THIS IS NOT A SIGN OF PLAGIARISM...

Disclaimer: ... YOU KNOW WHAT I SAID BEFORE...

How It All Began
Chapter 7: The Capture

"Okay… Cody! You'll be fightin' Johnathan. Use the moves I taught you. You can wing it if you want… Winner takes Hans as opponent next." Buck said.

Cody and Johnathan stepped on the mat and bowed. Suddenly, Cody felt a hard kick on his side and he fell. He got up quickly and stared into Johnathan's eyes. Then Johnathan aimed another kick on his head, but Cody ducked and kicked Johnathan's feet, causing him to fall flat on his belly. Cody immediately pinned him down but Johnathan had another trick up his sleeve. He rolled on his back and kicked Cody off him. Cody grunted as he hit the floor, but quickly recovered. He wasn't gonna let Buck see him lose.

Cody ran toward Johnathan and pretended to aim a blow on his feet. Johnathan jumped but Cody landed a successful punch on his chest, which unbalanced him and he fell on the floor. Johnathan got up and noticed that Cody was leaning more on his right foot than his left. So, he dashed toward Cody's left side and punched him. But Cody was prepared and ducked, landing a painful uppercut on Johnathan. Johnathan stepped backwards then ran towards Cody, who was facing Buck. Johnathan was just about to land a punch on his back, but Cody jumped and back flipped over Johnathan and punched his back instead. Johnathan lost his balance and fell right in front of Buck. Johnathan looked up and blushed, suddenly embarrassed.

"Cody's the winner!" Buck announced, raising Cody's flipper up high.

Johnathan ducked his head and walked toward the bench, where Manfred was... Buck approached him and put his flipper on Johnathan's shoulder. "There there now, Johnathan. No need to feel that way. You did a good job with the tactics and all… You definitely are good in thinking. Your mother will be proud." Buck told him.
Johnathan looked up and smiled before sitting down to watch Hans and Cody fight. Cody actually won. He pinned Hans' wings down, Hans couldn't escape it, so he gave up. Buck was very impressed at Cody's progress.

Hans didn't take the defeat as something to regret. He even laughed with Cody at the thought of it. Buck could see a strong friendship being made between Cody and Hans. Johnathan shyly smiled at the two from the bench. Cody and Hans sat beside Johnathan.

"That was quite a fight, right Johnathan?" Cody said.
"Uh… Yeah." Johnathan replied.
"Do you remember ze time Cody kicked my beak? Dat was painful. Ha-ha!" Hans quoted.
"I bet it wasn't more painful than the time Hans punched my belly! Hahah!" Cody laughed.
Johnathan chuckled. "So… what should we do now?"
"I'd guess it's lunch time now." Cody informed, "Buck told us to find Silvia and eat lunch with her."
"Oh. Lunch…" Johnathan said, suddenly feeling the rumble in his belly.
Hans got up and said, "Well? Vhat are we waiting for? Let's eat LUNCH!"

When we got to the dining room, It was full of penguins they didn't know, but Manfred seemed comfortable around these penguins and greeted them happily. When they found the table Silvia, Annabelle and Chris were sitting at, they sat beside each other and ate their lunch hungrily.

"Hello, Manfred, Hans, Cody and Johnathan. How was training?" Annabelle asked them.

"Oh… Good… it was… good…" Johnathan said while eating.

"Buck said he was proud of me! I beat Johnathan and Hans in combat training!" Cody announced proudly. Johnathan's eyes widened at the sound of his name, and he stared at his food in embarrasment.

Silvia chuckled. "So… Boys… We're going back to the Echoing Mountains after this. Buck and I will take a shortcut with Chris. Would you like to join us, or slide in the slopes?" She asked.

Cody and Hans exchanged an excited glance. "I think they'd like to slide." Manfred said. "Well, Annabelle will make sure you get to the place. She'll slide with you." Chris told them, glancing at Annabelle, who rolled her eyes.

Once they finished their meals, Cody, Hans, Johnathan, Manfred, and Annabelle headed toward the slopes.

"Which slope now?" Cody asked.

"Um… let me check…" Manfred said, eyeing the slopes. "That one!" he exclaimed, pointing at a slope right infront of Hans. Hans smirked at Cody. "Race ya?" he challenged. "You're on!" Cody shrieked, pushing Hans out of the way and sliding down the slope.

When the five of them got to the Echoing Mountains, Buck, Silvia and Chris were already there, saying their goodbyes to Chris.

"Goodbye, Chris. Thanks for everything!" Silvia said.

"Yes. But I'll visit some time." Said Chris.

Manfred didn't want to go back to the Puffin Place again. So he approached Chris and said, "Can't we stay? For a few days atleast?"

Chris looked uncertain and glanced at Silvia and Buck. Then he sighed. "Sorry old bean. We can't. William will be so worried. We have to get you back home. But don't worry, Manfred. We'll visit regularly."

Manfred ducked his head and walked to Cody. "Bye guys. I had fun." He said.

"Yeah. Me too!" Hans exclaimed.

"You will come back, right?" Johnathan asked.

Manfred nodded then went with Chris, waving his flippers goodbye before dissapearing in the tunnel.


"Cody! Manfredi's back again!" Silvia called.

"He's back already? And ma, nobody calls me Cody anymore ever since I graduated last month." The teenage flat-headed penguin said.

Silvia chuckled. "Cody. I'm your mother. Am I not an ecception?"

Cody rolled his eyes. "Fine. But around other people, please call me Skipper."

Silvia nodded and watched Skipper jump out of the room. "Oh! And, Cody, you should see Eloise. She's gonna have an egg in a few weeks." Silvia reminded him. "Yeah, sure ma. I'lll visit her in my spare time." Skipper said before running toward the main room where he would see his old friend again. "Manfred!" Skipper shouted, hugging the younger penguin. "Um… Cody, It's Manfredi now. Mama changed my nickname…" Manfredi said smirking. "Okay Manfredi, this is the third time you visited this week!" Skipper shrieked.

Suddenly, a teenage Puffin walked in the room with an excited look on his face. "Manfredi! Good ta see ya!" the Puffin said.

"Hey Hans! H…how did you know about…"

"Yoh mama has a birdbook (kind of like Facebook) … she shared it." Hans told him.

Manfredi blushed. "Yeah… Where's Johnathan?"

"You mean Johnson? Oh, he's coming I guess…" Skipper said, glancing at the door.

Out came a tall penguin with messy feathers. "Hey guys! Sorry I kept you waiting!" He said, panting.

"Johnathan!" Manfredi exclaimed.

"Johnson" Johnson corrected.

"It's so good to see you again!" said Manfredi.

"Yeah… for the third time of the week." Johnson reminded him.

"What's wrong with coming regularly?" Manfredi said, cocking his brow.

"Nothing… Anyways, let's take a walk around. Outside maybe?" Johnson suggested.

"Sure. Let's go now!" Skipper said, rushing out the door.

A few minutes later, the four friends decided to hang out in the edge of the sea to watch the sunset. Skipper yawned. "Ugh! I hate waiting for the sun!"

"Haha! You always hate da waiting, Skippah." Hans giggled.

Johnathan, who was very patient most of the time actually started to be impatient.Maybe a short walk will make the time seem faster. He thought. "Guys, I'm going for a walk. Is anyone coming with me?" he asked.

"Me!" Skipper shrieked, standing up.

"Wait, Skipper! I have to ask you something. Nothing serious though…" Manfredi called.

"Ugh… fine… You go ahead Johnson, I'll just catch up." Skipper told Johnson, who started walking to who-knows-where.

While walking, Johnson hummed and kicked ice rocks for fun. Then he smelled a weird tangy scent. But before he could turn around, a rope tied to his beak, flippers and feet and before he could inhale, he was pulled underwater He struggled to break free, but the more he struggled, the tighter the ropes got. His eyes widened at the sight of two leopard seals holding the ropes. The last thing he saw was the evil smile of these leopard seals before he passed out.


"Johnson!" Skipper screamed as he ran toward the tied up penguin. Johnson was now being pulled underwater. Skipper was about to jump in, but he when he saw two leopard seals holding the ropes, he stopped and ran back to Hans and Manfredi and said, "HELP! JOHNSON'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

Both Hans and Manfredi gasped. "We must report this to the others!" Manfredi said, running for the HQ. When they got to the computer room, Skipper told Buck and the others (including Nigel and Eloise)everything that happened. Just when he was finishing the story, all the computer screens in the room went black, making all the penguins using the computers gasp. Then after a few seconds a sound was heard –

"Greetings Peng-yoo-wins." It said.

TO BE CONTINUED…