Skipper waddled over to the coffee maker, pouring himself a cup. He turned, opening the fridge.
"Hm, where did I put that...?" He mumbled to no one in particular. It was only five a.m. and the others were still sleeping. He always got up before they did. "Eh, there it is..." Skipper took out a small fish and stuck it in his coffee, stirring with it. He lifted the cup to his beak and took a sip. Suddenly he sputtered and coughed, hearing a scream. "Men!" He spluttered. The three jumped up out of their beds. "Double time!" Skipper yelled, wiping off his beak.
Marlene jumped when the penguins shot through the sewer entrance to her habitat.
"Private, survey the scene, Rico, secure the perimeter, Kowalski options!" Skipper yelled. Private looked around trying to figure out what was wrong, Rico guarded the entrance with a comically serious face, and Kowalski whipped out his clipboard and abacus.
"Um, guys, ever hear of knocking?" Marlene asked, flatly.
"We've told you this before, Marlene, such pleasantries would only slow us down." Skipper said crossing his flippers. Marlene stared at him, clearly unhappy. She sighed.
"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked, placing her paws on her hips.
"Well," Private piped up, "We heard you scream, so we rushed over." Marlene sighed again. They had good intentions, she had to admit that...
"It was nothing, I just had a nightmare is all." she said. Skipper eyed her closely for a moment.
"Alright men, stand down. False alarm." Skipper said. Private grinned, Rico growled in disappointment, and Kowalski sighed putting his clipboard away. Marlene stared at him curiously.
"Hey," She said. The four looked up at her. "How did you do that?" She asked. The four looked at each other.
"Do what?" Private asked. Marlene pointed to Kowalski.
"Your clipboard, where'd you put it? It was there one second, now it's not." She said. Kowalski looked at them all.
"We were kind of wondering about that for a while too..." Skipper mumbled. Kowalski shook his head.
"What, n- no it's nothing, just a bit of slight of hand." He muttered.
"Now, Kowalski, you trust us don't you? I mean if you can't trust us then who can you trust?" Marlene said smiling.
"No one, that's who!" Skipper threw in. Rico nodded vigorously.
"No, I... I'd just rather not if you don't mind." He said defensively.
"Come now, you know a lot about us." Skipper said, crossing his flippers. "Kowalski, you were the last one to come into this team, we know nothing about you." Kowalski looked at their eager faces.
"We-...well I guess it can't... hurt." He said, sitting on the floor. They stared at him, and he looked up. "You might as well sit. I've got a whole story behind this." He said, whipping out his clipboard and pencil. They all sat down.
"As you know... mainly because Skipper just told you, I was the last edition to the team. I joined in on their way back to our home as we know it, from England, where they had brought Private from. I knew how to... perform such a slight of hand even then. This story starts back... fifteen years ago..."