Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Disney Afternoon lineup.


Episode Eight

Chris' First Day of School


There was a stunning silence within Higher for Hire as Matthew finished his tale. He closed his eyes and bowed his head as though in prayer. He was feeling a mixture of relief and sadness. Relieved that he finally got everything off his chest, it was like a heavy weight that had now been lifted. And sadness at the possibility that Kit might not want to come back with them.

They were all seated at the kitchen table, as they had been gathered around Matthew as he told his story.

"Wow..." KIt said with awe respect in his voice. "You went through all of that… just to find me?"

Matthew looked at him, it was all he could do to keep himself from breaking down into tears.

"Of course, even if I've never met you before recently, you're my son! I would have searched to the ends of the galaxy for you!"

"And you had to do it all while being a single parent to Chris," Rebecca said admiringly, who was cuddling Chris in her lap, comforting him from when Matthew had gotten to the part of Scar in his tale. Chris was hiding his face in her jacket and shaking. It was clear that any mention of Scar causes Chris to experience extreme stress and anxiety "That must've been hard."

"You've no idea…" Matthew muttered. "But I would have done nothing different. I'm… I'm glad I have found Kit, and I'm… I'm happy that he found a loving home here."

Kit was thinking back on Matthew's tale, and there was one part of the story that bothered him, something that made his blood boil. "So, I was given to the orphanage, practically thrown out like trash, FOR FURNITURES?!" he cried in indignation Not only was Kit outraged by this, he was also deeply hurt by it too, being discarded by members of his own family.

All the adults, Baloo, Rebecca and Matthew all winced at that. That cannot have been an easy pill to swallow.

"Yeah, I don't blame ya for poundin' the livin' daylight out of 'em, Matt." Baloo growled, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "I would have done the exact same thing!"

Kit bowed his head and begin to cry. He tried to fight back his tears, but he was overwhelmed by it and it broke out.

"Kit…? Are you okay, Lil' Britches?" Baloo asked, looking at Kit with concern.

"No, I'm not," Kit sobbed. "I've always thought I was unwanted while I was in the orphanage, cuz no one would adopt me, so I thought my family didn't want me either, and the story of my aunt throwing me away like that… confirms it!"

There was a loud BANG and everyone jumped, startled as Matthew suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over backwards as he did so. He reached across the table, lifted Kit out of his chair and hugged him very tightly to his chest. Kit gasped and his body tensed up in Matthew's arm. Father or not, Kit was uncomfortable about being hugged and held by someone he barely knew. But Matthew did not let him go and continues to hold and hug him.

"Kit... Don't you ever even think you were unwanted, again!" Matthew sobbed as he hugged Kit. "I wanted you, Chris wanted you, your mother wanted you! And these guys want you too." he said, nodding towards Baloo and Rebecca.

It was a very tearful scene, father and son, reunited after twelve years, were hugging each other and crying. Kit's tensed body loosen up and relaxed in Matthew's arms.

Touched by this beautiful scene of reunion, Rebecca took out her handkerchief with one hand, as she was still holding a slightly traumatized Chris in her lap. she sniffed as she dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief before blowing her nose into it.

"Yeah, Lil' Britches," Baloo said gently, patting Kit on the back while he was still being held in Matthew's arms. "I would've adopted ya, if I've met ya back then."

"Same," Rebecca nodded, her voice cracking, as if she wanted to cry, "I would have thought you'd make a good big brother to Molly."

"See, Kit?" Matthew said soothingly, still hugging Kit and doesn't seem to want to let go anytime soon. "Just because some moronic relatives didn't want to care for you, doesn't mean that you were unwanted. I really wanted to find you. And I've searched far and wide for you."

"I know, Dad." Kit said, calling Matthew, Dad for the first time to his face. "It was very clear in your story that you tried so hard to find me, but it still hurts that I was thrown away for new furnitures."

"I know, son, I know." Matthew said soothingly, rubbing the back of Kit's head. "They never realized what a treasure trove of talents you are, what a miracle you are and what a blessing you are to those around you."

As Kit continues to cry into Matthew's chest, Matthew felt his heart swell at their reunion as he hugged his long-lost son.

There was a moment of silence before Kit pulled away.

"Did you say you called all the orphanages by telephone?" he asked, frowning thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I tried every orphanages I could find in the phone book, even out-of-area ones." Matthew said, then he too frowned thoughtfully. "Why, was there a reason I could never find you that way?"

"Yeah, the orphanage I grew up in was really old and outdated, and the people that worked there were really old fashioned." Kit revealed. "They never had a phone, so you couldn't have called them."

"Wait a second, that orphanage you've just described sounds familiar…" Matthew said, putting Kit down, withdrawing a map from an inside pocket of his jacket, and spreading it out on the kitchen table. It was a map of several towns and cities alongside Cape Suzette. Kit looked at the map and noticed that it had a lot of red X's, obviously marking places Matthew and Chris had been over the years. There was even a red X in the Duckburg area, showing that they visited an orphanage there as well. "Was this orphanage somewhere in the Freeport area?"

"Yeah, it was right there," Kit said, pointing at one of the X's, marking the street where his orphanage was. "Wait… that's been marked... you've BEEN there?!"

"Yeah, but you weren't there that day." Matthew said, then he groaned in frustration, palming his face. "Ohh, I'm such an idiot! It's so obvious! So typical of Aunt Figg to pick that orphanage for you, as she's old fashioned herself.. How old were you when you ran away?"

"I was… seven..." Kit said with slight regret in his voice. "And I was really too young for the streets, as I found out the hard way…"

"Hey, that's how old I was when we worked for Uncle Scrooge." Chris said in surprise. "Do you remember what day it was when you ran away?"

"Not really, that was five years ago, and I didn't exactly keep track with the dates at that age." Kit said, shrugging.

Matthew withdrew a record book from an outer pocket of his jacket and skimmed through it. "I wrote it down here somewhere when we visited that orphanage… Yes, we were there on the sixth of June."

"Sixth of June?" Kit said in surprise. "I… think it was around that time I… Wait, I remember now! I ran away the night before that!"

This revelation shocked everyone present in the room. Matthew froze, his face downcast.

"So close... SO CLOSE!" Matthew said, feeling that he had somehow been cheated. "You're telling me that we came so close to finding you back then, and we've only missed you by mere hours?!" he said, his voice trembling. "If you had stayed for just a few more hours, Chris and I would've found you back then!"

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't know!" Kit cried, now regretting that he had ran away from the orphanage more than ever before. "I thought I was an orphan, I didn't know I had a Dad and a brother out there looking for me. I just wanted open sky, planes and adventures! I wanted to find my wings! All my days in the orphanage always felt like another day wasted. So I left, I didn't want to waste my life being in that place till I got too old to be adopted. "

Matthew got down on one knee in front of Kit and hugged him. "It's okay, Kit. No need to be sorry. You didn't know." He then reached over with one arm and pulled Chris into the hug too so that he was hugging both of his boys at the same time for the first time ever. "The important thing is that we're all back together again."

Kit cuddled with his Dad and brother for a moment, looking happy, but then he raised his head, looking concerned. "But what does this means for me? Are you taking me away to live with you guys?" he asked apprehensively as Matthew set him and Chris down.

Baloo, who had been watching this reunion silently for the past few minutes, stiffened, looking suddenly tensed. This did not go unnoticed by Matthew, who saw this as confirmation that Baloo had indeed developed fatherly feelings towards his son.

With a face full of reluctance, Matthew said: "That is up to you, kiddo."

"I got a choice?" Kit said in surprise.

"Yeah, I think you're mature enough to make your own decisions." Matthew said with a smile. "Whatever you decide, I'm sure we can work something out."

"I…" Kit said, then he stopped short. He was torn. He wanted to stay with Baloo and Rebecca at Higher for Hire, this was the home he sought for so long, but at the same time, he wanted to be with his Dad and brother too.

Chris was looking intensely worried that Kit might choose Baloo over them, but he waited patiently to hear Kit's choice.

There was a long silence. Kit looked as though he was undergoing some painful internal struggle. He kept looking between Baloo and Matthew and back again, his face growing more and more tensed.

Baloo was watching Kit nervously, as if his life hung in the balance with Kit's decision. Could this be goodbye? Was Kit about to walk out of his life now that he found his true family?

With tears in his eyes, Kit finally said: "Please don't make me choose… I love all of you, I don't want to pick one over the other."

Matthew sighed and knelt down before Kit, placing his hands on Kit's shoulders. "It's alright, Kit, just tell me what you want, and we'll work something out."

"I…. I want to stay here... w-with Baloo," Kit said, glancing at Baloo. "But I… also want to be with you and Chris."

Matthew smiled warmly at the thought that Kit still wanted to be with him and Chris. "Then how about this?" he said, brushing away Kit's tears with a finger. "You live here with Baloo and then come and stay with us on weekends? Would that work?"

"I… I guess so, yeah, but I can still come and see you guys whenever I want, right?"

"Of course," Matthew said, standing up. "Our door will always be open to you. Right, Chris?"

"Yeah!" Chris said, nodding. "And you'll have your own bedroom while you're with us!"

Baloo let out a breath of relief. "Phew! Almost gave me an heart attack, wasn't sure I could take much more of that…" he said weakly, leaning against the wall.

"Don't worry, Papa Bear, I won't leave ya!" Kit said, running at Baloo and jumping into the large gray bear's arms.

"Baloo," Matthew said, reaching into his jacket and withdrawing an official-looking document. "This is for you."

"What's this, Matt?" Baloo asked, taking the document and looking at it with an bemused expression.

"Oh, it's just a piece of paper with a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo that says I appointed you, Baloo, as legal guardian of Kit.." Matthew said smiling. "Congratulations, Baloo! You're a godfather, and it's a boy!"

Baloo gasped, looking as though he might faint!

Kit gasped with delight and hugged Baloo tightly with a cry of: "Oh, Papa Bear!"

"But what about Chris?" Rebecca said, "Don't you want a guardian for him too?"

"Chris' already got a guardian." Matthew said. "It's Scrooge McDuck. Oh, and by the way, Rebecca, this is for you." he said, handing her a similar document.

"What's this?" Rebecca asked, accepting the document and scanning it carefully. "What the… this is the same thing you gave Baloo, except it's got my name on it instead of Baloo's!"

"Yep, Baloo is now Kit's godfather and you're his godmother." Matthew said, smiling broadly.

"Not that I would have said no to such an honor, Matthew." Rebecca said. "But,,, you should've asked me before appointing me."

"I wanted it to be a surprise and it wouldn't be a surprise if I've asked beforehand." Matthew said sheepishly.

"I'll let it slide this time, since this is for the benefit of my staff navigator," Rebecca said, taking hers and Baloo's documents and walking over to the safe to lock them safely away. "But next time, please ask before you do something like this, so I could be prepared at a moment's notice to take in a second child if anything happens to you or Baloo."

"Well, Chris and I better get going," Matthew said as he placed a hand on Chris' shoulder. "He starts school tomorrow."

"Aww...already?" Chris groaned, his shoulders slumped.

Matthew laughed. "Yep, and Kit will be your guide for the first few days."

"Aw, don't worry, Chris, you're gonna like Cape Suzette Elementary school." Kit assured him. "And with me as your big brother, I'll make sure no one bullies you!"

"Who says you're the big brother?" Chris said with a bored face. "I could be YOUR big brother, you know."

Matthew laughed at that. "Well, your birth certificate would disagree with you there, Kit beat you at being born by five minutes."

"Aw, man!" Chris whined, looking put out. "I wanted to be the oldest! Oh well…" he shrugged and then turned to Kit. "You'd better not let me down, big brother." he said, holding up a fist.

"Don't count on being let down, lil bro." Kit said, smirking as they shared a fist bump.

"Come on, Chris," Matthew said, going to the door and holding it open for him.

"Coming, Dad." Chris said, then he hugged Kit. "'Night, big bro."

"'Night, lil bro." Kit said, hugging Chris back.

Chris then turned and walked through the door Matthew was holding open for him.

"'Night, all," Matthew said, waving a hand. "'Night, Kit,"

"'Night, Dad." Kit said, waving back.

Matthew walked through the door, closing the door behind him.

Later, at Matthew's new hangar...

"Oh wow…" Chris said in awe, standing in the middle of the living room. "This is just like our hangar back at home. Well, except for that box thing…" he said, pointing at the radio on the opposite side from the sofa. "What is that thing?"

"That's a radio, son." Matthew said, looking as though he was holding back a laugh, knowing exactly how his son was going to react to this really old piece of technology.

"Whaaat?! B-but, back at home we have a forty-inch TV mounted on the wall where that radio is." Chris whined. "Why can't we have a TV instead?"

"Because the radio is a more-common source of news and home entertainment in this era," Matthew said patiently. "And even if we did get a TV, it would be in black and white, standard definition and have a very limited number of channels. We'd get more from the radio than the TV."

"Wh-what?" Chris looked as though he wanted to cry. "I'd say I wanted to go home, but…" he looked sadly down at the floor. "I don't wanna leave Kit behind, not after spending my entire life trying to find him."

Matthew walked up to Chris, picked him up and hugged him. "I know it's a lot to adjust to, but you'll get used to it, eventually… Just be happy we found Kit and it only costs us our twenty-first century techs and nothing else. But..." he sighed heavily as he put Chris back down. "Those Shadow Minions really complicate things, we may have to leave sooner than expected, but for the time being, let's enjoy the time we have in this world."

Chris gasped. looked shocked. "You mean…? But then why are we standing here? Let's go warn everybody!"

Matthew sighed. "Few would believe us, and those that do believe us would only make some vain attempt to save a doomed world. And we don't know how long it would take the Shadow Minions to find the heart of this world and cover it in darkness. Plus we can't transport large masses of people to safety at once."

"So… what are we gonna do?" Chris asked, looking sad and hopeless.

"There's not much we can do, the two of us against an army of Shadow Minions would be suicidal. We're just gonna enjoy the time we have left in this world and make the most of it." Matthew said sadly. "I know it sounds cold and heartless, but there's nothing we can do to stop it without knowing where the heart of this world is. And then after that. we'll have to return to H.Q."

"I'm not leaving without Kit!" Chris stated firmly, with his arms folded. "Not after spending my entire life trying to find him."

"We won't leave him, if possible we'll take him with us." Matthew assures Chris. "Master Mickey did say that if we find him, we can bring him back with us."

"And if Kit doesn't want to come with us?"

Matthew bowed his head, his face downcast. "Then we will perish along with him."

Chris gulped, looking tensed and scared for a moment and then he looked solemn. "Yes… yes we will."

"Well, you better go to bed. First day of school tomorrow." Matthew said, obviously trying to turn this conversation away from this depressing matter.

"Okay…" Chris said awkwardly, now trying not to think about the fact that tomorrow might be the first and only day in a public school. "Good night, Dad." He turned and walked to his new room. He changed into his nightshirt, got into bed and it took awhile for him to go to sleep, as he was worried about the upcoming fate of this world, the world he was born in. Eventually he drifted into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning, Chris got up, dressed and ate a big breakfast with his Dad. He then picked up his new backpack and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Chris? School doesn't start for another half-hour." Matthew said as he gathered up the dishes and moved towards the sink.

"I know, Dad," Chris said, pausing at the door. "I'm going out for a morning jog and then I'm gonna meet up with Kit at Higher for Hire so we can walk to school together."

"Well, now hold on." Matthew said, walking over to Chris.

"Dad, I gotta go, or I won't have time to do my morning jog." Chris whined, jogging on the spot, like he's in a hurry.

"But, you're gonna forget your lunch money," Matthew said, holding a dollar bill up and waving it.

Chris then jogged to Matthew's side and took the money. He then tried to run for it, but Matthew grabbed him into a hug and started tickling him.

Chris laughed and squirmed. "Daaaddd... let me go…"

Matthew did let go of him, but not before planting a kiss on top of Chris' head.

"DADDDD..." Chris whined, embarrassed. He pulled himself away Matthew and wiped the kiss off his head. "If you don't stop doing that, I'm gonna borrow Kit's baseball cap."

"Oh no… it has finally happened." Matthew said, pretending to be dismayed. "My little boy's becoming a man."

Chris chuckled at that. "Whatever you say, Dad. Bye!" he waved before dashing out of the hangar.

And off Chris went, jogging at a slow pace through the city towards Higher for Hire with his new backpack on his back. He knew better than to sprint through the city so soon after such a big breakfast..

Halfway there, as he was jogging past an alley gap between two buildings, Chris felt a sudden tug on his backpack and then he felt himself being yanked backward into the alley, where he found himself staring up at big scary-looking thug.

"Hey. kid," the thug said, towering ominously over Chris, with Chris backing away into the alley wall. "Maybe you didn't know it, but there's toll for passing through my territory. And it's payday."

Shocked and scared, Chris quickly scanned his surroundings until he spotted a trash can behind the thug. He then gave a confident smirk before looking up at the thug with defiance.

"Oh yeah? Well come and get it, big mouth!"

"What? Why, you little—!" the thug said angrily, drawing back a fist to punch Chris, but Chris quickly swung his arm up, causing the trash can to jump high off the ground, flipping over upside down and then falling on top of the thug, encasing his head and torso inside it with his arms pinned to his sides. "AAHH! Hey, wh-what is this?! W-who turned out the light?!"

Chris quickly picked up a nearby plank and swung it, hitting the trash can like a gong.

The thug gave a shaky, vibrated yell, before groaning and falling face-down.

"There!" Chris said, throwing the plank aside. "I've paid my dues, and now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." and with that, he left the thug groaning on the alley floor. He ran from the alley and went sprinting down the street as fast as he could. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to jog by myself in such a big city… OW!" He suddenly stopped sprinting and bent over, clutching his leg as it cramped up. "Ow… Ohhhh…." he moaned, feeling suddenly sick, his world began to spin before his eyes as he felt very nauseous. "Ohhh, maybe it was a bad idea to run from a mugger so soon after breakfast… Oh, yeah...that's right, Dad always said to wait a couple of hours after eating before running..."

He laid there, clutching his cramped leg and rubbing it while trying to keep his head still in the hopes that his nausea would pass. The cramp in his leg soon faded away, but the nausea remained. He slowly got up, but this action alone caused him to dive for the nearest trash can to throw up.

After emptying the contents of his stomach into the trash can, Chris made his way very slowly towards the docks where Higher for Hire was located, looking pale and clammy. He made it to the door just as Kit came running out, and almost collided with Chris.

"OH! Sorry, Chris, I almost ran into you!" Kit said as he skidded to a halt in front of Chris. Then he looked very concerned. "Chris, are you alright? You look pale and sicky."

"I'll be fine," Chris said weakly. "Have you got any Gatorade?"

"Gatorade, what's that?" Kit asked, looking perplex.

"Oh right, it's probably not invented yet…" Chris groaned. "Never mind, how about some Sprite?"

"I don't think so…" Kit said, looking even more concerned. "Never heard of it."

"Ginger ale?"

"Hold on, I think we do have a bottle of that, let me go get it." Kit said, he turned and went back inside, coming back out moments later with a bottle of ginger ale, which he handed to Chris.

Chris took the bottle, opened it and slowly drank from it.

"What happened, Chris?" Kit asked, leading Chris over to a nearby cargo crate and had him to sit down on top of it. "Did you get sick on your way down here?"

"Yeah… it was my fault, though." Chris said, taking another drink from the bottle, feeling a little better. "I ran too soon after a big breakfast, and got cramped up and then I got sick and threw up."

"Maybe you ought to go to bed," Kit suggested. "You can borrow my bed, C'mon, let's get you inside and into bed."

"NO!" Chris shouted, startling Kit. "No… I wanna go to school, today!"

"But Chris, you can't go if you're sick," Kit said gently but firmly. "Just go to bed and try again tomorrow."

"No, I'm going to school... Just gimme a minute, I'll be fine..." Chris said, leaning back against the wall of the building and closing his eyes. He then took another drink from the bottle. He just had to have his first day of school with his brother today, because there might not be a tomorrow after today.

"But, are you sure?" Kit said with concern in his voice. "Are you sure you'll be alright going to school today?"

"Yes, Kit, I'm sure!" Chris snapped, "Now can we please go?" he said, getting slowly off the crate.

Kit looked a little shocked at Chris snapping at him, but decided not to protest anymore, as his brother was now being too stubborn to listen to him.

"Alright, we'll go to school together, but under one condition." Kit said, holding up a finger.

"What's that?" Chris asked as Kit turned his back to Chris and bent down.

"Climb onto my back, I'll carry you there." Kit said.

"But Kit…" Chris whined, blushing a little as he swayed where he stood. "I'm not a baby, I can walk there on my own…"

"Either you let me carry you, or I'll get Baloo to help me strap you to the bed." Kit said firmly, going into big brother mode. "Look at yourself, you look like something the cat dragged in and you can barely keep your balance! How do you expect to walk there like that?"

"Oh…. oh alright then!" Chris said, looking annoyed as he climbed onto Kit's back. "But you better put me down when we get within plain sight of the school."

"Only if you feel up to it," Kit said, standing up with Chris on his back, he strained a little as he carried Chris towards the school.

Chris couldn't help feeling grateful that he didn't have to walk, he laid his head on Kit's shoulder and closed his eyes, deciding to squeeze in a little nap before school…

Chris must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Kit was calling his name and shaking him. Chris opened his eyes and found himself sitting on the pavement with his back against the wall surrounding the school. Kit had obviously set him down by the arched entryway of the schoolyard and trying to wake him up before they went in.

"Chris, we're here," Kit said, helping Chris to his feet. "How do you feel? If you still feel sick, I can take you to the nurse's office and you can wait there for Dad to pick you up."

"No, I'm fine, Kit," Chris said as he stood steadily on his feet. "I feel better now, let's go in."

And so, the two brothers walked side-by-side towards the school and went inside together.

Since they had ten minutes left before the bell ring for the start of the first class of the day, Kit used this time to show Chris around and telling him where everything was.

"Our locker is here, the principal's office is there, the nurse's office is over there… are you sure you wouldn't want to see her? Nurse Edna is really nice." Kit said

"For the last time, Kit, I'm fine!" Chris said firmly, looking a little annoyed. "Now where's the washroom?"

"Over there," Kit said, pointing to it. He gave Chris a concerned look. "Are you feeling sick again?"

"No, I just need to wash my face." Chris said, walking over to the door that was labeled "BOYS" and went inside. A couple of minutes later, Chris came back out, his face cleaner and a little less sick-looking. "Aahh, that feels so much better," He then rejoins Kit. "So, what's our first class of the day?"

"Math." Kit said simply.

"Ugh, math class?" Chris said in dismay. "The most boring school subject at the very start of my very first day of public school…"

"What?" Kit said, sounding a little surprised. "I thought history class was boring one."

Chris shook his head. "No, history is actually pretty interesting, like a big storytime in a class format."

"Yeah, it is interesting… until you have to write a long essay about those stories…" Kit said muttered.

"But I'm already so good with numbers and it has become very boring to me." Chris said with a dismayed expression, as he and Kit entered the classroom.

"Good morning, class," said the teacher, a male weasel in suit and tie, greeted the class as they took their seats. "My name is Mr. F. Why am I introducing myself again this late in the term, you ask? Well it's because today, we are joined by a new student. Come on up here, new student." and he beckoned Chris to the front of the class

Looking a little uncomfortable with all the eyes on him now, Chris got up from his seat next to Kit and walked up to the front of class, where he faced the class and gave a little wave, looking a little nervous.

"H-hi, I'm… Chris Cloudkicker, Kit's brother." he said, gesturing to Kit. "And this is my first day in public school." Not knowing what else to say, Chris just return to his seat, looking relieved that the introduction was all over.

"Alright, class," Mr. F said, taking up the chalk and wrote a math problem on the board. "How do we solve this problem."

The problem was 13 + 13 =.

Chris was like: "...what…?" and then looking around, he was surprised and shocked at how this simple math problem seemed to have defeated whole of the class, with all other students looking stumped.

"Anyone?" Mr. F said, looking around at the class.

Seeing as no one else was volunteering to answer the problem, Chris raised his hand and said: "Put the two threes together to make a six, and then combine the two ones into a two. You should get a twenty-six."

Mr. F blinked in stunned surprise. Obviously he wasn't used to anyone answering the math problems correctly. "Uh… that's… that's correct, Chris… Now can you answer this one?" he asked, pointing with a stick at the next problem, which was 19 + 19.

Looking bored, Chris answered with one elbow on the desk, supporting his face with his hand to his cheek. "You put the nine and nine together, makes an eighteen, then carry the one over to the other two ones and make them into a three and you'll have thirty-eight."

Once again, Mr. F and the students were aghast at Chris' math skills While Chris saw these math problems as simple and easy, the other students and teacher were now seeing him as some kind of genius.

But based on Chris' answers, the other students begin to figure out the problems too. Evidently, Mr. F never taught them anything, just gave them a series of math problems and then failing them for getting it wrong, without ever teaching them how to work through the problems and solve them.

Mr. F seemed to be freaking out before their very eyes, looking extremely frustrated as he chewed on his handkerchief, and in his head, he was thinking; 'Oh no! Not another smart one! How am I to keep failing the whole class with kids like him coming along?! Right, right, calm down, you've dealt with smart kids before, just find out what their math limits are and then go beyond that…

"Okay class, next problem. What's five hundred plus five hundred?" Mr. F said, writing the problems on the board.

Chris raised an eyebrow, like 'Really?' "A thousand." he said with his hand up, and without effort.

Mr. F snarled and broke the chalk in half out of sheer frustration. "Alright, this is obviously too easy for you. Let's try a new math. What's a hundred thousand times a hundred thousand?!" he asked, breathing heavily as if this was a war.

Chris chuckles, now the teacher was being really ridiculous, but he knew he should not say so out loud.

"A hundred thousand times a hundred thousand is…" Chris said, smiling as if he was fighting down a laugh.

'Oh no… please answer wrong, please answer wrong!' Mr. F begged inside his head.

"...Ten billion." Chris answered with a smirk.

"Eeek!" Mr. F squeaked as he seemed shattered, he fell to his knees in defeat. "...M-my hardest-ever math problem….it failed me!" he cried, getting up and running from the room in pouring tears.

The whole classroom erupted with cheers and applause and Chris found himself being held up into the air by many hands while the kids chant his name: "CHRIS, CHRIS, CHRIS, CHRIS!"

Chris laughed and then said: "Alright guys, put me down, that's enough. You wanna alert the principal?"

"Too late…" said Mr. Pomeroy coldly, as he stood framed in the doorway.

At the sight of the principal, the students hastily put Chris down and returned to the seats in a flash.

Mr. Pomeroy walked into the classroom, followed by Mr. F, who appears to be having a nervous breakdown.

"Th-that's him, sir!" Mr. F said, pointing a shaky finger at Chris. "That's the troublemaker disrupting my class!"

"Cloudkicker, is that true?" Mr. Pomeroy asked, giving Chris a stern gaze.

"A...all I did was answer his math problems!" Chris protested weakly, feeling himself shrink under the principal's gaze.

"Oh really?" Mr. Pomeroy said, and then he turned to look at the board, examining all the math problems written up there. "Uh, Mr. F, the first few problems are second grade level math… and the last few are… eighth grade level, I believe… What's going on here?"

"I… uh... Well, it's not my fault! These kids are so dumb, I had to downgrade to their level." Mr. F said.

There was an almighty uproar from the rest of the class, by the sound of it, they did not take this insult to their intelligence lightly! In the midst of the rioting protests from the class, Mr. Pomeroy caught the words: "YOU NEVER TAUGHT US ANYTHING, YOU JUST LOVE TO SEE US FAIL!"

"SILENT!" Mr. Pomeroy roared, louder than all of them, and they all fell silent, though looking sulky and shooting daggers at Mr. F with their eyes. "You will all sit there quietly while I sort this out. Mr. F, come with me."

Mr. Pomeroy left the room with Mr. F in tow.

They all sat quietly for ten minutes, whispering to each other before the classroom door opened and nice-looking female bear walked in. Kit was reminded of Miss Cunningham as he looked at her, except her hair was black and tied into a bun and she wore half-moon shape glasses.

"Hello, class," she said pleasantly. "My name is Mrs. Dowell," she said as she wrote her name on the blackboard. "I will be substituting for Mr. F today."

Now everyone was Chris' best friend, as he got rid of their awful teacher and had him replaced with this nicer-looking teacher. And so he wasn't treated badly like most New Kids would have been treated. No one saw the need to pick on him or bully him.

And the rest of the first period of the day continued with Mrs. Dowell giving the class hard math problems and when the class groaned, she urged them not to be afraid of numbers and encouraged them by actually explaining how to solve the problems without giving them the answers.

"Oh wow, I'm actually learning something today!" Kit said as he wrote down his answers on his math sheet.

"Eh, better teacher, better process, I guess." Chris said, yawning a very obvious 'I'm bored' yawn.

Mrs. Dowell paused in the act of writing something on the blackboard and shot an icy cold glare over her shoulder at Chris, it was clear she heard his yawn. Chris felt the glare piercing his very core and he cringed and hastily made himself appear busy with his paper.

For the rest of the math period, Chris amused himself by drawing funny cartoons on his paper, wrote all the wrong answers on purpose before erasing everything and writing the correct answers.

The bell rang, signaling the start of second period.

"Alright class," Mrs. Dowell said, facing the class. "Math time is over. Ernie, would you please collect the papers and bring them up to my desk?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Ernie said politely, getting up and going around the classroom, collecting the papers from every desktops.

"Now, it's time for spelling!" Mrs. Dowell announced cheerfully. "When I call your name, come up to the board." she cleared her throat before calling out: "Chris Cloudkicker."

Chris gulped as he slowly got out of his seat and approached the board with Mrs. Dowell standing there with her arms crossed, glaring at Chris over her half-moon glasses. Her body language read: 'You're dead meat!'

"Alright, Chris, your first word is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Mrs. Dowell said in a sugar-sweet voice.

Chris did a double-take and stared at Mrs. Dowell in stunned disbelief. "Come again?"

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, dear," she repeated, her face cracking into an evil grin.

"Uh…" Chris said, for the first time that day, he was stumped. "Super..." he said, writing the letters S-U-P-E-R and then paused, trying to think how the rest of the word was spelled."calif.." but he misspelled that part with "T-A-L-I-C" and when he was done spelling the word, Mrs. Dowell shook her head.

"No, Chris, that's wrong. Try again."

Chris tried and tried, getting parts of the word wrong every time. At last, a worn-out and exhausted-looking Chris finally got it right.

"Good job, Chris! Your next word is…"

Chris groaned. "Another one? Ooh, my aching hand…" he whined, rubbing his his sore hand.

"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." Mrs. Dowell said with a grin.

Chris whimpered as he picked up the chalk again and begin to shakily write the letters. Like last time, the first dozen tries were failures before he finally got it right!

"Good, now, your final word is…"

Overwhelmed. Chris' eyes rolled upward into as he fell face down on the floor. He had fainted.

Moments later, Chris came to, waking up to find Kit holding him up and gently patting him on the face. "Chris? Chris, are you okay?"

"Huh…? Kit…?" Chris said, feeling disorientated. He then shook his head to shake it off. "I mean, yeah. I'm fine." he said, allowing Kit to take him by the arm and help him to his feet. It was then that he noticed that someone else was taking his other arm to help him up too. He turned his head to look at the person and froze, his eyes widened and bulged out of his head and his heart shot upward into his throat.

The other person helping him up was a girl, a brown bearess with red hair, which she wore in pigtails. She was wearing a blue dress and a white apron. She might seemed like a simple girl to others, but in Chris' eyes, she was stunningly beautiful. He was so taken by her beauty, that when he tried to thank her, all he could managed was a line of incoherent words. Basically sounding like an idiot.

"Thank you for getting rid of that awful teacher, he was mean, and maybe now my grades will improve." she said, and then kissed Chris on the cheek. Chris had this big, dazed smile on his face, his face turning red like a rapidly rising thermometer, and once his whole face turned red, steam billowed out of his ears. The girl seemed quite oblivious to all of this and returned to her seat.

As she walked away, Chris fell down again, despite Kit supporting him.

"Chris, are you okay? Snap out of it!" Kit said, pulling Chris to his feet again. Chris seemed a little punch-drunk as he swayed against Kit's helping arm, looking dreamily towards the red pigtailed girl. Kit supported Chris's weight on his arm, looking concerned. "Chris…?"

"Who is that girl, Kit?" Chris asked in a dreamy voice, gazing towards the girl with dreamy eyes, pink heart shaped bubbles floating around his head.

"Huh?" Kit looked in the direction Chris was staring in and saw the girl. "Uh-oh, I think Cupid's bullet hit your tail section, Chris…" he said as he steered Chris back to his seat.

"But who is she?" Chris asked again as Kit pushed him into his seat.

"Huh? Oh, her name is Wendy," Kit said, retaking his own seat next to Chris.

"Wendy…." Chris repeated, propping his face with his hands, his elbows on the desktop, still looking dreamy and lovestruck. "Kit, I think I'm in love…"

Kit pulled a skeptical expression. "Chris, you've only just met her. And a moment ago, you didn't even know her name! I think it's a bit too soon to come to that conclusion… Seriously, Cupid must've hit your rear end hard!"

For the rest of the spelling class, Chris just sat in his seat, daydreaming of himself and Wendy running through a field of flowers towards each other and then skip hopping through the field, holding hands.

"Chris….CHRIS!" Kit yelled, shaking Chris out of his daydream.

"Wh...What?" Chris said, looking around and saw that the rest of the class was leaving the classroom. "Where're they all going?"

Kit chuckled as he took hold of Chris' wrist and pulled him out of his seat. "C'mon, it's time for P.E."

Chris got excited about that. "Alright! I love P.E.! Let's go." he got up from his seat and followed Kit from the class to the gym.

In the gym, the students were all dressed in their P.E. clothes. For the boys, the clothes were a pair of blue shorts with a white t-shirt. Same for the girls, except it was a skirt instead of shorts.

"Alright, class!" roared the coach, a large buffed dog in a tank top, he spoke in a loud, rough voice. "Today, I'm going to teach you wimps how to...DODGE!" he yelled, throwing a dodgeball right at Ernie, who cried out as he was knocked off his feet by the force of the ball. "YOU!" he roared at Ernie, as the poor boy struggled to his feet. "You're the first team captain! And you!" he threw the ball at Kit's head, but Kit managed to duck just in time. He felt the ball graze his hair and blew his cap off. "Cloudkicker, you're the second captain. Alright you two, pick your team!"

"I want Chris." Kit said without hesitation, not wanting his brother to be treated as the typical New Kid and get picked last. He then bent down and picked his cap up from the floor, brushed off the dust from his cap before putting it back on.

"Aw, man. I wanted Chris!" Ernie complained, much to Kit's surprise. "Now my team's gonna lose…"

Kit smiled. "Alright, Ernie, you can have Chris."

"Wh-what? Y-you mean it?" Ernie said in surprise.

"Yeah, having two Cloudkickers on one team would be overpowering, gotta make us even." Kit said with a smile.

"Alright, then I'll take Chris!" Ernie said, grabbing Chris' arm and pulling him to his side.

Chris grinned at Kit as he stood next to Ernie, looking forward to playing against his brother.

Kit and Ernie then took turns picking team members, dividing the entire class into two teams. Chris was a little disheartened when Kit picked Wendy for his team. Now he wished he was on Kit's team.

"Alright, on your mark, get set…." the coach said, readying his whistle. "And beat the pants off each other!" he yelled, blowing his whistle! Almost instantly, he was hit in the face with three stray balls at once, knocking him out cold!

And thus, the ball war began, balls went flying everywhere with people either dodging or getting the wind knocked out of them as the ball hit them!

Chris and Kit were both in their element, able to use their acrobatic skills to dodge balls perfectly and hit their opponents. The first ball Kit threw hit Ernie right in the face! Chris grabbed a ball from midair and throw it right back at the rabbit who threw it, knocking him out of the game

As both teams dwindled in numbers, the more clearly Chris could see Wendy.

Grabbing another ball, Chris held up the ball, preparing to strike out another of Kit's teammates when suddenly he realized it was Wendy.

'What am I doing? I don't wanna hit her!' Chris thought inside his head

He froze in mid-attack and stared at her as a song begin to play inside his head.

Love lift us up where we belong
Where the eagles cry
On a mountain high
Love lift us up where we belong
Far from the world below
Up where the clear winds blow

While the song played inside his head, he envisioned a beautiful background behind Wendy, highlighting her beauty.

"Wendy…no, I can't hit her!" he said, clearly undergoing some painful internal struggle. All of a sudden, the spell was broken as a ball came out of nowhere and hit Chris in the face, causing him to fall onto his back.

Chris came to, still laying on his back, looking up at his fellow teammates standing in a circle around him, looking down at him with angry faces. He slowly got to his feet.

"Guys, what's up? Who won?"

"They did," one of them spat, shoving Chris in the chest. "We could have won, if you hadn't got hit...BY A GIRL!" he shoved Chris harder this time, causing him to fall down onto his rear.

"Yeah, and without you, we stood no chance against Kit!" another kid spat

"Wha-what?" Chris stammered. "But guys, it's just a g-game, we'll g-get 'em next time!"

The teammates continued to glare down at him as if he had lost them the superbowl. Until he let out a sob, unable to take it anymore and ran from the gym.

"CHRIS!" Kit yelled after him.

"Did you see how easily he cried?" one of Chris' teammates sneered.

"Yeah, what a baby!" laughed the other. "OW!" he cried as Wendy kicked him in the leg.

"You insensitive jerk!" she growled. "He is new here! He's sweet and smart, and you made him cry! When he gets back, you are going to apologize to him, or so help me, I will kick you all in the leg so hard, that your grandchildren will inherit your pain from my kick! Do I make myself CLEAR?!"

"Yes, Wendy..." All the boys said, looking frightened of her and backed away from her.

Kit gave Wendy a grateful smile and then he gave Chris' so-called teammates a venomous look, before running after Chris.

"Chris, wait up!" Kit yelled as he chased Chris through the school. Kit may be fast, but Chris was just as fast!

"Go away!" Chris sobbed as he ran, "I should've never came to school!"

"Chris, stop!" Kit yelled.

But Chris didn't stop, he ran all the way down the hall and outside, running down the street, away from the school.

Kit took out his airfoil and threw it at Chris' legs, causing him to fall flat on his face! Chris laid crying on the ground as Kit caught up with him.

"Chris, I'm sorry. But you wouldn't stop." Kit said remorsefully, as he helped Chris up and hugged him tightly.

Chris hugged Kit as well and sobbed into his shoulder. "They hate me! I lost them the game!"

"No, Chris…." Kit said soothingly, gently stroking the back of Chris' head. "They don't hate you. They're just sore losers and they just took it out on you. It's not because they hate you."

Chris backed away from Kit and sniffed. "I… still lost them the game, they wanted to win..."

Kit shrugged and said: "I'm gonna quote Baloo and say: Ya win some, ya lose some. You can't win and lose all the time."

Chris took a moment to regain his composure. "I'm sorry I got all emotional. I… never had that many people mad at me before. It's all too new and too scary…"

Kit embraced Chris into a soothing hug. "It's okay, Chris. It's just a P.E. game, They'll get over it. They can't stay mad at you. Now c'mon, let's go back to the school before Mr. Pomeroy gives us both detention."

Kit held Chris' hand and took the first step towards the school, when an sudden earthquake occured! The sky turned black and began storming! The ground split open between their feet and they had to jump to one side to avoid falling into the gap.

"AAHH! An earthquake?! Here?! In Cape Suzette?!" Kit cried in total shock.

"No…. this is not natural! The world is ending!" Chris screamed, and he yelped and screamed louder when lightning flashed across the sky, followed by thunder.

"WH-WHAT?"! Kit screamed in horror.

Out from the cracks in the ground, the Shadow Minions appeared! They took one look at Kit and Chris, and launched themselves at the two cubs to attack. Kit and Chris gripped each other hard with their eyes shut tight, and then they suddenly hear it—the humming sound of the D-blade swinging around.

They looked up and saw Matthew defending them, swiping left and right at the Shadow Minions with his D-blade, destroying them one at a time.

"DAD!" they cried in relief, happy that they were being saved by their Dad.

Matthew took out a dozen of the Shadow Minions before running at Kit and Chris, snatching them up under his arms and running towards dock as fast as he could.

At the dock, Matthew skidded to a halt in front of Baloo, who was snoring on top of the cargo crates.

"Baloo, get up!" Matthew yelled, kicking Baloo off the crates.

"Oof! Hey, what's the big idea?" Baloo grumbled as he got up from the dock's floor.

"No time, Baloo! Where's Wildcat? Where's Rebecca?" Matthew demanded urgently.

"Where's the fire, ace?" Baloo asked. "Rebecca went to see Molly's school play, and Wildcat's in town, buying parts for the Duck."

A pained grimace crossed Matthew face, as if he has stabbed with an icy knife. "Hurry, come with me, Baloo! There's not a lot of time left!" he yelled even more urgently.

Matthew turned and began to run with the cubs still under his arms. Baloo ran after them, panting most of the way. They ran all the across town to Matthew's hangar. They ran into the hangar and boarded the McQueen. Matthew dropped the boys onto the floor, jumped into the pilot seat and quickly started the engines.

"Matthew, what's going on? What's with the earthquakes and the thunderstorm?" Baloo asked as he sat down in the co-pilot seat.

"No time, Baloo! Grab Kit and Chis and hold on to them!" Matthew yelled as the plane rolled out of the hangar, gathering speed.

Baloo picked Kit and Chris up from the floor and held them close to his chest.

Matthew shut his eyes tight against the tears that started pouring from his eyes, as he thought of all the people he was leaving behind to be taken by the darkness. He reached up and slammed the big red button overhead.

At warp speed, the McQueen shot up into the sky and disappeared among the stars.


Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed this episode! More episodes are coming!

Special thanks to my editor, Cyclone Blaze, for helping me with the editing process of this episode to make it as good as it can be.

Make sure to stay tuned for the next episode. Please give me a review, I'd love to see your thoughts on this episode.