Thaks for all the reviews ya'll, and sorry it took so long, phew, I've so much on hand, but here's a new chapter to ya. oh, and thanks to Little birdy for being the firsts reviewer, plus an extra few XD Thank her for this, I was planning on being a lazy bum today, but her review got me to my senses XD and to JackandJill for catching my spelling mistake XD love her! BTW, she has THE most AMAZING story, Othello, on the crossover archive, already has some possible Skilene/Marski dilema, isn't that what most of ya'll have been asking for? ;) I myself love the perspective of settling that feud...hmmm...don't you love improvising?

Joey-"Things crash down unexpectedly, it's their nature. All you can do is try to not let them get you off guard."

Dreadful Truth

Marlene gets back to her habitat first, a surprise she doesn't even acknowledge; Kowalski was in trouble, nothing mattered more.

The Intellectual Intensifier was covered in soot, still hot from its combustion, but no longer ablaze.

"Kowalski?" she whispers.

Skipper and the others arrive, standing alertly in case of danger.

Private looks around.

"Where's Kowalski?"

The door of the Intellectual Intensifier opens. Dark smoke flies out, a dim figure distinguishable inside. As it clears, they're able to make it out.

Kowalski steps out, inspecting his surroundings. Everyone was staring at him in shock. He tries to wave away the smoke to see better, only to realize that the smoke was coming from him.

He holds his flippers closer up, seeing intact feathers emit gray mist.

Minutes pass in silence, Kowalski noticing that he gave out less and less smoke, but that if he looked closely he could still see flurries of movement on his feathers.

"So…what happened?"

Everyone turns to Skipper, the silence shattered so suddenly it was almost staggering.

Skipper turns to Marlene, staring accusingly.

"Well?"

She opens her mouth, looking from him to Kowalski, her eyes wide, searching for an explanation that no one knew.

"Why is there so much smoke?" asks Private. Rico takes a look around, then goes up to Kowalski, for some reason fascinated. He lifts up his wing and sniffs it, plucking out a feather and eating it. Kowalski steps back as Rico laughs.

"KA-BOOM!"' his reaction is so unexpected even Skipper jumps.

"Rico!" Marlene scolds. Rico chuckles and grins at Kowalski, his eyes excited.

"What is going on?!" yells Skipper. Rico goes to him, animatedly explaining with unintelligible words. Skipper's eyes widen. Private glances nervously at Kowalski.

"That's not possible…is it Skippah?" he whimpers.

"What?" Marlene looks at them, unable to take the tension.

Skipper doesn't answer, instead, he glares at Kowalski.

"Rico, poison darts."

Rico coughs up a bamboo stick, stuffing something into it, his eyes eager. Private and Marlene can only wait, terrified of what's to come.

Skipper holds the stick up to his beak and blows.

A flurry of movement flies through the air with a quick hum, heading towards Kowalski.

Marlene cries out, unable to believe what was happening. She turns to Kowalski, sees the fear and confusion on his face.

He dives down, half turning, bringing his left flipper up into the air. Sudden fire bursts from it, a small explosion heard as the darts burn. The crisp leftovers fall to the ground, making muted clicks.

Skipper's face is empty.

"It is possible."

Private doesn't reply.

Skipper's fury reminds Marlene of the blazing fire. He was barely himself, the cool-headed Skipper gone.

"I've told you already, no unsupervised inventions! Now look at this mess! You'll be in charge of cleaning up Marlene's habitat, and no inventions for a month, for a year! I thought you would have learned your lesson after Jiggles, Kowalski. Kowalski!"

Kowalski hadn't been paying attention; his gaze was far off, a sight never before seen.

Skipper slaps him.

Kowalski looks up slowly, confused. Skipper's face twists in fury, he seemed close to snapping. His eyes narrow and his flippers curl into fists. Marlene could practically see the explosion in him rise.

She steps between him and Kowalski, a surely stupid move, but she couldn't bear to see this happen. They were a team, practically brothers, why was this happening?

"Hey, come on Skipper, let's take a second to calm down…" she struggles not to crumble beneath his glare, "I mean, what's so bad about what he did? He didn't mean it, it wasn't his fault."

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?!" Skipper is an avalanche, an unstoppable force of nature crashing down on her, "He's putting us all in danger as we speak! He's messed with the wrong formula this time, and there is no solution for it! Look at him!" He points, "He's smoking like deep fry on a skillet, you think no one will notice? You think that's normal!"

Marlene doesn't need to look; the soft smoke coming from Kowalski was hard to miss.

"So what?"

"What?"

"So what if he 'smokes'. He's almost been burned alive, aren't you happy he survived?" This time, she can't help it; she withers from Skipper's look. Luckily, Private saves her.

"Come on Marlene, I'll explain." He takes her paw and gently leads her out to the pond. She looks back at Kowalski worriedly but Skipper is already stalking off. The last she sees is Rico smiling at Kowalski, bursting into maniac laughter.

"Sorry about Skippah," Private apologizes, "Kowalski's condition reminds him of things he would rather forget."

"Like what?"

"I don't think I should say, but, but I think you need to know…if you promise not to tell, or mention it to Skipper." He looks at her with innocent blue eyes.

What could Private know that was so bad?

"I promise."

"Well, you see," Private begins, motioning for her to take a seat, "before we became a team, Skipper used to work with Manfreeti and Johnson, it wasn't official though, only the Academy could assign you a team, and they never agreed to join, but they worked with him whenever they could. It began during Skipper's first mission; he was still in his down feathers at the time…"

---

Skipper was only three months old when he enrolled at the Academy.

His father had gone to it, his grandfather had gone to it, heck, he could say with total confidence (and a hint of smugness) that his ancestors had been in the military since the first icicle weapon had been invented.

And now it was his turn.

Commander South had noticed Skipper's talent right away. By the first week he had plans ready for his first mission.

"Alaska."

"Anyplace Commander, just give me the coordinates and I can assure you I will straighten everything down to the last twisted twig."

The disappearance of transportation vehicles had been a bother at that time so Skipper was shipped in a can of bait. After digging himself out he was ready for anything that came.

First thing on the list was to secure the oil spill, then find out who did it, and finally stop whoever did it. The last part, not on the list, was his self-set goal to become the most honored first year at the Base. He bet he could do it. This would be flawless.

After asking around he managed to find a large oil spill near Frozen Reef, where he got to by climbing the highest peak in the area. The oil wasn't hard to spot; it was like a malevolent pit against the beauty of the arctic water.

With no backup plan, or even a plan, Skipper dove down into the water.

He swam around, taking perimeter of the black mass.

"Gonna need more than one bottle of shampoo to clean up this puppy." He muttered, trying to think of a way to fix it. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted though, by screaming in the distance. He quickly dove down, swimming to the source.

His feathers began to feel heavy, and as he looked around he realized that he had swum directly into the oil spill. He struggled to get out, managing to get out to a clean bit of water.

Skipper looked around, finding the source of the sound. Two young penguins, also in their down-feathers, were stuck in the middle of the oil. They called to him in broken calls, chocking on the murky water.

Skipper stayed where he was.

If he went into the oil he would most likely drown along with them, the oil making it impossible to swim, but he couldn't let them die…

What the heck.

Skipper dove underwater, going as low as he could to avoid the sticky mess. When he saw he was directly beneath the penguins he swam up and grabbed their feet, dragging them down with him. They were so covered in oil it was easy to do so, but as soon as he held them on his flippers he was dragged down by their weight. He kicked as hard as he could, motioning for them to help him. The two penguins were exhausted, but they made an effort to swim with him.

Skipper pulled as hard as he could, feeling his breath leave him. It was hard to hold on, their feathers were slippery, plus the fact that they weighted more than him, made lose his grip on the smallest one.

The taller penguin looked at his companion floating away and began to pull against Skipper's grip. Skipper couldn't hold on, so he let go. Realizing what was going on, he quickly went after the two, grabbing a flipper of the small penguin, his friend holding on to the other.

Completely out of breath, dizzy, and tired, Skipper manages to pull them out of the water.

The three lay gasping on the ground, trying to shake the oil off.

"Thank-you friend, we don't know you, but I feel we must show our appreciation for saving our lives." The taller one said once he had gathered his breath, "you came at the most opportune moment."

Skipper didn't understand him. "Say what?"

"We want to thank-you."

Skipper shrugged, waving aside the comment, but inside he was beaming. He had saved two civilians already!

"All in a day's work."

"Come with us if you will, we know an effective method of removing this substance."

Skipper hadn't really understood, but they had seemed nice enough.

Halfway to their destination, the penguin turned to face him, a sheepish look on his face.

"Oh, and pardon our ill manners, we forgot to introduce ourselves. I am Johnson, this is my brother, Manfreeti."

"Skipper."

"It's a pleasure."

Manfreeti and Johnson were very alike, they seemed the same age even though Manfreeti was a little shorter and rounder, they had the same beak shape, eye color, feather style, call it a wild guess but he figured they were twins. They seemed about a year older than him, still in their down feathers, but the way they acted reminded him of the instructors back at the academy. They were as intelligent, but they were also quite ignorant.

"So how did you get stuck back there?" Skipper asked them once his feathers were once more impeccable.

"A simple miscalculation," Responded Johnson, ruffling his feathers to dry them. Manfreeti nodded quietly. "we were trying to get a sample of it, find out what it was, where it came from. It has been appearing more and more in our area."

"The name's oil" Skipper stated, "the humans dump it here when they come. I'm here to stop it." He stood up straighter, giving them a grand look. Johnson nodded.

"That does seem conclusive. So how will you do it?"

Skipper's grin faded.

"Still working on that one." He admitted sheepishly.

"Perhaps we can help."

Johnson led him inside a cave, showing him his different inventions.

""What are all these?" Skipper asked, gazing in wonder at the many gadgets and test tubes.

"We're not quite sure," Johnson replied, "Manfreeti made them, and I concocted the substances, all at unsystematic methods…but we think they're useful."

Skipper reached over and tapped on a pink test tube, a sizzling sound came off it.

"Oh dear me, please don't touch that!" Johnson stepped between him and the table where the inventions lay, "The results of an unstable chemical on you could be quite detrimental. Heaven knows we've learned our lessons."

"What?"

Johnsons sighed, looking at Skipper with a weary look.

"We live here by ourselves for a reason; our very existence threatens the life of others."

Skipper looked from Johnson to Manfreeti in confusion. They seemed harmless enough.

Johnson turned to Manfreeti.

"Show him."

Manfreeti clapped his fins, both of which turned up in flames. Manfreeti held them up for Skipper to see, his eyes earnest.

"Frozen gravy!" Skipper exclaimed. He ran outside to get a towel, Manfreeti and Johnson following. Skipper hit at the flames with the towel, trying to smother them.

Manfreeti shook his head, waving him aside, but Skipper kept on. He threw the towel on Manfreeti, figuring it was the last thing to do. In midair, before it even reached him, the towel disintegrates.

Skipper stood in awe, his left eye twitching.

Johnson gazed at him solemnly.

"Manfreeti got that from an experiment he made. He wanted to fly like the other birds in the sky, like the seagulls. Instead he got to control fire. Or kind of…" Johnson looked at Manfreeti as he waved his flippers gently, sculpting a flame into a delicate flower, "sometimes, the fire turns on him. Fire likes to be wild; it only obeys when it wants to." The flower wilted, fell to the ground, and extinguished with a low hiss.

"Of course," Johnson continued grimacing at the dark spot on the ground that the fire had left, "my ability is also as unsteady. Or rather…harmful and helpful at once."

"What is it?" Skipper asked suspiciously.

"Don't be afraid now." Johnson advised. He turned to Manfreeti and nodded. Manfreeti turned to Skipper, giving him an apologetic look. Skipper barely had time to hold his fins up before the flames reached him. He gave out a cry as the painful sting registered. He looked down at his flippers, the burnt feathers stuck together.

Skipper glared disbelievingly at Manfreeti. Johnson, however, walked up to him and took his flippers gently on his own, smiling cautiously. Skipper felt like stepping back, but suddenly began to feel the pain ease away.

First he felt a cool sensation travel through them, and then soft tickling on the skin beneath his feathers. He looked down, seeing his feathers rearranging, healing, going back to what they were. He looked up at Johnson in disbelief. Johnson's eyes were closed, and there was a frown on his beak. He suddenly yelped and let Skipper go.

"A bit overdone Manfreeti." Johnson said, holding his burnt flippers up for him to see. Manfreeti gives him a small smile and held out his flippers, which Johnson took carefully.

Skipper walked up to them to see what was happening, and saw Johnson's flippers heal in the same way his had. Manfreeti's flippers though, remained intact.

Johnson finished, patting Manfreeti softly on the back.

"Thank-you."

"What just happened?" Skipper asked. Johnson turned to him.

"I'm able to transfer injuries from one being to another. In this case, it being a slight burn, I was able to transmit it to Manfreeti, who is impervious to fire."

"Well now that makes sense." Skipper replied sarcastically. Johnson laughed.

"Why don't we get working on that oil spill?"

---

"So what happened to them?" Marlene asks. Private looks down.

"Skippah says they rarely listened to him, they were very naïve, thinking nothing bad would happen and trusting everyone. All those stories he told you about them are true, Manfreeti and Johnson always got in trouble, but Johnson's ability allowed them to keep on…well, until they changed their minds." Private avoids her gaze, clasping his fins together, "They thought they were invincible, they wanted to take over, but Skippah wouldn't join them. In Ecuador…the flying piranhas took care of them. Skipper had to take them down to make sure they didn't harm anyone, and he knew there was no way for Johnson to heal fast enough to survive that."

"So…what Kowalski has…is it like Manfreeti's?"

Private looks at her, his eyes shining with tears.

"I don't know."

Marlene pats Private softly on the back at a loss for anything else to do.

She looks up at the dark night sky, with all the commotion it had gotten dark without them noticing. She blinks to see the stars, for some reason feeling better to know they were there.

The stars would always be there, no matter what happened, they would always bring light to the darkness.

A shriek is heard, interrupting her thoughts.

Private looks up at her, wiping away his tears.

"What was that?"

"I don't-"

"Skipper?! Skipper are you alright! I'm sorry!"

Private's eyes widen.

"That sounds like Kowalski."

She barely hears him, she was already running to the door.

Anyone here read Inkheart? Inkspell? Inkdeath? To those of you who have, you might now now how this is related, Dustfinger is an unforgetable character, to those of you who haven't, I'll tell ya'll later, when it's all out. :)