"Skippah!"

Skipper's eyes snapped open. He sat up quickly, eyes darting around to find the source of the voice.

He seemed to be sitting on air. Underneath him seemed solid, yet there was nothing under him except air. All around him was a bright white; no trees or buildings, just whiteness.

"Skippah! Over here!"

The leader jumped to his feet. About a foot away was a silhouette of a short, chubby penguin-Private. Skipper jumped back, startled.

"Private, how did you-" Skipper was interrupted by the younger bird.

"Hurry, Skippah! We have to run!" Private's silhouette gestured for Skipper to follow him. The child skipped away, calling over his shoulder, "Come on, Skippah! Hurry!" The silhouette suddenly faded in a wisp of smoke, leaving no trace that he had been there moments before.

"Wha?" Skipper was confused. "Private? Private!" He ran a few steps, but stopped when he realized that Private was truly gone. He stared at the ground, scowling. "What is going on?"

Hearing a noise behind him, he turned and saw another silhouette. The dark shape showed a large, heavyset penguin with a mohawk of sorts on its head.

"Run," the large penguin rasped, pointing in the direction Private's silhouette had run before it had vanished.

"Why?" Skipper questioned. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't like it at all.

"RUN!" The penguin silhouette pushed Skipper before disappearing in the same manner Private had just a minute before.

Skipper's eyes widened. "Wha- Why is everyone disappearing like that?"

He felt someone tap his shoulder. He quickly turned, poised to attack. Standing there was a silhouette of a tall, lanky penguin. The silhouette appeared to be trembling. "I'm sorry," he said in a quite, almost inaudible voice. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't understand what's going on!" Skipper yelled. "Explain what's happening!"

The tall penguin flinched. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I didn't want to do it." He disappeared as well, leaving Skipper alone again.

"Wait!" Skipper shouted, eyes narrowed into slits. "Come back! You didn't explain anything! In fact, now I have more questions than before!"

"Well, well, well! Looks like my foe is all alone now," a loud, high-pitched voice boomed.

Skipper froze. He closed his eyes, growling. "You..." He turned, hatred coursing through his body. "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?"

He turned around, facing the direction the voice had come from, but was shocked to see that there was nothing there.

"B-But how-?" Skipper stuttered.

"Silly Skipper. You can't see me, but I can see you."

"Where are you?" Skipper roared. "Show yourself!"

The unknown enemy laughed. "Killing that weakling that you had tag along with you was such a pleasure."

Skipper's blood ran cold. "Y-You killed him?" Uncontrollable rage overwhelmed him. "HOW COULD YOU? HE WAS ONLY A CHILD!"

"It was amusing to think that he thought you would save him. He wouldn't stop screaming your name. 'Skipper! Skipper!'" the invisible foe said, mocking Private's voice and laughing. His laughter quickly died, and the voice grew serious again. "I finally got tired of his constant screaming and disposed of him."

"NO! YOU'RE LYING!" Skipper screamed into the sky. "YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO MAKE ME THINK THAT HE'S DEAD! HE'S NOT DEAD!"

"Poor, poor Skipper," the enemy said with mock pity. "I'm SO sorry." He laughed, angering Skipper even more.

"I'm... going to... kill you," the lead penguin hissed. "You are going to pay. He was only a boy, still in his down feathers. He didn't do anything to you."

"Oh, but here's where you're wrong. He was assisting you. You were going to use him so that you could destroy me."

Skipper remained silent, glowering at his feet. His flippers were clenched into fists, wanting to beat his enemy to a bloody pulp. "No. I took him because he was living a horrible life," Skipper seethed, "just like you made me live, and just like you made him live. I didn't want him to go through the same things I had to."

"All you did was bring him into danger. A danger that you were well aware of."

"I-"

"You think you're brave, but all you are is a coward who pretends to be a hero. No amount of good deeds will change that. If you and him were in danger, you would abandon him to save yourself."

Skipper felt the ground drop beneath him, and the weightless feeling of free fall. His enemy's words echoed in his mind, replaying over and over again.

"STOP!" Skipper screamed, grabbing the sides of his head. "PLEASE, STOP!"

"SKIPPAH!"

Skipper suddenly found himself staring into Private's troubled eyes.

The young penguin had been shaking him, trying to wake him up. His eyes were rimmed with red; he had either been crying or had slept little.

"Skippah, are you okay?" the child asked timidly.

Skipper blinked. "Y-You're alive?" he finally asked.

Private couldn't help but smile. "Yes, I'm alive." The young penguin's smile quickly faded. "You were thrashing around and screaming things while you were unconscious. Are you alright?"

"I, um," Skipper laughed nervously. "Yeah, it was just a bad dream..." Skipper trailed off, staring at the ground without seeing it. "A bad dream..."

Authors note:

THIS CHAPTER WILL MAKE MUCH MORE SENSE LATER ON!

There's hinted in here that hintsthings that'll happen later in the story. And I promise, the next team member will come in the next chapter. It's just that I've had so much going on recently, and I have no Internet at my house anymore... I have to use the library's internet, and that's the only reason I'm able to update this. XD