Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fic.(Unfortunately)
How Can I Choose?
"Geek!"
"Baby!"
It was back and forth between the two penguins as usual. Ever since Private had become a fully-fledged adult penguin, losing the last of his baby feathers, he and Kowalski hadn't been able to see eye-to-eye over anything, and argued constantly. It was giving Skipper and Rico a headache.
Jumping between the two, Rico regurgitated a chainsaw, while Skipper dragged Private away, sitting him down, and trying to find the right words to express his anger. In the end, he couldn't, so he settled for slapping Private in the face.(This was his way of expressing dissatisfaction.)
Rico, however, was having more success calming Kowalski down. Granted, that was with the help of a chainsaw, but he was still calming Kowalski down slightly.
"Alright, you two. What started it this time? One at a time, remember. Kowalski?"
"Private insulted me, saying that he could come up with better plans easily, before stealing my options clipboard, and insulting me again!"
"Hm. Private, what's your story?"
"I only asked K'walski if I could try coming up with the plan for our next mission, and then he yelled at me and threw his stupid clipboard at me! So we argued! There, happy now?"
Angry, Skipper grabbed both penguins and bashed their heads and beaks toghether, before sending Private out for a walk-that usually calmed him down-and confining Kowalski to his lab for as long as it took before he was able to calm down. Muttering darkly, Private stormed off in a temper, deciding to visit Marlene- she was usually able to cheer him up.
Kowalski went into his lab, deciding to invent something that would get revenge on Private for him. Grabbing his equipment, Kowalski set to work. Outside, the other two smiled unknowingly-inventing something was the easiest way for Kowalski to calm down.
Arriving at Marlene's habitat, Private knocked once on the wall of the otter's cave, waiting for the familiar 'Come in!', before advancing into the cave any further.
"Hey, Private."
Noticing the anger in his eyes, Marlene sighed, knowing full well what was happening between Private and Kowalski.
"Did you and Kowalski have another argument, Private?"
Sighing, Private let out some of his anger by kicking a pebble. It ricocheted of the wall and nearly hit Marlene in the face. Laughing slightly, Marlene picked up the pebble, revealing it to be a rubber ball- one that was kind of dirty, after being used so much.
"Careful. Otherwise you'll have my head off."
"Yeah, sorry. It's just that, y'know, I just want them to think of me as useful. I'm sick of being the baby of the team. I'm an adult penguin now, and I just want Kowalski to treat me like one."
Meanwhile, Kowalski had finished his masterpiece, and added a little bit of Private's DNA sample to it-one of the boy's feathers. Switching the machine on, Kowalski revelled in his success, even though he had no idea what it would do to Private yet- he only knew that it altered DNA somehow. Leaving the machine, he asked if the others would take him to see Private, so that he could 'apologise' for his actions.
Over in Marlene's habitat, Private was still talking to her, when he felt sick without warning. Lurching to his feet, he stumbled over to the water to look at his face. What he saw shocked him though: his beak was receding, his feathers were being replaced by tufts of chocolate-brown fur, and his tail was becoming longer!
Following Private out into her habitat, Marlene was surprised to see a tall, familiar-looking otter standing by her pool.
"Who are you, and why are you in my habitat?"
Shocked out of his reverie, Private turned round, and gulped slightly when he saw how angry Marlene looked.
"Erm, sorry, Marlene, but I'm Private. Don't know any more than you do about this, though."