Chapter 17

William paced back in forth infuriatingly, muttering curses under his breath. This whole operation was turning into a bust, and it had started off so simple.

" How could one blasted brown boy cause so much trouble?" he growled lowly.

" Sir, sir!"

" Damn you, men! You're suppose to be on the hunt right now."
" We have. And look what we found." The men pulled out from behind a pair of aggravated wolves, their muzzles bound them in crude rope.

" How is this of any benefit to me?"

" Take a man's family, he'll do anything to get them free."

William smirked darkly, but before he could settle in dark content, he felt a squeezing force make his leg go numb. Then went his chest and finally and started biting force cut into his arm.

" What the hell is this-" Suddenly, William's eyes were met by a pair of swirling vortexes with pupils.

" Oh, little man. Thissss issss what we in the jungle call payback."

And with that, Kaa snapped the edge of his tail like a whip, knocking the man out.

" Somebody get that snake! We'll make a snake skin purse out of it yet!"

But before any men could do anything, Shere Khan bursted out into the scene with claws fully extended. The men loaded their rifles as fast as they could, while others began to try and dose the tiger in torches. Shere Khan simple swatted them away like irritating flies till they were either massacred or fled in terror.

It was just in time for the wolves freeing their bonds with the help of the elongated python. The tiger paced forward menacingly towards the three, his eyes blazing with his deadly intent.

" Now, it's so nice to get to know the family. I suppose this man had the right idea of bait." He said as he gestured to the now unconscious man. " Though I am always in the mood for a snack."

But as Shere Khan reared his paw back to land a killing swipe, a low humming began to be heard coming in hot. The tiger turned just in time for a series of bright lights shock his eyes, temporarily blinding him. Whatever it was, it somehow managed to kick up a strong gael, sweeping the tiger clear off his feet. It slowly stuttered to a stall, revealing itself to be a large cargo plane, with the faded out words SeaDuck scrolling across the side. The load in door was jammed by a large pair of rhino buttocks, and the pilot's' seat window smashed open.

" What in the world is that?"

" No doubt one of your son's ideas" Kaa remarked.

It was at that moment Baloo popped his head out with a clearly stolen captain's hat on " Man, give a mammal some credit." Mowgli soon followed out the window, clearly playing co-pilot.

" Nevermind that, Baloo. Just get on everyone!"

And his parents along with Kaa did just that as fast as they could, clammering into the cramped space. In the cockpit, Ranjan was pressing random buttons and Shanti was trying her best to patch up Bagheera in a padded corner. And to the far back, Grey yipped and yapped out 'helpful' instructions to Rocky to free himself.

" How on earth did you concoct this, son." Rama questioned in partial fatherly concern.

" Uh, Dad? Can talk about this later?"

" Yeah, I'll vouch for your son, R." Baloo chimed " One thing at a time, and right now we need to-"

" OWWWW!"

Rocky bellowed out from the back, vibrating greatly all over the airplane. "Somebody start the plane, we got an uninvited airfare guest."

That guest was a now conscious Shere Khan, who was trying to desperately claw his way into the plane.

" Do something, Baloo." Bagheera called out weakly.

Desperately, Baloo pulled on the stick as hard as a bear could, sending the plane into a near vertical lift. It took every ounce of strength from everyone to keep from sliding around.

" C'mon, Rocky, you gotta get out!" Grey yipped. " You gotta give one big final squeeze!"

The rhino strained himself as much as he could while he endured the pain from Shere Khan, which ended in the sound of the rhino's mass finally popping fully into the plane, while the other was a little less flattering and neat. Irregardless, it was just enough to send Shere Khan plummeting down to the cold waters below. The last sight Mowgli caught of the tiger was him floundering around trying to keep a float back to shore.

" Do you think we should go back for Shere Khan?" Mowgli wondered. He hated the lame hunter like every other guy in the jungle, but he didn't want to see any suffering at all.

" Leave him be." Bagheera chuffed as he settled down " He will be a foe for another day."

" I'm just glad we have you back, my son." Raksha nuzzled up along with her mate.

" You guys can say that again." Baloo chimed. " Now, kick back and enjoy the ride, folks. I'll find a way to land this thing back home soon.. I think."

Everyone just laughed as Baloo took the plane into a victory barrel roll off into the sunset, with everyone ready for whatever tale to spin next.

Author's Notes:

Well, that wraps up this long arc! I didn't think it would take so long, but I hope it was worth it. I may take a break from this fic because I'm kinda running low on ideas and I've got two other stories I really wanna work on, so as always review, fav and catch you later ( insert tailspin theme here, as if this entire conclusion wasn't one big reference enough.)