CHAPTER THIRTY: Airborne.

"Gotcha!" said Snide through a loud-speaker.

The Aqua Club levitated onto the scene just in time to catch the five falling off the crumbling monolith.

Kazooie's beak punched through the thin roof of the saucer as she fell. "Uph!"

The edges of the club spun with great force, keeping it in the air. The Breegull recognized it now: It was a design based on an alien spacecraft that had crashed into Jolly Roger Lagoon years earlier.

"You all right?" asked the weasel.

Mumbo's limp body began to slide off the tilting hovership, but Mary managed to grab his arm as he passed by. "I'm sure you'll thank me when you come to," she said.

"Aha!" said Blackeye. Now I understand th' reason fer you stealin' my jet fuel!" He shook his fist into the direction of the problem. "Destroy them!"

The fleet started to prepare their weapons again, disappointed in the tedious delay before firing.

"Hold on to your butts!" said Snide as he took off, with the ships in high pursuit. An small entryway at the roof of the vehicle opened up. "Get in!"

The canary dropped the Shaman inside and hopped in after him.

"Good luck, and use only my best moves," said Bottles, jumping into the opening with the other two.

"I guess that leaves us," said Banjo.

"Yep, it does," said the bird, making her way inside the bear's snug backpack.

They took flight. Focusing their sights on the Sandy Shanty, Banjo and Kazooie quickly discussed their plan of attack. The two decided to beak-bomb the rudder, rendering it incapable of turning. The Breegull then fired an Ice Egg at one of the boosters, killing the propulsion on the left side of the vessel.

"RAAAH!" yelled the mummies as their ship spontaneously swiveled upside-down, flinging the Gruntlings into the abyss like fried rice off a pan.

The dark captain watched in horror as the Shanty collided with the side of the fortress.

The rest of the aircraft had finally fired, missing the bear and bird by a mile but grazing the club as it dived into the clouds.

"Time to get more aggresive," insisted the Breegull, and they beak-stomped onto the deck of the Grumblina.

The crew stood firm but began to lose their nerve as the dynamic duo picked them off, one by one.

"Ahoy!" one of them yelled before being deftly smacked in the face by a wing.

"Kazooie! Not so dirty."

By then the deck had been completely cleared of enemies. Banjo took the wheel, steering into a collision course with Blackeye's ship.

"Turn, turn!" the angry captain insisted, but the vessel was too large and the incoming pojectile too fast to be avoided. The two met with a resounding crash, and one of the looming smokestacks came tumbling off.

Ungry couldn't believe what he was seeing. A pair of adventurers taking down two ships in a matter of minutes was unheard of. "Blubber!" he yelled. "Yer hesitance may prove to be our downfall! Tie him to the mast!"

Blackeye ducked under the rubble as his mates scrambled about the deck. "Yaaargh! Fire the Artillery Cannon!"

"But sir," said one of men, covered in dust, "we'll lose the ship if we do that!"

The captain peered up at the crumbling stack. "We've already los' th' ship!"

The mates began to surround the smokestack directly behind the one which had been damaged. Blackeye gave the word, and the crew pulled several toggles lining the cylinder. With a gust of steam, it began to pivet forward in the direction of the fleeing duo.

"Keep it steady," said one of the mates. The massive cannon carefully held its aim at the bear and bird. "Fire!"

A colossal spark of energy had launched from its barrel, dissapating all the mist in its path as it screamed toward Banjo and Kazooie.

The Breegull turned and saw it. "That looks familiar..."

"What do you mean?" asked the bear.

"That thing speeding toward us -- that's what killed you!"

"Uh oh!" was all he could say.