Okay! Here we are at the next chapter! Thanks to Penguins005 for reviewing! :D Well, let's continue the story! :)

Skipper landed in what looked to be the basement of the house. He stood up and took in his new surroundings. There was a lot of junk piled up around him, so he started walking around in search of the exit. A few minutes later, he reached the foot of the stairs leading up to the ground floor.

"Aha!" He exclaimed, rubbing his flippers together. He flipped up the small flight of stairs and opened the door which led to the hallway near the entryway of the house. As luck would have it, the lunatic was walking past at that moment and stopped in front of the doorway. Skipper frowned as the man stared down at him.

"Private was right: This is strange."

Meanwhile, Private was standing on top of a dresser with a mirror, checking his ruffled feathers.

"I hope my missing feathers will grow back soon." He smoothed the remaining ones down as best as he could and turned to face the mirror directly. Private smiled at himself, which made him feel a little better. Something in the reflection caught his eye and he looked down at the counter. It was a blue ribbon.

"Oh, it's nothing." He said. When he looked up, he saw the others standing next to him on the dresser. He yelped in surprise and turned to face them.

"Kowalski! Rico! How did you get here?" They briefly explained their room-hopping plan to him.

"Are you okay?" Kowalski asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, although I lost a few feathers, see?" He turned around and pointed at his back.

"'Ey, where's Skipper?" Rico mumbled.

"I don't know! We were walking down the hallway looking for you, and he fell through a trapdoor! I couldn't find it."

"Well, let's look around for it, then." The lieutenant replied. Private led them to the hallway where Skipper was last seen.

While the others went to search the corridors, Skipper and Angel were still staring at each other. Eventually, the hunchback started reaching for him. The penguin slid under the man's legs and headed up the other flight of stairs they saw when they first entered. Angel grunted and began his slow but steady pursuit. Skipper reached the top of the steps and ran into the first room. He quickly shut the door behind him and locked it. He sighed in relief.

"Okay, that should take care of him." He turned around to see two men - the other armed robbers - sitting down at the far side of the room. Red spotted Skipper and pointed at him.

"Hey, Lefty, look! A pelican!" The other thug looked at where his accomplice was pointing.

"That's a penguin, you moron!" Suddenly, the man thought of something. "Wait a minute, that bird must've been the 'stranger' you thought came in earlier. Grab him."

Red started walking across the room toward him. Figuring he had enough time to escape, Skipper jumped up to unlock the door. Just as he finished, he felt the air being squeezed out of his lungs as Red grabbed him.

He tried wiggling free, but it was no use - his flippers were pinned to his sides, and he couldn't move. The man smiled mischievously and brought him over to Lefty. The man noticed Skipper wheezing and glared at his accomplice.

"Loosen your grip, Red! You're suffocating it!" To Skipper's relief, Red did as he was told, giving him just enough room to breathe.

"Oops. Hey, Lefty, what's this penguin doing all the way out here in the first place?" The man rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe he and some of his other penguin pals wanted to go to some haunted house for Halloween!" He yelled sarcastically. His stupid accomplice smiled.

"That sounds like fun!" Red exclaimed. Lefty rubbed his face, exasperated.

"No, you dope! He's a penguin! He's not smart! He probably just got lost or something."

"So, what are we going to do with him, Lefty?" He asked. Lefty tapped his chin.

"Tie him up while I think of something." Red found some rope lying conveniently on the floor in the corner of the room and tied Skipper up from neck to toe. After he was sure Skipper was tied well enough, he showed him to Lefty.

"Okay, Lefty, I tied him up, just like you said."

"Great, Red." The man replied flatly.

"Now what?" Skipper rolled his eyes; what use was he to them?

"I have an idea!" The man exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "We'll eat him." Skipper's eyes widened.

"You're stark-raving mad!" He shouted. Of course, to the humans, it sounded like a string of loud, obnoxious squawks. Lefty glared at him.

"Ugh, Red, tie his beak shut! I don't want to hear any more of his annoying bird calls!" Skipper squinted at him.

"Well, you're going to hear more of it, you big-" Red pinched his beak shut and used some tape to keep it that way. Skipper pecked the thug's hand.

"Ouch!" Red dropped him and Skipper landed hard on the floor. The criminal pulled his gun out and aimed at the penguin.

"Why I oughta-" Lefty grabbed Red's arm.

"What are you doing!?" The two struggled, the gun still pointed at the floor.

In another part of the mansion, the others heard a loud bang. They froze.

"What was that?" Private asked, although, deep down in his gut, he knew the answer.

"It sounded like a gun," Kowalski replied. Rico muttered worriedly.

"Let's go!" They slid down the hallway as fast as they could.

Up in the room, Red and Lefty slowly looked down; there was a fresh bullet hole in the floor, just inches from Skipper's head. The penguin, who had shut his eyes when the gun went off, slowly opened them and turned his head to the left; if it had been just a bit closer. . .

He took a deep breath, relieved. Lefty, seeing Skipper was still alive and well, stood up straight and gave Red a slap to the back of the head.

"You idiot! Look what you almost did!" He yelled, gesturing to Skipper. The other criminal put his gun away.

"Sorry, Lefty."

"We want him to stay fresh longer, understand?" Lefty leaned down and picked Skipper up, making sure to keep his hand away from the penguin's beak. Red nodded.

"Uh, why are we going to eat him?" Skipper looked at Lefty - he wanted to know, too.

"Remember when we went into the kitchen? All the food in there is expired!"

"The juice boxes were good." Lefty facepalmed with his free hand.

"Besides that! If we're going to hide from the police, we can't go out to buy anything. Penguins are birds, so he's practically a chicken," He handed Skipper over to his fellow criminal. "Put him in the next room and leave him there."

"Okay, Lefty." He went into the hallway and entered the next room. Unlike the other rooms, this one had no door.

The room was mostly bare, with only a rectangular table in the center and a large dollhouse in the corner. After placing Skipper on the table, Red grabbed a conveniently penguin-sized chair from the dollhouse and returned. He sat Skipper in it and tied him up with some more rope. He faced him away from the exit and left, leaving him alone in the dimly-lit room.

Oh no! :O Skipper's going to be on the menu if the others don't rescue him in time! D: