"Ha! And double ha," Don Karnage's opponent mocked, "Once again, I, Don Karnage has won."

"YOU!!!" he laughed, "You think you can be me. Hmm... you have the uniform, but not the look."

His opponent glared at the fallen captain whom had pinced his nose and tilted his head back. "You know, if I were you, I'd tilt my head forward." He laughed a little at Karnage's predicament and his stubbornness.

"If you were me?!" Karnage growled. "If you were me, you'd know that no cheap immation can ever replace the feared pirate Don Karnage."

"True, but what your crew doesn't know won't kill them."

Karnage spat at his opponent, Chester.

"Beware, Karnage, or you, too, will fall to the power of Rage!" Chester picked up Karnage's cutlass and examined the blade. "Nice weapon, it's the perfect thing to finish you." He lunged at Karnage, with the point aimed at his throat.

July 5, 1939

"I can't believe that espupid-type person!" Don Karnage groaned, crawling out of his bed. "Threee nights; three nightmares. If this keeps up, my glorious self won't be well rested for my surprise birthday party." There was a knock on his door. "If you have a present for the Birthday Boy, come in."

"Begging a thousand padons, Cap'n," Mad Dog cowered around the door, "but our prisoner keeps insisting that she wants to speak with you. Said something about being a matter of life or death."

"I, the Great Don Karnage, does not take orders from anyone, especially from skirts!" he drew his cutlass and the tip of the blade was a mere inch from the nose of Mad Dog whom began trembling in frieght. "Uno menudo, I am feeling quite generous toady. I think I will have a chit-chat with my girlie-type prisoner."

His captive paced back and forth in her cell, awaiting Mad Dog to return with bad news... like the other day. Her grinace quickly turned to a wide smile when she heard the tale-tale thumps of Karnage's bots. "This is a surprise. It's not everyday that the Captain of the Air Pirates take time from his busy schedule to talk to a mere prisoner."

Don Karnage posed dramatically for his prisoner, hoping to instill terror in the young lady. "You should be cowering in the presence of the Prince of Pirates." He growled. "Why don't you fear me?"

"After spending two days around those unbathed lackeys of yours, I can honestly say that I don't have a reason to fear a pirate like you." she quickly changed the subject, "However, I do fear that your life may be ending any day."

"My life?!" he justl laughed. "No one with possession of all their marble cakes would dare try to take the life of Captain Don Karnage." He turned around and left the brig, but quickly returned as if he left something behind. "How ungentleman-like of me, I have completely forgotten your name."

"It's Sara," she giggled; Karnage rolled his eyes, "I can help you, but you need to trust me." She extended her paw, hoping he would take it. Karnage left the brig and this time he didn't return. "Damn! This is gonna be harder than I orginally intended it to be."

Unknown to Sara, someone was busy looking for her. With a clap of thunder, a time vortex opened and a black triwing with red wings emerged. The vortex closed shortly after the plane exited. It's heading was to Louie's. The pilot, Chester, was trying to figure out if he had gone back sixty-two years or if someone played a horrid prank on him. The young wolf took in several deep breaths and to his surprise the air was fresh. It was a definent improvement and all the evidence he really needed he did go back in time.

Louie's Island was fast approaching. Chester lowered the rebuilt CT-37 low to the water. Low enough to leave a pair of wakes from the pontoons. The plane taxied upto the right side of the dock; a bright yellow sea plane was on the left.

"It's Don Karnage!!" one of the worker chimps panicked. "Run for your lives!!" The half dozen chimps darted into their workshop.

"If this is how you treat your customers," Chester growled, "it's no wonder that only Baloo is here." Chester hopped down from the top wing of the triwing and casually trotted over to the tavern.

Baloo, Kit, and the Cunninghams were too busy enjoying a rather peaceful lunch to hear the commotion outside. Louie, on the otherhand, had heard it and was preparing for the Pirate Captain. He had taken a rather large rubberband and tied it to two of the extended counter supports. Baloo and Kit lugged over three crates full of coconuts; Rebecca took Molly, whom took her doll, Suzie, and retreated to higher ground.

The door slowly creaked open and a lone wolf stood in the doorway. Before getting the chance to greet the occupants, Chester began dodging the onslaugh of flying coconuts. "Hey! Stop! I haven't..." dodges a trio of coconuts "... done anything..." gets clobbered by the third round of coconuts "...yet." he whimpered before collasping to the floor.

When Chester woke up, he was bound to a babmo chair and a dirty sock served as a gag. He squirmed and twisted, trying to free himself. To his amazment, the vines used to bind him were giving way. He leaned forward and two of the loops snapped; raising his arms snapped the remaining two.

"I don't know why people keep thinking that I'm Don Karnage," Chester sighed. "Is it just because I look so much like him?" Kit shook his head. "Looks like we have a winner. Tell me, what do you notice about me that separates me from Karnage?"

Kit pointed to the left ear, "I used to an Air Pirate. For the year I was with him, his left ear had two V-shaped gashes. Never did find out who or what caused them."

"You are right, Kit, and take a gander at this." Baloo took hold of the wolf's paw and compared it with his. "He even has and extra finger on each paw." The grey bear became lost in thought, trying to fingure out the wolf sitting next to him.

"What's burning?!" Chester choked. "Baloo, are you thinking again?" Rebecca heard the comment and couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you. Thnk you. I'm here till the end of the week." The unmistakable roar of three CT-37s ended the comedy session, "You all hide, I'll deal with the Air Pirates. Don Karnage would love to see himself, or should I say myself. HA! He might even admit that he's gone crazy!"

Baloo, Kit, and Louie hid behind the counter while the Cunninghams retreated back upstairs. Chester simply sat down with his back facing the enterence. His tail impatiently swayed back and forth. The rest of his body tensed up... awaiting the arrival of the Air Pirates.

"Greatings and saluvations!" Don Karnage proclaimed, shortly after kicking the doors open. "It is I, the Feared Pirate, Don Karnage." He was depressed and slightly miffed by seeing only one person in the building. To make it worse, he didn't even bother to turn around. Don Karnage, angered by this stranger's actions, he drew his cutlass and began swining it like a mad man.

"You know you could hurt someone, like yourself, doing something crazy like that." Chester provoked. he knew calling Karnage that word drove him nuts. He heard the blade of karnage's cutlass splintering a table. "Now look what you did!" He turned around and faced Karnage. "Surprize!" All the color left Karnage's face. "Eww. You don't look so good. Dump Truck, escort our captain back to the Iron Vulture; Mad Dog you stay behind with me."

Seeing what happened to their captain, the two lackes didn't want to find out what else Chester was capable of. Dump Truck had helpped the captain into his triwing and the two took a easterly heading. Mad Dog was impressed, to say the least, at the second triwing. He thought no one else was permitted to have a fighter like Karnage's. He was slapped and sternly warned about getting ideas. Mad Dog was instucted to fly towards the Iron Vulture and no funny business. A series of warning shots across the nose of Mad Dog's fighter instantly told Mad Dog that Chester meant business.

Chester didn't bother waiting for the plane's prop to come to a complete stop before disembarking. He bee-lined straight towards the Captain's room. He quietly entered his room and locked the door as soon as it was closed. Don Karnage was resting peacefully, but occassionally tossed and turned. Another nightmare no doubt.

"Looks like you are suffering from the same problem I have." Chester sighed. "I'm pooped. So I'll just..." he yawned "...pull up a chair and..." he fell asleep as soon as he sat down.

"This can't be good," Karnage complained as he saw Chester appear out of the darkness. "Why are you still haunting me?"

"I could ask you the same question?" Chester snorted. "You should only be so lucky. You didn't end up looking like me! That would be a fate worse than death!" The two began laughing loudly.

"That it would be," Karnage continued to laugh. "I have seen your old self and it is pretty scary. By the way, how did you end up looking like a ounger version of my glorous self?"

"Oh... that's a hard one, bt I'll try to answer it." Chester focused on what had caused him to be like Karnage. "I spent some time trying to solve the mystery of the Man of Mystery, but I doubt that would do it. I had moved to Cape Suzette in order to find Pirate Island; no luck there." A memory was triggered. "That's it! The pelt graph! It's the only thing that makes sense. The nightmares started shortly thereafter. The doctor warned me not to expose it to direct sunlight for one year... but failed to tell me what would happen."

"So... what happened?"

"First my body got a bad sunburn, even areas that were clothed. They I got really itchy and I felt like my whole bod was going to split open like an overbaked potato. This all happened in like five minutes. I had to be knocked out and strapped down to a bed. Image my embrassment when I found out that all I was wearing was a paper gown." They began laughing again. "Guess that was a bit much, wasn't it? Anyway, sometime between being knocked out and waking up, my body underwent the transformation. During that time, I experienced a strange nightmare - I won a battle against you."

"That is strange. Me? Losing? To you? HA! That's a good one."

"It is, isn't. By the way you acted when we first meet in Louie's, I would say your nightmares were like my first ones. The ones in which I lost to you." Karnage smiled. "I knew you would like to hear that. I guess that my victory was sheer luck." Chester changed the subject when two shadowy figures apeared. "Now it's series. I have to warn you, your life as well as mine are in danger. One is a girl named Sara; Axe is her companion. Both have transended time to find you here and kill you. I had followed them day later, only after I had found out her intention. It was completely by accident and when I found out, it was now becoming clear that the Space Pirates were a group of Anti-Pirates. However, some of them are related to some of your Air Pirates and were there as a means of destroying the movement from within. There isn't much time left. It is a mission of life or death now. We need to work together if you are to live to see your next birthday."

July 6, 1939

Chester was long gone by the time Karnage wokeup. There was no trace of the Karnage impersonation ever being there. Even his own crew didn't know about Chester. Karnage left it as just a figment of his imagination.

Elsewhere, Axe was finish the last few repairs to Sara's fighter. He cursed everytime his paw rubbed up against the hot engine. "Oh... stupid junk. Why won't you work?" he hopped into the cockpit and tried to start the engine; it refused to start. "Start dammit, start!" he punched the control panel and the engine started. "Good. Now let's get going. We have to..." Axe spotted Karnage's triwing, "... find that pirate. And I think we just did." Axe crawled out of the wing and pulled the seat forward; a long rectangular crate was there. Inside it was his choice weapon - the AP-4.

The AP-4 was modeled after the Cape Suzette cliff guns, but it is used like a bazooka. It may be small in size, but the exposive it fires packs a major punch.

Axe loaded one of the three shells into the chamber and perpared to fire. Once his target was in sight, the first shot was fired. The blast sent Axe falling off the plane and into the sea below. He began to cheer as he saw his first shot heading start towards Karnage's triwing. The plane banked just before the shell hit it; Axe began throwing a tempertantum.

Infuriated by his near hit, he got back up into the cockpit and gave chase to Karnage, whom had turned tail and was returning the way he came. He made a bold threat to Karnage over the radio, "you know you can't win. So make it easier on yourself, Karnage, and just let me kill you."

"Even if I was Karnage, I wouldn't let you just kill me without a fight." Chester replied. "Oh, I shouldn't have said that over the radio cause now anyone, including the Air Pirates, could have heard your transmission. I have intentially left the Pirate's radio on this frequency, so I know that they heard it."

He couldn't believe it, he was dupted by Chester. Upon closer inspection of the triwing, Axe discovered that it lacked the white number one that was on Karnage's plain. now feeling stupider than before he began wildly shooting at Chester.

The dogfight didn't go unnoticed. The Air Pirates did hear Axe's death wish and so a dozen biwings following a triwing entered the dogfight. Karnage and his fighters were here to stop Axe. Chester joined the formation and perpared to obey any and all of Karnage's orders. The only order that came over the radio was "Attack!"

The formation stayed close together as a barrage of bullets began pelting the white biwing. Instantly, smoke began billowing out of the engine and cockpit. Axe was in serious trouble; if he bailed, he would be captured and going down with the plane was out of the question. But what other option did he have? He began to finger over the panel, trying to find the number pad for the time shifter. He found it; however, he had trouble finding the right numbers. He tried one more time, this time he succeed in his efforts. Sara's fighter vanished in a bright white flash.

"Where did he go?!" Karnage growled.

"He vas goin' down, Captain," Dump Truck reminded, "and then he was gone."

"I know that, Idiot. But what was that bright flash?"

"That was the time vortex," Chester explained, "He knew if he stayed here, he was donefor, so he went back to 2001. I doubt that he'll be a problem to you now. I was told that it could be used to go back in time and back only once."

"If that dream was true... " Karnage looked back at Chester, "then he has to be from the same place. And if he's from there... then THE PRISONER!!!" Karnage scrabbled to get the radio's mike, "Return to the Iron Vulture, my men!"

Quickly turning around, the fleet returned to the Vulture only to find out that it had made an emergency water landing. Landing on the upperdeck, Karnage had drew his cutlass and swinging it madly and everyone and everything. The other pirates had fled in freight from the deranged captain; he had managed to slice the top off of Dump Truck's tophat and nearly beheaded Gibber.

The hydrolic lift lowered each of the fighters and thier pilot two or three at a time. When Chester's and Karnage's fighters went to the lower level without their pilots, Ratchet and Will road the lift up to the upper level. Ratchet gave the status report of the Vulture; Will was there to explane that this was done by the captive. Don Karnage froze when he heard that, his ship was attacked from within. Ratchet told him that repairs would take a few days but there was enough fuel remaining to return to Pirate Island.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Don Karnage barked at Chester.

"I didn't know Sara was already captured." Chester whimpered. "Besides I was busy trying to find Axe. He, afterall, had an Anti-Pirate weapon. This is terrible! Axe went back to 2001; Sara is on the loose; and I'm most likely ending up hung by my pinkies." Karnage's frown turned to a toothfilled smile; Chester matched his smile, "Can't wait!"

Karnage couldn't believe his ears... Chester actually wanted to be tortured. "Are you in possession of all your marble cakes?! Tell me, why do you like the idea of hanging by your pinkies?"

"It is my dream to be an Air Pirate. To be allied with the feared pirate, Captain Don Karnage, was my only ambition in life... even before I found out that he was killed by the Anti-Pirates.

"ME!? KILLED?!" Karnage angerly erupted.

"Sara IS the Anti-Pirate's captain. She organized the movement shortly after the 1990 attack on Cape Suzette. The city was totally plundered and burnt to the ground. Get this... you, Captain Don Karnage, lead that attack! I couldn't forget that day... September, 1990."

Karnage was estactic about the news. "This is magnificent! I, the Great Don Karnage, will finally be the richest man in the world! Tell me, future Air Pirate, what else will I do in the future?"

"That would be telling!" Chester laughed. "But since I'll be a Air Pirate, I will tell..."

"Not so fast" Out of the blue, Sara crawled out one of the air vents, pointing her pistol at Don Karnage. "On second thought why don't you tell him, I mean, afterall, he'll be dead soon. It would be nice if you allow him to know his future. That way he'll die knowing what will never happen."

"Not while I still live!" Chester stepping into the line of fire. "I swore to protect my captain from harm and if that means dying then so be it." Chester pulled out his pistol. Before getting the chance to aim, Sara shot the fool hearted Chester. The bullet was dead on its mark, blood began poaring out of the wound in the center of his chest. The bullet had entered, but did not exit. Still clinching his pistol, he fell forward.

"BANGBANGBANG!!" Three rounds fired in rapid sussession. The first round entered the abdominal area. The second, found the throat and the spine. The third round struck right between the eyes and exited the back of the head.

Gibber, Will, and Don Karnage stared at disbelief when they saw the barrel of Chester's pistol smoking. The two hostled their weapons and arroached the fall wolf. He muttered several curses, moaned and groaned in pain. Chester took a deep breath and rolled onto his back, exposing the wound, it had stopped bleeding.

"Old habits die hard." Chester coughed, sitting up. "She underestimated me. She should have remembered that I wear a bullet-prove vest everywhere I go." Chester unzipped the brown Flight jacket and threw it carelessly at Sara's body. He then removed his white undershirt, exposing a black, zipper-style vest. With a loud thump, the vest fell to the deck. "Glad I got that off my chest. HA! It takes strength to continuously wear a twnety-five pound vest. Anyways, now where were we?"

"My glorious future!" Karnage yelled. "I want to hear more about what I will do in the future!"

"Right." Chester sighed, recollecting his thoughts. "Let's see. Shortly after the raid, you were promoted to Admiral Karnage. Unfortunently, you had given up piracy to the younger generations. You, Captain, are the first generation of Air Pirates; I'm a pirate from the forth generation."

"YOU?!" Karnage laughed. "Who would anyone sign you on as a pirate?"

"I became a pirate six months prior to my 'accident'. My life was spared by the short lived, sixth generation Karnage. I pledged my life to protect yours. That day is tomorrow, your birthday. While you are celebrating your twenty-ninth birthday, I'm celebrating my first full year as an Air Pirate."

"Hey! I'm not...." Karnage paused for a moment. "You did say twenty-nine, yes/no?" Chester nodded. "Good! Come, we have to prepare for my surprise birthday party."

Karnage spent most of the trip back to Pirate Island writing in his diary. As he wrote he spoke it aloud, he certainly was pleased with his future. Chester was with him in the bridge, leaving no chance of anyone else hearing him. Reguardless of how may times he wanted to correct Karnage, he knew it was best to let Karnage write. Chester, however, held back an important piece of the puzzle - Karnage might not end up with the same future that he was originaly told.

Next installment: "Fight for the Future"

Author note: The next installment will not cover Karnage's birthday. However, I will get back to it when the final installment is complete.