"Halloween is huge in my house and we really get into the 'spirits' of things"-Dee Snider

Louie's-

"The Pacific Weather Service is reporting that a major storm will be hitting the region on the 31st. Typhoon Louie is expected to stay in the region for 48 hours and bring with it gale force winds, heavy rains, as well as rough seas. All travel through the region is expected to be disrupted and ships and aircraft are being asked to take alternate routes to their destinations. Once again, Typhoon Louie is expected to bring severe weather patterns to the region and all travelers are asked to avoid the area. This has been a bulletin from the Pacific Broadcasting Service, and now back to our regularly scheduled programming."

The bulletin was followed by the music of the Glenn Tiller Band which opened up with the vibrant sounds of its brass instruments.

The sound of the music did nothing to cheer up Louie, "Typhoon Louie? Is this some kinda bad joke?"

"I think it's a coincidence Louie," said one of Louie's waiters, a monkey named Ray.

"Typhoon Louie is gonna ruin my annual Halloween Party!" lamented Louie, "Its gonna be here on the 31st!"

"Heya Louie can't wait for the party?" asked Baloo in a loud voice as he walked into the club, The pilot hadn't heard the radio broadcast and had no idea about the approaching storm.

"Party's gonna be canceled cuz."

Baloo looked at Louie with a smile, "What's the punch line buddy?"

"There is no punch line Baloo, there's a Typhoon heading this way and it's going to ruin my party!"

Baloo's smile disappeared, "A typhoon?"

"Yeah, Typhoon Louie if you could believe that," said Louie with disgust.

"What am I gonna do for Halloween!" Baloo said in a panicked voice.

"What are you gonna do? What am I gonna do!"

Both friends were completely shell-shocked from the realization that the annual Halloween Party was going to be canceled. The big bash was a staple of Louie's nightclub ever since the club first opened its doors. Louie's parties were well known throughout the entire Pacific and people came from far and wide to party the night away to music, games, Krakatoa Specials, and all manner of drinks. Within the first hour of the party, everyone would be seeing 'spirits'. But now with a major storm baring down on them, the terrible realization that the party was going to be canceled hit them full blast.

"NOOOO!" Roared the best friends as they threw their arms around one another and wailed miserably.

"This means I'm not gonna have any fun!" said Baloo.

"At least you got Cape Suzette, I got to stay here and batten down the hatches!"

Baloo thought about it: Louie was right; at least he wasn't going to have to deal with the bad weather. He'd be safe in Cape Suzette and maybe could salvage the holiday, but his poor friend was going to be stuck out here on his island.

"You know Louie, you and the guys can head out to Cape Suzette with me."

Louie thought about his friend's offer; he could easily load up on the Sea Duck and fly away from the storm, but that'd be chicken. He wasn't one to leave his beloved island and nightclub alone when things took a turn for the worse. He proved this time and time again, most recently when a down on his luck executive for Khan Industries had tried to take over his island. No way, no how was Louie going to leave his home now.

"Thanks Baloo but ol' Louie is just gonna stay put right here and laugh in the face of this storm," said the orangutan with a smile, "It's gonna take a lot more than some wind and rain to stop me."

"Well ol' buddy let me help you guys batten down your hatches before I fly out…after we have a Krakatoa Special!"

Higher for Hire-

Rebecca sat at her desk and scribbled the names of potential dates onto a sheet of paper. She had been invited by her good friend Erin Foxglove to go with her and her new husband Taylor to a gala costume ball that was being held at the Cape Suzette Museum of Fine Arts on Halloween night. Taylor's aunt and uncle were part of the Museum's staff and had thought up the event as a way to drum up support from the museum's benefactors as well as to bring publicity to the museum. She had happily agreed to go with her friends on a double date once she heard Erin mention that it could be a good way to advertise Higher for Hire. All she needed now was a costume…and a date.

She looked at her list and took note of all of the names: Jymm, Mark, Karl, Michael, Christopher, Ken, and a few others and noticed that all were busy and or unavailable for that night. She frowned as she realized that she was dateless.

"I never used to have this problem," she said to herself and then watched as Wildcat walked into the office.

"Hiya Miss Cunningham!" said the cheerful lion as he carted in the office's refrigerator. The appliance had been on the fritz lately and had been leaking water all over the floor, "The fridge is all fixed!"

"Thanks Wildcat, what was the problem with it anyway?"

"Oh nothing big, just a short in the Freon compressor and a bad seal is all."

"That's good."

"Yeah the seal was barking and the Freon I added wasn't free! They should change the name from Freon so people won't think it's free!"

Rebecca laughed at the loopy mechanic, "It's called Freon because that's the chemical's name for it," she said but was interrupted by the phone, "Higher for Hire, Rebecca Cunningham speaking."

Wildcat watched as his boss spoke to her friend Erin and explained that she was having no luck in finding a date for Halloween night. He watched as she said 'bye' and hung up the phone.

"Can't find a date Miss Cunningham?"

"Not yet Wildcat, but I'm sure I'll find one. Say got anything going on for Halloween?"

"Oh I got lots going on Miss Cunningham!" said the lion, "I got to carve some jack o'lanterns, give out candy, and find a costume. All I have is a birthday suit and that won't do!"

"Hmmmm, so you're just going to stick around here?"

"Yup, it'll be scary out there with all those ghosts and witches running around!"

"Wildcat, would you mind doing me a huge favor?" asked Rebecca with a smile.

"Uh, you want me to be your date?" asked the wide-eyed mechanic.

"Oh no not that," she laughed at the possibility of showing up at the ball with Wildcat as her date. The lion was a friendly person and she liked him very much, but something told her that he wouldn't be the ideal date. Besides, his plans had him staying here for the night which would be perfect. "Actually I was wondering if maybe you could watch Molly and take her to do a little trick or treating before it gets too late in the evening."

"Oh I could do that Miss Cunningham," said Wildcat with a smile.

"Good, I'll cook you both a good dinner and I'll give you a day off for watching her."

"I could use a day off, Baloo and I were talking about heading over to Veronica Lake to do some fishing," the lion paused a moment then continued, "I still need a costume."

"How about that scientist outfit that you wore a few months back?" She was speaking in regards to the get up that he had worn when Baloo had tried to convince her that he was on a spaceflight to Mars. That evening had turned into a fiasco when some paranoid Army Colonel named Grogg had taken things way too seriously and had shown up. The hapless colonel had embarrassed himself and had been temporarily demoted by his general uncle.

"That's a good idea, I have that outfit somewhere around here," said the lion who rubbed his chin in thought and added, "I'm going to go and look for it."

Rebecca watched as the mechanic left and then glanced back at her list of names. There was one person who she could ask but he was supposed to be attending a Halloween party.

Cape Suzette Elementary School-

"So what time are we heading out guys?" asked Felix Hipp as he and the rest of the Jungle Aces congregated at their usual table in the school's cafeteria.

"I'm saying we meet up as soon as it gets dark," said Kit Cloudkicker to his friend.

"Ernie was saying he wanted to meet up at the clubhouse at sunset," said Bert McCrane.

"I figured he'd want to go as soon as possible," said Sam Hopson who added, "My parents may make me have dinner first so I don't know if I can make it then.

"I still have to stop by Oscar's house and see if his mom will let him come with us," said Kit.

"Mrs. Vandersnoot is gonna smother Oscar," said Bert.

"Hiya fellas," called Ernie as he sat down next to Kit, "I got this great idea."

"What is it Ernie?" asked Sam.

"Instead of just hitting up houses like other kids we're gonna hit up part of downtown."

"A lot of businesses are giving out candy aren't they?"

"Yup Sam, they sure are and we're gonna hit em' up!"

"Then we're going to some residential neighborhoods," added Kit. He and Ernie had already made a plan for their trick or treat run.

"Kit and I have it all planned out fellas," said Ernie.

"We could even drop by the Fine Arts museum, I hear there's a costume ball there and they may have candy too," said Kit.

"Who'd you hear this from?"

"From Miz Cunningham."

"I guess even grownups can have fun on Halloween," said Felix.

"Aw, they won't have as much fun as we're going to have!" said Ernie, "Now, school needs to let out soon so I can finish my costume."

"Bullethead?" ventured Bert.

Ernie smiled a toothy grin as he thought of his costume. He got the idea after reading a book by an author named Dumas. He immediately liked the book and decided to make his very own costume based on the book's illustrations of the characters. "You'll see!"

As Ernie grinned Kit thought to himself, I wonder what he has up his sleeve.

Nearing Cape Suzette-

Baloo had lifted off from Louie's an hour and a half earlier and was now less than an hour from Cape Suzette. He was still down about the cancellation of the Halloween party and was trying to think of what he would do for the holiday. Kit was going out with his friends and Wildcat was planning on handing out candy. As for Rebecca, well he didn't have much of an idea about what his boss was going to be doing. He had heard her mention something about going with some friends to a museum or something but who celebrated Halloween at a museum?

Baloo reached into a compartment and withdrew an orange soda. He opened the bottle and took a long chug from it and savored the taste. The soda brightened his demeanor and he smiled. "This is the life!"

As he lay back in his seat and took another drink something darted in front of the Sea Duck in a blur of motion. The blur was followed by another blur which Baloo realized was a fighter plane. He identified the planes as Drumman F4F Skycats. The planes bore the markings of the Usland Navy.

"Attention Conwing L-16, this is Flight 17 from the USLS (Usland Ship) Yorktown, be advised that there are air pirates in the vicinity and that you are to make a fast egress from the area, over."

"Fast egress?" Baloo replied over the radio.

"That means to get outta Dodge!"

As soon as the pilot answered gunfire erupted from behind the Sea Duck and hit the plane.

"Great just what I didn't need!" Baloo said as he took his plane in a dive toward the water. He guzzled the remaing soda and tossed the empty bottle out the window.

Two air pirate fighters dove toward him with gun blazing. Another 4 fighters moved to engage the Navy planes.

"Hey Baloo, this is Maddog. Bet you didn't think we'd try something as gusty as this!"

"Gutsy no, dumb yes!"

"The Captain is gonna be so happy that I showed up you and the Navy!"

"Something tells me he's not gonna be happy at all," answered Baloo with a laugh.

"Why you say that?" asked Maddog as he fired again at the Sea Duck as it flew over the waves at a height of only 30 feet.

"Why don't you try looking around Maddog?"

Up in his plane Maddog let up on the trigger and looked around for what Baloo was talking about. It didn't take long for him to spot the rapidly approaching fighter planes.

"YIKES!" Maddog cried as he realized that he and his comrades were going to be outnumbered.

Baloo watched as 10 more F4Fs came out of the east and headed for the hapless air pirates. It looked as if Maddog's plan on impressing his boss was going to fail miserably. With a laugh he wished the Navy pilots good luck and continued onto home.

Higher for Hire-

"Hi Papa Bear!" Kit said as Baloo brought the Sea Duck to a stop and jumped out.

"Hiya Lil Britches how was school?"

"Ah you know, the usual, grammar and pop quizzes. How was your run?"

"Ah you know, the usual, cargo and air pirates."

Both laughed and walked inside the building.

"How bad were the air pirates?"

"Maddog tried to impress his boss by attacking me and two Navy pilots."

"How'd that work out for him?"

"Not too good, the rest of the fighter squadron showed up in the nick of time."

"HAHA, that's great but I'm surprised that Maddog would try something so daring."

"Me too."

"So getting ready for Louie's big party?"

Baloo's demeanor went south with the mention of the party, "There's a problem that came up."

"What's that Papa Bear?"

"It got canceled," Baloo said glumly.

"Why?" asked the boy with genuine amazement.

"You're not gonna believe this Kit, Louie's party was canceled by Typhoon Louie."

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope. Crazy huh? Typhoon Louie of all names!"

"Talk about a coincidence," said Kit, "What's Louie going to do then. What are you going to do then?"

"Louie and his guys are going to ride it out and as for me, uh well, I'll figure something out."

"Maybe you should dress up and go out on the town," suggested the boy with a bright smile, "Me and the guys are going to go trick or treating."

"I remember those days," Baloo said as he fondly recalled going door to door on Halloween, "I ate so much candy that I became my dentist's best friend!"

Kit giggled, "I don't plan on eating that much candy!"

Their conversation was interrupted by Rebecca, "Oh good you're back!"

"Happy to see me?" Baloo asked with a laugh.

"Actually yes," Rebecca said with a smile, "I have a question to ask you..."

The Iron Vulture-

Maddog and his fellow pirates arrived back on the Iron Vulture with their tails between their legs. He had just wanted to impress the Captain and the others by taking on two Navy fighters and the thought that there was an aircraft carrier battle group known to be in the vicinity hadn't crossed his mind. He was dreading what the captain would do when he saw him. Thankfully no planes had been downed, but three of the fighters had sustained heavy damage.

"So how did your little adventure go Maddog?" asked Hal with an unfriendly laugh.

"Don't worry about it Hal, at least I went out instead of staying around here!" said Maddog in annoyance.

"The captain stayed back, are you going to talk like that to him?" Hal challenged.

Maddog was about to reply when Will approached him and said, "The captain wants to see you."

Maddog gulped and Hal snickered. The other pilots that had accompanied Maddog on his ill thought out mission scattered off.

"Did he say what it was about Will?"

Will lit a cigar, took a puff, and said, "Nope, but he's got Dumptruck and Gibber up in the bridge and he told me to come and get you as soon as you got back."

"Is he mad?" asked Maddog with barely contained nervousness in his voice.

"No he's actually in a good mood."

"Really?"

"Yup, he's got something up his sleeve I think. Plus he's happy about a boat we swiped yesterday."

"OK, lead the way Will."

Maddog followed the second mate down the ship's central corridor toward the captain's quarters. He was surprised that Don Karnage hadn't gotten on the radio and berated him for his decision to attack the Navy planes. He had hoped that an act of bravery, which wasn't something he committed often, would make the captain pleased and that he would be rewarded. The fact that the captain hadn't gotten on the radio made him wonder how important whatever the captain had up his sleeve was. Maybe he won't get mad at me!

Louie's-

Louie sat behind his bar and dug into the Krakatoa Special that he had made for himself in an effort to brighten his spirits. He was feeling blue about the cancellation of the party and needed to make himself feel better and ice cream could be just the thing. He took a bite and savored the sweet treat. He looked around at his club and his workers and saw that the place was as prepared as possible for the typhoon. They had spent the past few hours shoring up the windows and doors and now they all were taking a much needed break.

"Think it'll hold up Louie?" asked Ray.

"It better, I had to cancel my party for this so it better hold."

"What are we going to do in the meantime?"

"Well I was thinking I might try and make a bigger better Kratatoa Special!"

With that the orangutan went to work on his latest creation.