The Beginning
part 1
By Staci "Windsurfer" Faulkenberry
Page 3
Coming up on the yellow seaplane, in which his traitorous prot�g� had taken refuge, Karnage grabbed his radio, "Do what you want with the plane, men, but don't harm the boy! I want him alive so I can cut him into itsy bitsy bite-sized pieces!"
Karnage had never been so angry in his life! Not only had he trusted that boy, but he'd taken him in off the streets and given him a home. He couldn't believe that ungrateful child would betray him like this! Grinning in anticipation, he aimed his guns and fired again at the plane."
I don't get it!" Baloo screamed in desperation. "Why're they after me? I don't have any cargo!"
Kit squirmed uncomfortably, clutching the arms of his chair. He didn't want the pilot to find out about his affiliation with the pirates. What if he turned Kit over to Don Karnage? Kit knew that the pirate captain was beyond furious by now and that he would dream up some kind of a torture that would make Kit long for a quick death.
"Boy, they're tougher to shake than fleas on a dog! Hold on tight, Li'l Britches!" with that, Baloo pulled back on the stick, forcing the Sea Duck to do a loop the loop and plunging directly towards the ocean.
"We're not going to make it, Baloo!! Pull up!" Kit screamed, seeing his death in the uncaring ocean that was fast approaching. Was this guy nuts?
"Just hold on! Ol' Baloo's
not out of tricks yet!" the pilot turned the flaps up and gently eased back on the stick, grazing the water. "Yahoo!" he yelled as one of the pirate planes crashed into the ocean.
Kit stared, transfixed at the gray bear.
"You're�you...Nobody can fly like that!" he finally managed.
"Great pilot, great plane," declared Baloo, patting the console proudly.
"I'll say," Kit said excitedly. "So what's next? A double reverse Immelmann? A Pretzel twist?"
Both of those moves were particular favorites of his and he'd never seen them successfully performed, but after Baloo's exhibition just now, he had every confidence that the bear could execute both moves with ease.
"Nope!" answered Baloo, much to Kit's surprise. "That's Cape Suzette up ahead!"
"B-b-but we'll never make it!" Kit spluttered.
"Those puffs of smoke say we will," Baloo was very much at ease and looked as though they were out for a Sunday flight, not running for their lives to get away from the air pirates.
Kit cringed as two missiles torpedoed towards them. "We're gonna get hit!" he gasped.
"Just sit tight and watch the fireworks," Baloo laughed at his passenger's squeamishness.
From behind them, the air pirates let out a collective shout, "Oh, no! Not the Cape Suzette cannons!"
Maddog's plane was hit and he landed on the ocean, unharmed.
"I hate it when this happens!" Karnage muttered, swinging his plane around. He recognized the need for a strategic retreat when he saw one.
'But soon,' he thought. 'I will find the box and the boy and I will be the one with the power!'
Inside the Sea Duck, Baloo grinned.
"Those bozos never get past those cliff guns. Drives them bananas."
They were silent as they flew through the massive cliffs that protected Cape Suzette from invaders. Kit stared about him with interest. He'd heard Karnage raging about the city and the guns for some time now, but he'd never really thought much about it.
Finally, they burst out of the opening to reveal a small, but thriving metropolis."There's Cape Suzette, kiddo. What do you think?" Baloo watched the boy's face with interest.
Kit responded with the word he'd been using a lot on this flight, "Wow!"
Baloo circled the city a couple of times, letting the boy look at the gleaming buildings that were dwarfed by Shere Khan's tower. Finally, he turned the plane back towards the bay, winging towards a shabby looking building with a plain, faded sign that read "Baloo's Air Service" in faded black letters at the end of the dock.
After landing, he moored the plane, gave it a final pat, and led his passenger up the dock and into the building, itself.
"Here we are," he stated. "Home, sweet home."
Kit trailed behind Baloo, standing still for a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room. It seemed like a cave after being outside in the bright summer sun. A very messy cave, he realized as he took in the mounds of papers, food, and other trash that littered every available surface and had spilled over onto the floor.
Looking at the large gray bear who was rummaging around in a battered filing cabinet, he wondered, 'Is this his idea of a successful business?'
Walking over to the table that sat against the far wall, he looked curiously at the mess, wondering what on earth could be so unimportant that it would be piled up a mile high on an old table. Seeing what looked like unopened bills, he picked them up and ripped them open.
"Baloo, these bills are a month old!" Kit was aghast. "This is no way to run an airline, you know!"
"Aw, I only work when I have to, Li'l Britches! Flying is what life's really all about! If all you do is work, then you're not living," Baloo finally found what he was looking for in the filing cabinet and stood up. The boy didn't show any inclination towards leaving, and Baloo wondered briefly if he even had a home. Perhaps he was a runaway. He'd mentioned on the flight to Cape Suzette that he was an orphan, but even orphans had somewhere they called home.
Dusting off the blue and red baseball cap, he tossed it to Kit and added casually, "I've been thinking of adding a navigator. Interested?"
The boy's look of complete disbelief told Baloo more than words ever could.
"Me?" he asked, turning the cap around backwards. He didn't know what to say. This bear had just met him! He knew nothing of Kit's abilities.
Then, Kit remembered his treasure. "Sorry," he said. "I've got to get back to Louie's."
Baloo chuckled, "Didn't we just come from there?"
"Yeah, and I want to go back," Kit's face hardened again into that tough mask that Baloo had seen at Louie's. 'You can't trust anyone, Cloudkicker,' he thought, pushing aside the fact that Baloo had saved his life and was offering him a home. 'How many times have you done that and how many times have you been betrayed?' He knew that if he told Baloo the reason that he wanted to go back to Louie's, the gray bear would find a way to keep the treasure for himself. That was the way of the world. Eat or be eaten.
"Sorry, Kit, but I'm not due back there for another coupla weeks," Baloo's face turned serious and he studied the cub intently. Kit, in turn, faced him squarely, his chin jutted stubbornly. Baloo briefly wondered why the boy shut himself away every time Baloo reached out a hand. What had Kit seen that made him afraid to trust?
Baloo thought of himself as harmless. He was a big bear, granted, and could be intimidating, but he was usually fairly jovial and his devil-may-care attitude generally put people at ease.
A knock on the door interrupted Baloo and Kit's staring match.
Baloo lumbered over to the door and flung it open to reveal a small tan bear in a business suit and top hat. He was holding a clipboard and looking quite officious.
"Mr. Baloo?" he queried, peering over the top of his spectacles.
"You got him, slick," Baloo said cheerfully.
"Due to your delinquency in payments, we will be forced to foreclose on your loan unless three thousand dollars are deposited in our institution by nine a.m. tomorrow morning," the banker told him brusquely.
Baloo blinked and leaned towards Kit, who had followed him to the door and was standing behind the gray bear with his arms folded and a concerned look on his face.
"Was that English?" Baloo asked.
"Loosely translated, he said 'no cash, no plane,' Kit replied, leaning against the doorjamb. Baloo turned to the diminutive bear, desperation on his face. "What?!" he shrieked. "You can't take my plane! That's my baby!" Grasping the banker by his lapels, he jerked him up until he was eye to eye with Baloo.
"We have sent you numerous notices," the banker stated firmly, wiggling out of Baloo's grasp and smoothing his suit.
The image of Kit reminding him that the bills were a month old sprung unbidden into Baloo's mind. "B-but I thought those were sweepstakes giveaways!"
The banker's middle-aged face set in an expression of faint distaste, he turned away from the despairing pilot and walked away. Baloo's jaw went slack for a moment, then he turned to the building, pounding his fist against the weather beaten wood.
"What am I going to do, Kit?" he wailed. "I can't let them take away my baby!"
Kit watched the bear with a certain amount of fascination. "You could always take on a job," he pointed out.
Baloo's head shot up and he whirled around to face Kit. "You're a genius!" he declared, grabbing Kit by the shoulders. "I'm going to check the job board.
"The bear was off and running. Kit hurried after him, curious to see the outcome of this little drama.
He caught up with Baloo in front of the job board. The bear was muttering to himself and running a finger across the job listings.
"Do you really think you can earn three grand in just one afternoon?" Kit asked.
"If the job's nasty enough," muttered Baloo, shaking his head as he discarded job after job. One sounded ok, but it didn't pay enough. One paid enough, but he wouldn't be seeing the money for a week.
Finally, he came across a notice for the Cape Suzette Zoo.
"Here we go!" he exclaimed, ripping the paper off the board and rereading it. "The Duck's as good as mine!"
"Yeah," Kit's shoulders hunched. The only person he'd ever known who'd cared so much about something was Don Karnage, and Karnage only cared about himself. Kit wished for an instant that he had a home to go to, with someone who actually cared about him waiting for him. He was sick of living hand-in-mouth. Turning away from the exuberant pilot, he said, "Well, good luck."
Baloo turned his attention to the boy and saw that he was obviously troubled about something. "Hey," he put a restraining hand on Kit's shoulder. "Where're you going? This
isn't a job for just one person, ya know."
"I�" Kit hesitated.
"And as soon as we finish this job, I'll take you to Louie's, I promise," Baloo made an X over his heart.
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