In the neighborhood, there were two groups you didn't want to mess with, and everyone knew it. One was the Penguins, and the other was the Rats. The Rats were a group of thugs who lived in the sewers and came out for fights. Their leader was simply known as Rat King, and he had just made the biggest mistake of his thirteen years. He had heard that Kowalski was a genius, having invented a weather device that would accurately tell the weather better than any meteorologist. They had grabbed him and Private while the two of them were out getting some supplies.

Private and Kowalski were on their way to an errand for Granny Acorn. When they didn't return in an hour, Skipper and Rico knew something was wrong. They found Kowalski's glasses cracked about two blocks from the market.

"Rico… how do we track them?"

Rico growled as he picked up Kowalski's glasses and took a sniff. "ewer." He started off running with his big brother right behind him. Rico knew more about the streets more than anyone. "Rats."

"Rats?"

"Uh-huh. Big meanies." Rico lifted a sewer lid and dropped down. Skipper fell in behind him. Rico ran as fast as he could, diving through turns and narrow ends of the sewers, checking back once in a while to see if his big brother was still there. He smirked. Skipper was taking to the sewers as though he'd been there his whole life.

They soon found a large room in the sewers. Rico and Skipper stayed on the bridge above the platform. They were in silent mode, but apparently someone else was not.

"…and its almost done, alright? Just let my little brother down already. Can't you see he's scared?" Kowalski was pleading with a large teenager who looked like he had been on steroids. Skipper looked around for Private while Rico kept watch on Kowalski. Skipper found the toddler sitting in a small cage that was swinging over a river of sewer sludge. "Just let him down, please." The pleading voice of Kowalski was crushing to his brothers, especially to Private, who believed it was his fault that his big brother was unhappy.

Private looked around while clutching his Lunacorn. So far, he was worried that he was going to fall into the water below, because he couldn't swim yet. He managed to get a peek at his big brother, Kowalski and worried about him getting hurt as well. His bright baby blue eyes closed for a moment.

Kowalski was busy trying to make something for the Rats. It was a freshenizer ray of some sort, made to turn back the decaying cycle on old food and make it younger and fresher. Truthfully, it wasn't that hard for Kowalski to make if he had the proper tools and equipment, but he was so nervous about Private that it was taking him longer. That and the tools being bad didn't help his progress either.

Skipper and Rico kept looking around for some options that they could use that wouldn't endanger their brothers. What they didn't count on was Private doing the same thing. When Private's eyes opened, they had a cold calculating glare in them. He brought his Lunacorn to the outside of his cage and used its horn to unlock the cage as quietly as he could. He smirked when he heard a click.

Skipper also heard the click and made his way over to investigate. He couldn't help but feel pride as he saw his baby brother climb out of the cage with the Lunacorn in his hand. Private climbed up onto the top of his cage and clung to the chain that held it in the air. His eyes were back to being scared.

Skipper reached his hand towards the terrified toddler. "Private?" Private looked up at his big brother with wide eyes and smiled. He instantly grabbed the older boy's hand and was pulled up to the small bridge like structure. He gave Private the silent signal. The little boy nodded and smiled. He knew his big brothers wouldn't let him down. Private then remembered one was still in trouble. Private pointed towards Kowalski with urgency. Skipper and Rico nodded.

"THERE, it's done, now let my little brother down from that cage this instant!"

"Not until we test it." The three brothers looked down at their fourth who had the laser beam pointed at him. "Lets see what it does to rotten food." The Rat King pointed the laser at a pile of rotten, smelly old garbage. With a blast from the laser, the food was in its original freshened state and was no longer moldy and disgusting. "Well what do you know, the rumors are true, kid. You are a genius."

"Great, you put that together, now let my brother go!" The Rat grinned. He then shot the laser at the cage where Private was supposed to be. "NO!"

"Oops, my bad." The thug grinned evilly. "I wonder what it did to a toddler? Turn him back into a baby? Or maybe it just made it so that he's too young to exist? What do you think, bird boy?" He had decided that he'd start calling the penguins "Bird Boys".

The three boys on the bridge looked to eachother and nodded. Time to get Kowalski out of there. Surprisingly, it was Private who made the comeback. "I think it just made me angry." Private's angry face was so cute.

"Private!" Kowalski sighed in relief at his baby brother's voice. He looked up to where it had come from as a smile replaced the grief stricken look on his face.

"Kowalski, if you're done playing with these boys, I'd say we'd better head home now." Skipper gave a cocky smirk to his Lt.

Kowalski nodded to his leader and did a fancy flip onto the nearby stairs and ran to meet his brothers. He looked towards the rats, some of them being just little boys, and grimaced. "Next time you guys need help, just ask. You didn't need to threaten my brother." Kowalski picked up Private and started running with Skipper and Rico right beside him.

"Kowalski, next time do you think they'll let me play outside the cage? I wouldn't mind showing off my fighting moves. I've been practicing real hard." His cute voice almost made the threat seem like an innocent question.

Skipper and Rico laughed at their youngest brother's gutsy question. Kowalski on the other hand grimaced and held his brother tighter. "I don't think so, Private. They might not like us stopping by again."

"Guess not. Still, they weren't very nice were they… why were they so mean, Kowalski?"

"Um…"

Skipper decided to answer that one. "Because they don't have the advantages that we have, Private. If they had the advantages we do, then maybe they'd be nicer and help people."

"Can we help people, Skippah?" Private asked sleepily. It had been a long day for the little boy.

"We already do, Private. After all, that's what mom and dad did, so that's what we do."

"I love you guys…" Private drifted to sleep as they reached the surface.

"an e ove oo." Rico smiled as he conveyed their thoughts. They'd do anything to keep their little brother safe, but now Skipper knew that Private was training himself to help his brothers too. Someday, he'd probably end up saving them.

Hiding in the shadows was an adult with dark brown eyes, watching the four of them with amusement. 'They're just like their parents. In time, they'll make great agents, but they still have more trials to face… I just hope that they can make it through the rest of the trials…"