Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fanfiction. TaleSpin and all official DIsney characters are all owned by Disney. Jeffery Cunningham, Melissa Cunningham and Summer Cunningham all belong to Kit Starbear Lee and used with permission. Please support the official Disney product releases.


Episode Eighteen

Prequel: Kit's Tale, Part Two


Once Kit's training was complete, Stromboli put him in the advertisement posters. Posters of the old Bongo, a small dark brown bear wearing the same uniform that Kit was donning now, were taken down and replaced with posters of Kit as Bongo.

The day of Kit's debut as Bongo was upon him. He was feeling a sense of mounting nervousness as the time for him to perform in front of crowd draws ever closer. What if he messed up? Would his punishment for messing up his stunts be more severe than messing up in training? And would he go hungry longer than normal? To say Kit's heart was pounding and he has butterflies in his stomach would be an understatement. And what would the people among the audience think of him? Would they love him or hate him? All of these thoughts chased themselves around in Kit's head like cats and dogs, causing his legs to feel like butter. He didn't even feel like eating lunch that day, for fear of throwing up, so he put his lunch in a paper bag and returned to his cage he had for a room and hid his lunch among the straw; under the blanket that was his bed.

Finally, it was time to get ready for the show, Kit was told when to roll into the main tent on his unicycle, and that he had to watch for his cue.

The show began and Stromboli greeted the audience and announced the start of the show, before unleashing pandemonium for the audience to behold. Dozens of acts were going on at once. The clowns drove into the center stage in a tiny car. The car stopped and half a dozen clowns pulled themselves out of the car and then proceeded to assault each other in a variety of comical violence. At the same time, people were walking on the Highwire. A guy in a cage was fending off a lion with a stool and a whip. A group of acrobat people were performing on the back of an elephant. A few acrobat women were performing on a high-hanging ring. A magician was sawing a woman in a box in half, while another magician pulled rabbits out of his hat. This was overwhelming for the audience to watch and they all seemed to be fighting each other for the audience's attention by seemingly trying to outperform the others; but this was all part of the show.

This was all part of Stromboli's plan, to increase the pace of the show by presenting dozens of shows at once, so that there was something for everyone to watch.

Kit felt a jolt in his gut as he spotted his cue. He gulped before he started juggling his six balls and rolling out onto the stage on his unicycle. As he looked around at the yelling and cheering crowd, something incredible happened. All of his fear and nervousness vanished on the spot, and those feelings were replaced with a thrilling desire to show off; to put on a great show that these people would remember.

Kit rode around in circles while juggling his six balls, soaking in all the cheers and applause. He was loving the attention these people were giving him. This was better than anything he had experienced in his life. People were actually clapping and cheering for him. He jumped up into the air to perform a mid-air backflip, then remounted his unicycle upside down, pedaling with his hands while juggling with his feet; and the crowd went wild.

"BONGO! BONGO! BONGO!" the crowd chanted as Kit performed for them.

From that day on, Kit enjoyed the times that he performed in front of an audience to the fullest.

And this went on for a couple of months, traveling by train from town to town, city to city and country to country. Kit learned to adjust to this routine of stopping and staying in a place for a week to perform as Bongo, then packing up and moving on to the next location. Kit had to learn the language of the locals and as a result, he learned to speak a few phrases in multiple languages; with English and Spanish being his main ones.

In the sixth month since Kit started performing as Bongo, Stromboli decided that it was time to come up with a new act for the circus. He spent some time thinking about what new act they could perform for the circus. So, for inspiration, he browsed through the boxes of old circus posters of the past and from other circuses. After hours of searching, he came across a box that was labeled: The Sky Skiing Windwards.

He opened the box, took one of the posters and unrolled it. It was a faded picture of a couple of teenage bears saluting while skiing on the clouds by a rope behind a plane. He was about to dismiss this as something "too crazy", but then he spotted something that made him do a double-take.

"Hold the phone…" he muttered, looking closely at the poster, then he took out a magnifying glass and focused on the boards under the teenage bears' feet. "Could it be?"

He rushed over to his desk, opened his drawer and took out the metal fan thing that he took from the child he dubbed as Bongo and rushed back to the poster. He fanned out the metal fan and compared it to the one in the poster. They were strikingly similar.

"That's it!" he then grabbed his microphone to the speaker outside and yelled: "BOGO! COME TO MY OFFICE AT ONCE!""

Moments later, Bogo the Clown entered the office.

"You honked, sir?" Bogo said, walking up and seating himself upon Stromboli's desk, taking out his honker, honking it and then he laughed.

"Yeah, take a look at this." Stromboli said, handing him the poster. "What do you think?" he asked as Bogo unrolled the poster and looked at it.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" Bogo said mockingly. "Two young bears who think they're birdies. HA, ha, ha, ha! What of it?" he asked, balling up the poster and tossing it over his shoulder.

"I want you to train Bongo to do that act." Stromboli said bluntly.

Bogo looked surprised. "You want me to train our little Bongo to perform this crazy and potentially dangerous stunt, to be a bird-brain bear?" he paused for dramatic effect, then he shrugged. "Heh, well alright. But I wouldn't be giving it a tacky name as Sky Skiing. I think I'll call it... cloudsurfing."

"Why can't we call it Sky Skiing?" Stromboli asked. "Why the change?"

"Because, my dear Stromboli, aside from it being a tacky name; it's trademarked, see?" Bogo said, holding up another poster and pointing to the tiny T.M. at the end of the words Sky Skiing. "I figured you'd want to avoid any legal issues at the moment. Well, I'm off. If I'm to train our little Bongo into being our cloudsurfer, I'll need to do some research and find out what kind of training sessions these bird-brained bears went through to achieve this." he said as he jumped off the desk and strode to the door. "Tat-ta." he waved a hand in farewell, before slamming the door behind him.

"Cloudsurfing?" Kit said in surprise, wearing nothing but a pair of light blue swimming trunks and sitting on a surfboard out in the water. "Stromboli wants me to learn cloudsurfing?"

"Yeah. Shocking, isn't it?" Bogo said, sitting on his own surfboard. "According to my research, you need to learn surfing and waterskiing first. And then we gotta train your puny little body up to withstand the strong air flow that will be against the airplane and you. Oh, here comes our first wave! Surf's up, kid! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Kit tried to catch the wave, but it overtook him and knocked him off his board, into the water. Luckily for Kid, his ankle was tied to the board by a cable.

"That was a total wipeout, kid!" Bogo laughed as Kit resurfaced and climbed back onto his board, gasping and panting. "Let's continue!"

As the days went by, Kit continued to learn to surf until he was able to successfully surf on every wave that he managed to catch. And soon, Bogo had Kit practicing his acrobatics while riding the waves. Which was very difficult at first, but with a lot of practice, he managed to perform well on his surfboard.

Next, Bogo got a motorboat and had one of his fellow clowns drive the boat while he and Kit skied on the water from behind. Kit had a lot of trouble at first, he made all the beginner's mistakes before he got the hang of it.

As time went by, Kit got better and better at both surfing and water skiing and soon, Bogo had Kit practicing his acrobatics while water skiing. And just like before, he fell down into the water a lot, but before long he was able to perform well while water skiing.

After Kit had mastered surfing and water skiing, it was time to train his body up to resist intense airflow. Bogo managed to get a giant fan that could simulate high, hurricane force wind.

"Ready, kid?" Bogo called to Kit, who stood a hundred yards away and was wearing a stunt suit and an aviator hat and goggles.

"YEAH!" Kit yelled back, giving Bogo the thumb-up. He then lowered the goggles over his eyes and braced himself.

"Here we go!" Bogo yelled, and he flipped the switch, turning on the fan.

A very powerful wind blew upon the bear cub, who despite leaning forward against the wind, fell backward onto his back, and then he was blown off the ground and went flying into the air. Bogo turned off the fan and Kit flopped down on his belly with an: "Oof!"

"Stand up, we'll try again." Bogo said, as Kit stood back up. He flipped the switch, turning the fan back on.

They kept at it all afternoon, until the evening when the whistle blew on the train, signaling the departure time.

Bogo sighed and switched off the giant fan. "Well it's been fun, kiddo, but it's time to head over to the next town. ...Hold on…" Bogo said, looking towards the train and getting an idea.

"ARE YOU SURE THIS IS SAFE?!" Kit yelled as he and Bogo stood on top of a train moving at top speed across the countryside, struggling to stand upright against the airflow of the moving train. "I THINK THIS IS CRAZY!"

"CRAZY IS MY MIDDLE NAME, KID!" Bogo yelled back over the noise of the train. "BESIDES, SOMETIMES CRAZINESS PAYS BIG BUCKS! NOW C'MON, KID! STAND UP AGAINST THE WIND! PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT! HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Kit was having difficulties keeping his balance under the pressure of the airflow that was against the train. Bogo then made him walk around on the roof of the train. Once or twice, Kit slipped and almost fell off the train, but he was saved by Bogo hooking him with a cane and pulling him back on.

Kit's Airflow Resistance training continued. Everyday he faced the giant fan and every once a week, he and Bogo stood on top of the train; until Kit was able to move around with more ease and was able to practice his circus tricks and acrobatics against the strong and intense airflow.

Finally, Bogo once felt that Kit had mastered the airflow resistance. He applauded for Kit as their train arrived at their destination. "Very good, kid! You're ready. Let's get you cloudsurfing!"

Kit pushed his goggles up, looking very excited.

Bogo took a small cargo plane that Stromboli owned and took off. Beside him, Kit sat in the co-pilot seat, looking around, appearing overly thrilled about being in a plane. He was like a kid on Christmas morning. He was looking at all the levers, switches and buttons on the console and watching Bogo closely as he flew the plane; paying attention to every move he made.

"Is this your first time in an airplane, kid?" Bogo asked, noticing that Kit was happier than ever.

"Y-yeah, I've dreamed of flying all of my life." Kit admitted. "I wanna be a pilot when I grow up."

For a moment, Bogo looked surprised that a street kid would have dreams. He smiled at the thought.

"Well kid, it's showtime. Remember your training, go out there and cloudsurf!" Bogo said, he then reached into his pocket and withdrew the metal fan that Stromboli took from Kit months ago, and with a flick of the wrist, he fanned out the metal fan thing. "Here you go, kid. Take this airfoil and go cloudsurfing!"

"An airfoil?" Kit said, taking the airfoil into his hands and looking at it. "That's what this thing is called?"

"Yep, according to my research, it is." Bogo said. "The idea is to take that board and ski on the clouds; like you do in waterskiing."

Bogo tied the control yoke to the chair with a length of rope, he then got up and accompanied Kit into the cargo hold. He took a harness and bent down before Kit.

"Now, for your first attempt, I'm going to put this safety belt on you." Bogo said as he fitted the harness onto Kit. He then tied a rope through a ring on the harness. "There. You'll be holding on to this skiing rope," he said, taking the bar of the towrope and handing it to Kit. "The harness is just an extra precaution, in case you lose your grip."

Kit took the tow rope and looked up at Bogo. "Why are you being nicer to me all of a sudden?"

"Nicer… ha." Bogo scoffed, he bent down and placed his hands on Kit's shoulders. "Kid, I just can't let anything happen to our little Bongo. Otherwise, Stromboli would have my head on a silver platter and then give me some other kid to train."

"What happened to the old Bongo? Do you miss him?" Kit asked as Bogo stood up.

"The old Bongo somehow managed to get out of his cage one night, and ran away." Bogo said indifferently. "As for missing him, I couldn't care less what became of him. The sad reality is that people in showbiz are replaceable. Well, unless you're me, that is." he then pulled down a lever, opening the upper and lower hatches on the back of the plane, opening the cargo hold to the open sky and the world. "Time to fly, kid!"

Kit approached the edge of the lower hatch cautiously, and looked down at the ground. He gulped and was having second thoughts.

"Uhm… maybe this isn't such a good idea…" Kit said nervously.

"C'mon kid, we haven't got all day!" Bogo said, slapping Kit on the back, causing him to fall out of the plane.

Kit gave a yelp as he fell out of the plane. He reached the end of rope and now he was being pulled along through the sky by the plane. He opened his eyes and looked around. He felt like he was in a whole new beautiful world. He was flying like a bird over the beautiful landscape below him. Around him, all kinds of birds flew around him, giving him a puzzled look. As the beautiful clouds surrounded him, he felt like all of his fears were being blown away by this wondrous sight.

A look of confidence came over his face as he gripped the towrope, he then held the airfoil up high before setting it down under his feet. An overwhelming sense of joy and thrill coursed through his very soul as he skimmed through the clouds for the first time in his life.

"YA-HOO!"

A week later, Kit continued to practice cloudsurfing and it wasn't long before he graduated from the harness and he was able to cloudsurf without it. Bogo taught him some aerial acrobatics and the art of free falling. And in no time at all, his cloudsurfing act was included in Stromboli's circus lineup as Bongo the Flying Boy Wonder. They saved Kit's cloudsurfing for last at every show as a closing act; as the grand finale.

As each show reached the finale, the roof of the circus tent opened up to the sky above and the crowd could hear the sound of an approaching plane.

Stromboli took center stage with a microphone in his hand. "Ladies and gentlemen! Put your hands together for Bongo, the Flying Boy Wonder!"

The crowd gasped as a young boy jumped out of the back of the plane, holding on to a tow rope attached to the plane.

Kit glided behind the plane in a straight line, he waved to the crowd before going to work, swinging from right to left and then he lassoed himself around and around on the tow rope.

The crowd oohed and ahhed as Kit stopped spinning around and waved to them. Then he did a backflip on his airfoil. Then he let go the tow rope and glided down to the ground, as he used a bunch of balloons like a ramp, which cannonballed him through the air, before landing right in the circle where he was supposed to land; with his arms up in a gesture that read "Ta-da!"

The crowd went wild, standing up, yelling, whooping, cheering and clapping. Kit looked around with a very happy smile on his face, then he bowed and waved to the crowd over and over as he backed out of the tent. As he exited the tent, one of the circus workers clipped a collar with a leash around his neck. The happy look on his face melted into a miserable look as he folded his airfoil and put it away under his uniform, as he followed the circus worker's lead. The circus worker led him to his cage. He walked into his cage and the worker removed the collar from his neck before shutting the door behind him.

Kit's cloudsurfing quickly became the favorite of the crowd, people came from all over the place to watch Bongo the Flying Boy Wonder.

One evening, a family of three were in the audience; a couple of teenage bears and a mother. The older sister and younger brother were very excited to see Bongo the Flying Boy Wonder. The sister was a brown female bear with a blonde ponytail. The brother was a chocolate brown bear with a blond bowl cut, wearing a pair of round black frame glasses.

The brother bear squealed with excitement. "Ooh… I can't wait to see Bongo! I've heard they gave him a whole new act. They say he can fly now!"

"I'll believe that when I see it," the sister said. "I'm sure there's a trick to it. I even brought my binoculars so I could watch closely and see if I can spot the trick."

"Summer, Jeffery, shh." the mother shushed them as the lights dimmed around the audience and all the lights focused on the stage. "The show's starting."

The sister and brother settled down and turned to watch the show.

The usual competitive pandemonium was released before them, in which several shows were going on at once, each of them trying to upstage each other. Jeffery was watching the magicians doing their magic tricks.

Though the mother had settled her two teens down a bit, Jeffery was still overexcited. He wanted to be part of every neat thing he saw.

"Mom, look at that guy and the lion!" Jeffery said excitedly, pointing at different things. "He must be really brave to do that. He must be really brave to do that. Ooh, a magician is asking for volunteers for the sawing act! Mom, can I try? You said you considered me to take part in the trick once, but decided on the zig zag girl one instead since it's a girl that normally volunteers to do so. So can I? Can I?"

"Huh? Oh, sure son, I guess. But if you get frightened, you shouldn't. Your dad's been thinking of it, too. But I'm not sure. Plus, I don't know if I trust this guy with your safety."

"Aww gee, okay Mom." Jeffery said. "He's probably not as good as you anyway."

Sure enough Jeffery was right. The magician said the wrong words and a hundred bunnies came flying out of his hat, even before he got to the sawing illusion. Jeffery just giggled. He felt sorry for the man, but his Mom was right. His safety was more important.

"Oooh, look at the lady on the flying trapeze, Mom! Isn't that cool?"

Summer just looked and rolled her eyes at her younger brother. "Here sits one of the smartest boys on Star Tropical Island and he's acting more like a kid than a boy of fourteen."

"Oh, hush, you." their mother said, smiling. "You acted like that too when you were younger."

"Yeah, but I outgrew that before I was ten!" Summer said, chuckling.

"Everyone grows at their own pace, dear." their mother said. "Besides, you are as bad as he is when it comes to the latest fashion designs."

"Mooom, really!" Summer whined, pouting.

Jeffery giggled as Summer just sat there and crossed her arms.

They continued to watch the show, until finally, Stromboli announced Bongo the Flying Boy Wonder, and the roof of the tent opened up to the sky. A small plane flew overhead and they saw a small bear cub flying behind it. He smiled and waved at the crowd below.

"There he is! Look! Wow, he really is flying!" Jeffery said, watching Bongo in awe.

Summer watched Bongo through her binoculars. "Eh, he's not really flying... He's just being pulled along behind the plane. Looks more like if he's sky skiing, he even has a board under his feet."

"That's still amazing! I wanna try that!" Jeffery said excitedly.

"Over my dead body, son!" his mother said firmly. "That looks so dangerous!"

"Aw, Mom…" Jeffery muttered, blushing.

"Huh?" Summer said, still watching Bongo through her binoculars. "He looks different now. Smaller and… young? Hold the phone..." she adjusted her binoculars to zoom at Bongo's face. She gasped and stood up.

"Summer, honey, what's wrong?" her mother asked.

"He's… just a little kid…" Summer said in a stunned voice, she was in disbelief.

"What?!" her mother said sharply, she too stood up and took the binoculars from Summer and looked up at Bongo. "Oh my! You're right! My goodness, what's he doing up there? He's just a baby!" Looking outraged, she gave Summer back her binoculars. "Stay right there, you two. I'm going to give that Stromboli a piece of my mind!" And with that, she marched through the audience.

"Hold on, Mom, I'm coming too!" Summer said, looking equally upset and she gave Jeffery her binoculars and ran off after their mother.

Jeffery timidly decided to stay where he was, as he did not like to see his mother or sister so angry. He directed Summer's binoculars up to Bongo and watched. Despite Bongo's young age, he was still utterly amazed at all the things Bongo was able to do in the air. Ranging from doing a swaying and spinning maneuver, a backflip, sky skiing with no hands, and holding on to his rope with one foot while he used his hands to juggle some balls.

"Wow…" Jeffery muttered in awe. "How is he so young and able to do such amazing things? I gotta find out!"

Jeffery got up and moved closer to the stage where Bongo was doing his landing stunt. He watched as Bongo left the tent, and waited a moment before silently and stealthily following him. He was shocked and horrified to see that Bongo was wearing a collar and leash around his neck while being led away by a circus worker.

"What…?" Jeffery muttered to himself as he followed at a distance. "H-how could they treat one of their biggest stars like an animal? T-this is beyond inhumane, putting a collar and a leash on a child! What kind of sick minded man or any person would do this to another living being? I've

seen my share of saddening things in my life, but this infuriates me!"

As Jeffery stealthily followed Bongo and the circus worker, dashing from trash can to trash can, and from power pole to power pole, until he saw that Bongo was being shoved roughly into a circus cage wagon. He gasped indignantly when he saw this, but knew he had to stay out of sight.

"I did pretty good tonight, huh?" the kid known as Bongo said. "So, where's my meal?" he asked as the circus worker unfastened the collar from around his neck.

"Sorry, you don't get any tonight." the circus worker said coldly, closing the door to the cage and locking it with a padlock.

"What?! Why?! Didn't I do good tonight?" Bongo cried, clutching the bars of his cage. "C'mon, I'm starving!"

"You missed your landing point by two feet," the circus worker said indifferently. "Tomorrow land right on target and then you can eat!"

"But that wasn't my fault!" Bongo cried. "There was a draft that carried me further than where I was supposed to be! With my weight being so light, it's not hard for me to be blown away a few feet in a mid-air draft!"

"Full of excuses…" the circus worker grumbled. He picked a discarded apple core from a candy apple and tossed it at Bongo. "Here, eat that."

Bongo looked thoroughly miserable as the circus worker walked away, laughing. He picked up the apple core and ate as much as he could from it without getting to the seeds.

"Why, that no-good…" Jeffery fumed quietly from his hiding place. "If I were older, I'd knock that guy's lights out! No one should go hungry. And Bongo's right, there was a draft coming from the east."

"Hey! Who goes there?" the circus worker demanded sharply.

Jeffery cringed and pulled himself further out of sight, with his hands over his mouth, mentally calling himself an idiot for not being quiet enough.

"Meowwww!"

There was a crash and a rattling of metal coming from the trash cans. Suddenly, a cat jumped down from one of them and ran off.

"Oh, just a stupid cat…" the circus worker grumbled as he walked away.

'Phew…' Jeffery thought. 'That was a close one…'

After the circus worker had finally left the area, Jeffery slowly made his way over to Bongo's cage.

"H-hello? Is someone there?" Bongo asked, as he saw a silhouette of someone approaching him.

"Shh... " Jeffery said gently. "I'm a friend. I"m here to help you. I've seen what that evil man did

to you. My Mom would strangle him for mistreating a child."

"You're here to help me? I don't even know you…" Bongo said, almost in tears for feeling so hungry and tired of sleeping on a stack of hay every night.

"Me?" Jeffery said. "The name's Jeffery Lee Cunningham, son of the famous Dr. Melissa Cunningham and of the somewhat goofball inventor scientist, Anthony. And I have a sister, her name is Summer. But you can call me Jeff, if you like."

"W-well nice to meet you, Jeff," Bongo said, starting to shiver a bit from a cold wind that was blowing. "Ahh...aahh...aaahhh-CHOO!" he sneezed.

Jeffery was at the point of tears, seeing this poor child suffering like this.

"You poor thing…. let me get you out of that cage and get you something warmer to wear." Jeffery said, fishing into his pocket and withdrawing a hair pin from his sister, which he used to pick the lock. "Woo-hoo! I did it! Score one for the good guys! So Bongo, why do they treat you like this? I noticed that though you look like Bongo, you're not him, are you? Don't be scared, you can trust me."

Kit broke down in tears, overwhelmed with gratitude that someone was finally standing up for him.

"My r-r-real name is... K-Kit Cloudkicker." the caged kid said. "Please don't hit me with a newspaper…" he added, shying away, remembering Stromboli's earlier mistreatment of him.

"Why would I do that?" Jeffery asked, bemused at first, but then he realized. "Oh, no, you poor kid! Is that what they did to you?"

Once the padlock came unlock, Jeffery opened the door. But Kit stepped back, looking really shy.

"Come on, Kit. I gotta get you out of here." Jeffery said soothingly.

Kit's ear twitched and he smiled at the sound of his real name, as he slowly approached Jeffery.

Jeffery wrapped his arms around Kit while Kit wrapped his little arms around Jeffery's neck. Overwhelmed with emotions, Kit burst into tears and cried into Jeffery's shoulder. Jeffery just stood there hugging Kit, feeling like crying himself as he felt how all of Kit's sorrows poured out of him.

Jeffery then came back to himself when he heard the sounds of someone approaching. Jeffery cringed as he picked Kit out of the cage, and took off running with the bear cub in his arms.

Jeffery ran into the woods outside the circus site before he stopped running. He did not put Kit down, instead, he continue to hold him in his arms as he continued walking through the woods.

"Where are we going, where are you taking me?" Kit asked timidly.

"Don't worry, my house is close by," Jeffery said. "I just need to pick up things for you, and then we're gonna get you off this island."

"Because Stromboli would come after you cuz of me?" Kit said, taking a guess.

"Yeah, and he won't stop looking for you. Even if my Mom does manage to get a restraining order for you."

Finally, Jeffery and Kit arrived at Jeffery's house. Jeffery used a house key to get in and took Kit inside. He carried Kit up to his room; where he set Kit on his bed.

"Stay right here, while I get things together for you." Jeffery took an old backpack and left the room, leaving Kit alone to look around at the room. The room was decorated by a teenager who loved stars, magic shows and doctors.

After about five minutes, Jeffery returned to his room, with the backpack packed with snacks. He then grabbed a rolled up star blanket and packed that into the backpack as well.

"Okay, we're almost ready to go. We just need to do something about your wardrobe..." Jeffery said, gesturing towards Kit's Bongo uniform. "Can't have you run around in that monkey suit; you'll stand out in the crowd like a sore thumb."

Jeffery took the hat off Kit's head and threw it into the trash can, followed by the red jacket; leaving Kit in just his white undershirt.

"That shirt won't keep you warm… Hold on, I think I have something for you." Jeffery said, he then went and rummaged into his closet, throwing things randomly everywhere. Finally, he came out of the closet with an old green sweatshirt with a yellow patch on the left sleeve. "Here you go," he said, returning to Kit and putting the sweatshirt on him. "It may be a little big on you, but at least will keep you warm." Then he helped Kit roll up the sleeves, so he could use his hands.

"This is your sweatshirt. And you're giving it to me?" KIt asked in amazement, as if he didn't see himself worthy of such a gift.

"Of course! Besides, I was going to give it away anyway, it's kinda small on me." Jeffery said, smiling. "I might as well let you have it. It looks good on you!"

Kit whimpered and cried with gratitude as he threw his arms around Jeffery's neck. "Thank you, Jeff!"

"You're welcome, buddy." Jeffery said softly, hugging Kit. "Now, let's get you out of here. I'll take you to the airfield and put you on a plane. That'll get you off the island and far away from Stromboli."

Kit sniffed. "Thank you, Jeff." he said again.

"But first, let's get that little belly of yours filled" , Jeffery said, poking Kit's belly, causing him to giggle.

Kit followed Jeffery to the kitchen. There Jeffery opened the icebox and pulled out a dish.

"You're going to love this. It's my Mom's special scrambled egg ground beef casserole." Jeffery said, as he carried the dish to the oven. "I gotta heat it up first. It should take twenty minutes. In the meantime, let's play!"

Jeffery scooped Kit up and placed him over his back, then he ran around the living room, making Kit laugh. Which was like music to Jeffery's ears.

"I wish I could stay here with you, Jeff." Kit said, after he was thrown off Jeffery's back onto the couch.

"Me too, Kit. I would love to have a little brother like you." Jeffery said fondly, ruffling Kit's hair affectionately. "But as long as Stromboli's out there, it's not safe for you to be here. And I don't think even my Mom can keep you safe from him." he added sadly. This made Kit look sad, something that Jeffery did not like to see. "Hey, cheer up, you're with me now. C'mon, turn that sad face upside down!" he said as he started tickling Kit.

Kit laughed and squirmed away from Jeffery's fingers, then turned on Jeffery, rushing at him and tickling him. And now Jeffery was laughing worse than Kit, then he fell onto the floor while Kit climbed up on top of him, continuing his assault, laughing and having fun like he hadn't in a long time.

"NO!" Jeffery cried, rolling around on the floor laughing, while being careful not to knock Kit off, for fear of hurting the little bear cub. "NO! Please, Kit! HA HA HA HA! Anything but this! I'd rather do the algebra!"

Kit giggled, as he stopped tickling Jeffery and slid off of him. Jeffery calmed down and stood up. Just then, the timer dinged, signaling the time to take the casserole out of the oven.

"Time to eat!" Jeffery said as he scooped Kit up and held him high over his head. "Kit Cloudkicker, ready for take off! Destination: the kitchen!" And he made plane noise as he carried Kit through the living room.

Kit laughed. "Whee! Look at me, I'ma airplane! I'ma plane!" he cried happily as he spread his arms out like wings and locked his legs together.

Jeffery circled around the living room while holding Kit high over his head and then went into the kitchen.

"Kit Cloudkicker, preparing to land!" Jeffery said as he circled around the kitchen table, lowering Kit down slowly and finally setting him down in the chair at the table. He then grabbed the pot holders and opened the oven, taking out the casserole. He set it on the table, cut out a piece and set it onto Kit's plate. "There you go, buddy, eat up. Be careful though, it might still be a little hot."

Kit took his fork and took his first bite. His eyes opened wide with joy. "Mm! This is delicious!" he cried, as he ate a few more bites.

Jeffery just smiled sadly as he watched Kit eat, wishing he could keep Kit as a little brother. But, once again he reminded himself that with Stromboli out there it would be an unwise decision. His Dad wouldn't stand up to Stromboli, and there was little his Mom could do about it. Jeffery sighed as he took a piece of paper and wrote a note to his Mom.

Dear Mom,

I rescued Bongo (his real name is Kit Cloudkicker) from the circus.

They were treating him horribly, locking him up in a cage like an animal and giving him an apple core to eat! I just couldn't leave him there! I freed him, brought him home to give him a backpack full of snacks, a blanket and my old sweatshirt.
I wish we could adopt him into our family, I would love to have him as a little brother, but with Stromboli out there, he would never be safe with us. And no offense to Dad, but he would not stand up to Stromboli. If you're reading this, I am taking Kit to the airfield to put him on a plane that will take him off of Star Tropical Island. I'll be back as soon as I can.
Love, your precious Starbear,

Jeffery.

P.S. I fed Kit some of your casserole before leaving. If you guys are hungry, it's in the oven and I already heated it up.

Jeffery looked up from the letter and saw that Kit had already finished eating.

"Can I have some more?" Kit asked as he finished his last bite.

Jeffery smiled. "Of course you can! We gotta fill you up, after all!" he said, giving Kit his second helping of casserole.

Later, along a dirt road with cornfields on either side, Jeffery was riding by on his bike, heading towards the airfield. He wore a backpack on his back, and attached to the handlebars of his bike was a basket, from which Kit's face peered out from beneath the lid of the basket. Not wanting to leave Kit exposed, Jeffery pushed Kit's head down so that the lid of the basket concealed him.

Suddenly, Jeffery heard the thundering noise of horses galloping and the wagons behind him. He looked and saw Stromboli in the front, waving his fist and yelling: "Give us back our Bongo!"

"He's not yours!" Jeffery yelled back. "And his name is KIT CLOUDKICKER!" He then sharply turned his bike off the road and rode it through the cornfield.

"AFTER THEM, YOU IDIOTS!" Stromboli roared at the people that were with him. "DON'T LOSE THEM!"

The men that were with him disattached the horses from one of the wagons and ran after them through the cornfield on horseback, while Stromboli continued to ride his horse-drawn wagon on the main road.
Hearing the galloping of horses behind him, Jeffery pedaled his bike like crazy, trying to outrun the horses. The airfield was just ahead, and he wished that he could just make it there.

One of the horses caught up with him and was running beside him. Its' rider was the clown that Jeffery recognized as Bogo the Clown. He reached down from his horse, flipped the lid of the basket and pulled Kit out and onto his horse.

"JEFFERY, HELP!" Kit cried as he was placed on the horse that was in front of Bogo.

"NO!" Jeffery cried. "Give him back! He doesn't belong to you!" he yelled, trying to keep up with the horse, despite his legs protesting.

Bogo reached out a hand to Jeffery. "Grab on, kid!" he yelled.

"What? W-why? You work for Stromboli!" Jeffery yelled back. "How can I trust you?"

"Just grab on! You can't keep pedaling forever!" Bogo yelled. "I want the same thing as you! I want to get this kid away from Stromboli!"

"R-really?" Kit said, looking up at Bogo in surprise.

"Of course I do, kid!" Bogo said, then he looked back down at Jeffery. "C'mon, kid! Grab on before your legs give in!"

Jeffery hesitated before he reached up. But then he grabbed onto Bogo's hand, allowing himself to be pulled off his bike and onto the horse behind Bogo.

"HEEYA!" Bogo cried, urging his horse to run faster. "Hey kid, where were you heading?"

"The airfield!" Jeffery said. "I wanted to put Kit on the next flight out of Star Tropical Island!"

"Brilliant! You're a genius, kid!" Bogo said, looking surprised and impressed.

"Meh. Well, they say i'm a genius. But really, i'm just an ordinary kid…" Jeffery said, blushing modestly.

"Don't be so modest, kid. You're very smart!" Bogo said. "Now, let's pick up the pace! Hold on, kids!"

Bogo galloped his horse harder, running faster through the cornfield, towards the airfield.

Within minutes, they made it to the airfield, but Stomboli was still chasing them, getting closer and closer. Ahead of them, a cargo plane had already started its engines, getting ready for takeoff.

"GO! Go, go, go!" Bogo yelled, helping Jeffery down from the horse and then handing Kit down to him. "I'll hold him off!"

Jeffery took Kit in his arms and ran to the plane as Bogo turned to face Stromboli.

"Bogo, what are you doing?!" Stromboli yelled, just as he halted his horses in front of Bogo. "They're getting away, you idiot! After them!"

"Yeah, how about no?" Bogo said, glaring up at Stromboli. "I will not allow you to continue enslaving the children I've sworn to bring joy, laughter, and mayhem too."

Stromboli gritted his teeth and growled. "Get out of my way!" he said impatiently, but Bogo pulled out a gun and pointed it at Stromboli.

"Nope! Nuh-huh, I'm not letting you anywhere near that kid." Bogo said. "And if you think you can get past me to go after the kid, you're welcome to try. So tell me, Stromboli …are we feeling lucky tonight?" he asked with a sinister grin and an insane look in his eyes that made Stromboli sweat and gulp.

"FINE!" he said finally, turning his wagon around and taking off. "We don't need him anyway!"

Bogo watched Stromboli ride away for a moment, before pulling the trigger. A flag that read "BANG!" popped out of the barrel of the gun. Bogo stood there, holding the gun and laughing his head off.

Meanwhile, Jeffery ran up to the cargo plane with Kit in his arms, the engines were running, preparing to take off. He opened the side door to the cargo hold. Jeffery and Kit shared one last hug, before Jeffery lifted Kit up over his head into the cargo hold.

Kit stood up in the doorway and turned around, Jeffery took off the backpack and handed it to Kit. As Kit pulled the backpack into cargo hold with him, he noticed tears in Jeffery's eyes and realized that the teen cub was crying.

"Jeffery?" Kit said in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jeffery sniffed, his voice cracking. "It's just that… I know we've only known each other for an hour or so, but I'm really going to miss you, Kit."

"Jeffery…" Kit said softly.

Jeffery took out a ten dollar bill from his pocket and handed it up to Kit. "Here, take this. Just... don't forget me..."

"I won't. Bye, Jeff." Kit said as he pocketed the money Jeffery gave him and waved a hand in farewell, as the latter closed the door.

As the plane rolled away from him and took off into the air, Jeffery continued to wave a hand in farewell.

"Goodbye, Kit. And may the stars keep you safe..." he said, before he fell to his knees and cried into his hands.

Jeffery felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up over. His glasses were wet from his tears, and though his vision was blurry, he could see that it was Bogo.

"Hey, kid, it's okay to cry." Bogo said gently. "I know you'll miss flyboy up there. But in life, we never know where our paths may take us."

"Y-You really mean that?" Jeffrey said, getting back up to his feet.

Bogo patted Jeffery on the shoulder. "Yes, I believe destiny is intertwined. If you feel you'll see him again, you will. As for me, well, let's say I'm more of a guardian myself. But that's a story for another time and another place, young Jeffery." Bogo added as he smiled down at Jeffery.

"Wait!" Jeffrey paused in shock, "How do you know my name outside of just meeting me?" he asked.

"Let's just say that I know a lot of things." Bogo replied with a smile, winking. "Now, whaddya say we get you home before your mother worries herself sick." With that, Bogo mounted his horse and pulled Jeffery up onto the horse behind him. As they rode off, a shooting star shot across the sky as Kit rode away, safe and sound onboard the departing plane.

The next morning, Kit awoke to a bright sunlight through the window. He sat up and saw that he was still in the cargo hold of the plane. He saw that the back loading doors were open and a couple of guys were unloading cargoes. He put the backpack Jeffery gave him onto his back and waited until he was sure that the dock workers were looking the other way, before dashing out of the plane, across the dock and into the city.

He took a moment to catch his breath and look around to see where he was. That was when he realized that he was back in Freeport.

"Hey, I'm back!" Kit cried happily. "I'm back in Freeport! I gotta find Chester! He'll be surprised at all the things I can do now!" he said, and he took off running in the direction of their old home.

Kit quickly found the alley that led to their home through the hole in the wall behind a poster.

"Hey Chester! I'm bac—" Kit stopped dead in his tracks. There was no poster and no hole in the wall. The hole that used to lead into their home was sealed up. The hole was filled with bricks. "No… NO!" Kit cried, banging his fist on the wall. "Let me in!" He then walked on, with his head down. "Oh, where will I find Chester now?"He asked himself as he left the alley and walked up the streets, being careful to blend in with a group of children on their way to school. He was glad he had Jeffery's backpack as it helped him blend in with them. Deep in thought as he walked with the group, he suddenly lifted his head up as he remembered Chester's last instruction. "Oh yeah! Chester told me to find Grammy and Gunner in a house up the hill. I just need to follow the river."

Kit separated himself from the group and ran towards the river. When he reached the river, he stopped and sat down on the bank. He took off the backpack and opened it to reveal a variety of snacks. He took out a red apple, a banana and a bag of cookies, and began to eat, while he watched the fish jump in the river and the birds fly overhead; something he found so peaceful.

After he finished eating, he washed his face and hands in the river, and then he scooped up some water and drank from his hands before standing up and pulling the backpack up onto his back.

"Well, time to go and see if I can find Grammy and Gunner…" He said, as he looked up the hill before starting to walk up towards it.

As Kit reached the top of the hill, he came across a wooden cabin. An eldery-looking couple sat in rocking chairs on the porch. The old gray bear woman was knitting, while the old brown bear man was carving something out of a piece of wood.

Kit walked shyly up to the porch and waved a hand. "Uhm… hi."

The old couple looked up at him and seemed surprised to see Kit standing there.

"Oh, hello there, little boy." Grammy said, smiling. Then she looked concerned. "Are you lost?"

"No, ma'am. Chester sent me here months ago, but I ran into Stromboli." Kit said politely.

Grammy gasped and Gunner grimaced. Gunner then cut off a piece of the wood he was carving, pretending it was Stromboli's head.

"Oh you poor thing!" Grammy cried. "C'mere." she said, holding her arms open to Kit.

Kit set his backpack down and slowly and shyly made his way up to Grammy's open arms. Grammy picked him up, set him on her lap and cuddled him. As Kit felt the warm and loving embrace of Grammy, he relaxed and melted into it, loving the new feeling of being loved and accepted.

"So son, how did you escape from Stromboli?" Gunner asked.

"One of my fans found me in my cage and set me free." Kit said.

"CAGE?!" Grammy cried indignantly.

"Yeah, the fan's name is Jeffery and he took me to his home," Kit continued. "He fed me, gave me this shirt," he picked at his sweatshirt. "And then he took me to the airfield and put me on a plane, and I landed back here this morning. Oh, and Bogo helped too!"

"Sounds to me you had a couple of guardian angels there, boy." Gunner said, smiling.

"So, where's Chester?" Kit asked, looking around. "I went back to our home before coming here, but our doorway had been sealed up. Before I was kidnapped by Stromboli, he told me to come find you guys here. Do you know where he moved to?"

Grammy and Gunner exchanged a sad look.

"Uhm… yeah, he moved to Starrywood." Gunner said sadly. "He stayed here for months, waiting for you. But as time went on, he began to lose hope that he'd ever see you again. One day, he decided that he couldn't spend the rest of his life waiting for you, so he left for Starrywood to fulfil his dream of being an actor."

"Wh-where is Starrywood?" Kit asked, looking as if he was about to cry. "Is it very far?"

"Yeah…" Gunner said, pulling a folded map out of his pocket, unfolding it and spreading it out in front of Kit. He then took out a pencil and drew a circle on the map. "We are right here." he then drew another circle on the map, far, far away from the first circle. "And Starrywood is way over here."

Kit stared at the map, tears filled his eyes as he studied the distance between the two circles. Chester was so far away, that he might as well be on the other side of the world.

"Chester...you couldn't wait a little longer for me?" Kit said, he then started crying and buried his face in Grammy's chest, as Grammy hugged him tightly and rocked him in her rocking chair.

"There, there, dear." Grammy said soothingly. "You can stay with us. We'll take care of you."

Kit sniffed. "Thank you."

And so, for the next three and a half years, Kit stayed with Grammy, Gunner and the hobos and during that time, Kit learned to read maps from Gunner, he learned to navigate through his traveling around with the hobos. Since some of the hobos were veteran fighter pilots of the Great War, he was able to visit the airfield often and learn all he could about the different planes and was even allowed to sit in the cockpit of most of them as the veterans visited their pilot friends.

One day, Kit decided, like Chester, that it was time for him to move on and fulfill his own dreams. He decided to move to Cape Suzette, the big city beyond the gap in the cliff that had become a haven for pilots, aviators and plane enthusiasts such as himself.

He exchanged a tearful farewell with Grammy and Gunner.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Grammy asked as she hugged Kit.

"Yeah, it's time I move on and find my wings." Kit said as he broke away from Grammy. "Thank you for taking care of me. I won't forget you."

Gunner handed Kit a map and a compass. "Here, use what I taught you to get there safely. And stay away from Don Karnage. That guy's no good."

"Yes, Gunner, I'll try." Kit said, hugging Gunner before he took off running.

Back in the present, the group around the table was dead silent as Kit's story was coming to a close.

"Well that didn't work out the way I planned it." Kit was saying. "I got on a plane and hid in the cargoes, but Karnage ended up raiding the plane. Dumptruck found me there, and Karnage took a liking to me. They took me with them to Pirate Island. At first, it was the circus all over again because I was the new kid; so they picked on me and I was the butt of every short and small fry jokes they had. But then, Karnage made me his protégé and the rest of them pretty much got off my back after that. I stayed with them for a year because they had food, shelter and planes. But I got sick of 'em, I ran away and that's when I ran into you, Baloo."

"Aw, Lil Britches…" Baloo sniffed, his eyes full of tears, he opened his arms to Kit, who ran around the table, into Baloo's arms and the two of them shared a tearful hug. "Yer story answered a lot of questions Becky..." he choked on the name, he then cleared his throat. "Becky and I had about you."

"Uhm, Kit?" Chris said cautiously. "Did you..? Did you ever have to steal or do bad things before you met Baloo?"

"Yeah... I-I did…" Kit said in a tone of regret, looking even sadder. ""When I was with the hobos I stole food. Whenever the job well was dried up no one was hiring and we were all starving. And then when I was with the pirates, I had to steal for them, there was no getting around it. It's what pirates do. I had to be a bad boy and be rough with those smaller than me, just to fit in. The pirates were idiots, but they were dangerous idiots and you would not want to stand out in that group."

"It wasn't your fault, Kit…" Chris said softly, reaching up and patting Kit on the back as the latter curled up in Baloo's arms. "It was literally a do-or-die situation and we do not blame you for it. We're just glad you made it and found your way to Baloo and Miss Cunningham."

Kit sobbed and buried his face in Baloo's chest at the sound of Rebecca's name, and Baloo's face saddened even more as he held Kit.

Matthew's face was rigid as he fought against a large range of emotions fighting to get out. He stood up from his seat and had to excuse himself, since he didn't want Kit or Chris to see him lose it.

"Thank you for being so brave and telling us your story, Kit," he said stiffly. "If you'll excuse me…" he left the table, walked into the Exercise Room and closed the door behind him.

"Yeah, thanks, Kit." Chris said, stopping the recording on his phone under the table. He avoided eye contact with either of them to hide his own tears. "I... uh, gotta do some homework… See ya later." And he ran from the table to his room.

"Well, I guess we better go, Lil' britches." Baloo said, standing up with Kit in his arms. He walked over to the door leading outside and departed.


Author's Note:
This episode was posted four days before Christmas, so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. It is my wish that the upcoming year will be better than the last.

Thank you, Kit Lee for allowing me to use Jeffery, Summer and Melissa in this episode!
Thank you. Cyclone Blaze for your work on editing this episode!
And thank you, everyone, for reading my story.

Bogo is based on the Joker with a double agent aspect added. His voice actor, if animated, would be the legendary Mark Hamil.

Please leave your comments on this episode in the Review section down below!