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Episode Twenty-One
Ice-Skating in the Big Ben
Kit gritted his teeth with a determined glare as he summoned his D-blades to both hands and braced himself as Darkside loomed over him, staring down at him while the laughter of Black Arts and Phantom echoed throughout the throne room.
Darkside's huge hand descended upon Kit, intending to squash him like a bug. Kit used his windmilling power through his feet to project himself backward, quickly moving out of the way of the hand. As the hand crashed onto the floor, Kit performed a backflip and then blasted himself forward with a burst of wind and slashed at the wrist of the hand with his D-blades.
With a muffled roar, Darkside's hand jerked back, and his other hand took a swipe at the offending bear cub, hitting Kit and sending him flying towards the wall!
"AHH!" Kit cried as he got smacked towards the wall. Then he flipped himself over in the air and tossed his D-blades aside, which vanished in midair, sent a blast of wind from his hands against the wall, and with the recoil force, he saved himself from the collision with the wall.
"Hmm," Black Arts said as he observed the fight before him, stroking his chin. "The little furball is tougher and better than we thought."
"Then let's tie him up!" Phantom suggested, thrusting his hand towards Kit, sending a magical wave at him. As the magical wave washed over Kit, his arms snapped to his sides, his legs locked together, leaving him unable to move.
"H-hey! Wh-what's going on?!" Kit cried, straining against his super suit.
"Ha! That's what you get for coming to a fight in your little boy jammies!" Phantom said in triumph. "Say, ain't ya a little old for these baby jammies?"
"These are not pajamas!" Kit yelled, looking insulted as he strained against his bound. "It's my super suit!"
"Well, it's super-lame and can be used against you like this." Phantom pointed out.
"Whoa, a full-body bind? Nice!" Black Arts complimented Phantom as Darkside's hand grabbed the magically bound Kit, holding him inside his fist.
"It's a clothes binding," Phantom said smugly. "It causes the clothes to become hard and makes the wearer unable to move. Now Darkside, take your new toy outside while we search this room," he commanded the giant Shadow Minion.
Darkside groaned in acknowledgment. He punched a hole in the wall with his free hand. He flew through the hole and out of the castle, taking Kit with him.
Outside on the grounds, Darkside landed on his feet with an earthquake force and then stood up, proceeding to squeeze the breath out of Kit. Kit gasped and struggled to breathe as Darkside's huge fist compressed his lungs.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a pink fur ball flew over Kit's head and landed down onto Darkside's wrist with what Kit assumed to be some stinger. Darkside reacted in pain, his hand opened up a bit, releasing Kit, and he fell towards the ground below as the pink stinger fur ball held on while Darkside swung his arm around, trying to shake it off.
As Kit approached the ground, he released a blast of wind from his hands to slow his fall, allowing him to land lightly and gracefully on the floor. He then looked up and saw that the pink furball that had stung Darkside was Cubbi with his sword, which he had used to stab the giant Shadow Minion's wrist. Finally, Cubbi was thrown off and fell out of the air.
"CUBBI!" Kit cried, then performed a high jump and caught Cubbi in his arms. "Gotcha!"
"Thanks, Kit," Cubbi said as Kit landed lightly on his feet again.
"No, thank you, Cubbi, you saved me first." Kit said with a smile as he put Cubbi down. "I was just returning the favor. Now, where's Huey?"
"Over there," Cubbi said, pointing.
Kit looked towards where Cubbi was pointing and saw Huey in the distance with his bow and arrows. He had three in his bow and was pulling back on the drawstring, aiming at Darkside.
"Those arrows won't be enough to take this guy out," Kit said, summoning his D-blades to his hands. "...but they make the perfect distraction! Cubbi, draw your sword and follow my lead."
"Right!" Cubbi nodded, lifting his sword high.
"NOW!" Huey cried, releasing the drawstring of his bow and letting his arrows fly. He thrust his hand after his arrows, sending a strong blast of wind behind them, increasing their speed.
At the same time, Kit and Cubbi ran forward. Cubbi took another Gummiberry bean and bounced up high, slashing at Darkside's torso. Kit darted around on the ground, taking swipes at its' legs, while Darkside swung his arms around as Huey's arrows continuously flew around him like bees, piercing different parts of his body.
Darkside stomped his foot, sending shockwaves in all directions, knocking the three boys off balance, and broke Huey's focus with his arrows, and they fell to the ground. As they recover, Darkside uses that moment to create a ball of dark energy and throws it at Kit and Cubbi!
The two boys looked on in horror as the dark energy ball hurtled towards them! There was no time to dodge this, and the ball was too big to bat away with D-blades or swords. Knowing this, Kit quickly tossed his D-blades aside and took a horse stance.
"Cubbi, blast it with your strongest windmilling attack!" Kit yelled as he thrust his hands forward, sending a hurricane-force wind at the dark energy ball, pushing it back towards Darkside.
Darkside thrust his huge hand forward, pushing the dark energy ball towards Kit. Now the two of them were locked in a beam struggle, trying to drive the ball towards the other.
But before Cubbi could add his power to the beam struggle, he had to dodge an attack from a Shadow Minion, which appeared out of nowhere! Now, they were surrounded by Shadow Minions while Kit got locked in a beam struggle with the boss. Cubbi had no choice but to fend them off and keep them from attacking Kit, who couldn't defend himself at the moment.
The dark energy ball keeps moving back and forth between Darkside and Kit for a while, but soon, the ball starts moving closer to Kit as Darkside's giant form and energy begin to wear him down.
Kit gritted his teeth as his legs began to tremble against the pressure. He couldn't hold it back much longer, but he knew he could not let that dark energy ball touch him or the ground.
Knowing that Kit had reached his limits, Darkside gave an almighty shoving motion with his hand, putting more power behind his push. It happened so fast that Kit didn't have time to react, and the dark energy ball that had been between them was now bearing down upon him! No matter how hard he tried, he could not push back on it.
Just when it seemed like the end, a blast of wind veered the dark energy ball off course, saving Kit just in the nick of time!
Confused, Darkside looked to the side to see that Cubbi and Huey had joined forces and combined their wind power to push his attack away from Kit.
Kit fell to his hands and knees in a state of shock. His trembling legs wouldn't support him anymore. His eyes were wide and horrified as he struggled to regain control of his breathing.
Meanwhile, inside the castle, Black Arts triumphantly snatched up a small statue of a monk from its' stand in the center of a chamber.
"Ha-ha! We did it! Mission accomplished!" he cried, holding the statue up. "Now, let's take it back to our dear leader."
Phantom was looking at the statue in disbelief. "We came over here, traveling beyond the stars, passing over a dozen worlds…for this piece of junk? We could've swiped it from an antique shop!"
"Fool!" Black Arts cried dramatically. "This artifact is one of a kind! With otherworldly powers beyond your comprehension."
"Alright, smartmouth, what does it do?" Phantom asked, unamused.
Black Arts stammered for a moment, seemingly trying to find words before finally saying: "If I tell you, it wouldn't be mysteriously otherworldly anymore."
"You have no idea what it does, do you?" Phantom asked in a flat tone of voice.
"Not a clue!" Black Arts said proudly, which caused Phantom to palm his face in loss of patience. "But the boss wants it, and that's all that matters."
Phantom glanced out of a window at the battle below, seeing Darkside about to finish the kids off.
"If that's all, then we're done here," Phantom said, waving a hand, causing Darkside to retreat into the shadow, returning to the world from whence it came. "Let's go."
"Wa-wait, did you just spare those brats?" Black Arts asked, bemused.
"No, we got what we came for, and we don't need him anymore," Phantom said impatiently. "Now, let's go."
"Okay…?" Black Arts said uncertainly, raising a hand, conjuring up a dark and purple shadowy portal, and together, he and Phantom walked through it. Once they were gone, the portal dropped down to the ground and faded away into the floor.
Outside on the grounds, the pressure on Kit from the beam struggle vanished, and suddenly it was like he was pushing with all of his might against a barrier that was no longer there, causing him to yelp in surprise and fall flat on his face. But not before his wind power overwhelmed the dark energy ball that Darkside left behind, sending it right into the stratosphere and beyond!
"Kit!" Cubbi and Huey cried as they both rushed to his side and helped him up.
"Kit, are you okay?" Cubbi asked in concern
"Am I okay? AM I OKAY?!" Kit cried in exasperation. "Cubbi, I thought, I was done for!" With the other two's help, he got up and looked around. "Wait, where did that giant shadow guy go?"
"I don't know. It just vanished," Huey said, looking around. "Very strange… there's no more Shadow Minions around… But let's not wait around for them to come back. Kit, put up the Sphere of Protect—" Huey was interrupted by a ringtone. He looked at his watch, which was in sync with his Gummiphone. He tapped the screen with a finger, and a life-size hologram of P.J. appeared before them.
"Hey, guys," P.J. said. "Bad news, the bad guys got away, and they took the statue of a monk."
"A monk statue? What's so special about it?" Cubbi asked curiously.
"I don't know, but you guys need to get out of there. The Shadow Minions are going after that world's core."
"I'll put up the Sphere of Protection!" Kit declared determinably.
P.J. sadly shook his head. "There's no time, Kit. The world is about to be overtaken by the shadows. You must retreat now!"
"I can't just do nothing!" Kit protested. "I can still do this!"
"Kit, you guys are low on energy right now, and even if you were at full power, you can't fight this number of Shadow Minions that are coming—KIT, COME BACK!" P.J. cried as Kit took off, running towards the floating castle in the sky, blasting off into the sky with a strong wind blasting through his feet.
As Kit closed in on the floating castle, the power of the wind blasting from his feet got weaker and weaker as he approached one of the windows.
"No..., almost there…!" Kit muttered, fearing he might not make it as he reached out to the window. And then, his feet were no longer producing wind, and he started to fall. His eyes widened in fear. "NO! WAAH!—OOF!" His fall got halted as he barely grabbed onto the windowsill. He took a deep breath as he hung from the windowsill on his fingertips.
Straining with all his remaining might, he pulled himself up through the window. He dropped to the floor in exhaustion. He sat on the floor, strongly tempted to lay there and rest, but he could not. He reached up, grabbed onto the windowsill from inside, and pulled himself up to his feet. Holding on to the walls, Kit slowly and weakly made his way to the throne room. He could feel his consciousness fading away as exhaustion started to overwhelm him. He struggled against himself as he pressed on, pacing slowly down the hall, his head hung and his eyes heavy.
After what felt like an eternity, he reached the throne room.
"Finally…." Kit said weakly, then struggled to lift his hand and summoned his D-blade. His arm dropped from the weight of the weapon. He strained to lift the blade with both hands. He tried to hold it steady with the tip pointing to the throne in the center of the room, but he couldn't. Try as he might hold up his D-blade, the end kept lowering to the floor. "C'mon… snap out of it, Coudkicker, you can do this!" he raised the tip of his blade, pointing it at the throne. He started to chant in Latin, but then he swayed and fell sideways onto the floor as he blacked out, and the last thing he heard was someone crying out his name.
The next thing Kit knew was that he was waking up on a nice, soft bed in the hospital wing of the Academy. He slowly sat up in bed. He barely got his surroundings into focus when he heard Cubbi's voice saying: "Hey, he's awake!" then he found himself surrounded by Cubbi, Huey, and Chris.
"Kit, are you alright?" Cubbi asked anxiously.
Kit took a moment to determine whether he was alright or not. It was then that he realized that he was feeling weak and drained.
"I feel… tired, but never mind that," Kit said, suddenly looking concerned and anxious himself. "What happened to the world with the floating castle? Did we save—" He stopped, realizing the horrible answer in their downcast faces. "We…we didn't save…?" he said, looking devastated.
"We found you passed out in the throne room," Huey said sadly. "The place was swarming with Shadow Minions… we only had time to grab you and retreat."
Cubbi sighed sadly: "Another world lost to the Shadow Minions..."
"C'mon, guys, don't beat yourselves up," Chris said soothingly. "You did your best."
"Yeah, well, apparently, my best wasn't good enough!" Kit snapped with tears in his eyes and a sob in his voice. "If that stupid giant Shadow Minion hadn't worn me down, I could've saved that world! But no, I failed! That was my chance to save a world from the same fate as ours, and I failed!"
"Kit…you're not the first to fail in that," Chris said sympathetically. "Even Master Mickey failed a few times, so don't beat yourself up over it."
"Guys…thanks for sticking with me, but right now…I want to be left alone," Kit said, not looking at them because he knew he had made them sad after saying this.
And indeed, Kit's three visitors' faces saddened even more at his words.
"Alright, Kit, we'll give you some space," Chris said in a defeated voice. "But please don't blame yourself. It isn't your fault," Kit did not reply but looked down at his knees, and Chris sighed. "C'mon, you guys, let's go."
The three of them departed, Chris holding the door open for the other two before closing it behind himself, leaving Kit alone with the pain of his failure.
The following morning, a kind-faced, gentle-looking gorilla in a nurse uniform came into Kit's room. At the sight of her, Kit cringed at her size, but then he relaxed when he saw her warm and kind smile.
"Good morning, Kit Cloudkicker," she greeted him. "I am Kala Kerchak, and I am the school nurse." With the introduction out of the way, she consulted her clipboard. "Since this is your first time in my care, I'll lay out the rules. The first one is that you will not tell me you're fine. I will decide that."
"Um… okay…?" Kit said nervously, and although he was comforted by her warm and kind face, he was nevertheless intimidated by her size as she stood over him. "What…what's the second rule?"
"The second rule is that you will tell me exactly how you physically feel, leave nothing out," Kala said seriously. "Even if it's a dull ache that you feel is unimportant to bring up, you will tell me about it. And finally, the third rule is no lying. If I catch you lying to get out of classes or missions, I'll have to report you to Mr. Khan, and the punishment is usually a week's worth of detentions. When you got brought in yesterday, you were suffering from extreme fatigue. How do you feel now? "
Seeing that serious look on her kind and gentle face made Kit take her words to heart, and all thoughts of lying to get out of the room or being dismissive of his pain and injuries flew out the window.
"I feel… a little tired and a little weak," Kit admitted after a moment of checking himself. "I'm also starving. When's breakfast?"
"That sounds about right after fainting due to extreme fatigue," Kala said, looking over him in concern. "If you're hungry, I'll get the breakfast tray, and you can eat while I give you a physical examination.'' She left Kit alone for a moment and returned with a tray of scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuit covered in gravy, along with a glass of orange juice. And while Kit ate, she peered into his ear, checked his blood pressure, and listened to his heartbeats and breathing. "I called your place of residence, and Mr. Baloo is coming to pick you up. Now, I want you to rest for the next couple of days. I already told Mr. Khan to excuse you from your classes while you recover."
Kit smiled at the thought of Baloo coming to pick him up. "Well, at least now I have a good excuse to try a couple of the TV shows Chris told me about."
Kit tried to get up, but Kala pushed him back down.
"No, Kit, you had fainted due to extreme fatigue. I wouldn't recommend walking for a few days," Kala said gently. "You are to stay in bed and let your body recover." Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Oh, that must be Mr. Baloo now. Come in, Mr. Baloo!"
The door opened, and Baloo stepped in, looking anxious, but when he saw Kit sitting up in bed with a breakfast tray, unharmed, his face relaxed as he walked across the nurse's office towards him.
"Hey there, Lil' Britches, ready ta go home?" Baloo asked, "How're ya doing?"
"I'm fine, Papa Bear, just feeling weak and tired," Kit said with a tired smile.
"Mr. Baloo—" Nurse Kala began.
"Aw, please, just call me Baloo," Baloo said, waving a hand.
"Okay then, Baloo," Nurse Kala said. "Kit had fainted from extreme fatigue during his last mission. While at home, he is to rest at all times in the next few days. That means bed rest and no physically straining tasks. Do not let him exert himself.
Baloo sighed. "Okay, nurse, okay. Ya hear that, Kit? Ya can't go exerting yerself fer a few days."
"Aw, jeepers…" Kit sighed in disappointment as he ate the last bite of his breakfast.
Baloo bent over Kit, placing his arms beneath him while Kit weakly wrapped his arms around Baloo's neck. Baloo stood up with Kit in his arms and carried Kit from the hospital wing, through the Academy's halls, and outside where the Sea Duck awaited them in the parking lot.
As Baloo was walking across the parking lot with Kit in his arms, he heard a familiar voice:
"Ah, Kit, I was hoping to catch you before your plane took off."
Baloo turned to see Joe McGee walking toward them. "J-Joe?" he said disbelievingly, staring at him in shock. "Joe McGee?"
"Yep! That's me, though I may not be the Joe you know." Joe said. "No offense, buddy, but I don't know you, but you seem to have known another version of me."
"But, how is that possible?" Baloo said, bewildered. "Are you saying there are other versions of ourselves out there?"
"Precisely." Joe nodded. "Best not stick your head in that cloud, lad. Life's complicated enough as it is, you know?" Baloo continues to stare at Joe as he addresses Kit. "Now, Kit, I wanted to speak with you about your last mission, but this isn't the time and the place. Come and see me when you're well again, and I shall teach you proper energy management. So you don't deplete yourself of your energy as you did in your last mission."
"I would've liked to have learned that before I was up against that giant Shadow Minion," Kit muttered. "Thanks, Joe. I look forward to that lesson with you."
"Get well soon, Kit," Joe said, then clapped Baloo on the arm above the elbow. "Take care of him, son," he said before walking away.
Baloo stared after him with his mouth hanging open, stunned that another version of a person he had known had just crossed his path. When he got called by the school to collect Kit, he did not expect this.
Baloo was so stunned that he didn't notice Kit's hand waving in front of his face for a few seconds.
"...Baloo… Baloo. Earth to Papa Bear, it's time for takeoff!" Kit yelled, finally breaking the spell of the moment.
Baloo shook his head. "Huh? Oh, right! Right you are, Lil' Britches!" He carried Kit to the Sea Duck, walking into the cargo hold through the open back door. He crossed the cargo hold and entered the cockpit, gently lowering Kit into the seat, buckling him up before taking his own. "Hey, Kit, how come ya never told me Joe was yer teacher? I thought I was seein' a ghost!"
Kit gave a weak laugh. "Would you have believed me if I told you? Besides, he's not the Joe you knew."
Baloo thought for a moment and then said: "Well, I guess ya got me there, kiddo."
Baloo then started the engines, and the Sea Duck rolled down the runway, gathering speed before taking off into the air.
For the next few days, Kit sat up in bed against a couple of pillows, with the TV mounted on the wall like a picture frame, displaying an episode of Zoo Ranger Squad, a show about five teenagers who are assistant zookeepers. But when monstrous alien poachers showed up to steal the zoo animals, these five assistant zookeepers morphed into five colorful warriors to defend the animals with various karate poses, known as the Zoo Rangers. At the start of the episode, they played the intro with a theme song that Kit found catchy.
Zoo Rangers! Zoo Rangers!
The legendary warriors!
Zoo Rangers! Zoo Rangers!
With the hope for all in need!
You can count on,
The Zoo Rangers...!
Kit got very entertained as he watched. Each ranger had the power of an animal: the Orange ranger with the power of the tiger, the Red ranger with the power of the lion, the Black ranger with the power of the giant panda, the Pink ranger with the power of the flamingo, and the Blue ranger with the power of the rhino. And they were facing the villain-of-the-day, who looked to be a small whale with legs, smoking a cigar.
Whenever the show cut to a commercial break, Kit ignored the commercials by muting the TV with the remote, reaching to his stack of comic books on his bedside table, and reading a little bit before the end of the commercials. Those modern comic books were of very high quality by Kit's standards. The comics of his era looked so low quality and grainy by comparison. The pictures in these comics were so well-drawn, well-textured, and colored that the images look almost photorealistic!
Between the TV and the comic books, Kit was well-stocked with entertainment to keep boredom at bay while he recovered his strength.
There was a knock on Kit's bedroom door, and Baloo poked his head.
"Hey there, Lil' Britches, I brought ya some lunch," he said as he pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a tray bearing a bowl of soup, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, and a glass of milk.
"Oh, thanks, Papa Bear," Kit said with a smile, setting his comic book aside as Baloo set the tray across his lap. He looked down and saw that his sandwich got sliced in two. And a half had already been bitten. "Baloo, did you take a bite out of my sandwich?" he asked, holding up the bitten half of the sandwich.
"Who, me?" Baloo said, trying and failing to look innocent, as Kit noticed a smear of cheese on the corner of Baloo's mouth.
Kit held the sandwich half out to Baloo, saying: "Here, Baloo, you can have it."
"Um, okay…" Baloo said, looking guilty since Kit was not buying his innocent act. He took the sandwich and took a bite as he looked over at the TV, just in time to see Zoo Rangers back from the commercials. "Zoo Rangers, huh? Is this what you kids are into here?" He then finishes his sandwich.
"Yeah, this and other things." Kit said as he quickly unmuted the TV. "The shows here are so good! And so are these comic books!" he added, holding up a comic book for Baloo to see.
"Oh wow!" Baloo said, amazed as he took the comic book and skimmed through it. "The pictures in here are well done! They look almost real! Much better than the ones back home."
"Yeah!" Kit said as he picked up his spoon and took a sip of the soup. "Chicken noodle soup? Mm, this is good! Did you make this, Baloo?"
"Uh, no, it wasn't me," Baloo said. "Yer Dad made that. Matt came over this morning ta drop off this pot of soup before he opened his shop today. He said this would make ya feel better and help ya recover yer strength."
"Wow, I feel better!" Kit said, taking a few more spoonfuls of soup.
"Glad ta hear it," Baloo said before a concerned look appeared on his face. "Listen, Kit… are ya sure you wanna do… this Dedi stuff?"
"Baloo…" Kit said warningly. "We've been through this already. I want a part in bringing our world and everyone back. Miss Cunningham, Molly, Wildcat, Louie, my fellow Jungle Aces. I'm not going to sit around when I can help make it happen!"
Baloo sighed sadly. "I know, I know. But Kit, yer all I have left of our home. I can't bear the thought of losing you too. But at the same, I don't wanna stop ya from doing what's right. Just promise me you'll be careful out there and don't pull any more bonehead stunts."
"I promise to be careful, Papa Bear." Kit said with a smile, then wrapped his arms around Baloo's neck and hugged for a moment before they broke apart.
"So… ya say ya ran into Don Karnage?" Baloo asked curiously. "How did he and the Air Pirates survive?"
"I don't know, but I think the enemy had rescued and recruited them." Kit said before he launched into the story of how he had encountered them.
When he had finished, Baloo smiled proudly. "Well, sounds like ya handled yourself like a fine-tuned fiddle with those pirates."
"Yeah… I only wish I could've handled that big brute of a Shadow Minion just as well…" Kit said, sounding disappointed in himself.
"Well, ya know what they say," Baloo said, shrugging. "Ya win some, ya lose some. Well, I better get goin'. If ya need anything, yer Dad is next door. Ya can call him on yer Gummiphone."
"Where are you going, Papa Bear?" Kit asked curiously, watching as Baloo approached the doorway of his room.
"Got a job, gotta fly some cargoes up to yer school in the sky," Baloo said simply, standing in the doorway.
"What are you delivering up there?" Kit asked in surprise. "And since when did you get this job?"
"Food fer the Academy's kitchen, some printing papers, ink, some first aid kits, and school supplies," Baloo said, reading from his shipping ticket before pocketing it in his shirt pocket. "An' this is my first day on the job. I applied ta be a Dedi pilot, but they told me ta apply fer a second job so I'll have an income when there's no missions to get paid fer."
"Baloo… " Kit said suspiciously. "Did you get a job so I wouldn't have to work as hard?"
"Well… yeah," Baloo admitted. "Ya shouldn't have ta work at all. Ya should be a kid, having fun. Besides, I couldn't sit around while you did all the work. I wanna ease up on the pressure and responsibilities on yer shoulders."
"I appreciate the thought, Papa Bear," Kit said, smiling. "And I'm proud of you for getting a job. But really, I don't mind the hard work. I like working. It gives me a sense of purpose."
"And being here fer ya gives me purpose," Baloo said as he walked towards the door. "See ya later, Lil' Britches."
Meanwhile, in the Warp Room of the Dedi Academy, Chris was getting briefed on his next scouting mission, with the holographic head of the Colonel speaking to him and two others who would be accompanying him; Dewey Duck and Cavin Gummi.
"...So, we've managed to analyze the last few missions in which the enemy got away," the Colonel said. "And we've discovered a pattern. The enemy keeps the scouts busy fighting Shadow Minions while they steal a crystal shard of some unknown kind. They are either pearly white or dark purple."
"So, what are they, exactly?" Dewey asked as a holographic image of the two shards appeared before them.
"We do not know," the Colonel confessed. "But we know the enemy wants them for some reason, and that reason can't be good. So that makes them important. If you find them, secure it and bring it back before the enemy gets their hands on it."
"So that's why you assigned ME to this mission, right?" Dewey said, looking confident and excited. "It's a race against time, and you want me to make sure we win!"
"Uh, sure, let's go with that." The Colonel couldn't hide the fact that he had his doubts about assigning Dewey to do this, to which Dewey seemed oblivious. "Just be sure to keep that zeal under control this time. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time."
"Aw, c'mon, I saved everyone from that avalanche, didn't I? No one got hurt." Dewey said.
"An avalanche that YOU caused!" the Colonel reminded him.
Dewey looked sheepish as he fidgeted on the spot. "Yeah… accepting Phantom's rebel yell challenge on top of a snowy mountain wasn't exactly the best idea… but hey, no one got hurt thanks to my speed!"
"But while you were busy rescuing the endangered citizens, Phantom got away with the shard." the Colonel grumbled. "Anyway, back to business," he said as a holographic image of another earth appeared before them. "This is Earth fifty-three. We've detected no enemy activity there yet, but we did detect one of those shards. Your mission is simple; get the shard before the enemy does! Dismissed. Alright, now where's that blasted off button?"
"Okay, guys," Honker said, who was operating the Warp machine. "O-opening the warp gate to Earth fifty-three. And go!"
Chris, Cavin, and Dewey ran forward into the warp portal, flying at high speed through a dimensional tube. Reaching the end of the tunnel, they emerged into a late eighteen-hundreds London street. Their clothes instantly changed into the attires of the era, which were jackets, vests, and flat caps.
"Blimey, mates!" Chris exclaimed in a British accent, pointing to a street sign. "Look! We've arrived on Baker Street!"
The other two laughed, and Cavin said: "I didn't know you speak British, Chris."
"I don't, but I've always wanted to try," Chris said, dropping the accent and rubbing his throat. "It's a bit harder than I thought, though. Pronouncing words differently than how I'm used to."
"Remember, not all British people talk the same." Dewey reminded him. "Duckworth and Beakley are British and have different ways of talking."
"Yeah, I know," Chris said, getting serious. "Now, let's get our minds on the mission." They retreated into a dark alleyway, where he took out his Gummiphone, and P.J. appeared on the screen. "Geekdom, Skyglider here. Where's our objective?"
"Hey, Skyglider, I'm searching for it now. It'll take a while, so keep me on standby." P.J. replied from the Gummiphone.
"Wait for the computer… again?" Dewey asked. "BORING! I'll just go Turbo and find the shard myself." He said as he inserted a ring on his finger. "I'm shifting into Turbo!" he yelled as he thrust the ring in a forward punch and some kind of blue suit burst out of it. And in a flash, Dewey jumped into that suit, and there he stood, pulling his blue cowl with a yellow lightning bolt on top up over his head. He then became a blue blur as he sped off in a super-fast dash.
Both Chris and Cavin sighed, looking unamused at Dewey's departure,
"Time waits for no man," Chris started to say.
"...and speedsters wait for no time." Cavin finished. "Well, we could cover more grounds if we split up, but I'm not sure we should."
"We'll lose our strength in numbers, though," Chris said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But yeah, we could cover more ground if we split up." He stood there, torn between sticking together and allowing the separation. Finally, he came to a decision. "Okay, you go that way," he said, pointing to the street ahead of them. "I'll go this way," he pointed to the opposite route. "Let's meet at the pub on Baker Street in two hours. Tell Turbo if you see him where to meet."
"I'll tell him that and a few other things," Cavin grumbled, looking unhappy with Dewey. "Be careful out there, Chris. We're just visitors to a strange land. No telling what you'll find here."
"Yeah, I know. And you should be careful too!" Chris said seriously. "See ya later," he said as they both turned back and began walking away from each other.
As Chris walked down the street amid people, blending in with the crowd, he had the odd feeling of someone watching him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw no one watching him, just people minding their business. Some of them boarding horse-drawn carriages. He continued on his way, but the feeling of being watched never left him.
"You're not from around here, are you?" said a voice behind Chris.
Chris stopped and turned around, finding himself face-to-face with a young teenage fox who was a head taller than him. He wore the attires of the era; a jacket and flat cap outfit. Though, Chris did notice that the British accent was absent from the fox teen's voice.
"Um, no… I'm not." Chris confessed. "How did you know?"
"Because you're walking around like a lost little puppy." the fox teen said. "Do you even know where you're going?"
"Um… no, not really… I'm just passing through here." Chris said. "You're not from around here either, are you?"
The fox teen paused and then asked in bemusement: "What gave me away?"
"You're not talking in a British accent," Chris replied simply.
"A smart boy, huh?" the fox teen said as he chuckled. "Well, my folks came to pay a visit to a relative. I've been here for a few days."
"Oh, well then, would you like to give me a tour of the town?" Chris said with a smile. "My name's Chris, by the way, Chris Cloudkicker." he added, holding his hand to the fox teen for a handshake.'
"Sure. My name's Rob Dodger, but my friends call me Rob." the teen fox said as he stretched his hand confidently.
They shook hands before beginning to walk down the street. As they walked by, Rob pointed out a few shops, vendors, and a pub.
"Shall I get you a drink?" Rob asked as he steered Chris into the pub.
"Um, okay… what do they have?" Chris asked, looking around the pub, noticing a few people looking up at them with suspicion. "A-are we even allowed in here?"
"Sure, just not at the bar," Rob said reassuringly. "Go find us a table while I order the drinks. I think they have ginger ale."
"Okay, yeah, I'll have some ginger ale," Chris said as he went and sat at a table while Rob approached the bartender behind the bar.
"G'day, my good fellow," Rob said, waving a hand. "My pal and I would like two ginger ales, please."
The bartender said nothing but eyed Rob suspiciously as he prepared the drinks. He then handed Rob two glasses of ginger ale.
"One pound." the bartender grunted, holding a hand for the payment.
"Sure, big fellow," Rob said, smirking as he gave the bartender the pound.
Chris was looking out the window before Rob joined him at the table with the drinks and sat opposite him.
"Here ya go, kid," Rob said jollily, setting two mugs of ginger ale down on the table. "A freshly brewed ginger ale. Nice view, isn't it?"
"Huh?" Chris said distractedly, turning his eyes away from the window. "Oh yes, nice view. Thank you," he said as he pulled his mug towards himself and took a sip. "Hmm, this is good!"
"Nothing like a freshly brewed drink," Rob retorted as he gave a big sip. "Good place to visit for firstcomers."
"So, where are you from?" Chris asked as he drank. "How do you like it here for a visit?"
"I'm from Usland. And I like it so far, even though it gets foggy at times." the teen replied with a confident smirk. "Hard to get the accent."
Chris choked a little on his drink, coughed, and spluttered before clearing his throat. "There's a Usland in this world?" he said in surprise, forgetting himself completely. "What part of the Usland are you from?"
"At a town close to Bollywood," Rob said, arching an eyebrow in suspicion. "In this world? Kid, are you okay?"
"Oh, uh, yeah…never mind," Chris said hastily, mentally kicking himself in the pants for making such a mistake. "Is that close to Cape Suzette or Duckburg?"
"I think I heard about a Cape Suzette, but it's mostly a port and stop for boats in Usland. So far inhabited by people that are into fishing or trading."
"Yeah, but Cape Suzette is also home to seaplane pilots," Chris said, no longer concerned with keeping his cover. Since this teen seemed to already know of his Earth's geographic locations, he didn't see the harm in keeping this conversation going.
"Seaplanes? Ain't you reading too much of Jules Verne." Rob chuckled. "We still use horse carriages and steamboats. I think the sugar got into your head."
"No, seaplanes are airplanes with pontoons to float," Chris explained, now feeling so relaxed that secrets kept slipping out of his mouth before he could stop them. "They're not underwater boats. They're called submarines."
"Pal, if someone heard you saying that, they might take you for a looney," Rob said in concern. "Maybe you should get some fresh air before I take ya to your folks."
"Umm…" Chris said, his eyes looking heavy as he let out a big yawn. "What's….going on? Why am I…." he yawned again. "...so sleepy?" He then felt Rob's hand gripping his arm, and he was pulled out of his seat and dragged across the pub towards the door. "Where are we… going?"
"To get you some fresh air, buddy." the young fox replied as he made the bear cub stretch his arm, so he leaned on his shoulder. "Let me help ya."
Rob helped Chris out of the pub and down the street. The further they walked, the heavier Chris' head felt and the more his feet dragged. Finally, Rob had to pull the bear cub onto his back. And suddenly, Chris was out like a light, his head laying on Rob's shoulder.
"Nighty-night, fool," Rob said in a low voice, smirking. "You ain't so great after all. Two drops of the sleeping potion were all it took to knock you out."
Now that Chris was helpless. Rob blended with the crowd to avoid being spotted by Chris' friends until he reached an abandoned warehouse near the docks. And without wasting time, he ran into the building, and with a gesture of his hand, the door closed behind him as a glowing sphere appeared to light his surroundings. After searching thoroughly, Rob spotted an empty locker that would serve to keep his hostage out of others' sight.
Confidently, the young fox laid the sleeping bear cub on the floor as he began to search the kid's pockets for his belongings, leaving him with no means to escape. And surprisingly, his hostage only had a couple of objects on him; an object resembling a flashlight, a small box containing a couple of beans, and an odd-looking gadget with a screen.
"The weird sword flashlight, some weird beans, and a... radio with some kind of window thing?" Rob said, puzzled. He then threw the objects into a nearby trash bin. "Well, he won't be needing those anymore. It's time to put my plan into action."
A purple glowing amulet appeared around his neck, seemingly passing outward through his chest and a purple aura appeared around his body.
"Incarcerous!" the young fox teen cried, pointing his finger at the sleeping bear cub. A length of rope shot out of the fox's fingertip and wrapped around Chris' body. In a matter of seconds, Chris was bound from neck to ankles. "Obscuro!" he added, and a blindfold appeared over Chris' eyes. "Now for the finishing touch…" he withdrew a cloth from his pocket and tied it around Chris' mouth, binding it shut. "Can't have ya cryin' out for help too soon."
Rob dragged the sleeping, bound, blindfolded, and gagged bear cub across the floor towards an open locker. He pulled Chris up to his feet before shoving him inside and slamming the door shut. "Colloportus!" Rob said, pointing his finger at the locker door, and with a click, the door locked itself. "Guess it's time to play with the other two twerps," Rob said as he changed his attire with a snap.
Across the city in a blue blur, taking so many twists and turns into many different streets. Dewey Duck, the speedster known as Turbo, ran past many people, causing the men to cry out as the hats on their heads were blown off and the women to shriek as they held their dresses down to prevent them from being blown upward by the wind created by the aftershock of his speed.
"SORRY!" they heard a distant echo of a shout. The townspeople gasped and looked all around for the source of the voice, but they saw no one, leaving many questioning whether this was a work of sorcery or witchcraft.
Finally, on the roof of a building, the speedster stopped and stood there, looking around. Then withdrew the Gummiphone from his pocket.
"Geekdom," Dewey said, addressing P.J. by his codename. "Are you sure it's here? I ran five hundred laps around the city and couldn't find…," Dewey stopped speaking as he noticed P.J. looking annoyed and unamused. "What?"
"Oh nothing, you're doing great!" P.J. said sarcastically. "So what if you left your teammates behind to fend for themselves? They're only slowing down the Great Turbo!"
"Uh…" Dewey said, squirming guiltily. "Are they okay?"
"Cavin is fine, but I lost contact with Chris. His phone is still active, but it's not moving. And he's not picking up." P.J. said. "Gimme a moment to figure out Chris' exact location. In the meantime, you may want to check out Big Ben. According to my map, it's the only place you haven't been to."
"I'm shifting into Turbo and on my way!" Dewey said as he sped off the building and into the streets.
On P.J.'s end, he began to search for Chris, typing away on his keyboard while keeping a watch on the half-a-dozen monitor screens. Barely five seconds later, Turbo popped up on the main screen.
"Geekdom, this big guy, Ben, doesn't know anything…" he said.
P.J. facepalmed. "Turbo… Big Ben is not a person. It's the famous London clock tower!"
"Oh! Oh, okay, um, where is it?" Dewey asked.
P.J. looked at Dewey on his screen and saw Big Ben in the background. "Uh, it's right behind you."
Dewey turned around and looked. His face brightened up as he saw Big Ben.
"Oh, there it is! Thanks, Geekdom! Man, what would I do without you?"
"Sometimes I wonder..." P.J. muttered.
"Well, gotta run!" Dewey said as he ended the call and dashed across the street and into Big Ben.
In a blink of an eye, Dewey was inside the clock tower, looking up at the giant moving sprockets that made the clock tower work.
"Now, if I were the shard. Where would I be?" Dewey muttered as he walked around, his eyes scanning the area.
While looking up amongst the sprockets and moving parts, Dewey caught a glimpse of something sparkly.
"Huh, what's that?" he asked, then using his superspeed, he ran around on the walls in spiral circles up the tower to investigate. After examining the sprockets and the moving parts, he finally found what he was looking for; a purple crystal shard with a dark aura embedded in one of the sprockets. "Aw man, it's an evil shard!" Dewey cried, clearly disappointed. "I'd rather just leave it here, but the Colonel did say to find and secure the shard, so here goes nothing."
He held up a flat hand while using his superspeed, and then he vibrated his hand so fast that it became blurred. He then moved his vibrating hand to the sprocket, his hand passing through it like a ghost. As he withdrew his hand, he stopped vibrating it and opened it, revealing the purple-glowing shard in his palm. Looking joyous at his mission accomplished, he let out a whoop and ran down to the walls, returning to the floor.
Suddenly from out of the shadows, a fox teen in a dark purple hooded cloak grabbed the shard in Dewey's hand, but his hand went right through Dewey's form as if he was a ghost.
"What the…?" the fox teen said, bewildered as he saw the duckling's form fade away. "What kind of magic is this? How did he do that?"
"Speed mirage," Dewey said. The fox teen whipped around and saw Dewey leaning on the wall, tossing the shard up one-handed and catching it again. "Well, well, well…look what the cat dragged in. We meet again, Phantom. And this time, there's no snowy mountains for you to use to make an avalanche to distract me with."
"I don't need a snowy mountain to deal with you, you speedy twerp!" Phantom said, then thrust out his hand with a shout of "GLACIUS!" The icy white spell shot through the air from Phantom's hand towards Dewey, which the speedster effortlessly dodged. And it instead hit the opposite wall, completely encasing it in ice.
Dewey looked back at the ice-encased wall with surprise and excitement. "Oh man, you learned a new trick?! That's awesome! And it would've worked against me had I not been Turbo-fast! Man, you are my favorite bad guy!"
"Uh…. thanks?" Phantom said in bemusement, apparently wondering about Dewey's state of mind.
"So, what else ya got for me?" Dewey asked in an eagerness that left Phantom visibly disturbed.
Phantom shook his head to shake off the mental distraction and gave Dewey a mean look as he cast his ice spell again, which Dewey dodged again. Phantom shot his ice, seemingly aiming at Dewey's feet. Eventually, the whole floor was covered in ice and became too slippery for Dewey to use his speed anymore. He slipped and fell on his behind.
"Now I got you!" Phantom yelled triumphantly, firing another ice spell at Dewey. But even without his speed, Dewey evaded being encased in ice by pushing himself across the icy floor. "What the…?"
"Yeah….that would've worked too, had I not known how to ice skate," Dewey said, standing up on the ice and ice-skating in circles around Phantom like an ice-skating ballet dancer.
Phantom trembled with rage and frustration before letting out a roar and firing ice spells everywhere, but he couldn't hit the moving target. Soon, the clock tower resembled a freezer, with the walls, floors, and moving parts that made the clock function to freeze, stopping Big Ben from working.
Phantom finally stopped, having been tired out. He stood there, panting as Dewey observed him curiously.
"Is that all you got?" Dewey asked, sounding disappointed. "Well, that was anticlimactic."
"Silence, brat!" Phantom shouted in frustration. He then took a moment to collect himself then he smirked at Dewey. "Playtime is over. Give me the shard, or you'll never see your friend Chris again!"
"Chris?" Dewey gasped as a look of anger appeared on his face as he got serious. "What have you done to him?" he demanded.
"I put the little twerp to sleep," Phantom revealed. "Just two drops of sleeping potion, and he was out. If you wanna know where I left him…" he said, holding out his hand. "Gimme the shard."
Dewey hesitated. "Okay… Here, take it," He set the shard down on the slippery floor and kicked it towards Phantom, which slid across the icy floor and ended up at Phantom's feet. "Now tell me where Chris is!"
Phantom bent down and picked up the shard. "He's locked inside a locker in a warehouse on the other side of the city."
"Which warehouse?" Dewey asked, looking upset.
"Mm, can't remember," Phantom grinned. "You'll have to search all the warehouses until you find him. Given your speed, that shouldn't be a problem for you."
Dewey turned and skated towards the exit, and when he was off the ice, he sped off, leaving Phantom alone with the shard.
"Huh, putting that Chris twerp to sleep ended up being more useful to me than simply keeping him out of my way," Phantom mused. "Well, I got what I came for, time to—OOF!" Something big had bounced off him from behind, knocking him face down, the shard flying from his hand and sliding across the floor. Phantom looked up from the floor and saw a small bear bouncing across the floor. "What the… a Gummi Bear?! But I thought they were just fairytales!"
The Gummi Bear stopped bouncing and slid across the ice on his feet, scooping up the shard as he reached it.
"Some people would say the same about magic, and yet here you are, using magic," Cavin said as he drew his sword.
"Oh, please. That little sword is no match for magic." Phantom scoffed, getting back up to his feet. "Time to show you a lesson, Skippy Bear. GLACIUS!" The spell shot from his hand and hit Cavin's sword, encasing it in ice. Cavin cast his now-heavy sword aside as Phantom advanced on him. "Flipendo!"
The spell hit Cavin squarely in the chest, knocking him onto his back. As he fell, Phantom ran forward for the shard. Though Cavin was down, he wasn't out! Cavin quickly grabbed Phantom's ankle, causing him to fall flat on his face! Cavin then jumped onto Phantom's back and leaped for the shard, but Phantom grabbed his ankle in mid-leap and pulled him onto the ground, now pinning a struggling Cavin to the floor.
Cavin used the slippery icy floor to wiggle free and put Phantom into a wrestling hold, and soon the two of them were rolling around on the floor, wrestling each other. Cavin finally pinned Phantom down to the floor, but Phantom kneed Cavin in the stomach and shoved him off as the latter doubled over. Cavin lay, groaning and clutching his stomach.
Phantom stood up quickly, slipping a little as he forgot he was standing on ice. He quickly regained his balance, lifted his finger, and pointed it at Cavin.
"Incarcerous!" he cried. A long rope shot out his fingertip and wrapped around Cavin, binding him from neck to ankles. "There, that'll keep you out of my way."
"That…was…dirty!" Cavin groaned, straining against his bonds.
"So? I won, didn't I?" Phantom smirked as he walked carefully over to the shard and picked it up. "You wanna fight honorably and lose, that's your problem." he pocketed the magic shard and summoned a Shadow Portal with a thrust of his hand. "Next time you pick a fight, expect a dirty move, or you'll always end up on the floor." he chuckled before walking into the portal. "Bye, loser. The icy dirt suits you well," he said as he and the portal sank into the floor and vanished.
Cavin groaned as he continued to struggle against his bonds. Moments later, Dewey sped into the bell tower with groggy-looking Chris leaning heavily against Dewey due to not being fully awake yet.
"Cavin!" Dewey exclaimed, then lowered Chris to a sitting position before sliding across the floor on the ice towards Cavin. "What happened? How did you get tied up?"
"I tried to stop Phantom from escaping after you left," Cavin said, looking ashamed at his failure as Dewey cut through his bonds with a super-fast swipe of his hand. "We fought, he got me with a cheap shot, and then he tied me up." Cavin then stood up and looked over at Chris, who sat where Dewey set him. His head kept nodding, clearly struggling to stay awake. "What happened to him?" he asked, nodding towards Chris.
"I dunno," Dewey shrugged, looking at Chris with concern. "He was tied up like you and locked in a locker. I found his stuff in a trash can." he held up Chris' D-blade and Gummiphone.
Cavin walked over to Chirs and shook him gently by the shoulders. "Chris, Chris! Come on, wake up!" he said, slapping Chris' cheek gently.
Chris struggled to open his heavily lidded eyes. "H-huh? What's going on? Where am I?" he asked, looking around bewilderedly.
"You're in the big clock tower, and we need you to activate the Sphere of Protection on this world," Cavin said urgently.
Hearing the urgency in Cavin's voice, Chris felt more awake, and he slowly stood up, held out his hand to Dewey, and the D-blade flew from Dewey's hand into Chris'. Without wasting any time, he lifted his D-blade high, activating the blade, and cried:
"Repello Malum!"
A pulse wave shot in every direction from the D-blade and spread across the land very fast, creating a protective wave that would soon engulf the whole Earth in a protective anti-evil sphere where none with an evil heart or spirit could enter.
"What…was that?" Cavin asked, looking at Chris curiously. "That wasn't the Sphere of Protection."
"It's a new version of it," Chris replied, looking drained. "This one's called the Evil Repellant Charm. There are two upsides and one downside: It's more powerful and doesn't take as long to speak out the words. But it's draining to cast…" he finished, dropping his D-blade to the floor and swaying a bit. But in a flash, Dewey was at Chris' side, supporting him to lest his fall. "Master Yen Sid recently invented it and taught it to Master Mickey, who then taught it to D-blade warriors and wizards."
"Well, the good news is we saved this world from further invasions," Dewey said proudly.
"The bad news is Phantom got away with the shard," Cavin said, looking disappointed.
"What? Phantom was here?" Chris asked, looking surprised.
"You didn't know? Didn't he tie you up and lock you in a locker?" Dewey said, who was supporting Chris. "How'd you end up there in the first place?"
"I… don't know… I remember going into a pub with a kid named Rob. He got us drinks from the bartender, and I stupidly mentioned stuff I shouldn't have, but I felt too relaxed to care," Chris said, looking ashamed of himself. "The last thing I remember was Rob dragging me out of the pub and carrying me on his back, and then…I blacked out."
"Phantom did mention giving you two drops of sleeping potion," Dewey said. "He must have slipped it in your drink after receiving it from the bartender. He took you to a warehouse, tied you up, and locked you away in a locker. I had to go Turbo on the locker door to get you out."
"Thanks, Turbo," Chris said with a grateful smile. "Well, we saved this world. I guess it's time to go." he then took his Gummiphone from Dewey. "Geekdom, we're done here. Bring us back."
"Roger that, Skyglider," P.J. said, appearing on the phone. "Oh, and Skyglider? The Colonel wants to see you in his office when you get back. Something about a lecture on taking drinks from strangers."
"Aw, man…" Chris groaned, now dreading his return to the D-Star. He sighed and said: "Okay, I'll see him." he said as a portal of light opened up before them.
Together, the three of them stepped into the portal and wrapped across the galaxy to the D-Star.
Author's Note:
I hope you have enjoyed this new episode of D.A. Heart. I apologize for the long wait, but I'd appreciate any reviews and feedback you guys can give.
The Zoo Rangers is a TV show Chris and his friends watch. It is based on Super Sentai: Zyuranger, AKA Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. If you search for Zyuranger's opening theme on YouTube, you will be able to listen to the song I based the Zoo Rangers theme song on
I must pay special thanks to my editor, Cyclone Blaze, who had worked tirelessly to help me out with the editing and helping me keep the story going.
For all of his hard work and his contributions to D.A. Hearts, I am proud to announce that his character will debut in the next episode, so stay tuned for that!