I hope everyone is surviving 2020. At this point, not even air pirates would shock me. In the mean time, here's the ending.
A celebration took place at Louie's. The ape recounted the time Karnage tried to ransom his wealthy Aunt Louise. What Karnage didn't know was that Louise was a wild party animal easily infatuated with men with accents. When Baloo and Louie came to rescue her, Karnage rapidly lowered the ransom, practically begging them to take her back. During the story, Rebecca, Baloo, and the children were laughing themselves out of their chairs, or in Molly's case, Eliza's lap. Khan smirked behind his drinking glass.
"Five dollars?" Kit gasped through his laughter. "You paid a five dollar ransom?"
"I was out of dough," Louie replied. "He paid me to take her!"
His audience found it difficult to breathe as their laughter increased. Only Khan was somehow able to maintain his composure.
"Man, you've should've seen Karny's face!" Baloo howled.
"I wish," laughed Rebecca.
"Indeed," Khan grinned, sipping his drink.
"Hey, Baloo," said Kit. "Remember that time you hid rubies in strawberry jam?"
"Haha yeah! He was so mad!"
"Of course," Rebecca frowned, "if you didn't gloat over the radio, we wouldn't have had him chasing us back to Cape Suzette."
"Aw, Beckers," Baloo lounged into his chair with his hands folded behind his head. "We made it, didn't we?"
"Yeah," Rebecca smirked. "With a suspended pilot's license."
"Becky!" Baloo whined like a child.
"Geez," Eliza mumbled, leaning her elbow on the table and resting her face into her hand. "Just get married already."
Baloo and Rebecca spun toward at her with a chorused "What?"
Realizing what she said, Eliza shrugged innocently. "Hm? I didn't say anything."
"Yes, you did," Molly giggled. "You said- "
Eliza clapped a hand over Molly's mouth. "No, I didn't, Molly." She smiled awkwardly at the confused adults.
"These are all intriguing stories," said Khan, finishing his drink. "But we should be leaving."
Grateful for the rescue, Eliza shooed a pouting Molly off her lap.
Louie waved. "Drop by again, little lady."
"Thanks, Louie."
"So," Kit smiled shyly. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow."
Eliza returned the smile. "Yeah, see you at school." She then followed her uncle toward the exit.
"You take care of her, Khanny," Baloo called cheerfully.
Khan paused, turned his head slightly and gave a nod with a hint of a smile.
Meanwhile, Molly had noticed the interaction between the elder kids. As she watched Kit smile at his friend's back, a mischievous idea entered her head. She chanted at the top of her lungs, "Kit and Eliza sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-mmf mmf mmf." As she finished spelling, Kit clapped his hand over her mouth, shushing aggressively.
Eliza cringed and glanced back at the spectacle. She reluctantly looked up at her uncle to see him giving her a side-eye. She rubbed the back of her neck and laughed nervously. "Don't know where she got that idea."
"Mhm," Khan muttered.
As she sat in the plane, Eliza rested her hands in her lap. Her fingers felt odd, like they were missing something. When she remembered the odd little blades emerging, she shuddered.
"Is something wrong?" Her uncle's voice startled her.
"Well," she stared at her hands, struggling to find the right explanation.
Khan sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know things have started rough, but this time I'm going to listen." He gave her shoulder a light squeeze, sending a comforting warmth.
Eliza smiled, swallowed the lump in her throat and relayed the events.
"So," he said, "that's how you caused such a commotion."
Eliza nodded.
"Can't say I'm too surprised, though."
Eliza stared. "What?"
"It's a rare skill, but everyone in our family has been capable of it." He fanned out his fingers, flicking a set of gleaming claws.
Eliza's jaw dropped. "Can Dad do that too?"
"Yes. I'm guessing he didn't tell you so he wouldn't scare you. Probably hoped you wouldn't have them."
"I don't even know how I did it." She stared at her hands, rewinding the events in her mind. "I remember thinking Kit was dead." Her brows crossed and her fists clenched. "And wanting to hurt Karnage real bad."
"And the second time was after he insulted you, correct?"
"Yeah." Her eyes widened as she made the connection. "You mean it happens when I'm angry?"
"Anger is usually the trigger. It awakens some sort of instinct within us."
"But how are you doing that now?" Eliza pointed at his hands.
"I've learned how to control them." He retracted his claws. "So has your father and every Khan before us."
Eliza examined her fingers. Was it possible? She closed her eyes and tensed her hand. Come on, claws! She groaned when nothing happened. Not that she expected it to work.
"Of course," Khan's eyes gleamed in amusement. "It does take time and discipline."
"Great," Eliza drawled.
"Consider yourself fortunate. Your father and I discovered our claws during a quarrel when I was your age."
"Seriously?" Eliza's eyes widened.
"Fortunately, we got off with minor scratches. Took me only a year, but since Silas was nine, he needed more time." He paused when he noticed his niece trembling and staring at her hands in horror. He sighed. "Guess I'll have to teach you."
"You will?" she beamed.
"For your safety, yes. We might as well start now, since we have two hours before we reach Cape Suzette."
Eliza's hands still trembled, but this time from excitement.
"Now then," said Khan. "You're going to start with some breathing exercises, so close your eyes, take long breaths and exhale slowly."
Eliza obeyed each step, though she couldn't see what good this would do.
As if he could read her thoughts, Khan said, "The point is to be completely aware of your body. When you exhale, clear your mind."
That last part confused her, but she focused on her breathing as he said. It was a big shift from running out of breath while racing from pirates. Now each inhale and exhale felt like forever. For all she knew, an hour had passed. She didn't know if she had cleared her mind but was feelin relaxed…and bored. Might be worth testing the claws. When nothing happened, her muscles tensed again.
"You've only been at it for five minutes," said Khan.
"What?" she squeaked.
"I told you it takes time." He smirked. "And patience."
Eliza sat back with a sigh. "Whatever you say, master."
Khan rolled his eyes. In addition to her discovering her claws, which he was proud of, she seemed to pick up a new cockiness along the way. Well, he did have plenty of experience with his little brother, so that was no suprirse.
"By the way," said Eliza, opening her eyes.
"Yes?"
"Did you and Ernie really get kidnapped by a mad scientist and his robot?"
Khan leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed and fingers laced. He took a long breath as Eliza had been doing. She bit her lip to suppress a laugh. Was he actually embarrassed? After a moment, Khan opened his eyes. "Agree to never speak of that again and you can have the books back."
Eliza grinned. "Deal."
Khan cocked a brow. "You're learning."
One week later
"And that," Eliza concluded, "is how I escaped the air pirates."
The Jungle Aces cheered before chanting their anthem. Eliza had to mouth the words as best she could because she still couldn't remember them. Next meeting, she promised herself, she would sing it for real.
She was still reluctant to reveal her heritage, but Kit promised told her they treated Oscar Vandersnoot as an equal despite his family's wealth. They were only hesitant the first time because he hadn't gone on an adventure. Funny enough, he had a similar adventure with Karnage trying to kidnap him for a ransom.
With the aces' ears open, she casually dropped the ball about her uncle, to which their mouths dropped. Once she jumped right to the kidnapping they seemed more sucked into the suspense than her relation.
"All right," Ernie announced after the aces finished chanting. "You're in."
Eliza grinned from ear to ear. "Just don't ask for any money," she teased.
"Aw man," Ernie mock groaned. Eliza and the other aces giggled.
Eliza checked her watch. "Gotta run."
"Same time next week?" asked Kit.
"See you then." Ignoring the other aces' curious looks, she leapt off the clubhouse's platform an ran across the park. She paused only once to wave at Kit who had watched from the clubhouse's opening beside a baffled Ernie.
"What was that all about?" asked Ernie.
Kit shrugged. "Eh, who knows?" Though his expression showed that he knew more than he was telling.
Back at Khan Tower, John and Mrs. Snarly greeted Eliza warmly. Seeing a little girl in a business building, was still odd, but they didn't think her out of place anymore. They wouldn't admit it, but her smile was a welcoming change to their dreary workdays.
A minute late, she dashed into the office.
"Welcome back," said Khan, shuffling his papers.
"You didn't start without me?"
Eyes still on his work, he pointed his pen at the jungle. "What do you think?"
Upon her entrance, the plants panted like dogs with their tongues lagging out. "Hey, guys," Eliza giggled, stroking their smooth heads before picking up the insect jar. By this point, she could distinguish them by their sizes, coloring, and even personalities. That made it easier to name them.
Last time, her uncle had questioned her name choice. "I understand normal names like John, Paul, and George, but why Ringo?"
"I don't know," she shrugged, feeding the plants their favorite beetles. "It just sounded right."
She still had more to name, but for now, she was content to feed them while they nuzzled her like kittens. The two Khans exchanged the occasional smile. Shere still didn't have much to talk about other than business, but the atmosphere was no longer tense since Eliza had more to share. Once they finished and Khan returned to his work while Eliza practiced her breathing exercises on the jungle box.
"Can I trust you not to fall asleep this time?" he asked.
Eliza blushed. "Sorry about that." At least the plants sleeping on her shoulders made it a little less boring.
Khan's mind wasn't on his work this time. With a blank paper before him, he found himself writing Dear, Silas. He paused. Did he really want to do this? One look at his young niece somehow answered his own question.
I thought you would like an update on your daughter. You probably knew this already, but she shows promise. I can assure you she's in good hands to achieve that potential.
He paused to look over at Eliza again. Her position hadn't changed much, except now she was lying back into the leafy bed formed by her flytrap friend, fast asleep. Khan sighed. This was going to take patience all right…for him. Of course, it would be easy enough to just nudge her awake.
Yes, he thought as he carried the sleeping girl to her room. That would be easier.
Thank you all for sticking with me to the end! While this is the end to the main story, I'm thinking of following up with a bonus chapter, possibly a sequel. I got a few ideas but I haven't settled on anything yet.