Once a Pirate Preview: Invasion Revised as of May 31, 2002... Please forgive any typos or poor writing structure. Remember that the previews do not reflect the quality of the finished story. (of course, in saying that, let's hope the finished story is of better quality ;-) The Iron Vulture drifted along the quiet open waters, the dark sky allowing only faint traces of black smoke emitting out of its many rotors to be visible. Just hours before, hovering over the port city of Ichihuahua in the midst of a gruesome thunderstorm, the airship acted as a viable lightning rod and lost function of most of its engines. As far as Don Karnage was concerned, however, the successful heist upon a world-renowned museum had been worth the damage. He found exactly what he had come for. In the Captain’s quarters, Kit sat at Karnage’s desk, investigating the latest piece of plunder with quiet fascination. It was a chest-like object, about a foot long and five inches wide, made entirely of stone. Every side on its surface was covered with detailed carvings of what appeared to be none other than a winged dragon. Kit held it gently in his lap; it felt so brittle and ancient… a piece of history in his very own paws. It was heavy, but light enough that he could tell it was hollow inside. It had a hinged top, secured shut with a tarnished gold latch. Maybe it’s a caveman’s breadbox, he thought jokingly. In truth, he had no idea what it was, or why Karnage wanted it. But judging by the thrashing the ship had to endure from the storm, it must had been something Karnage wanted very much. Also spread out on the Captain’s desk was a map of the world, along with a compass and other navigational instruments. By now Kit had been with the pirates for ten months, and had the opportunity to acquire a proficient skill on the subject. Karnage himself tutored the boy shortly after he joined, figuring it would serve him well by the time he was old enough to fly. At times, as though to test him, he would allow Kit to plot official courses for the Iron Vulture itself.   But lately, Kit had found himself more and more alone the days went by. The Captain had become increasingly involved in his pirate business, and rarely paid much attention to him anymore. Sure, there was a handful of other shipmates he could get along with well, but it just wasn’t the same. Kit was about to pry the latch open and see what was inside when he heard a Spanish-accented voice speaking right outside the door. “What are you meaning Ratchet needs all night?” A few seconds of quiet told Kit that Gibber was once again whispering the answer in the Captain’s ear. “Fine, fine,” Karnage replied, sounding annoyed. “Just tell him to have the Vulture up soon. I do not like floating here like the sitting duckies. We are air pirates, you know.” When he pushed open the door to find his progete handling the stone artifact, his heart jumped to his throat. “Wh-what are you doing? Put that down at once!” Kit almost dropped it at the tone of his voice, but Karnage made a running leap and snatched the relic out of his grasp. Clutching it carefully in his hands, he glared down at Kit angrily. “Boy, if you had broken this I would mangle you into mulch! I told you about keeping your prying paws off my things!” “I wasn’t hurting it!” Kit retorted, although somewhat scared at Karnage’s outburst. The Captain usually didn’t get that angry with him over such things. “I was looking at it, that’s all.” “Looking? Looking?” He grabbed Kit by the back of his sweater and yanked him from the chair so that they were almost nose-to-nose. “Do you think valuables from museums are for looking at?” “Well... yeah.” Karnage blinked and set him down. “Oh. Well, not stolen valuables from museums. You have no idea what I had to go through to get this!” “I would’ve if you took me with you,” Kit mumbled. Karnage heard him and resumed his angry glare. “Hey, I think you did great, okay? You got what you wanted, right?” Karnage looked at the artifact admirably and regained his composure. “Yes, I did do quite wonderful, if you do say so yourself.” He cleared his throat and set the case ever so carefully on his desk. “Now shoo, get out of my sight, yes? And do not let me catch you with this again.” Kit obeyed, with deliberate slowness so it didn’t seem like he was running away. Geez, what’s with him and that thing, he wondered as Karnage shut the door behind him. Jacque the helmsman was one of, if not the most laid-back and agreeable of the entire pirate crew. He was usually more interested in finding a comfortable place to nap than pillaging. But tonight, alone on the bridge, he had his hands full… far more than he would ever care for, anyway. He pushed and pulled at the various levers and throttles that controlled the Vulture’s engines. At his feet was a two-way radio, with Ratchet’s voice blaring at him from the flight deck on top of the airship. “No, ya dumb Scot, I said rotors two, four, and eight running, and the rest off! Ya got all of ‘em on the starboard side on!” Jacque grumbled under his breath and took a step back to see where he went wrong. Kit approached the helm from behind. “Any luck on the repairs?” “Bah, can’t even think straight with that mutt blowin’ in my ear,” Jacque replied. Kit nodded knowingly. Ratchet had never been a shipmate he was particularly fond of. “You need any help?” “Aye, if ya wish to grab a musket for me.” “A musket? What for?” “This radio’s hollerin’ like a sufferin’ banshee. I’m thinkin’ I may have to put it out of its misery soon.” “Jacque, ain’t you listening or not!” Ratchet yelled. “These props are burning up!” “You mean your misery,” Kit said. He walked over to one of the bridge’s large, round windows. He tuned the out the scene behind him as he gazed out into the darkness. They had left the storm clouds long behind. It was a clear night with the moon full and radiant, its silver glow dancing across the ocean’s lively crests. Something happened to catch his attention... something floating in the water, although he couldn’t tell what for sure. He put his nose up to the glass, holding his breath so to keep it from fogging. There is something down there, he thought. A boat? We don’t have anyone in boats tonight, do we? “Hey, Jacque?” he asked. The helmsman didn’t hear him; he was far too busy with his own problems. Nah, he wouldn’t know anyway... Ratchet hadn’t let up. Judging by the background noises on the radio—shouting, clanking, drilling—thinks up on the flight deck were no less than chaotic. “Do you even know what your doing!” Jacque stopped manipulating the levers for a moment and scratched his nose. “Now that you mention it... no.” A loud hum suddenly rumbled through the Iron Vulture, drowning out all other sounds... then the airship’s metallic structure began to shake like an earthquake. “What’s going on?!” Kit yelled, covering his ears while the shaking floor sent shockwaves up his legs. All the lights began to flicker on and off. Then, as the shaking receded, the tone of the hum became lower, until both faded away altogether. Kit and Jacque looked at each other, stunned, wondering what had just happened. Everyone aboard the airship most likely shared the exact same expression… there was silence everywhere. You could hear a pin drop. But not for long. “Jacque!” Ratchet screamed again. The helmsman flinched and nearly dropped his radio. “Um... yes?” “Ya flea-bitten idiot! What did ya do? Ya just killed all the rotors!” Past the point of concern anymore, Jacque just switched off his transmitter. “Oops. Seems I killed the radio, too.” “Good riddance,” Kit added. “Whaddaya think happened, though?” “Power surge, I suppose.” “Your fault?” Jacque shrugged and sat back against the helm wheel, one of his infamous napping places. “Could be. Don’t care.” It was almost two o’clock in the morning. Kit left the bridge and decided to call it a night. With all the other pirates busy tending to the ship’s repairs, the Vulture seemed empty, almost ghostly... definitely a sharp contrast from the constant daily clamor. As Kit walked down one of the corridors, he saw Karnage stomping in his direction. If he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn steam was venting out of his ears. Kit pressed himself against wall to get out of his way. Karnage went on towards the bridge, swearing vigorously in a colorful blend of Spanish and English under his breath. Then Kit called after him, “Looks like Ratchet really messed up, huh?” The Captain stopped and turned around, seemingly confused. “Ratchet?” “Yeah, what a dummy, he’s gonna sink the whole ship before he’s done. You’re gonna call him down and give ‘im what for, right?” “Ehm... of course I am! Don’t be silly!” Kit grinned as Karnage went off in a different direction to give his top mechanic a little pep talk. Jacque owed him one. On his way to his bunk, he suddenly had a better idea, and went down to the hangar instead. Just as he thought, it was empty except for a dozen CT-37’s, lined up and poised towards the Vulture’s closed beak, as if ready to be launched at a moment’s notice. Kit climbed inside the cockpit of Karnage’s Tri-Wing Terror and grabbed the flight stick with both hands. “Okay, ya mugs,” he said to an imaginary squadron, “Enemy planes ahead! Break off and punch ‘em full of holes!” Adding his own engine and gunfire sound effects, Kit was soon lost in his own imagination, and in the middle of a dogfight high in the clouds. “I got their leader,” he called, pulling his plane sharply into an inverted loop. Fiery bullet tracers whizzed by his windshield as he maneuvered behind the enemy fighter. With itchy fingers and one eye peering through his gunsight, Kit delicately but firmly pulled on the stick until the crosshairs moved over his opponent’s tail. He had him! “Fire!” He squeezed the trigger, and all six of the Tri-Wing Terror’s cannons spit out a series of explosive rounds, annihilating a wooden crate in the far distance and putting a number of dents in the airship’s iron hull. Gasping, Kit whisked his hands away from the flight stick. “Omigosh!” he breathed, shrinking back in his seat. He didn’t think the guns would really fire while the plane was turned off. “The Captain’s gonna skin me!” There had already been one incident where Kit accidentally released the Tri-Wing Terror’s parking brake while playing in it, which sent the plane rolling into a recently-plundered vat of molasses. Karnage had just about blown his top. No, the Captain definitely wouldn’t like this, either… Without moving, Kit listened for a few moments. Everything was silent, no one appeared to be coming. “M-maybe nobody heard it… good!” Kit decided to make himself scarce and go to his bunk… and make up an alibi while he was at it. He was just about to climb out when he heard footsteps. Thinking fast, he ducked down to the floorboard. From the hallway, Maddog poked his head inside the hangar. “Anybody here?” Seeing the room was still, he scratched his head and went on his way. After the Pirate was long gone, Kit breathed a sigh of relief. “Home free… wha’—!” “Gotcha!” Someone grabbed Kit by his collar and literally plucked him out of the plane’s cockpit. Before he could yelp, a large hand clamped across his mouth and his arm was pinned back behind his shoulders. “Don’t make a sound, kid,” a deep voice rumbled in his ear. “Or I’ll really give you something to scream about. Understand?” Kit nodded, trying to suppress a cry of pain. His arm felt like it was being twisted off. The stranger removed his hand from the cub’s mouth and wrapped it around his chin in a hard, viselike grip. “Good. Now listen, where does Karnage keep his stash?” “What?” “His loot, kid. Where does he keep it?” “I don’t know… the treasure room. Lemme go!” “Where is the treasure room?” “It- It’s towards the aft.” Kit continued to struggle to escape, but to no avail. Whoever this guy was, his grip was like hardened cement. “Kid, can we be a little more specific? Where do I go?” “I’ll tell ya where you can go!” Kit shot back. The stranger twisted his arm harder, making him wince in pain. “I told you no noise, brat. We ain’t here for comedy. Just tell us where it is.” “Easy, Richter,” a second male voice, with a British accent, said behind him. “He’s only a boy.” “I don’t care. Look at ‘im, he’s still one of them.” One of them? Kit repeated silently. “The vault’s empty, okay?. There’s no point in going.” “I don’t think so. You slimeballs raided Ichihuahua tonight. I know you have something.” “That stone thing?” Kit asked without thinking. “That stone thing,” the person replied. “You’ve seen it, where is it?” “Why should I tell you?” “You wanna keep your arm?” Kit felt that was reason enough. “It’s in the captain’s room. On his desk.” “Good. Now we’re gettin’ somewhere. Now you’re going to lead us over there, understand? Nice and quiet.” Kit reluctantly gave the directions to Karnage’s quarters, wishing this stranger would ease up on his grip. His shoulder burned.... Upon entering, Richter threw Kit down to the floor and quickly grabbed the ancient artifact. This gave Kit his first look at them: Richter was a freight train of a bear, while his partner a thin gray fox. Richter flipped the case’s top open and pulled out a long scroll, made from some kind of animal skin. It had hieroglyphics and drawings on it—it looked like a treasure map. While the big grizzly studied it, the gray fox knelt down next to Kit. “Hey, what’s a kid like you doing here?” Kit didn’t answer. “Are you okay?” “Uh, yeah.” Kit whispered, somewhat surprised at his concern. “You have a name?” He hesitated for a second, but something about the fox’s eyes told him he could be trusted. “Kit.” “Kit? Okay, Kit. I’m Tyler. I’m sorry for the way my partner acted. He can be a bit rough sometimes.” The cub glanced over at Richter, whose coarse features looked ecstatic as he stared at the Scroll. Apparently, smiling wasn’t a habit. “Yeah, I know,” the boy replied, rubbing his shoulder. He felt fortunate, considering Richter’s mammoth size, that his arm was still attached. “I got a good feeling about this one, Borden,” Richter said. “A good feeling.” Tyler stood up to have a look at it himself. “I told you. And to think the pirate’s stealing it was a blessing... the museum would never let us see it. Not before they finished their crack at translating it. Where does it seem to lead?” As the two discussed it, Kit started scooting his way toward the door. “One more inch and I’ll rip you in half, kid,” Richter suddenly said. Rats, Kit thought. “He’s got the right idea, though,” Tyler said. “We better get out of here while we’re still unnoticed.” Richter rolled the leather sheet up and slid it back in its stone container, sealing it. “What about the brat?” For a moment, Tyler’s expression was thoughtful, then he again knelt down in front of the boy. “Hey, Kit. Is your father a pirate?” Kit shook his head. “I… I don’t have any parents.” “Hmm. Any particular reason you’re staying here, then?” “Well, yeah, but—” “Didn’t know Karnage was into babysitting these days,” Richter remarked scornfully. Tyler frowned at him. “Jesse. Please.” “Yeah, babysitting, right,” Kit said, trying to slide away again. “Well, i-it’s been nice meeting you guys, but it’s really late now, see, and I should be—” Tyler stopped him. “Tell you what. Why don’t you come along back to Usland with us? Would you like that?” Kit was speechless. “It has to be better than this dump, eh?” “Well… I don’t know.” Kit’s eyebrows knitted as he considered it. Things hadn’t been that great between him and the Captain lately, but he hadn’t really thought about walking out. “The Captain and me... we’re sorta... I dunno...” Tyler offered his hand to him. “We don’t have much time, sport. You’ll be in good hands, I promise.” Just as Kit was beginning to give it a serious thought, Tyler added, “They’ve got a nice place to take care of little ones like you.” “Wha’?” In a split second, Kit’s face grew fiercely dark. He leapt off the floor, pushed Tyler on his rear and made a beeline for the exit, ready to alert the others of the intruders. “Hel—” His cry and his run were cut short as Richter’s massive grasp clenched his throat, lifting his feet off the floor. “What’d I tell you about runnin’ off, kid?” Tyler got up. “Let him down, ol’ boy. He’s already hurt.” “I don’t know,” Richter said, lifting him higher. Thoughtfully, he watched Kit dangle helplessly, struggling for air. “I wouldn’t mind puttin’ away a pirate or two tonight, even if it’s this one here.” “He’s just a boy. You’d kill a little boy, Jesse?” Richter set Kit on the ground, and loosened his grip so the boy could breathe… barely. “Well we can’t just let the brat go. He’ll tell every pissant pirate we’re here and blow our cover. I don’t care if we gotta fight, but I want it to be on my terms, not theirs.” “Then we’ll just have to take him with us, keep him quiet, and hope he doesn’t get seasick. I for one would rather avoid any confrontation tonight.” “Huh. Figures.” With the stone case in one hand and a bear cub’s neck in the other, Richter started towards the exit. Kit was desperately wishing for something to happen… Before the big bear could reach the door, the lights on the Iron Vulture started to flicker again. Richter stopped. “What’s goin’ on here?” With a brief buzzing sound, the ship lost power, leaving the three in pitch blackness. “Oh, wonderful,” Tyler drawled. “This is all we need.” Kit, on the other hand, was never so glad that the other pirates were such dimwits, and silently thanked whoever’s fault the power failure was. At least now he had a chance… and if he knew one thing, when in doubt, go for the shins. *thump* “Yeow!” A deep voice yelped in the blackness. Kit broke away from Richter’s grip and made a break for the door, coughing and gasping for air, guided by his own instincts as he ran through the dark. “What happened?” Tyler asked. “The brat got away! I’m goin’ after him!” Unfortunately for Richter, his instincts weren’t quite as familiar with the ship as Kit’s. When he ran for the door, he missed it by three feet and ran smack into the wall. Kit heard the collision and Richter swear. Good, he thought. ‘Nice place for little ones.’ I bet. Must’ve been their boat I saw! He felt the walls as he ran through the corridors, still trying to recover his breath from his close brush with strangulation. That, along with a hurt arm, did much to slow him down. He made it halfway to the bridge before the Vulture’s lights again flickered to life. Almost there! Then he heard Tyler yelling from close behind, “There he is!” “C’mere, kid!” Richter called. Kit picked up his speed as fast as his legs would carry him, but the grizzly’s speed was far beyond his own. Karnage sat in his chair in the bridge, exhausted, his throat dry from all the yelling he had just done. And he wasn’t at all pleased with the temporary power loss. Mad Dog, Dump Truck, and Gibber were all beside him, in case he felt the need to once again remind them what ‘eediots’ they were. “Let me go!” Kit’s voice screeched in the distance, making Karnage’s ears perk up. “Help!” The Captain shot out of his chair. “What is going on, what is going on?!” Karnage made his way towards Kit’s cry, with his three ‘favorite’ lackeys right behind him. Outside the bridge, he saw his treasure and his protégé in the grasp of a huge brute of a bear. “You again! My map!” Karnage reached for his cutlass, but before he could, Richter dropped Kit and charged at him like a raging bull, knocking all four pirates clear back into the bridge like bowling pins. Kit blinked with astonishment; even Dump Truck did little against that guy’s muscle. “I’d say right now would be a good time to depart, eh, Jesse?” Tyler said, backpedaling in the other direction. “We’ll be a tad outnumbered in a minute.” Richter looked down at the fallen pirates, obviously wanting to do more damage while he had the chance, but reluctantly agreed to leave. Both Tyler and Richter ran past Kit, but before he turned the corner, Tyler looked back at the boy. “Last chance, Kit. You sure you don’t want to come along?” Kit gave him an icy stare. Definitely. Tyler shook his head and left. Kit collected himself and got to his feet. In the bridge, the Captain has just gotten back up, his eyes blazing with fury. “Get up you moronic morons!” he barked to his men. “After them! After them now! Scotty, get all the men back down here! Block every entrance! They have my map!” The four pirates blew past Kit in hot pursuit. So that thing was a map… but for what?