The warning kept going off like an alarm in Kit's head. Captain Hal had told him to watch out for a wolf wearing a blue captain's coat. But this man did not seem like a threat. Kit had seen Viper and the blind man, both pirates, and he was pretty sure that he knew what a pirate looked like. Karnage didn't fit the description.
As Karnage and Kit found an open table, a lizard bumped right into them, and Kit recognized him at once. It was Viper!
"Viper!" Kit cried. "It's Viper, he's one of Klang's men!"
When Viper heard the boy's cries, he ran for the door, but there was an enforcer outside the tavern who heard Kit shouting at him. As Viper left the tavern, the enforcer shouted at him to stop.
"Hey you, stop!" shouted the enforcer as Viper ran into the street. The enforcer gave chase, and was hot on Viper's tail.
Viper ran down one street and up another, but he could not lose the enforcer. Taking a quick look backwards, he saw that a second enforcer joined in the chase. He had to think of a way to lose them, but how?
Then he saw it, a dark alleyway. That was perfect-he knew the street and could lose them. With great speed he jumped into the alleyway. The enforcers arrived but could find him nowhere. It was like he had just disappeared into thin air.
"Keep me covered," said the lead enforcer. Slowly he moved into the alley, but failed to see the manhole cover to the sewer rise up an inch.
"I hate you enforcers!" Viper thought as he lowered himself into the sewer. He was shocked to find someone else there with him, a fellow buccaneer. "What are you doing here?" he asked the buccaneer.
The buccaneer slowly moved his hand to the handle of his sword. "Just this, Viper," he said, drawing his sword with lighting fast speed, running his blade through the lizard's chest.
Viper was dead before he hit the floor, and the buccaneer stood there with a smile on his face. "I wonder what they're serving at the tavern now?" he said, making his way through the sewer toward the tavern.
Back in the tavern, Kit told Don Karnage who Viper was, and that he had tried to kill his friend Baloo. Karnage seemed furious that a pirate and a wanted man had been in his tavern.
"Well, I never—a buccaneer-here in my tavern. And with name like Viper!" said Karnage as he turned his gaze to the dog who was siting at the same table with Viper.
"You—you were drinking with him!" shouted Karnage taking hold of the dog at the table. "You, Mad Dog, have you ever seen that lizard before? Yes, no?"
"No, never! This is the first time I laid eyes on him," pleaded Mad Dog. Kit saw him panting, begging Karnage to let him go.
"What were the two of you doing?" Karnage asked, releasing his grip on Mad Dog.
Mad Dog just sat there, silent at first, but spoke up with timid smile. "We was talking about some kind of map," he said, trying not to make eye contact with Karnage. "And that's all we talked about."
"Are you sure he didn't say anything else?" Karnage questioned Mad Dog.
"No," replied Mad Dog. "He didn't say anything else."
With a smile, Karnage sat down next to him. "Now was that so hard to tell the truth?" he asked, sounding rather nice to a man he could have killed. Both men looked at Kit, and asked him to sit down with them. Then two more men showed up at the table.
Kit looked at them with concern, wondering if these men were friends of Viper. "Kit, I want you to meet some of my old crew. Mad Dog is the one sitting next to me. The other two are Hacksaw Jack and Ratchet. (Hacksaw was a crazy looking Dingo, and Ratchet was dark brown half breed.)
"Pleased to meet you," Kit said, picking up the menu, but put it down when he heard Karnage clear his throat.
"There are still two more you have to meet," Karnage said with a smile. "The one that pointed me out to you is called Dumptruck." Kit saw that he was pointing to the great Dane. "Last but not least, the shrimp of the team, Gibber," he said, pointing to a short dog at the roulette tables in the corner of the tavern.
Kit liked Don Karnage. He seemed to have lots of friends and an adventuresome spirit. He ate lunch with Karnage and his friends. Then they left the tavern and headed for the airfield. Kit noticed a small bit of dried blood on Hacksaw's vest, but turned his attention to Karnage who began talking about the different planes and airships that they passed by—their tonnage and nationality. His friends would relate bits of stories and jokes they had heard in their time. Kit began to think that they were some of the best possible crew members.
When they got to the airship, Dr. Sinian and Shere Khan greeted them warmly. Karnage told them about Viper, how he was at the tavern. He told them what happened from beginning to end with a great deal of spirit.
"That was how it went down, isn't it, Kit?" he would say now and again.
They regretted that Viper had escaped, but Khan cheered them all up with some good news. They would leave on their voyage the very next day. Later that night, Baloo flew to Megakat City airport with Rebecca and Molly. He told Kit that Rebecca had agreed to marry him, and when Kit returned, he would be part of a family again.