Karnage's Revenge
Part 4
But instead of the rocket being launched at the seaplane that he was pursuing, the entire firearm exploded, disintegrating the CT-37 to cinders. Karnage himself hovered, a dumbfounded charred mess, for a split second in the air before plunging into the ocean. "I'll get even, Bahloo, if it's the last thing I dooooooooooooo!"
With the demise of the remote control joystick, the Sea Duck swooped suddenly, vertically up.
"Whoa!" the three bears screamed, thrown back violently in their seats. Rebecca dug her fingers into the armrests while Kit, underneath the control panel at Baloo's feet, clutched at something, anything to keep from sliding to the back of the cockpit. His fingers closed around a small metal object, which popped off the control panel. Oops! Hope that wasn't important, he thought as he hung onto the legs of the pilot's seat for dear life.
White-knuckled, Baloo struggled to keep the Sea Duck under control on its bumpy course. "C'mon, baby. Co-op-per-ate!" he muttered through clenched teeth. The underside of its fuselage scraped along the rocky cliff, causing sparks to fly. When the cliffs were cleared, Baloo leveled the plane out, soared over the cliffs, into the Cape Suzette harbor.
"Man, that was one close shave!" the big bear gasped out, shaking a tense kink out of his hand.
Rebecca, breathing heavily with fright, nodded emphatically and peeled her aching fingers from the armrests.
"You could say it was a cliffhanger," Kit chuckled wanly from his position on the floor. He held the remote control receiver up for Baloo to see.
Rebecca groaned at the pun, but Baloo beamed, tousling the boy's hair fondly. "He does his ol' man proud."
A short while later, a bruised and battered Sea Duck landed in front of Higher for Hire. The seaplane lightly bumped against the dock; its engines slowed, then stopped.
Following a long pause, Baloo looked over at Rebecca. He ventured softly, "Well...I guess we're home."
Rebecca smiled back at him. "Yes...home."
"What's left of it," Kit murmured, gazing out of the port window. "Jeepers, what a mess!"
Higher for Hire looked as if it had been through a blizzard and hurricane combined. In fact, it had. Half of the tin on the roof was missing, and the other half was curled back. Chunks of siding were gone. A rowboat's prow protruded from one of the windows. The windsock had been completely torn away. Branches and leaves from the elm tree behind the building were strewn all around. The entire dock was drenched with seawater. Limp brown seaweed was slapped up against the Higher for Hire sign. Drifts of melting snow lay everywhere.
However, Baloo and Rebecca didn't seem to notice Higher for Hire's dilapidated state. They were staring at each other with star-struck smiles on their faces. Deciding that they needed to be alone, Kit slipped out of the cockpit into the cargo hold. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Rebecca fling herself into Baloo's eager, outstretched arms. Kit heard her say, "I'm still holding you to that dinner and moonlit stroll, darling."
"You got it, sweetheart," Baloo replied with a husky chuckle.
As Kit passed through the cargo hold, Buzz was scribbling fast and furious on his notepad and muttering insensibly about invisible spectacles.
Kit hopped onto the dock, brimming over with happiness at the recent turn of events. He looked at the remote control receiver for a second, then dropped it into the harbor with a soft 'ploop'. "There," he said, dusting off his hands, "that won't bother us anymore." He ran towards Higher for Hire as Molly and Wildcat ran towards him.
"You did it, Kit!" Molly cried, hugging Kit.
"You got rid of the pirates, man, like again!" Wildcat added, also embracing both cubs.
"Guess what?" the cubs said at the same time, animatedly.
Their exciting reports overlapped each other.
Molly blurted out, "Wildcat and me talked to a sea monster named Teela, and Teela attacked some air pirates' planes. You shoulda seen 'em being tossed in the water, Kit. It was great!"
At the same time, Kit also blurted out, "Baloo and your mom are getting married!" His voice trailed off when his eyes landed on Teela, who bent her long neck to lick more jelly beans from Wildcat's outstretched palm. Kit leaned down to whisper in the girl's ear, "What did you say about a sea monster, Molly?"
"Really!" Molly squealed with delight. "Mommy and Baloo are really getting married? Yahoo!"
Kit nodded, then gasped for breath as Molly threw her arms around his neck for a wildly ecstatic hug.
"My wish came true! My wish came true!" Molly sang happily.
"Your wish? What - can't...breathe, Molly! - wish?" Kit choked out. He pried himself from her stranglehold.
"My wish when I blew out the candle on Higher for Hire's birthday cake. I wished that Baloo would be my daddy and you would be my brother so we could be together forever and always."
Solemnly, Wildcat said, "I wished for a tuna fish and guacamole sandwich."
Molly grasped Kit's and Wildcat's hands. All three of them danced around in a circle.
Buzz, stepping from the seaplane, got roped into the frenzied dancing circle of merriment. "Pardon me, but what are we doing?"
Baloo and Rebecca alighted from the plane, all smiles. Rebecca's hands were wrapped about the pilot's left arm. The diamond ring gleamed conspicuously on her finger.
With an excited, "Mommy!" Molly hurled herself at Rebecca.
There was an orgy of hugging. Everyone hugged everyone. Even Buzz was pulled into the excitement despite the fact that he was still trying to jot down notes about a newly thought-up invention.
"Lookit, a rainbow!" Molly cried. In the northeastern sky, a rainbow seemed to dip just beyond the city and hills.
"Are you gonna go search for the treasure at the end of the rainbow, Baloo?" Wildcat asked. "You might find a pot of gold or silver or chicken soup."
"Naw." Baloo slipped a possessive arm around Rebecca's waist, gazing down at her with a fond expression. "I already got my treasure."
Rebecca rested her head in the crook of his arm, placed a paw on his chest, and returned his warm smile.
"Then you won't mind if I try to find it. Hope I meet a leprechaun." Wildcat ran to grab a pail and a shovel and more jelly beans in case leprechauns liked jelly beans. "We're going on a treasure hunt, Teela." With his supplies, he climbed onto the sea monster's neck, and away they swam towards the cliff opening.
"Was that a sea monster?" Buzz said, finally looking up from his notepad.
"Uh, yeah, I guess it was, Buzz," Baloo said uncertainly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ever feel like ya missed somethin' real important, Becky?" He glanced down at Rebecca who was staring at the retreating sea monster with her mouth agape.
Characteristically incongruent with anything having to do with anything, Buzz exclaimed, "I've got it! A jet-powered airfoil!"
Kit's eyes lit up. "Hey, yeah! That would be awesome!" He hurried after Buzz, who was heading towards town. "Make one for me, Buzz! Please!"
"No!" Baloo and Rebecca said firmly.
Kit stopped in his tracks. "Aw, you guys are no fun."
"We're not supposed to be fun. We're your parents, Kit," Rebecca explained. Her countenance was stern, but there was an affectionate twinkle in her eyes that betrayed her love for the boy who was about to become her son.
"Can I get one before you become my parents?" Kit suggested hopefully.
Chuckling, Baloo pushed Kit's cap over his eyes. "Nice try, L'il Britches, but N-O spells nuh-huh."
"Gee whiz," Kit groaned, sorely disappointed. But he wasn't disheartened for long...
Baloo and Rebecca kissed each other affectionately on the lips, prompting joyful grins from the cubs. After gazing at each other, love radiating from their eyes for a don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it second, Baloo offered Rebecca his arm with a, "May I escort milady inside?"
"You may," Rebecca replied primly. She wrapped her arms around his with an adoring smile. They stepped into Higher for Hire.
"After you, little sister," Kit said, making a theatrical bow.
Catching onto the routine that she'd seen Baloo and Kit perform a million times, Molly also bowed. "No, no, after you, big brother."
Kit ran a little way into Higher for Hire and made a sweeping bow . "After you, little sister."
Molly scampered past him, also into Higher for Hire, and bowed again. "No, no, after you, big brother."
On the Other Side of the Cliffs
In the debris-strewn ocean, Dumptruck and Mad Dog floated on the wreckage of a CT-37. The brown airplane had a semi-circle of huge teeth marks on its rudder, teeth marks which pierced the skull-and-crossbones symbol. They rowed in the general direction of Pirate Island using pieces of broken propellers for oars.
Several yards ahead of them, Mad Dog spied a seagull. The large white bird alighted on an object floating in the ocean, but then, as if it that unknown object was burning hot, the bird flapped its wings, levitated momentarily, then landed again. This odd dance continued as the two pirates slowly paddled towards it. Moving closer, they could see that the object that the seagull was trying to land on was Don Karnage.
"Simply hi, Captain!" Mad Dog cried happily as they pulled up beside Don Karnage. "Thank goodness you're okay."
"Do I look okay, ignoranamouses?" Karnage snapped testily, swatting at the annoying seagull trying to perch on his head again. "Get me out of this wet water before I wrinkle up like the icky-tasting prunes!"
Dumptruck pulled a sopping wet Karnage onto the wreckage. "Now vhat do ve do?"
"Do I have to think of everything?" Karnage removed his boots to dump the water out of them.
Mad Dog and Dumptruck nodded stupidly.
"Oh, very, very well..." Karnage said with a huge, melodramatic sigh. "We find the Iron Vulture, get out of these deesgusting clothes, and hatch another brilliant plan to plunder Cape Suzette." He pushed his sopping hair out of his eyes before shaking his dripping fist at the cliffs. "When next we meet, Bahloo, beware the wrath of the dread pirate Don Karnage! Ah-ah-ah-choo!"
"I like wrath, especially with french fries," Dumptruck said.
With a surly scowl, Karnage crossed his arms across his chest. "Stop with the yapping and start with the paddling, you blundering blunderers!"
"Yes, Captain," both pirates droned at the same time. They took up their oars and began rowing furiously.
The trio, followed by the seagull, traveled towards the spectacular sunset until their black forms were just tiny dots on the horizon against a backdrop of soft hues of mingling orange, yellow, and primrose fading into a purple twilight in the east.
The End