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Episode Three

The Calm Before the Storm

The Sea Duck was en route for Cape Suzette, having finished its cargo delivery at New Fedora, and in the cockpit, Baloo was piloting the plane while Chris was sewing the yellow patch back onto the sleeve of Kit's sweatshirt.

Baloo kept glancing at Chris. Twice he opened his mouth to say something but seemed to lose his nerves. After all, how do you start questioning a child who could fly on a round board and take out the entire squadron of Air Pirates single-handedly with nothing but a glowstick? And it was uneasy to think that this blue-eyed innocent-looking bear cub was even capable of doing that!

"And that's done!" said Chris happily as he cut the thread with his teeth, having finished sewing the patch back onto the sleeve. Finally, he noticed Baloo's attempts to talk to him, and he also noticed that Baloo seemed extremely nervous and kept getting tongue-tied. "What is it, Baloo?" Chris asked, sounding half curious, half concerned.

"Oh…uh, nothing!" Baloo said, hastily looking away.

Chris observed Baloo for a minute, looking sad that Baloo seemed to fear him.

"Look, Baloo, what you saw back there—"

"I-I didn't see anything! I-I saw nothing!" Baloo said as he gulped and tightly shut his eyes, as though he expected to explode or something else.

"Baloo, it's okay!" Chris said soothingly, reaching over and patting Baloo's arm. "I'm not going to hurt you. You're my brother's best friend. How could I even think of hurting you? You seem like a real fun guy!"

"R-really?" Baloo asked, relaxing a little

"Really," Chris said with a smile. "Now, I know you saw what I did, and I got a feeling you have a million questions for me, right?"

"Well… yeah," Baloo admitted.

"Then go ahead and ask me, but there are things I can't tell you, so there will be some things I can't answer, okay?"

"Okay."

"So, what's the first thing you wanna ask me?" Chris asked.

Baloo thought for a moment before asking: "What was that fancy nightlight you used on the Pirates' planes?"

"Nightlight? You mean this?" Chris asked, withdrawing what looked like a flashlight from under his sweatshirt. He pressed the button with his thumb, and the glowing blue laser blade rose out of it, emitting a humming sound. "This is called the D-blade. Gotta be REAL careful with this. It can cut through anything except its owner and other D-blades. See?" he touched the blade with his finger, and nothing happened to his finger from touching the laser blade. "If anyone but me tried that, they'd lose a finger. My own D-blade can't be used against me, see?"

"Yeah, whatever you say," Baloo said as he gulped. "Put that thing away! Are you even allowed to carry that thing? Does yer Dad know you have it?"

"Of course he does. He has one too. You have to be part of a certain group to be allowed to carry one, and the D-blade chooses you, not the other way around." Chris said, turning the D-blade off and putting it away. "Next question, please."

"How did ya make Kit fly towards you like a metal-on magnet?" Baloo asked.

Chris thought for a moment, then said: "I don't know if I should be telling you this, but since you already saw me do it, I guess I could tell you." he paused, thinking before continuing. "It was the Heart that enabled me to do that. "

"The Heart? What's the Heart?" Baloo asked. "You mean this?" he placed a hand over his heart.

"No," Chris shook his head. "The Heart is the energy core of all living things in the universe. It empowers us according to our special gifts and talents. Those who have trained the way of the Heart can do amazing things. Take me as an example. I can make anything under my feet fly, not just my airfoil."

"Really?" Baloo said incredulously.

"Uh-huh," Chris said, nodding. "One time, Dad lost both engines, and I stood on the floor of the cockpit, and flew the plane, just like I did with my airfoil."

"So the Heart also drew Kit to you?"

Again, Chris nodded. "All those trained to use the Heart have one power in common; telekinesis."

"Telekinesis? What's that?"

For an answer, Chris pointed his finger at Baloo's pilot cap, and it lifted off his head and flew around the cockpit before landing on Chris' head.

"That is telekinesis," Chris said, making Baloo's pilot cap fly back onto its owner's head.

"Can I do that too?" Baloo asked, pointing to himself.

"Sure! Anyone can do it if they know how." Chris said. "You just need to know how to tap into the Heart and harness it. But as the Heart is also the source of all living things, it has to be respected."

"And uh, how do you do it?"

"Sorry, Baloo, I can't say. I'm just a student," Chris said. "I'm forbidden to reveal the secret workings of the Heart by my Master. You'll need a Master to teach you that."

"Just a student? And you took out the Air Pirates by yerself?" Baloo said in surprise. "Oh, baby! If that's the power of a student, then the real, whatever they are, must be something else!"

"Dedis, we're called Dedis," Chris said.

"De-die?" Baloo said, stretching his head.

"No, no, no," Chris chuckled. "Not De-die. It's pronounced 'Ded-i."

"So what does a D-guy do?" Baloo asked.

"Ded-i," Chris corrected him again. "As in 'dedication' without the cation. We're special forces that protect and defend the world from devastation. That is all I can say. I think I've said too much as it is. If you wanna know anything more, you'll have to ask my Dad."

"But why do I need to ask yer Dad when you're doing a bang-up job explaining it to me now?"

Chris groaned with his hand over his face, sliding down in his seat. "I knew I was talking a bit too much…."

"Now don't you worry, Chris-boy, you can trust ol' Baloo," Baloo said, smiling at Chris. "I won't tell a soul."

Chris smiled back. "Thanks, Baloo."

At that moment, the door to the cargo hold opened, and in came Kit, groaning and holding his head in one hand and keeping his balance with the other, holding onto the doorframe. He swayed a little as he walked into the cockpit and stood between Baloo's and Chris' seats.

"Hey, there, Li'l Britches, you okay?" Baloo asked with concern, picking Kit up and setting him on his lap.

"Ohh, my head... What hit me?" Kit moaned, massaging his head, and he felt the bandages. "What happened?

"Sorry, Lil Britches," Baloo said sympathetically, hugging Kit. "The Air Pirates got on our tail, and I had ta shake 'em off. You were thrown around in the cargo hold and must've hit yer head, and then you,"

Chris was frantically waving his hands at Baloo from behind Kit's back, shaking his head and then putting a finger to his lip.

Baloo backtracked at once. "And then, I shook them off, and we got away. After that, we found you on the floor and doctored you up."

"That would explain this splitting headache I'm having… Got any aspiring Papa Bear?" Kit asked in a slightly whiny voice, showing how much the headache bothered him because Kit was not usually whiny.

Baloo gave a sad little smile. "Sorry, Kit, but I had ta stop carrying those with me when Wildcat kept mistaking them for mints…."

Flashback:

Baloo was piloting the plane while Wildcat sat in the passenger seat, navigating, though not doing a good job at it.

"Oh, look! Candy!" cried Wildcat happily, picking up the bottle of aspirin tablets, unscrewing the lid, and preparing to dump himself a mouthful of pills.

"Wildcat!" Baloo yelled, snatching the bottle away from him. "What're you doing?!"

"Oh, you wanted those mints too, Baloo?" Wildcat asked, looking like a small boy who'd just had a treat taken from him.

"These aren't mints, Wildcat! They're aspiring tablets!" Baloo said exasperatedly.

"Oh, no thanks, I don't have a headache," Wildcat said, and Baloo buried his face in his hand, shaking his head.

End of Flashback.

"That sounds like Wildcat," Kit said, unamused. "Ohh, my head,"

Baloo cuddled Kit in his arms while Kit lay his head on Baloo's chest.

"Aw, don't you worry, Lil' Britches, we'll be home in a little while," Baloo said, and then unable to help himself, he kissed Kit on top of the head. And this time, it was not missed by Chris, who looked up at Baloo with a mixture of surprise and devastation. "Uh, Chris? What's wrong?"

Chris found that he could not speak as his eyes filled with tears. He jumped out of his seat and dashed into the cargo hold, slamming the door behind him.

"Chris!" Baloo yelled after him. "Oh, now what's the matter with him?" He sighed as he got up, setting Kit down in his seat. "Here, take the stick, Lil' Britches, while I go find out what's eating Chris."

Baloo opened the cargo hold door gently and peered inside. Chris was sitting on the bed, his face buried in his knees. It gave Baloo a sense of deja-vu, reminded of Kit doing the same thing when he asked Kit how he knew so much about Air Pirates while en route to Pirate Island to rescue Rebecca and Molly.

Chris looked up as Baloo approached. "Aren't you supposed to be flying?" he asked, putting his face back on his knees.

The feeling of deja-vu intensified as Baloo stood over Chris. "Relax, Kit's playing autopilot." he sat on the bed next to Chris. "Now, do you wanna tell me what's eatin' ya?"

"Did my Dad tell you how we're related to Kit?" Chris asked.

Baloo shook his head, "It never came up, although I did hear you shout 'I will not lose my brother!' back there when the Pirates were attacking us." he chuckled. "Imagine my surprise. I was like, 'Brother?' Once I put two and two together, it was obvious you're his family. You and Kit look so alike, except for the fur color, the spiky hairdo and the blue eyes. You're his twin, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So what's the problem, Lil Buddy?" Baloo asked.

"...Lil Buddy?" Chris asked with a raised eyebrow, as he was the kind of boy who didn't usually take kindly to being referred to as 'little' anything. But as there was affection in Baloo's voice, Chris did not object.

"Yeah, I call Kit Lil Britches, so I thought I'd give you a special nickname too."

Chris cracked a smile. "Forgive me if I don't call you Papa Bear. I think I'll stick with Baloo."

"That's fine. Now, do you wanna tell me why you're so down in the blues?" Baloo asked,

"It's just that…. You two mean so much to each other," Chris said, his voice shaking with emotion. "And Kit had you filling the void that Dad couldn't fill for him! We've been looking for him for eleven years! And now that we've found him, we're torn between wanting to take him back to live with us and, and…." he let out a sob and buried his face in Baloo's chest.

"And letting him stay with me…." Baloo finished the sentence for him, patting the back of Chris' head. "Oh, Lil Buddy, that one's hard ta swallow. But if he wants to go with you two, I won't stop him. Though I'll miss him terribly."

"I'm the same way. I want to take him back to live with us, but not if it means tearing him away from his beloved Papa Bear."

"Yeah… I can see how that would eat away yer heart, Chris." Baloo said, hugging Chris in a comforting way. "But whether Kit stays or goes, as long as he's happy, I'll… accept his decision." Baloo finished reluctantly.

"Yeah..." Chris said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "I guess I'll have to do the same… Thanks, Baloo." he then hugged Baloo.

In that conversation it was confirmed for Baloo that Matthew was Kit's father and Chris was Kit's brother. Baloo had suspected it but now knew for sure.

A few hours later, at Higher for Hire, Rebecca was at her desk, signing papers and answering the phone from numerous calls from customers confirming that their shipments had arrived.

She heard the Sea Duck pull into the docks, and then Wildcat exclaimed: "Wow, is that the Sea Duck? It looks like a brand new plane!"

"Brand new plane? What is he talking about?" Rebecca muttered as she stood up, walked around her desk, and out of the building. The moment she saw the Sea Duck, she let out a gasp. She went running towards the plane. "What happened to my plane?! I-it's all-new a-a-nd shiny-looking! Not that I'm complaining, but how did this happen?"

The door to the cockpit swung open, and Baloo stepped out, followed by a downcast Kit.

"Baloo, what happened to my plane? Why is it all new and shiny-looking and—oh my goodness, Kit, what happened to your head?!" she demanded, as Kit's cap did little to conceal the bandages around his head.

Kit had his eyes shut tight with his hands over his ears, groaning and whining. "T-too loud…" He even looked tired and a little ill. His eyes were dull, so unlike their bright and full of life shine.

"Hey, Becky…" Baloo said quietly, cupping a hand to the side of his mouth. "Could ya lower yer voice? Kit's havin' a real bad headache."

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, Kit," Rebecca said in a much softer voice. She took Kit by the arm and gently guided him back to the building. "Let's get you straight to bed, young man."

"Thanks, Miz Cunningham." Kit said weakly but gratefully. "Do you have any aspirin?"

"Yes, of course," Rebecca said as they entered the building. "You go upstairs to bed, and I'll go and get it."

Kit made his way slowly up the stairs while Rebecca went to the safe and dialed the combination. When it opened, its contents showed that it served as a medicine cabinet and money bin. As the top shelf was full of medicines, the middle shelf held folders with documents, and on the third shelf sat a handful of cash and change.

"Let me see…." Rebecca said, browsing through the medicines. "...cough medicine….pain relief….band-aids….alcohol….aspiring…..aha! Here we are, children's aspirin." She took the bottle of children's aspirin out. "Twelve and under." she read off the label. She took two tablets out and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. When she got back into the office, carrying a glass of water in one hand and two small children's aspirin tablets in the other, Baloo and Chris stood in the middle of the office, waiting for her.

"Hey Becky, look who followed us home!" Baloo said, placing a hand on Chris' shoulder, who waved rather shyly.

Rebecca's eyes widened in shock, and she dropped the glass, which shattered on the floor, creating a puddle of water.

"Can we keep him?" Baloo said jokingly, grinning.

"But… but… Kit is upstairs. How is he down….?" Rebecca stammered.

"Allow me to introduce the twin brother of Kit…. Chris Cloudkicker!" Baloo said, gesturing to Chris, who looked down at the broken glass and then up at Rebecca with concern.

"Ohh, now I need an aspirin…" Rebecca groaned and fell, fainting to the floor.

Baloo and Chris looked down at Rebecca in concern and then at each other.

"Maybe you should've broken the ice a little before introducing me..." Chris said. "You know, warn her first."

"Maybe, but I wanted to introduce you in style," Baloo said as he went over to Rebecca's side, lifted her half off the floor, and began to fan her a little. "Becky….Becky, yoo-hoo, anybody home?"

"Look, there are tablets in her hand," Chris said, bending down and taking the aspiring tablets from her. "These must be for Kit. I'll get a new glass of water. Uh, where's the kitchen?" he asked, looking around.

"Through there," Baloo said, pointing at a doorway just a few feet from Rebecca's desk.

Chris went into the kitchen and then returned with a new glass of water in his hand. "Okay, I got the water. Where's Kit's room?"

"Up the stairs, first room ya come to," Baloo said, fanning Rebecca with an empty pizza box he got out of the trash can.

"Thanks!" Chris said, running up the stairs and into the space Kit shared with Baloo.

Rebecca started to come to, "Baloo?"

"Hey, Becky, you okay?" Baloo said, helping her sit up.

Rebecca groaned, holding her head. "I thought I was going crazy. I thought I saw another Kit."

"Nah, Becky, yer not seeing doubles. That was Kit's long-lost twin, Chris," Baloo said.

"Kit has a twin?" Rebecca asked, standing up.

"Yeah, and a Dad too."

Rebecca froze, looking shocked. "He also has a Dad, as in a parent?!"

"Yeah, his name is Matthew, a real swell guy too. He fixed up the Sea Duck and everything," Baloo said.

"I think I need to sit down…." Rebecca muttered, and Baloo helped her to her chair behind her desk and then began to tell her the whole story.

Upstairs in the bedroom, Chris closed the door behind him with his foot and walked towards Kit, who lay on his side upon his bed, clutching his head.

"Hey bro, I got the aspirin for you," Chris said, walking over and standing next to Kit's bed.

"Thanks," Kit said, as he sat up in bed, took one pill and the glass of water from Chris, and gulped down the first mouthful of water along with the pill, then he took the second pill and gulped that down too.

Then he drank the rest of the water as he was thirsty. When he had finished, he set the empty glass on the bedside table and laid back down, preparing to sleep. But Chris pulled him back up to a sitting position.

"Wait, bro, you need to put on your night clothes first," Chris said, lifting Kit's green sweatshirt up and off, leaving the bear cub with only his fur while his legs were already under the covers. "Now, where's your night clothes?"

"Top drawer," Kit said, gesturing to the bedside table on which a hula lamp stood.

Chris opened the drawer and pulled out two long white nightshirts. "You have two. You don't mind if I borrow one, do you?"

"No, go ahead." Kit said as Chris put the nightshirt on him. All that Kit had to do was push his arms through the sleeves, then lay back down to close his eyes.

Chris patted Kit's head gently before removing his cap and placing it on the bedpost. He then changed into Kit's spare nightshirt.

When he had folded his French-sky blue sweatshirt neatly and placed it neatly on the foot of the spare bed, he hopped onto the bed and found himself in a Baloo-size crater in the mattress.

"Ouch!" Chris winced as he felt the flattened bedsprings and wooden boards that held the mattress up against his spine. He climbed out of the crater and off the bed, rubbing his back. "Ow... a bed like that would bend my back out of shape!" He stretched his spine out before walking to Kit's bed to gently shake him awake. "Kit, can I sleep with you? Baloo's bed is a death trap!"

Kit smiled in amusement before saying: "Sure," he scooted closer to the wall, opening the covers to Chris. Chris climbed into bed next to Kit, sharing the same pillow, and Kit covered them both up. "G'night, Chris."

"'Night, bro," Chris said.

They both rolled onto their side and slept back-to-back.

Half an hour later, the door opened, and Baloo and Rebecca peered in, checking on the boys. Assured that the boys were asleep, they entered the room, Rebecca blinking and rubbing her eyes, but she could not dispute that there were two cubs in Kit's bed. The only way to tell the sleeping cubs apart was their fur color. Kit's was sienna, and Chris' was bronze.

"I'm seeing it, and I still don't believe it," Rebecca whispered as she and Baloo moved towards the bed and stood over them, looking at them. "After all this time, a brother and father suddenly appear. All this time, I believed Kit to be an orphan."

"You weren't the only one, Becky," Baloo said softly. "Even Kit himself believed it."

"But you do realize what this means, don't you, Baloo?" Rebecca said, sadly placing a hand on his arm. "If there's a father in the picture, I'm afraid we would have to let Kit go. It wouldn't be right to keep him from his father, Baloo."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Baloo said with a depressed, downcast face. "I would miss him, but I'm not worried. Matt seems like a swell guy. Any Dad that looks for their missing child fer years on end without letups is a grade-A Dad in my book."

"But don't you find this too coincidental, if not downright suspicious?" Rebecca asked. "Orphans don't normally cease being orphans. Are you sure this Matthew guy wouldn't have any sinister motives for Kit and his twin like Daring Dan?"

"Matt is nothing like Dirty Dan," Baloo said, frowning at the very mention of Daring Dan. "Besides, the resemblance he shares with Kit and Chris is just too uncanny fer him not to their Dad or some way related to them."

"Well, I don't trust him!" Rebecca said in a fierce whisper, going into protective Mama Bear mode, which caused Baloo to back away from her. "At least not yet. He could be a crook, wanting to use these two boys for his own gain! But if he is genuine," she said, her expression changing to a dreamy look, as though she was reading this out of a romance novel. "and is truly their father, it is amazing that he never gave up on finding Kit."

"Yeah, but Becky, you saw what he did to the Sea Duck. He'd make big bucks on auto repairs," Baloo argued. "Why would he need to use these boys ta make money?"

"I don't know. A lot of people's minds work in strange ways, Baloo. You should know that now, with all the crazy clients and Pirates we've encountered since I opened this business." Rebecca hissed back. "I don't trust him, at least not until I've met him and gotten the measure of his actions. And if this Matthew guy shows up before I could meet him in person, don't let these two boys out of your sight! That's an order from your boss!"

Baloo gulped at Rebecca's fierce and protective mother mode. "Okay, okay, Bosslady. I'll watch 'em like a hawk."

"You better, buster, or you'll never fly the Sea Duck again!" Rebecca said, jabbing Baloo in the chest with a finger. She checked her watch. "Well, I guess I'll go home now. Molly would have driven her babysitter insane by now." she laughed as she left.

"Sheese!" Baloo said, rubbing his chest where Rebecca had jabbed him. "Never knew she cared so much about Kit… guess she always had a soft spot for kids."

Baloo changed into his nightshirt and got into bed, falling asleep not long after.

Later in the night, lightning from outdoors flashes, momentarily lighting up the room, followed by a rumble of thunder. Chris' ear twitched at the sound, and he shot bolt-upright, just in time to see the room lit up in the flash of lightning.

"Oh, no!" he squealed in a high-pitched whimper, jumped out of bed, got down on the floor, and rolled under Kit's bed, trembling with his hands over his eyes. "Oh no, okay….it's okay….it's okay," He tried to comfort himself, but suddenly the thunder went from rumbling to booming. He let out a loud, high-pitched yelp, wrapping his arms around his face, shaking like a chihuahua on a cold winter's day.

Kit awoke to the thundering, grateful that his headache was almost gone. But then he noticed Chris was no longer next to him.

"Chris…? Chris…?" Kit said, looking around. Then his ears detected a terrified whimpering coming from below. He got up out of bed and traced the whimpering to underneath his bed and found a scared Chris, shaking with a wild look of fear in his eyes. "Chris, what's wrong?" he asked in concern.

Chris was about to answer, but lightning flashed outside, followed by loud booming thunder, and he let out a cry of fear and hid his face in his hands.

"Kit?" Baloo muttered, waking up. He let out a huge yawn. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, Papa Bear, but Chris is freaking out!" Kit said with concern in his voice.

Baloo got up, approached Kit's bed, and bent down. "Hey there, Chris, come on out from under there."

Another lightning flashed, followed by another booming thunder that shook the hula lamp on the bedside table. Chris yelped, shook his head vigorously, and retreated further under the bed.

Baloo reached down, took a hold of Chris' ankle, and began to drag him out from under the bed. But this was a mistake. Chris screamed bloody murder and thrashed around wildly under the bed, kicking around so much that Baloo lost his grip on him.

"Baloo! Stop, stop!" Kit cried, holding Baloo back. "He's panicking. You're only making it worse."

"But how are we supposed to comfort him if he's under there?" Baloo asked.

"I don't know, but he wasn't like this before the storm… wait a minute... the storm!" Kit said, realizing all of a sudden.

"The storm? What about—?"

"Shh," Kit said. "Watch." He and Baloo bent over and watched Chris from beside the bed.

As another flash of lightning lit up the space, and another booming thunder sounded outside, they could see that Chris flinched, yelped, and whimpered at every sparkle and thunder. Then Baloo and Kit looked at each other.

"I think he has a severe case of astrapophobia, Baloo." Kit said with sympathy in his voice

"Astrapo-what?"

"Astrapophobia means he has an irrational fear of thunder and lightning." Kit explained. He sighed. "Go back to bed, Baloo. I'll handle this. He's my brother, and between the two of us, I'm the only one who can crawl under there with him."

"If you're sure, Lil Britches," Baloo said, sounding doubtful as he got back into bed.

Kit got down on his stomach, crawled under the bed, and saw Chris curled up in the corner, shaking and sobbing. As Kit approached Chris, he realized that Chris was crying, and he was crying out of a mixture of self-loathing, humiliation and fear. Chris hated himself for having this phobia, humiliated that he had this phobia-induced panic attack in front of Kit and Baloo, and he was still fearful of the next lightning strike.

When Kit reached him, he put an arm around him. Chris gasped, and his body started thrashing around, causing Kit to tighten his hold on Chris, pinning him down.

"Whoa, whoa, easy, Chris. It's just me." Kit said softly, pulling Chris closer to him and hugging him. "Shh, it's okay, Chris, it's okay..." he said, rubbing the back of Chris' head as Chris continued to sob, and Kit took it as a good sign that Chris' body relaxed a little in his embrace. "It's okay…. I'm here for you, Chris."

"I hate this... I hate this!" Chris sobbed as Kit comforted him

"Shh..." Kit whispers consolingly.

With Kit holding him, the effects of Chris' phobia got significantly reduced, as he no longer shrieked or yelped with terror at every lightning flash or screamed at every booming thunder. With Kit holding him, he only gasped and clung to Kit at every sparkle and thunder.

As the storm died out, Chris fell asleep in Kit's embrace, and Kit, knowing the storm was over, got out from under the bed and dragged Chris out with him. He then picked Chris up off the floor, straining with Chris' weight as he was a little heavy for Kit, but he managed to put Chris on the bed and pushed him towards the wall before climbing back into bed himself. He pulled the cover over himself and Chris, settled down, and fell asleep.

Elsewhere aboard the Iron Vulture, Don Karnage was furiously fuming, pacing back and front while the other Pirates trembled with fear at his rage or grieved over their planes, crying their hearts out.

Their mechanic, Ratchet, was already hard at putting Karnage's plane back together. So far, he had super glued and bolted the two halves of the plane together and was now using a blowtorch to mend the crack along the plane's body.

"How dare that insignificant filthy little flea slice my beautiful plane in half!" Karnage raged. "Ooh, he makes me so angry just thinking about him! The next time I see him, I will tear him into little bite-size pieces, sew him back with dull needles, and feed him to the sharks!" He stopped his pacing, holding his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…. Did he not look familiar?"

Gibber, who rarely left Karnage's side while aboard the Iron Vulture or on Pirate Island, whispered in his ear.

"Yes…. he did look like Kit Cloudkicker… but where did he get that glowing sword, and how was it that he could fly?" Karnage wondered, and Gibber shrugged, his body language saying: 'Beats me.' "Then perhaps I will interrogate him under torture before cutting him up, sewing back together with dull needles, and feeding him to the sharks."

"D-done, Cap'n." Ratchet said with a sniff.

"Excellent!" Karnage said in delight, striding over to Ratchet and standing next to him, admiring his newly repaired plane. "It is beautiful! It is once again the most dreaded plane in the seven skies! You did well, my puny little mechanic, you!" He hugged and kissed Ratchet on the top of his head.

"Aw shucks, cap'n," Ratchet blushed, looking pleased with himself for finding favor with the captain.

"So, Ratchet, status report of my beloved plane of terror."

"Huh? Oh yeah! I did managed to put the plane back together again."

"So I can see," Karnage said with a nod. "Did you have to change anything?"

"Well, I had to put in a brand new engine. I couldn't fix your old one. It got damaged beyond repair."

Karnage looked heartbroken and enraged by that information. "Ooh, that Kit Cloudkicker-lookalike makes me so angry! First, I will have all of his fur painfully removed with a pair of tweezers! And then boil him in hot oil before dumping him out in the sea! Ha-ha-ha, he'd make tasty shark treats, yes-no?"

The rest of the Pirates grimace in fear at Karnage's latest torturous death description.

"But isn't it against the Pirates' code to harm children?" said a voice from above.

"Who goes there?" Karnage demanded, looking up.

At the rail of the catwalk above sat a chocolate brown bear, wearing a brown leather flight jacket and a pair of blue jeans. He jumped down from the catwalk and landed in their midst, surrounded by Pirates.

"You, foolish person," Karnage said, pointing the finger at him. "Who are you, my soon-to-be-insufficient-prisoner?"

"Matthew's the name, Matthew Cloudkicker." the bear said without the slightest hint of fear.

"Cloudkicker, eh? Now, why does that name ring a bell?" Karnage pondered. Gibber whispered in his ear, and Karnage angrily grabbed the front of Gibber's shirt. "I know that Kit Cloudkicker was once among us!" he then threw Gibber from him.

Matthew's eyes gleamed, hearing what he wanted to hear. "Yes, I see you know my son."

"Your WHAT?!" Karnage gasped, then he studied Matthew for a moment. "Hmm, yes, now I see the resemblance. Well, since you are responsible for bringing that flea-infected fur ball into the world. SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM A LOT!" he roared at his men, pointing his finger at Matthew.

The surrounding Pirates all drew their guns, but Matthew raised a hand. "Parley," he said.

Confused, the surrounding Pirates looked at each other and lowered their weapons.

"Der, what's parley, Mad Dog?" Dumptruck asked.

"I don't know…." Mad Dog said.

Groaning with impatience and anger, Karnage snapped: "What are you waiting for, fools?! Shoot him!"

Looking horrified, Gibber quickly dashed over to Karnage and whispered urgently into his ear as the Pirates were raising their guns again.

"HALT!" Karnage roared again, running over and smacking Dumptruck and Mad Dog. "What do you think you are doing, you idisome Pirates! The gentleman here has evoked parley. Which means he must not be hurt until we arrange a negotiation!"

"But you said—OW!" Mad Dog said as Karnage smacked him again.

"You dare argue with my magnificent self?" Karnage said in cold fury, smacking him again. "I ought to hang you by your little toe!"

Looking like a little child who got scolded severely, Mad Dog whined: "Sorry, captain."

"Man, the ego of this guy," Matthew muttered. "Certainly would explain the size of this flying fortress."

"Okay, parley time," Karnage said, turning to Matthew. "What is there to negotiate, foolish flyer-person?"

"I desire only information you may have on my son, Kit Cloudkicker," Matthew said. "Through a series of detective work, I am attempting to piece together what my son has been through, where he has been, et cetera."

"Well, that certainly is a noble quest, but, uh, here's a thought," Karnage said. "Why not ask him yourself?"

Matthew sighed. "Cloudkickers are stubborn. I've got the feeling he'll never tell me the full story, no matter how much I question him. He'll probably give me bits and pieces, but never the whole story. We tend to keep things to ourselves, you see."

"Yes, yes, and in exchange for information, you'll give me…?" Karnage said impatiently.

"Just this," Matthew said, and he reached into his jacket and withdrew a huge diamond.

Karnage's eyes lit up at the sight of the diamond. "Well…" he said greedily. "Perhaps we can help each other. Gibber, bring me the file on Kit Cloudkicker."

Gibber left the other room and returned with the file in his hand. He handed it to Karnage.

"Thank you," Karnage said, taking the file, and then he and Matthew walked towards each other. Simultaneously, they handed over their items to trade and took the object of trading from each other. Now Matthew has the folder, and Karnage has the diamond.

Karnage laughed as he examined the diamond. "Once again, I, the glorious Don Karnage, have gotten a huge profit from a one-sided deal! The file is worthless compared to this!"

Matthew opened the file, making sure everything was in there. He saw a black-and-white photo of Kit wearing a scowl on his face and a bandana around his neck paperclipped to the corner of the folder. The look didn't suit Kit at all.

He closed the folder. "Yeah. I thought you might like it. That's why I took it from your treasure room."

Karnage was cuddling the diamond against his face, "Yes, it's a beau—wait, what?! This one is already mine?!" Karnage said in a rage, looking at the diamond at arm's length. "Nobody fools the great Don Karnage and lives!" He threw the diamond on the floor out of anger. It ricocheted off the floor and hit him in the face! "OW! Grr, SHOOT… him?" Karnage said, looking around and realizing Matthew was no longer there. "Where'd he go? FIND HIM, YOU USELESS LUMPS! FIND HIM!"

On the roof of the Iron Vulture sat the McQueen. Not too far from the plane, a trap door in the top opened, and Matthew climbed through. He dashed into the plane, started the engines, and took off. To ensure he did not get intercepted by the Pirates, shortly after taking off, Matthew activated Overdrive and disappeared into the horizon in a burst of speed.