A Mole Among Us

King Pen crashed into the living room and hurled himself onto the table, crushing it. He stood up again, huffing rapidly.

"Uhh, King Pen?" Wash Buckler asked the penguin, slightly concerned. "Is there something you need to talk about?"

"NO I'M GREAT!" the penguin shrieked in the mermasquid's face, then rolled around the floor crying his eyes out loudly.

Dr Krankcase rolled his eyes and said, "Don't bother. He'll get over it."

"Yeah, this happens every single Tuesday morning," Rattle Shake agreed. "It's nothing too unusual."

Wash Buckler ignored them and went over to King Pen who had run out of tears to cry and was just sitting their miserably.

"You okay bud?" he asked him.

"OH MY PENGUIN BUTT FEATHERS," the penguin blurted out randomly. "LOOK!"

Wash Buckler turned to see what he was pointing at, which turned out to be Rattle Shake. "Uhh, yeah? What about him?"

"HE'S A SNAKE!" the penguin shoved past the leader and hurled himself onto Rattle Shake.

"AAAHHH!" the serpent struggled furiously under the penguin. "AGAIN WITH THIS, KING PEN? SERIOUSLY?"

"YOU'RE A SNAAAAAAAKKKKE!" the penguin screeched, spitting all over the snake. "YOU'RE WORKING FOR KAOS!"

"Wait, what?" Rattle Shake said, cocking his head. "You think I'm working for KAOS?!"

"YUH HUH!" the penguin said.

The six others burst out laughing.

"And what proof do you have for that conspiracy?" Spy Rise questioned the water sensei.

"HE'S GOT SCALESSSS!"

"This guy is really confusing…" Dr Krankcase muttered to Chompy Mage, who agreed.

"SHHHHH MR DOCTOR," the penguin squawked. "I HAVE MY REASONS!"

"Oh yeah?" Freeze Blade challenged. "Then, besides the fact that he's a reptile, why is Rattle Shake working for Kaos?"

"BECAUSE IT WOULD BE AN INTERESTING PLOT TWIST!" the penguin blurted into his face.

Wash buckler nodded thoughtfully, "He does have a point. It would be a twist nobody saw coming." He studied Rattle Shake, who was lost in utter confusion. "Are you one of Kaos' minions?"

"No! Why would you think that?" the snake hissed.

"There, he said he's not working for Kaos. We're done here," Krankcase said as he and Chompy Mage left the room.

"NOW GET OFF OF ME YOU STUPID FEATHER-BUTT!" Rattle Shake snarled.

Instead, the penguin just sank his penguin butt feathers into the serpent even more.

"Why me…?" the snake rasped.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE A-"

"Yes, a snake. I GET IT!"

"Well, I'm bored," Spy Rise said. "I'm out." He crashed through the roof.

"Hmm," the penguin thought out loud. "Spiders are mean too."

"Now you're attacking spiders?" Rattle Shake hissed.

"SHHHHHH!" he squawked at him. "I IS TRYING TO GATHER MY THOUGHTS!" He looked over at Wash Buckler. "Pie rats are rude as well though."

"Uhh, you mean pirates?" Wash Buckler asked.

"HMMM," the penguin said. "Chompies and kitties are also meanies. And can we really trust reformed villains?"

"Are you seriously questioning all our loyalties?" Rattle Shake snapped.

"YEAH! BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL MEAN PEOPLE AND I'M AN ADORABLE PENGUIN," King Pen cawed loudly.

"Well, what about me?" Knight Light said from the kitchen.

The penguin looked up at him suspiciously, "How light are you really, wingy-man?

"Light enough to be a light element," the trap master told him, as he flexed his wings proudly. "Yup, I'm pretty special."

The penguin narrowed his eyes, "We'll see…"

"Who do you think you are to question our loyalties, King Pen?" Rattle Shake interrupted his thoughts.

"THAT'S DETECTIVE KING PEN TO YOU SNAKE!" he screeched at him. "Now, I must go conduct a scientific experiment on you all, as none of you can be entirely trusted. GOOD DAY." With that, he released Rattle Shake from his penguin butt feathers and waddled off, determined.

"How could he think that one of us is a mole?" Freeze Blade asked.

"Now you all know how I feel," Rattle Shake muttered, slithering towards his room.

"Hm, well I guess it's once again up to me to lighten the party," Knight Light announced. "WHO'S UP FOR BLUEBERRY MUFFINS? HUH? HUUUH?"

Freeze Blade shook his head and turned to leave, "I'm going to try and talk some sense into our penguin buddy." And he skated off.

"I'll take one, Knight Light," Wash Buckler said as he grabbed half a dozen muffins.

Then Spy Rise crashed through the roof, grabbed them all and pounded back up through the ceiling.

The other two stared at the empty tray of muffins, speechless.

…

The reformed villains strode through the hallway talking. But they were stopped in their tracks as they accidentally walked into what felt to be an ocean of feathers. They both looked up to see King Pen, hands on his hips staring straight at them.

"Uh oh," Chompy Puppet muttered under his breath, (if he has any).

"What do you two think you're doing?" King Pen questioned them intimidatingly.

"Talking like normal people," Krankcase spat at him. "Now move out of the way."

King Pen squawked, "I AM A DETECTIVE! And I know that there is a mole in this team. Why wouldn't it be one of you two?"

"Why can't you just leave us alone for the day?" Chompy Mage pleaded. "We've had enough of your criticism to last us a lifetime!"

"I can't stand around while there is a mole among us," the penguin snapped back at the mage, eyeing him suspiciously.

Krankcase stood in front of his friend protectively, "You don't know that there's mole. Why would any one of us be working for the enemy?"

"Because you once were enemies, why wouldn't you be now?" King Pen said. "I can see right through you. I know you have secrets."

Enraged, the doctor shoved roughly past the penguin, and dragged Chompy Mage along with him, who was having an emotional breakdown.

"King Pen!" Freeze Blade skated up to the water sensei. "There you are!"

"Indeed, kitty cat," King Pen stared into the ice cat's eyes without blinking.

"Uhh, are you alright buddy?"

"What are you hiding, cat?" King Pen studied him up and down.

Freeze Blade had no choice but to just stare back at him uncomfortably.

He eventually said, "I don't understand how you could think that one of us is a mole just based on our pasts and species."

"And I don't understand how you could think that there's not a mole among us," the penguin spat back.

Rattle Shake slithered up to Freeze Blade, not noticing King Pen at first, "Hey Freeze Blade, wanna- OH NO, NOT YOU!"

"Oh yes, snake-butt," King Pen said, puffing out his already feathery chest. "Don't think I'm done with you yet."

"Uhh, I have to go," the snake said hurriedly, then called as he slithered off, "BYE!"

"King Pen, in all seriousness, you need to calm down," Freeze Blade told him.

"ARE YOU JUST SAYING THAT SO YOUR COVER'S NOT BLOWN?!" the penguin squawked in his face.

"No! Not at all!" Freeze Blade said. "I saying this VERY genuinely. You need to stop."

"Not until I find this mole," he said grimly.

"What makes you think there's even a mole in the first place?"

King Pen sighed heavily, then said quietly. "I'm going to be honest with you Freeze Blade."

The ice cat listened intently, especially because the sensei never called him by his real name unless it was serious.

"I don't know," the penguin admitted. "But I have a strong gut feeling."

"Hm," Freeze Blade said thoughtfully. "Your gut's never been wrong. If there is a mole on the team, who do you think it could be?"

"Ever since the team was formed, I've always had my suspicions of Rattle Shake."

"Well, you're gonna need more proof then just the fact that he's a snake. He's still one of us," Freeze Blade told him.

"Yes, I suppose that's true," the penguin said.

"Well, I'll leave you to work this out, Detective King Pen," Freeze Blade said, turning to leave. "Just, don't go crazy, okay?" then he skated swiftly off, satisfied that he had finally gotten to know a more serious side of King Pen.

"Alright," the penguin said to himself. "No more false accusations until the suspect is proven guilty."

…

The next day the team sat in their usual spots around the living room, watching the TV and chatting noisily. That was, until King Pen came.

"Hello guys!" the penguin greeted cheerily. But all he got back was a sharp scowl from Chompy Puppet. The others quieted down when he entered, and said nothing to him, except for Freeze Blade, who shrugged. "What's wrong guys?"

Wash Buckler stood up and took King Pen aside.

"Listen, bud," he said to the water sensei. "Yesterday you really hurt the others. They felt as if you couldn't trust them at all."

"Sorry Wash Buckler, I just got a little ahead of myself."

"Freeze Blade told me about your 'gut feeling' thing," the mermasquid continued. "And I don't think you should engage unless you know for a fact that there's a mole among us."

"You're right," King Pen told him. "Don't worry. I promise I won't engage."

"Thank you for finally being sincere," Wash Buckler said, then walked back over to the couch.

King Pen followed after him, and plumped his penguin butt feathers on the couch next to him, only leaving room for Rattle Shake and Freeze Blade, who were having an extremely competitive thumb war. Dr Krankcase was with Knight Light in the kitchen, helping him wash off the dishes from lunch. Spy Rise was watching them all from the corner as usual, like a creep. And lastly, Chompy Mage was talking quietly with Puppet, but not so quiet that King Pen couldn't hear them.

"Let's talk about this somewhere else, Puppet," Chompy Mage muttered to his hand-companion as they turned to leave. "Where no one else can hear…"

"TRAITOR!" King Pen squawked, plunging himself onto the mage. "WHAT ARE YOU HIDING CHOMPY MAN?!"

Freeze Blade face palmed as Wash Buckler and Krankcase rushed past him to help.

"GET OFF OF HIM!" Krankcase aimed one of his goo guns at the penguin.

"I thought I told you to lay off the detective work!" Wash Buckler muttered to him loudly.

"HE'S HIDING SOMETHING!" the penguin reasoned. "I JUST KNOW IT!"

"YOU ARE INSANE!" Dr Krankcase yelled at him as he and Wash Buckler yanked him off of Chompy Mage, who was curled up in an emotional ball of wreck.

"I dunno," Rattle Shake muttered to himself from the couch. "A mole on the team doesn't sound that far-fetched actually."

The End.

Written by Uni.