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Episode Fifteen

Kit's First Day at the Dedi Academy


Outside the gates of Dedi Academy's Entrance Exam Hall, Kit and Cavin were leaving the premises, walking side-by-side down the street.

"Finally, after centuries of trying, I'm finally in!" Cavin said happily, walking with a skip in his steps. "But it sure wasn't easy getting in."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Kit muttered, walking beside Cavin. "But I have a feeling that our classes are going to be harder. Hopefully we'll learn to use our powers before we go through our more-difficult classes."

"Yeah," Cavin said as they reached the end of the street. "Well, I'm going this way, see ya around."

"Bye, Cavin." Kit said as he turned right while Cavin went left. Kit, being excited at the prospect of telling his family about being accepted into the Dedi Academy, ran the rest of the way home.

He found Baloo and Chris sitting outside the Sea Duck hangar in lawn chairs, apparently sharing stories and laughing together.

Baloo looked towards Kit as he approached. "Well now, there's my navigator. Did ya get in, Lil' Britches?"

Kit took a moment to catch his breath, then he looked up at them with a big smile on his face.

"YEAH, I GOT IN!" Kit cried happily, jumping up and doing a midair victory pose with a yell of: "YA-HOO!"

Chris looked overjoyed at the news, he ran and hugged Kit, jumping up and down with him. "YA-HOO! I knew you could do it, Kit! Oh, I'm so happy for you, Kit! My brother is now going to the same school as me! This is awesome! We gotta celebrate." he gasped as an idea came to him. "I know, I'll take you and Baloo out to eat."

"No, really, Chris, it's not that big of a deal…" Kit said modestly, though he was pleased that his brother was that happy for him.

"I insist!" Chris said, half-happily, half-firmly. He then patted himself in different places, apparently searching for something. "Wait here, I need to go get my wallet."

"Oh, Chris, um, could you give this to Dad?" Kit asked, withdrawing the ticket Officer Hopps gave him and handed it to Chris.

"What's this?" Chris asked curiously, taking the ticket and unfolding it to read it. "What the—" he yelped in shock "DADDD!" he yelled as he marched to the Cloudkicker hangar.

"Uh-oh..." Kit muttered as he watched Chris go.

Inside the hangar, Matthew was placing a newly-repaired toaster on the shelf for its owner to pick up, when the door to the workshop flew open with a BANG. Startled, Matthew yelped and nearly dropped the toaster. He looked back and saw Chris standing there, framed in the doorway, looking livid.

"Chris, what—?" he started to say as Chris marched right up to him and shoved a piece of paper in his face.

"Dad, what is this?" Chris growled.

Timidly, looking like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Matthew took the piece of paper, looked at it and cringed.

"Well?" Chris demanded, hands on his hips, his eyes burning.

Matthew gulped. "It's a… speeding ticket."

"I know that, look at the fine!" Chris yelled.

Matthew flinched and took a step back. "Hey… calm down, it's not THAT big of a deal."

"NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?" Chris roared. "If you think two hundred thousand dollars in fines is not a big deal, then you are grounded from your car for a month! Gimme your keys ...NOW!"

"Oh now, Chris, that won't be…" Matthew started, feebly trying to gain some parental grounds in this conversation, but failed as he faltered under Chris' piercing gaze,

"Dad… keys... now!" Chris growled firmly, holding out his hand, palm up.

Matthew looked as though he might cry as he fished his pocket with a shaky hand and withdrew his keys. He didn't exactly hand it over, he just held it up, looking most reluctant. Chris snatched them out from his hand, then turned and marched towards the door.

"Wait, Chris. Where are you going with those?" Matthew asked timidly.

"I'm taking them to the Money Bin. I'm gonna have Uncle Scrooge lock them up in his bin." Chris said as he reached the door, then he left, slamming the door behind him, leaving Matthew to whimper at the loss of his driving privilege.

The door flew open again, and Chris came marching back in.

"You're not here for the keys to the plane, are you?" Matthew asked apprehensively.

"No," Chris said shortly, marching up to his room. "I forgot my wallet."

Matthew let out a breath of relief.

Chris came out of his room, pocketing his wallet as he marched towards the door and went back out again, slamming the door behind him.

"He is just like his mother..." Matthew muttered half fondly and half sadly as he returned to his work.

The next day, Chris, Kit and the Duck triplets, along with a small crowd of kids whose age ranged from twelve to seventeen, stood at a bus stop on a street corner.

Kit looked around and saw that there was a school within walking distance and was confused as to why they were waiting for a bus.

"Chris, why are we standing here waiting for the bus?" Kit asked, gesturing to the school in the distance. "I mean, the school's just over there, couldn't we just walk over there?"

"That's the regular D-Star public school," Chris replied. "The academy is further away, so we need a bus to get there. Oh, here comes the bus now." he added as an ordinary-looking yellow school bus with the words Dedi Academy on the sides came rolling up the road towards them.

The bus came to a stop in front of them and the door slid open to reveal a bear in the driver's seat, who looked a lot like Baloo, except that he had brown fur instead of gray.

"All aboard to the Dedi Academy," the bus driver said. He wore a green T-shirt, blue jeans and a red cap on his head. "C'mon, a full day of learning and training awaits!"

The kids all lined up and one by one, started climbing into the bus. The bus driver spoke a word of greeting to each kid that climbed up into the bus.

"Well now, look who's back from another one of his father-son missions!" the bus driver chuckled as Chris entered the bus. "How'd it go, Chris?"

Chris smiled at the bus driver. "Hi, Freddy! It was a success!" He took a sideway step to reveal Kit behind him. "We finally found my brother! Kit, meet Freddy. Freddy, meet Kit."

"Hello, Freddy." Kit said politely, holding out his hand to Freddy.

"Ha, ha! What a main event this is!" Freddy laughed, shaking Kit's hand. "The famous Kit Cloudkicker has finally graced my bus with his presence! Nice to meet ya."

"L-likewise, but why am I famous?" Kit asked. "I haven't really been here for very long and I haven't really done anything."

"No, but Chris talked of finding you all the time." Freddy said. "I'm glad he finally found you. Now move along, you're holdin' up the line."

"O-oh! Right…" Kit said as he followed Chris down the aisle between the seats and sat down next to him. Behind them, Huey, Dewey and Louie sat together across one seat.

"Well, well," Freddy said, smiling as Cavin and Cubbi climbed into the bus. "Looks like the day of you two joining us has finally come! Welcome, you two."

"Thanks, Freddy." Cavin smiled back as he and Cubbi walked down the aisle and sat in the seat across from Kit and Chris.

"Hey, Cavin! Are you guys ready for the first day at the academy?" Kit asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Cavin replied. "I can't wait to see what the academy is like. I've never seen the place."

"That makes two of us," Kit said, as some of the last kids came into the bus and Freddy slid the door shut.

"Next stop, Dedi Academy!" Freddy declared as he put the bus in drive and drove the bus through the town and to what looked like a bridge-building construction site. The bridge appeared to only be half-finished, and the end of the bridge looked like a fifty foot drop off to the edge. "Hold on, kids, the fun part is about to begin!" he pressed a button and a pair of seat belts crossed over each of the kids, securing them safely to their seat.

"What's he doing?!" yelped Kit, looking scared as he struggled against his seat belt, "Is he crazy? He's going to drive off the edge!"

"Kit, calm down." Chris said, looking like a kid enjoying a fairground ride. "Freddy's done this plenty of times before, we're totally safe. Trust me."

"SAFE?! YOU CALL THIS SAAAFFFE...?!" Kit yelled as the bus ran up the bridge and dived off the edge. Kit screamed in terror as the bus plummeted down, covering his eyes with his hands.

"Here we go!" Freddy said, pushing a lever forward.

Wings shot out on either side of the bus, and a single big jet engine sprung up on the back of the bus, from which blue flames burst out, propelling the bus forward through the air.

Chris tapped Kit on the arm. "You can open your eyes now." He sounded amused, like he was trying not to laugh.

Kit lowered his hands and looked around. The bus was flying in a steady climb upward.

"What the—? We're...we're flying! The bus is actually flying!" Kit said in utter astonishment. Then, in his annoyance, he lightly punched Chris on the arm, it was less of a punch and more of a tap.

"...What was that for?" Chris asked as he massaged his arm.

"You could've warned me this was going to happen!" Kit grumbled. "Making me freak out over nothing…"

"Well, it was funny." Chris said with a sly grin.

Kit threw another punch Chris' way, but this time, ready for it, Chris blocked the punch with his hand.

"Now, now, ol' bro, let's just enjoy the rest of the ride."

The bus flew straight up into the clouds and everything turned dark and foggy. Kit had to resist the urge to jump out of the window and go cloud surfing as he gazed in awe through the window at the tunnel of clouds..

A minute later, they burst into a blaze of sunlight. The wheels of the bus skimmed the sea of fluffy clouds, the sky a bright, endless blue under the blinding white sun.

The bus ascended even higher above the clouds, and ahead of them, Kit saw it and his jaw dropped. Ahead of the bus was a big floating island in the sky.

"Wow…" Kit said in awe as he looked at the island. "The Academy is on an island in the sky?"

"Yep, pretty neat, huh?" Chris said, amused at Kit's amazement.

"It's amazing!" Kit cried with excitement.

The bus flew over the island and Kit pressed Chris against the window, trying to see out of it.

"Kit… you're squishing me…." Chris said in a muffled voice, but Kit seemed not to have heard him,

The island had a thicket of jungles surrounding the school building and several compounds located at the center of the island. All around the edges of the island were a series of walls that are several stories high. Seeing the enclosed island from an overhead view from within the bus, the island looked like a giant salad bowl. On the left side of the island was a tall mountain with a waterfall running through it.

"Whoa! This school looks awesome! And I never thought I'd say that!" Kit said excitedly, looking in awe as he leaned against the window, not noticing that he was squashing Chris against it.

"Kit… geoff!" Chris yelled in a muffled voice, his face pressed flat against the window, looking extremely annoyed.

"Oh, sorry Chris." Kit said, getting off of Chris, allowing Chris to peel himself off the window. "But can we switch places?"

"Yeah, sure." Chris said, and they switched places so that Kit was now sitting by the window, gazing in awe at the island and school below.

In front of the school building was a runway. The bus circled around the island once before lining itself with the runway as it began its descent. Freddy was a decent pilot, as the wheels of the bus touched down on the runway rather smoothly. As it landed, the bus converted itself from a jet plane bus back into a regular school bus and drove the rest of the way up to the school. The bus then slowed to a stop in front of the entryway into the school and Freddy slid open the door.

"Here we are, have a good day of learning." Freddy said as the kids got up and began to disembark.

"This may be my favorite way of going to school," Kit said happily as he and Chris stepped out of the bus. "It sure beats riding a bike or walking."

"I know, right?" Chris agreed as they joined the crowd of students going into the school.

As they moved into the school with the crowd, Kit was looking all around, wishing he had about eight more eyes, trying to look at everything at once. One kid stood out to Kit; a dalmatian kid with one arm, missing his left arm. He wore a green headband and a Dedi robe. Kit stared at him before nudging Chris and gestured to the one-arm dalmatian.

"Who's that and what happened to him?" Kit asked.

Chris looked and cringed. "That's Tripod, and he lost an arm during a mission."

"How?" Kit asked, eyeing Tripod with sympathy.

Chris shrugged. "Dunno, he doesn't talk about it, so don't ask. He'll just ignore you."

As they followed the crowd of kids and teens flooding into the school, Kit noticed a tall figure standing next to the entryway. As they got closer, Kit gasped as he recognized the tall figure. A tiger in a suit and tie.

"S-Shere Khan?" Kit said in a hushed voice, staring at the tall tiger as if he was seeing a ghost. "But h-how? Wasn't our world destroyed? How is he standing here? Did he escape?"

"There was a Shere Khan in our world?" Chris asked. "What was he like?"

"I...don't really know him personally, but he was a business tycoon," Kit said, still staring at the tiger. "A billionaire."

"Oh, well, this is Headmaster Khan." Chris said. "He's the head of our academy."

"Headmaster Khan? You mean there are more than one Shere Khan?" Kit asked in amazement.

"Yeah, there are many Earths out there, and each of them have their own version of us." Chris explained. "On our Earth. Shere Khan was a business tycoon, but on other Earths, another version of him could be a number of different things. One might be a great and mighty army general, another might be a ruthless hunter, or like ours, a school headmaster."

Kit stood staring at Chris, as if his brother had grown an extra head. "C-come again? Y-you've lost me at the fact that there are many Earths…"

Chris sighed. "I'll explain it to you later."

"Ah, Kit Cloudkicker, our new celebrity." Headmaster Khan greeted Kit with a deep purr in his voice as they reached him at the entryway into the school. He grasped Kit's hand gently and shook it. "So glad you could finally join us."

"Um, yeah. I'm glad I could be here too," Kit said, looking up at Headmaster Khan in awe. He then looked at his own hand. It had felt so small and weak in the handshake with Khan. Even though the handshake was gentle, Kit felt a lot of power in Khan's hand, making him feel incredibly small and intimidated by Headmaster Khan's mere presence. This was one tiger that Kit did not want to cross. Not much different from how he felt towards the Shere Khan he knew.

"I trust you're going to show your brother around, showing him where everything is and how things are done at this school?" Headmaster Khan said to Chris.

"Oh, um, yes sir!" Chris said nervously, avoiding Headmaster Khan's eyes.

"Chris…" Headmaster Khan said, looking down at him through narrowed eyes, causing Chris to cringe. "Look at me when you speak to me."

Chris forced himself to look upon Headmaster Khan's face, and it couldn't be more plain that Chris was terrified. "Yes sir!"

"That's better. Although, you needn't be so afraid of me." Headmaster Khan said in a kinder voice. "Today, and until Kit gets used to the school, stick with him and guide him."

"Yes sir."

Headmaster Khan chuckled and stood aside to let them pass. "Very well, off you go."

They walked past him and entered the school. Kit looked sideways at Chris.

"Chris, what was that about?" Kit asked. "Why are you so scared of him?"

"He has... this intimidating and powerful vibe about him," Chris said nervously. "I can't explain, but even though I'm a good student and cause no trouble... I still feel like a little puppy under the gaze of a tiger around him."

Kit looked back at Headmaster Khan as they walked further down the hall. "Yeah… I think I understand how you feel."

As they moved further into the school and spoke no more of Headmaster Khan, Chris seemed to be feeling better as he led Kit to the office.

"Good morning, Miss Bianca," Chris said to the lady sized white mouse seated behind the secretary's desk. "My brother, Kit is here for his locker."

Just then, Cavin and Cubbi came into the office, led by Huey Duck. Huey then greeted Miss Bianca and said: "These two are here for their lockers, ma'am. Cavin and Cubbi Gummi."

"Alright, just wait right there, I'll be right with you." Bianca said kindly as she got up and went over to the drawers. She came back moments later with a sheet of paper for Cavin and Kit. "Here you are, dears." she said, handing one sheet of paper to each of them. "Kit, your locker is nine-seven, the locker rules and combination are all there, so make sure you don't lose it."

"Yes, ma'am." Kit said politely, accepting his sheet of paper.

Bianca turned to Cavin and Cubbi and handed Cavin the sheet of paper. "Unfortunately, due to a shortage of lockers, you two will have to share. Hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all." Cavin said, accepting the sheet of paper.

"Yeah, me and Cavin used to share a closet at home before Cavin got his own room," Cubbi said, looking a little sad, as though he wished they were still roommates.

Bianca chuckled. "Well, your locker is nine-fourteen. All rules and your combination are there on your paper. Here are your schedules." she said, handing Kit, Cavin and Cubbi their schedules. "Have a good first day!" she waved at them as they left the office.

Kit and Chris then located Kit's locker. Kit quickly memorized the combination by reading it several times and repeating it several more times in his head. He opened his locker and saw that it already contained a few books and a Dedi robe hanging on the hook in the locker.

"Uh… is this the right locker?" Kit asked, turning the door to check the number. "This is nine-seven, but why are there already stuff in it?"

"When you get accepted into the Dedi Academy, they prepare your locker for you ahead of time, so you'd have all your school supplies all ready for you to use." Chris explained. "When I first came here, I was wondering how this school was going to work, since they never asked me to buy school supplies, only to find everything I needed in my locker."

"Wow, that's very convenient," Kit said happily. "There's even a backpack in here!"

"Like I said, you have everything you need in there." Chris said. "You'll need to pack your backpack with the books and notebook you'll need for your morning classes."

Kit looked at his schedule and saw that he had three morning classes and three afternoon classes.

"It looks like today I have Survival one-o-one, Swordsmanship, Track 'n Field, lunch, General Education, Warrior class and then Aerokinesis " Kit read off his schedule. "And then tomorrow, it's Alchemy, Mystical Arts and Track 'n Field. So a different morning, but the same afternoon… and the day after tomorrow repeats today and the day after that repeats tomorrow."

"Yep, that's the Warrior class schedule, we have all the same classes." Chris said happily. "Except my last afternoon class is Hydrokinesis, so that's one class we won't be having together."

Kit went through his books and packed the ones related to the subjects he was taking that day. With his bag packed, he was about to close his locker, but Chris stopped him.

"You gotta wear the robe while in school, it's kind of a uniform."

"Oh… okay." Kit took the robe from the locker and was about to put it on, but Chris again stopped him.

"You can't wear your shirt or your vest under it." Chris said.

Kit looked flustered at that, his cheeks turning pink. "What?! Are you kidding me?! I'm not going to strip down right here in the hallway!"

"Oh, right. I forgot that you haven't learned to magically switch clothes yet," Chris then laughed and said: "My bad."

"So, now what?" Kit asked, holding his robe in front of him, looking awkward.

"I guess you'll have to change in the bathroom." Chris said, gesturing to the nearby restroom.

Kit then went into the restroom to change, and moments later, Cavin and Cubbi came by, holding their robes, being led by Huey. Cavin and Cubbi went in after Kit to change as well.

"Well, I guess we better change as well." Huey said to Chris.

"Yeah," Chris said, and they both closed their eyes and focused. There was a flash of white stars and suddenly, their regular clothes were replaced with their Dedi robes. Though Huey still had his red hat on his head.

A minute later, Kit, Cavin and Cubbi came out of the restroom, all dressed in their new Dedi robes.

"Wow, it's a perfect fit!" Kit said, sounding pleased with his new garment.

"Yeah, I was expecting even the smallest size uniform to be too big for me," Cubbi said, examining his new robe. "But it's a perfect fit!"

"Mine's too," Cavin said.

"It's because Edna Mode sent the school your measurements from when she made your super suits," Huey explained. "So the school was able to make your Dedi robes according to your measurements."

At the mention of Edna, Cubbi pouted and turned his back on them. "Hmpt!"

"He's upset with Miss Edna right now." Cavin explained in a whisper to the other two. "He asked for a cape, and she flat-out refused."

"Oh, well she does have a good reason…" Huey said fairly.

"No she doesn't!" Cubbi snapped. "When I was the Crimson Avenger, I wore a human-size cape—"

"In other words, one too big for him…" Cavin muttered.

"—and I never had any of the accidents she described" Cubbi finished.

"Cubbi, you got caught in a tree because of it!" Cavin reminded him. "And someone stepped on your cape before too, preventing you from getting away. Huey's right, she has a good reason not to include a cape."

"Well at least make me a small Gummi Bear-size cape…" Cubbi whined.

"We better hurry on to class," Huey said, checking his watch. "We're gonna be late."

Kit put his clothes in his locker, grabbed his school bag, closed his locker and followed Chris and the others to his first class, Survival 101.

In the classroom, Kit sat with Chris and all he could hear were the chatters of his fellow students, so it was almost impossible to listen in on other people's conversation.

The door opened and in came the teacher, a sly-looking fox wearing a lime green shirt and a dark tie. He walked with an air of craftiness and confidence, and he looked like the most carefree teacher Kit had ever seen; whom had previously dealt with some strict teachers.

"Hey. The name's Nick Wilde." the sly-looking fox said, pointing a thumb to himself. "And class is now in session. Wait, wait, wait, is there an echo in here? Why am I repeating my lines from our first day of school? You already know who I am, right? ..Well, it's because I noticed there's a New Kid in the room!" he announced, gesturing to Kit, who suddenly felt all the attention thrown onto him like a very bright spotlight. "Come on over here, New Kid." Nick said, beckoning Kit to join him at the front of the classroom.

"Yes, sir," Kit stood up and walked up to the front of the classroom where he stood in front of the survival teacher.

"Hey. The name's Nick Wilde, and I'm assuming you're Chris' brother." Nick said, shaking Kit's hand.

"What gave it away, besides the fact that we look similar?" Kit said dryly, though he was smiling.

Nick laughed. "You've got spunk, kid, I like that. So… does Chris' brother have a name? Go on, introduce yourself."

"I'm Kit, sir. Kit Cloudkicker."

"Well, nice to meet ya, Kit, and I look forward to teaching you the skills that will save your life." Nick said, he then noticed Cavin and Cubbi in his classroom. "Cavin, Cubbi! So you two finally made it! Welcome to your first class! Now take your seat, everyone. Class starts...now! Huey Duck, come on up!" he said, beckoning Huey forward.

"Yes, sir." Huey said, getting up from his seat and walking up to the front to stand next to Nick.

"Huey is going to help me with the first section of this lesson." Nick said, taking a roll of rope from his desk and handing it to Huey. "With his Junior Woodchuck expertise in tying knots, he is going to tie my wrists together and bind me.

Nick presented Huey both of his wrists, as if he was surrendering to arrest.

Huey hesitated. "I'm not going to get in detention for this, am I?"

"Nope. In fact, if I'm unable to escape this, you'll get extra credits, so make sure those knots are nice and tight."

"Yes, sir!" Huey cried happily, and he began to work, wrapping the rope around Nick's forearms a dozen times before flawlessly tying the famous Junior Woodchuck knot.

"Alright, thank you, Huey." Nick said. "Now go back to your seat."

Huey went back to his seat as Nick addressed the class.

"Now watch this, don't take your eyes off me now, you might miss it and I don't do repeats!" Nick told the class. "Point your arms to the floor, put your elbows together and…" Nick pointed his bound arms down towards the floor with his elbows coming together to close the gap between his arms and wiggled them around. The ropes fell right off and onto the floor. "Voila! A perfect escape trick. And sorry, Huey, no extra credit for this."

"Aw…" Huey said, clearly disappointed.

"Now, can anyone explain how I did that? Anybody?" Nick said, looking around.

The whole class lapsed into thoughtful silence, racking their brain, trying to figure out how Nick escaped his binds.

Seeing as no one had an answer to something that was very obvious to him, Kit raised his hand.

"Kit." Nick acknowledged him.

"You kept your elbows parted at your sides while Huey was tying you up, creating a gap between your arms." Kit said. "So when you closed that gap, the rope became loose enough for you to wiggle your arms out."

"Well, well, well…" Nick said, looking impressed. "Our New Kid is a sly fox in bear clothing! Very good, Kit. And it also helps that I'm a fox with thin wrists."

At his desk, Huey sat there in stunned silence, apparently processing Kit's answer, one of his eyes was twitching. To cope with his frustration, he chewed on his Guidebook.

"Huey…" Nick said calmly. "Put the book down. We're people, not animals. Here, use this instead." he said, throwing Huey a carrot.

Huey caught the carrot and began biting on it furiously.

"Moving on," Nick said, taking another set of ropes.

And the rest of the lesson passed with Nick teaching the class various different ways to wiggle out of being tied up. And then, before anyone knew it, the bell rang.

"...And that's it for today. Alright, onto your next class, kids." Nick said. "Tomorrow we'll move on to escaping handcuffs." he said, spinning a pair of handcuffs on a finger.

"So, did you enjoy your first class of the day?" Chris asked as he and Kit, along with the other students flooded out of the classroom and into the hallway.

"Yeah, and while I already knew most of those escape tricks, I did learn a few new ones!" Kit said, sounding happy to have learned some new tricks.

"You already—? How did you know those tricks?" Chris asked in surprise.

"Uh, hello? Former street kid, right here." Kit said, pointing to himself. "If you wanted to survive out there, you had to learn the tricks and trades of the streets. And it helped that I had some good teachers, a couple of them were harsh, but those harsh lessons ended up saving my life out there."

"Well will you look at the time, we better get going to our next class!" Chris said hastily, pretending to check his watch, and then he took off walking towards their next class.

Kit shook his head, knowing that Chris didn't want to hear that because he didn't want to think about what Kit had to do, or what he'd gone through just to survive. And he wasn't keen on pressing the subject either, so Kit let it go as he followed Chris to their next class, which turned out to be Swordsmanship.

Everyone filed into the classroom, which was the first classroom Kit had ever seen without desks, tables or chairs. It was just a big empty room with mats on the floor and wooden swords hanging all around the walls.

In the center of the classroom, stood a dark-brown Akita dog wearing a dark blue robe, the kind of robe that reminded Kit of the people of Panda-La.

"Good morning, my students." the dog said in a soft, polite tone of voice. "And—ah, I see that there are three new faces among you today."

"Yes, Master Ken," Chris said with a polite bow of his head. "This is my brother, Kit, and these are our friends, Cavin and Cubbi." he said, gesturing to each person he mentioned. Then he turned to Kit, Cavin and Cubbi, gesturing to Master Ken. "This is our swordsmanship instructor, Master Ken Hamato."

"Thank you, Chris, for that kind introduction." Master Ken said, bowing his head. "And in my homeland, the surname goes first. So next time, introduce me as Hamato Ken."

"But that's so confusing!" Chris whined.

Master Ken chuckled. "It's really not that confusing, Chris." he turned to his new students. "Now then, Kit, Cavin and Cubbi, step forward. The rest of you," he said, looking around at the rest of the students. "Divide into pairs and practice what we've gone over thus far." Then he turned back to Kit, Cavin and Cubbi. "You three, take a sword from the wall and follow me."

They all grabbed a sword and followed Master Ken to the other side of the classroom. Then Master Ken stopped and turned to face them. He observed the swords they had selected and sighed. Cavin and Cubbi had selected swords that were way too big for them and they were just dragging the swords along with them. Kit, however, chose a short sword, which looked like a dagger more than anything else.

There was a big black circle drawn on this far side of the classroom. Master Ken gestured for the three new boys to step inside of the circle.

"Step inside the circle, my pupils." Master Ken said, before stepping inside the circle himself. "This is called the Training Circle. This circle will be your world, your whole life. Until I say otherwise, there is nothing outside of it."

"Scar is outsi—" Cavin started to say.

"THERE IS NOTHING! ...outside of it." Master Ken said sharply. "He does not exist until I say he exists." He stepped closer to Cavin and said: "Do not say that name in the same room as Chris Cloudkicker, or we'll have a panic attack on our hands."

"Y-y-yes sir!" Cavin stuttered nervously.

"Now, once I test you to see how far along you three are, we'll begin the training." Master Ken said. "But as we are training, remember this: Nothing exists outside the circle for a reason. If you fall out, you're dead. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the three boys said in unison.

Seeing their choices in swords, Master Ken sighed and said while facepalming. "I've got a lot of work to do with you three…"

"What makes you say that?" Cubbi asked.

"Since you asked, let's start with you, Cubbi." Master Ken said. "WHY did you choose a sword that is more than twice the size of your body?"

"Because it's big and strong and has a long reach." Cubbi said simply.

"Pick your sword up and give it a single swing." Master Ken instructed him.

Cubbi tried to pick up his sword, but it was too heavy; he overbalanced and fell onto his backside and Master Ken quickly grabbed the sword, to prevent it from falling on top of Cubbi.

"You see? Big means nothing if you cannot freely wield the sword." Master Ken told him. "The sword must become an extension of your body, the ideal length of your blade should be no longer than your arm. So Kit, give your sword to Cubbi, as it is too short for you. And you and Cavin go and reselect your swords."

They all obeyed and came back to Master Ken with swords that were better suited for them.

"Now then, to properly teach you, I need to know what I'm dealing with." Master Ken said, drawing his sword. "I need to know where each of you stand in terms of skills with a sword. Cavin, you first. Come at me."

Cavin readied his sword, getting a two-handed firm grip on it. He stood there, staring at Master Ken for a moment. Kit could see the rage building up in Cavin, until he let out a roar and charged at Master Ken, but his blade clashed with Master Ken's.

After a series of exchange of blows, Master Ken said: "Oh I see, you've got skills with the old style. But just two problems…" he kicked his foot in between Cavin's feet and tripped him. Cavin fell to the floor and before he could get back up, Master Ken pointed his blade at Cavin's nose. "One...we're fighting with katanas, not old European medieval swords, so you don't need to swing at me that heavily. Two... you're too aggressive and angry. Anger is a double-edge sword in combat, if you let it consume you, or blind you, you'll fall quickly. If you want to live to fight more battles, keep your mind calm and your anger under control!"

"Hey, no fair, you tripped me!" Cavin cried.

"So? Would you expect your enemies to play fair?" Master Ken asked testily. "If so, you're so naive and that will get you killed faster. Fight with honor, yes, but always expect a dirty fight from your enemies."

Cavin winced at Master Ken's sharp, irritated voice. He wasn't expecting it from the polite teacher he seemed earlier. But then, Master Ken smiled kindly and offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet.

"As I said, you've got skills with the old style," Master Ken said. "I'm going to help you finish mastering them and then I will teach you the new style."

"Thank you, sir." Cavin said as he stepped back in line with Kit and Cubbi.

"Cubbi, you next." Master Ken said.

Cubbi dashed in and engaged Master Ken with a series of swings and jabs that clashed with Master Ken's blade. Master Ken was walking backwards as he deflected all of Cubbi's blows while the little pink Gummi Bear was jumping around him. At the edge of the circle, Master Ken ducked around Cubbi and shoved him in mid-jump, causing him to fly out of the circle and onto the floor a foot away.

"Out of the circle, you've fallen!" Master Ken said as he went over, picked Cubbi up and set him on his feet again. Cubbi's face twitched as if he was trying hard not to cry. "Cubbi, you have the same problem as Cavin." he then pointed at his sword. "Katana, not an old European medieval sword. Also, you're a little more green than Cavin."

"GREEN?!" Cubbi exclaimed.

"He means inexperienced." Cavin said in a helpful tone.

"I know what he means!" Cubbi snapped. "I just thought we were more equal.. Wait a minute! Have you been holding back on me?"

Cavin cringed, and then he sighed. "Yeah, I have. I just didn't want to hurt you, Cubbi…"

"HURT ME?! Cavin, I'm hurt that you're not helping me get better at this!" Cubbi said angrily. "Stop going easy on me! I can take it, I'm not a baby!"

"I know you're not, Cubbi...I'm sorry." Cavin said, holding his hands up defensively.

"I suppose I need to teach you two to spar and get the most out of it without hurting each other." Master Ken said, then he turned to Kit. "Kit, your turn."

Kit stepped forward and held up his sword. He then started attacking, his moves were mostly one-handed swipes and jabs, all of which were blocked by Master Ken's blade. Then Master Ken switched from blocking to attacking. Kit managed to block half of them, before a hard swipe from Master Ken sent the sword flying from Kit's hand.

"Impressive, you've managed to last longer than the other two." Master Ken said. "But your style is that of a pirate's. Who taught you?"

"Don Karnage." Kit replied bitterly.

Master Ken stared down on him and then said. "Huh, if that is the best he can teach you, then he really hasn't improved since I last saw him."

"Wait, you know Karnage?" Kit asked in amazement.

"I did," Master Ken said, bowing his head. "We were students under the same master, Yamamoto Yoshi. who taught us the way of the sword. Karnage was a young man from a wealthy family, he had an obsession with pirates and everything to do with pirates. He wanted to learn to fight like a pirate, but he never learned sword combats that well. And when we were not studying or practicing, he could be seen striking various poses with his sword."

"Yep, that sounds like him." Kit said. "Wait, he was from a wealthy family?"

"How else could he be of mixed cultures?" Master Ken said. "He did not want to join the family business, he wanted a more-dramatic life. He wanted to make his fantasy a reality. To be a glorious pirate captain. That ego of his was so big, that Master Yoshi saw that it was pointless to try and teach him any more, so he sent Karnage away."

"I think it's good that he sent Karnage away, considering how he turned out." Kit said. "He would probably have been more dangerous."

"Indeed." Master Ken nodded. "When we said our farewells, he said something to me that made me glad he got kicked out…"


Flashback:

A young Ken in his early twenties was helping a young Karnage load his luggage into a fancy horse-drawn carriage.

"This is where we part ways." Ken said tonelessly. "I bid you farewell."

"Yes, yes, farewell for now. But when I become a pirate captain, I'm going to come back to this Land of the Rising Sun and plunder it!" Karnage declared, posing with his sword.

"If that is your goal, on your own head, be it. But be warned; if you attack any ship with me on board, I will not hesitate to strike you down!"

"Whaaat? You think I'm going to be the pirate of the seas with a big boat? No, no, no, small-minded one!" Karnage said, wagging his finger at Ken. "I am going to be the pirate of the air! A sky pirate!"

"You're a raving lunatic, Sheldon, you know that?" Ken said, infuriating Karnage.

"GRRR! For the last time, do not call me that!" Karnage screamed, throwing a fit before calming down. "Honestly, Mama and Father always did have such bad taste in names. My siblings and I either took on nicknames or we legally changed our names. Anyway, I wish to be known throughout the world as the greatest pirate of all times; Don Karnage!"

"...But you're not a don..." Ken said, bemused as Karnage climbed into the carriage.

"No, no, you do not understand." Karnage said, he slammed the door of the carriage and continued talking out of the window. "I am simply removing the 'shel' part from my name. Remove 'shel' from Sheldon, and you'd have Don. Do you not see?"

"I got it about half-way through your explanation." Ken said in a bored voice. "Now go on, get out of here, you ungrateful little rich boy."

"Farewell!" Karnage said, waving out of his window, and off he went.

End of Flashback


"I never saw him again after that," Master Ken said. "But he was in the newspapers, and five years after we parted ways, he and a bunch of street thugs broke into a military facility and stole their secret weapon that they were building: The Osoroshī Hagewashi."

"The Osoroshī Hagewashi?" Kit repeated with a puzzled expression, one eyebrow raised above the other.

"It means the Dreaded Vulture," Master Ken said. "It was an airship, a prototype designed to be a flying fortress as well as the world's first aircraft carrier. They took it, went into a different country to steal some planes and then… that was the last we saw of them. We never could make another thing like it again. Karnage stole the blueprints and plans for it."

"So that's where the Iron Vulture came from!" Kit exclaimed, as if the world's greatest mystery had just been solved. "I always wondered where and how Karnage got the Iron Vulture. But... he mostly loomed over the western part of the world, and as far as I know, he never tried plundering the Land of the Rising Sun…"

"He must have seen in the blueprints that the military had a way of shutting the Vulture down and he didn't want to risk that." Master Ken suggested. "A wise decision on his part. For his crimes, he would be put to an everlasting sleep if captured. Now, let's get back to the lesson."

For the next half-hour, Master Ken walked the three boys through the basics, correcting their stances, their handling of their swords and the way they wielded their swords. So good a teacher was Master Ken, that the boys found the new stances, the new way of holding and wielding their swords were more comfortable and they felt like they could move more easily.

"Good, good! Very good!" Master Ken praised them as he fended off an attack from each of the boys. "Much better! I see that your previous experiences with a sword have helped you catch on to my teaching and you improved fairly quickly. Now, Cavin, Cubbi, I want you to go and practice with Chris and Huey. I wish to speak with Kit alone."

"Yes sir!" Cavin and Cubbi said as they left the Training Circle to go find Chris and Huey.

Master Ken waited until they were out of earshot before speaking. "Kit, I've read your profile from Edna Mode. According to her profile on you, you are a dual-wielder of the Twin D-blades. So I'll have to teach you to dual-wield." Master Ken said, then he held up a pair of twin katanas. "Now, to dual-wield, you must use one blade for assault and the other for defense. The idea is blocking with one blade and attacking with the other, although in certain situations, you may attack or defend with both blades." Master Ken said as he demonstrated a few dual wielding moves before handing the blades to Kit. "Now you try."

Kit took the twin blades and held them up, looking at them.

"It feels odd at first to be holding two swords when you are used to just wielding one." Master Ken said, acknowledging the look of uncertainty on Kit's face. "But just like with everything else, the more you practice, the better you become."

Kit tried to wield the dual swords, but it came off as clumsy and he almost fell down.

"Kit," Master Ken said, taking the dual swords from him and once again demonstrating the proper way to dual-wield. "If it helps, keep in mind... these are dual-swords. Two halves of a single weapon. Don't think of them as separate, because they are not. They're just two different parts of the same whole." He then handed the swords back to Kit. "Try again."

Kit took the swords and charged at Master Ken, attacking him with one sword and then the other. Master Ken intercepted both attacks and stroke with an attack of his own, but Kit blocked him with one sword and attacked with the other. Master Ken jumped back to evade Kit's attack.

"Alright, that's enough for today." Master Ken said. "Very good, Kit. That was much better!"

"...Thank you...sir..." Kit replied panting.

Master Ken turned around and walked towards the rest of the class. "Cease!" he said, raising a hand, and everybody stopped. "Very good, everyone. Please put away your swords and go on to your next class. Class dismissed."

The rest of the day passed as a very eventful first day of school for Kit, Cavin and Cubbi and by the end of the day, all three of them were exhausted as they climbed onto the bus.

"Oh man, that was exhausting!" Kit gasped as he sat in his seat next to Chris.

"Yeah, it's the same for everyone on their first day at Dedi Academy." Chris said. "So, what did you like the most about…" he paused as Kit snored next to him. Chris looked at him and saw that he was sitting there with his eyes shut and his head nodding. "...and he fell asleep on me… Of course he did." He glanced over at Cavin and Cubbi, both of whom were snoozing in their seat as well. "Well, at least he's not the only one…" he said as the bus took off into the sky, heading for home.


Author's Note:

Thank you for taking your time to read my story, it is my hope that this story entertained and amused you.

The idea for the Dedi Academy and the transportation to the school (the flying bus) has come from the Disney movie, Sky High. And the backstory for Master Ken knowing a younger Don Karnage is totally my own idea, so is Karnage's birth name of Sheldon. I hope you like the backstory I came up with for Don Karnage, and the idea that the Iron Vulture was a stolen military weapon.

Special thanks to my good friend and editor, Cyclone Blaze!

Please leave a comment, review and look forward to the next episode!