Hello, everyone! Welcome to my fourth PoM story! :D Although the genre says Adventure/Humor, there will be some drama throughout the story as well. Okay, without further ado, please enjoy the first chapter! :)

The sound of rain and thunder was faintly heard through the locked fish hatch. The penguins were doing their normal hobbies to pass the time, except Skipper; he was pacing back and forth, occasionally glaring at the ceiling. Private saw him in the TV screen's reflection and turned around.

"Skippah, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, young Private. It's just this storm - this team needs to stay sharp, but we can't train topside until Mamma Nature lets us." Private nodded in understanding and went back to watching TV. He grabbed the remote, flipped over to the news channel, and turned the volume up.

"This is Chuck Charles, reporting live from the news room," The anchorman announced, fixing some papers in front of him. "The rain continues to pour at this hour and, according to our reports, the storm is expected to stay until tomorrow night. Stay tuned for further developments." Private shut it off and stood up.

"Well, tomorrow night isn't that long to wait, Skippah," He said optimistically, turning and walking over to him. "We can train harder to make up for the training we miss." Rico, who was sitting nearby, nodded.

"Uh-huh!" Skipper shook his head.

"No dice. I'd rather train on schedule, regardless of what the weather is like. Of course, since we can't train outside, I'll have to think of something else."

"We can work on our instinct training," Private suggested. Rico regurgitated one of their ninja bowling pins and held it up.

"Ninja?" He asked.

"Hmm. . . Those are both good ideas, but no." Just then, Kowalski walked out of his lab, carrying a bunch of equipment, and put the pile down in front of the television set. The others looked at him.

"What are you doing, Kowalski?" The youngest questioned. The lieutenant smiled at him.

"I'm glad you asked, Private," He said, connecting the various machines to the back of the TV. "Since the storm is preventing us from going outside, I took the liberty of inventing a new way to train." Skipper crossed his flippers and grinned.

"I like the sound of that, Kowalski. What is this new method of training?" The scientist finished organizing the boxes on the floor, turned the TV back on, and held up a pair of VR goggles. Unlike the traditional kind, this one had a microphone headset attached to it.

"Virtual reality!" He exclaimed. "With this headset, we'll be able to train without the need for physical equipment or perfect weather conditions! Who wants to try it first?" The others looked at each other.

"How about you, Private?" Skipper asked, placing a flipper on his shoulder. The little penguin frowned, unsure.

"Umm. . . I don't think I-" The leader pushed him toward Kowalski, who placed the VR goggles on his head.

"Good! Okay, Kowalski, let's see what this thing can do." The lieutenant waddled over to a lever, which was a clean, unused toilet plunger, and used it to navigate through the training program's menu on the TV.

"The program I've created consists of ten levels that get progressively harder as you advance. Each one will put emphasis on a specific skill, such as combat, stealth, and instincts. You have only three lives for all ten levels so, if you lose them, you'll have to start again from the very beginning. Are you ready, Private?" He glanced at Private, who was standing nervously a few inches away.

"I guess so."

"Alright, here we go," He pushed the plunger down to select the word "START" and turned to Skipper and Rico. "We'll be able to see everything that Private's seeing on the TV." The menu on the TV screen disappeared and displayed an empty, dimly-lit room. Private looked around the virtual environment.

"Hey, this is pretty neat, Kowalski!" He said, smiling. "How do I move forward?"

"Just walk like you would if you were actually there; the same thing applies to interacting with objects."

"Okay." Private turned around and walked toward a door on the far side of the room. He reached out, turned the knob, and opened the door. Underneath the goggles, Private's eyes widened as he noticed a bomb on the floor in front of him. He screamed and jumped to the side just as it went off. Skipper and Rico flinched.

"This is level one!?" The leader questioned, looking at Kowalski. "I thought it was going to be a tutorial or something."

"No." He replied. Private shakily got back on his feet and cautiously peeked through the doorway. There was a long hallway that stretched out in both directions.

"Which way do I go?"

"You'll need to figure that out for yourself, Private," Kowalski said. Skipper gently nudged him.

"Come on, give the boy a hint, Kowalski."

"Okay. Turn-" Suddenly, the lights in the HQ flickered. The virtual environment glitched slightly.

"What's going on?" Private asked, unaware of the surrounding electrical problem.

"It's nothing to worry about! I'm sure it's just because of the storm outside!" The scientist explained nervously. Skipper noticed his tone.

"Kowalski, maybe we should pause this until the storm lightens up a little." The electricity completely went out, causing darkness to flood the HQ.

"Uhh. . . The electricity should kick back in any second now. . ." The lieutenant said. Finally, the lights flickered back on and they sighed in relief.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. Alright, Private, you can-" Skipper stopped mid-sentence and gasped. Private was gone; the VR headset he was wearing now lay on the floor.

"Where's Pwivate?" Rico asked. Kowalski glanced up at the TV and screamed; Private was walking around in the level, still trying to decide which way to turn.

"Kowalski, which way should I go?"

"Private!" Skipper cried, running over to the TV. The others followed. The young penguin continued looking down both sides of the hallway, oblivious. Eventually, he turned around and let out a yelp.

"Skippah! Kowalski! Rico! What happened?" He waddled in their direction until he was touching the inside of the TV glass.

"Private, can you hear me?" Skipper asked. Private looked at him and shook his head.

"I can see you, but I can't hear what you're saying." The leader turned to Kowalski.

"What's going on? Why can't he hear us?"

"It appears that the temporary power failure caused the virtual reality headset to glitch, resulting in Private getting sucked into the program. As for the communication problem, he has nothing to hear us with." The scientist explained, his face filled with concern.

"How is he able to see us, then?"

"I presume the camera in the program and the TV itself are acting as a reverse VR headset, minus the audio."

"How can he get out?"

"He has no choice but to beat all ten levels," Kowalski answered. "Private needs to be extra careful. If he loses all three lives. . ." He stopped, a lump swelling in his throat.

"What?"

". . . He'll be gone forever."

Well, that's not good. :/ Oh, by the way, the doors are penguin-sized, so Private didn't have to jump up to "grab" the doorknob and turn it. I'll provide additional notes on the VR world in later chapters. :) So, we have the problem established. How will Skipper react to hearing this news? Will Private survive through all ten levels? The first question shall be answered in the next chapter, so read on! :D