No, I don't own POM or its characters. (Otherwise Private would be the main character, of course!)
Skipper and Rico turned to face the entrance as a small penguin practically fell inside the HQ. He slowly got up and groggily walked over to the table, his black and white feathers ruffled due to lack of sleep. There were dark shadows underneath the penguin's blue eyes.
"Private! How was the night watch?" called Skipper, waving him over.
"Tiring, but uneventful, Skippah." He sat himself down at the table, half-asleep already.
Private wondered if he should mention the dark shape he saw for an instant rustling in the bushes during the middle of the night. He decided not to. After all, it was probably just a stray cat or something. More likely it was caused by the sugary Winkys he ate. His head rested in his flippers, but jerked up in alarm when the door to the laboratory slammed open to reveal a triumphant Kowalski cradling some sort of machine.
"Eureka! It's done!" panted the scientist, who held up the machine for all to see.
Skipper and Rico stood up eagerly, their chairs grating against the floor of the HQ, and quickly waddled over to the scientist.
"You mean, the…" Skipper trailed off, thinking about what lay ahead.
"Yes!" squealed Kowalski.
Skipper and Rico crowded around him, all of them wanting to test it out.
"We need a test subject…" Skipper muttered. As soon as he said this, all three pairs of eyes turned immediately to the now slumbering penguin sitting at the table.
"Private!"
His shout awakened the soldier, who looked up at him through half-closed eyes. "Yes, Skippah?" he mumbled.
"Come' ere!"
X X X
Approximately thirteen and a half minutes later, Private stood, dazed, on a crude duct tape X outside of their habitat. He was wearing human clothes that lay in a pile around him that Rico had coughed up. ("Um, where did you get this stuff?" Private had asked. Skipper had looked at him with a knowing smirk on his beak. "Didn't you know, Private? Rico used to be a fashion designer!") He raised a floppy white sleeve at the ray pointed directly at him.
"Um, K'walski, are you sure this is safe?" he asked nervously.
"Sixty-nine percent!" said the scientist unconvincingly.
"And what, exactly, does this… invention of yours do?"
"Enough with the questions, young private, you'll find out soon enough," said Skipper impatiently. "Kowalski, fire this bad boy up."
"Aye aye, Skipper." He put on a pair of thick goggles that had been resting on his forehead, and the others followed suit.
"Initiating launch in three… two… one…" Private gulped audibly seconds before the blinding flash came.
Private opened his eyes, scared at what he would see. Well, so far he seemed alright… Woah. He was way taller. The clothes fit. He had a bad feeling about this… Bracing himself, he looked at the rest of his body. He definitely wasn't a penguin anymore. When he discovered what had happened, he almost fell over in his shock. At the moment, he was hyperventilating.
"Sk-sk-sk-Skippah!" he cried frantically. "I'm…I'm a human!"
A/N: Excuse the short and rather cliché chapter, the others will be longer. (And hopefully more original XD)
