❝ ＢＡＮＺＡＩ ＡＳ Ａ ＫＩＴＥ ❞

Beautifully bright blue colour engulfed the sky, soft patches of almost translucent clouds effortlessly decorating it. The shining golden ball of heat was neatly nuzzled behind them, sending dazzling beams of sunshine onto the emerald green grass below.

Large, flimsy, multi-coloured sheets of soft materiel carefully soared across the sky, tied onto small wooden poles with thin lines of string so they could be steered by the people below.

Kala, Harry, (Y/n), Granny Peters and Mr. Kronk were assembled in a neat row down on the grassy ground, their concentrated gazes monitoring the movement of their kites above.

"What a beautiful day to fly a kite!" Granny stated, admiring the gorgeous ultramarine sky her kite was peacefully sailing across as it gently crashed into the others beside.

However, their moments of peace were soon to be disrupted, as Gummy came running onto the scene, screaming in distress while dragging his kite by the string across the viridescent grass.

"Gummy!?" (Y/n) cried as her boyfriend dashed past, almost knocking her from her feet.

The remaining four twirled on their heels, trying to avoid slipping on the dewed grass as the strings manoeuvring their kites wrapped around them. They wriggled as their kites plummeted to the ground.

"Why doesn't it fly!?" Gummy cried in distress, gazing with disappointment at his sorry kite as it flopped sadly to the ground.

"Maybe I'm not feeding it enough..." He continued.

"It doesn't fly because, despite all our good advice, you never listen to us and just build whatever you want... which doesn't work..." Kala replied with irritation, folding her arms after untangling the string from around her waist.

"You said it needed a tail - and if one tail is good, four should be, um, three times better, right?" Gummy said, proudly scooping his kite from the ground and presenting it to his companions. It indeed had four small tails dangling from the pale green material, triangles flopping from the sides for decoration.

"And you didn't pay attention to my suggestion for making the struts out of wood!" Harry added, his hands slamming onto his hips and his foot smashing onto the ground in frustration

Gummy smashed his fist against the struts of his kite, a bang blowing through the breeze and it collided with the metal material.

"But steel pipe is stronger!" He proudly announced. The struts playing the role of the backbone of the kite were made from stern metal rather than wood.

"And the mouth, dear - why does the kite need a mechanical mouth?" Granny asked, facepalming in reaction to the plastic, royal blue jaw that hung from Gummy's kite creation.

Gummy stared back with confusion. "What? Kites don't get hungry?" He asked innocently.

This sent the rest of the gang in a frenzy - shouting in disappointment and distress at Gummy's innocent stupidity.

Except for (Y/n) - she felt sorry for her boyfriend, wanting him to be able to craft the perfect kite, but by taking on his friends' advice.

"Meh, whatever... it just needs a higher place to launch from! I'll show you!" Gummy replied, running back towards the vivid apartment block behind the field of grass with his kite still tight in his grasp.

Kala sighed, holding her head in her hands. "Tsk tsk tsk... this doesn't end well, does it?" She asked rhetorically, earning an offended expression from her sister further down the line.

"Hey, don't guess that everything Gummy tries to do will end in disaster! You guys need to have more faith in him!" (Y/n) stated, her sister rolling her eyes and the remaining members of the group paying more attention to sending their kites back into the cobalt sky. (Y/n) sighed, turning back to her kite with satisfaction in her gaze in response to the gentle sailing of the material in the breeze.

~

Within minutes, an exhausted Gummy had returned, crouched in front of his companions with his crumpled kite in his tense grasp.

Gummy had been attempting to send his kite soaring into the sky in any way he could think of - tossing it from his balcony, throwing it from the roof of his florescent apartment block, and even sending it flying from the very top of a towering tree beside the building.

All had failed.

He recovered from his panting, turning his gaze from the dewed grassy ground to his friends, girlfriend, and neighbours.

"Harry, can I use some of your gadgety-sciency stuff to fix up my kite? It still won't fly!" Gummy cried, sadly holding his sorry kite in disappointment.

"Uh... the last time you used my stuff, you melted one of my walls..." Harry stated, not taking his fixated gaze from his floating kite. (Y/n) giggled at this, jokingly rolling her eyes as the memory came flooding back.

Gummy shifted his gaze back down to the grass, nervously scratching his head and innocently chuckling.

"Yeah... but the other three were just fine, well, two of them at least..." He admitted.

Harry sighed, tossing his keys towards his tense green pal. "Oh, OK, buddy... they're only walls. Knock 'em dead, uh, I mean have fun!" He stuttered, realising what he'd began to say.

Gummy snatched the jingling keys from the air as they swiftly flew towards him. He dashed back to the vivid building across the other side of the field, excitement in every step.

"Just put things back where you found them!" Harry shouted after his enthusiastic buddy, sighing afterwards.

Mr. Kronk chuckled. "Harry, you're a trusting soul...

...foolish, but trusting..."

~

Almost an hour had passed - Gummy had been scraping together a brand new model of a kite he was sure would fly with perfection - an enormous metal machine, tubes of fuel powering from the end and slabs of steel acting as wings, as well as a metallic mouth attached to the its 'face'.

Gummy was now perched by the edge of the roof of the apartment block, hands against the burgundy wall and excited gaze fixated on his marvellous creation. It was prepared to glide down the royal blue slide attached to the side of the building.

"This ought to work - roll down the ramp, pick up speed, hit the lip and up up and away!" Gummy cried.

He began the countdown to his machine's take off.

"Ten... nine...

...the number less than nine...

...six and a half...

...3.14159...

...18...

...2, 1... GOOO!!!"

Gummy pressed the crimson button on the side of the device, causing it to rumble, and eventually shoot down the slide. As it came to the end of the ramp, it flew into the air, soon soaring around the roof of the neon building with attachment to the string Gummy was securing its movement with.

"I did it!" He cried, pride running through his tone.

However, the kite began to sail further and further from where Gummy was stood, the string beginning to tug him from the power of the machine.

Within seconds, Gummy felt the strength of the contraption luring him further and further from the roof and closer to the open sky.

"Oh caca..." Gummy sighed, the kite pulling him from his standing stance high into the air as he continued to keep a tight hold of the twine.

Panicky screaming soon followed as Gummy was launched into the air close behind his monstrous machine, only managing to hang on through a tight grasp of the twine dangling behind the contraption.

~

Meanwhile, Kala, (Y/n), Harry, Granny Peters and Mr. Kronk were continuing to admire the tranquillity of the pale blue sky as their kites were still gently floating through it.

However, within the next few moments, dark shadows seemed to appear from nowhere - there was nothing that it obviously could have come from as the darkness spread.

Granny shivered as the temperature in the relaxing breeze seemed to drop. "Did it suddenly get dark and cold, or did I accidentally put on my sunglasses again?"

"Look!" Harry cried, pointing into the still clear depths of the sky.

A rumbling sound seemed to be humming closer and closer, coming from what looked like a machine roaring through the clouds. As the machine became nearer, there also appeared to be something - or someone - else clinging to a line of twine that floated from the end.

"TOLD YOU MY WAY WOULD WORK!!!" Gummy screamed, trying the keep his grasp onto the string attaching him to the kite.

(Y/n) smiled as her sister groaned. "We should've known..."

Gummy continued to sail through the air, above his companions and many buildings across the street.

He admired his surroundings. "Woohoo! Guys! I can see my house from her-"

Unfortunately, before Gummy could finish his overly-excited sentence, the machine collided with a telephone wire, freezing itself and Gummy with sparkling electricity.

"Not so woohoo..."

The kite remained in the wires as Gummy dropped in response to the now snapped string, panicked screaming soon following.

"Try to aim, Gummy!" (Y/n) cried, pulling out a deckchair along with her sister to catch her boyfriend as he rapidly came closer to the ground.

"I knitted you a soft, comfy pillow, dear!" Granny called from beside them, a fluffy beige pillow in her grip, prepared to capture her descending neighbour.

Harry sighed with guilt, looking down at the item he had planned to catch his pal with.

A sponge.

The others also gazed towards him with looks of disapproval.

"Hey, best I could do..." he added.

Gummy's screams soon echoed louder as he plummeted down closer from the sky to the ground every second. Kala and (Y/n) shifted the maroon deckchair to where Gummy was most likely to fall as Granny did the same with her handmade pillow.

However, as Gummy finally reached the ground, he seemed to be drawing closer towards Mr. Kronk than anyone else - who was minding his own business at the end of the row, not even bothering to attempt to help his neighbour.

Gummy eventually crashed with a splat straight onto Mr. Kronk, crushing him with his aggressive landing. The others turned to the sound, the sisters snickering a little.

"Thanks for... breaking my fall, Mr. Kronk..." Gummy panted, still balanced onto his irritated neighbour's butt.

Mr. Kronk let out a muffled groan, not able to respond as his face was still buried into the verdant field.

Gummy quickly slid off of Mr. Kronk with a little embarrassment.

"You see how great my kite is flying!? The one I made without listening to any if you!?" Gummy shouted with pride and maybe a little too much confidence.

However, the conversation was destroyed by the sound of demonic groaning from where the kite had stopped within the telephone line.

Electrical waves continued to sparkle through its machinery, causing these devilish sounds. Small, beady eyes opened on its head as it snapped the telephone wire with its razor sharp teeth within the mouth that Gummy insisted on giving it.

The machine began to rumble, floating through the sky of its own accord. The group on the field below watched with terror as it sailed closer, consuming almost all of their kites as they dropped the strings in fear.

"Your kite is eating our kites!" Kala screamed.

"The electricity must've brought it to life!" (Y/n) continued.

"Why does that always happen to us..." Harry added, swiftly followed by a sigh as the kite swirled above.

~

Terrified footsteps shook the grassy ground as Gummy, (Y/n), Kala, Harry, Granny and Mr. Kronk fled from the monstrous machine that began to increase in speed.

The dangerous kite swung down towards the panicking crowd, snatching Mr. Kronk in its razor sharp teeth.

The agitated neighbour screamed as he was flung into the air, soon gobbled down after landing back into the contraption's mechanical mouth. He was spat out seconds later, splatting back onto the ground before quickly shooting up to chase the rest of the group - who were now panting beside their florescent apartment.

"We warned you, Gummy!" Kala groaned.

"Yeah, we told you so!" Harry cried.

"It was bound to happen!" Granny added.

"It's like he thinks about the worst that can happen and then does it..." Mr. Kronk panted.

(Y/n) sighed, sliding her hand into the grasp of Gummy's, their fingers intertwining as they both released a sigh. Gummy's guilty frown became a smile towards his supportive girlfriend.

"You're right - I created it, so I'll have to stop it! Just one thing... can you guys tell me how we stop it?"

Kala smirked, taking in a deep breath. "There's only one way... Gummy-o kite-o... you against the kite, one on one, winner takes all, the last man standing, no prisoners, TO THE DEATH! LET NO-"

Harry quickly blocked Kala's now shouting with an aggressive hand. "I think he's got the idea..."

He turned to Gummy, still muffling Kala's shrieking. "I believe what Kala is so blood-thirstily trying to say, is that you and the kite, must duel!"

Gummy laughed nervously, eyes widening slightly with shock. "Yeah right, guys, I can't fly." He stated, hoping that would end the conversation.

"When we're done with you, you will!" Granny added, chuckling while kneading her hands together suspiciously.

(Y/n) sighed, letting her grasp go from her boyfriend's hand as Granny prepared to begin her work.

"Here we go again..."

~

"That tickles, Granny Peters!" Gummy giggled as Granny pushed a metal pole into his tangerine underwear.

He was now stood with his pants inflated and a pole lodged between the material and his butt. A line of string dangled from the pole, turning Gummy into what seemed to be a kite.

"This is how you make a kite, if you'd just listen to us in the first place!" Granny chuckled, taking hold of the wooden bar with thread bundled around it attached to the steel pole snuggled within Gummy's underwear.

"If you please, (Y/n)..." Granny gestured the wooden rod towards her feline companion.

(Y/n) sighed. "My pleasure, Granny Peters..."

Gummy cheekily smirked. "Look, I appreciate your help, but there's no way this is going to wo-"

His sentence was sliced as (Y/n) ran into the street, still with the wooden construction in her grasp as it tugged her boyfriend from his standing stance and dragged him into the air.

He began to drift above his companions, absorbing the fantasy of floating in the clear, blue sky.

"Ooh! Guys! I can see my house from here!" Gummy screamed, gliding above his giggling girlfriend.

However, she noticed the monstrous contraption that Gummy labelled as a kite swiftly heading towards him through the vast, open air.

"Gummy! Incoming!" She screamed, alerting her boyfriend.

(Y/n) tugged the long line connecting the wooden pole to Gummy, sending him sailing through the wind and in the opposite direction to the creation.

The gruesome kite swirled behind Gummy as he spiralled through the sapphire sky, snapping its teeth in an attempt to capture him.

Gummy began to slow down as he flew further from the kite, a hand against his mouth to block anything that could come shooting out.

"I don't feel so good..."

(Y/n) gasped, noticing the meddling monster edge closer, its jaw wide open and ready to strike. She pulled the string to shift her boyfriend further away, the sound of a snap soon followed.

Gummy sailed over the heads of his companions, screaming in panic as his movement was now no longer being controlled by his girlfriend. He rolled in the air, heading towards the monstrous machine before landing onto it with a tin-rattling thud.

The construction turned its vexed gaze to the petrified green bear that now clung to it.

"What are the odds..?" Gummy whispered, his body trembling with both panic and the vibration from the machine.

Harry chuckled on the ground below, watching as Gummy gained control of the creature with his tight grasp and almost began to ride it.

"Ride 'em kite-boy!" Harry screamed towards his buddy high in the sky, hands surrounding his voice to increase projection.

Gummy chuckled, beginning to enjoy his ride. "Yeah! I sure showed it who's boss!"

He pressed against the machine, pushing it into his tense grasp to control it's movement, his girlfriend giggling on the pavement below.

~

The five friends stood in a neat line, gripping onto the lines of twine connected to their floating material as they drifted peacefully across the sunlit sky.

However, the enormous kite floated effortlessly beside them, a string tightly held between its spiked teeth. A devious chuckle vibrated through the metal.

"HEY! CAN SOMEONE GET ME DOWN!?" Gummy screamed, his ocherous underpants still inflated and a pole still stuffed inside, drifting beside and accompanying the other kites.

"I'm getting air sick up here..." He admitted, eyes wide as he stared down to his friends, girlfriend, neighbours and monstrous machine.

Gummy frowned as the only sound echoing through his ears was chuckling from his friends as the clouds floated behind him in the cerulean sky.

(Y/n) sighed, releasing her kite from her grasp and letting it flop to the floor. She sent a sharp claw through the string connecting her boyfriend to the machine, earning a distressed and agitated look from the contraption. Gummy plopped to the grassy ground, (Y/n) soon by his side to help him rise.

He blushed slightly, his girlfriend snuggling into his shoulder as she held his hand in a gentle yet secure grasp.