Chapter 1: Normal Beginnings

There was a Zoo in Central park of New York City, New York. It seemed all normal; humans came to see the animals, and then left later. But, there was something much greater to this zoo. In the center of the zoo, a small penguin habitat was there. A white concrete island was firmly in the ground surrounded by chlorinated blue water. Around the water, there were pine green metal bars. On the island, pushed to one corner, was a silver bowl that would usually have a fish in it. Under said bowl was a hole that leads to an underground lair.

In the lair the four penguins who called this habitat home, were fast asleep in their concrete bunks carved into the wall. Two of them snored, while the other two tossed and turned every now and then.

Suddenly, the second-shortest penguin with a flat head yawned and strained his eyes to look at the clock. He squinted for a moment, but he finally read that it was 5:00am. He groaned as got out of his bunk and made his way to the coffee maker. He found his small coffee cup, dropped a fish into it and waited impatiently for his coffee to finish being made. As soon as his cup was full, he headed up the ladder to the concrete island above.

When he was topside, he accepted the warm rays of the sun as it greeted the earth with the gift of a brand new day. He stretched in the golden light, watching the colors burst across the sky. There were many shades of purple, red, orange, and blue.

"Ah, sunrise," he commented, "nothin' like it."

A smile spread across his beak. Soon there were noises and rustling coming from the HQ below.

"Better go wake up the boys." he said as he jumped down the hole into the lair that sheltered him.

He laughed silently as he thought about yelling and scaring them. He went with this plan.

"1… 2… 3!" he counted to himself, "RISE AND SHINE SOLDIERS!" he cried.

The whole lair rumbled at the might of the penguin's voice. The penguins sleeping in their bunks quickly jumped, hit their heads, and fell down onto the hard, cold, concrete floor.

The three stood before the flat-headed penguin, in a single file line, and saluted.

"Reporting for duty, Skipper!" the tallest of the four said. His name was Kowalski, a round headed penguin with a knack for science and using his ability to come up with options to help his team. The lieutenant was looking down slightly at his leader, but with eyes that showed great respect.

Next in line was the weapons specialist, Rico. He was second-tallest and sort of flat-headed like Skipper, but atop of his head was a feather Mohawk. He had a scar that went across his lips on the left side of his beak. He couldn't speak in complete words only his gibberish so he just smiled confidently.

At the end was sweet, innocent Private who was the shortest and youngest. He was a little chubby, but he didn't care. It only boosted his cuteness. His rank was a private, of course from his name, so he listened and tried his best at everything he did. Private smiled cutely, to no one's surprise.

"What are we doing today, Skippah?" Private asked in his British accent.

"What we do every day, train." Skipper replied.

After having a good breakfast of fish, the penguins climbed out of the HQ. They started with laps around the zoo, and then continued with push-ups.

"Alright boys," Skipper said, satisfied with his team's progress, "It's time to take a good break in HQ. We should be ready if called to duty. Today we check inventory."

Kowalski, Rico, and Private nodded. As they were just about to enter the lair, a scream sounded from across the zoo.

"See? Told you!" Skipper said as they belly slid to the scene of the crime.

The ring-tailed lemur, "king" Julian, stood at the zoovenir shop not looking the least bit aware of his surroundings.

The penguins approached, focused on whatever that scream was about.

"Ringtail, you screamed?" Skipper asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Huh? Oh no, you are being mistaken. I did not scream. It was her." Julian pointed to Marlene, the otter, who was on the ground about 2 to 5 feet away.

"Skipper!" Marlene cried as she ran to the lead penguin, "I was looking all over for you! Come with me."

Skipper was puzzled, but followed her, seeing she was pretty distressed. They went to Marlene's habitat, neighboring the penguin's own. They stepped into the rock cave with chlorinated water in front.

"Look!" Marlene yelled, pointing to the dusty wall. A paw print appeared clearly out of the dust. It looked like a small version of a human hand, almost exactly like Marlene's only different somehow.

Kowalski, Rico, and Private stepped back in shock, mouths gaped open. Skipper remained calm.

"So…" Skipper said, "You placed your paw into the dust on the wall?"

"What? No!" Marlene said in defense, "I didn't do that! I woke up, looked at the wall where my antique Spanish guitar usually hangs and only found… this!"

Kowalski examined the print very closely.

"Hmmm…" he said, rubbing his chin with his right flipper.