For Better or For Worse
Part 1

TaleSpin and its characters are property of Disney. All other characters are mine and cannot be used without permission.

Somewhere Over the Pacific Ocean
May 1938
Night

It was a dark and stormy night. The headlights belonging to one of Shere Khan’s plum and taupe cargo planes lit up a small patch of the pitch-black sky as it cruised towards Cape Suzette. The turbulent ocean waves below and angry, rolling thunderclouds above were visible only when a fierce bolt of lightning crackled across the sky. Tempestuous gusts tossed the seaplane around as easily as children tossing a ball.

Manning this craft was one of Khan’s most seasoned pilots - a middle-aged grey panther known as Captain James Spaulding. He wore the uniform typical of all Khan pilots - a grey flight jacket with a gold, encircled ‘SK’ insignia on the shoulder over a white shirt, grey necktie, and matching grey bad weather didn’t faze Captain Spaulding; he’d been through worse. Even so, he wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.

Repeatedly wiping condensation from the windshield, he strained his eyes in an attempt to peer through the blinding rain. According to his instruments, the rugged cliffs surrounding Cape Suzette should have been visible, but all his tired eyes could see was darkness.

Then, if things weren’t bad enough, he heard a snap, crackle, and a loud POP! To his astonishment, the port engine burst into flames, causing the plane to jerk violently to the right.

Spaulding simultaneously leveled the plane out while quickly cutting the fuel to the port engine to put out the fire. The flames hissed when the raindrops hit them, but were not quenched.

The pilot fumbled for the radio. Watching the blaze spurting from the engine as he struggled to keep his plane aloft, he pushed the ‘transmit’ button, saying urgently, “Mayday! Mayday! This is flight 243 calling. I’m experiencing major engine malfunction! Mayday!”

For a long minute, the radio was silent. He wondered if anyone had heard him. It was two o’clock in the morning, after all.

“Mayday! Please! Mayday!”

Through the static caused by the storm, a heavily accented voice answered. “Hallo, O Troubled One. What are your coordinations?”

“Don Karnage?” Spaulding murmured incredulously.

The pirate captain said grandly, “Yes, it is the one and only superiferous me. Give me your locations, and we will save you.”

“Saveme?” Spaulding remembered his last run-in with Karnage’s gang. His plane had been blasted to smithereens and he had spent a day trekking through the Sierra Padre Mountains. “Ha! Not on your life, you sleazy thief!”

“Oh, you flatterer, you.” Unconcernedly, Karnage said, “Okay. Fine. Crash and smash into a ka-jillion, million pieces. I was just offering my handsome assistance.”

“I don’t need your kind of assistance, Don Karnage!”

As if his plane wanted to make a liar out of him, the cockpit lights and headlights completely went out, leaving him in total darkness. Without lights and with only one engine, there was no way that he could make it through the storm. His heart began to thump loudly and his palms became damp. Clutching the steering yoke in a stranglehold, Spaulding peered outside at the storm just as a bolt of lightning crackled precariously close. He knew that the ocean would be less than merciful tonight. Unless he was lucky enough to land on - or close to - an island, certain death awaited him out there.

He didn’t feel that lucky.

Seeing no other viable option, Spaulding pressed the ‘transmit’ button again with trembling fingers. He gave out his coordinates reluctantly.

“Excellamundo. I knew you were smarter than you sounded. We will be upon you in precisely...five minutos. Jolly Roger willikers, under and over.”

The pilot donned his parachute and slipped his handgun in his jacket pocket. One couldn’t trust air pirates. The friendliness was likely just a ruse to capture him and his cargo. But what other choice did he have?

A moment later, a few faint pinpoints of light were visible through the storm. Fighting to keep his plane under control, Spaulding once again wiped condensation from the windshield and watched as the lights grew closer. When a lightning sheet illuminated the dark sky, he could see that the lights belonged to five CT-37s.

The single-man, tri-wing airplanes circled and got into formation around Khan’s plane - two on either side, two above, and one behind. All lassoed the troubled plane’s wings and tail section with grappling hooks to steady it between them. A lanky ferret with his droopy mustache blowing wildly in the wind crawled hand over hand down the rope to the cockpit door.

“Open the door!” Mad Dog yelled over the roar of the wind, engine, and fire.

Too surprised to do anything else, the panther pilot unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the cockpit door. At the same time that a sheet of warm rain unexpectedly smacked him in the face, the airplane jerked to the left. Spaulding was promptly thrown out the plane, doing a belly-flop ten thousand feet towards the ocean.

“Amateur,” Mad Dog scoffed, climbing the rain-drenched rope back to his plane.

Before he could pull the parachute’s ripcord, Spaulding landed with a jarring bump on the wing of a CT-37. With the rain lashing at his face and the wind trying to blow him away, his fingers struggled to grasp the slippery surface of the wing as the plane zipped along.

His fingertips were barely clinging to the end of the aileron when Hal, a rotund orange feline, pulled him into the cockpit, shouting over the storm, “Welcome aboard!”

“Yeah, uh, thanks,” mumbled the dazed Spaulding. He blinked furiously as wind and rain whipped into his face. Feeling extremely uncomfortable and more than a little confused about the whole unreal situation, he tried to make himself as small as possible as he sat, crowded, beside the pirate on the seat. Just to make sure that he was really beingrescued by Don Karnage’s gang of air pirates, he pinched himself.

He knew he wasn’t dreaming when Khan’s cargo plane zoomed past them, the port engine engulfed in flames, and disappeared into the storm.

Spaulding gasped as the CT-37 he was traveling in was swallowed by the gigantic ‘mouth’ of the Iron Vulture. He’d heard stories of this magnificent ship of the air from the few pilots that had been lucky enough to escape Karnage’s wrath, but nothing could have prepared him for this.

When the five CT-37s’ engines stopped, the leader of the air pirates, Don Karnage, swaggered over to the planes. The rugged brown wolf’s attire consisted of a blue coat trimmed with brass buttons, grey trousers, and black boots. A scabbard hung at his side. He called out, “Hallo, disdressed pilot! Why do you not come down and thank your exceedingly heroic rescuers?”

“Yeah, last stop, everyone out. This means you!” Hal dumped his passenger roughly out of the plane. Spaulding landed in a soggy heap on the floor.

“Pick him up and apologize at once, you simpering simpleton!” Karnage ordered. He backhanded Hal repeatedly across the cheek. WHACK! “Remember that it is nice,” WHACK! “to be nice,” WHACK! “to the nice!” WHACK!

“Uh, sorry,” Hal said quickly, yanking Spaulding to his feet by the back of his jacket.

Sopping wet, Spaulding, whose head was reeling with confusion and pain, put his hands in the air. His frightened eyes flitted around at the dozen smiling, and a few yawning, pirates.

“Welcome to the hospitalness of the Iron Vulture,” Karnage said with a sweeping bow. He then pumped Spaulding’s hand enthusiastically.

“Simply hi,” Mad Dog said, wringing water out of his blue vest.

“Vould you care to join us in a late-night snack?” Dumptruck asked politely in a Norwegian accent. The hulking grey canine held out a plate of unappetizing brown lumps covered with grey sauce.

Dumbfounded, Spaulding nodded. He slipped his right hand into his pocket. His fingers clenched the revolver’s handle. Friendly behavior or no, he still didn’t trust Don Karnage and his notorious gang of air pirates. Dripping with water, he squish-squashed through the hangar, following the pirates towards their dining hall.

Downtown Cape Suzette
One Month Later
Friday

It was a typical summer day in the coastal city of Cape Suzette. The sun shone brightly in the wind-winnowed aquamarine sky. A group of laughing children enjoying summer vacation rode their bicycles past innumerable skyscrapers down the busy sidewalks, much to the dismay of one pedestrian.

“Whoa!” Mayor Tuskany, a portly brown walrus wearing a grey suit and a grey derby, cried as he dodged right and left to avoid being hit by the bicycles. “Look out, you little hooligans!”

After having his foot run over by the last bicycle in the caravan, he, hopping up and down in pain, said indignantly, “There ought to be a law against that! Sidewalks are for walking, not bicycling. Hence, the term sidewalks. I’ll have to bring it up in the next city council meeting.” Limping slightly, he hurried along to his destination - Khan Towers - while mumbling under his breath about the health hazards of bicycles.

“Extra! Extra!” shouted a chubby, freckled porcine paperboy in a red and black striped shirt as he waved the latest edition of the Cape Suzette Tribune. “Don Karnage saves another cargo transport! Air pirates huge heroes!”

“Boy, I’ll take one of those.” Tuskany purchased a newspaper. Reading the article underneath the headline, he asked rhetorically, “What’s this city coming to? Children trying to kill me! Pirates saving people!”

“Beats me, mister,” the paperboy replied, reaching into his bag for another newspaper. “I don’t write this stuff. Extra! Extra! Read all about it!”

Muttering to himself, this time about crazy air pirates, Mayor Tuskany charged through the revolving doors of Khan Towers.

Shere Khan’s Office

Located on the top floor of ninety-story Khan Towers was the incredible office of the CEO of Khan Industries - Shere Khan. The entire office was impressive from the large window that offered a magnificent view of Cape Suzette to the lush jungle foliage that lined both sides of the room to the expensive, tasteful furnishings. However, the most impressive object in the room was Shere Khan himself. The mere presence of this austere tiger, who commanded a large chunk of the world’s finances from this very office, demanded everyone’s respect, if not admiration.

He certainly had Mayor Tuskany’s respect. The walrus had come to ask advice of this shrewd, levelheaded multi-billionaire. As he nervously paced in front of Khan’s scratch-marked mahogany desk, he waved his hat in the air. “What are we going to do? I can’t give Don Karnage the Cape Suzette Hero of the Year award. What the...?” A hungry Venus flytrap had chomped onto his hat.

“Mmm...yes, it does seem rather unseemly that Don Karnage is saving people instead of killing them.” Shere Khan, who was dressed impeccably in a tailored navy suit, laid down the paper featuring the picture of the latest rescued pilot - a bewildered-looking warthog. An amused gleam came to his eyes as he watched his ‘pet’ playing tug-of-war with Tuskany over the hat.

“Exactly,” said a small tan canine sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the desk as Khan. Detective Thursday wore a beige suit and cadet blue bow tie. A greyish-brown fedora reposed on his knee. “I don’t trust that pirate as far as I can throw him, no matter how many pilots he saves.”

“Me neither. Whoa!” The mayor, giving one last fierce yank on his hat, toppled head over heels after the Venus flytrap gave up its prey. With difficulty, he got to his feet and ruefully inspected the teeth marks in the hat’s brim. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those pilots had been brainwashed by that murderous marauder to fool them, and us, into thinking that the pirates had done some good deed.”

“Do you really think that Don Karnage would go through all that trouble just to get the Hero of the Year award?” Khan asked coolly.

“Well...maybe,” the mayor said uncertainly, feeling all of a sudden that his suggestion had been extremely stupid. “It’s a very prestigious award.”

Thursday stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Can you bring in one of these pilots? I’d like to get a first-hand statement.”

“Certainly,” Khan agreed amiably. He pushed a button on the interoffice intercom system. “Mrs. Snarly, get me Captain James Spaulding.”

“Yes, Mr. Khan,” said the secretary’s no-nonsense voice.

A few minutes later, a panther pilot stepped from the elevator into Shere Khan’s office.

“So glad that you could join us, Captain,” Shere Khan purred as the pilot made his way across the large room. “I assume you know Mayor Tuskany, and this is Detective Thursday.”

Spaulding bobbed his head politely.

Pressing the tips of his fingers together, Khan said, “Could you please tell these gentlemen what happened on May 5th?”

“The air pirate rescue, sir?”

“Mmm...yes.”

“Just the facts, please,” Detective Thursday added, pencil poised over his notepad.

Three sets of eyes intently watched the pilot as he began his tale. “That night, I was flying a shipment of nutmeg from the Spicy Islands to Cape Suzette when my port engine caught on fire.”

“Why didn’t you just land?” asked the mayor.

“I couldn’t, not in the thunderstorm.”

“Continue, Spaulding,” Khan drawled languidly, shooting an annoyed, pointed look at the walrus.

“Yes, sir. I attempted to extinguish the fire by cutting the fuel flow to the engine, but it didn’t work. And then my lights went out. I radioed for help.”

“And Don Karnage responded?” interjected Mayor Tuskany.

“He was the only one who did. The time was 0200 hours.”

“What were air pirates doing flying around in a thunderstorm at two o’clock in the morning?” Detective Thursday wondered.

“Saving my pilot, obviously,” Khan said wryly. “Proceed, Captain Spaulding.”

“A few minutes later, the air pirates came in five CT-37s. My plane was beyond repair so I jumped into one of their aircraft, and I was carried to their gigantic airship.” He shot a nervous, apologetic glance at Khan. “I’m afraid my plane and cargo were lost.”

Khan waved a dismissive paw as if losing a shipment worth five thousand dollars and a top-of-the-line, one hundred thousand dollar airplane meant nothing to him. “Yes, yes. We’ve already been over that. It couldn’t have been helped, Spaulding. You did all you could.”

“Did the pirates hold you at gunpoint or lock you up?” Tuskany asked, eyeing the pilot over his water glass.

“That’s the odd thing, sir. They were kind of...uh, friendly.”

“Friendly?” Mayor Tuskany spluttered, spilling water down the front of his suit. “That’s not possible! They’re pirates! It’s not their job to be friendly!”

Spaulding reiterated firmly, “They were friendly.”

“Hmpf! When pigs fly,” muttered the mayor. He dabbed at his damp suit coat with a large, blue handkerchief. “I suppose, technically, Don Karnage has earned the Hero of the Year award after saving one hundred twenty-seven...”

“One hundred twenty-eight,” Detective Thursday corrected, gesturing to that day’s paper.

“Yes, one hundred twenty-eight cargo pilots from crashing and burning in the ocean.” Tuskany mopped his brow with the handkerchief before returning it to his jacket pocket. “But it’s wrong that Don Karnage is saving people instead of hijacking them. I mean, it’s unnatural, against the pirate law.”

Nodding in agreement, Thursday said cynically, “Karnage and his crew turning legit is as likely as Thembria thawing.”

“What do you think, Mr. Khan?” Tuskany asked.

Khan rose from his chair and walked to the window overlooking the sun-baked, coastal city of Cape Suzette to hide the hint of an enigmatical smile on his lips. “It does seem rather odd, but we should at least give him the benefit of the doubt.”

The mayor frowned. “I’ve given him plenty of doubt. One hundred twenty-eight airplane malfunctions over the span of a month is too many. Do you think it’s a conspiracy?”

Thursday said, “Negative. My men and I checked up on all of the pilots that Karnage rescued. All were employed by different companies. A few were even from outside Cape Suzette. There’s no apparent connection between any of them.”

The mayor sighed in defeat. “It looks like we can’t deny Don Karnage his award. What do you say, Detective?”

“I agree, but something still smells fishy about the whole situation.”

The mayor brushed a few crumbs from his suit coat. “Oh, I had a tuna fish sandwich for lunch.”

“Then the award ceremony will proceed tomorrow at 11:00 AM as scheduled?” Khan asked, returning to his chair.

The mayor said helplessly, “I don’t see what else we can do, but I want extra police protection.”

“Affirmative,” said Detective Thursday with a decided nod. “I’ll see to it.”

“Excellent. Good-day, gentlemen.” Khan swivelled in his chair, signifying that the meeting was concluded.

Higher for Hire

Across the sparkling blue harbor, away from the noise and the heat of the crowded downtown area, a small wooden building stood by the docks. It was home to an air cargo company aptly named Higher for Hire.

Mounds of cardboard boxes and crates of various sizes were stacked up beside the door leading into the office. However, these boxes weren’t destined to be delivered to some faraway place by the yellow Conwing L-16 seaplane that was moored to the end of the dock. They contained the belongings of the cargo service’s owner Rebecca Cunningham and her seven-year-old daughter Molly.

The small building was undergoing big changes. The next day’s wedding and forthcoming adoptions were going to turn Rebecca, her pilot Baloo von Bruinwald, her young navigator Kit Cloudkicker, and her daughter Molly into a family. But, first, Rebecca and Molly’s things had to be moved.

The vehicle used for moving, an orange and white U-Tow truck, pulled up beside Higher for Hire. The passenger side door opened and a petite brown bearess wearing a magenta cardigan over a white turtleneck and purple pants hopped down from the cab.

“Oh, Baloo,” Rebecca said in the overly patient tone of a woman that had hashed this argument out many times. “You’re just sore, because I didn’t hire professional movers. You know we couldn’t afford it after paying for all of the wedding and adoption expenses.”

“Sore is right,” replied the big grey bear in a yellow flight shirt and red pilot’s cap as he painstakingly, painfully climbed down from the driver’s side of the cab. Baloo slammed the door in frustration. “My back’s achin’ from movin’ your junk, an’ no matter how many trips we make we don’t seem ta be makin’ a dent.” He pushed up the sliding door on the back of the truck, which was crammed full with furniture and boxes. Just in time, he caught a box that was teetering precariously. He set it carefully on the cobblestone path and swiped the back of his hand across his forehead.

“We’ve made a big dent, and I’m not referring to the dent that youmade when you smashed the dresser into the doorway.”

“Hey, can I help it if takin’ out the drawers didn’t make it any lighter?”

“I meant for you to carry the drawers separately, not put them on top of the dresser when you were trying to move it.”

“Now she tells me,” Baloo muttered sullenly. The dresser wasn’t the only thing that had smashed into the doorway. His left hand was still throbbing from the collision.

“Anyway, all that’s left at the apartment is the piano and a few more boxes.” With the agileness of a cat, Rebecca scrambled up into the truck bed, snaked her way through piles of boxes, and shoved against one end of a full-sized sofa.

“Thepiano?” Baloo puffed under the weight of the sofa as it was pushed out of the truck. Setting it on the ground and flopping wearily onto it, he exclaimed vehemently, “No way, no how are we movin’ that, Becky!”

Rebecca lightly hopped down from the truck and went over to one end of the sofa. “Up, Baloo.”

With a tired sigh, the big bear got to his feet and picked up the other end of the sofa.

Carrying the sage green sofa backwards towards the office door, Rebecca said, “What about Molly’s piano lessons? What is she going to practice on?”

“Why does she hafta play the right notes when there’s so many wrong ones ta play?”

As they navigated the sofa through the narrow doorway, she instructed, “Turn it to the right. Your other right, silly!”

“Make up yer mind, Becky, and make sure ya keep yer end up.”

“Excuse me for not being as strong as you.” She sagged under the weight. “This thing is heavy!”

“Tell me about it!” Baloo said, his aching muscles strained to the limit as he tried to push the sofa through the door without dropping it on his foot. “I’m holdin’ most of it over here.”

“Here, Miz Cunningham. I’ll help you.” Kit, a thirteen-year-old brown bear cub in an olive green sweater and blue baseball cap, hurried to grab onto the sofa’s end that Rebecca was holding. They tugged while Baloo pushed.

“C’mon, you stupid thing!” Baloo growled under his breath, throwing all of his weight against the sofa. It squeezed through the door with a ‘pop’, and he fell, sprawling face first across it, while Rebecca and Kit landed on their backsides with a ‘thump’. “I’m gonna take about forty winks right here. Call me when you’re done.”

“Move now. Sleep later.” Rebecca tugged on his arm. “Now, move it, flyboy!”

“Aw...” Baloo groaned, reluctantly rolling off of the soft sofa. “Answer me this, Beckers. Where are we gonna fit a grand piano? Higher for Hire’s already burstin’ at the seams.” He gazed around the small office, which was going to double as a living room. At the moment it was crowded with furniture and boxes. There were even boxes piled up to his eye level. Any way he turned, something was in his way. He could barely take a step without stubbing his toe. He knew what a rat trapped in a maze felt like. “Hm, maybe if we move yer desk outside...”

Rebecca whirled around, a stack of blankets and towels in hand. “Your ratty old armchair will go before my desk, buster!”

“Nuh-huh.” Baloo fondly patted the patched maroon chair, causing a puff of dust to rise. “This chair’s a family heirloom.”

“More like a hairball,” she retorted.

“Yeah, yeah, Becky.” Baloo trudged towards the door to get another load, rubbing his sore back. “I think ya packed everythin’ except the kitchen sink.”

“Well...actually...” Suppressing a giggle, Rebecca cast a surreptitious glance at a large box sitting in the corner by the grandfather clock.

“You didn’t!” Baloo pushed a path through the sea of boxes, lifted the corner box’s lid, and pulled out a stuffed tan bear wearing a blue gingham dress and matching blue bonnet. “Funniest sink I ever saw.”

Between throaty chuckles, she choked out, “You really thought I’d packed the kitchen sink? I got you good, Baloo!”

Baloo’s look of hurt confusion evolved into a broad smile. He loved to hear her laugh, something that she had done more of since their engagement. Stepping over a couple of boxes, he gathered his fiancée in his arms. “Nuh-huh, I got you, Becky” he said softly. He planted a tender kiss on her lips and rubbed noses with her.

Molly, who had been diligently searching through all of the boxes, said in relief, “There you are, Millie.” The little yellow bearess clad in a pink shirt and blue overalls snatched up her doll from the floor where Baloo had dropped it. “Me and Wildcat and Lucy have been looking all over for you. The tea party’s about to start.” She ran upstairs to her new room, shouting, “Wildcat, we found Millie! Do you have the table set yet?”

Higher for Hire’s ace mechanic’s voice floated downstairs. “All ready and set to go, Mollycat, and I found some cookies in my overalls. They’re okay if you pick out the metal filings.”

“Metal filings!” Baloo exclaimed, scratching his head. “I remember when cookies came with chocolate chips.”

“They’ll chip a tooth on those,” Kit said concernedly.

Rebecca said sharply, “Absolutely no cookies, Molly!”

“Aw, Mom!” the little girl whined. “We can’t play tea party without cookies.”

Hands on hips, Rebecca said, “You’ll just have to pretend this time.”

Molly stomped up the stairs, pouting.

“How many more loads, Miz...” Kit caught Rebecca’s reproving look and quickly corrected, “Rebecca?” He was having a difficult time calling his future mother anything but ‘Miz Cunningham’. He mentally kicked himself in the pants every time that familiar, formal title escaped from his lips. Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca,he thought silently.

Rebecca wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulders, giving him an affectionate squeeze and a loving smile. “This is almost the last load, sweetie. We only have a few more boxes and the,” she cast a roguish glance at her fiancé, “piano to go.”

Following Rebecca and Kit outside, Baloo groaned, “Piano!”

Baffle Island

Floating in the placid Pacific Ocean many, many miles west of Cape Suzette was a speck. On closer inspection, one could see that this speck happened to be a small, almost perfectly round island. It was covered with sand and palm trees.

And it was crawling with air pirates.

The thick grove of palm trees hid a narrow channel that led into a small cove carved into the middle of the island - almost like a donut with a bite taken out of it. This cove was perfect for concealing a ship from prying eyes while it was being loaded with confiscated cargo.

Karnage ordered, “Load those crates up faster, men!”

Owen, Shere Khan’s right-hand man, made a notation of each box and its contents on his clipboard as it was pushed or carried up the gangplank onto the ship. The skinny tiger wearing a navy vest over a light blue shirt and fuchsia bow tie timidly asked, “Is that it?”

“Do your eyes see any more boxes?”

“No, b...but that’s ten crates less than last week.”

“The accident business has been slow,” Karnage said airily. “Do you want us to cause more accidents on purpose?”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Owen said as he totted up the number of crates and their respective values. “Mr. Khan only wants whatever cargo you collect from your accidents. That was the deal.”

Karnage held out his palm. “I kept my part of the deal. Now it is the part where you keep your part.”

Owen placed a stack of bills in the pirate captain’s hands. “Five thousand dollars, as promised.”

“Last time I got seven thousand!” Karnage growled menacingly, reaching to pull his sword from its scabbard.

“Ten less boxes,” Owen explained simply, quailing under the pirate’s murderous glare.

Remembering that he was supposed to be nice, Karnage swallowed his pride, forced a fake, toothy smile to his face, and said semi-calmly, “Where are my mannerisms? The customer is always right, even when they’re wrong.”

Owen boarded the ship swiftly. Despite the numerous encounters that he had had with the air pirates, he still wasn’t comfortable around them. Their deadly weapons, not to mention the dangerous glints in their eyes, made him extremely nervous.

“Estupido fool!” Karnage muttered through clenched teeth; his lips were still curved in the phony smile. He gave a brief, impatient wave at Owen standing on deck. “Of course there are less boxes, because we’re keeping them.”

First mate Gibber, a squat sepia canine, whispered into Karnage’s ear, causing the pirate captain to laugh. “You’re right. Finders, keepers, and since we found it, we get to keep it if we want to keep it. What Shere Khan doesn’t get, he doesn’t need to know.”

After the ship was out of sight, Karnage and Gibber pushed through the thick shrubbery towards the western edge of the island. They parted a prickly bush to reveal large, double doors in the side of a sandy hillock.

Gibber tapped ‘Shave and a Haircut’ on the door. They waited for it to open.

Thirty seconds went by.

A minute.

Incensed, Karnage roared, “Open this door now, you eediot! It is your coming commander!”

Hacksaw, a brawny orange canine with a pea-sized brain, opened the door with a sheepish smile. In a surprisingly high-pitched voice, he apologized, “Sorry, Captain. I didn’t know it was you.”

“It is always me, except when it isn’t! Get out of my way!” Karnage roughly shoved Hacksaw back against the jagged wall while he clomped past him, causing Hacksaw to yelp in pain.

A few feet into the cave, there was a sharp drop off. Karnage and Gibber climbed onto a ladder that led down into a deeper cavern, their path lit by lanterns placed in crags in the wall.

As they descended, the temperature dropped while the noise level increased. At the bottom of the ladder, they hopped off. Before them was a large, subterranean cavern with a sandy floor that slanted upwards towards the opposite end and reddish-hued walls. Drops of moisture dripped from the ceiling. The cavern was bustling with activity.

Basically, it was an airplane body shop. One hundred twenty-eight planes of all makes and models were in different states of disrepair. Flashes of soldering torches, sounds of electric ratchets, loud hammering, and the pirates’ shouts filled the air. At the far end of the cave was a large, closed door.

Karnage and Gibber strolled down the center aisle between all of the activity. Highly pleased with the proceedings and himself, the pirate captain beamed. “Silence, men!” he roared over the din. “I have something to say to you in my voice!”

When the pirates failed to listen to him, he pulled a pistol from his coat and shot at the ceiling, causing chunks of earth to rain down over them. The noise immediately ceased and all eyes turned towards Karnage.

Karnage was right where he wanted to be - the center of attention. “That’s better. I am so proud of me! Thanks to my brillancy, I am a hero. They do not know Don Karnage very well, do they?”

A hearty laugh arose from the pirates. The echo of their laughter rang for a few moments after they had stopped laughing.

“No longer will I have to sneakity-sneak into Cape Suzette behind the cliff gunners. I am welcomed with the cliffs wide open. See this, my men?” Karnage waved an envelope in the air. “This is my invitation to accept the award for Hero of the Year.” He laughed, almost maniacally. “And our invitation to go on the plundering spree of a lifetime!”

The pirates cheered.

Irately, Karnage snapped, “Now, what are you standing around there for like the dead herrings? Get back to work!”

Higher for Hire

Moving was still in progress. Everything had been transferred from the Cunninghams’ apartment, minus the grand piano. Rebecca had decided that it was just too much of a hassle to move it, to Baloo’s great relief. Even so, each box and each piece of furniture had to find a new home at Higher for Hire. That meant a lot of rearranging.

Rebecca told Kit, who was balancing a large, heavy box in his hands, “Take that one up to Molly’s room” She peeked in the one that Wildcat had. “And that one has cups and plates. Take it to the kitchen.” She looked at the two that Baloo had picked up. “The top one goes in the bathroom and the other one is Molly’s.”

From the kitchen came a loud CRASH. Wildcat’s contrite voice said, “Sorry!”

Rebecca sighed and shook her head. “I should have known better than to give Wildcat anything breakable.” She headed for the kitchen to see if anything was salvageable.

Standing in a maze of boxes, Baloo gazed around at the mess that crowded the office. The mess didn’t bother him. In fact, he’d lived in a bigger mess than this before. However, something indescribable was making him feel uneasy for some unknown reason. All he knew was that he had to get out of there for a while. Absently setting down the boxes on Rebecca’s desk, he mumbled, “I’m headin’ ta Louie’s for a while.”

“Sounds fun,” Kit said as he clattered down the stairs. He was more than ready for a break from moving the Cunninghams’ belongings, and he was always ready to eat one of Louie’s famous Krakatoa Special sundaes. “Let’s pull chocks, Papa Bear.”

“No, Li’l Britches,” Baloo said sadly, hand on the doorknob. “I need ta be alone fer a while.”

“But you won’t be alone at Louie’s, not on a Friday night,” the boy reminded softly as his Papa Bear left.

Hearing the Sea Duck’s engines start, Rebecca sprinted from the kitchen, ran through the office, out the door, and down the dock, shouting, “Baloo! Where are you going? We aren’t done yet! Ba-LOOOO!”

TheSea Duck flew taxied across the harbor, took off, and flew through the cliffs. With a pensive frown on her face, Rebecca stood watching it, hands on hips. “Oh, that bear!”

Louie’s

As Kit had mentioned, Friday night at the popular hangout for pilots was anything but quiet. Almost every pilot within a hundred-mile radius of Louie’s had been more than willing to spend some of his or her hard-earned paycheck at the island nightclub. And that was a lot of pilots.

The party was in full swing when Baloo stepped through the door. Zombie-like, he made a beeline for the tiki bar, absentmindedly skirting the makeshift tables and partygoers. For the first time in his life, he was oblivious to the laughter, the happy shouts, the throngs of dancers, even the jazzy tune that the simian orchestra was playing.

“Hey, Baloo,” Louie greeted as the big bear plumped down on a barstool - the only free seat in the place. The large reddish-brown orangutan wearing a green-spotted blue Hawaeen shirt, was putting a sundae together with both hands while simultaneously juicing an orange in a juicer operated by his left foot. “Did ya hear ‘bout Karnage winnin’ the Hero of the Year award? In my humble opinion, I think they’re askin’ for trouble with a capital ‘K’ for invitin’ Karnage to Cape Suzette. He’s the biggest zero of a hero I’ve ever seen.” Noticing Baloo’s glum demeanor, he asked, “Why the loooong face?”

Chin propped in his right hand, Baloo mumbled, “Gimmee a Kamikaze Killer with extra lime.”

“You sure, cuz?” Louie placed the sundae and the drink on a serving tray. It was whisked away by a monkey waiter. “The last time you had one of those, you were sicker’n a dog for a week. Who do you wanna hug on your honeymoon - your wife or the toilet?”

“Just gimmee one,” Baloo growled darkly.

Louie was taken aback by the normally jovial bear’s black mood. “Don’t blow yer top, pal. Just a friendly reminder from one friend to another.” The ape slowly mixed a little of every kind of fruit juice that he had in a glass. He stole furtive glances at his friend. By the way Baloo’s brow was knitted and he was fidgeting, it was obvious that he was worried about something. Louie, his nose wrinkled up in distaste, slid a glassful of the vile, brownish-green concoction in front of the big bear.

Baloo choked down a sip and screwed up his face before giving a short cough. “Needs more lime.”

“Oh, sure, cuz.” With a flourish of his wrist, he squeezed more in. “Whatcha doin’ here? Did you an’ the boss lady have another knock-down drag-out?”

“Nuh-huh. Everything’s aces with me an’ Becky,” Baloo sighed. He put the glass to his mouth, but forgot to drink any of the Kamikaze Killer, because he was deep in thought.

“You’re bummed out, ‘cause we had yer bachelor party last weekend instead of tonight?”

“Nah, that don’t matter.” Baloo set the glass down and stared into it as if he were trying to read his fortune by the flecks of lemon and lime that were floating in it.

“Then whatcha doin’ mopin’ around here?”

Baloo glanced around the room, leaned in closer, and murmured, “Louie, tell me straight. Do ya think I can handle the whole ball-an’-chain an’ daddyhood thing?”

Louie’s loud guffaws carried over the customers’ cacophony. He clapped the big bear on the shoulder. “No prob, man! Any pilot at the top of the Wall of Fame can handle one wife an’ two kids. How hard can it be after dogfightin’ pirates?”

Baloo morosely grunted, “Hmph.”

Louie, taking another order from one of his waiters, said, “You an’ me have been buds for a long time. Do ya think I’d steer ya wrong?”

“Sure ya have.” A wicked grin crossed Baloo’s face. “There was that one time when...”

“Besides that.” The orangutan tossed fresh mango and coconut into a blender and added pineapple juice.

“Okay, what about that...?”

Louie peeled a banana before putting half of it into the blender. The other half he unceremoniously shoved into Baloo’s mouth. “So I ain’t a walkin’ compass like Kit. Look here, Baloo. You’re already a daddy to those kids. I’ve seen the way ya treat ‘em, an’ how much they look up to ya. An’ as for Rebecca, one peek at her pretty peepers an’ ya can see she thinks you’re the best thing since sliced bread. You got no worries.”

Baloo swallowed the banana, cupped his chin in one hand, and swirled the green Kamikaze Killer in the glass. “Easy for you to say. Youain’t gettin’ married tomorrow. Think what I’m givin’ up, Louie. Treasure hunts.”

“Take the family along. The more eyes, the merrier.” Over the noise of the blender, Louie chuckled, “Heck, you might even findsomethin’.”

“No more all night parties.”

“I betcha you can sweet-talk sweet Rebecca inta lettin’ you come to a couple shindigs.”

“Nah, it’d never fly. I’ll be under her thumb night an’ day.” Baloo’s demeanor became glummer, if possible. “It’ll be worse’n it is now.”

Louie handed a tray with the frothy fruit drink over the bar to a waiter. With a half-hearted laugh, he said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I envy you, man.”

Startled, Baloo’s head came up swiftly to look at his friend. “How come?”

“Just think ‘bout what you’re gainin’, Raymond.” Louie whipped out a white towel and began wiping down the bar. “You’re gonna have someone who cares ‘bout you all the time, even when you’re scrappin’. Someone there for ya when ya get old an’ grey. Well...you’re already grey an’ you ain’t no spring chicken no more. You’ve been outta the egg a long time.”

“I’m younger than you.” Baloo picked up his glass so that Louie could clean underneath it.

“Too bad it don’t show,” Louie joked, prompting a scowl from the big bear. “Pretty little wife to come home to every night, ta feed that bottomless pit you call a stomach.” He reached over the bar to poke a long finger at Baloo’s ample abdomen.

“Beckycan make a mean meal,” Baloo conceded grudgingly.

“Coupla great kids.” Louie winked slyly. “Maybe more.”

Baloo blushed furiously.

With practiced ease, Louie tossed the towel over his shoulder into a hamper. “Maybe you should forget gettin’ married. Forget the family thing. Forget it all. Stay a swingin’ single. It’ll be too tough livin’ with a spitfire like Rebecca anywhoo.”

“Be tougher livin’ without her,” Baloo murmured gruffly.

Once again, Louie clapped a hand to Baloo’s shoulder with an understanding smile. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about. You’re in too deep. There’s no way you’re backin’ out of it now, Baloo.”

Dourly, Baloo agreed, “Yeah, Becky’ll hunt me down an’ drag me by the ear to the altar.”

Louie laughed. “She would, too!”

Baloo sighed in resignation. “Maybe you’re right, Louie.”

“‘Course I am. I’m always right, right?”

“Wrong,” Baloo retorted with a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He pushed the Kamikaze Killer away. “Uh, thanks, man, for the pepper-upper.”

Louie reached across the bar to give Baloo’s hand a hearty shake. “What are best buds for?”

“Ya got any pizzas cooked up to wash down the taste of that Kamikaze Killer? It was worse’n those scraps ya scrape up for your All-You-Can-Stand-For-A-Dollar Special.”

“I can slap one together faster than you can say ‘pepperoni’.” Louie hurried back to the kitchen area.

“Wait a sec, man. Make that two.” A slow smile spread across Baloo’s face and his fingers began tapping on the bar to the beat of the song that the band was playing. “One for me ta work on here an’ one ta take home to Becky an’ the kids.”

Louie’s happy expression mirrored his best friend’s. “Two pizza pies comin’ right up, cuz.”

Higher for Hire
An Hour Later

Night had fallen. Baloo sat in the Sea Duck, just staring at Higher for Hire. He’d never seen it like this, with all of the windows lighted up. Knowing that there were three very dear people inside waiting for him made him feel comforted and a little frightened at the same time.

His mind drifted back two years, back before he knew Rebecca, Kit, or Molly. He had been absolutely free to do whatever he pleased. No bosses. No troubles. No obligations. He only worked when he had to. Partied at Louie’s every chance he could. The only things he needed were the Sea Duck, the open sky, and three square meals a day plus snacks. He returned to this building - then known as Baloo’s Air Service - only when he felt like it. He often stayed away for days at a time.

It had been a carefree existence - and a lonely one.

True, when he said ‘I do’ on the morrow, he would be saying ‘I do’ to all of the responsibilities that went along with being the head of a family. If there was one thing that Baloo hated, it was responsibility. But, recalling what Louie had said about being lucky, Baloo realized that he never wanted to go back to the old days of freedom. If the ball-and-chain meant gaining a lifetime of happiness, he was more than willing to strap it on.

With a queer lopsided smile on his face, Baloo swiped the back of his hand across his eyes and disembarked, pizza box in hand.

Upon opening the office door, he saw that the room had been put to rights - sort of. There were fewer boxes and the boxes that remained were stacked against the walls. A large pile of flattened boxes were by the door leading to the warehouse. Rebecca’s sofa, armchair, rocking chair, and end tables had been arranged to make a cozy sitting area on the left side of the room. Even his old red chair, now part of the semi-circle of furniture, had an afghan draped neatly over the back. The room was aglow with the lights from Rebecca's lamps. It looked less like an office and more like a home - the home that he was going to share with his wife and children.

“Baloo’s home!” Molly cried joyfully, racing towards him.

“Louie’s pizza. All right, Papa Bear!” Kit said, setting down the box that he had been carrying upstairs.

“I brought home the bacon. Well, sorta,” Baloo chuckled, handing the box to the cubs, who eagerly opened the box’s lid.

“Did I hear someone say pizza?” Rebecca asked, leaning over the third story banister. She had been putting her clothes away while simultaneously packing for the honeymoon. “With anchovies?”

The cubs made a face.

“Louie don’t got any anchovies, Beckers. He’s allergic to ‘em.”

“Good thing,” Molly said in an aside to Kit.

“That ape doesn’t know a good thing when he tastes it.” Rebecca quickly walked down the stairs, grinning at her fiancé. “Thank you, Baloo, for bringing home the bacon so to speak.”

“Hey, I just said that,” Baloo laughed, wrapping an arm around his fiancée. “Great minds think alike, huh?”

“I hope not!” Rebecca said in mock-horror.

“Aw, it’s got pepperoni,” Molly complained, examining the contents of the pizza box.

“If you pick all the pepperoni off, it’ll be a cheese pizza,” Kit suggested.

“Take it to the kitchen. We don’t want to get pizza sauce on the furniture,” Rebecca said.

The four bears filed into the kitchen, which, like the living room was lined with boxes. Rebecca rummaged around for napkins while the others cleared boxes and other miscellaneous objects from the circular table. Then they all sat down.

“Who wants this?” Molly asked, picking pepperoni off of her pizza and piling it on the edge of her napkin.

“I’ll take it,” Kit said. He reached across the table, scooped up the meat, and put it on his own slice. He took a big bite. “Mm...Louie makes the best pizza ever.” He furtively watched Baloo and Rebecca as they watched each other across the table. Neither was eating much.

“I’m thirsty, Mommy. Can we have sodas?”

Rebecca reluctantly tore her eyes away from her fiancé. “Say the magic word, Pumpkin.”

“Please.”

Smiling, Rebecca got up. As she walked around the table to the refrigerator, she brushed her hand gently across Baloo’s arm as she passed, prompting a big grin from the big bear. She got three bottles of Orange Fizzie out and popped off the caps. She placed one each down in front of Baloo and Kit.

“Thanks,” Kit mumbled through a full mouth.

Rebecca poured some of the third bottle into a glass for Molly. They sat there, eating in companionable silence. But though they weren’t saying much, they were all thinking about the same thing - the next day’s big event.

Kit caught Molly’s eye. He gestured with his head at the adults, who were staring at each other, their pieces of pizza forgotten in their hands. Molly nodded and giggled. The cubs flashed bright smiles across the table, almost as if they were sharing a secret.

After a long time, Rebecca snapped out of her daze with a sigh. She reached over to wipe pizza sauce off of Molly’s chin with a napkin, saying brightly, “Time to get back to work.”

Baloo crammed the rest of his pizza into his mouth and followed her through the door, his jaw laboriously working up and down.

Kit hopped up, tossing his napkin into the trash can. “What now, Rebecca?”

“I think you’ve done enough for today, Kit. Go have fun with Molly.”

“Yay!” Molly tapped Kit on the arm and took off across the room. “Tag! You’re it!”

“Not for long!” Kit shouted, chasing after her.

“I think I’ve done enough today, too, Becky.” Baloo headed for his easy chair.

“Nice try, flyboy.” Rebecca caught him by the back of the shirt and spun him around. She piled one unwieldy box, then another in Baloo’s arms. “These go up to our room.”

“Our room,” Baloo echoed with an embarrassed chuckle. He glanced over at Rebecca. A pale pink fleck adorned each of her cheeks. Staggering under the weight of the boxes, he trudged up the stairs. “What’s in ‘em, honey?”

“Oh, a few odds and ends. Toiletries mostly,” Rebecca answered, following him and carrying a box herself.

“Toiletries? Doohickies that go with the toilet? Don’t that stuff go in the bathroom, not our room?”

“No, silly,” Rebecca giggled. “It’s makeup and stuff like that.”

Baloo got to the middle of the second floor landing and put the boxes down to rest. “Feels like you got enough face paint in there ta paint this place a coupla times over.” He leaned on the banister, watching the cubs playing below. “Place looks swell, sweetheart.”

“It would have gone faster if you and your strong muscles had been here, but Kit and Wildcat helped me.” Rebecca put her box down, placed a gentle hand on his arm, and looked with concern up at him. “Are you feeling better now, darling?”

“Was I sick?”

“The way you bolted to Louie’s I thought you must have been worried about something." She tried to read his expression. "Was it the wedding? The kids? Me?” Her eyes narrowing in suspicion, she asked, “Or did you just want to get out of rearranging furniture?”

Baloo was astonished that she had basically read his mind. She knew him way too well. Quietly, he said, “Just pre-weddin’ jitters, Beckers. My cold feet are all toasty warm now.” It was true. As his eyes swept around the office/living room, he felt warm down to the tips of his toes. This was home - something that he hadn’t had for a long time.

“I’m glad.” Rebecca wrapped her arms around his, smiling dreamily at the cubs madly tearing around the office in their frantic game of tag. They looked so happy that she didn’t have the heart to scold them for running across the furniture. “Look at those two little monkeys, Baloo. So excited about tomorrow that they can’t keep still. There’s no doubt in their minds that you’re going to be a great father.” She nuzzled her cheek against his arm. “And there’s not a doubt in my mind that you’re going to be a great husband.”

“Yeah?” He straightened up. “You really think so?”

“I really think so.” She added matter-of-factly, “And I should know, because I think more than you.”

It took a few moments for him to notice that that wasn’t exactly a compliment. “Hey!”

Rebecca giggled as he pulled her into his arms.

The cubs ran up the stairs, panting from their exercise. Molly latched herself onto Rebecca’s legs, yelling, “Mommy’s base!”

“There’s no base in tag!” Kit tapped the little girl’s arm. “You’re it!”

“Am not! You’re still it!” Molly swiftly touched Kit’s hand.

Kit tapped her on the shoulder. “You’re it!”

While the children circled around them, Rebecca gazed up at Baloo. She was relieved to see him looking more relaxed. Gazing straight into his eyes, she said very sincerely, “Tomorrow’s going to be wonderful. Just wait.”

Baffle Island

Moonlight from the crescent moon filtered down through the palm trees. The sound of the wind whispering through the palm fronds mingled with the gentle sloshing of the waves against the island’s shore.

Inside the underground cave, things weren’t quite so peaceful.

“Tomorrow is going to be a wonderful day,” Don Karnage proclaimed as he lazily lounged on a lounge chair in one corner of the cave, watching his pirate crew scurry around in preparation for the next day.

“Because you’re getting an award, Captain?” Mad Dog asked in his nasal voice. He was kneeling on the sandy floor, offering a plate piled with grapes, bananas, apples, and oranges to Karnage. His knees and arms burned with pain.

“Yes, nincompup!” He backhanded Mad Dog across the snout, causing him to drop the plate. Mad Dog scrambled to pick up the oranges that were rolling away. “Those Cape Suzette-ians won’t know what hit them when their hero wonder plunders them from top to bottommouses.”

His triumphant laughter rang through the cavern, now lined with a fleet of airplanes of all makes and models. The lantern light glinted off of their shiny, new paint.

End of part 1

For Better or For Worse
Part 2

Saturday Morning
On the Other Side of the Cape Suzette Cliffs
Dawn

Everything was peaceful above the placid Pacific Ocean. In the east, pale pinks and yellows were gradually inching their way into the cloudless, pale grey sky. There wasn’t a living thing in sight except for a few seagulls hunting for their breakfast and the occasional dolphin leaping from the water in a graceful arc.

Things were livelier beneath the ocean’s surface. A giant squid floated leisurely in a murky sea teeming with fish and crustaceans of all sizes and colors. A pod of porpoises scattered when a small, copper-colored submarine broke through their ranks, speeding along on its erratic course towards Cape Suzette. Crowded into the cramped quarters of the submarine were Dumptruck and Mad Dog. Streams of sweat poured down Dumptruck’s face as he peddled the stationary bicycle that moved the rear propellor.

Mad Dog, uncaring as to his colleague’s sweaty plight, peered through the periscope. “There’s the cliffs.”

“How much farther?” Dumptruck panted, feeling as though his legs would drop off.

“Closer...closer...”

The submarine rammed into the cliffs with a jarring jolt, causing Dumptruck to vault over the bicycle’s handlebars. He landed with a ‘thump’ on top of Mad Dog.

“We’re here,” said Mad Dog’s weak, muffled voice.

The submarined surfaced. The hatch opened. The pirates climbed out and tied the submarine to the cliffs.

“We’ve gotta go all the way up there?” Mad Dog asked, a slight tremor in his voice. He gazed up the side of the rugged cliff, which seemed to stretch on forever.

“Der captain said there vas an elevator somevere that goes to the top,” Dumptruck reminded him. He started scaling the cliffs.

Mad Dog followed suit. A pebble rolled from under his foot and bounced onto the sharp rocks protruding out at the base of the cliffs. A soft whimper escaped from his throat. “The things we do for money.”

“A load of money,” Dumptruck added from just above.

“You’d think there would be an easier...ow!” Mad Dog yelped. “You’re standing on my hand, you ninny!”

“Well, beg my pardon.” Dumptruck moved his foot and looked down at Mad Dog, who was shaking his sore, flattened hand. Then he poked his head over a ledge and spied a run-down shack nestled against the cliffs. Crouching in front of the shack was an elderly pig, who whistled cheerfully while he flipped pancakes over an open fire.

“Why are you stopping?” Mad Dog asked, hiking himself up with difficulty. He also peeked over the ledge. “Are we at the elevators?”

“There’s a man there, and he's a pig,” Dumptruck whispered loudly.

“You're a slob, too, ” Mad Dog snapped, annoyed. Seeing the porcine, he said, "Oh, you're right. He is a pig." The skinny brown ferret hoisted himself onto the ledge, charged over to the stubbly-faced man and stuck the barrel of his gun at his nose. Dumptruck quickly did likewise.

“Hi, folks,” said the porcine in a friendly manner, squinting up at the pirates. He continued to turn the pancakes in the skillet. “Name’s Barney. Are ya passin’ through?”

“You could say that,” said Dumptruck evasively. He also aimed his gun at Barney.

“We’re looking for the elevator that goes to the top of the cliffs where they keep the cannons. Tell us, or you’re toast!” Mad Dog demanded.

As if being held up by pirates was an everyday occurrence, Barney said nonchalantly, “It’s right back there, around the corner from my place. I’ve used it a million times. Used to work the cannons. Polished ‘em every day, you know. Yessiree, Bob. I polished those guns every day for fifty years. Never missed a day, except for that one day when...”

While Barney rambled on about his past exploits, Mad Dog and Dumptruck pushed past him, but not before Dumptruck snagged a couple of pancakes.

Barney, watching them go, stroked his bristly chin and shook his head. He flipped the remaining flapjacks onto a chipped plate and poured maple syrup over them. “Some people are always in an all-fire hurry. It’s like I’ve said a million times, people just need to relax more. Stop and smell the roses or the pancakes or whatever.”

Meanwhile
Atop the Cape Suzette Cliffs

The sun was barely peeking over the verdant hills on the eastern edge of Cape Suzette when a large, beige sheepdog dressed in a grey uniform stepped from the elevator embedded in the cliffs. He punched his time card in the time clock, saying, “Morning, Ralph.” A lanky brown wolf attired in a similar grey uniform had appeared beside him and had picked up his own time card from the holder.

“Morning, Sam,” replied the wolf through a yawn. He punched his card and put it back into the holder. “That was a short night.”

“Looks like another normal workday,” Sam commented. He began going over the checklist for the cannon nicknamed ‘Big Bertha’.

“Yeah,” said Ralph through another yawn. He walked over to the coffee maker that sat on a small table and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Another normal day of defending Cape Suzette from intruders.”

“Feel up to a game of checkers?” The sheepdog signed and dated the checklist and hung the clipboard back on the cannon.

“Why not.” Ralph sat down across the table from Sam and watched the steady stream of aircraft pour through the cliff opening. “Sure are a lot of planes coming into Cape Suzette today.”

“Civic Awards day.” Sam set the checker pieces in their places.

“Oh, that’s right.” Ralph slid one of his black pieces forward one space. “Don Karnage is getting an award, isn’t he?”

“Yep,” Sam said laconically, moving one of his red pieces.

“Who would have thought Don Karnage would get the Hero of the Year award after all of the times he’s tried to sneak into Cape Suzette to plunder?”

“Yep,” said Sam again, jumping three of his opponent’s pieces.

Pondering his next move, Ralph frowned at the checkerboard. “Makes you wonder what other topsy-turvy things are going to happen.”

“Don’t it though!” said Mad Dog as Dumptruck grabbed both by their throats, prompting a garbled ‘urp’ from the guards.

Sam and Ralph were swiftly tied up and pieces of duct tape were slapped across their mouths.

“How do we get to the other cliffs so we can tie up the other guards?” Mad Dog asked, pointing his weapon at the captives.

“Mmmm-mmm-mmm!” Ralph mumbled.

“Say what?” Mad Dog whined. He tore the piece of duct tape from Ralph’s mouth, ripping out hunks of fur with it.

“Ouch! We won’t tell you, you pirates!”

“I think you vill,” Dumptruck chuckled evilly. He pulled a few sticks of TNT from his pocket and propped them between the guards. He struck a match against the cliffs and held the lit match close to the fuse.

Cold sweat beaded on the guards’ foreheads as they watched the flame. Ralph choked out, “Bridge. Take the footbridge across the cliff opening. It’s three floors down. Then, take the elevator up to the top.”

Mad Dog slapped another piece of duct tape across Ralph’s mouth, saying sarcastically, “Thanks for your kind cooperation.” Out of the corner of his eye, he happened to catch sight of a familiar-looking airplane as it flew through the cliff opening. “There goes Bandersnatch.”

Dumptruck turned to watch the steady stream of pirate-manned airplanes pass through the cliffs. A big grin crossed his heavy features. “Der captain’s plan is working. Ouch!” The match had burned down to his fingers, scorching them.

“Getting into Cape Suzette has never been easier,” Mad Dog chuckled. “Let’s take care of the other cliff guards.”

“Okay.” Dumptruck put the dynamite back in his pocket.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Mad Dog told the cliff guards with a snide chuckle. He and Dumptruck headed back to the elevator.

Sam and Ralph sat, bound and gagged, with their backs to the cliffs. They exchanged glances that clearly said, What do we do now?

Higher for Hire

Kit awoke. Sleepily pulling off his pink earmuffs, the thirteen-year-old vaguely knew that today was special, but his fuzzy mind couldn’t quite remember why. Then, like a lightning flash, it struck him. This was the day that Baloo and Miz Cunningham were getting married. The day that he had been waiting for, had been wishing for, for a year and a half. Brimming with excitement, the boy bounced out of bed and pushed the green shade up to peek out the window.

Even by Cape Suzette standards, it was a spectacular day. A clear cerulean sky dotted with a few puffy, perfect-for-cloud-surfing clouds. Bright, warm sunshine that shone down on the elm tree, the leaves of which rustled slightly when the summer breeze brushed them. Over Baloo’s snores, he could hear the birds’ cheerful chittering and the louder caws of seagulls intermingled with an occasional airplane engine.

Still grinning, he turned his attention to the big grey bear curled up under the green blanket in the next bed, and a cloud of sadness threw a shadow over Kit’s happiness. This would be the last time that he would share this bedroom with Baloo. He would miss their little talks after the lights were out. He would also miss having Baloo’s comforting presence so close by, especially after awakening from a nightmare featuring Karnage and company.

When Baloo turned over onto his back, his snores increased in volume.

Thatwas one thing Kit definitely wouldn’t miss - the snoring. And he was looking forward to having his own room. He’d never had an entire room to himself before.

Kit spied a note taped to Baloo’s nose. It fluttered in and out with the pilot’s strong, rhythmic breaths, in danger of being swallowed. Kit carefully peeled it off to read in Rebecca’s neat, flowery script -

Good morning, sleepyheads. Molly and I have gone to the hairdresser. Meet you at the wedding - Highland Park, 11:00 sharp.
XOXO
Love,
Rebecca
P.S. Don’t be late!

Kit glanced at the alarm clock. They had plenty of time until eleven. It was only 6:05. He crawled back into bed and snuggled under the warm blanket, reveling in the softness of his mattress. Just as soon as he had closed his eyes, he instinctively felt that something was wrong. It had been too bright outside to be only six o’clock in the morning. Kit’s eyes flew open, and he looked at the clock again. It was ominously silent.

He picked up his watch from the night stand. It was 10:27! He was out of bed like a shot.

“Baloo!” Kit cried urgently, shaking the pilot’s shoulder. “Baloo, wake up!”

“Gimmee five more min...fifteen hours,” Baloo mumbled.

“Get up now!” Kit’s adolescent voice cracked in desperation. “We have to be at the wedding in a half an hour!”

“Weddin’?” Baloo murmured, still half-asleep. “Who’s gettin’ married?”

Kit pulled his rented tuxedo from the closet and threw it across his unmade bed. “You are, remember? You and Miz Cunningham.”

Mid-snore, Baloo’s eyes popped open. “Oh, man! If I’m late, Becky’ll kill me!” He sprinted to the bathroom. “Whoa-oa-oa!” he yelled as he skidded across the bathroom floor on a fluffy baby blue rug. He dove head first into the bathtub/shower, accidentally hitting the water tap with his arm. Cold water spewed right into his face. Struggling to reach the tap with his eyes screwed shut, he sputtered, “I’m awake! I’m awake!”

A short while later, Baloo returned to the bedroom, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around his waist. He began toweling himself off. Drying his ears, he grinned down at Kit, who was already dressed. “Lookin’ good, kid.”

Kit handed Baloo his white button-down shirt and glanced at his watch. He thought to himself, Why do we always have to cut these things so darn close? Then, he let out a laugh.

In his haste, Baloo was pulling his tuxedo jacket on upside-down and inside out. “This thing shrunk.”

“Your appetite hasn’t shrunk,” Kit said, giggling aloud on his way to the bathroom. “Try putting it on the right way, Papa Bear.”

Baloo held the jacket up before him. He smiled sheepishly when he saw his mistake. He slipped on the jacket, right side out this time, buttoned it up, and turned to the mirror over the dresser.

He began fiddling with his black bow tie. His expression grew blacker every time his large, clumsy fingers got tangled up in the knot. After the fifth attempt, he exclaimed, “Dang thing! Whoever invented ties oughtta be drug inta the street an’ shot! Stupid little strip of fabric. Who needs it anyway?” Glowering at his reflection, he carefully looped one end over the other into a sloppy knot and breathed a sigh of relief. “Good enough. How do I look, kiddo?” he asked as Kit re-entered the room.

“Very nice. Miz...Rebecca will never recognize you.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Baloo tousled Kit’s hair. “Aw, she’s seen me in one of these penguin costumes before. What time is it now?”

“Twenty minutes ‘til eleven.”

“Holy shimolies, Kit! Why didn’t ya get me up earlier?” Baloo headed for the stairs with Kit at his heels.

“Why didn’t you wind the alarm clock last night?”

“Forgot! Whoa-oh-oh-oh!” Rushing downstairs, the pilot tripped over a few boxes that were piled along the sides of the stairs. He tumbled head over heels down to the bottom.

“You okay, Papa Bear?” Kit asked, helping a dizzy Baloo to his feet.

“Yeah, fine. I think I got everythin’.” Baloo patted his pockets, then frantically rifled through them. Panicked, he cried, “Rings! Where’s the rings? Rings? Rings?”

Kit pulled two gold bands from his pocket - one small and one large. “You mean these rings? The ones you gave me last night for safekeeping?”

“Yeah.” Baloo willed his heart to stop racing. “Safekeepin’,” he murmured distractedly, “‘cause you’re keepin’ ‘em safe. The best man’s job is to keep the rings safe, an’ that’s you - the best man.”

“Sit down, Papa Bear,” Kit suggested, perching on the edge of the sofa. “We told Louie that we were going to wait for him here, and the wedding can’t start without you.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Too anxious to sit still, the big bear took to pacing the office. He went to grab his hat from his head, forgetting that it was upstairs. Instead, he snatched up a ruffled pillow and nervously wrung it in his large hands.

A knock came at the door, and Kit opened it.

Louie, dressed in a navy suit with a loud red-and-white checked tie, his thinning hair neatly parted in the middle, stepped into the office with a hearty, “Hey, guys.” He held a large, brightly wrapped package in his hands. He gave a long, low whistle. “Lookin’ sharp as tacks, you two. Ready ta take the plunge inta the matrimonial pool, cuz?” He laughed heartily as he slapped Baloo on the back.

Baloo swallowed around a big lump in his throat. He felt as if there were a million butterflies in his stomach that were all trying to escape at the same time. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“It ain’t every day I get ta see ya squirm like a worm,” Louie chuckled.

Tossing the pillow aside, Baloo scowled. “Wait ‘til it’s your turn. Let’s get Wildcat an’ pull chocks.”

Highland Park

A secluded little park located in the hills north of Cape Suzette was where the wedding ceremony and reception were going to take place. This park, which commanded a picturesque view of the harbor and the city, had been reserved for their use for the entire day.

A white gazebo, decorated with pink and yellow flowers and fluttering pastel-colored ribbons, sat in the middle of the park. To the east of the gazebo was the playground equipment - swings, slides, a merry-go-round, etc. To the south of the gazebo were white wrought iron tables and chairs for the picnic reception afterwards. A long table draped with a lacy tablecloth was laden with food, including a large bowl of red punch, bowls of mints and nuts, and plate upon plate of croissant sandwiches.

Exactly one minute before eleven, a cab pulled up beside a white van that was parked in front of the park. Printed on the side of the van in gold curlicue lettering was ‘Eat, Drink, and Be Married Bridal Services’. A giraffe wearing a chef’s hat, an emerald green jacket, white shirt, and black bow tie was carefully unloading a two-tiered wedding cake from the back of the van.

“Look, guys! You can see my house from here,” Wildcat said excitedly as he got out of the front passenger side of the taxi. Higher for Hire’s ace mechanic yanked at the hem of his too-tight navy jacket that he wore over his usual light blue overalls. From his overalls’ pocket, the wiry lion extracted a sloppily wrapped package.

As Baloo, Kit, and Louie piled out of the cab, a jazzy tune met their ears.

Baloo’s nerves subsided a little at the sound of his favorite song - ‘I Got Them Flat-Broke, Sticky-Shoes, No Banana, Boogie-Woogie Blues’. “Is it? It is!”

Miz...Rebecca must be in a really good mood to listen to that! Kit thought, smiling as he watched Baloo do a little jig across the grassy lawn. He, Louie, and Wildcat followed the big bear. All gawked around at the decorations.

“Hey, this is nice. Not too big. Not too rinky-dinky. How’d ya talk Rebecca outta the fancy, fuss an’ feathers weddin’, cuz?” Louie asked.

“I put my foot down an’ told her we weren’t gonna do it, an’ that was that,” Baloo answered, looking over the food while he bopped to the boogie-woogie tune. He popped a pink, rose-shaped mint in his mouth, prompting a frown of disapproval from the female fox caterer wearing an emerald green uniform behind the table.

“Yeah,” Kit added, grinning; “Miz...uh, Rebecca gave up on it after she found out how much a big wedding was going to cost.”

Louie guffawed. “That’s really tellin’ her, Baloo. I can see who wears the pants in that relationship.”

“Miz Cunningham does, but Baloo just wears a shirt,” Wildcat rejoined, prompting a small laugh from Kit.

“Baloo!” shouted Molly as she sprinted towards the big bear.

Baloo scooped her up and started dancing with her. “Hiya, Pigtails. You sure look spiffy today.”

“This lace is kinda scratchy.” Grimacing, she tugged at the lacy collar of her frilly white dress adorned with a pink sash. Around her ears were blue ribbons flecked with pink flowers. Pinned to her dress was a small corsage of pink and yellow roses and baby’s breath. “Mommy let me wear some of her lipstick. See?” She puckered up her lips, showing him the trace of pale pink lipstick on them.

Pretending to be impressed, Baloo said, “Wow! You’re practically a lady.”

She laughed, then a deadly serious expression appeared on the little girl’s face. “Baloo, can I ask you something very, veryimportant?”

“Sure, Button-nose.” He wondered what was going on in the bright little girl’s head to make her look so somber on such a joyous occasion.

“Mommy said I had to ask you first so you wouldn’t be uncomfor’ble.” Molly took a big breath. “Can I call you daddy now? You and Mommy are almost married. Pleeeease?”

Baloo’s heart leapt and a big smile spread across his face. He was so pleasantly surprised that all of his doubts and fears about the wedding completely dissipated. Tickling her gently in the ribs, he teased, “I’m real tickled that ya wanna call me daddy, Cupcake.”

“Yahoo!” Molly exclaimed between giggles. She threw her little arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek, leaving a faint imprint of lipstick. “I love you, Daddy.”

His eyes softly shining, Baloo whispered, “Love you, too, sweetie-heart.” He kissed her on the cheek and he set her down.

She ran off, shouting at the top of her lungs, “Mommy! Mommy! Guess what?”

With faint echoes of ‘daddy’ in his mind, Baloo followed her past the refreshment table, gazing with appreciation at the spread. He discreetly scraped off some frosting from around the base of the cake with his finger and promptly stuck it in his mouth. Only one thing could tear his attention away from the food - Rebecca. When he saw her in her finery, he mumbled, “Oh, baby.”

The bearess was a dainty vision of loveliness - elegance personified in her strapless, flowing ivory gown with embroidered pink trim. Her silky, wavy tresses were swept off her neck in a loose knot with a few wispy curls framing her small face. She seemed a different person altogether. For the first time in his life, Baloo felt shy of her, remembering that he was only a cargo pilot whereas she had an MBA, something that he with his sixth-grade education could barely spell. What right did he have to marry that beautiful, brilliant woman?

After Rebecca had returned Molly’s ecstatic hug, she turned her attention to the giraffe in a chef’s hat and continued her conversation. “We really would appreciate it if you could add it to the ceremony.”

“I don’t know,” the giraffe said dubiously, frowning at the slip of paper.

Rebecca flashed him her most persuasive smile, similar to the one that Molly used whenever she wanted something. “Please? It would mean so much to Baloo and me.”

“It’s highly unusual,” the giraffe said.

“We’re a highly unusual couple.”

“Well,” the giraffe hesitated for a moment before relenting; “okay.”

“Thank you,” she said primly. Feeling someone’s eyes on her, Rebecca turned. Seeing Baloo, his finger still in his mouth as he stared, awestruck, at her, a radiant smile lit up her face. That was exactly the reaction she was hoping that she would get from him. “What do you think, darling?” she asked, twirling slowly before him.

“Wowzers,” was all he could say as she took a boutonniere consisting of full-blown pink and yellow roses and baby’s breath from a box and pinned it on his lapel.

Rebecca’s smile widened. “I’ll take wowzers.” She then mock-scolded, “We’re not married yet, and you’re already cheating on me with another woman.” With the palm of her hand, she rubbed at the lipstick on his cheek.

“Thatother woman is only seven years old, Becky.”

“That’s old enough.” She smiled. “You made her day, Baloo.” Rebecca untied his bow tie and retied it for him, straightened his collar, patted his chest, and stood back, tilting her head to one side. “There. Now you’re perfect. You should wear a tuxedo every day. It makes you look so suave and debonair.”

“Nah, the guys at Louie’s would laugh at me - say I was stuck-uppity.”

Laughing, she impulsively threw her arms around him as best as she could and hugged him.

“Becky, honey, you’re squooshin’ yer purdy hair.” He reverently touched one of the spiral curls that lay across her cheek.

“I don’t care,” she whispered, holding him closer.

Baloo, wrapping his arms around her small frame, pointed out, “Ya might care when we start takin’ pictures.”

“Aw...look at the lovebirds,” Louie said with a dreamy smile on his face.

Wildcat peered up at the sky. “Where?” he inquired seriously, prompting a giggle from Kit.

The lovers reluctantly broke apart. Rebecca flashed a bright smile at Baloo as she picked up the box filled with boutonnieres. “Time to make the rounds.”

Coming to her mechanic, she pinned a boutonniere on Wildcat’s jacket.

The lion said in his usual simple way, “You smell really nice, Ree-becca, like my crouton garden, except the little croutons won’t grow, no matter how much salad dressing I water them with.”

“Uh, thanks, Wildcat,” Rebecca said, slightly confused.

He beamed at her and at Molly, who was tugging on his hand.

“Let’s go play on the swings, Wildcat!”

“Oh, this is for you and Baloo. Happy birthday.” Wildcat handed her the package. Molly eagerly dragged him to the playground equipment.

“Thank you,” Rebecca said, wondering what on earth the lumpy, newspaper wrapping could contain. It could be anything. “Keep your dress clean, Pumpkin!” She gingerly set the present on the refreshment table and picked up the box of boutonnieres.

As Rebecca pinned his flowers on his jacket, Louie said, “Are ya sure ya wanna marry this rundown ol’ bear?”

Baloo growled softly, “I’ll run you down, innkeeper.”

“Baloo didn’t give me a fair chance. Marry me, Rebecca, an’ I’ll make ya the happiest woman on earth. All the free Krakatoa Specials you can eat.”

Rebecca, her brown eyes twinkling with merriment, said, “That’s a tempting offer, but...” she winked over her shoulder at Baloo, “I’m afraid you’re too late, Louie.”

Baloo puffed out his chest, feeling as if he could fly without the Sea Duck. “Whatta ya think of them mangoes, Louie? I got the girl this time.”

“There’s a first time for everythin’,” Louie joked, a smile breaking over his simian features as he lightly jabbed Baloo in the stomach with his elbow. “An’ she’s some girl, you lucky fella.”

Last but not least, Rebecca bent down to pin Kit’s boutonniere on.

Shyly, he said, “Jeepers, Miz...Rebecca, you look great!”

“Thank you, sweetie. You look very handsome yourself and so grown-up.” She hugged the boy and whispered into his ear, “Thank you for getting Baloo here on time. I think you deserve the Hero of the Year award just for that.”

Kit laughed, then blushed with pleased embarrassment when Rebecca planted a tender kiss on his cheek.

Louie complained, “Hey, how come I didn’t get a kiss with my flower?”

Rebecca answered saucily, “You’re not the best man.” She gazed around the park and checked things off on her mental to-do list. “Everything’s ready and everyone’s here, except for the photographer. I wonder what’s keeping her?”

“Her, Beckers?” When Rebecca’s back was turned, Baloo stealthily reached for another handful of mints. He shoved all of them his mouth at once, chewed three times, and swallowed. “I thought we hired a guy named Frank ta take the pics.”

“We did, but he cancelled this morning. Something about a big development he couldn’t miss out on.” She frowned. “Very unprofessional, in my opinion.”

Always on the lookout for a pretty woman, Louie’s interest was piqued. “Is this she single?”

Rebecca smiled. “She is definitely single.”

Louie adjusted the cuffs of his suit. With Baloo getting married, he wouldn’t have any competition. “Cute?”

“I suppose she could be considered cute.” Cryptically, she said, “She sees a lot of different men.”

“Finds all men too handsome ta be tied down by one, huh?” He licked the palm of his hand and smoothed his reddish-brown hair down. “Just my type.”

Rebecca giggled. “Yes, she is.”

“When’s she gonna get here?” Louie asked eagerly.

“She should be here any...” A pink, single-man, single-engine airplane buzzed the park, causing all of the flowers to rustle and the punch to slosh in its bowl. “There she is.”

Louie’s expectant smile turned to shocked horror. “AUNT LOUISE?” he shrieked. “Oh, man, hide me! Hide me!” The big ape turned this way and that, desperately searching for a hiding place before diving underneath the table. He almost yanked the tablecloth and, consequently, the food, to the ground. He peeked through the lacy tablecloth, trembling.

ThePink Piranha flew over the hills and circled back. It hurtled towards the park at a breakneck speed. The plane’s wheels skimmed over the top of the caterer’s van before it landed bumpily on the road.

“Man, what a pilot!” Baloo said in admiration as the propeller came to a stop.

Aunt Louise, a brownish-red ape dressed in a pink polka-dotted dress, hopped from the Pink Piranha. A pink bow perched atop her shock of orange hair. Pink bracelets jangled on her wrists as she reached into the plane’s innards for a camera. After jauntily proclaiming, “The party can officially begin. I am here!” she made a beeline for her cringing nephew. She dragged him out from under the table. “Louis, what are you doing under there? You’ll wrinkle your suit, and what an adorable suit it is.”

“Louie,” the ape gasped breathlessly as his aunt crushed him in her vice-like grip. “Louie!”

She pinched his cheek and hugged him again, squeezing the stuffing out of him.

“Wha...” he wheezed, “what are you doing here, Aunt Louise?”

“Aw, ain’t he sweet? I knew that you couldn’t wait to see your favorite auntie again, Louis, just like I couldn’t wait to see you. That’s why I jumped at the chance when Rebecca called me this mornin’. I couldn’t let an old D.O.A. friend down.”

“The chance to do what?”

“I’m taking pictures for the wedding.”

“You’rethe photographer?”

“Sure, silly boy.” She retied his necktie very tightly, causing his eyes to bulge out.

“Gah!” Louie choked. The blue-faced orangutan loosened the tie that was cutting off his oxygen supply. When his coloring returned to normal, he rasped, “I didn’t know you were a photographer.”

“It’s my newest hobby.” Aunt Louise looked over her new camera as if she was trying to figure out how it worked; it still had the price tag on it. “Just took it up today. Lucky for Rebecca, I was available to fill in.”

“More like bad luck, right, Baloo?” Louie murmured sardonically. But the big bear didn’t answer. He was staring at his soon-to-be bride as if she would disappear if he took his eyes off of her for two seconds. Waving his hand in front of his friend’s face, he said, “Yoo-hoo! Baloo? Hey, cousin?” He murmured, “Man, he is solid gone over her,” to Kit, prompting a sympathetic grin and a nod from the boy.

From the gazebo, Aunt Louise, who was waving her camera wildly above her head, said loudly, “Everyone over here for pictures!”

Meanwhile
Downtown Cape Suzette

“It’s a capacity crowd here at Cape Suzette’s third annual Civic Service Awards,” Dog Rather, a reporter for K-CAPE radio, said into his microphone. The short brown canine looked around at the bustling surroundings as he continued in his deep, easily recognizable voice. “All are here to pay tribute to this year’s greatest heroes - Mrs. Sara Coopersmith-Fitzwarren-Goldenheimer-Stein, a strong pillar of our volunteer community, and the surprising man-of-the-hour, the former air pirate Don Karnage.”

It was true that curiosity and skepticism had induced most of Cape Suzette to turn out to see Don Karnage receive the Hero of the Year award. In front of the downtown stage, over which was draped a banner reading ‘3rd Annual Cape Suzette Civic Service Awards’, a large crowd had gathered. The rows of folding chairs were swiftly filling with people of all species and ages, and there were others milling around on the fringes of the seating area. Many police officers patrolled the blocked-off area, and, overseeing all of the police, was Detective Thursday. His keen eyes scanned the crowd as he stood in front of the stage.

There was also a row of folding chairs on stage. Mayor Tuskany, sitting next to Shere Khan, was reviewing his note cards. Owen sat on the other side of Khan, prepared to do anything his employer asked. At the other end of the stage, photographers were taking pictures of an elderly lioness, her face lined with smile-wrinkles, wearing an ancient-looking black silk dress. Her grey braided hair was wound around her head like a coronet.

A hush of anticipation fell over the assemblage when a shiny black limousine pulled up just outside the barricade. Don Karnage got out, followed by Gibber. Eager onlookers pressed in closer for a better look at the new heros. Excited and astonished whispers rippled through the crowd as the nefarious captain of the air pirates and his first mate walked towards the stage. The photographers and reporters flocked around them.

Karnage and his big ego soaked up the attention like a thirsty sponge. “No pushing and no shoving. There is plenty of the heroic, really handsome Don Karnage to go around.” Once on stage, he announced, “I am ready for my close-up shot.” Akin to a fashion model, he struck one dramatic pose after another. “Remember to get my good side - every side.” He stood there, grinning like a Chestershire cat, long after the photojournalists trickled away.

When all of the reporters had gone, Gibber whispered into his ear.

Don Karnage sighed. “Oh, very well. Fine. I will sit down with the other mere mortals, the peoples who are not heroes of the year.” He took his seat next to the elderly lioness, running a greedy, calculating eye over the audience.

Back to the Wedding

Picture taking time was over. The wedding party and guests, who were seeing spots dance before their eyes, were lounging on the bench that spanned the perimeter of the gazebo. They were waiting for the pastor to get ready.

The giraffe took off his chef’s hat. He turned his green, reversible jacket inside out to the black side and put it back on, causing Caterer Geoffrey to become Pastor Geoffrey. He extracted a pile of official-looking papers and a pen from his pocket. Clearing his throat, Pastor Geoffrey said, “Before we start the ceremony, there is a little paperwork to fill out.”

“Oh, man, don’t tell me we gotta take a test,” Baloo groaned. Tightening his arm around Rebecca’s bare shoulders, he whispered accusingly, “You didn’t say there’d be a test, Becky.”

Highly amused, a small smile tugged at the minister’s lips. “No, it’s not a test. Just a legal formality. Groom’s full name?”

Wildcat’s hand shot up in the air. “Hey, I know that one! Uh, what was the question again?”

“Baloo Augustus von Bruinwald,” the big bear said with a sheepish grin. He wasn’t accustomed to using his full name. Everyone in the aviation community knew him simply as Baloo.

“Augustus?” Kit, who was sitting beside his Papa Bear, snickered.

Baloo looked hurt and very irked. “Hey, kid, Augustus has been passed down from generations of von Bruinwalds.”

“Mores the pity,” Louie remarked none-too-quietly.

Shooting Louie a scowl, Baloo said, “It’s no laughin’ matter.”

The boy continued to snigger uncontrollably.

“An’ we can tack it onto your name when we adopt ya, Kit-boy,” Baloo said sweetly. He tried it out. “Kit Augustus Cloudkicker von Bruinwald. Kinda has a nice ring to it, doncha think?”

The boy grimaced. He didn’t feel like laughing anymore. “Uh...sorry, Papa Bear.”

“Bride’s full name?”

“Rebecca Elizabeth Cunningham,” the bearess said, carefully enunciating every syllable. “Rebecca with two ‘c’s, not a ‘k’. Elizabeth with a ‘z’, not an ‘s’. C-U-N-N-I-N-G-H-A-M.”

“Not for long,” Baloo murmured in her ear, causing another big smile to break over Rebecca’s face.

“Good. We’ll fill the rest of this out later.” Pastor Geoffrey folded the papers up, put them in an envelope, and put the envelope in his jacket pocket. “Groom, best man, and guests up here in the gazebo with me. Bride and flower girl...”

“Maid of honor,” Molly corrected indignantly.

“Yes, maid of honor.” Geoffrey smiled down at the little girl. “Please start at the end of the sidewalk and walk towards the gazebo.” He waited until Rebecca and Molly were in place before saying, “Ready?”

“Ready, Freddie,” Aunt Louise said, holding her camera to her eye.

Pastor Geoffrey put ‘The Wedding March’ on the record player. The sweet strains of the orchestral piece wafted through the air.

“When you get up there, stand by Wildcat,” Rebecca whispered as she retied her daughter’s hair ribbon.

“Check.”

“Go ahead, Pumpkin. I’ll be right behind you,” Rebecca said, giving Molly a little nudge.

Molly marched down the sidewalk with preternatural solemness.

Rebecca tweaked her bouquet of pink and yellow roses, made sure that her train was straight behind her, then started down the makeshift aisle herself, fixing her shining eyes on her future husband. She ascended the two steps into the gazebo and took her place beside Baloo.

Pastor Geoffrey turned off the record player and opened his well-worn book. “Please join hands.”

Rebecca handed her bouquet to Molly before placing her hands in Baloo’s with a smile full of trust and love. Squeezing her fingers gently, he grinned in adoration down at her.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of God and these witnesses to join this man and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony.”

Downtown Cape Suzette

Across town, another ceremony was starting. Mayor Tuskany strolled up to the microphone on stage. He tapped the microphone. “Is this thing on? Testing one, two, three.” Feedback caused the crowd to wince and groan as he said, “Welcome, people of Cape Suzette, to the third annual Civic Service Awards ceremony, designed to award those worthy of awards with er...an award.” He cleared his throat and frowned at his note cards. His speech hadn’t sounded so asinine when he had practiced it at home. “Our first award goes to a woman who, for the past fifty years, has been volunteering her time at many places. If I read them all, we’d be here all day.” He chuckled wanly at his weak joke.

A few people in the audience tittered politely. Most, squirming in the uncomfortable folding chairs, silently prayed that he wouldn’t read the entire list.

“Instead, I’ll mention a few of the most illustrious - the Cape Suzette Memorial Hospital, the Care Center for Senior Citizens, The Hospital for Ill Children, Save the Clams, The International Federation of Nations...”

Karnage, who was sitting behind the mayor, ground his teeth in frustration and impatiently tapped his fingers against the handle of his sword while the extremely long list of achievements was read.

Finally, Mayor Tuskany said, “Would you please welcome Mrs. Sara Coopersmith-Fitzwarren-Goldenheimer-Stein?”

The elderly lioness rose from her seat and crept up to the podium. She walked so slowly that Don Karnage, about ready to jump out of his skin with impatience, got out of his chair, bodily picked her up, and set her in front of the podium. “Thank you, young man,” she said, peering up at him through her bifocals. She didn’t see the murderous glint in his eyes as he stomped back to his seat. In a brittle, thin voice, she began her acceptance speech. “Mayor Tuskany, men, women, and children of Cape Suzette, I do not deserve this award...”

“Then get off the stage, old woman,” Karnage muttered under his breath, “and let me in the spot of light.”

Ten minutes into her speech, she said apologetically, “Oh, dear. I lost my place. Now I’ll have to start all over again.”

With a deep and burning desire to slay the old lady, Karnage unsheathed his sword, causing Owen and the mayor to start in fearful surprise. Khan merely raised an eyebrow. Gibber, seated beside the pirate captain, hastily murmured into his ear.

Karnage put his sword back into the scabbard. “I remember, unfortunatement. I have to pretend to be nice, or my whole glorious plan is kaput,” he mumbled in disappointment. The savage gleam returned to his eyes. “But it would be more fun to bump her off right here and now.”

Back to the Wedding

“Do you, Baloo, take Rebecca to be your lawfully wedded wife from this day forward, to have and to hold, to love, honor, and cherish, for richer or poorer, to...er...” Pastor Geoffrey cleared his throat, “fight with and to make up with...”

Baloo shot Rebecca a questioning look, which she countered with a mischievous grin.

The pastor continued, “Through sickness and health, ‘til death do you part?”

Baloo was so elated that Rebecca was about to be his that he wanted to jump for joy and shout from the highest hilltop. Or, better yet, sky-write his vows everywhere that he went so that the entire world could see how much he loved this bearess. Caressing the backs of her small hands with his thumbs, he confidently vowed, “You better believe I do!”

Louie guffawed. “Ain’t he an eager beaver!”

Pastor Geoffrey flashed Louie a reproving glare. “Do you, Rebecca, take Baloo to be your lawfully wedded husband from this day forward, to have and to hold, to love, honor, and cherish, for richer or poorer, to fight with and to make up with, through sickness and health, ‘til death do you part?”

While the pastor read her vows, Rebecca silently thanked the powers that be that she had purchased Baloo’s Air Service. There had been two air cargo services for sale when she had been searching for a failing company to buy. Because she knew next to nothing about the air cargo business - except that it sounded adventurous and romantic - it had been difficult choosing between them. The scales were tipped in favor of Baloo’s Air Service when the banker informed her that Baloo was a terrific pilot, the best in Cape Suzette. Desiring to have the best pilot working for her and curious to meet the pilot with the unusual name, she had promptly paid her money and signed the deed.

And here she was, marrying the terrific pilot with the unusual name.

Rebecca had promised herself that she wouldn’t bawl and be a red-eyed mess on her wedding day. After all, she had spent a lot of time and money on her appearance. However, try as she might to stay calm, cool, and composed, her emotions overwhelmed her. Gazing directly into her beloved’s eyes through her own tear-filled eyes, she gently squeezed his hands with a watery smile. She quietly, sincerely, but tremulously said, “I do.”

“May I have the rings, please?”

Kit dug the gold rings out of his pocket and handed them over.

“These rings are a token of your never-ending love and devotion to each other.” He gave the smaller ring to Baloo.

“Uh, this one’s Becky’s,” Baloo murmured in the pastor’s ear. “It’s too small for me.”

“Yes, I know,” Pastor Geoffrey said with an amused smile. He was beginning to think that he had never met anyone as clueless about weddings as this bear. “You’re going to put it on her finger.”

“Oh.”

“Not now, Baloo!” Rebecca whispered, yanking away her hand as he tried to put the ring on. Her annoyance at his ignorance made her forget her tears. “Haven’t you ever been to a wedding before?” Then she answered her own question. “No, you’ve never been to a wedding before.”

“I told ya we needed a weddin’ test-flight, Beckers,” Baloo whispered back.

“No,I was the one who said we needed a test-flight, er...practice.” Rebecca’s voice rose in pitch and volume. “Yousaid, ‘We don’t need to practice. Any idiot can get married.’”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well, maybe not those exact words, but it was to that effect.”

Kit rolled his eyes, and Molly flashed an uncomfortable glance at Kit that said, They’re fighting during the wedding ceremony?

Swallowing a laugh, the pastor interrupted with, “Before you exchange rings, you have to say a few things first.”

“Okay,” the big bear said huffily, returning Rebecca’s slight frown. “What do I say?”

“Repeat after me, Baloo - with this ring, I thee wed.”

“With this ring, I thee wed. Now what?”

“Nowyou can put the ring on her left hand.”

Flustered, Baloo proceeded to put the ring on her right hand.

“My other hand, darling,” Rebecca whispered, holding out her left hand. “On the same finger as my engagement ring.”

When Baloo slipped the ring on, Rebecca smiled up at him, her eyes misty. Perceiving that he was forgiven, Baloo kissed her hand and grinned back.

“On the other hand you have different fingers,” Wildcat observed.

Aunt Louise examined her own hands. “Ya know, he’s right.”

Wildcat and Aunt Louise began a discourse on hands and why fingers of the right and left hands weren’t interchangeable.

“Can we get back to the matter at hand?” asked the peeved pastor.

Louie snorted. “They were discussin’ hands.”

Rebecca’s perturbed, “Quiet!” reverberated through the park.

Silence fell over the group.

Following a stunned silence, Pastor Gregory said, “Rebecca, repeat after me - with this ring, I thee wed.”

“With this ring, I thee wed,” Rebecca echoed, slipping Baloo’s ring onto his finger. With a smile, she squeezed his hand three times. It was their secret, silent signal for ‘I love you’.

Beaming from ear to ear, Baloo returned the gesture.

Returning to the Awards Ceremony

Mayor Tuskany nervously tugged on his collar. “Now for...for our second award. This pirate, er...man has saved over one hun...hundred tw...twenty-eight pilots from crashing...and...”

Karnage roughly pushed the mayor away from the podium. Everyone in the audience listened, spellbound, as he began his acceptance speech.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemints of Cape Suzette. Yes, there were other heroic hero-type persons, but you chose me, Don Karnage, hero extraordinaire. Good for you! As I always tell my men, courage is something that you can’t be afraid to have. And I have a lot of courage. For instant pudding, you may have heard of my single-handed saving of many, many very thankful pilots from their deaths by drowning, burning, crocodile bites. Oh, that’s a nasty one! But I am a humble pirate. I do not deserve this.”

He picked up the plaque engraved with his name and the year. “Hey, this is only gold-plated! I deserve better than this! Oh, well, I will get it in a few minutes. Now that I have my award, it is time for you to receive your just award, Cape Suzette.”

His eyes moved towards the cliffs as if he was expecting something. When nothing happened, he tapped his foot impatiently and he said louder, “Ahem! I said it is time for Cape Suzette’s award!”

Back to the Wedding

“By the authority vested in me by the state and the city of Cape Suzette, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride,” Pastor Geoffrey said, closing his book and shaking his head with a smile of disbelief. This had been one of the most interesting and amusing weddings he had ever conducted. He didn’t think that so many zany characters could exist outside the movies or radio.

“Ooo! The best part. Pucker up pretty, you two,” Aunt Louise said, raising the camera to her eye.

Rebecca stood on tiptoe to wrap her arms around her new husband’s neck. She murmured, “I love you, Baloo.”

Wiping a glistening tear from her cheek, he gathered her close to him. “I love you, too, Mrs. Rebecca von Bruinwald. Man, oh, man, I lovethe way that sounds, but not half as much as I love you.”

While they shared their first married kiss, Louie blew his nose loudly on his tie, muttering repeatedly, “Bee-you-ti-ful. Just bee-you-ti-ful.”

Aunt Louise took snapshot after snapshot. Feeling as if they would never stop grinning, the cubs hugged each other.

Wildcat’s dreamy smile turned to bewilderment when his sensitive ears detected a low hum. “Sounds like a really big airplane with a really, really big engine.” He cocked his head to one side. “And it has a dirty air filter.”

Kit, who had also heard the sound, looked at the cliffs over Molly’s head. The smile faded from his face. “Uh-oh!”

Without warning, a missile whistled over the cliffs and smashed into the hill that the park sat atop, causing the earth to shake.

“Wow-how-how! That was some kiss!” Wildcat exclaimed as the gazebo swayed beneath them.

“That was no kiss. That was a near-miss!” Louie cried, throwing his aunt protectively to the floor.“Everyone duck and cover!”

End of part 2

For Better or For Worse
Part 3

Highland Park

All watched, openmouthed, as the Iron Vulture leisurely drifted over the cliffs. Like bees swarming around a hive, a dozen CT-37s buzzed around the huge purple and black mother-ship. Simultaneously, the pirates’ single-man tri-wing planes broke rank and proclaimed open season on Cape Suzette. With a loud ‘ack-ack-ack!’ they riddled buildings and everything else in their path with bullets. Exploding salvo from the Iron Vulture continued to drop on the city and splash into the harbor.

“Who invited the pirates to the weddin’?” Baloo exclaimed, hugging Rebecca tightly. A wide-eyed Molly was sandwiched between them.

“Don’t look at me!” Rebecca snapped.

Kit frowned thoughtfully at the cliffs. He wondered what crazy scheme Karnage had up his sleeve this time. “Something must be wrong with the cliff guards. If they don’t do something, Cape Suzette’s gonna be blasted to smithereens.”

“I hate smithereens,” Wildcat commented.

Another earthshaking cannonball slammed into the hill close to the park, causing the wedding party to topple to the gazebo floor like dominoes.

“Man, that was too close for comfort!” Louie cried, scrambling to his feet. “Let’s make like a nose and blow.”

“They can’t get away with this!” Aunt Louise averred, stomping across the lawn to her plane. “Someone’s gotta stop ‘em.” She climbed into the Pink Piranha and adjusted her goggles over her eyes. “And that someone is me!”

“This ain’t a one-woman show, Aunt Louise. I’m comin’ with you. Scoot over, Rover,” Louie said, squeezing into the cockpit beside his aunt. As the engine started up, he muttered under his breath, “Oh, I’m gonna hate myself in the mornin’.” He knew, from experience, what a daredevil pilot Aunt Louise was.

“Looks like the party’s breakin’ up, Beckers.”

“And so is the gazebo,” Wildcat pointed out as chunks of roof fell in on them.

“Time for us to say our toodle-loos,” Baloo said. “Everyone to the car!”

Rebecca looked helplessly around at the park. All of that planning, all of that money wasted. “But what about the wedding...ah!” Baloo dragged her by the paw to the grey Chevrolette sedan.

The Higher for Hire gang piled in the car - Baloo and Rebecca in the front seat with Wildcat and the cubs occupying the back.

“Sign this!” Pastor Geoffrey said brusquely, shoving a piece of paper and a pen at the newlyweds through the car’s window. Baloo and Rebecca quickly scrawled their signatures on the marriage certificate. As he ran to the van, he shouted over his shoulder, “I’ll send you the bill!”

A brown CT-37 swooped over the park, machine guns blazing. A double line of bullet holes was tattooed onto the top of the caterer’s van just as it zoomed away from the park.

“I hope he’s not chargin’ us for damages,” Baloo murmured. He started the car, then stepped out.

“Where are you going?” Rebecca yelled out the window.

“Gotta get my record!” Baloo sped to the gazebo to grab the last copy in the world of ‘I Got Them Flat-Broke, Sticky-Shoed, No Banana, Boogie-Woogie Blues’ from the record player. On the way by the buffet table, he snatched up the presents and poured nuts and mints into his pockets. He looked longingly at cake as he passed, paused for a second, and seriously considered taking it. But he didn’t know how to transport it.

Rebecca backed the car up beside the table, leaving tire tracks on the neatly manicured lawn. “Get in, Baloo!”

“The cake!”

“Forget the cake! Get in, already!”

“Then scoot over!”

“No,I’m driving.”

“But...!”

“This is no time to argue, Baloo! Just get in the car!”

A spurt of gunfire whizzed over his head, missing Baloo by mere inches. The cake wasn’t so lucky. Gooey blobs of pink, yellow, and white splattered all over the front of his tuxedo. He dove into the passenger side of the car. “Punch it, Beckers!” After he scrambled into a sitting position, he scraped a glob of frosting from his jacket and licked it off of his fingers.

Rebecca put the automobile in gear and drove as she had never driven before. The car careened down the narrow, winding gravel road that led down the side of the hill towards Cape Suzette, wildly swerving left and right as cannon fire exploded in front of them. Clumps of dirt and rock pelted the car.

“Watch out!” Baloo bellowed, bracing himself against the dash. “Go that way! The, uh...” He put his right hand over his heart. “I pledge allegiance to the flag...the left! Go to the left!”

When she was on the left, he complained, “What are you doing on the left side of the road?” He grabbed for the steering wheel, and Rebecca promptly smacked his paws away. “Get over on the right! Sheesh, Becky! Where’d you get your license? In a Cracker Jax box?”

“Stop being a backseat driver!” Rebecca said testily, yanking the steering wheel to the right. The car skidded around a newly-created crater on two wheels.

“But he’s sitting in the front seat,” Wildcat said wonderingly as he and the cubs slid back and forth on the rear seat.

It was a bumpy ride, but they finally, miraculously arrived at Higher for Hire.

Everyone piled out of the car, which now sported a few new dents and dings. Wildcat hurried to his houseboat. Rebecca and the cubs made for the safety of the building with Molly chirping, “Can we do that again, Mommy?”

Baloo ran towards the Sea Duck, shouting over his shoulder, “Becky, get the kids to the basement!”

Hand on the doorknob, Rebecca asked, “Now where are you going?”

“Someone’s gotta stop Karny. Aunt Louise an’ Louie can’t do it by themselves.”

“I’m going with you.”

“What? No way, José!”

“I may be your wife, but that doesn’t mean that you can tell me what to do!” She stomped her foot angrily. “I’m going and that’s that.” Tears welled up in her eyes. Quietly, she said, “I can’t lose you, Baloo. Not today.”

Baloo glared fiercely at her, but his expression softened when he saw her tear-filled eyes. If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was seeing a woman cry, especially this woman. With a sigh of resignation, he said, “All right, honey. C’mon.”

Rebecca knelt down and hugged the cubs. “Go to the basement and stay away from the windows. Take care of each other.” She kissed both on the cheek, threw her train over her arm, and ran as best as she could to the Sea Duck in her heavy skirts.

“No way am I staying here,” Kit said determinedly when Rebecca climbed into the cockpit. He rushed down the dock to the seaplane.

“Me neither,” said a little voice from right behind him.

“No, Molly!” Turning around, Kit put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her towards the building. “You stay here with Wildcat.”

“That’s my mommy and my daddy, too!” Molly cried stubbornly. In imitation of her mother, she stomped her foot. A sly look passed over her face. “Besides, Mommy said for us to take care of each other. That means we gotta stick together, and if we don’t, I’ll tell.”

TheSea Duck’s engines started up. Kit, wanting to make a run for it, felt like he was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Inching down the dock, he pointed out, “It’s gonna be dangerous.”

“Goody.” She giggled. “Danger Woman lives for danger.”

“Molly, this isn’t a radio show. This is real life. Real pirates with real guns. Bad things can happen. You could get hurt.”

“I know,” she said scornfully, arms folded across her chest. “I’m seven, not stupid.”

Kit made a hurried decision. A few more seconds and the Sea Duckwould take off without him. “Fine, you can come only on one condition - you have to do exactly what I say, no questions asked.”

“I promise, big brother.” Molly crossed her heart.

“Then step on it, Short Stuff.” Kit grabbed her paw and tugged her along towards the Sea Duck. They leapt into the cargo hold just as the plane was pulling away from the dock.

A short while later, Wildcat walked into Higher for Hire with his pockets crammed full of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows, and chocolate bars. He drug the acetylene torch behind him. He looked around the empty office in confusion. “Hey, where’d everybody go?” Unfazed, he sat down on the sofa, speared a marshmallow with his screwdriver, and began toasting it over the acetylene torch.

Downtown Cape Suzette

When the Iron Vulture entered the city, Don Karnage screamed, “Attack!” into the microphone.

Approximately fifty pirates strategically interspersed throughout the crowd whooped and shot their guns into the air. They grabbed anything they could get their grubby hands on - purses, wallets, jewelry, lollipops, etc. The citizens of Cape Suzette scattered, screaming.

Amidst the chaos, Detective Thursday signaled for all of the police officers to capture the pirates. The policemen’s shrill whistles added to the cacophony. Unfortunately, the cops were outnumbered and out-muscled. Many officers ended up being knocked down by pirates or trampled underfoot by hordes of panicked people. Others were rounded up by pirates and tied up. One was even shoved face first into a garbage can.

On stage, Gibber murmured into Karnage’s ear.

“Yes, I also love a captive audience, too!” Karnage chortled as he proudly surveyed the mayhem. His attention was drawn away from the chaos by a gold-plated plaque repeatedly, lightly smacking him on the back.

Seventy-five-year-old Mrs. Sara Coopersmith-Fitzwarren-Goldenheimer-Stein was exacting her vengeance with, well, a vengeance. Her feeble blows didn’t hurt as much as they were annoying.

“Ouch! Ow! Stop that, you stupid old hag!” Karnage snarled. He snatched the plaque from her, crammed it in her mouth, and pushed her off the stage where she landed on top of Detective Thursday.

Mayor Tuskany ran around in confused circles, shouting incoherent orders. “This is anarchy! This is an outrage!”

“No, it is pirating!” Karnage said. He doubled over laughing when the mayor lost his balance and fell off the stage only to land on Mrs. Sara Coopersmith-Fitzwarren-Goldenheimer-Stein and Detective Thursday.

Vexed with the entire situation, Shere Khan murmured in Owen’s ear, “Call out the air force.”

“Yes, sir.”

Owen snaked his way through the mob of hysterical people to get to a payphone. With shaky fingers, he put a nickel into the slot and dialed the number. “H...hello, Commander Meander? This is...um,” watching a pirate with a saber chase a screaming slim brunette minx down the street, he momentarily forgot that he was on the phone; “uh, Owen, Shere Khan’s assis...assis...er, right-hand man. Shere Khan wants you to immediately deploy the air force to fight off these pirates.”

“That’s impossible, Owen. All of the tires have been slashed. We’re currently working on repairs.”

“T...the tires are slashed? All of them? On all the planes?” At the thought of Cape Suzette being completely defenseless, a cold sweat broke out on Owen’s forehead; he absently wiped it away with his palm.

“Allof them. We’re completely baffled as to who did it,” the commander replied grimly.

A scruffy brown canine knocked on the door of the payphone booth. The husky pirate, who towered over the phone booth, said in a sing-song voice, “Time’s up, shorty.”

Owen glanced timidly up at the pirate, who had an evil, toothy grin on his face. “Um, I...I think I have a very good idea who did it. Gotta go,” he said quickly, hanging up the phone. He eyed the gun in the pirate’s hand. He almost hoped that the pirate would kill him. It would be preferable to relating the bad news to Shere Khan.

Back to the Stage

While pandemonium reigned around him, Shere Khan sat stoically on stage. Flicking his sharp claws in an out, he said quietly, but menacingly, “You double-crossed us, Karnage.”

Clomping across the stage to the tiger businessman, Don Karnage replied nonchalantly, “Are you surprised? A pirate does what a pirate has to do. Plunder!” Seemingly unconscious of the cannon shells falling around them, he said airily, “I was saying to myself a few months ago - ‘Self, why are we messing with the small french fries when we could have the whole enchilada? We need to go after something big, something grand, something that would look good on a T-shirt.’”

Gibber whispered in his ear.

“Yes...my face would look excellemundo on a T-shirt, but why would we conquer my face?” His expression contorted into a savage snarl as he poked his sword at Khan’s chest. “We are going on a little field trip.” He prodded Khan into the back of a nearby police car.

With Gibber at the wheel, they started down the street. Pedestrians had to jump out of their path.

Karnage, sitting beside Khan, said, “Now, we talk business, big-time businessman. You have something that I want.”

As if being kidnapped by pirates was an everyday occurrence, Khan simply quirked an eyebrow. “What, pray tell, is that?”

“Everything! I want your everything!”

“Khan Industries?” Khan said icily.

“Prezactly! Your building has everything we need - top-secret equipment, an unlimited power supply, and lots and lots of swivelly chairs. Those are fun. Hee-hee.” Karnage cleared his throat and instantly became serious. “And you’re going to help us get what we want - all your money and power.”

“Why should I?” Khan said, staring balefully at the pirate captain.

“Corroborate or you will be skewered like the shish-kabob.” He pressed the tip of his sword into Khan’s chest where it gouged a hole in the ten thousand dollar suit coat.

“Forget it, Karnage,” Khan retorted. He coolly pushed the sword away and dusted off the front of his suit. “You will not get any assistance from me, despite your empty threats.”

“Empty?” Karnage’s jaw tightened. Khan’s utter disregard of the pirate captain’s ultimatums as well as his cold demeanor made Karnage’s blood boil. No one ignored Don Karnage and got away with it.

The police car screeched to a halt in front of Khan Towers. Karnage flung open the door and got out. Grabbing Khan by the lapels, he hissed between gritted teeth, “I’ll show you empty, Mr. Shere Khan. You’ll see your dominion topple pell-mell from the top floor.”

Five minutes later, Shere Khan was looking ninety stories down at the city of Cape Suzette. However, he wasn’t in his office. He was on a ledge outside of his living quarters, which were above his office. The warm wind whistled past his ears as he glared at the pirates on the other side of the glass. "I'm not amused, Karnage," he said loudly.

Karnage tapped on the glass and put a hand to his ear. “I can’t hear you! Oh, one more thing - watch that first step. It’s a Doozyburg.” Laughing, he walked away from the window. Gibber thumbed his nose at Khan before following Karnage to the elevator.

A moment later, the elevator door opened in Khan’s office. Humming a silly little off-key tune, Karnage strutted across the room and sank into Khan’s chair. He pushed the intercom button. “Attention, everyone in the Khan building. This is Don Karnage here, speaking to you in my voice. I am now in charge! Get me...oh, let’s start with something small.” Thinking, he tapped his index finger against his chin. Then, his eyes lit up. “I know! The world. That will be all.” He twirled until he was dizzy in Khan’s chair.

The Sea Duck

Rebecca reflexively clenched her fingers around the armrests as the Sea Duck dove sharply in a Pelican Dive. She watched as the blue ocean loomed closer and closer. Her voice dripped with bitterness when she said, “This is not how I planned to be spending my wedding day.”

“Yeah, we were s’posed ta be dancin’ with each other, not pirates.” Baloo pulled the seaplane out of the dive, causing the CT-37 that was pursuing them to splash into the harbor. “An’ chowin’ down on cake, mints, nuts...oh, I forgot.” He dug into his pocket and produced a handful of mints and nuts. “Here’s some yummies for your tummy, Becky.”

Aunt Louise’s voice crackled over the radio, “How’s it goin’, Baloo?”

Baloo put the munchies into his wife’s hands before picking up the microphone. “Okay on this end. How ‘bout you?”

“Fine and dandy as candy, Randy,” she said jauntily.

“That’s your opinion, Aunt Louise,” said Louie’s quaking voice.

“Seems there’s a big piratical shindig goin’ on downtown.”

Baloo shared a look with Rebecca. “We’ll check it out. Can you handle these pirates by yourself?”

“Can Louise L’Amour handle pirates?” She laughed disdainfully. “Piece of carrot cake. Watch those pirates in those pathetic excuses for planes eat my prop wash.” To the pirates, she jeered, “Hey, boys, it’s time to play follow-the-leader. Bet you can’t do this!”

“No one can do that!” Louie screamed hysterically over the radio. “Pull up, Aunt Louise! Oh, maaaaaaaaaaaaaan!”

TheSea Duck banked left towards downtown Cape Suzette.

“Baloo, look!” Rebecca said, pointing to the top of Khan Towers. Usland’s flag had been replaced by a Jolly Roger flag.

“So that’s what Karny’s up to. He’s taken over Khan Towers.”

“And made it his fortress.” The Sea Duck landed on an empty street a few blocks away from Khan Towers. “What are we going to do, Baloo?”

Baloo, fiddling his fingers on the control yoke, thought for a moment. Then, he went to the cargo hold and began rummaging through his junk trunk, throwing things over his shoulder as he dug. “I got an idea, an’ I got an idea that you’re gonna hate it.”

“What?” Rebecca ducked as an empty coffee can and a set of bongos hurtled towards her head.

“Promise ya won’t get mad?”

Rebecca, her temper flaring, snapped, “Spit it out, flyboy!”

He held up his Aloha Night Band costume - a gaudy, frilly pink and orange dress - then tossed it aside. He continued to search. “Yer gonna hafta trade yer riches for rags. Ah-ha!” He showed her a beige shirt and a pair of torn khakis.

“You’re right; I hate it!” Rebecca grabbed the ugly clothes from him, grimaced with distaste, and threw them to the floor. “Besides, I’m not leaving my beautiful two hundred dollar dress behind for some thieving pirate!”

Baloo chuckled. “What - do ya think Karny’s gonna wear it? I’d sure pay two hundred shaboozies to see that!”

Hands on hips, Rebecca retorted, “If I go with you, the dress goes with me.”

“You’re the boss, boss lady,” he sighed, wishing that she wasn’t so stubborn about a dress. Clothes were clothes to him. He handed her a burlap sack. “Bring it along.”

Rebecca snatched up the clothes and pulled the curtains across the cargo hold for privacy. There, she wriggled out of her dress and put the baggy beige shirt on over her slip. She pulled on the faded pair of khaki pants that were at least five sizes too large. To make the pants fit better, she knotted a length of rope around her waist and rolled up the cuffs. She then carefully folded her dress and placed it in the sack.

On the other side of the curtain, Baloo exchanged his tuxedo for a pair of dirty brown overalls; he had to suck in his ample gut to get it zipped up. He tied a red bandana over his head. The crowning touch was an eyepatch.

When Rebecca stepped from behind the curtain, Baloo plumped a leather flight cap complete with goggles down over her head, causing her to wail, “Oh, it took the hairdresser two hours to get my hair to look like that.”

“Good thing we got pictures of it.”

She peeked at her reflection in the mirror that hung on the inside of the storage closet door. What she saw made her want to weep. “For the past six months, I’ve been looking forward to how beautiful I was going to look today, and now look at me!”

“You’re the cutest pirate I’ve ever seen, Rebecca.” Baloo kissed her tenderly. “For luck.”

She returned his kiss, saying emphatically, “And we’re going to need it!”

Using the handkerchief from his tuxedo jacket pocket, he wiped off lipstick. Then, he smeared a greasy rag on her cheeks, saying, “Gotta put your pirate makeup on now, honey.” For good measure, he rubbed it on his cheeks, too.

Baloo tossed the burlap sack containing Rebecca’s dress to the ground. He climbed down from the Sea Duck and lifted Rebecca down, whispering, “Remember that you’re a rough, tough, burly pirate.”

“Grr,” Rebecca growled feebly. She shouldered the sack, and they got in step behind a passing mob of pirates.

The motley crew were gloating about Karnage’s latest, successful plan.

“This is the best plan the captain’s ever had,” Hacksaw said. A green safe with ‘Cape Suzette National Bank’ stenciled on it in yellow lettering was slung across his back.

“Yeah,” Baloo agreed. He nudged Rebecca’s elbow, prompting her to say something.

“Yeah, right,” she grunted sarcastically in an affected bass voice. Under her breath, she muttered, “Stupid Karnage. Had to spoil our wedding day. If I get my hands on him, I’ll wring his neck!”

Baloo nudged her again and shot her a warning look.

The Sea Duck’s Cargo Hold

When the pirates’ voices faded, the hatch that allowed access to the water tanks slowly raised. Molly, who was sitting on Kit’s shoulders, peeked out. She flung a sock aside that was dangling in her line of vision. Her eyes flitted around the cargo hold.

Kit whispered, “What do you see, Molly?”

“Lots of Daddy’s stuff.” Spying a red blanket, she squealed happily, “There’s my Danger Woman cape! I was looking for that yesterday.”

The young navigator sighed in exasperation. Jeepers, Molly. Focus! “Is anyone there?”

“Nope.”

“Let’s pull chocks.”

They were about to climb out when the Sea Duck lurched violently to the left. Someone heavy had just boarded. That someone was a hulking buffalo. With him was a short tan dog with spiky hair. Both carried bulky sacks crammed full of loot.

“Pirates!” the little girl shrieked.

The cubs fell in a heap, and the manhole cover clanked shut.

The pirates ransacked the Sea Duck, looking for treasure. Clanging and banging around, they opened the storage closet and sifted through the objects that littered the cargo hold.

An excited snort came from the buffalo. “Look what I found! Bottlecaps!”

“I got a pogo stick.” The canine held up the toy that was taller than him.

“Neato,” the buffalo replied, impressed. He shoved his treasure into his sack. “The captain will be so pleased with us.”

After the pirates had gotten off the plane, Kit and Molly cautiously crawled out of their hiding place. Kit picked up a blue trench coat and a straw hat. He draped the coat around them both. “Keep close to me, Molly.”

“Are you sure this is gonna work, Kit?” Molly asked skeptically, hanging onto the back of his tuxedo jacket.

“Can you think of anything better?”

“Uh...nuh-huh.”

Kit plunked the straw hat over his baseball cap, saying resolutely, “Then it’ll have to work.”

Khan Towers

Baloo and Rebecca trailed after the group of pirates into Khan Towers. Just inside the revolving door, the two bears stopped to take in the chaotic scene.

The normally peaceful and well-ordered building was now anything but peaceful and well-ordered. The air pirates, giddy with their success, were running rampant. Some were driving Khan’s employees from the building. Some were acting like curious children - pressing buttons, opening every door, trying out machines. Some pirates, like the ones Baloo and Rebecca had followed, staggered to the twin elevators on the far side of the lobby laden down with stolen treasure.

“Now what?” Rebecca whispered out of the corner of her mouth as a pirate roughly pushed past her, empty sack in hand; he was intent on his quest to retrieve more loot.

“Keep a low profile, an’ maybe we can sneak past ‘em to the elevator. I bet ya dollars ta donuts that Karny’s in Khan’s office. We gotta get up there.”

“And then what?”

“Dunno.” Baloo shrugged as they started across the crowded lobby. “We’ll hafta make it up as we go along.”

“The story of our lives,” Rebecca whispered.

“Hey, you!” Mad Dog’s nasal voice rang through the cavern-like room.

“Keep walkin’,” Baloo mumbled to Rebecca.

“You with the eyepatch. I’m talkin’ to you, Cyclops!”

“So much for the low profile,” Baloo murmured as every eye in the room turned towards him.

The two bears were accosted by Mad Dog and Dumptruck.

“Wha...?” Baloo squeaked nervously. He cleared his throat. In a deep, gravelly voice, he growled, “Whattaya want?”

Dumptruck reached into his brown coat. “Der captain vants...”

Rebecca’s pulse beat rapidly. She pressed closer to Baloo. It looked like their gooses were cooked. Their disguises weren’t good enough after all; they had been found out. This was the end.

The hulking canine pirate shoved a slip of paper at Baloo. “His lunch. Take it to him.”

Relieved that it wasn’t a gun, Baloo and Rebecca let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Get everything on the list, and don’t screw it up,” Mad Dog added.

“Yeah, the last guy who screwed it up got a real close shave, if you know vhat I mean.”

“Lost his head.” Mad Dog made a slashing motion across his neck.

Baloo gulped as Mad Dog and Dumptruck sauntered away, laughing raucously.

“Do you know what this is, Baloo?” Rebecca whispered excitedly as they headed for the elevators.

Baloo looked down at the scrap of paper in his hand. “Uh, a list?”

“No, this is our ticket into Khan’s office.”

Understanding dawned on the big bear’s face. “Hey, yeah.” Then, a perplexed frown creased his brow. “But what are we gonna do when we get there?”

Rebecca smiled up at him. “We’ll think of something, like we always do.”

They stepped into an elevator where two pirates were arguing.

“I wanna push the button!” cried an elderly brown bear clad in a long blue coat and yellow shirt. His white beard quivered with indignation as a middle-aged grey shrew garbed in a ragged red vest and a white turtleneck shoved him away from the column of elevator buttons.

“It’s my turn! You pushed it the last time!”

The old bear ground his wooden leg into the shrew’s foot, inciting a high-pitched squeal of pain.

“Ow-ow-ow-ow! I did not!”

“You did, too!”

The pirates’ skirmish evolved into a violent pushing and shoving match. Baloo and Rebecca pressed against the back of the elevator, trying to keep out of the fight.

“Baloo, do something!” Rebecca whispered urgently when the grey shrew snatched the sack from her hands and began swinging it around.

Without further ado, Baloo picked both pirates up by the scruff of their necks and bonked their heads together. They slumped to the floor.

“Take my dress, will they?” Rebecca said, umbrageous.

Baloo retrieved the burlap sack from beneath the pirates’ limp bodies and handed it to his wife with a grin. A chuckle escaped from his throat, and he began to laugh in earnest. He laughed so hard that tears of mirth flowed down his cheeks. The entire predicament was hilarious to him. Here it was - their wedding day; and they were disguised as pirates with two unconscious pirates at their feet, on their way to rout a pirate captain from Khan Towers. It was so abnormal that it was normal - for them. When he was able , the big bear choked out, “One thing’s for sure, Becky - we’ll have buckets an’ buckets of rip-roarin’ stories ta tell our grandkids.”

Giggling, Rebecca slipped her hand into his, feeling the wedding band on his finger. She would rather be here with him, surrounded by pirates, than in the poshest paradise on earth. “And we’ll never, everforget our wedding day.”

Meanwhile...

A short, stout figure in a blue trench coat and a straw hat was creeping towards Khan Towers. If anyone had looked closely, they would have seen that this strange-looking character had four feet.

“Are we there yet?” Molly asked for the umpteenth time. The air was oppressive under the coat.

“Almost,” Kit whispered, keeping his mouth movement to a minimum. He tugged the wide brim of the hat down further to conceal his face.

“I wanna see, too.”

“Not, now, Molly. Khan Towers is just across the street. Here’s a curb. Step down.” They crossed the street. “Curb. Up.” Furtively glancing around at the mob of pirates swarming around outside Khan Towers - none of whom was paying the least attention to them - the boy whispered, “We’re going in. Don’t say a word.”

Kit pushed against the revolving door. They were halfway through when the jacket’s sleeve lodged between the door and the doorway. Kit, unaware that they were caught, continued on. With a final tug, the cubs were unveiled.

“Oops!” Molly whispered as Mad Dog and Dumptruck pounced on them.

“Well, well, lookee what the cat dragged in - a couple of squirts. Whattsa matter? All dressed up and no place to go?” Mad Dog jeered, taking the hat from Kit’s head and flinging it across the room like a frisbee.

“Goin’ to a party?” Dumptruck flicked a beefy finger at Kit’s boutonniere.

Taking hold of Molly’s hand, Kit retorted in his best tough-guy voice, “Yeah, if you really wanna know, we were gonna crash Karnage’s party. Do you have a problem with that?”

Mad Dog and Dumptruck exchanged amused glances. “A coupla of puny babies like you, take on the captain?”

Both pirates snickered at the thought.

“We’re not afraid of you!” Molly shouted bravely.

Dumptruck and Mad Dog produced rifles and pointed them directly at the cubs.

In a small, faint voice, she said, “But we’re afraid of that.”

“What should we do with ‘em?” Dumptruck asked Mad Dog.

“Let us go?” Kit suggested hopefully.

“Yeah, let ‘em..vait a minute!” Dumptruck said, glaring at the nervy cub.

“Let’s take ‘em to the captain.” Mad Dog scooped a squirming, scowling Molly up. “He’ll know what to do.”

“So much for your stupid idea, Kit,” Molly said dolefully as she was carried to the elevator.

“I would’ve been easier to sneak in here if you’d stayed at home like I told you to,” Kit snapped. Dumptruck’s death-grip around his waist wasn’t exactly comfortable.

Molly stuck her tongue out at him. “It’s not my fault the coat got caught on the door.”

“Shaddup, brats!” Mad Dog screeched, clamping a hand over Molly’s mouth.

In the elevator, Molly fixed her questioning gaze on Kit. She was silently asking for a way to get out of this mess.

Kit mimed biting Mad Dog on the hand when the elevator doors opened.

Understanding his plan, Molly nodded slightly, determinedly.

“Stop wigglin’ around, brat!” Mad Dog said, shaking the little girl until she saw stars dance before her eyes.

When the elevator doors opened, the cubs simultaneously sunk their teeth into their captors’ hands.

“Ow!” Dumptruck screamed.

“Ouchie!” Mad Dog yelped. “Stupid kid!”

The children dropped to the floor. They ran - but not far or fast enough.

Just down the hall, they collided with Hal and Gibber. Molly kicked them both in the shins, causing them to hop around in pain.

“Get those kids!” Hal yelled, clutching his sore leg.

“This way!” Kit said breathlessly, dragging Molly away from the pirates. They sprinted down the wide, carpeted hallway, casting furtive glances over their shoulders.

However, they ran out of hallway and there were no doors or windows in sight. The only way out was to go back the way they came.

“Thatway!” Kit puffed, making a hasty U-turn.

Unfortunately, the pirates were waiting for them.

“Nowhere to run to,” Mad Dog sang with a triumphant laugh. He and Gibber held a tennis net stretched across the hallway. Dumptruck and Hal stood behind the net, ready to catch the unruly children after they were caught.

Kit assessed the situation in a glance. Giving Molly a ‘stay here’ look, he said impertinently, “I prefer to fly anyway.”

To the pirates’ amazement, Kit jumped on top of the net. Using the net like a trampoline, he leapt to a hanging light fixture right above his head. From beneath his shirt, he whipped out his airfoil and fanned it open with a click of a button. From his airy perch, he flung his airfoil at Dumptruck’s head.

The airfoil hit its target with a deafening ‘thwack’.

The unconscious Dumptruck keeled over like a ton of bricks into the middle of the net, pulling the two pirates holding its ends in with him. Mad Dog and Gibber flailed their limbs wildly in an attempt to escape from the net.

“Get down here, kid,” Hal growled, pointing his revolver at Kit.

“Oh, Mr. Pirate,” Molly sang sweetly.

When Hal turned around, she kicked him in the shins as hard as she could. He, hopping around, didn’t notice the net until he tripped over it. He, too, was tangled up in the net.

Kit dropped lightly to the ground. He scooped up his airfoil and ruefully examined the new dent in it before folding it and returning it beneath his shirt. Turning to the pirates, he said, “No, no don’t get up. We’ll find out own way out. You guys look like you’re all tied up.”

Molly giggled at his joke.

The cubs exchanged high-fives before hurrying away from the grousing and entangled pirates.

Meanwhile...

Baloo and Rebecca emerged from the cafeteria.

Baloo was examining the contents of the plate of food he carried. “Yuck! Who in their right mind would eat a cheeseburger with tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, mustard, an’ peanut butter?”

Rebecca smirked. “Who ever said Karnage was in his right mind?”

“Hm...I wonder what a burger with peanut butter would taste like,” Baloo mused. He had half a mind to take a bite out of the sandwich, but he thought better of nibbling Karnage’s food.

They rounded the corner, heading for the elevators, when who should smack into them but Kit and Molly. The cubs were headed for the same elevator.

“Ah! More pirates!” Molly shrieked.

The kids didn’t realize who the scruffy pirates were. Hand in hand, they took off like twin shots in the opposite direction.

When the big pirate said, “Whoa! Feather your props,” in a very familiar voice, Kit skidded to an abrupt stop. Molly slammed into his back.

“Baloo?” Kit said in disbelief, turning to look at the two ‘pirates’.

“In the fur,” Baloo chuckled. “What in blue blazes are you kids doin’ here?”

“Daddy!” Molly cried happily. She ran to him and hugged his legs.

“Didn’t expect ta see ol’ Baloo in this get-up, did ya?” The big bear lifted the eyepatch and winked at them.

Rebecca was more steamed than a steamboat. Frowning at them, she said, “I thought I gave you explicit instructions to stay with Wildcat.”

Molly dropped her eyes penitently. “We’re real sorry, Mommy,” she murmured, “but we felt safer with you.” To herself, she added,And we wanted to share the adventure, too.

“Are you okay?” Rebecca asked, looking the cubs up and down in concern.

“Yeah,” they sang in unison, grinning.

The smiles were wiped off their faces when Rebecca said angrily, “Good. You’re in big trouble, both of you. We’ll discuss this when we get home, but first we some food to deliver and a city to save.”

The four bears stepped into the elevator.

Outside Khan Towers

Shere Khan was not a man who was willing to sit back and watch the world pass by. He hadn’t amassed a fortune by being a passive onlooker. Likewise, he was not going to wait for someone to rescue him as Cape Suzette - most of which belonged to him - was pillaged by pirates.

The more he thought about Karnage’s audacity to take his building, the more furious Khan became. A strong hatred - stronger even than his hatred for Whistlestop Jackson - welled up inside of him. One thought pulsed through his mind - he had to purge the building of Don Karnage and his pirates by any means necessary. And, because he didn’t have anyone around to do it for him, he would have to get rid of them himself.

The tiger flicked out a razor-sharp claw. He painstakingly carved a hole in the glass large enough for him to enter.

On padded feet, Khan walked noiselessly across his sumptuously-furnished living quarters over to the elevator. He wrenched the doors open and peered down into the dark elevator shaft. The elevator car was stationed two floors down.

He grasped hold of the cables and slid down. He stealthily, lightly landed on top of the car just as it started to move upward.

Khan wrenched open the trap door in the elevator car’s ceiling and dropped into the car itself. Vaguely realizing that there were two pirates in the car besides himself, he pressed the ‘stop’ button, causing the car to be suspended between floors. Flicking out his claws, he threatened the pirates, “You will help me overthrow your leader, or I’ll snap your worthless necks like twigs.”

“That’s what we’re tryin’ ta do, Khanny, uh, the overthrowin’ part.” Baloo lifted his eyepatch and smiled sheepishly.

Shere Khan actually cracked a smile. It was a smile of relief. Here were allies. His claws retracted as he took a good look at the four bears. “Ah, Baloo. Fancy meeting you here. And, Ms. Cunningham, you’ve never looked lovelier.”

Rebecca scowled at the pert insinuation and shifted the heavy bag containing her wedding dress to the other shoulder.

“Mrs. von Bruinwald,” Baloo corrected, proudly surveying his ‘pirate’ bride. “Me an’ Becky, we got married this mornin’.”

“Congratulations,” Khan purred in amusement, examining their strange wedding apparel. “A pirate-themed wedding. How...quaint.”

“If that’s what you call it,” Rebecca muttered sullenly.

“Now that you’re here, Khanny, ya might as well join in on the fun, especially since it is your buildin’.”

Khan clenched his fists. “Mmm...yes. It will be again.”

“Huddle up, gang. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of Karny?” Baloo shot a swift glance at Rebecca, who was about to open her mouth. “Besides throttlin’ him.”

“A very effective method,” Khan said, causing Rebecca to nod and smile.

“I’ve got an idea, Daddy,” Molly chirped.

Baloo winked at Kit, saying silently, Let’s humor her. Baloo patted her on the head. “All right, Muffin. Whatcha got?”

“Well...Kit’s good at imitating people. He can sound like anybody, even like Captain Galactica on Danger Woman. What if he pretended to be Karnage and told the pirates to leave? Then we could capture Karnage and lock him up in jail forever and ever and the world would be saved.”

Baloo and Kit exchanged impressed glances. “That ain’t too bad, Molly.”

“For really?” Molly squealed in delight.

“For really.” Baloo rubbed the back of his neck. “The only problem is how to do it.”

“The master sound system is in my office,” Shere Khan said. “From there, you can relay your message throughout the building.”

“But Karnage is in your office,” Kit reminded him.

“Then, we’ll just have to get Karnage out of the office,” Rebecca said. “Baloo and I can do that. We have to deliver his lunch anyway.” She pointed to the plate of now-cold food in Baloo’s hands.

Khan nodded and pushed the ‘up’ button. “Agreed. Once you lure Don Karnage out of my office, the children and I will carry out the second half of the plan.”

Shere Khan, Kit, and Molly stepped out of the elevator, into Khan’s living quarters.

After the elevator doors shut, the cubs shared a nervous look. Molly reached for Kit’s hand. Even though they would never admit it, they were intimidated by the forbidding Shere Khan. And the room that they were in was something else. They’d only seen such elaborate furnishings in magazines and movies. It was so clean that it seemed more like a museum than a home. They didn’t know if they were allowed to sit down on the plush sofa.

“Over here, children. We can watch for the opportune moment to act,” Khan murmured. He opened the elaborately carved door overlooking his office a crack. His robust frame tensed, ready to spring, when he caught sight of Karnage. A low growl rumbled in his throat.

The cubs also put their eyes to the crack, waiting breathlessly.

Khan’s Office

When the elevator doors opened one floor down, Baloo and Rebecca stepped out.

“Get out of here!” Don Karnage screamed.

Rebecca reflexively clutched Baloo’s arm. Seeing no one, she whispered, “Where is he?” She craned her neck to see over the piles of loot that filled the room.

“Man, this is the biggest mess I’ve ever seen,” Baloo murmured, “an’ I know messes.”

They carefully picked their way through mounds of jewelry, cash, antiques, gold bars, and toys. Finally, they reached the far side of the room. The pirate captain was sitting behind the desk on the throne-like chair, talking to the Français ambassador on the telephone. Or rather, he was screaming into the phone.

“No, no, no, no, no, you frustrating fracas-type person! I am the dread pirate Don Karnage that has taken over Khan Industries. I am the most powerful, most wonderful man in the world, not ‘qui de parle’!...I can’t understand you! Why do not you speak the English proper like me?...I’ll parlez-vous you!” He severed the phone cord with his sword before throwing the receiver across the room where it hit a Venus flytrap in the head.

“He’s in a good mood,” Rebecca whispered sarcastically.

“When ain’t he?” Baloo whispered back.

“Why do there have to be so many estupid foreigners in foreign countries?” He noticed Baloo and Rebecca standing in front of his desk. “Do either of you eediots speak-y the French?”

Baloo, looking at Rebecca with a gleam of fun in his eyes, said, “Uh, it’s all Greek to me.”

“I didn’t know French fries could talk,” Rebecca said stupidly in an affected bass voice. When she glanced sideways at Baloo, there was a gleam of fun in her eyes, too.

Karnage slapped a hand to his forehead. “Never mind. What are you morons standing there for? Can’t you see I’m busy?” He chose a gold crown from a pile of crowns and put it on his head, tipping it rakishly over one ear. He then admired himself in a hand mirror. “It’s so hard to be the richest man in the world. I have lots of planning and plotting and plotzing and so forth and so on.”

“We brought your lunch, Karn...uh, Captain Karnage, sir,” Baloo said gruffly, holding out the plate.

A pleased smile replaced Karnage’s scowl. “Ooo! What tantalizing tasties did you bring to please my beautiful palate?”

“Only what was on the list.” Baloo put the plate on the desk and backed away.

Seeing the sack Rebecca toted, he said, “And you brought a present. Even better. Dump it over there with the others.”

Rebecca clutched the sack more tightly. She had carried it this far; she wasn’t about to lose her beautiful dress now.

“What’s the present?” Karnage smacked his lips as he bit into the cheeseburger. “Hey, this is cold!” He touched all the food on the plate. “It’s all cold!” Angry, he hurled the plate into the jungle on the left side of the room where openmouthed Venus flytraps chomped hungrily on the food.

Baloo didn’t like the way things were going. He murmured into Rebecca’s ear, “Run.”

“Ones?” Karnage exclaimed as he slipped a ruby ring on his finger. His mind on money, he had mistaken 'run' for 'ones'. “I don’t need no stinkin’ one dollar bills. Why did you not steal me something good like one hundred dollar bills?”

That gave Baloo an idea. “If ya come down to the lobby, we’ll show ya hundreds of sacks of one hundred dollar bills, Captain.”

Rebecca nodded vehemently.

“Okay.” Karnage eyed them warily. “But this better not be a false lie.”

“Oh, it ain’t a false lie. It’s really for real.”

A greedy glint entered Karnage’s eye. “Let us go take a look-see at my sacks and sacks of money.”

Seeing Baloo, Rebecca, and Karnage leave the office, the cubs and Shere Khan got into the elevator and went down one floor.

“Wow!” Molly breathed, her eyes growing larger as she gazed at the piles of treasure. “Look at all this neat stuff, Kit!”

“A pirate’s paradise,” Kit murmured, frowning. “Don’t touch anything, Molly. We have to hurry. Karnage might be back any second.”

Shere Khan picked up an emerald necklace, looked at it disdainfully, and put it back on the pile.

Kit, with Molly in tow, stepped up to the scarred mahogany desk.

“To broadcast a message throughout the building, push this button,” Khan instructed.

“Good luck, Kit,” Molly said encouragingly.

Kit took a deep breath, pressed the button, and said in an accent eerily like Karnage’s, “Attention, my mangy minions! This is Don Karnage here, speaking to you in my voice. I will be saying this but once, so listen up with the ears! Drop everything, leave the building, and return to Pirate Island. I repeat, drop everything, leave the building, and return to Pirate Island.” He let out an inane laugh like Karnage’s. “That is all.”

In the Elevator

Don Karnage had a perplexed look on his face. “I did not say that, did I?”

“Ya must have, Karny,” Baloo chuckled nervously. “Sure sounded like ya.”

“Karny?” Karnage blinked, then his expression turned ferocious. “Only one bear is fool enough to call me Karny.” He ripped off Baloo’s eyepatch. “Bahloo!” He removed Rebecca’s disfiguring hat. “And the annoying business lady!”

“Nice going, Baloo,” Rebecca murmured sarcastically.

“I had a feeling that you would try to stop my latest glorious plan, so I have an even more glorious plan to get rid of you. Permanently!”

The elevator doors opened; Mad Dog and Dumptruck entered.

Karnage said, “Where do you eediots think you are going?”

“Back to Pirate Island like you told us, Captain,” Mad Dog said, sharing a confused look with his counterpart.

“Not anymore. You are coming with us.”

“Vhere are ve going?” Dumptruck asked.

Karnage shot a vicious look at Baloo and Rebecca as he pushed the button for the topmost floor. “We are going to have a high old time.”

End of part 3

For Better or For Worse
Part 4

Shere Khan’s Office

Kit clicked off the microphone and stepped back from the desk.

“Bravo, young man,” Khan said approvingly, inciting big grins from the cubs.

“You were great, big brother!” Molly said enthusiastically.

“Do you think it worked?” Kit asked. He stepped over to the large window, but he couldn’t see if the pirates were leaving the building. Clouds obstructed his view of the street.

“Let us investigate,” Khan suggested languidly, heading for the elevator.

Molly caught Kit’s hand in hers and swung it as they walked around piles of loot, saying happily, “We got rid of the icky old pirates, just like Danger Woman got rid of Mantis Lady in...”

BOOM!

An deafening explosion rocked the building. Khan remained standing. The cubs tumbled to the floor and were buried under a treasure avalanche.

“Whatwas that?” Kit said. He stood, shook off jewelry, and helped a wide-eyed Molly to her feet.

Khan, frowning at the large window, which now had a jagged crack running diagonally from top to bottom, growled only one word: “Karnage.”

One Floor Up

Shere Khan’s lavish bedroom was filled with a thick haze. The pungent smell of burnt gunpowder saturated the air. Chunks of plaster fell from the ceiling. The matching mahogany furniture - king-sized bed, night stand, end tables, dressers, easy chairs - as well as the maroon carpet were speckled with white dust. Through the haze, a large hole was visible in the wall, allowing the three pirates and their two captives a panoramic view of the tranquil blue sky.

Between hacking coughs, Mad Dog choked out, “I think one stick of dynamite would have been enough, Dumptruck.”

Dumptruck stood beside the hole. He was covered from head to toe in rubble and a dazed expression was on his blackened face. Twisting his pinky in his ear, he shouted, “Vhat did you say, Mad Dog?”

Don Karnage crawled out from under the bed - where it was safe. He fanned the smoky air with his hand. “You blundering blunderers! Do you want to blastify my beautiful building to bits?”

“Sorry,” Mad Dog and Dumptruck mumbled contritely.

“You two had better be sorry. My favorite coat is soiled.” He wiped a minuscule piece of dust off of his coat using Khan’s silk robe, then barked, “Where do you think you are going, Bahloo?”

Baloo and Rebecca had been sneaking towards the elevator and to freedom.

“Uh, it’s such a nice day outside,” Baloo stammered. “Too nice ta stay cooped up inside. We’re gonna go take a tiptoe through the tulips.”

“You can tiptoe your tulips right back here,” Karnage said sternly, drawing his sword from his scabbard.

Mad Dog and Dumptruck also brandished their pistols.

“Well, since ya asked so nicely...” Baloo said with a nervous chuckle. Both bears reluctantly stepped away from the elevator.

Don Karnage picked up a large, heavy suitcase. Stenciled on the side of the brown suitcase in white lettering was ‘Hot Air Balloon in a Box. Guaranteed to inflate in 60 seconds flat.’ “Thanks to this lovely invention that my plundering pirates found, you will be taking a trip into the upper stratosphere.”

“A free trip don’t sound so bad,” Baloo said, his hopes rising.

“Accompaniment you will be a load of dynamite.”

“That sounds bad,” Baloo said, his face falling.

Karnage staggered to the hole, dragging the extremely heavy suitcase beside him. He put the suitcase on the ledge - not noticing the absence of Shere Khan - and gingerly pressed the button on the top of the case.

WHOOSH!

All shot backwards across the room as a gust of hot air blasted out of the suitcase. When they regained their senses, they could see that a hot air balloon rested on the ledge.

“Hee-hee,” Karnage mumbled as he tipsily got to his feet. “It really, truly work-ded. Who knew?” He shook his head to clear it and said, “Get outside, both of you.”

“Okay, Captain,” Mad Dog and Dumptruck droned simultaneously.

“Not you, you yammering yo-yos!” Karnage said. He pointed his sword at the two bears. “You!”

Hand in hand, the newlyweds inched out onto the ledge with the pirates right behind them. Getting a glimpse of a few clouds belowthem, Baloo gulped. “Man, what a time to be without my Sea Duck.”

Just off to their right was a hot air balloon. The balloon itself was a cherry red. Attached to the balloon was a brown wicker basket.

“This time I have gone to higher heights of lowness. Do you not agree?” Karnage gloated as he looked the balloon over.

Meanwhile, Mad Dog was staring at Rebecca. Or rather, he stared at the bag that she was holding. “Whattaya got in the sack, girlie? I wanna see it.” He grabbed onto to the sack with both hands.

“You...can’t...have...it!” Rebecca said between clenched teeth, playing tug-of-war with Mad Dog. She finally lost her grip and fell backwards with a soft “Eep!” against Baloo.

Mad Dog laughed and eagerly peeked into the sack. His face fell in disappointment. “Oh, it’s just an old rag.”

Rebecca bristled, ready for a fight. “It is not an old rag! It’s...”

Don Karnage interrupted with, “Enough of this pretty bickering. Get in the basket, Bahloo.” He poked the tip of his sword at Baloo’s back.

“All right, all right, but stop stickin’ me with that thing. I ain’t a pincushion, ya know.”

“Dumptruck. Mad Dog. Tie the future victims up.”

Dumptruck procured a coil of rope from his jacket pocket, and he and Mad Dog strapped Baloo’s and Rebecca’s wrists together. They then took a second piece of rope and wound it around and around their waists. The two bears were now securely tied back to back.

“Tight enough?” Dumptruck asked, sharply yanking on the ropes for spite.

“Ouch!” Rebecca squeaked, tears of pain springing to her eyes.

“Yeowcha-magoucha!” Baloo yelped as the ropes cut into his mid-section. “I hate girdles.”

“Good,” Karnage said with a pleased, but not pleasant, smile. “Wouldn’t want you falling out of the balloon when it is very, very high up. That would be a nasty drop, yes-no?”

“You won’t get away with this, Karny. Ouch!” Baloo winced, because he had bonked his head on the burner.

“Oh, but I already have, silly Bahloo-type-of-person,” Karnage sneered. “I finally get to finish off some unfinished business that has been bothering me for a long time - you and the annoying business lady.”

“Becky’smy wife, not the annoying business lady,” Baloo interjected emphatically, returning Karnage’s sneer. “We were married this mornin’.”

“So...” amused understanding dawned on Karnage’s face as his gaze flitted from Baloo to Rebecca and back to Baloo; “that means the best day of your life is also your worst day. Ha! And double ha! I am loving this! The dynamite, if you please, Dumptruck.”

Dumptruck pulled handfuls of dynamite out of his pockets and dumped it into the basket.

“Are you crazy?” Rebecca asked, her eyes growing larger as the stack of dynamite did. There were enough explosives to blow up an entire city block and then some.

Mouth quivering with rage, Karnage said, “Never, EVER call me that word!”

Looking up at the sky, Baloo murmured casually, “Crazy.”

“Argggghhhh!”

The Pink Piranha

“Aaaaaaah! Pull up! Pull down! Pull over an’ let me out!” Louie screamed as four CT-37s hurtled right towards them. Neither the Pink Piranha nor its gutsy pilot showed any intention of deviating from its flight path.

At the last second, the pirates’ planes veered to the right or left.

“This game of air chicken is getting oldier and moldier than last week’s pea soup. We need a new game. I know! Let’s play follow-the-leader, boys!” Aunt Louise said over the microphone. “The old over and under. Last one to fly under Clapton Bridge is a plucked bird.”

“Let me off here, Aunt Louise,” Louie begged as the downtown skyscrapers loomed closer. “Why, oh, why did I get out of bed this mornin’?”

Khan Towers

While the three air pirates were intent on carrying out their murderous scheme, Shere Khan and the children emerged from the elevator. They cautiously tiptoed through the living room to the bedroom, the plush carpeting muffling their footfalls. Kit and Molly stayed in the doorway while Khan ventured in.

The tiger businessman’s face darkened at the ruin that his bedroom had become, but he said nothing. He merely pressed his hands together, wishing that Karnage’s neck was between them.

“What are they up to?” Kit whispered. He shared a perplexed look with Molly. Both wondered why Mad Dog and Dumptruck were piling dynamite into the basket and why Baloo and Rebecca weren’t defending themselves.

“Piratical mayhem,” Khan said quietly. “But not for long.”

When Karnage proclaimed, “I hope you enjoy your big explosive honeymoon pie in my little hot air balloon, Mr. and Mrs. Bahloo,” Kit’s alarm intensified.

The pirates moved to one side, allowing him to see that Baloo and Rebecca were tied up and that there was dynamite sticking out over the top of the basket. His pulse began to throb in his ears. “Oh, jeepers!” he whispered sotto voce.

Molly was thinking the same thing. She pressed closer to Kit, hanging onto his shirttail.

“Can I use your radio, Mr. Khan?” Kit said, a glimmer of an idea spinning in his head. It was a long shot, but it was the best that he could devise. “I need to contact a friend. Please?”

Following a long, tension-filled pause, during which Shere Khan glared at the pirates’ backs, he said, “Mmm...yes. Right this way.”

The threesome returned to the elevator.

Out on the Ledge

“Don’t forget your old rag. Catch!” Mad Dog tossed the sack. It ricocheted off Rebecca’s stomach and fell on top of the dynamite that was packed to the basket’s brim.

“Wear it in good health,” Dumptruck added.

The air pirates chortled as angry tears filled the bearess’s eyes.

Clasping his hands together and batting his eyes, Karnage said mockingly, “It’ll be so romantic - floating through the blue sky, up through the clouds, getting blown into a million pieces. Pow! Boom-boom! Bye-bye!”

Rebecca shivered with the thought of it.

Baloo turned his head to look at the pirate captain. “C’mon, Karny, be a sport. Let Becky go. She ain't done nothin' to ya."

“Did you call her nothing?”

“Huh? No, I...”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don’t you know it’s not polite to talk about people behind their backs?” Karnage giggled with self-satisfaction. “I make a joke. As for letting her go...” nose to nose with the big bear, he barked, “NO!” causing Baloo to flinch. “This way I get rid of both of you nasty nuances at the same time.”

Mad Dog brandished a matchbook. “Can I light it, Captain? Can I? Please, oh, please, can I?”

Magnanimously, Karnage replied, “For any other electrocution, I would let you perform the honors, Mad Dog, but this is an extra-special occasion, isn’t it, Bahloo?” He shot an ugly leer at the two bears. “We will use a timer this time.”

“But ve don’t have a timer,” Dumptruck pointed out.

“But, yes, we do, Dumptruck,” Karnage replied. He procured an alarm clock attached to a small bomb from his pocket. As he wound up and set the clock, he said, “You have exactitutely ten minutes until you will spend eternity together, but that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” He put the ticking clock into the basket. “This is the beginning of the end of your pathetic lives.” Whipping out his sword, Karnage severed the balloon’s restraining rope with one savage slash. “Enjoy your up-close and personal view of the fireworks!”

However, the balloon didn’t move. Baloo’s bulk and the dynamite weighted it down.

Karnage repeatedly kicked the basket, but didn’t gain anything except stubbed toes. “Float! Go up! Fly away, you estupid balloon! Don’t just stand there, you eediots! Push this balloon off!”

Dumptruck and Mad Dog put all of their combined might against the basket. Finally, it slid off of the ledge with a loud scraping sound.

The balloon dipped down, then began its slow ascent. Dumptruck and Mad Dog hung from the basket by their fingertips, yelping.

“Let go of that balloon, you dangling dolts,” Karnage ordered.

They immediately did as they were told. They were suspended in mid-air for a second with distressed looks on their faces before falling with twin ‘thumps’ onto the ledge below.

“Bon voyage-y, Bahloo, and don’t come back!” Karnage called out cheerfully as he waved his sword.

“Hey, Captain?” Mad Dog whined, rubbing his sore backside.

“Yes, yes, yes, is there something that you inquiring minds want to know?” Karnage snapped, peering over the ledge. He kicked chunks of plaster down onto them.

“How do ve get back inside?” Dumptruck asked.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. You have dynamite. Blast your way in,” Karnage replied unconcernedly.

“Oh, yeah, dynamite. Ve’ll blast it good.” Dumptruck pulled out his last stick and propped it against the large window.

Mad Dog struck a match and held it to the fuse. When the flame started towards the TNT, they ducked behind a gargoyle.

“But don’t you dare singe or put a single scratch in my beautiful plane of glass!” Don Karnage warned.

“Yumpin’ yimminy!” Dumptruck quickly extinguished the flame by pinching it between his fingers. Then, he caught sight of the long crack that was already etched in the window. He pointed it out to his colleague.

“We’re gonna get blamed for that, aren’t we?” Mad Dog said dismally.

Dumptruck nodded sadly.

The Pink Piranha

“You boys are slowpokes!” Aunt Louise shouted to the two CT-37s on her tail as she wove in and out of the downtown skyscrapers. “Snails with broken legs could out race you! Whoo-hoo! Ain’t this a laugh, Louis?”

Louie, a pale shade of green, gasped out, “Oh, yeah, Auntie. More laughs than a barrel of monkeys. Watch out for that building!” He shielded his face with his hands and waited for his life to pass before his eyes.

She yanked the stick back at the last possible second. The airplane’s landing gear drove across the building’s surface. “You mean thisbuilding? Whee-hee-hee!”

One of the CT-37s wasn’t so lucky. It slammed into the building right beneath them.

Watching the pirate pilot deploy his parachute, Louie said, “Shoot! We don’t have parachutes.”

“Parachutes?” she laughed. “What do you need a parachute for? Don’t you have any faith in your auntie’s flying?”

“Faith? Sure I got lots of faith.” He squeezed his eyes shut and hastily murmured a prayer for safety.

Kit’s urgent voice came over the radio. “Come in, Pink Piranha. This is Kit Cloudkicker. Over.”

“Well, darn my socks,” Aunt Louise said, leveling out the plane. “If it ain’ that dapper little best man.” She picked up the microphone. “Whatcha need, cutie-pie?”

“Baloo and Rebecca are in real trouble.”

“We ain’t doin’ so hot ourselves,” said Louie, covering his eyes as they did a roll. “Oh, man, that just ain’t right. Tummy rollin’ with the plane.”

Kit blurted out, “Karnage tied them to a hot air balloon.”

“With lots and lots of dynamite!” Molly added.

“Molly, give that back!” There was scuffling and bumping as the microphone changed hands. “I don’t know how long they have until it explodes, but knowing Karnage, it won’t be long.”

“You gotta help ‘em!” Molly added, panicking.

“I dig you loud an’ clear. Don’t worry, kids. Louise L’ Amour’s got everything under control.” She banked right, steering the plane towards Khan Towers.

“Which is more than I can say for my stomach. Whoa!” Louie screamed as the Pink Piranha went into a pretzel twist. “I want a refund from this five-cent tour!”

Back to the Hot Air Balloon

Carried along by gentle winds, the balloon drifted up, up, up through the brilliant blue sky. As it ascended, the air became cooler and thinner; but the two bears aboard the balloon didn’t notice the air quality. They - tied back to back in a basket filled to the brim with dynamite, not to mention a bomb that was set to go off in a few minutes - had more urgent matters to tend to.

“Becky, honey, I gotta tell ya somethin’,” Baloo said as he fumbled with the knot that restrained their hands. He kept a sharp eye on the alarm clock that sat on the pile of dynamite right in front of him. Only seven minutes left.

Rebecca turned her head towards the sound of his voice. “Yes, darling?”

“I wish...I wish...dang this stupid knot!”

“Yes?” she said expectantly.

“I wish we coulda eaten that cake.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Oh, Baloo, get over the cake already! I’ll make you another cake.” Staring at the waist-high dynamite, she added tremulously, “If we ever get out of this.”

“We’ll get out of this,” he said with as much confidence as he could muster up.

“How? There’s a ticking time bomb rigged up to a ton of TNT in this basket.”

“Yeah,” Baloo said admiringly. “Karny really did his homework this time.”

A sudden heartening thought made Rebecca’s eyes lose their listless look. “Time! That’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“Don’t you see, Baloo?”

“How can I see ya when we’re tied back to back?”

“If we can only turn the hands of that clock back, it would give us more time to think of a way to escape.”

“That ain’t a bad idea, Beckers. I’m surprised I didn’t think of it myself.” He lifted his foot to reach the clock. However, because he moved, the dynamite shifted, causing the clock to slip between the sticks of dynamite and disappear from sight. “Uh-oh.”

“What’s ‘uh-oh’?”

“I, uh...sorta lost the clock.”

“What do you mean, you lost the clock?”

“Just what I said - I lost it.”

“I swear, Baloo, if your head wasn’t screwed on you’d lose that, too. How could you lose a clock in this little basket?”

“It kinda, accidentally did a disappearin’ Whodini act into the pile of dynamite. It’s buried like one of Karny’s treasure chests.”

“Oh, great!” she exclaimed sarcastically. It looked like this truly was the end for both of them. They were trapped with no hope. And only one hour ago, she had been so happy. Her chin began to quiver. Big tears welled up in her eyes, trickled down her cheeks, and splashed onto the dynamite.

Hearing her sobbing and not being able to hold her in his arms was agonizing to Baloo. Instead, he did the next best thing - he caressed her fingertips and tried to comfort her with words. “When we said ‘til death do us part, I didn’t think it’d be so soon. Aw, easy, Becky, eaaaasy. Don’t cry, sweetheart.”

“I’m not crying!” Rebecca sniffed, her voice quavering. She hastily blinked tears from her eyes. “I...I just have dust in my eye. It’s not fair!”

“Yeah,” Baloo agreed quietly. He glanced up at the balloon and then down at the basket for something to help them escape, but he found nothing. “Blast that dang Karny, or more like he’s gonna blast us.”

“He always invades Cape Suzette at the worst times. On our wedding day of all days!”

“Whenwould be a good time?” Baloo asked with a wan chuckle. He returned to unraveling the knots that constrained their wrists.

“Never!” Rebecca’s tears were forgotten. She was hopping mad now. “Why does Karnage always have to invade Cape Suzette? Why not some other city for a change?”

“We could move,” Baloo suggested.

“We just moved yesterday, and we shouldn’t have to leave our home because of some pirates. Besides, Cape Suzette is a prime location for an air cargo business. Do you know what we’d have to do to have what we have now, Baloo? We’d have to find a city with a seaside or lakeside location. A new house, a new office - meaning moving expenses. Establishing a new clientele. Do you know how long it took for Higher for Hire to become profitable?”

“Nuh-huh,” Baloo murmured, tongue protruding in concentration as his cramped fingers fumbled with the ropes. He wished that he had his pocket knife. He wished that Kit was there to help. He wished that he had an Orange Fizzie; his mouth was parched.

“It took months! Then, there’s uprooting the kids. They would have to go to different schools, make new friends, and...” She inquired irately, “Don’t you have that knot untied yet?”

“Uh, there’s only one hitch, Beckers. I think this knot’s the Killick Hitch, an’ I’m not good at those.”

“Oh, let me try! We do not have time to mess around with knots,” Rebecca snapped impatiently. She began fiddling with the ropes, her heart in her throat.

The faint ticking of the alarm clock reminded them of their impending doom.

The Pink Piranha

“I spy with my little eyes a big red balloon,” Aunt Louise said as the airplane flew, full throttle, towards the hot air balloon that was several thousand feet above the city.

Seeing help coming, Baloo’s and Rebecca’s faces brightened.

“Mind if we join the party?” Aunt Louise shouted to the two bears. ThePink Piranha circled clockwise around the balloon.

Louie leapt into the basket and landed on the dynamite. “Whoa-ho! Get a load of all these candles. There must be at least a hundred here. Is it your birthday already, cuz?”

“Lay off the jokes, cuz,” Baloo said, annoyed. “Just get us outta here.”

“Your wish is my command.” Louie began working at the knots. “What’s that tickin’ noise? You wearin’ a watch, Baloo?”

“Baloo - wear a watch?” Rebecca snorted.

“Nah, that’s just Karnage’s friendly little bomb tick-talkin’ to us.”

Louie gave a final yank on the knot, releasing the newlyweds from their bonds. He blinked once, twice as that fact sunk in. “A bomb?As in whammy-ka-blammy?”

“Did ya think the dynamite was just filler?” Baloo said. He waded through the sticks of TNT to the side of the basket. “Karnage wanted to blow us sky-high.”

“Sky-high in the sky, no less. Man, we gotta blow this balloon before that bomb blows a chunk out of us! Last one in the Pink Piranha is a cooked goose.” When the airplane swooped close to the basket, he jumped into its cockpit.

Baloo pulled Rebecca out of the dynamite. “You next, Becky.”

“Okay,” she said nervously.

When the plane buzzed around that side of the basket, Baloo tossed Rebecca into the plane. She landed neatly on Louie’s lap.

Extremely pleased, the orangutan joked, “Now, this is what I call a bridal shower.”

Baloo, still in the basket, murmured to himself as he watched the airplane fly closer, “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, an’ four to GO!” At the word ‘go’, he made a mad leap for the fuselage while Rebecca jumped back into the balloon’s basket.

Baloo landed in front of the cockpit with an “Oof!” and slid back against the windshield. Aunt Louise had to stick her neck out to the left to see where she was going.

“That’s the biggest, hairiest bug I’ve ever seen,” Louie commented.

Baloo turned around to glare at his friend. “Keep your criticisms to yourself. Hey, where’s Rebecca?”

Louie pointed to the balloon.

Alarmed, Baloo hollered, “Becky, you’re s’posed ta be over here!”

“I have to get my dress!” She snatched up the sack containing her dress and shook off a few sticks of dynamite that were clinging to the rough burlap.

“You got it. Haul your tail section over here pronto!” Baloo said frantically; he could hear the alarm clock’s ticking. Who knew how long they had left?

She threw the sack as hard as she could at the airplane. It landed on Baloo’s head.

“Thanks a heap,” he said dryly, plucking the sack from his pate and handing it back to Louie. “Now, c’mon, honey!”

If things weren’t bad enough, the last remaining CT-37 swooped down over the balloon, machine guns blazing.

“This is no time for fun and games,” Aunt Louise said huffily.

“You’re having fun?” Louie said incredulously. He and Louise ducked as bullets flew over the cockpit, dangerously close to where their heads had been a second earlier. “If one of those bullets hits that dynamite, we might as well say bye-bye to breathin’.”

“Just hold her steady,” Baloo yelled, lying face down across the fuselage. “An’ try to get as close to the basket as ya can.”

Seeing the CT-37 headed right towards her, Rebecca yelped, “Baloo!” and held her hands out over the side of the basket as far as she could without falling out.

Baloo caught them in his as the airplane zipped by.

One second later, the hot air balloon exploded into a thousand flaming fragments.

Khan Towers

Don Karnage, seeing the demise of his arch-enemy, grinned from ear to ear, saying, “Good riddance to annoying rubbish.”

Ignoring Mad Dog’s and Dumptruck’s persistent pleas for help, he turned on his heel and went into the building.

Khan’s Office

Kit, with his arm protectively around Molly’s shoulders, peered out the window at the big black ball of rolling smoke far above them. There wasn’t any sign of the Pink Piranha, not to mention Baloo, Rebecca, Louie, or Aunt Louise.

Then they saw it - the Pink Piranha hurtling across the sky like a shooting star. The plane, propelled forward by the force of the blast, was speeding out of control towards the ground.

“What’s happening, Kit? Are they gonna crash?” Molly asked quietly, her eyes riveted to the plane.

Kit also watched the plane’s rapid downward progress with trepidation. Not wanting to scare Molly more than she already was, he tightened his arm around her and mumbled with forced conviction, “I’m sure they’ll be fine. Aunt Louise is a good pilot, almost as good as Baloo.”

Pink Piranha

The airplane dove sharply towards the ground, accelerating by the second. Baloo, his legs wrapped around the fuselage, was stuck to windshield with the immense G-forces. He and Rebecca - who sat on his lap - clung to each other for dear life. Their eyes watered with the wind blowing into them.

“Man, for a second there, Becky, I thought I was gonna suffer from separation anxiety,” Baloo said with a weak smile.

Rebecca brushed her palm across her eyes. “You weren’t the one that was almost blown up.”

“Don’t go blamin’ me for that. That was your fault. You an’ that silly dress.”

“Silly dress? That’s not what you said this morning when you saw me in it, Baloo.”

Their argument was curtailed by Louie shouting, “Get the nose up, Aunt Louise!” He grabbed onto the stick and pulled back with all his might.

“I’m tryin’, Louis, but we got too much of a load,” Aunt Louise said from between clenched teeth.

Seemingly from out of nowhere, the CT-37 appeared. Its pilot was still intent on shooting down the Pink Piranha.

“Man, I wish that pirate would find somebody else to pester,” Baloo said, cringing when the CT-37 swooped upon them.

Over the wind noise and the ack-ack-ack of the CT-37's guns, Aunt Louise yelled, “Baloo, when we get low enough you and Rebecca gotta jump. It’s the only way.”

“The only way?” Baloo echoed in disbelief.

“We’ll do it, Louise,” Rebecca said determinedly.

“W...we will?” stammered the big bear.

Rebecca frowned at him. “We will.”

After a long pause, Baloo nodded and pointed out, “Okay, but it’s gonna be a rough landin’.”

“Here. Use this for a pillow,” Louie said, handing the burlap sack to them.

Rebecca took one look at the sack and said indignantly, “Oh, no! I’m not using my dress to break our fall.”

“Do you want to spend our honeymoon in the hospital? Traction ain’t fun. Believe me, I know.”

She sighed in defeat. “Fine, but if anything happens to my dress...”

Baloo eyed the rapidly approaching pavement. “I’m more worried ‘bout somethin’ happenin’ to us!”

When the Pink Piranha was a half a mile from the street, Baloo said, “Brace yourself, Beckers.”

Rebecca nodded and wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck.

“Don’t strangle me!” he gasped out.

She loosened her grip. “Sorry.”

“Ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she added with a whisper, “I guess.”

“Happy landin’,” Louie said cheerfully - a little too cheerfully, Baloo thought.

“How’d we always get stuck in these situations, anyhoo?” Baloo, holding Rebecca closely to him. He nervously clenched and unclenched his fist around the sack as he waited for the ground to come closer.

“The next time we see Karnage, remind me to thank him,” Rebecca said with a wry smile.

Baloo returned her smile. “Yeah, ditto. Well...here goes everything. Geronimo!” Taking a deep breath, he jumped.

Both bears screamed the entire fifty feet down. They landed with a jarring jolt; the only thing between their backsides and the concrete was a burlap sack and a wedding dress. Just above their heads, thePink Piranha pulled out of its dive and gained altitude. Right on its tail was the CT-37.

“Whoo-hoo! Back to fun and games!” Aunt Louise proclaimed jauntily. “Let’s try a little zigging and zagging to ditch this piratical pursuer.”

ThePink Piranha zipped around a skyscraper like it could corner on rails. However, the CT-37 wasn’t so lucky - it slammed right into the side of the building and burst into flames.

“Incoming!” Baloo yelled. He shielded his and his wife’s head with the burlap sack as flaming pieces of the wrecked CT-37 rained down on them.

Rebecca, her nerves raw from their recent narrow escapes, giggled uncontrollably until she started to hiccup. Between hiccups, she managed to say, “I knew my dress would come in handy somehow.”

“Man, I’ve been in explosive situations before, but that one takes the cake,” Baloo exclaimed, cautiously poking his head out from underneath the sack. The only thing floating in the sky was the pirate pilot parachuting to the ground.

Rebecca beamed up at him. “Oh, Baloo,” she hiccuped, “get over the cake already.”

Khan’s Office

Ninety stories up and seven blocks north, the children saw the explosion. However, they were too far away to tell that it was the CT-37, not the Pink Piranha.

Molly, who had been brave all day, buried her face in Kit’s shirt and started to cry quietly.

Kit swallowed a big lump in his throat. His eyes felt hot and tight. He tried to get his mind around the fact that he - so close to having parents - had once again found himself an orphan. To calm his whirling head, he tried to reason with himself. Okay, I’ve been an orphan before. I can be an orphan again. At least I have Molly this time - if they don’t split us up. They can’t split us up. They just can’t! Oh, Papa Bear, Miz Cunningham... One tear, then another trickled down Kit’s cheek.

Shere Khan was uncomfortable for the first time in his life. He, the tough, merciless businessman who had no qualms about crushing competitors, didn’t know how to comfort two weeping children. No amount of money would fix this. When the elevator dinged, he turned, welcoming the diversion.

It was Don Karnage. “Welcome home, you truly scrumptious pirate captain,” he gloated to himself.

“Uh-oh!” Kit whispered. He pulled Molly behind a pile of loot and told her to be quiet.

They listened to Karnage hum to himself as he confidently strutted through the office, picking up jewelry along the way and draping it on his person.

On the other side of the window, Mad Dog and Dumptruck were yelling at Karnage to turn around.

“What did you say, you nincompirates? I can see your mouths moving, but all I can hear is mmm-mmmm.”

Dumptruck and Mad Dog continued to pound on the glass. They pointed to the chair, shouting, “Don’t sit down!”

Karnage misunderstood them. “Sit down? But of course I’m going to sit down. It is my own glorious chair, yes-no?”

Before he knew it, a hand shot out from the chair and clenched his neck in a vice-like grip, lifting him from the floor.

“Someone’s been sitting in my chair,” Khan growled, nose to nose with the pirate. “And here he is.”

Karnage, eyes bulging out, squeaked out to Mad Dog and Dumptruck for help only to see them hitching a ride on the Iron Vulture. He let out a strangled cry of defeat.

“Now, Mr. Don Karnage, you will personally make reparations for the damage that you have inflicted upon my building as well as the business time that I have lost.”

Karnage choked out in a rasping whisper, “H...How am I going to do that?”

“Oh, I’m sure we can work out something, but first, as my guest,” Khan tightened his grip around Karnage’s neck, “I insist that you be made comfortable.”

After Karnage had been tied securely to a straight-backed chair and placed next to the hungry Venus flytraps, the elevator dinged.

“Man, that was some rolly coaster of a ride!” Baloo said jauntily, stepping from the elevator.

Rebecca - with one hand holding the burlap sack, the other enfolded in her husband’s hand - said wearily, “Next time you can ride the roller coaster by yourself, Baloo.”

Hearing the familiar voices, Molly yelled joyfully, “Mommy! Daddy!” She tore herself away from Kit to throw herself into her mother’s arms.

Likewise, Kit leaped into Baloo’s arms, who looked down at the boy’s tear-stained face.

Baloo fondly tousled the boy’s hair, prompting an even bigger smile to crease Kit’s face. “Ya didn’t think you could get rid of your ol’ Papa Bear that easy, now, did ya, Li’l Britches?”

Kit fought down a sob of relief; he thought that he’d never hear that nickname again. But his tears were forgotten when Baloo swept he, Rebecca, and Molly into his arms for a warm hug, which they held for a long while.

Shere Khan cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to break up this tender family moment, but we still have one loose end to tie up.” He gestured to Karnage. Three Venus flytraps were salivating over him and a fourth was licking its chops.

The elevator bell dinged once again. Aunt Louise and Louie stepped out.

“The death-defyin’ daring-do thing is way overrated,” Louie averred. “From now on, I’ll do all my stunts on the ground.”

“Ground, schmound. I prefer the wide, open...oh, happy, happy day!” Aunt Louise giggled in ecstacy at the sight of Karnage. “If it isn’t my little Don Juan Karnage!” She rushed to his side and showered him with unwanted attention.

“What are we going to do with you?” Khan purred. He got a feeling of satisfaction from the tortured, helpless expression on the Karnage’s face as Aunt Louise stroked his hair and planted big, wet kisses all over his cheeks.

“Hurry up! Punish me!” Karnage gasped out. “Don’t keep me in suspenders.”

“Turnips and sandpaper,” Kit suggested with a slight sly smile, recalling Karnage’s own favorite torture device.

“Fingernails on a chalkboard for hours on end,” Baloo added.

“Boil him in oil,” Rebecca said.

“Yeah!” Molly chimed in. “Do all of ‘em!”

“Hey, I got a slam-bang idea,” Louie said, grinning mischievously from ear to ear. “Since he seems ta like Aunt Louise so much, I think he should go on a date with her.”

“Oh,yes!” Louise shouted fervently, crushing the pirate captain in her strong embrace.

“Oh, no!” Karnage yelped. “I’ll do anything! Feather and tar me! Boil me in vinegar with a little salt! Shoot me! Lock me up for the rest of my life! Anything but that!”

Aunt Louise bodily picked him up and carried him to the elevator. “We’re going to have so much fun, my little pirate-y poo. I’ll take you to all of my fave party spots and we’ll dance, dance, dance the night away. Maybe we’ll even get married at the Chapel of Love in Lost Vegas.”

“I’m a confined bachelor! I can’t get married, especially to you! HELLLLPPPPP!” Karnage shouted as the elevator doors shut. His agonized screams could be heard throughout Khan Towers.

Chuckling, Baloo wrapped an arm around Rebecca’s waist. “Ah, love. Ya gotta love it.”

Higher for Hire
Sunset

Baloo opened the office door, saying to Louie, Rebecca, Kit, and Molly, “It sure is good to be back at home, sweet...” he broke off, chuckling. “Speakin’ of sweet, lookee here.”

“Wildcat!” Rebecca cried. In her astonishment, she dropped the burlap sack. “Look at this mess!”

Wildcat sat on the couch, ringed in by mounds of gooey s’mores. There was also a chocolate-y, marshmallow-y, graham cracker ring around his mouth. “These aren’t called messes; these are s’mores,” he said cheerfully. “You guys want one? I made plenty.”

Everyone was famished after their escapade, so they all chomped into a s’more or two.

Wildcat swallowed and said, “Do you think we need more s’mores?”

“Well...maybe,” Baloo mumbled around his fifth. He scooped up a s’more in each hand.

After a pointed look from Rebecca, the big bear changed his answer to ‘no’.

“Is it time to open presents yet?” Molly asked.

“In all the excitement, I plum forgot about the presents,” Baloo said.

“Ididn’t,” Molly said smugly. She and Kit ran out to the car and returned with the two gifts. She handed her mother Wildcat’s lumpy package.

Rebecca tore off the newspaper and pulled out something that appeared to be a mishmash of metal held together by big wads of pink bubblegum. “Why, Wildcat,” she said uncertainly, “it’s...it’s...”

“A picture frame,” the mechanic said proudly. He took the object from her and swung the two sides out, revealing an oddly beautiful silver picture frame. “I found that bubblegum’s the best thing for hinges or fixing broken clinkenheimers, whichever comes first . You can put three pictures in here. Maybe three wedding pictures.”

“You made that yourself, didn’t ya?” Baloo smiled, clapping Wildcat on the shoulder.

“Yep.” Wildcat nodded. “Out of the Sea Duck’s spare parts.”

“S...spare parts?” Baloo echoed uneasily.

“Thank you,” Rebecca said with a half-hearted smile. “It’s very...unique.”

“Yeah, thanks, Wildcat,” Baloo said.

Louie plopped his heavy gift on Baloo’s lap, prompting a wheeze of pain from the big bear.

Baloo unwrapped the box to reveal...”Hey, dishes. Solid.” He held out a plate. “Fill ‘er up, Becky.”

“It’ll take more than one plateful to fill your bottomless pit up, flyboy.” Laughing, she shoved a s’more in his mouth, causing Baloo to grin.

“Figured everyone could use a set of dishes,” Louie said.

“We definitely can,” Rebecca said, remembering yesterday’s moving fiasco when Wildcat broke most of their dishes.

“What’s all this writing on the packing paper?” Kit asked.

Louie laughed. “That’s my second present to ya. It’s Baloo’s tab. Figured ya’d like to start married life with a clean slate, cuz.”

Rebecca quickly unraveled the paper from the dishes and looked at the figure at the bottom of the tab. “Sixty-seven dollars and forty-three cents?”

Baloo shrugged and grinned. “What can I say? I’m a growin’ bear.”

Kit poked the pilot’s stomach. “Yeah, whenever the ‘Big Guy’ growls, it grows,” prompting Baloo to push the boy’s hat down over his eyes.

“How can we ever repay you, Louie?” Rebecca asked.

Louie pointed to his cheek. “Plan a wet one right there, Rebecca.”

Obligingly, Rebecca pecked him on the cheek. “Thank you for everything, Louie, and not just for the presents,” she said sincerely with a warm smile.

Louie blushed and let out an embarrassed chuckle. “No problemo, Rebecca. Guess I’ll be moseyin’ along now.” He shook Baloo’s hand vigorously. “She’s all yours now, fuzzy, you lucky bear. Have a blast on your honeymoon.” With a wink, a wave, and a smile, he was out the door.

A Half an Hour Later

The sun was sinking in the western sky when Rebecca emerged from Higher for Hire. She had donned her wedding dress. It was a little crumpled from being wadded up in a burlap sack and sat on. Her hair was back to its everyday coiffure.

While Baloo - wearing his familiar yellow flight shirt - loaded the suitcases and a picnic basket into the Sea Duck, she gave a few last minute instructions to the cubs. “Be good, both of you. Mind Wildcat.” She shot an askance look at the simple-minded mechanic, who was picking a long, sticky strand of marshmallow from his chin. She hated to think what her home would look like when she returned. “Well...just be good. We’ll be back in three days.”

“Tuesday!” Molly chirped.

“Yes, and the day after that...”

“Wednesday!” Molly said brightly.

“Yes, Pumpkin, Wednesday we have a very special meeting at Cape Suzette Child Services.”

Coming up behind his wife, Baloo added, “Where we gotta sign tons of forms to adopt these little troublemakers.” He fondly tousled Kit’s hair and patted Molly’s head.

“You mean save-the-dayers,” Rebecca said with a smile.

“Adopted! Adopted! We’re gonna be adopted, and we’re gonna get new last names!” Molly sang, skipping around in a circle.

Kit smiled shyly. His eyes shone with anticipation as he looked up at his future parents. “Uh, Miz..Rebecca, I have something for you.”

“What is it, sweetie?”

Kit pulled his pair of pink earmuffs from underneath his shirt with a sheepish smile. “I think you’ll need these.”

“Hey!” Baloo cried. “I don’t snore that loud.” He thoughtfully rubbed the back of his neck. “At least I don’t think I do.”

“How would you know?” Rebecca retorted. “You’re asleep.” She caught Kit in her arms for a big hug. “Thank you, Kit. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of use out of them.”

“I heard that, Rebecca,” Baloo said, scowling.

After the newlyweds had hugged and kissed the children goodbye, Baloo asked, “Are ya ready ta fade into the wild blue yonder, Becky?”

“I’m ready,” she answered with a demure smile, feeling as if she would follow him to the ends of the earth and back.

Baloo scooped Rebecca up in his arms and carried her to the Sea Duck.

Rebecca, seated on Baloo’s lap, asked coyly, “Now are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

Baloo resolutely shook his head, a teasing glimmer in his eyes. He went through the start-up procedure. “When will you get it through yer purdy head, Becky, that you’ll see it when you see it?”

“Not even a tiny hint?”

“Nope. You’re not gettin’ it out of this bear.” He mimed zipping his lip and throwing away the key.

She crossed her arms across her chest. “I bet you don’t know where we’re going.”

“‘Course, I do. It’s the purdiest place I’ve ever seen, an’ I’ve seen a lot of places.” He smiled affectionately down at her. “The best part is it’ll just be us.”

“No pirates?”

“No pirates. Cross my heart an’ hope ta fly.”

They both gave one last wave to the cubs and Wildcat before the seaplane taxied into the harbor.

Rebecca relaxed against her new husband and placed a paw on his chest.   Her eyes shifted from the rings on her finger - wedding and engagement - to Baloo’s face. She couldn’t get enough of his beloved face.

Baloo, however, wasn’t paying much attention to her at the moment; he was busy guiding the Sea Duck through the cliffs.

When he finally noticed her staring at him, he asked with a lopsided smile, “What? Is my face on crooked, or somethin’?”

“I love you, Baloo,” she said softly. Four very simple, very common words, but she meant it with every fiber of her being.

As the seaplane flew over the sun-kissed ocean, Baloo tenderly caressed her cheek and murmured, “I love you, too, Mrs. von Bruinwald.” He bent his head to kiss her lips.

TheSea Duck disappeared into a brilliant sunset blaze of yellowish-orange, fading into pinks and purples.

The End