo before he is back....so here we are." "Well, now You can really say you're part of the team, Books!" Baloo chuckled. "You ain't a member of this crew before You get kidnapped by Karny and his goons." Jon frowned and scratched his head at that, not quite getting it. But before they could talk any further, the sound of footsteps approaching became louder and the door of the cell where the pilot and the accountant were opened and, standing proudly before them was none other than Don Karnage himself, along with Mad Dog, Gibber and Dumptruck at his side pointing guns at the prisoners. "So we meet again, my not-so-deeply-friends, yes-no? The annoying business lady, the dumb pilot and my former prote-- what??" He paused in surprise, pointing his clawed finger at Goldwing "Just..WHO are you, you bearly type person??" Karnage and his pirates walked inside the cell as both bears walked back against the wall. The pirate captain looked closely at Goldwing, looking up and down. "You don't LOOK like my former traitorous protegé!" The pirate captain concluded. Gibber then whispered something in the Captain's ear, to which Karnage growled and replied "Of COURSE he did not grew up so fast!" But then the pirate stopped and wondered, looking at the accountant "Or did you? Maybe you deceiving juvenile grew up, changed your hair and dyed your fur to try uselessly to escape my fearsome wrath, sí?" By this point, Jon was totally confused and then looked at Baloo, who cleared his throat. "Hey, Karny, meet our accountant, Jon Goldwing. Jon, this is ol' Karny, pal." the big bear announced quite informally. Karnage gasped at such spunk, quickly drew his cutlass and pointed it at Baloo "IT'S KARRRRNAGE! DON KARRRNAGE! And you..." he said, turning his attention and blade at Goldwing "WHY were an accountant person on the co-pilot seat of that silly yellow plane??" "Well..." Jon said calmly "Our navigator had school today, Miss Cunningham had a business meeting downtown and our mechanic is on vacations...so" he rolled his eyes "My boss kind of...persuaded me to dress like a pilot and go along with Baloo in order to complete the delivery and not lose the contract..." Karnage cringed and quickly slapped Dumptruck, Mad Dog and even Gibber. "IDIOTS!! I wanted that little pest that has fooled my plans before, not this dopey looking impostor!" the irate captain growled. "Gee, thanks." Jon whispered. "Wait...that means I can go now? I am not the one you were looking for, so why keep me here, right?" Karnage simply grinned "Ah, nice try, Mr. Numbers-juggling person, but if you are with THEM, then you share their fate! So says the fearsome Pirate Captain DON KARRRRNAGE! Which is me. Alone, the little traitor will not be able to stop my fabulous plans! When he and everyone realizes what's happening....it shall be too late, yes-no?" And with that, Don Karnage spun on his heels and he and his Pirates walked out of the cell, closing and locking the door behind. "I knew that guy looked familiar!" Rebecca groaned from her cell. "But why Karny wanted us here? And Kit?" Baloo wondered. "And how do we get out of here?" Jon asked. "Ol' Baloo will take care of it, Books." the bear grinned and walked to the cell door and peeked through the small window with bars. "Hey, Guard we....aw, shoot....no guard." "Oh Molly..." Rebecca whispered as she sat down o nthe wooden cell cot, "I hope you are ok..." And at Higher for Hire, Rebecca's daughter was watching Kit talking through the radio with Louie and looking more and more worried. "So Baloo and Jon stopped by on the way to Port Flamingo early today? And never came back for gas or anything?" the young navigator asked. "No, Lil' Britches. And they shoulda been back hours ago too." the bar owner said "Think they are in trouble?" "I don't know...but Miss Cunningham is missing too..." the boy said as he checked many papers on her desk, one of them with a name for a meeting with Mr. Gearnak. "She only had this meeting today and should be back...I know she wouldn't forget to pick up Molly." "Or Lucy." the Little girl reminded Kit, placing her doll on the table on top of the paper Kit was checking. "Molly, c'mon, I'm... wait!" Kit looked down at the paper. The legs of the doll had covered part of the client's name, leaving only the "arna" visible. He lifted the first leg, to see the "Ge" and whispered. "Arna...Ge....arnage..." his eyes widened at realizing the true identity of the 'client'. "KARNAGE! Louie!! Don Karnage has them!!" the navigator concluded. "Wait What?? Are You sure, kiddo??" Louie said, dropping a glass that shattered on the floor. "I am sure of it! I don't know why, or how, but he is behind this! We need to find a way to get them back Louie!" the boy said frantically. "Easy there, Kit! We don't even know where they could be!" the bar owner reasoned. "Louie, they have to be either in the Iron Vulture or the Pirate Island! And I know where the Island is. We have to try there first!" the young navigator said. "Aw, kid..." the monkey sighed and then looked around at the bar. "Hey Willie! Need you and your plane! We gotta go to Cape Suzette pick up a navigator!" ********************************* [i]Caribbean Ocean, North of Cape Suzette. The U.S.S. Valiant[/i] At the bridge of the powerful battleship, a broad and tall lion captain gazed at the night ocean. "Hmpf. Those Air Pirates appear to have learned their lesson. The sky seems calm today. Anything new, Lieutenant?" The captain asked a dog who was looking through binoculars. "No Sir. Only some independent cargo planes and Mr. Khan's regular planes, but nothing else." the dog answered, lowering his binoculars "Very well." The lion said. "Let's hope it stays like that." But next to the massive war vessel, a small submarine emerged just its top, opened its hatch and Mad Dog, carrying many gas grenades and a grenade launcher, climbed out and looked for open port holes. At the same time, on the other side of the battleship, another small submarine emerged as wee and, from its hatch, Ratchet came out with another grenade launcher and gas grenades. Soon it began. Everywhere inside the ship and on the deck, grenades were falling and releasing the powerful sleeping gas. The crew was caught unaware and by surprise and had no chance to resist or fight back. A few tried to sound the alarm but Dumptruck and other pirates boarded wearing gas masks and quickly intercepted the disoriented sailors. When finally the gas cloud that had formed around the U.S.S. Valiant had dispersed, the whole crew was asleep and being carried to the brig. Mad Dog walked to the port side of the battleship and started flashing light signs into the night ocean. It was answered by Hacksaw on a small rowboat, who repeated the same sign further away. After a while, the dark silhouette of the Iron Vulture appeared, not in the sky as it's usual, but on the sea, sailing through the night, approaching the Valiant, its massive size dwarfed by the flagship of the Navy. The proud Pirate Captain climbed on deck and walked straight to the bridge of his newly acquired vessel. "Well done, my minions!" he cheered. "Now, this wondrous vessel belongs to your outstanding and handsome leader, DON KARRRNAGE!" he unsheathed his cutlass and held it high in the air. "At the cannons, men! Set a course to Cape Suzette! Tonight....we pluuuuunderrr the city!!" What followed was intense cheering by the pirate crew, and then every man rushed on the deck. The massive battleship slowly turned around and its engines came to life, as it sailed steady to the unprepared city. Meanwhile, we can see Baloo has been using his head. After another attempt banging it at the cell door, the big bear sits on the ground dizzy. "Alright, folks, I've used ma head all I could...now time to use yours." the pilot said as he got up and leaned against the cave wall. Goldwing meanwhile had removed his jacket, folded it and was using it as a pillow as he was laying on the cot. "No way to unlock the door and no guard to trick outside...anybody has a spoon so we can start digging?" Rebecca was nervously pacing back and forth in her own cell. "Don't worry, you two, I am sure that something is going to happen...they have to remember that we are here, right? They have to give us food and water, right? There is a whole set of rules for prisoners, right?! They cannot let us starve and... and..." she suddenly ran to the cell door and started banging at it. "SOMEBODY GET US OUT OF HERE!! HELLLOOOO!! LET US GO!! I CAN TRADE OUR FREEDOM FOR A BIG YELLOW PLANE!!!" "HEY!! watch it Lady!" The big bear pilot said when he heard his baby being offered as trade. However, his outrage was quickly silenced by the sounds of his belly grumbling. "Man, what I really could go fer right now is another Krakatoa Sundae from Louie's..." "Not till You pay yer tab, cuz!" a familiar voice echoed outside the cell. "Ah, c'mon, Louie, you wouldn't deny...LOUIE???" Baloo jumped and ran to the cell door, looking through the little opening and seeing Louie and Kit standing outside and grinning. "Hi Papa Bear! Need a hand there?" the boy grinned. "Hey kid! Nah, it's really warm and nice here this time of the year." the pilot chuckled. "Kit!! Louie!! Oh my God, I'm so glad to hear you two! Where is Molly?! She's not with you, is she??" the worried bear mom asked quickly. "Don't worry Miss Cunningham, she's with Wildcat at the office." Kit reassured her while opening the cells with a set of keys. The three bears walked out of the cells, Goldwing slipping his jacket on. "Nice to see you again, Kit...and you too Louie. But...Kit, how did you get the cell keys?" "They were hanging from the wall on the other room." the bear cub explained. "The Island seems to be deserted, with minimal crew! I guess almost all the pirates left for something big!" "Well, we should get outta here before they come back fer tea." Baloo said and the three started carefully their path through the caves. On the way out, they walked through the large opening where everything that had been stolen from many planes was laying around. Kit then spotted the map on the wall and stopped. "Guys, look!" he pointed. The keen navigator walked to the map and after a quick glance he pointed. "These are the places where the pirates been attacking....and those...look like the navy ships...and this big one...it has to be the U.S.S. Valiant. And... it's marked as a target! They want to take over the ship!" "But how?" Louie asked "The Navy boys would blow them to pieces before they even landed!" "Wait..." Rebecca whispered. "The wine!" Everybody looked puzzled at her. "When I went to the meeting," she started "When Karnage was dressed like the tycoon, he offered me some wine to smell and that was the last thing I remember before waking up here! I guess they have some sleeping drug that works very fast!" "That could have something to do with those open military crates." Jon pointed at the corner where the crates have been opened and most grenades were missing. "Okay, change of plan." Baloo said. "We gotta get the Sea Duck. Louie, need ya with me cuz. Kit, Becky, Jon, need you three to get all of that sleeping stuff that's left." They all nodded and Baloo and Louie left for the other cave where they were keeping the yellow cargo plane. A dumb looking but huge pirate mutt was sitting on a crate and had a heavy gun in his hands. "Just like in Thembria that time, cuz?" Louie whispered, grinning. "You know it!" the bear nodded. After a few moments, Baloo comes out, dressed with a ragged jacket, carrying a bag and with an eye patch "Hey man, Captain is back and said that I should stay here and you should go outside to the ship! They need more men!" The pirate blinked, looking at Baloo and said. "Uh... But... I can't... uh... the Captain said... to guard yellow plane... must guard yellow plane!" and he raised the gun at Baloo. The pilot bear simply slapped the gun barrel and poked a finger at the huge mutt chest. "CAPTAIN Don Karrrnage said that you must go to the ship!" Baloo then slipped out a radio. "You wanna tell him that You won't follow orders? You hear that, Captain?" And suddenly a voice came through the radio. "MUTINY?? Why, you stinky mutt! I shall hang you by your pinkies while I scratch my claws on a blackboard, yes-no??" And from the radio room, Louie tried to stifle his laughter as he did his best impersonation of Don Karnage. "C-Captain?? No, please, not the blackboard, Captain! I'm coming!!" And the huge pirate gives Baloo the gun and dives into the water, swimming towards the cave exit. Louie walked out of the radio room and he and Baloo high fived each other and ran for the Sea Duck. Soon, the yellow plane flew out of Pirate Island, followed by old Willie's own plane. Inside the Sea Duck, Baloo tried to contact Cape Suzette but received no response. "This is the Sea Duck to Cape Suzette. Do you copy?" The pilot tried, but there was no answer. Silence was heavy inside the cargo plane, until Louie broke it. "They are already there..." the simian said. [i]Cape Suzette[/i] The guards at the cliffs of Cape Suzette were running scattered and scared as the last of the cannons was blown to pieces by the powerful artillery of the U.S.S. Valiant. "I repeat!" A guard dog said through his radio. "The Valiant is attacking Cape Suzette! we lost the cliff guns! We need immediate help!" From the bridge of the battleship, Don Karnage watched with pride. "Look at them run, men! Cape Suzette is open for plundering! Hoist our flag!" Then he got the radio. "Will, get the Iron Vulture airborne and have the crew board the planes! Bring everything that is of value! Do not forget the baby candies, yes-no??" And soon, through the clouds, the fearsome pirate flying fortress appeared, many fighters taking off from its open beak and from its top landing lane. Meanwhile, at the battleship, the Navy flag went down, replaced by the well-known Air Pirate symbol. Inside the city, people were running and screaming as the sounds of the cannons being destroyed was enough to bring fear to the citizens. But, from his tower overlooking the city, Mr. Shere Khan displayed no fear. The businessman watched with cold eyes and then turned around and pressed a button on his intercom. "Tell the General to launch the fighters." The Tiger said calmly. And soon the Khan fighters were soaring the skies, heading to the Battleship. But with the combined power of the Iron Vulture, the U.S.S. Valiant, and the pirate fighters, Khan's planes had no chance and one by one they were taken down. Without the city's defenses, the huge pirate airship flew past the cliffs and hovered menacingly above. Inside the flying fortress, Will, Don Karnage's second in command, connected the radio to the loud speakers so the Captain could make his announcement. "Greeeeetings citizens of Cape Suzette! It is I, the world-famous pirate Don Karrrnage, speaking to you through my voice!" his voice bellowed through the powerful speakers as he spoke from the bridge of the battleship. "Once again, I come with open arms to pay a visit to your famous city....and you greeet me with cannons and silly little planes!! Oh, but don't worry, I love to play with these little toys, yes-no? But it is a pity that I broke them! Now I need all your valuables to compensate! Give me everything you have, or my powerful boom-boom ship will blow you all to pieces, sí? You have been warned! Nobody resists the irresistible handsome Captain...DON KARRRRNAGE!" And the announcement was followed by the pirate fighters flying above the city, landing on the streets and causing panic all around. Baloo and the others were now reunited at Louie's, along with many pilots, as the news came out through the radio. "The Air Pirates have taken over Cape Suzette! No one is safe!" came the voice through the radio. "Our air force has been defeated and Pirates now are plundering everything they can fin--wait, please, not my microphone! Please no!" and then static as the radio when silent. "Oh...Molly...my baby..." Rebecca whispered and Baloo put a paw on her shoulder. "Molly and Wildcat will be safe, Beckers." Baloo assured her. "Karny thinks he got us locked in the Island...we gotta use that time!" "Karnage does not have that many pirates." Kit said. "They are in their fighters, in the Iron Vulture and the Valiant. They are short on personal and that will help us. Perhaps we can take the ship back!" "Kid, they got those huge cannons and blew those fighters and the cliff defenses to pieces!" Louie said. "How can we even get close to that ship?" "You can't..." the navigator said and then he reached into his sweater and flicked open his airfoil "But I can!" "NO WAY!" Baloo thundered and walked to the boy. "Kit, this is TOO dangerous fer you to do alone! You wanna crawl into a place full of Pirates and take them all by yourself??" "Not by myself, Papa Bear! It's about... misdirection!" the bear cub grinned "I don't care who she is, kiddo, I'm not..." and then the big bear was interrupted by Rebecca who put a hand on his shoulder. "You mean a diversion, Kit?" the business woman asked. "It is still too dangerous." Kit stood his ground. "It's the only way! Look...here at Louie's we have the best pilots in the world! You guys can fly over the battleship and avoid getting hit long enough while I land and start throwing out the gas grenades! once enough pirates are asleep, it's easy for you all to board the ship and fight off the rest! C'mon, guys! Who's with me?" The pilots exchanged looks among themselves, but nobody stepped in. "Lil'Britches...it's...it's just too darn dangerous!" Baloo said. "We can't have you alone down there while we are up there and... and..." "But it's the ONLY WAY!" the boy insisted. "C'mon we can do this together!" "But Kit," Rebecca said "you will be alone down there..." "Well...he doesn't have to be..." the Higher for Hire accountant stated as he got up from his chair. "I can go with him, if that's okay." "YOU??" everybody said in unison. "Well, yeah, me." Goldwing said. "I will go with Kit and make sure he stays in one piece while we put the pirates to sleep." "Well, now." Baloo looked down at Jon. "You can't fly a plane but You can cloudsurf like this kiddo?" "Ah... no, I don't think so...but if you do a low pass I can jump from the plane and dive...I bet I can swim and climb the ship and then meet with Kit, and we can do the gas thing." the accountant said but Baloo still seemed unconvinced. "C'mon guys, I have been nothing but a fifth wheel since we took off from Cape Suzette. Lemme help!" The pilots were doubtful but Rebecca stepped forward. "Jon... you are not a fifth wheel. You saved me and Molly and that I will never be able to repay. We can't ask you to risk yourself again for the city." she said. The golden-brown bear smiled. "Miss Cunningham, I'm not risking myself for the city...I'm doing it to keep Kit safe, even though I doubt he needs saving." he smiled at the boy who grinned. "Besides, if I can survive being hit by a truck, I guess taking a swim won't kill me..." Rebecca and Baloo looked at each other and then at Kit. "Well...if you are sure you can look out after each other..." she said. "Ah still don't like it!" the big bear protested "it won't be no game down there, folks! Those pirates are not the brightest bulb but they got them guns and are trigger happy! We..." then pilot and navigator looked at each other, and Kit looked at him with pleading eyes. Baloo knew that look. The look that Kit gave him when the boy silently asked the big bear to trust him. And truth was that the young navigator had proved himself over and over in many adventures. "We... aw, darn it..." he adjusted his pilot hat defeated. "I'm in..." Then Willie stepped in. "Me too, son!" "And me!" the large hippo pilot woman known as Plane Jane joined. And that was followed by another...and another...soon all the pilots at Louie's place had signed up for the dangerous mission. "So it's set!" Kit grinned. "Let's do this, people!" [i]To be Concluded...[/i]