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Episode Twenty
Learning to Fly

It was morning, and Chris was asleep on the top bunk of his bed, cuddling his teddy bear. Suddenly, his bedroom door banged open, and there stood Kit. The sound of his brother bursting into his room did not disturb Chris, who simply turned over in his bed and slept.

"Chris," Kit said urgently, climbing up the ladder to Chris' bed and shaking him by the shoulder. "Chris! C'mon, wake up! We're gonna miss the bus!"

Chris snorted in his sleep and pulled the cover-up over his face.

"We don't have time for this!" Kit said impatiently, yanking the sheets off of Chris, revealing that Chris was wearing a nightshirt with matching sleep pants. He then pulled Chris up into a sitting position before pulling him onto his back, climbing back down the ladder, and carrying him out of the room. "Don't blame me when you wake up at school in your pajamas. It's your fault for being such a sleepyhead."

Matthew was at the bar in the kitchen. He froze in the act of sipping his coffee as he watched Kit carrying Chris on his back across the living room.

"Bye, Dad, we're about to miss the bus!" Kit said in a rush as he ran across the suite and out the door.

"That's strange,'' Matthew muttered as he continued to sip his coffee. "Chris is normally an early bird who rises with the sun."

It was another day at the Academy, and the flying school bus landed next to the walkway leading up to it. The door slid open, and the students started flooding out of it and into the school. They all went straight to their lockers before heading off to their classes.

Kit and Chris went to their lockers, opened them, withdrew their backpacks and books they would need for the day, then checked the schedule.

"Looks like we have General Education with Mr. Bagheera first thing this morning," Kit said as he and Chris closed their lockers and made their way to the classroom.

"Oh good, I love his classes!" Chris said brightly.

They entered the classroom with a crowd of students, found their seats, and sat down. Up at the front of the class stood Mr. Bagheera. A black panther in a tan-colored suit.

"Good morning, young Dedis," Mr. Bagheera said."Today we're going to start with spelling. Kit Cloudkicker, would you come up to the board, please?"

"Oh, uh, yes, sir." Kit said, startled that he got called upon to come up first. He got up and made his way up to the white marker board.

"Alright, Kit. Are you ready? Your first word is spinach." Bagheera said, reading the word from a flashcard.

"Oh, no, not that word!" Kit groaned. "My hand is gonna be sore today," he said as he reluctantly picked up a black marker.

"Is there a problem with the word?" Mr. Bagheera asked in concern.

"Oh, no, sir. It's just that I had a bad experience with that word in spelling before."

"Let me guess," Mr. Bagheera said, frowning."The teacher made you try until you got it right."

"Yes, yes she did, sir." Kit said shamefully. "And my hand was sore after that."

Mr. Bagheera shook his head in disgust. "Such a barbaric teaching method. Fret not, Kit. You only get three tries before I call the next person forward."

Kit's body relaxed at those words as he raised the marker and began to write. He wrote spinach correctly.

"Well done, Kit. You did it in your first attempt." Mr. Bagheera praised him.

"Yeah, well… my hand wouldn't let me forget how to spell that one." Kit muttered, waving his hand as if to shake off an ache.

"Yes, well…" Mr. Bagheera said, disapproving of Kit's previous teacher's methods. "Take your seat. Dewey, you are next."

"Aw, why me?" Dewey whined as he reluctantly got up from his seat and approached the board.

Later, after all the students had their turn on the board to spell a word, it was time for their history lesson.

"Alright, class, it's time for history, and Headmaster Khan has asked a special guest to come and teach you today," Mr. Bagheera said. "Please join me in welcoming the treasure historian, Mr. Ignatius."

"A treasure historian?" Louie perked up, looking excited as he sat straighter in his seat, paying more attention than usual. "Ooh, this ought to be good!"

A green parrot in a fancy purple suit swooped in from an open window and circled the classroom before landing on the teacher's desk.

"Hey, kids, wanna hear some thrilling tales of historic voyages and famous treasure hunts?" The parrot greeted the class.

"Ho, ho, I like this teacher," Louie said, looking excited by the word treasure, rubbing his hands together.

"Ignats? Is that you?" Kit asked in surprise.

"Kit?" Mr. Ignatius said in equal surprise. He flew across the room and landed on top of Kit's head. "Well, if I live and breathe! It IS you! Kit, my buddy, what a surprise! How'd you end up here, kid?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Ignats," Kit said, smiling, as his eyes rolled upward to look up at the parrot perched on his head.

"Well, that is a thrilling tale. But it'll have to wait until after school, I'm afraid", Mr. Ignatius said. "Right now, I'm supposed to be teaching you all history. So get out your pencils and notebooks!" he added to the class. "Since my buddy Kit is here, I'll tell ya the tale of the Treasure of Captain Wantoomany. It all started at a hangar sale where Baloo and Kit bought the chest that held my cage..."

Mr. Ignatius launched into the story of how he and Kit went to Tucker Forest, where they ran into trouble—Don Karnage and his two goons, Mad Dog and Dumptruck captured Kit and tortured him by tickling his feet to force the location out of him. And how he and Baloo saved Kit and flew into a cave inside a mountain where the treasure lay. He described to the class how Baloo accidentally triggered a trap that separated them from Kit, who got again captured by the Air Pirates. Baloo and Ignatius unwillingly went on to find the treasure, and although they located it, they decided to abandon it and save Kit. As they escaped the cave, the cave and the mountain collapsed upon themselves, thus sealing away the treasure of Wantoomany forever.

Throughout Mr. Ignatius' story, Chris sat on the edge of his seat, hanging on to every word, giving complete and undivided attention. At the end of the story, Louie yelled out in despair upon learning the fate of the treasure.

As Mr. Ignatius' story came to a close, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Mr. Bagheera dismissed them, reminding the departing students that their homework was due at the end of the week.

Out in the hallway, Chris nudged his shoulder against Kit. "So, the great Kit Cloudkicker does have a weakness. If I tickle your feet, you'll do my algebra homework for me?"

"Try it, and the next time you decide to sleep in, I'll just leave you behind, and you'll have to find your way to school," Kit said threateningly, though he was smiling good-naturedly.

"Oh, now that's just mean, big bro," Chris whined, pouting and pretending to look hurt by his words.

They shared a laugh as they headed on to their next class, which was Ken's Swordsmanship class.

After the lunch break, they went separate ways to their respective Elemental classes.

Kit stood in the Aero classroom, waiting for Joe along with the rest of his classmates.

The door opened, and Joe walked up to the front of the class and stood facing them.

"Good afternoon, Aero-casters," Joe greeted them. "I have a special treat for you all. Today I will teach you how to fly with your Aero-casting abilities, so meet me out front once you've all changed into your super suits."

Later, on a high cliff of the island near the waterfall, Joe stood in front of his students. Joe was wearing what looked like a skydiving suit.

"All right, kids, listen carefully; because this could be a matter of life and death," Joe said. "To fly while Aero-casting, the idea is to create a low-powered sphere of wind around the body. Because if you put too much power into it, you'll lose all control of your flight very quickly. Since you're all Aero-casters, Edna designed your suits to have wings that can spread out and fly. Thus..."

Joe put his arms down to his sides as if preparing to do a jumping jack and brought them back up again in the shape of a T, spreading the wings in his suit.

"You've mastered Aero-casting with your hands and feet. But to fly, you gotta windmill with your body," Joe said, then turned around and ran off. He dropped down, and before the students could lean over the edge to see if he was okay, Joe swooped back up in a steep climb before circling them a few times and then landed back in his previous position in front of the students.

"Just like that!" Joe said, "When I call your names. You will spread your wings and fly!"

One by one, Joe called a student forward. And one by one, they jumped off the cliff to attempt their flight. Twice Joe had to swoop down after a student who overbalanced their flight and fell.

"Huey, you next," Joe said.

Kit was surprised to hear that Huey was in this class. He had been so focused on learning to windmill that he hadn't noticed Huey was there. He looked around and instantly discovered why he hadn't seen him before. Huey hid in plain sight among the students, trying to blend in with them.

It was clear that Huey was terrified of flying without an aircraft.

"C'mon, son. The air is clean and fresh," Joe said, inhaling the air and sighing with pleasure.

"Uh, I t-think I'm coming down with a cold," Huey said lamely, giving a very fake sneeze.

Joe was not fooled but played along. "Oh, you poor thing. If you're not feeling well, then you're excused. Now run along to the nurse's office."

Huey looked immensely relieved. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," he said, turning to leave.

"It's too bad I'll have to give you a failing grade for the day's work," Joe said with regret.

Huey stopped dead in his tracks. "F-f-failing grade?" Shakily, he turned back to Joe. "C-can't I take a make-up course later?"

"Nope. Sorry, you can't." Joe said, "Either you fly and pass, or walk and fail. That's the way it is."

It was clear that Huey did not want that failed grade. For a moment, he struggled internally between staying and leaving. Finally, he decided to stay and fly.

"Okay, I'll do it!" Huey cried, spreading his wings.

"Oh, so you're all better then?" Joe said with a sly smile. Huey nodded, preparing himself for the worst. "Very well, off you go."

Huey ran up to the edge, summoning the power of the wind around him before jumping off. He soared through the air like a bird. He was surprised at what he was doing.

"I'm... doing it? Ha-ha, I'm DOING IT!" Huey cried joyfully, "I'm flying! Whoo-hoo! Ha-ha, I'm the Duke of Flight!" But in his excitement, he lost his focus and dropped like a stone to the ground. "AH, I TAKE IT BACK, I'M THE DUKE OF CRASH!"

Joe dived off the cliff, swooped down upon Huey, grabbed him, and flew him back to the top.

"That was a good start, son," Joe said kindly, setting a shaking and panting Huey on his feet to the ground. "But you gotta focus while in flight and keep your body relaxed." He turned to the rest of the class and gestured to Kit. "Kit, it's your turn."

"Yes, sir." Kit stepped forward, approaching the edge of the cliff. He leaned over, looking at all the trees and landscape surrounding the Academy. Which looked like a small block from the high altitude he stood.

"Now remember, son," Joe said, standing next to Kit. "To fly, windmill with your body and become one with the wind."

"Got it, sir." Kit said as he moved to stand on the edge of the cliff. His body was trembling with anticipation and excitement. "Mr. Joe, if I fall, don't bother catching me. I'll be fine. I've done this many times before."

"What? Jump off a cliff?"

"Actually… out of an airplane." Kit muttered, knowing how crazy it sounded. He then spread his wings.

Joe smiled and shook his head. "Alright then, let's see what you can do."

Kit took off running, dived right off the cliff, and disappeared from view of the class.

Huey gasped as he watched. "He… he didn't windmill before he jumped! He's gonna crash!"

Joe smiled as he turned to Huey. "Don't fret, son. I never said you had to windmill before the jump. You can do it even while falling." And as he said this, Kit came soaring back into view, flying high above them with a cry of:

"YA-HOOO!"

Kit was flying. Up, up he soared, air rushed through his hair, his suit billowing in the wind —and in a rush of fierce joy, he realized that he'd found something he could do without being taught— this was easy, this was wonderful! He swooped down and climbed back up again, doing cartwheels and loop-de-loops through the air. Somehow knew by instinct how much wind power to put into every move and maneuver without overpowering it or underpowering them. He couldn't explain how.

Below, Joe and the other students watched in awe as Kit flew seemingly without effort. Huey was so jealous of Kit's success that he took one of his books, threw it to the ground, and began to jump up and down on top of it in frustration.

"Well, I'll be darned," Joe said with pride as he watched Kit fly."That boy's a natural-born flyer!" After a while, he called up to Kit. "Alright, son. That's enough. Come on down."

"Yes, sir!" Kit said as he swooped down towards the cliff. But he realized too late that he'd miscalculated the speed and distance to the ground. He cried out as he tried to correct himself before touching the ground. He stumbled on landing and rolled across like a bowling ball towards his fellow students, knocking them down like pins. He only stopped when he hit a tree and slid it upside down.

Kit opened his eyes, feeling so dazed that he saw a dozen Joes spinning around before him.

"Are you alright, son?" Joe asked, offering Kit a hand.

Kit shook his head to clear his vision before accepting Joe's hand. "Uh, yeah…I think so."

Joe pulled Kit to his feet. "That was some spectacular flyin', son! But, er, your landing could use some work. A-plus flying, C-minus landing."

"Like pilot, like navigator," Kit muttered to himself, thinking back when Baloo graded his flying as an A-plus while escaping from the Air Pirates and then made a very bumpy landing. Kit then graded his landing as a C-minus.

"Seeing as you can fly well, you're welcome to continue practicing your flying while the rest of the class takes their turn," Joe said. "Just try not to distract them as they attempt to fly."

Kit suddenly looked overjoyed, like a child on Christmas morning. "Really?! Wow, thanks, sir!" He then ran and jumped off the cliff and spread his wings. He flew around and around the island as the rest of his peers took turns flying one by one.

Kit flew around the floating island in the sky, enjoying every minute, swooping down and back up again. Then flew into the clouds. He clicked his heels together, and an airfoil popped out of the boots of his super suit. He touched it down on the clouds and was now surfing across clouds while using his Aero-casting power to remain airborne. He let out a joyous whoop as he skied across the clouds without an airplane towing him!

"WHOO-HOO!"

As Joe continued to teach the class, Kit kept flying high in circles, watching his fellow students as they took their turns flying. One by one, each of them jumped off the cliff. Some of them circled back. Others dropped out of the sky and had to be rescued by Joe.

Huey got a second chance at flying. And this time, he was more successful at it. Delighted with his friend, Kit swooped down to fly next to Huey.

"Ya-hoo, Huey! You did it!" he cried happily, startling Huey, who yelped and screamed as he fell like a stone from the air. Kit gasped. "HUEY!" he cried as he swooped down after the falling duck. He caught the red triplet and held him as he flew through the air.

Huey sighed with relief and then glared back over his shoulder at Kit. "You startled me! I was trying to focus on flying."

"Yeah… sorry about that," Kit said with a sheepish smile. "But you were doing great, though."

"Yeah… I guess I was." Huey said, looking more relaxed. "Let me go. I'm ready to fly on my own."

"Okay, if you're sure," Kit said, releasing Huey. He watched as Huey dropped down a few feet before spreading his wings to fly back up. He then circled to fly side by side with Kit. They then shared a laugh of joy as they soared like eagles across the sky together.

At the end of the lesson, Joe dismissed most of the class, sending them back to the school for their next class.

"Kit, Huey, stay behind. I want to talk to you," Joe said, beckoning them forward. "You two fly very well. I have nothing more to teach you about flying. You're a natural!"

Kit appeared very happy by this, while Huey looked modestly surprised.

"Me? Really? But I messed up a few times." Huey said with self-disappointment.

"Yes, but you got better as time went on," Joe said kindly. He then took out his Gummiphone and held it up to Kit. "Alright, son, smile for me."

Kit gave a smile. And with a click, Joe took his picture and then typed in texts with both of his thumbs. When he finished, a card popped out of the top of the phone. He took the card and handed it to Kit.

"What's this?" Kit asked, accepting the card. He saw his picture beneath the headline: D-Star Windmill Flying License.

"It's a license to fly around here with your Aero-casting power," Joe said, taking a picture of Huey. "With it, you can fly to and from school on your own."

"Wow…" Kit said in awe, then turned the license over to look at the back and saw something that disappointed him: Not a Pilot License. "What? Not a pilot license? Aw man!"

"So if we miss the bus, we can use our Aero-casting to fly to school?" Huey asked as Joe handed him his license.

"Yes, you can, or if you choose not to use the bus," Joe said with a smile. "Now run along to your next class."

Later, at the ring of the final bell, the school was over for the day. The students flooded out of the school and boarded their bus to go home.

Kit eyed the bus for a moment and sighed. Chris looked at Kit, having heard him sigh.

"What's up, Kit?" he asked with concern.

"Nothing, it's just that I wanna fly. I don't want to ride the bus home." Kit confessed.

"Oh, you can fly now?" Chris said in surprise. "Well, okay. Why don't we ditch the bus and fly home together?"

"We?" Kit asked, looking puzzled.

"Yeah, I can fly too, you know?" Chris reminded him, withdrawing his airfoil and fanning it into its' round shape.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you can do that," Kit said.

"Hey," said Max Goof as he stepped forward toward them. "If you two are ditching the bus to fly home, count us in!" he said, grabbing Huey and pulling him to his side with his arm around Huey's shoulders.

"Yeah, that would be a good flying practice," Huey said. "Okay, let's all fly as a group!"

They all lined up side by side, facing the open sky. Kit and Huey changed into their super suits, spread their wings, and took off into the sky, while Chris tossed his airfoil and jumped on top of it, zooming through the air after them. Meanwhile, Max summoned his staff into his hand and held it up.

"Shooting Star!" Max called. A star shot down from the sky, and Max jumped on top of it, flying after his friends.

The four laughed, whooped, and cheered as they flew down from the floating island in the sky toward the town below, with Max in the lead and Chris bringing up the rear.

The next day, the students arrived on the campus to find a new facility on the school grounds overnight. The students stopped to stare in awe of it on their way into the school building.

"Wow, what's that?" Kit asked as he, Chris, and the Duck triplets paused to admire the new building. "How did it get built so fast?"

"According to the school message board, it's the new Dedi Command Center," Huey answered, reading from his red Gummiphone. "As for how it got built so fast, it's a capsule building. Gyro and a team of scientists collaborated to combine Gyro's shrink ray with capsule technology to shrink it down into a capsule, then turn it back to its normal size in a new location. It makes relocating a lot easier."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Kit said in awe as they walked up into the school for another day of learning and training.

In the afternoon, after classes were over, Headmaster Khan's voice spoke over the intercom.

"Kit Cloudkicker, Huey Duck, and Cubbi Gummi, your presence is required at the Command Center. There you will receive further instructions. That will be all."

Kit looked at Huey. "What do you think they want with us?"

Huey shrugged. "I don't know. Let's go find out."

"Hey, Kit." said a voice behind them. They turned around to see Cubbi standing there. "Hey, Huey. What do you think they want with us?"

"That's what we're going to find out." Kit said as he and the other two separated from the group and made their way to the Command Center.

As they approached the huge double doors, they automatically opened to allow them access.

Gyro Gearloose stood in the entrance hall, waiting for them.

"Hello, Dr. Gearloose. We're here reporting for duty!" Huey said, going up to Gyro and giving a salute.

"Uh… at ease, cadet," Gyro said, awkwardly returning the salute. "Now, before I escort you three into the center to receive your mission, take these." He handed them a strange silver watch with a square-shaped digital black screen.

"What is this?" Kit asked, holding up his own and giving it a puzzled look. "A watch? But I already have one."

"That is a one-way communicator slash teleportation device," Gyro said proudly. "It allows you to communicate with us here at the Command Center. It also teleports you here from anywhere within the D-Star. Saving the trouble of summoning you to the Headmaster's office for a briefing on a mission."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Huey said as he, Kit, and Cubbi put on their watches.

Cubbi's was too large for him. "Um… do you have one that's a smaller size?"

Gyro got down on one knee, pulling a tape measure from his pocket. "Hold out your arm." Cubbi extended his arm to Gyro, and Gyro measured around his wrist. "Hmm… I don't currently have one your size, but it shouldn't take long to make one. I should have it ready by the time you get back from your mission, assuming you survive. Now come along."

As Gyro led them through the building, the kids saw groups of people and robots unboxing things and putting lab equipment and computer consoles together, as typical of labs and offices moving in.

They came up to a heavy iron door, and with a swipe of a key card, Gyro opened it and gestured them inside. They walked in to find themselves in a round space surrounded by computer consoles lined up in a circle around them. Opposite the door, in front of the console, was a big tube of flowing energy.

Then, a blob floated up from the bottom of the tube as a lava lamp. As they watched, it shaped itself into the giant head of the Colonel.

"Hello? Fiddlesticks, is this on? Hello? Can anyone hear me?" the Colonel said, looking around in confusion, turning his head left and right, up and down inside the tube, with his face distorting as different features either shrunk or enlarged while he moved his head.

"Yes, yes. Hello, Colonel, we can hear you." Gyro said. "Um, would you mind backing away from the webcam a bit? And stop turning your head so much. This distorting Big Head mode is creeping me out."

"Eh? Oh yeah, yeah." the Colonel said. His head shrunk a bit and stopped distorting. "Sergeant Tibbs mentioned that I shouldn't get too close... how's this?"

"Perfect, sir," Gyro said, giving Colonel the OK sign with his hand. "Carry on."

"What was wrong with the old system of me coming in person to give a briefing…?" Colonel grumbled. "Now he changed the whole system, so I have to sit here in front of this... this weird little eyeball contraption…" he said, referring to his webcam, "...and give my briefing from here… I didn't mind the walk. Balderdash, if it ain't broken, don't fix it."

"Um, sir? The mission?" Kit said to bring the Colonel back to the task before he could rant further.

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah," The Colonel cleared his throat before speaking again. "We have detected a UFO lurking around Earth four-o-one. Your mission is to find and investigate it. If it's an enemy, take it out, and if it's too much for you, return to the Command Center and give your reports. We'll send the troops after them!"

"A UFO? Could it be aliens?" Cubbi asked excitedly. "It would be cool if we took out a bunch of aliens in my first mission!"

"A UFO doesn't necessarily mean aliens," Huey pointed out. "It could be an unidentified flying object that may or may not belong to the enemy."

"Correct, Hubert, this is an unknown entity. And we do not know if it's a friend or foe." the Colonel said. "As I said, your mission is to find the UFO and investigate it. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Kit, Huey, and Cubbi said in unison as they saluted.

The Colonel nodded and said: "Alright, now, off you go! Dismissed!" There was a pause, and then the Colonel looked around. "Okay, now how do I turn this blasted thing off?" And his face got replaced with a finger, evidently poking at the webcam.

"Colonel, no, that's not how you… Sir, let me!" said the voice of Tibbs in the background, and the form of the Colonel's finger became a blob and floated back down to the bottom of the energy tube.

"Well, now that you've received your mission, follow me. I'll take you to the new Warp Room," Gyro said, beckoning them to follow him. He led them from the briefing room, down the hall, and into the labeled Warp Gate. "Here you are. And now that you know where the briefing room and the Warp Gate are, you no longer need me. Good luck!" He then left the room, leaving them with the Warp Gate operator.

"H-hey guys!" the operator said, a goose kid with a stuffy voice, wearing glasses and a green shirt.

"Oh, hey, Honker!" Huey said brightly. "You're in charge of operating the Warp Gate?"

"Y-yeah, but just for the day," Honker said. "Members of the Brainy class who aren't on active duty take turns operating a section of the Command Center. Tomorrow I'm supposed to help P.J. establish a direct connection to this new location. But don't worry. He should still be able to stay in contact with you on the field. Though, the signal may not be as strong as it was before. So, where do you need to go?"

"To Earth four-o-one," Kit said.

"Alright," Honker said, typing a few commands on the console before pulling the lever back and activating the Warp Gate. "Here you go."

The big round vault-like door opened up, revealing the swirling blue vortex.

"Thanks," Kit said to Honker before he and his two teammates stepped forward into the vortex.

The three of them were flying at high speed through a tunnel of blue-flowing light, racing towards a bright light at the end of the tunnel. When they reached the end of the tunnel and flew through it, they found themselves high up in the sky among the clouds.

As they realized that there was nothing beneath them miles below, gravity suddenly kicked in, and they cried out as they dropped, free-falling without a parachute.

After losing around a hundred yards of altitude, they locked their heels together and spread out their arms, activating their wings, and with the updraft, they gained some altitude, flying just above the clouds.

"Why did we come out in the sky? Don't we usually come out on the ground?" Kit asked, scanning the grounds miles below.

"Yeah, we usually do!" Huey replied, "This is the first time I've ever come out in the sky like this, which means our objective is probably not on the ground."

"Well, we're here to investigate a UFO, so it makes sense." Cubbi pointed out, and unlike the other two, he was scanning their surroundings instead of the ground. "But I don't see one yet," he added in a disappointing voice.

Something enormous loomed over them from behind, and they did not notice the overcasting shadow until the thing was right on top of them! Kit looked back and let out a gasp as the beak of a giant metal vulture opened up to seemingly swallow them.

"Guys, split up, NOW!" Kit cried as they scattered in three different directions. Kit climbed upward, Huey climbed leftward, and Cubbi climbed rightward. They performed a spiral climb high above the giant airship with a vulture face in the front. They regained their previous formation at a higher altitude, looking down on the airship. "What the—it's the Iron Vulture! What's it doing here?"

"And how did it get here?" Huey added his question.

"Well, it's not aliens, but I guess some sky pirates would be the next best thing!" Cubbi said excitedly.

"Air Pirates are nothing to be excited about!" Kit shouted at him.

"Aw, what are they gonna do, sing and dance?" Cubbi said, clearly not taking the pirates seriously.

"Attention, you pesky little houseflies." said a voice on the loudspeakers from the Iron Vulture. "It is I, the plundering wonder.."

"DON GARBAGE!" Kit yelled down toward the Iron Vulture.

"IT IS KARNAGE! DON KARNAGE!" the voice yelled in outrage. "You ought to know that better than anyone, my insignificant little flea of a former protégé!"

"Whatever you say, Don Garbage." Kit said mockingly as Huey and Cubbi glanced at each other worryingly.

"Uh, Kit, m-maybe you shouldn't rattle his cage," Huey said weakly.

"OOH-OOH-OOH! YOU MAKE ME SO VERY ANGRY, KIT CLOUDKICKER! GET THEM, MY MEN, GET THEM!"

The beak of the Iron Vulture opened up, and half a dozen Air Pirate planes flew out and started pursuing the three boys.

"SPLIT UP, GUYS!" Kit yelled as the three of them split up in different directions, and the pursuing pirates did likewise. Dumptruck chasing Kit, Mad Dog, and Gibber, chasing after Huey, and two other pirates going after Cubbi.

The three boys performed some loop-de-loops and barrel rolls through the air to shake them off, but it was unsuccessful. Their pursuers remained close behind them. When the pirates got close enough to them, they pressed a button, activating their net launchers, and one by one, they fired off their nets at them. Each of the boys was captured and carried back into the Iron Vulture.

Inside, the three boys were tied back-to-back and set on the floor.

"Can we use our power to escape?" Cubbi asked, straining against his bonds.

"No, not yet." Kit said. "The pirates should've gone the way of my homeworld. I-I have to know how they survived and whether anyone else survived."

"Unlikely, but I understand the desire for answers," Huey said sadly. "We still don't know what happens to a world taken by the Shadow Minions if you're not already off-world."

"Greetings and salivations, my new prisoners," Don Karnage said, entering the room. He separated Kit from the other two and picked him up one-handed by the rope that bounds him. "Ah, the catch of the day. And where is that stupid fat pilot Baloo?"

Looking angry at the insult of Baloo, Kit responded by saying: "Stuff it in your windsock."

"My… wind-SOCK?! Why, you little—!" Karnage cried outrageously, dropping Kit to the floor and drawing his sword. He then stopped and collected himself as he put his sword away. "Just for that, you'll be hooked to the tickling machine!"

"What? NO! Anything but that, I can't stand being tickled!" Kit cried, looking scared.

"Oh yes, and your first session begins NOW!" Karnage said as Dumptruck picked Kit up and carried him over to a tickling device while Mad Dog picked Huey and Cubbi up and threw them into a cell, locking the door behind them.

Kit got strapped down to the table of the tickling device. His arms and legs were cuffed to the four corners, spreading them out.

"W-w-w-wait, b-before you push that button!" Kit said nervously, and Karnage paused from pushing the big red button. "Tell me, how are you here right now? I watched our world disappear! None of you should be here."

"Well, it is a thrilling tale," Karnage said. "As the glorious pirates that we are, we were in the position to engage in another plundering when the world around us got covered in darkness. Somehow, I knew it would be the end of Don Karnage. We prepared to go out in a blaze of glory until a woman appeared to us."

"A woman?" Huey asked from behind the bars of the cell. "Who is this woman?"

"She introduced herself as Bruja," Karnage said dismissively. "She confirmed what I, the all-knowing intellect, already knew," he added, puffing out his chest with pride. "The world was about to be taken by the darkness. She then told us that she was there to give us an offer. Her master, Scar, was interested in our Iron Vulture and that we could join forces with him and live to plunder another day!"

As Karnage told the story, Kit could tell that Karnage was deliberately leaving out a few details to paint himself more favorably.

"Lemme guess…" Kit said. "It was either joining them or getting taken by the darkness along with the world."

In anger, Karnage pressed the button on the machine, making Kit let out a burst of laughter as six mechanical hands tickled his armpits, his sides, and his feet.

"NO! HA-HA-HA-HA! I CAN'T STAND THIS! HA-HA-HA-HA! PLEASE STOP!" Kit begged, speaking through his laughter. "I'd rather scrub the Iron Vulture floor with a toothbrush!"

Karnage pressed the button again, and the machine stopped tickling Kit, who lay there on the table, panting for breath.

"We accepted her generous offer and joined forces with her master, Scar," Karnage continued his story. "She took us to a place called Drekmore. Where they gave us the power to plunder other worlds and steal their treasures before those shadowy thingies swallowed that world. And that's what we're here for."

"To steal the treasure of this world?" Kit asked. "We won't let you! We'll stop you!" he declared.

Karnage activated the tickling machine again, sending Kit into a laughing loop where he couldn't stop.

Suddenly, a pink ball rammed into Karnage's back and bounced off him. Karnage fell facedown while the pink ball bounced from pirate to pirate, knocking them down until it hit a brick wall that was Dumptruck. It bounced off his chest and landed on the floor, revealing itself as Cubbi.

"Oww! What are you made of, metal?" Cubbi asked, looking up at Dumptruck while rubbing his head.

Dumptruck, unfazed by Cubbi's bouncing attack, remained standing as he reached down to grab Cubbi. Cubbi bounced off from wall to ceiling to floor, building up his speed and force before flying at Dumptruck again. This time, knocking him out. Dumptruck swayed on the spot, birds flying around his head before falling forward onto the floor with a great crash.

While this happened, Huey snuck up to the tickling machine, shut it off, and uncuffed Kit from the table.

"Thanks," Kit gasped gratefully, sitting up. "How did you escape?"

"I picked the lock with this," Huey replied, holding up a hairpin. "A Junior Woodchuck is always prepared. And Cubbi had a Gummiberry bean, which gave him his bouncing power."

Karnage groaned with frustration, drawing his sword and running at them. Kit quickly summoned his D-blade into his hand and countered Karnage's attack, slicing Karnage's sword in half.

Karnage looked at his sword with a mixture of bewilderment and fear. "Wh-where did you get that?"

"It chose me, Karnage, and it's no ordinary sword," Kit said, pointing his blade to Karnage's chest, and Karnage held his hands up nervously in surrender.

Cubbi, meanwhile, was still bouncing around when, all of a sudden, the effect of the Gummiberry bean wore off.

"Uh-oh…" Cubbi muttered as the effect wore off in mid-bounce. As he approached a wall with no other way to avoid the collision with the wall, he thrust his hands forward, firing a gust of strong wind from them, creating the rebound force against himself to get out of the mid-bounce and safely land on his feet. "Phew! Good thing I'm a windmiller," he sighed with relief.

Don Karnage looked at Cubbi in shock. "WHAT?! How did he do that?"

"Well, since the cat's out of the bag..." Kit said, thrusting his hands at Karnage, blasting the pirate captain with a gust of strong wind that sent him flying until he hit the ceiling.

"Oof! But Mama, I don't wanna go to bed right now," Karnage said in a daze with birds flying around his head before falling to the floor.

"That's for tickling me, Karnage." Kit said with contempt. "Let's go, guys!" he commanded, running towards the beak of the Iron Vulture. He pulled the lever down, opening its beak.

Kit, Huey, and Cubbi then spread their wings and ran off the edge of the beak, flying off ahead of the Iron Vulture.

"Geekdom, how much further do we have to fly to find our objective?" Kit asked, addressing P.J. by his codename while activating the communication device inside his aviator hat.

"Hey, you're back!" P.J. said with relief as his image appeared in the lens of Kit's goggles. "What happened, man? I lost contact."

"Got hung up with the Air Pirates," Kit replied shortly. "Our objective location, please, Geekdom! The pirates are not too far behind!"

"Umm…" P.J. said, typing on his keyboard. "Just keep flying north. It's right ahead of you. You can't miss it."

"Roger that," Kit said. "Alright, guys. Let's pick up the speed."

"Right!" Huey and Cubbi said together as the three blasted off with a stronger wind behind, propelling themselves through the air at higher speed, leaving the Iron Vulture behind.

They flew over hills, mountains, and forests until they located the target.

"There it is!" Cubbi cried. "Straight ahead."

Floating high in the sky with no support holding it up from beneath stood a modest-sized castle with a floatation ring around it. The three of them landed on the balcony on top of one of the towers and looked back to see that the Iron Vulture wasn't as far behind as they would have liked and was fast approaching.

Inside the Iron Vulture, Don Karnage, with a look of rage on his face, was at the steering wheel, his eyes fixed upon the floating castle before him.

"You think you can get away from I, the great Don Karnage, do you?!" he said, spinning the steering wheel. "Well, you've got another thing more coming! I'll clip your wings, Kit Cloudkicker! And your little friends too!"

On the balcony, Kit watched the Iron Vulture approach with a determined look.

"He just doesn't know when to quit!" Kit said angrily and then turned to Cubbi. "Cubbi, you know how to cast the Seal?"

"I can't. I'm not a magic user or a D-blade wielder." Cubbi said. "The only things I have are my Power Rope and my Gummi dagger, and I only have one bean left."

"Huey?" Kit said, but Huey held up his hands.

"Don't look at me. I'm an archer. All I have, are my bow and arrows and my wits," he said.

Kit turned to look at the approaching Iron Vulture with frustration on his face. "Guess it's up to me to secure this world, but this stinks! I have a plan to take out the Iron Vulture!"

Huey and Cubbi exchanged a look, and then Huey said: "Kit, why don't you tell us your plan to take it down? Maybe we could do it while you save the world."

Kit sighed, knowing he had no other choice. "Okay, here's what you do.." he said, and they put their heads together as he told them his plan. "...Ready? BREAK!"

The three of them broke apart, Kit running into the castle while Huey and Cubbi jumped off the balcony and flew towards the Iron Vulture.

"Here we go! I hope Kit's plan works," Cubbi said, holding his hand to Huey.

"It will," Huey said, looking confident in Kit's plan. "Just remember to put all your energy into it."

Cubbi nodded with a confident grin on his face, and the two of them grasped hands in midair, and the two began to spin in a circle like a dog chasing its tail. With their Aero-casting ability, their midair spin caused a tornado to rise. Their tornado seemed to have two smaller tornadoes as arms as it moved towards the approaching Iron Vulture.

As the imposing, towering tornado moved closer to them, Karnage panicked, and he spun the steering wheel as fast as he could, frantically trying to steer the airship away from the tornado.

"A-a-ah! RETREAT, RETREAT!" he cried. "Full speed behind!"

As the Iron Vulture turned around and flew in the opposite direction. The tornado shrunk and vanished. Down below on the ground stood Huey and Cubbi, panting as if they had just run a mile.

"Great Gummies! That was awesome!" Cubbi gasped. "Exhausting, but awesome!"

"Y-yeah!" Huey gasped. "Let's hope Kit is getting close to our objective," he added as they looked up at the floating castle in the sky.

Kit ran through the castle's halls, finding his path blocked by a horde of Shadow Minions. At the sight of Kit, they all came swarming towards him. He summoned his D-blade to his hand and ran forward, slashing at the Shadow Minions as he went. Upon being hit by the D-blade, the slain Shadow Minions faded away. More Shadow Minions arrive and seem to be multiplying their numbers.

"There's so many of them." Kit muttered to himself. "Okay, Kit, don't waste your energy on the small fries. Just use your head and take out the ones in your way. Which is all of them…" he added, seeing that he was surrounded from all sides by the Shadow Minions. "Well, it's a good thing I'm a dual wielder," he said, summoning his second D-blade to his left hand.

Now wielding two D-blades, he spun around on the spot with both blades outstretched, slaying the Shadow Minions around him, creating a round-shape clearing. He then took off, slashing left and right, all that stood in his way until he finally reached the throne room.

In the throne room stood a golden statue of a griffin, a giant eagle with a lion's hindquarter with its wings spread out. But before he could cast the Seal on the griffin, he found himself suddenly bound from neck to ankles in ropes so he couldn't turn his D-blade to cut himself free.

"What the—?" Kit gasped, straining against the ropes, but he found them too tight. "Who's there? Who tied me up!"

Someone in the room cackled and said: "It was I, Black Arts!"

A Beagle Boy in a dark hooded cloak and black eye mask stepped into view along with a bored-looking young fox teen wearing similar attire.

"And this is my assistant, Phantom." Black Arts added, pointing his thumb at the fox teen.

"Thank you, Lame Arts. Now shut your mouth before you say more than you should," Phantom said, annoyed with being introduced as an assistant.

"What are you two doing here, and what do you want?" Kit asked.

"We're here to—" Black Arts began, but he got interrupted by Phantom.

"Hey, shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you!" Phantom growled, unrolling a little bit of duct tape threateningly.

"Where… where did you get that roll of duct tape?" Black Arts asked, looking annoyed with Phantom.

"Ma gave it to me. Just in case you opened your big mouth and spilled all the beans to our enemy," Phantom said smugly. "Now, get on with your job. I'll take care of this kid," he added, approaching Kit.

Kit struggled and strained against his bond as Phantom approached him. He dismissed his D-blades so they couldn't take them from him.

"What are you gonna do?" Kit asked as the fox teen stood before him.

"I'll put you to sleep," Phantom said, raising his hand over Kit's head. "Nighty-night…"

Before Phantom could do his sleep spell, Kit released a powerful breath of wind from his mouth, blowing Phantom across the room. Phantom flew through the air, colliding with Black Arts, knocking him down.

"Get off of me!" Black Arts said, pushing Phantom off of him. "I thought you said you'll take care of him."

"Not my fault that twerp is a windsock weirdo! And you ain't doing much to help with yer lame mumbo-jumbo!" Phantom yelled angrily at him. "Can't ya call a creepy friend to help!?"

Black Arts reached into his pocket and withdrew shattered fragments of a purple crystal.

"I would, but you broke my summoning stone!" Black Arts yelled back.

"I broke it?!" Phantom yelled indignantly. "That kid broke it, not me!"

While they were arguing, Kit, with his legs bound together, bunny hopped around the room, aligning himself to face the pair with the window behind them.

"Hey! You both need to cool off!" Kit said, then he took a deep breath.

"Oh no…." Phantom muttered nervously. "Quick, put up your shield before—!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Kit released another breath of strong wind, blowing the pair back and out through the window.

As they fell, Black Arts looked at Phantom with an annoyed expression.

"Why couldn't you have said that faster!?"

"Aw, shut up, you slowpoke! " Phantom yelled back, "Now open a portal before we end up like pancakes on the ground!"

Black Arts lifted his hand and directed it below them. He opened a portal, through which they fell in and vanished.

Now alone in the throne room, Kit hopped over to a suit of armor and bumped into the spear that the armor was holding, lowering the tip down. He then rubbed himself against the blade of a spear, cutting the ropes and freeing himself. But before he could do anything else, a portal appeared in the room, and Black Arts and Phantom stepped through.

"You guys again?" Kit said in dismay. "You won't go down easy, will you?"

"No one blows me out and gets away with it, twerp!" Phantom said with a snarl. "Let's give him a lesson with a little hocus pocus, Blacky!"

Black Arts raised his hands. "Come to me, Shadow Minions!" he cried, and an army of Shadow Minions rose from the floor. He then glowed with a dark aura as he began to chant a spell. All the Shadow Minions in the room gathered together and became a huge swirling mass of dark blobs, moving and shifting around as they grew larger and larger, forming a single giant of a shadow monster.

Kit stared up at the giant Shadow Minion with fear in his eyes. "It's… it's massive!"

"Now, Darkside, crush him!" Black Arts ordered."

Kit gritted his teeth with a determined glare as he summoned his D-blades to both hands and braced himself as Darkside loomed over him, staring down at him while the laughter of Black Arts and Phantom echoed throughout the throne room.

To Be Continued

Author's Note:

Thank you all for reading the latest edition of D.A. Hearts! I hope you are enjoying the story thus far. More episodes are in the works and will be out in due time. Keep looking forward to more as the thrilling tale continues!

Ignatius, the green parrot, is from the TaleSpin episode, Polly Wants a Treasure.

Joe McGee is an alternate version of Joe from the TaleSpin episode, The Old Man and the Sea Duck, as the Joe from the TaleSpin episode had passed away.

The Colonel is from 101 Dalmation.

Special thanks to my editor, who worked hard on this episode while going through some hard times. Thank you, Cyclone Blaze. You are the best!