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Episode Sixteen

Kit's Education and First Mission


A few weeks later, Kit got into the routine of getting up in the morning, eating a quick breakfast with Baloo and catching the bus with Chris to the Dedi Academy everyday. He was doing well in most of his classes, except for his Aerokinesis classes. A half a dozen lessons in and he was still unable to produce a small breeze of air from his hands or feet.

Even Chris had to adjust to going to the Academy everyday, because apparently he had only been attending classes once or twice a week between missions with Matthew and their hunt for Kit. But now that the hunt for Kit was over, he had been spending more and more of his time at school and learning far more than usual lately. And Matthew had to get used to seeing less of Chris everyday and was coping by helping Baloo get used to the modern aspects of the D-Star, teaching him the functions of most devices while doing repair work in his shop.

Kit and Chris share most of the same classes, except for Aerokinesis and Hydrokinesis. Kit was surprised to have recognized the Aerokinesis teacher as the man in the photo with Baloo.

Flashback:

"Who is that, Baloo?" Kit had asked, sitting in the co-pilot seat of the Sea Duck's cockpit after takeoff, leaving Joe Macgee's old abandoned flight school. "A... friend of yours?"

"More than a friend, Kit." Baloo replied with a smile. "More like a guardian angel."

End of Flashback:

Yes, Joe Macgee was the Aerokinesis teacher, and Kit had been so excited about telling Baloo that Joe Macgee was one of his teachers. But decided not to, since Chris had explained to him that this Joe Macgee was from another Earth, and while he might look or act like Joe Macgee, he was not the same one Baloo remembered.

Aerokinesis was the class Kit was most excited about learning, since he had witnessed a couple of students practicing flying with a hang glider using aerokinesis. But after a few weeks of classes, Kit had been unable to produce more than a small breeze from his hands and he was growing more and more disheartened and frustrated by his inability to create the amazing display of aerokinesis that his clone had shown back at Edna Mode's house. He knew he had the power within himself, but he couldn't bring it out.

"Kit, you're not going to make it happen by forcing it out," Joe said calmly. "It needs to flow out freely."

"I know, I know!" Kit said in frustration, thrusting his fist forward and failing to blow away his target.

Joe sighed sadly. "Kit, calm down. It's not going to work like that." he said firmly. "Keep practicing. I want to see you after school."

"Yes, sir..." Kit said, sounding a little discouraged.

After class, Joe went to the office, took Kit's folder from the filing cabinet and opened it. He found Kit's home phone number. He picked up the phone and dialed the number he found in the folder.

"Hello? Talk to me." Baloo's voice said from the phone's receiver.

"Ah, Baloo," Joe said pleasantly. "Hello, I'm Joe Macgee, and I'm—" he heard a big loud crash on the other end. "Hello? Baloo? Are you there? Hello?"

After a long moment of silence, a new voice came over the phone.

"Hey, who is this?"

"I'm Joe Macgee. Who am I speaking to now?" Joe asked. "What happened to Baloo?"

"I'm Matthew, and Baloo has collapsed. He's out cold!" Matthew said.

"Oh, dear. Well, just tell him that Kit is staying with me after school for a private lesson." Joe said. "He's been having a really difficult time in classes, and I feel I can help him better if I didn't have a whole class of other students to deal with."

"Okay, thanks for calling to tell us this." Matthew said. "Bye." And the line went dead.

The final bell of the day rang, signaling the end of school for the day. The mob of students flooded out of the school and onto their buses. All except for Kit, who headed for the Aerokinesis classroom. He knocked on the door.

"Ah… come in, Kit, come in!" Joe said in a welcoming voice.

Kit opened the door and entered the classroom, which was empty except for Joe, who stood in the center of the room.

"Kit, I know you're struggling with Aerokinesis. And in these after-school private lessons, I intend to help you overcome your difficulties and unlock your wings." Joe said. "Shall we begin?"

Joe gave Kit a row of targets to blow down. Kit took the Aerokinesis stance that Joe taught him and threw a punch, expecting a mini tornado to burst out of his fist and blow away his targets, but nothing happened.

"Relax your body, Kit. The power of the wind has to flow freely through you." Joe said. "It can't flow if you're forceful, frustrated and with your body all tensed up like that. You need to relax your body, calm your nerves and your spirit."

Kit closed his eyes, took a deep breath and relaxed his muscles.

"Alright, now feel the wind," Joe said, casting a small breeze of wind onto Kit. "Become one with the wind. Become the very wind itself." Kit nodded and focused on the air around him. "Good, now release the wind upon your target!"

Kit's eyes flew open and he thrusted his hand forward, releasing only a small puff of air.

"Grrugh!" Kit threw his hands up in frustration."What's wrong? I did what you told me and I still can't do it! That's it, that clone of Edna's must've been busted or something. I don't have that amazing air power it showed me!"

"Now, now, calm down." Joe said soothingly. "Those are just the basics to bringing it out. You still need a certain feeling to trigger it."

"What kind of feeling?" Kit asked, bemused.

"I don't know. It's different for everyone, kid." Joe said. "But it has to be a positive feeling that you associate with the air around you. Something that makes you feel light as a feather, free as a bird. Now think, what gives you those feelings?"

"Flying!" Kit said simply. "So I just need to bring up the feeling I have when I fly with Baloo and do it?"

"Try it and see for yourself."

Kit closed his eyes again, opening his mind and body to the wind, thinking of himself as part of the wind before inserting his joyous feeling of flying in the Sea Duck. To his surprise, an aura of wind sprung up around him, his hair billowing in the wind. He opened his eyes and thrusted his fist forward and this time, a stronger wind blew from his fist.

"I did it!" Kit cried happily.

"Not exactly, but it is a start," Joe said, shaking his head. "Although it was warmer. Until you can blow your target away, you will have not achieved your goal. Try again."

A little disappointed, Kit nevertheless tried again, undeterred. He opened his body and mind to the wind once again, then he paused, wondering what gave him more joy than flying. And then it hit him. Nothing gave him more joy and thrill than cloudsurfing. Kit focused on that feeling. The feeling of the wind blowing through his hair and fur. His sweatshirt billowing in the wind and his feet on his airfoil, skimming through the clouds like in water skiing, but on the clouds instead of on the water.

As he inserted his joyous and thrilling feelings of cloudsurfing into his focus of becoming one with the wind, he once again felt the aura of wind sprung up around him, stronger than ever before.

Kit stared at his hands. This new power he was feeling was thrilling, yet frightening. Then he made a fist and threw a punch towards his target. A small, but powerful tornado burst out of his fist and blew his target away.

"Very good, Kit!" Joe said, nodding approvingly. "You did it!"

"I...I did? I did it!" Kit cried happily, punching the air. "I did it! I…" he paused and blanked, wondering what to call this art of using aerokinesis. He then turned to Joe. "What do you call this, using aerokinesis?"

"Hm? Why, it's called windmilling." Joe said. "Users of aerokinesis are called Windmillers."

"Oh, so I'm a Windmiller..." Kit said, looking at his palms in awe. "Can you tell me about the other elements? I think my brother can do water."

"Why, certainly." said Joe, he cleared his throat importantly and said: "Your brother is a user of hydrokinesis, and we call them Water Brewers. The act of using hydrokinesis is called water brewing. Users of geokinesis are called Terraformers and the act of using geokinesis is called terraforming. And finally, users of pyrokinesis are called Flame Throwers, and the act of using pyrokinesis is called…"

"Let me guess… flame throwing?" Kit said, looking interested in what Joe was telling him.

"Correct," Joe said with a smile. "Now let's get back to work, you still have some targets to blow away."

"Yes, sir!" Kit said as he took a stance, facing his targets.

One by one, the targets were blown down by Kit's windmilling power.

"Very good, Kit!" Joe praised him. "You've found your wings! Now a little advice: Be mindful of your surroundings, so you don't accidentally blow yourself into a place you'd rather avoid."

"That can happen?" Kit asked.

"Of course," Joe said nodding. "If you cast your wind upon something solid, depending on the distance between you and the object, your wind could rebound off the object upon you. This is called a recoil force. Observe."

Joe thrusted his hands down towards the ground and a powerful blast of air shot from his hands. So strong was the power of his windmilling that the recoil force blew Joe up high over a hundred feet from the ground.

"WHOA!" Kit cried, looking up as Joe flew up and then he started to fall. "OH MY GOSH!" he cried, fearing for Joe's life.

Joe then directed his hands toward the ground and shot a low-powered wind, slowed and then paused his fall, and then he dropped his windmilling power and stepped lightly onto the ground, unharmed.

"As you can see, you can use the recoil force as an evasion tactic," Joe said, straightening up. "But if you have to use it, I advise you to mind your surroundings and your footing."

"Yes, sir!" Kit said, bowing his head to Joe.

"Now then, let's continue." Joe said as they continued Kit's training.

Hours after Kit's private lesson with Joe had ended, Kit sat on the steps between the bus runway and the school, waiting for his ride home.

"C'mon, c'mon, what's taking them so long?" Kit said impatiently, checking his watch and tapping his foot.

He pulled out his flip phone, flipped it open and saw that Chris had not texted him back yet. He exited the message page and brought up the contact list. He scrolled down to Chris and pressed the call button.

"We're sorry, the person you are trying to reach, Chris Cloudkicker, is not available. Please hang up and try again later."

"That's the tenth time you told me that!" Kit said, angrily snapping his phone shut and he had to resist the urge to throw it out onto the runway. He held the phone up, and just when he was getting ready to throw it, he let out an impatient huff of breath and shoved his phone back into his vest pocket. "Stupid phone!"

It got dark and the stars twinkled at him from above before Kit heard the sound of an approaching plane. He looked up and saw the Sea Duck flying overhead before preparing to land, gliding over the runway. The landing gears lowered down before the plane touched down on the runway, with the wheels squeaking a couple of times before slowing to a stop in front of the school.

Kit waited for the engines to shut off before he stood up and ran to the side of the plane, pulling open the door into the cockpit and climbing up inside before bumping noses with Chris, which caused Kit to realize that his brother was in his seat.

"What took you guys so long?" Kit asked, rubbing his nose and closing the door behind him. "I sent you dozens of texts to come and get me!"

"What?" Chris said, pulling out his phone and checking it for messages, "No, you didn't." he said, showing Kit the screen.

"Yes, I did!" Kit withdrew his flip phone and showed Chris the message he typed out. Chris looked at the screen of Kit's phone, leaning in closer as he was not used to a smaller screen.

"Oh, I get it. Kit, you gotta press 'send' for your message to be sent."

There was a pause in which Kit looked frustrated, "I hate this thing! I would've just called you if this stupid thing would let me!"

"Sorry, but the reason you can't make calls up here is because between up here and the ground, the signal's not very good." Chris explained. "Although I think Gyro is working on a way around that, so that you can make calls no matter where you are."

"I really hope he can make that happen," Kit said, pocketing his phone. "Until then, I guess I'll have to get used to texting…"

Kit looked over at the pilot seat to see Baloo grinning at him, looking happier than he had ever been since he arrived on the D-Star. He had been dying to fly his new Sea Duck for weeks but couldn't find a good enough reason to do so.

"Hey there, Lil Britches, how was school today?" Baloo asked with the happiest look on his face. "Oh just wait 'til you see what this baby can do! She flies like an eagle!" he said, patting the control yoke fondly.

"Well, of course she does!" said Chris. "She is really a repainted McQueen after all."

Kit laughed as he set his backpack down and squeezed into the seat beside Chris. "It was good. You guys didn't eat without me, did you? I'm starving!"

"Eh well… we might've had a small bite to eat…" Baloo said with a sheepish grin.

"If you call half a dozen burgers, tacos, chili dogs and large fries a small bite, I'd hate to see what you'd call a full course meal!" Chris muttered.

"For Baloo, probably the whole Thanksgiving meal!" Kit said, and he and Chris shared a laugh while Baloo pouted.

"Hey, I'm a big boy, and big boys gotta eat!" Baloo said defensively.

"Sure Baloo, whatever you say…" Kit said, and he and Chris laughed some more.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you two..." Baloo grumbled as he started the engines and took off into the sky.

A few weeks later, Kit was getting better and better in school in general, especially swordsmanship and learning to dual wield more effectively. Master Ken was a good teacher. Kit was doing better with windmilling now that he had mastered the basics.

Kit and his classmates had been practicing all the moves, techniques and learning to apply what they had learned to every situation possible.

On the sixth week of school, Kit was called to the Headmaster's office. Nervously, wondering what on earth had he done to be summoned to the Headmaster's office as he made his way to the office. He knocked on the door.

"Enter." said Headmaster Khan's voice from within.

Kit opened the door and stuck his head in. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Ah, Mr. Cloudkicker, yes, come in." Headmaster Khan said, beckoning him forward.

Kit respectfully took off his cap as he entered, closing the door behind him. As he made his way to the front of Headmaster Khan's desk, it was then that he realized that the seats in front of the desk were filled by Huey Duck and Max Goof.

"I am sure you are wondering why you have been summoned to my office." Headmaster Khan said.

"Yes, sir." Kit said as he sat down in the middle seat between Huey and Max.

"You are here because the Colonel has selected you three for a scouting mission on Earth Twenty-Two." Headmaster Khan said, "Do you accept this mission?"

"Oh, yeah!" Max said enthusiastically, but Kit and Huey both looked concerned.

"What do we have to do?" Kit asked.

"As I understand it, you have to go to Earth Twenty-Two and check if it's not infected with the Shadow Minions." Headmaster Khan said calmly.

"And if it is?" Huey asked nervously.

"If there is a small number of them, fight them and use the D-blade to place the Seal of Protection on the Heart of the Earth."

"But sir, Chris did that with my world and we still lost it." Kit said sadly.

"That's because he placed the Seal solely on the city of Cape Suzette, not on the Heart of the Earth. Had he placed it on the Heart, your Earth would have been spared."

Kit bowed his head.

"Our job is to prevent that from happening to any other Earth," Headmaster Khan said. "So, do you accept this mission?"

Kit lifted his head, looking determined. "Yes, sir!" he said.

"Very good, now…" Headmaster Khan stood up from his chair, walked around his desk and approached the door. "You will wait here for the Colonel, he will provide you with the details of your mission." Headmaster Khan then opened the door and left the office, closing the door behind him.

Kit, Huey and Max glanced at each other, and before they could start a conversation, the door opened and there stood the Colonel, standing in the doorway with folders tucked under his arm. He was an Old English Sheepdog, dressed in a military commanding officer's uniform.

"Glad to see you're on time, young cadets." said the old gray sheepdog as he walked into Khan's office, closing the door behind him. He strode over to Khan's desk and proceeded to place the folders on the desk. "Company, this is a crucial moment, so I ask you to pay close attention to the information you'd be given in this meeting. This information could be crucial for your success." The Colonel proceeded to take a seat, picking one of the folders regarding the mission. "Given the fact that our enemies' activities have increased in the last few months, we've been in the need to send more scouting teams to other worlds in order to avoid any more losses."

"What will we have to do, sir?" Huey asked, looking nervous but determined.

"You have to go to Earth Twenty-Two, and scout out a city to search for the World's Heart and secure it from the enemy in case of a possible confrontation. Since the enemy could be blending with the civilians in such a vast city, we required a balanced team that was capable of moving in such surroundings easily" the Colonel said. "Kit, given your streetsmart expertise, you've been appointed leader of the squad. Hubert, with your skills as a Junior Woodchuck, you will provide extra survival skills if needed. Maximilian, with your taste of extremism, if there's an enemy there, give them your brand of fireworks."

Max looked excited before he gave a salute. "Yes, sir!"

"One question, sir." Kit said, raising his hand.

"Yes, what is it, cadet?" the Colonel acknowledged him.

"What is the World's Heart?" Kit asked. "What does it look like?"

"That's two questions, sonny, but good ones nevertheless." the Colonel said. "After all, how are you supposed to seal the world off from invaders when you don't know what you're looking for?"

Kit waited as the Colonel cleared his throat.

"The World's Heart takes the form of a giant keyhole, and that keyhole is a gateway to the World's Heart. As long as it remains open, the Shadow Minions can get to it, and if they take it out, well,..."

"Ka-boom?" Max offered helpfully.

"Y-yes, ka-boom." the Colonel said. "Cast the Seal of Protection over it, and the Shadow Minions can no longer get through it to get to the World's Heart. Remember, casting it on any other area would ultimately not protect the world, just keep the Shadow Minions out. You know how to cast the Seal of Protection?" he asked Kit.

"Um, yeah. It's not that hard, just use my D-blade and say the words." Kit said.

"Good, very good." the Colonel said. "Now go to the Warp Room and tell them I gave my clearance for you three to go to Earth Twenty-Two. P.J. will be in touch with you all through your mission, giving you intel and guidance. Make sure to keep in contact with HQ, and if the situation is beyond your limits, the order to withdraw would take top priority. Now go, and good luck."

The Warp Room was a big room filled with computer consoles and several people managing their respective consoles. Kit recognized them as kids belonging to the Brainy class with Ludwig Von Drake giving the commands.

"Hi, Mr. Von Drake." Huey said, waving his hand.

"Ah, Huey my boy!" Von Drake exclaimed happily. "And you brought Kit and Max with you, too. Charming. What can I do for you boys today?"

"We need to use the Warp Gate, we've been given clearance to use it by the Colonel." Kit explained.

"Alright, where do you need to go?" Von Drake asked, leading them to what looked like a huge iron steel vault door.

"Earth Twenty-Two." Kit said.

"Okay, stand right here, and when the door opens, jump right in." Von Drake said, leaving the boys standing in front of the vault door as he walked over to the console next to it, typing in the location.

There was a grinding sound as the door creaked open, releasing a steam of smoke, before opening all the way, revealing the blue flowing wormhole within.

Von Drake laughed like a mad scientist as he yelled out. "Alright, boys! Into the warp you go!"

Kit glanced at Huey and then at Max before the three boys ran forward and jumped into the Warp Gate.

It was like being sucked through a giant tube of a vacuum cleaner. The three boys were hurtling through space in a great suction force, pulling them towards their destination. Then they saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Suddenly the light engulfed them and they all shut their eyes as the light was so bright.

The light was gone as sudden as it had come, and they opened their eyes and looked around, allowing their eyes a moment to recover from the light. They were standing on the edge of a big city. Behind them was a platform with the warp hole open above it. As they watched, the warp hole shrunk down to the size of a dime and vanished.

"Okay, first thing first, we need to mark this spot on the map so we can come back to it later to return home." Huey said, getting out his Gummiphone and being greeted with the No Signal message.

"Guess we'll just have to remember our steps from here on out." Kit suggested, looking over Huey's shoulder at the phone.

"Dude, let me see that!" Max said, snatching the phone out of Huey's hands. Max gave the phone a few quick thumb-swipes over the screen before tossing it back to Huey. "There you go!"

"H-h-hey! Careful!" Huey yelped as he caught his phone and nearly dropped it. "This cost me a couple of months' worth of allowances! Huh? Hey!" he said, as he saw that his phone was now online. "How'd you do that? This place looks like it's in the nineteen-eighties, how'd you get a wi-fi connection?

"Simple, I just logged into P.J.'s universal wi-fi." Max said simply, pulling out his own phone and logging in himself. "It can reach a Gummiphone anywhere in the universe. Neat, huh?"

Kit took out his phone and looked at it, before handing it to Max. "Could you log mine in too?"

"Sure, bud!" Max said as he took Kit's phone before realizing it was a flip phone. "Oh, wow, and I thought my Pops was old fashioned…" he said, "No problem though, I had to help my Pops with his phone too." Max tapped buttons before handing Kit his phone back. "There you go."

Now connected to the universal wi-fi, Huey brought up the map app. It took a moment to scan and download the map of Earth Twenty-Two. Max and Kit did the same with their phones and once the map was downloaded, they zoomed in on their current location. They bookmarked the location as a marker to come back to once the mission was completed.

After marking the Warp Gate location on his digital map, Kit pocketed his phone and took out his compass and saw that the arrow was pointing north towards the city. He looked up and was surprised to see Huey doing the exact same thing as he was doing.

"What are you guys doing?" Max asked as he watched them examining their compasses.

"Checking what direction we're standing, so in case something happened to our phones, we can still find our way back here." Huey explained.

"Ohh, good idea." Max said, comprehension lit up his face. "Are we ready to go now?"

"Yeah, let's go." Kit said, and they stepped forward, walking towards the city. They entered the bustling and noise of the city as people walked up and down the street, going about their day. There were sale stands and booths here and there; one table was selling sunglasses. There was even a hot dog cart. "Um, where are we supposed to go?" he asked, looking around, confused.

"You're the leader, we're just following your lead." Huey pointed out. "Hey, where's Max?" he asked, realizing Max was no longer with them.

They looked around and Kit spotted him in front of a table that was selling sunglasses. "There he is."

They watched as Max picked out a pair of sunglasses and paid for it before making his way back to the other two.

"Hey, guys, check out my new shades!" Max said, putting the sunglasses on. The lenses were reflective and Kit and Huey could see themselves in the lenses as if in a mirror.

"Max, this is no field trip!" Kit said sternly. "Stay with us and don't wander off like that! Now, how do we find the Heart of this world?"

"Just ask P.J." Max said, carelessly, taking up a confident and carefree attitude due to the sunglasses. "He can find it for us and mark it on our map."

"Allow me," Huey said, pulling out his Gummiphone. "P.J. hates video calls from a flip phone." Huey tapped on the app that puts them in contact with P.J.

P.J. appeared on screen with his dark room background, lit up by the various computer monitors in front of him. "Hey! Huey, my man! What can I do for ya?"

"Uh, yeah, we're on Earth Twenty-Two, and we're looking for the Heart of this world." Huey said. "Can you find it for us?"

"Sure, man, but this will take some time. Hold on." P.J. said, frowning in focus as he typed on his keyboard. "Searching... searching … searching… sorry man, the loading of Earth Twenty-Two's map and Heart scanner is going to take awhile…"

"How long?" Kit asked anxiously.

"I estimate about… ten minutes, give or take." P.J. said. "In the meantime, I recommend exploring the city, to make sure the Shadow Minions aren't around, you know."

"Will do, Air Raider over and out." Kit said as Huey ended the video call with P.J. "Okay, let's go."

The three of them moved further into the city, Huey and Max following Kit's lead in blending in with the crowd.

Someone was walking along the street with a big boom box on his shoulder, walking with a dance in his steps. They watched as they listened to the song the guy was playing.

Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo

I'm streetwise, I can improvise

Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo

I'm streetsmart, I've got New York City heart

Why should I worry?

Why should I care?

I may not have a dime

But I got street savoire faire
Why should I worry?

Why should I care?

It's just bebopulation

And I got street saviore faire

"Oh, wow, Baloo would love this song!" Kit said, tapping his foot and snapping his fingers to the music.

It was then that Kit noticed an orange cat kid in a tabby overcoat across the street from them, sneaking around a hot dog cart. As he watched, the kid snatched a long string of sausages and ran for it. The hot dog vendor, a big black bear in a light blue T-shirt and a white apron, let out a bellow like an angry hippo and chased after the kid, leaving his cart unattended. Then a Jack Russell Terrier guy in a black leather jacket, black sunglasses and a red scarf came up and stole the cart, pushing it into an alley and out of sight.

Concerned for the cat kid's safety, Kit said: "I'm going to make sure that kid's okay." and he took off running in the direction the kid and hot dog vendor went. Huey and Max glanced at each other before running off after Kit.

"Kit, wait. We're not supposed to get involved in the affairs of other Earths." Huey panted as they ran into the alley.

"I know, but I gotta make sure that kid's okay. He's little, and he won't stand a chance if that guy catches him!" Kit called over his shoulder.

"Dude, the kid stole the vendor's hot dogs!" Max said as he and Huey ran alongside Kit. "If it weren't for that, he wouldn't be in this situation!"

"He's a street kid, Max!" Kit said angrily, clearly this was a sore spot for Kit. "He's too young to get a job, he doesn't have any money and he's probably starving!"

"What about that guy who stole the hot dog cart?" Max asked. "Clearly this was part of a plan!"

"Yeah, that was probably his gang leader who put him up to this." Kit said.

"But why would a little kid like that be part of a gang?" Huey panted as he struggled to keep up with Kit and Max.

A great sadness came over Kit's face, he looked away and said: "Because… he probably had nowhere else to go and these guys took him in. They're probably broke, and hungry too…"

"But how do you know?" Max asked as they turned into another alley. Kit did not answer and he continued to run with a determined look in his eyes. That's when the realization hit Max. "Dude... you... you were like that kid when you were his age, weren't you?" Again, Kit did not answer, but he did not need to, his silence confirmed Max's suspicion.

They rounded a corner and they saw the cat kid with his back against the wall at a dead end, cowering as the hot dog vendor cornered him and stood towering over him.

"So you think you can get away with stealing my sausages?" the hot dog vendor said through gritted teeth. "What the police will have to say about this, I'd be interested to see."

He reached down to grab the kid. Kit ran forward, withdrawing his airfoil and throwing it at the hot dog vendor's head. It hit him in the back of the head and he staggered, hitting the wall and sliding down it unconscious.

Kit snatched up his airfoil and the kid and ran with him, intending to get him away from the hot dog vendor.

"W-who are you, and where are you taking me?" the cat demanded as Kit carried him off.

"Away from the hot dog vendor you've made mad!" Kit yelled as he ran,with Max and Huey struggling to keep up.

Finally, after running for five blocks, Kit stopped and set the kid down, patting him on the head.

"There, you're safe now." Kit said kindly.

Once Max and Huey caught up with them, they bent over, holding their knees and panting.

"How are you not out of breath?!" Max gasped, panting with his tongue hanging out.

"Lots of stamina." Kit shrugged. "Built up from years of running."

"W-who are you guys?" the cat kid demanded, looking a little scared.

"I'm Kit. These are Max and Huey," Kit said gently. "What's your name, kiddo?"

"O-Oliver." the cat kid said shyly.

Huey, who had a canteen of water strapped over one shoulder, he took the cap off and took a drink before offering it to Max.

"Thanks," Max said gratefully as he took the canteen and took a drink before offering it to Kit.

Kit took the canteen, but did not drink. Instead, he offered it to Oliver. "Here, take a drink."

Oliver looked shyly at the canteen, but seemed to conclude that it was safe to drink, since Huey and Max took a drink and nothing happened to them. He took the canteen.

"Thanks." he said gratefully before taking a drink.

"You're welcome." Kit said, smiling, he then took the canteen back and took a drink before handing it back to Huey.

Just then, the Jack Russell Terrier guy from before came walking up to them, pushing the hot dog cart.

"Hey, kid! You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, no thanks to you…" Oliver said, pouting. "These guys had to step in and save me from the hot dog guy."

"Whoa, whoa, kiddo. I told you to go down the alley and then turn left, not right."

"Yeah, but when I'm being chased by a big guy, I can't tell up from down, Dodger!" Oliver said, stomping his foot.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry I put you up to this," Dodger said, soothingly, holding his hands up. "Next time I'll play the bait."

"I don't think that would work." Kit said, shaking his head. "Given his size, he would have trouble pushing that cart."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Dodger sighed. "And you are…?"

"I'm Kit, and these are Huey and Max." Kit said, gesturing to Huey and Max.

Dodger nodded to each of them in turn. "Thank you for helping the kid here. If anything happened to him, the guys would have my head on a platter."

"How could you put him up to this in the first place?" Huey demanded angrily. "Why should he be around criminals like—mmpf!" Huey was interrupted by Kit grabbing his beak and shutting it for him.

"Stop, they're not bad guys." Kit said firmly. "They're just guys trying to survive life on the streets! There's a difference between them and criminals. They're stealing hot dogs because they're starving!"

"Ding, ding!" Dodger said. "Correct. I ain't got a dime, kid, so how could I pay three bucks for one hot dog?"

"A job?" Huey suggested, causing Kit to cringe, but Dodger let out a bark of laughter.

"Kid, have you seen the unemployment line in this city? Jobs don't grow on trees." Dodger said lightheartedly. "Now, as a treat for helping Oliver, why don't the three of you join us for dinner?" He opened the lid of the cart to check the contents. "We got plenty of hot dogs for everyone!"

"Here, Dodger." Oliver said, handing him the string of sausages he was wearing.

"Thanks, kid." Dodger said, patting Oliver on the head before accepting the sausages and adding them to the cart.

"Hey!" Huey cried. "He dragged some of those on the ground! Don't put them—oof!" he was interrupted by Kit elbowing him in the ribs.

"When you're starving, you don't worry about where the food's been as much…" Kit said darkly. "It's either that or nothing."

"Dude... that's depressing…" Max said, looking shocked by the idea of a kid being that desperate for food.

"Well, life on the street's not for you, then." Kit said, matter-of-factly. "You have no idea of the lengths you would go to just for a bite to eat out here…. I should know…" he added under his breath, thinking of his year-long stay with the Air Pirates.

Huey and Max exchanged a look of sadness at what their new friend was saying.

"C'mon, boys. Let's go!" Dodger called to them, as he and Oliver were already making their way out of the alley and into another.

Kit, Huey and Max followed Dodger and Oliver. They walked through a dozen different alleyways. Huey and Max felt like they were going in circles, but Kit knew that Dodger was doing this on purpose to confuse them on which way to go to find their place.

Finally they stopped before a wall on which hung an old Broadway poster. Kit stared up at the poster with a mixture of nostalgia and sadness. Huey and Max noticed this, and they looked up at the poster, trying to figure out what it was about the poster that made Kit look that way.

Dodger went up to the poster and pulled it sideway, revealing a hole in the wall. "Come on in, boys, and hurry before someone sees us."

They all hurried past Dodger and into the hole in the wall. It was quite roomy inside. The space was big enough for seven people to live in. On the far end of the room hung a green curtain.

"That's Miss Rita's room. She says it's off limits." Oliver said, noticing where they were looking.

"Well, a girl's gotta have her space." Kit said reasonably.

Dodger came in last, dragging the hot dog cart in with him, and the poster outside fell back down as soon as the cart was fully inside.

"Alright guys, how do you like your hot dog?" Dodger asked, taking a wiener on a stick and blowing fire at it with a torch. "Red hot?"

Kit chuckled as he was reminded of that time he and Baloo sold hot dogs.

Kit, Oliver and Dodger ate their hot dogs without hesitation. Huey and Max however, were hesitant to eat, not knowing which of these hot dog weenies were dragged on the ground. They exchanged a look that clearly said: "Is this really okay?" but then, they shrugged and began to eat anyway.

After they ate their fill, Dodger checked the cart again. "Oh, good, there's still enough in here to feed the whole gang when they get back!"

Oliver took off his tabby overcoat to reveal that he was wearing a yellow T-shirt and a pair of blue shorts beneath.

Huey and Max sat and watched as Kit played with Oliver, running around the place, playing tag and then Kit was running around with Oliver on his back as he laughed and pointed his fingers at different objects and saying "Bang!"

Finally, Kit skidded to a halt in front of Oliver's bed and dumped him upon it. Oliver squealed as he fell, and then laughed as he landed on the mattress.

"Well, it's been fun, guys," Kit said in a tone that expresses a desire to stay longer. "But we've gotta be going."

"Aww, already?" Oliver whined. "I was having so much fun! Will you be back again sometime?"

"Um, sure, maybe.." Kit said, as he didn't have the heart to say no, since this might be the last time they see each other and he even felt sad about this departure. But he had a job to do. "Bye, Oliver. Thanks for the grubs, Dodger." he said, tipping his cap to Dodger as he, Huey and Max walked to the doorway.

"Sure, come again anytime." Dodger said, smiling. "Don't be a stranger."

"Bye, you guys." Oliver said sadly, waving as they exited.

Kit, Huey and Max walked until there were five blocks from Oliver and Dodger's place, then Kit stopped with a sad look on his face.

"What's wrong, Kit?" Max asked in concern.

"Huh? Oh, nothing… it's just that.. Goodbyes are always hard for me…" Kit said sadly. "I hate to think that I might never see them again. Goodbyes feels final, that's kinda painful for me… There were times where I just got up and ran without saying goodbyes… but as I later find out, that ended up hurting them more than me…" he said, recalling the bitter memory of leaving Baloo for Daring Dan. He later learned from Wildcat how depressed Baloo was. It took awhile to get the full story from Wildcat, as Kit had to sit through his childish explanations of acting out events.

Huey and Max exchange a look that said: 'This kid's been through a lot!'

Just then, Huey's Gummiphone rang. He took his phone out, and saw P.J.'s face on the screen.

"You're on, P.J." Huey said, getting the mission back to the forefront of his mind. "Did you find the Heart of this world?"

"Yeah, and you'll never guess where it is!" P.J. said. "There's this giant statue known as the Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island in the Upper New York Bay, south of your location. The Heart is attached to the flame on her torch!"

"Liberty Island? But we're up here in the northern part of New York City!" Kit exclaimed. "How are we going to go that far south to get there in time?"

"Leave that to me!" Max said, he took a few steps away from the other two, summoned his magical lightning bolt staff into his hand, pointed it to the sky and yelled: "Shooting Star!"

A star in the sky twinkled at them before moving at great speed towards them. Before they could blink, there the star stood, hovering above the ground. Up close, the Shooting Star looked like a flat golden star-shape platform that one could stand and ride on.

Kit stared at it in surprise. "Wh-what is that?"

"It's my ride. Sweet, huh?"" Max said proudly. "The Shooting Star will take us wherever we need to go!"

"You had this ride this whole time and you never told me?" Kit said indignantly. "As your leader, don't you think I should've known about this before?"

"It never came up before." Max shrugged. "And you never asked. What was I supposed to do, say 'hi, my name is Maximilian Goof, and by the way, I have this sweet ride known as the Shooting Star'?"

"Touché," Kit said after a moment's pause. "So, we just hop on and ride it?"

"Yep!" Max said as he and Huey jumped onto the star. "All aboard to Liberty Island!"

"Um… this is going to sound strange, but do you have a tow rope?" Kit asked sheepishly.

Before Max could answer, Huey popped up holding a garden hose up over his head. "Would the Garden Hose of Destiny work?"

"YA-HOO!" Kit cried as he rode through the clouds on his airfoil, being towed by a garden hose attached to Max's Shooting Star.

"Wow, he's one radical bear!" Max said as they flew across the sky towards their destination.

"Chris can do that too, you know." Huey reminded him.

"Yeah, but Kit does it with more passion." Max said.

Just then, they heard a series of screaming below and they looked down to see the city people screaming and running in panic as they were being attacked by an army of Shadow Minions.

"Oh, no!" Huey cried. "We've got to help them!"

Kit swung himself around Max's Shooting Star and landed on top of it. He was now wearing his camouflage super suit with a matching aviator hat and goggles on his head; the goggles were acting as his mask. "Alright you guys, we gotta keep focus on the mission, but we can't ignore that people down there are going to get hurt. So here's what we're going to do. You two will go down there and fight them off. Huey, protect the people with your force shield. Max, attack them with the firework that the Colonel mentioned. I'll go to the statue and put up the Seal before it's too late!"

Huey and Max changed into their super suits on the spot. Max was dressed in a dark grey shirt with a golden lightning bolt on the chest with matching pants, He also wore a blue jacket, along with a white eye mask. Huey was dressed in an archer-themed super suit with a red hood and a black eye mask.

They saluted Kit. "Yes, sir! " they said before the Shooting Star swooped down to the street. They hopped off and Kit flew off on the Shooting Star alone towards Liberty Island.

Huey and Max leapt into action, Huey running up to the people and activating his Force Shield, creating a huge dome-like bubble around himself and the civilians. Max meanwhile was attacking the Shadow Minions with a colorful shower of magical fireworks. Although they eliminated the smaller minions, it did little more than stung some of the giant ones, making them angry. They swiped at him with their huge hands. Max leapt back several times, dodging each of them.

As one huge hand thudded down next to him, Max jumped onto the hand and ran up the arm and then pointed his staff at the giant Shadow Minion's head and yelled: "THUNDER!" A bright yellow thunderbolt struck down from the sky, striking the Shadow Minion's head. Max jumped down and landed safely on the ground, as the giant Shadow Minion fell facedown and faded away.

One giant Shadow Minion down, a dozen more to go. A giant hand came swinging down and smacked Max, knocking him down.

"MAX!" Huey cried, letting his shield down. Then he faced the giant Shadow Minions, looking furious, his teeth bared. He summoned his personal weapon. A bow magically appeared in his hand and his quiver of arrows appeared on his back. He pulled out an arrow and fired it at the nearest Shadow Minion. The Shadow Minion jerked as it was hit and vanished. But the magical arrow wasn't done. After the Shadow Minion was slain, the arrow randomly selected another one and fired itself at the new target, and the cycle repeated itself over and over again. But more Shadow Minions were appearing as fast as Huey could slay them. So he fired off a few more arrows. Now they were in a continuous loop of Shadow Minions being slain and respawning.

Meanwhile, Kit was flying towards the Statue of Liberty and found his way ahead blocked by a fleet of Shadow Minions that took the form of flying winged monkeys. They swooped down upon Kit, who quickly summoned his dual D-Blades and batted and slashed at them. Kit looped around them and performed some barrel rolls as he fended off the Shadow Minions.

One by one, the Shadow Minions fell at Kit's blades. But they threatened to overwhelm him with their sheer numbers.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Kit roared angrily, dismissing one of his blades and thrusted his now-free hand forward, shooting a blast of strong wind from his hand, blowing half of them away. But they still kept on coming."That's it!" he said as an idea came to him. He then flew around in circles, waving his blade around, releasing his windmilling power through it and creating a tornado that sucked most of the Shadow Minions in.

With the way ahead clearer, Kit flew forward towards the Statue of Liberty, batting away the few Shadow Minions that remained.

Finally, Kit made it to the Statue of Liberty, hovering in front of the flame in the torch held above the statue's head. There was a black keyhole with a golden outline around it on the flame of the torch. Wasting no time, as he was still surrounded by Shadow Minions, he pointed his D-Blade at the keyhole on the flame and quickly drew the triple circle mouse symbol over the keyhole on the flame, chanting the strange words he was taught: "Sphaera tutationis: Defende nos ab omni malo!"

Then he cried out in a loud voice, as Chris did back in Cape Suzette months ago: "Shadow Minions of Magica de Spell! In the name of the Grand Dedi Mickey, I banish you from taking shape in this world again!" and then, he stabbed his blade into the center circle.

There was a pulse in the air, and then there was a shockwave that went in all directions from the Statue of Liberty. The moment the shockwaves reached them, the Shadow Minions in the city and in the air all vanished. As the Shadow Minions vanished, so did the keyhole on the flame of the Statue of Liberty's torch.

Huey, who was backed into a corner and out of arrows, blanked and stared around as his would-be attackers vanished from his presence. There wasn't a single sign of the Shadow Minions anywhere. All of his active arrows were still flying around like bees, but since they no longer had any targets to fire themselves at, they flew back to Huey and returned to their quiver on his back.

"He did it? He did it! Whoo-hoo!" Huey cried, doing a little victory dance. "Kit did it! He saved this world!" Then he noticed Max laying on the ground, looking a little banged up. "Oh my gosh, Max!" he cried, running over to him.

Just then, Kit swooped down on the Shooting Star. "Time to go," he said, hopping down from the star and helping Huey get Max up onto the star. Once he was on the star, Kit and Huey hopped back on and they flew in the direction of the Warp Gate.

As they flew over the city, Oliver and Dodger were being joined to a hot dog dinner by Tito, Einstein, Francis and Rita. Oliver was happily telling his friends about his day, but then he stopped and pointed in awe at the Shooting Star flying overhead. The whole gang looked up and waved.

While flying towards the Warp Gate, Kit waved his D-blade over Max and said: "Heal!"

At once, all battle marks on Max vanished and he shot bolt upright and looked around.

"What! What happened? Did we win?" Max asked anxiously.

"Yep!" Kit said, giving Max the thumb up.

"YAAA-HOO-HOO-HOOOOO!" Max yelled, doing his own version of the iconic Goofy yell in celebration. It was clear that he meant to say 'Ya-hoo!', but because of the Goofy inside him, he ended up sounding like his old man. "Don't tell anyone I did that!" he said after he calmed down. "AND DO NOT POST THAT!" he added to Huey, who was recording him with his phone. Huey just grinned sheepishly and pocketed his phone.

Back at the Warp Gate, they dismounted from the Shooting Star and it flew off on its own towards the stars above. Kit tapped on the Warp Gate platform three times with the tip of his foot, activating it. The blue glowing wormhole opened up before them and they stepped through it. They flew through the warp tunnel, heading for home.


Author's Note:
Hey, KitCloudkicker52885 here, I hope you are enjoying the DA Hearts so far. More exciting adventures are coming. I appreciate you all taking your time to read my story and for leaving me your reviews and comments. Thank you very much for those. I try to get these episodes out as fast as I can without killing the creative flow or writing myself into a corner. It does cost my editor, Cyclone Blaze and I time and efforts to produce this content. We will not ask for donations or anything like that. This story is free to all to read and enjoy. Just leaving your thoughts, opinions and reviews in the Review section is rewarding enough.

To Cyclone Blaze, thank you very much for your time and effort that you put into helping me produce this story more effectively, helping me keep my ideas in order and for the time you put into editing this episode. It is very much appreciated.

To my readers, give Cyclone Blaze a round of applause! For his work on editing and writing the Colonel in this episode!