CHAPTER 1

The students in the classroom were all awaiting the end of the day. Some were working diligently in an effort to finish their homework for this class or another before the bell rang for dismissal, others had it all done already and were casually visiting with their classmates, others still simply had opted to procrastinate and do their homework at another place and time and instead engaged in the day-to-day socialization which is a natural part of any middle school environment. Kit Cloudkicker was one such student belonging to the former group. He penciled in his last answer for his algebra homework and put it away with only a few moments of class left to spare.

In the past he had hated algebra. All the seemingly decreasing amount of numbers being replaced with an ever-increasing amount of letters just made absolutely no sense to him. However, in recent weeks, he was discovering he rather had a knack for it. Ever since the class had moved on to the unit about the Pythagorean theorem, its origins, and how it was used in the past for navigation and currently could be used to calculate distance in the modern day, Kit had found that suddenly algebra was coming easy to him. Everything in algebra suddenly made sense; it was as if a^2 + b^2 = c^2 was the single missing cog wheel in the entire machine that, once placed, allowed everything to function with ease. Kit had gone from hating math to falling in love with it almost overnight. This is not to discount the fact that Kit had already been an impressively skilled navigator for years now, even though he was only twelve, and as the chief navigator aboard the Seaduck, a Conwing L-16 seaplane, he had to quickly and efficiently calculate and communicate heading and distance to his pilot and coworker, Baloo, who also just so happened to be his newly adoptive father.

Unlike pretty much all his peers, Kit had gone through absolute hell to reach this point in his life and having made it to age twelve more or less living on his own, he had abandoned any idea of ever having any sort of loving parents and certainly never even considered it a possibility anymore. Before meeting Baloo Kit had been through a lot. He had fallen in with a crowd of criminals known as Sky Pirates who had taught him many things about the cruelties of life, toughened him up in a number of ways even extending to topics of severe abuse, but they had also taught him a number of wide-ranging skills. Before being recruited by Don Karnage, Captain of the Sky Pirates, he had been an air-hobo living in and out of old slums in Hoovervilles, hopping from one island and port to another, picking up odd jobs for whatever pilot would hire him for the day, and before that he had been homeless after having run away from two different orphanages, once when he was six, the next when he was nine. And then, in an act of desperation to get away from the Sky Pirates and their nasty, brutal, abusive lot, he happened to run into Baloo, literally. And from there his life took off and took a turn undeniably for the better. And now after all of what he had been through in his short life, all he had seen and done and experienced – which, by comparison, was more than what most adults have claim to – here he was, sitting in class, doing homework, waiting to go back to the home, job, and family he loved, just like a normal kid. But even normal kids have normal kid problems.

Kit counted down the time until the school day was over. He saw no need to strike up a conversation with anyone, not with only seconds left on the clock. Mrs. Barrett, the math teacher, tapped her desk with her ruler to get the class's attention. "Everyone, I know we only have a half day of school on Monday, but remember to stop by and turn in your homework before you go home otherwise it will be late on Tuesday. If you are done with it already, you may turn it in now." Kit unzipped his backpack and pulled out his work and zipped it back up just as the bell rang. He slung his pack over his shoulder and made his way to the front of the room as other students shuffled past him, turned in his paper and then was one of the last out the door.

Contrary to all the positives in his life, the days were becoming harder and harder. His new enjoyment for math and algebra had become a coping mechanism. His focus on getting back to Higher for Hire to clock in and working a side job had become a way to distract himself from what was missing at home, or more accurately who was missing, not that any of it would matter for much longer anyways. He had become distant over the past month and a half. His friends at the Jungle Aces Clubhouse had noticed that he was different. He would zone out or just stare off into space, thinking about something else or someone else somewhere else. On some occasions his friends had to wake him up in the middle of the night due to nightmares once or twice when all the boys got together for a sleepover and one had even gone so far as to speak to Ms. Cunningham behind his back. And Kit's teachers had sent some letters home noting a change in his demeanor at school; that he had become withdrawn and much more quiet than he used to be. Luckily, they were also kind enough to note that Kit's academics were not showing any sign of decline…yet. But that was before he started skipping class. The one thing that gave Kit any motivation to smile was hearing the bell ring at the end of the school day which would allow him to go home with the smallest spark of hope that it would be different, that things would be back to normal, and every day he was crushed just a little bit more, would retreat into himself just a little bit more, and become less and less like the Kit that everyone knew and more and more like the Kit he once was. And so, he would bury himself in whatever tasks he could around the business and beyond before going to bed to repeat the whole process all over again.

"Hay Cloudkicker! How're ya doin'?" came a familiar sarcastic voice from behind him as the halls were starting to clear. Michael had been pestering him ever since Kit had arrived at the school, but what with Kit's history of living alone on the streets, fending for himself day in and day out, becoming an air-hobo and the low-life sort he would encounter from place to place, living amongst sky pirates, along with the other horrors of the real world he had endured, Michael was nothing short of a minor nuisance. He was a few months older than Kit but had obviously hit his growth spurt and was about a foot taller than Kit. The clothes he wore, the stuck-up demeanor he displayed, and company he kept announced to everyone with eyes – both student and teacher alike – that Michael was spoiled by his parents who gave him everything he wanted and needed except discipline, structure, and the occasional necessary good ole' fashioned ass-whoopin'; in other words, the complete and total polar opposite of Kit in virtually every aspect except gender. Kit simply glanced at Michael and his two cronies which seemed to be different sycophant suckers every day out of the side of his eyes before ignoring them and continuing on his way to the designated student school exit.

"Hay Cloudkicker! I'm talkin't'ya! I know ya can hear me! We have some unfinished business!" Michael ran to catch up to Kit and jumped in front of him and put his hand on the white painted brick wall, effectively blocking Kit's way. "When I talk to you, you answer me, got it ya little twerp?!" Kit just stood there looking at Michael both hands on their respective straps of his backpack with a relaxed look on his face that expressed only boredom and an annoyance at the wait time for the current unnecessary one-sided verbal altercation to come to an end. Kit just inhaled and let out a deep exhale as he rolled his eyes. By this time the last of the students had made their way to the other parts of the school for dismissal leaving a vacant hallway save for the four boys. Michael's cronies had caught up with him and stood to his left and right with malicious smiles on their faces. They were shorter than Michael, but this was not surprising. In Michael's mind, if he was taller, he was in charge, and Kit was no exception what with being short even for a twelve-year-old. So far this school year Michael had only attempted to verbally provoke Kit not including the occasional pushes and shoves the likes of which Kit turned the other cheek for, effectively holding back from any school-house-scuffles in an effort to better display to the courts that Baloo – who at the time was Kit's foster father – was the best suited option for Kit's wellbeing and that Baloo's adoption of Kit should not be denied. But Kit's adoption had been finalized and now Kit held back simply because Michael wasn't worth it; that and because if he ignored this harmless scumbag enough, he would become bored and find something else to occupy his worthless time.

Expecting that his "lecture" to Kit just now had intimidated him into silence, Michael continued with his line of questioning and provocation. "So, where're ya headed in such a hurry?" Kit remained silent. Michael's left crony spoke up, "Oh, I know! He's gonna go hang out with that weird Vandersnoot kid again." Kit remained silent. "Is that it?" the other crony stated, "You gonna go hang out with your rich boyfriend again?" Kit shifted his weight from the right to the left yet remained silent. "Naw guys, Kit here is too tight-assed for that sort of thing." The three boys laughed at their own pun before Michael continued. "I know what he's gonna go do" Michael said arrogantly, "He's gonna go play dollies with that little girl he walks to school with every day. Maybe I should go visit her once we're done with you, I'm sure she'll answer me when I talk to her; especially when me and the boys find out how tight her little pussy is!" Michael and his cronies looked at each other and laughed once again at their own crass comments. Kit however was not amused. Every day was getting harder and harder both to carry on and hold back and Michael's antics were only a straw on the proverbial camel's back of Kit's mind and he knew they were just trying to get a rise out of him but this time they had gone too far and not only succeeded but set his soul on fire. Something snapped within Kit, he had had enough, and unlike the past where he had to run or hide to survive, this was a battle he could fight, this was a fight he would win, and as the fire within he had been holding back grew, it begged for release, he just needed "a reason". Kit finally decided to answer them. "Michael, if you or your friends lay a finger on Molly or even so much as go near her, I WILL END YOU!"

"OH, HE SPEAKS!" Michael turned around arms outstretched, addressing the imaginary audience of a circus sitting all around them. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have discovered that Cloudkicker indeed does have a voice." And then he leaned down with clenched fists and got in Kit's face, "But does he have the balls to back up his word?" Kit rebelliously spat in Michael's face. "Fuck off Michael! Go home while you still can."

Michael recoiled in surprise as he wiped the saliva from his forehead, eye, and cheek, "Grab 'im boys!"

"FINALLY!" Thought Kit. He now had his reason to let loose. The first crony came at Kit in an attempt to take hold of his arm but missed as Kit jumped back while simultaneously taking off his backpack and slinging it around him, making contact with the first crony's nose initiating a nosebleed. The second did not attempt to apprehend but to knock down and sent a right hook punch at Kit which was deflected by Kit's backpack, effectively sending it to the left. Kit than spun around and under the deflected arm and came in chest to chest with the second crony and jumped straight up, the top of his skull making contact with the bottom of the second crony's jaw successfully dislodging a tooth or two, sending him stumbling back a few feet. And then came in Michael with an attempted cheap shot to the back, but Kit caught his left arm under his own left armpit, grabbed his fist with his right hand and twisted it outward as he spun around to the outside of Michael's left and then with the bare palm of his left hand, slammed Michael's elbow joint inward, successfully fracturing it; the snap of bone and joint complimenting Michael's painful scream that echoed down the hallway. The first crony returned, his face and shirt all bloodied from his traumatic epistaxis, and got a few shots in on Kit; one to his face and two to his torso before Kit managed a kick to his hip and another shot to his nose, this time the sound of the crack of a nose fracture was clearly heard and the first crony fell to the floor as he passed out. The second crony and Michael were each nursing their respective wounds and did not attack again. Kit turned to face them and walked to Michael and without any emotion displayed upon his face, stomped the side of Michael's right knee fracturing yet another joint, forcing him to the ground and another shrieking scream out of his mouth, the tears clear as crystal in his eyes. "Not so tough now, are ya Michael?" Kit sarcastically stated as he calmly knelt down on one knee in front of Michael, satisfied with the brief taste of pain and strife he had dished out to Michael, the likes of which comprised practically the entirety of Kit's young life. Kit placed both hands on Michael's shoulders as the second crony ran away like the coward he was and looked Michael in the eyes, only inches from his face. This time, Kit was the one smiling. And this time Michael could not escape the sight of pure rage fire unleashed behind Kit's irises.

"Listen Michael, I know you can hear me, so I am going to say this only once. I'm tired of your shit. So, you are going to leave me and anyone I call a friend alone including Oscar Vandersnoot, permanently. Otherwise 'this'…" Kit gestured to Michael's injuries "…will happen again, and buddy, it will be much worse. Oh, and if I see you within even a hundred feet of Molly, I will fucking kill you…." Kit then leaned in even closer and whispered directly into Michael's ear as he lifted his green sweater-shirt to reveal some of the scars of his past that he received from his time as a pirate. "…you don't know anything about me, what I have done, or the things I have seen, but I will tell you this. You wouldn't be the first person I've killed."

Michael's eyes widened in horror at what he had just seen and heard and experienced; there was no doubt in his mind that the truth of Kit's words were beyond question. Kit then lowered his shirt and moved back from Michael's ear and stared him in the face once again. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" Kit yelled with such ferocity that his voice continued to ring in Michael's ears and down the hallway even moments after he had said it. Michael only nodded through his whimpering and fearful tears. Kit cocked his head to the right and frowned, "I don't think you do." With adrenaline and rage pumping though his mind and heart, Kit then placed both hands behind Michael's head and pulled it down as he stood up and rammed his knee into Michael's face as hard as he could, breaking his nose, busting some teeth, and knocking him out. "Now you understand!"

Kit turned from the two boys sprawled out upon the ground in the school hallway, picked up his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and turned to walk away just as the second Crony returned complete with red stained gauze in his mouth and turned the corner with some of the faculty who had been at their various dismissal duties. There was no hiding the scene or who was to blame for it at first glance. The teachers didn't say a word. One brought her hand to cover her mouth as she took in the carnage while the others stood aghast at the blood and unconscious students as they were digesting what they were seeing.

Kit looked at them, looked at the second Crony, inhaled and exhaled as he shook his head, "Well…shit."

-END CHAPTER 1-