"You see Skipper, that's the problem with your little game," Blowhole cackled. The four penguins, especially Skipper, glared at the dolphin, "So one day, you finally catch me and bring me in. Then what? I'm not a criminal."

"Yeah right," Skipper countered, "Your little Ring of Fire escapade was broadcast on national TV."

"An art installation," Blowhole replied, "You never know what passes for art these days, but anyway, who apart from you, knows I did it? It's your word against mine."

Kowalski sat in the sewers, waiting for Marlene, who said she'd be back in 'just a minute' with a rope. It was now approaching forty minutes. Well, it gave him time to think, once the shock of Skipper's attempted murder had been processed. He processed it pretty fast. The penguin wasn't in his right mind; he wasn't responsible for his actions. As soon as he completed the antidote, everything would go back to normal. However, as much as he tried to concentrate on trying to theorise where the mass sucked into black holes went, now that the answer was no longer as simple as 'it just disappears', one thought kept nagging at the back of his mind.

Getting past Skipper was far too easy.

Kowalski assumed it was just luck: his alarm going off too early (he must have been tired and set it incorrectly), the crossbow being right next to him, Skipper telling him to check the security systems, thus leaving the security system computer interface open. But now he was starting to wonder. He and the team had gone after Skipper before, trying to get him to take his shot1 and trying to get him to drink the antidote, and both times, they'd been sorely beaten. He went over Skipper's movements again. They all seemed to point in his favour, almost as if… No, that was impossible. It made no sense.

"K'walski?" Private mumbled, semiconscious.

"Private?"

"'m sorry."

"Sorry?" Kowalski repeated, unsure of what had been said. Private's eyes opened fully.

"I… teamed up with Blowhole… stole the mug, 'nd kidnapped myself," Private's face morphed into a pained smile as he looked down at his injuries, "Got what was coming to me didn' I?"

"Private, I…" Kowalski suddenly smiled, as if the final piece of the metaphorical puzzle had fallen into place, "Private, I know exactly what's going on!" then his expression turned grim as another thought occurred to him, "And I wish I didn't."

"Sorry it took me so long," Marlene shouted poking her head through the manhole, a coil of rope slung over her shoulder, "the HQ was locked so I had to find a store. Then I had this awful time trying to calculate the fresh fish to dollars exchange rate…"

Kowalski climbed down the ladder, and faced the team. Private was propped against a pile of pillows in his bed, his wing and in a cast and bandaged covering half his body. Marlene was worrying faster than the penguin ear could perceive, and Rico was seated in a deck chair, covered in almost as many bandages as private, but had refused to remain in bed for some reason Kowalski couldn't begin to fathom. Skipper was securely restrained in a Houdini-like trap in the corner.

"So, K'walski, what is it you wanted to talk to us so badly about?" Private asked, trying to sit up to get a better view of the penguin, but wincing painfully, and lay down again. Kowalski adjusted his position to suit the injured bird. How could Skipper do this to Private? And in his right mind too.

"Well… the best way to put this… I've discovered… well…" Kowalski went through just about every opening in existence, still uncertain of how to start, "Oh conservation of mass!" Kowalski exclaimed then, before his right mind could convince him otherwise, "Skipper was faking the Anti-Party-er effects!"

"What?!"

"'ot 'ipper!"

"um… how did you work that out, k'walski?" Private asked, assuming it was some kind of joke.

"Right, what happened was this. Skipper discovered what you were up to when he followed you after you sneaked out one night thinking you were going to the Shakespeare in the park," Kowalski ignored Private's question, continuing on to his reasoning, "When he heard you talking to Blowhole, instead of giving you a serious reprimand, he saw an opportunity to catch Blowhole. He went along with your plan, except when we were in the sewers, recovering from the explosion, he ripped the control chip out of the Anti-Party-er."

"Wha' I' work?" Rico questioned.

"It didn't."

"I don't think that was what he meant." Marlene pointed out.

"Well, yes it still fired; the components just didn't work correctly, so it really was nothing more than a glorified laser pointer. That's why he took it away so quickly and refused to give it back. It also explains why he asked for a replacement chip for the A155 PIR," the rest of the room looked at Kowalski, their expressions completely blank. Kowalski rolled his eyes, sighing exasperatedly, "Because the control chip is the same!" There was a collective, 'oh, I get it.'

"Lieutenant, I think you may need to retake your psychological evaluation." Skipper stated, his expression still remaining blank.

"So um… K'walski, how did you work this out?" Private asked, returning the conversation to the original question, hoping this would somehow defeat Kowalski's entire argument.

"Well, it seemed too obvious, escaping Skipper like that," Kowalski paused for rhetorical effect, "It kept nagging at me until I realised Skipper had put the crossbow on the desk in front of the computer on purpose; his order for me to check the security system was equally purposeful. That way, I'd have the security interface up to lock down the HQ. He also reset my alarm so I'd turn around in time to see the rats attack you."

"I… I can't believe it…" Marlene stuttered.

"What I can't believe," Kowalski cast a suddenly angry glance at Skipper, "Is that you put Private's life in danger to finally capture Blowhole…"

"Before you start pointing fingers, Lieutenant, don't you think my alleged actions are more akin to what you would do in such a scenario?" Skipper countered, seeming as emotionally blank as always, "Or are you simply in denial about the fact that I was unwilling to keep a liability on my team."

"…and doesn't have the guts to admit it."

"Yeah, I don' think we should be haven' that kinda person if this zoo and whatnot." Bing's voice commented from outside the HQ's open fishbowl door. The crowd of panicking animals outside had evident

"What if he uses us next time!" a shrill voice screeched.

"There's absolutely no way you can prove your theories," Skipper protested, "I think that the argument that you are simply trying to receive a promotion prior to my retirement is slightly stronger."

"Marlene, I think Skipper's having a bit of a memory failure." Kowalski answered sarcastically, turning to the otter. That remark about him going for a promotion was a low blow.

"Alright," Marlene looked at Skipper, her expression as cold as his. She and Kowalski had already discussed this, and she knew what she was going to say, "Remember that conversation we had when you 'rescued' me? The one where you explained your whole plan? How you told me it was all just an act, and that when Private was dead I could get on to the team and we could be together." Immediately gasps erupted from the animals outside, "Well, I guess you didn't have the guts to go through with that either…"

"That's a lie!" Skipper protested.

"Then who do you think we should believe, Skipper?" Kowalski countered, "The person who's been lying to us for weeks about his 'master plan', manipulating us, or Marlene?"

"Why don't you believe your commanding officer?" Skipper answered coolly. Rico's eyes narrowed. He couldn't be faking, Skipper couldn't remain calm under that much criticism, certainly not when coupled with the sleep loss. Then Skipper turned to Private, "Who do you believe, Private?"

The room fell silent, all eyes on Private. The youngest member of the team blanched slightly. He hated to say this, but, "I have to agree with them," Private looked down at the floor, "I don't want to believe it..."

"Ha' dare oo!" Rico growled, shuffling forward in his chair until Kowalski was kind enough to push him across the room. He immediately regretted this however, when Rico slapped Private across the face with his good wing, "oo believe 'ipper 'oul'…"

"That's enough Rico," Kowalski dragged the bird across the room, before he could slap private again, for once thankful for the bird's two broken legs, else Rico probably would have gotten out of his chair to continue to attack Private, "I have to admit, I'm surprised. I thought you'd be with us." Rico coughed painfully, before regurgitating a baseball, which hit Kowalski painfully in the face, before landing on the floor. Kowalski immediately backed off, "He gambled with your life too."

"Ah don' care," Rico replied stubbornly, "ee mah 'ipper." Rico looked around the room, only to see that, apart from Skipper, he was alone, "'ine then. Ah prove I' m'self." Rico tried to storm out in a rage, but soon found this nearly impossible shuffling forwards in a deck chair. Realising this, he began to cough and choke to the point of causing Private to look away to avoid being sick himself, and regurgitated a folded wheel chair. He then (with help from Kowalski, though he would later deny this) transferred himself out of the deckchair, then wheeled into the elevator, taking it down to the sewers. Skipper was under the influence of the Anti-Party-er, no matter what Kowalski said. He had to be.

Only a few more twists to go before the end of the story. Hopefully this chapter cleared up a couple of points I left open, like why Skipper needed the replacement chip, and why Kowalski was able to take Skipper.

1 Needle Point