Sam and Skipper officially set off for their quest for finding glory and adventure. Sneaking aboard the tourist's vessel proved to be no big hurdle. The humans were all much too distracted with the local wildlife to notice a couple of them stowing away on their own ship. Skipper secured them a nice spot at the stern of the deck. They nestled themselves away between crates filled with supplies, sheltered by a large tarp. Seeing as this was likely the peak of their cruise, the crew likely wouldn't go digging too deeply through the stock.

Prior to leaving their home in Antarctica, Sam had gathered up all of the human currency he could find in the ship and packed it in a sack. He was relieved to finally drop the heavy thing on the boat's deck. After all, the bag was jam-packed. It had to last them throughout their entire trip. Skipper had suggested that they just take whatever they wanted, since they would be going unnoticed by the humans anyway. And for that, Sam had delved out a grim look. He had raised the youngster better than that. Since then, Skipper's stance on the subject had shaped up.

Many hours had passed since they boarded. After about the first or second hour, their vigilance has decreased quite significantly. If the humans hadn't detected them yet, it was highly unlikely that they would notice them for the remaining stretch of the trip. The two would often peak their heads out to get a view of the new world that was opening up to them. At first, they passed glaciers and ice floes, which were nothing new. Then, it was primarily open sea. Occasionally, they would catch a glimpse at a far-off tropical island. The world was becoming a much warmer place… literally.

However, as the sun set, they took shifts keeping watch. Even during his turn to sleep, Sam found it difficult to drift off. There was just so much going on around him. This was their first sneak peak of what was to come in their journey. Once it was Skipper's turn, however, Skipper was the complete opposite. As soon as Sam relieved him from his duty, Skipper was out like a light.

As Sam looks down to find Skipper curled up, his memories take him back to those first few months they had together. One night in particular, Sam was tucking Skipper in, and preparing his nightly Buck Rockgut bedtime story. Skipper eagerly hopped under the covers and got himself comfy. He rested his fuzzy, little head up against Sam. The older penguin had propped himself up against the wall, sitting on the edge of the cot. He rested his flipper on Skipper's shoulder, as the little one showed no intentions of getting up from his comfy position. Sam sure made a good pillow.

"Sam," Skipper looks up at him, interrupting the story before it even began.

"Yeah, kid?" Sam responds.

"Are you going to leave me too someday?" Skipper had admittedly had many nightmares about being left behind, since the day his dad abandoned him.

"Nah," Sam jostles Skipper's shoulder playfully. "You remember the penguin credo, right?"

"Never swim alone!" Skipper cheers, raising his flippers.

"Uh huh," Sam nods. This kid sure had a good memory - at least about things he was passionate about. Seeing him get excited about the penguin credo always made Sam chuckle. Surely being a penguin had its difficulties. It was no easy task to even make it to adulthood, but the credo and Rockgut gave Skipper something to be proud of.

"So you'll never leave me?" Skipper tilts his head to look up at Sam. He wants his brother to promise. He places a flipper on Sam's belly, expressing his urgency. "Never ever?"

Sam laughs, "never ever."

Skipper lets out a yawn and plops his head back down into Sam's hip. It sends an unexpected jolt through the larger penguin. "I love you, Sam." He smiles, already drifting off to sleep.

"I love you too, kid." Sam gently scruffles the feathers on the sleeping penguin's head.

Just as the sun was coming up, Sam caught sight of the glimmering giants that were buildings. He had to shield his gaze at first. Then, his eyes fell towards the beach below. He had never seen a shore like it. Instead of pebbles and muck or just plain ice, the shore was adorned with dark yellow sand. The blueness of the water was much richer back home, but he couldn't get over the beauty of the city and beach that he was now gazing upon.

"Hey, hey, Skipper." Sam slaps Skipper's shoulder to awake him.

"Huh?" Skipper sits up groggily.

"Come look at this," Sam says, already wandering over to the side of the boat. "I think we found our first stop."

It was their first day in the United States and the day Skipper would encounter his first love. They waited for the humans to all exit the ship, before sneaking over the side themselves. Sam and Skipper spent quite some time examining the beach that morning. They were amazed by the sand. It was sort of like snow - the way it could be molded and shaped. However, it was much grainier and coarse on the flippers. Despite the morning chill, it was already several times hotter there than back home. Skipper proved to be quite fond of the heat. However, by midday, when they were searching the city, it had gotten to be a little too hot for them. They weren't quite accustomed to the heat, obviously.

They searched the city, taking everything in. There were so many sights, sounds, and smells. Some for better or worse. While they were excited to be in the city, they were in desperate search for something to drink or at least cool them down.

That's when something across the street caught Skipper's eye. A portly mustached man had some sort of wheeled vehicle he was pushing. Atop it had an umbrella to shade the contents of whatever this mechanism had concealed inside. Below the umbrella, set an array of bottles, they were filled to the brim with all different colors. There were even some that Skipper had never seen before. His eyes glowed at the sight.

"Ooh, hoo, hoo!" Skipper's eyes widened, "What is that?"

"Looks like some human pushing a cart. Of what I don't know." Sam investigates.

Another human, this one was a woman in a suit, approaches the cart. She appears to be speaking with the man and hands him some cash. Skipper is zoned in on this process, studying them carefully. It appears to be some sort of exchange. For what he still doesn't know.

Then, the man at the cart takes a cone-shaped piece of paper and scoops it into the cart. When he lifts it up, it has a mound of ice on top. He then goes to work, grabbing a bottle of this sort of purple elixir, and pours some of its contents atop the ice.

"It's like snow! But colorful! Look at all those different colors, Sam!" Skipper is astonished.

"Never seen snow make that shape before." Sam tilts his head.

The man at the cart hands his customer the cone with a dome shape coming out of the top. Whatever is inside the wrapper looks just like snow but it's different, drastically so. It's purple. Skipper had never seen snow that color. Surely he had seen it yellow, but he always avoided that. And for good reason.

As the customer walks away, the man calls out "Snow cones! Get your snow cones here!"

"Sounds like they're called snow cones." Sam repeats.

"We gotta get one!" Skipper claps his flippers together.

Sam is taken aback. Skipper's excitement over these snow cones were nearly rivaling the excitement he displayed when Rockgut visited. The kid had said it himself, it just looked like colorful snow. How good could it really be? Would it be worth chasing after this guy, spending some of their limited money, and running the risk of getting caught?

"We'll see if he gives us the chance to go unnoticed. How about that?" Sam offers.

Skipper is unenthused with this idea. He goes back to watching the snow cone man, pushing his cart. How he longs to get at least one taste of that colorful, frozen goodness.

Just then, the man goes about his way, whistling. Skipper follows him, diving from one bush to the next to stay undercover. Sam struggles to keep up. The man then turns and enters into a tall, skyscraper of a building. The building reads "Central Intelligence Agency".

"Well, tough luck, but who's to say there aren't more interesting foods for us to try." Sam tries to comfort Skipper.

"I've got to get one of those cones!" Skipper vows, still zoned in on the mission.

"Are you sure?" Sam asks, looking back up at the sheer height of the building.

"Positive! I'm sure this is just some regular building. No biggie." Skipper places a flipper on his gut. "My gut told me so."

Sam rolls his eyes. Now he was speaking like Rockgut. Skipper was right though, adventure was what they left Antarctica to find. If he didn't want to do anything the least bit exciting, he might as well have stayed behind. The world was full of possibilities for them to explore. He just had to keep his eyes and mind open.

"All right, Skipper," Sam peers out of the bush. "What's our plan?"

Once Skipper and Sam successfully cross the street, using a traffic cone as camouflage, they stand at the front entrance of the building. Both of them stare up at the revolving door in front of them.

"Hmm," Skipper rubs his chin, taking in the sight. "What do you make of it, Sam?"

"I'm not sure. Possibly an entrance?"

"Yeah… it looks like some sort of human security screening." Skipper wagers. It wasn't. It was just a regular revolving door.

"Guess, we'll give it our best," Skipper shrugs and pushes on the door, with Sam's help. He thinks to himself - what would Buck Rockgut do?

As soon as they manage to push the door, they are smacked by another door behind them. This continues in a circular motion, sending the two penguins spinning uncontrollably through this man-made labyrinth. Good thing they were doing this on empty stomachs, as the spinning motion was relentless.

Suddenly, it comes to a halt, when a man in a suit pushes the door from the outside and enters effortlessly. This slows the spinning and sends the two flying out onto the shiny, office floor.

"Ugh," Sam holds his head, trying to steady himself. He is still on the floor. Turns out, he's not quite as agile as Skipper.

"That was quite the insidious trap. But we made it, Sam!" Skipper pumps his fist. "Phase one is complete!"

Skipper's attention immediately leaps to the trail of water droplets on the floor. He bends down, as if tracking an animal. "Hmm, these prints are fresh. He must have just come this way." Skipper dips a flipper in the water and inspects it.

Just as Sam is getting up from the tumble across the floor, he waddles over to Skipper. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite watch his step. He ends up slipping, webbed feet in the air, on a puddle of melted ice.

"Woah, ho, ho," Skipper teases, "looks like someone still needs to get their city legs."

Just as Sam is about to drag Skipper down with him in retaliation for that comment, they hear approaching footsteps. The feet emit a roaring CLICK and CLACK on the floor. In order to avoid detection, they scurry around the nearest corner.

They observe the human, as she stands facing the wall and presses a button. Within minutes, the doors in front of him slide open and the woman walks inside. That must be where the snow cone man wandered off to. Once the coast is clear, Sam and Skipper try to follow. However, the button the man pressed is high up on the wall. Neither of them can reach it, no matter how many times they hop.

"Here," Sam says, "get on my shoulders."

At first Skipper thinks this is another height joke. But then, he realizes that Sam's plan just might work. He hurriedly stands on Sam's shoulders, as the base penguin tries to maintain his balance.

"Is it working?" Sam grunts.

Skipper strains and stretches his compact body as far as it will go. "No dice," he sighs. Then remarks, "you know, we'd be in real good shape if we added two more penguins to this stack."

A keen observation but not helpful in their current situation. A DING echoes from behind the doors, as the brothers stand there in confusion. They hadn't managed to press the button, so why was it making that noise?

Suddenly, the doors part to reveal a jam-packed elevator full of humans all headed their way. They have to slide out of the way just to avoid being trampled.

Luckily, they dodge the humans in time, hiding behind a tall plant. Just before the doors close, they slide in.

In the elevator, Skipper and Sam stare up at, you guessed it, more buttons. Unsure of what to do next, Skipper jumps up and slaps all of them with his flipper. One of them has to be the correct one right?

It doesn't take them long, as the trail of water continues onto the second floor. Just as they're getting off, another man gets on. As the doors close, he looks to find that every single button has been pressed. He sighs. Thanks to some jokester this was not going to be a quick ride.

As Sam and Skipper sneak through the office space, many of the workers are sitting in their cubicles with snow cones in hand. This leads them to infer that the snow cone man did in fact come this way. They were hot on his trail now.

Sure enough, they catch sight of him, pushing his cart into some sort of room. It reads "Break Room". They manage to sneak in beside the wheels of the cart. The man, however, does not stay in the room with the cart. He calls out to another vendor in the hallway, as he shuts the door behind him. "Eh, I'm going to go get something from the vending machine. Those carts ain't easy to push."

Sam can hardly believe his eyes as the cart is unattended. He is rather impressed that they made it so far and managed to snag these snow cones. Admittedly, he didn't think it was possible. That kid was something else. He knew it from the day that met, and yet he never ceased to keep him on his toes.

Skipper stands on the cart, already having fixed himself a snowcone. "Ooh! Do I want red? Or orange? No, wait green! Blue?"

Sam calls up to his indecisive brother. "Why not multiple?"

Skipper's eyes light up as he pauses. This is quite the revelation. "I can try all of them!"

"How about just three for now?" Sam suggests, he doesn't know what effect those coloring will have on them.

"Yeah, three sounds good," Skipper shrugs.

He settles with the classic rainbow cone - red, yellow, and blue. Sam plays it a bit safer with a regular blue snowcone. As they enjoy their frozen treats, Sam offers Skipper a high one. He happily obliges as they slap their flippers together in victory. When the snow cone man comes back, they slip their way out the door and back out to the city street, completely undetected.

And yes, of course, Skipper's first love was a snow cone. It is, without a doubt, the penguin's favorite snack and continues to be so to this day.

Their second destination was inspired from a brochure Sam found. Apparently, there was this giant celebration taking place in Brazil called Carnival and by the looks of it, it looked like a hopping scene. Plus, they could possibly blend in with their feathers.

In the business of the crowd, it was easy for the brothers to go undetected during the parade. With all the samba music and festive attire, this is one of the loudest places the two have ever found themselves in. Feeling a bit claustrophobic, Sam does his best to keep an eye on Skipper. It would be no challenge for them to get separated from each other. However, he doesn't want Skipper to feel infantilized, so he keeps this thought to himself.

Skipper on the other hand… or flipper, is concerned with his brother's clumsiness. If he took one misstep, he could end up trampled by one of the humans or worse, a parade float. But hey, Sam could handle himself. He's the toughest penguin Skipper had ever met in fact. Well, maybe besides Buck Rockgut.

However, Skipper's attention is once again stolen by a female toucan. Her feathers are brilliantly painted purple, pink, and green for the occasion. She bats her eyes and winks at him, which is all he needs to wander off and start a conversation with the alluring stranger.

When Sam notices Skipper is no longer by his side, he panics briefly. Then sees the boy flirting with this stranger. The two are going back and forth quite nicely in whatever conversation they seem to be having, though Sam tries not to eavesdrop. He certainly had to be conscious of Skipper's habit of wandering.

The next day, while the brothers are groggily wandering the streets of Sao Paulo, Sam catches a whiff of something delightful. He sneaks in a small shop, while Skipper waits outside, nearly dozing off. They had quite the wild night of partying at the parade. Outside of the little shop are tables set up with umbrellas coming out of the tops.

Sam comes back out with two cups in his flippers. They're almost his size. From the top, there is steam slithering out into the air. Whatever is in those cups must be hot.

"Here, try this," Sam hands him a cup.

Skipper nearly drops it in his sleepiness. He inspects the dark, hot liquid. "What is it?"

"It's coffee!" Sam exclaims. "It smelled so good I couldn't resist. Plus, I hear it boosts your energy."

Skipper takes one sip and his eyes widen. It's like he is suddenly fully awake. "Wow! That is good!" He laughs, nearly manically.

"Yeah, I know!" Sam laughs, buzzing off of the caffeine.

Next the brothers find themselves in Cape Town, South Africa. Once again, they are drawn to the beach. This one's even more beautiful than the last. It's like a tropical paradise. The sand is white and adorned with giant, dark rocks to climb on. Skipper can't resist standing on one and posing, as if he is the king of a castle. Sam smirks, rolls his eyes, and looks out to the water. It's much bluer than the last beach and yet much lighter than the waters from home.

Just when it seems like things can't get more exciting, they see a whole colony of penguins emerging from their dens for the day. Sam begins talking with a few of the penguins, while Skipper tries to get his attention.

"Sam! Sam! Look!" Skipper taps on his brother's shoulder. He points out towards the water where some of the penguins have smuggled some surfboards from tourists and are surfing the waves.

"Hey, we've got an extra board, if you wanna join." One of the penguins offers, Skipper.

Skipper looks to Sam for approval.

"Go ahead, but be careful." Sam instructs, stressing the latter half.

"You know, I always am," Skipper brushes off Sam's warning. He earnestly believes that to be the case.

While Skipper goes surfing with his new buddies, Sam stretches himself out on the beach to do some sunbathing. He pulls a pair of sunglasses from out of their bag and relaxes on the nice, warm beach. So far, this was quite the spot. He wouldn't mind coming back. This adventure was shaping up to be pretty fun but at the same time - exhausting. This gave him a nice little break. He just couldn't match Skipper's energy. The kid sure had a zeal for life.

"Sea lion!" One of the penguins shouts a warning.

Sam sits up to find all of the penguins rushing out of the water. He desperately scans the beach for Skipper but he's not there. Sam leaps to his feet. Skipper can't still be in the water. Can he? He left him out of his sight for just a few minutes. Panic begins to rise in him, especially when he does find Skipper.

Skipper is still riding a wave, as a shadowy figure stalks in the water behind him. Sam goes running towards the water, solely running on instinct and adrenaline. His feet brush the water, when Skipper turns to see the approaching predator. With that, Skipper disappears into the water.

"Skipper!" Sam calls helplessly from the shore. Was he too late? There's no answer and he feels sick to his stomach. "Skipper?"

Just then, another wave comes crashing into the shore. An obscured giant of a figure emerges in the flow of the water, as it towers over him before ebbing into the beach. Surely, that was the sea lion. He assumes the worst and covers his eyes.

When the wave resides, Skipper is standing on top of the predator with his flippers on his hips. The monstrous sea lion is tied up in kelp, with its jaws and flippers bound. The young penguin proudly takes in the amazement from the crowd.

That's when Sam grabs ahold of his flipper and drags him from the beach. He had scared him to death and for what, just to tango with a predator? It is something that Rockgut would have done sure, but it didn't make it any less terrifying to watch.

They continue their adventures, travel up north through the continent and find themselves in Egypt. From a distance, they can see the pyramids. Skipper cups his flippers around his eyes to get a good view of them. Then, he outstretches his flippers and pretends to smush the pyramids between them.

Sam is focused on the Nile river that they are hoping to ride up. How is it that they could safely swim up it?

That's when Skipper rummages through the bag and pulls out a long rope. He whistles as a crocodile goes sailing by. This merits a side glance from the croc. Skipper then has enough time to lasso the beast's snout. Sam stares on, as Skipper leaps on and invites him to join. Where'd he learn that?

The next stop is Italy as Skipper and Sam are riding in a gondola they have commandeered. Skipper stands at the helm, overlooking the water and bustling city. This leads to more grunt work for Sam, who subsequently splashes Skipper with water from his paddle. He rolls his eyes and slides back down to help with the rowing.

From gondola to vespa, Skipper and Sam go swerving through the city streets. Laughing and holding on for dear life, they enjoy their gelato and take in the sites. They drive too fast for humans to get a good look at them. If they weren't before, it is safe to say that these two are now having the time of their lives.

After Italy, they find themselves in Germany. It's late, as the brothers find themselves in a garden, munching on pretzels and sipping on frosted mugs. String lights hang above, giving them light in order to see one another.

"Cheers to our epic quest!" Skipper offers, raising his large mug.

"Cheers!" Sam chuckles, clanking it up against Skipper's.

When Skipper takes a swig of his beverage, something spots his eye in the distance. Two black and white figures sneak along the city street beyond the garden.

"Hey, Sam" Skipper squints, not wanting to run the risk of losing sight of the two figures. "Do you see that?"

"What?" Sam takes a look behind him. "Yeah it looks like two black-and-white animals."

"They're penguins! They've got to be!" Skipper takes off after them.

Sam sighs, couldn't they just enjoy one nice meal without running off? "Or a skunk, Skipper."

Skipper takes off after them, and once again, Sam finds himself running after Skipper. Who knows if those were really penguins he was chasing after? Jeez, this kid is impulsive.

"Hey, Sam! I was right!" Skipper calls out, not only getting Sam's attention but the attention of the two penguins.

They turn to face him, both looking rather rough. One is tall and lanky, with feathers sticking up from his head. The other is rather portly, with a large, wide beak. Their formerly menacing faces soften, as they find that they are looking at another penguin. Not to mention, he doesn't seem to be much of a threat, given his size and age.

Sam finally catches up out of breath. What has Skipper gotten them into now?

"Hey Johnson," the compact one looks over at his compadre. "What do you think?"

"They look harmless, Manfredi. I'm thinking they're some hayseeds new to the city." Johnson responds. Both of their voices are raspy. Skipper thinks it's cool.

"What's your name, kid?" Manfredi asks. The two still maintain their distance.

"Uh, I'm Skipper and this is Sam! We're from Antartica!" Skipper smiles, immediately trusting these strangers.

Sam clears his throat. "I apologize for interrupting you both. We're not looking for any trouble or anything." He has a bad feeling about these two.

"Trouble?" Manfredi gives a deep, belly laugh. "Who said anything about trouble? We're penguins just like you guys. The name's Manfredi."

"Johnson," Johnson raises his flipper slightly.

"So you know the penguin credo?" Skipper perks up, closing some of the space between them.

"Sure do," Johnson replies.

"Never swim alone!" Skipper and Manfredi shout at the same time. This causes Manfredi to laugh, ruffling Skipper's feathers.

"Hey, this is a good kid you got here, friend." He says to Sam.

Sam takes a few steps forward to keep Skipper close. Just because they were penguins doesn't mean they're friendly or good influences for that matter. Skipper was still very impressionable.

Manfredi and Johnson take off walking, but Skipper follows. He has to learn more about these interesting strangers. "So, you guys go on top secret missions, saving penguinkind – like Buck Rockgut?" Why else would penguins be wandering around so late at night?

"Ah, so you're a fan of Rockgut, huh?" Johnson glances over his shoulder. He and Manfredi were also well-versed in the legends of Rockgut. In fact, most penguins were accustomed to these stories.

"Yeah! We both are!" Skipper answers enthusiastically, putting his flipper around Sam.

"I'd say we do similar stuff." Manfredi shrugs, while Johnson looks at him confused.

Now, Skipper is excited. "So, you just spend your days traveling around?" He's actually meeting penguin secret agents!

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet. We look out for penguinkind on a more… individual, localized level." Manfredi thinks of a way to phrase it.

"That and avoiding the lawman." Johnson retorts.

With that, Sam swiftly places a flipper out in front of Skipper to stop him. "So, you two are wanted criminals?"

Boy, this Sam character was judgy, huh? "We don't really like to think of it that way." Manfredi stops.

"Look, boys." Johnson tries to level with them, "When you're a penguin out here in the world, outside of Antarctica, you've got to get creative to ensure you get your next meal."

"Ooh! Mysterious! I like it!" Skipper brightens, turning to Sam for his approval. Sam knows already that Skipper is fascinated with these two, regardless of whatever they say.

"I'm sure there are alternatives to theft." Sam glares.

Johnson chuckles. "Well, it's not just theft."

"Either that or end up in a zoo." Manfredi shrugs.

Johnson humorlessly laughs at the possibility. "Yeah right, living a life confined behind gates, performing for those humans. I'd rather play butler to a seal."

"Pfft, yeah. Those humans…" Skipper tries to fit in but doesn't really know what he's talking about. "so dunderheaded."

"Exactly!" Johnson turns back and keeps walking. "This way, we live our own lives – make our rules. Tied down to no one and nothing."

"That's freedom." Manfredi follows along, giving Johnson a high-one.

"No obligations to anything or anyone. What keeps you going then?" Sam doesn't seem to think a life like that would have much purpose.

"Well, it's the adventure." Manfredi explains, stopping once more. It appears they have reached what appears to be the ground-level window to a building.

"We're here one day, there the next." Johnson moves his flippers, gesturing from left to right.

"That's exactly the kind of life I want! Fighting bad guys, saving damsels, all on my own time – with my best friend Sam here." Skipper is all riled up.

Sam points to the window which they have stopped at. "And this is?" He isn't just going to follow these two into a mysterious building, without knowing what's inside.

Manfredi knocks on the window. It lifts by a slit, as two eyes peek out, inspecting the crew. The window subsequently lifts to welcome them.

"Just a little place we like to go to have a good time. It's sorta like a cabaret." Johnson says, climbing in.

"We're good friends with two of the dancers here." Manfredi explains, before leaping in himself.

From inside, Johnson looks at Manfredi and teases back. "I guess you could say we're accomplices." They both share a laugh, sensing Sam's distrust of them.

"Sure, sounds good to me." Skipper shrugs and hops on in before Sam can stop him.

Sam goes in after, finding a truly packed and lively hidden club. A plethora of different kinds of animals all walk by in the dimmed lighting. It's hard to find room to breathe in here. Although that could just be his nerves. The swing music is blaring, adding soundtrack to the rowdy guests' conversations, gambling, and drinking.

Sam then pulls Skipper aside, out of earshot of their new… acquaintances. He puts his flippers on Skipper's shoulders. "I don't know about this, Skipper."

"What? You said you wanted to have a good time. Let's have a good time! C'mon, don't be such a drag." Skipper waves Sam off, before trying to get out of Sam's grasp.

Sam stops him again. "I just get a bad feeling about these guys in my gut."

"But this is the whole reason we left that ice patch we call home – to find adventure. This – this is one heck of an adventure if I ever saw one." Something catches Skipper's eye and he starts laughing. "I mean look at that guy – he's got an eyepatch!" He points to the cat passing them with several scratches and a pirate eyepatch.

This gets the attention of a rough-looking Komodo dragon. He turns and growls at Skipper. It's impolite to point, especially in this crowd. Sam pulls Skipper's flipper down. The dragon snarls and keeps walking.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Skipper shrugs.

A penguin waiter passes by and Skipper grabs two drinks off of his tray. As Skipper hands him a drink, Sam exchanges it for the bag of their belongings so Skipper can pay for them.

"You said you wanted to see the world." He places the money on the tray and the bag under his other flipper.

Sam sighs, he doesn't like it when Skipper uses his words against him. "Fine, we can stay. So long as you think you can handle all of this." He looks at all the debauchery occurring around them.

"Pfft! Of course, I can – there's nothing I can't handle." Skipper scoffs, before they join Manfredi and Johnson at a table towards the stage.

Just then, the lights dim even more. From somewhere backstage, a voice rings out from a static microphone. "And please welcome to the stage, the best gig this club has to offer – the two, the only – the bodacious Chinstrap Sisters."

The curtain slides open and Skipper utterly mesmerized.

"Boys, these are our friends: Violet and Crimson." Manfredi introduces them to the Chinstrap Sisters.

The two penguins are holding gigantic ostrich feathers. As the music plays, they begin to dance rhythmically incorporating the feathers in their dance. Skipper is awestruck by their beauty.

"You know –… ?" Skipper begins to ask, but he can't look away for long enough.

"The boy's blushing like a rose!" Johnson slaps Manfredi's shoulder, getting a kick out of Skipper's reaction.

"I think he's got a crush." Manfredi winks over at Sam.

Sam looks over at Skipper and smirks. Clearly, he's never seen anything like the Chinstrap Sister's performance. Sam shakes his head and chuckles.

Violet, the younger of the two sisters, makes eye contact with Skipper and he is swept up in a fantasy world where it is just the two of them, floating in space and time has slowed itself. She approaches him and dances closer.

When the song ends, she winks at him and giggles. Then, she prances backstage as if nothing had happened. Skipper's gaze follows her as she disappears back behind the curtain. The audience's hoots and applause is enough to snap him out of his trance.

"Welcome back," Sam laughs, slapping Skipper on the back.

"Huh?" Skipper is still a little out of it. "I didn't go anywhere."

"Sure, you didn't, kid." Johnson shakes his head.

"See, they're both what you might call femme fatales." Manfredi chimes in.

"Like I said before, everybody in this game needs to find their own ways to make ends meet." Johnson reminds them. Stealing wasn't the only way. They could get into performing too.

"You think maybe you could talk to them for me, Johnson? You all are friends, right?" Skipper nods earnestly.

Sam shakes his head and chuckles once more at the boy's naivete. "Skipper."

"What? She came up to me specifically! There was something there – a connection! I feel it!" Skipper gets defensive, blushing even more.

"Do you even know which one?" Manfredi asks plainly.

"Yeah… the uh, shorter one?" Skipper stumbles over his overconfidence.

"See, that's part of their job, kid. They're supposed to make you feel special." Johnson rolls his eyes.

Sam suddenly straightens up. He looks around the table, then to the floor frantically. The mood of the table takes a sudden turn. "Skipper, where's the money?"

"The what?" Skipper is dumbfounded. He had just had it. The bag couldn't have just wandered off.

"My point exactly. A dame's gotta make a living somehow." Johnson sighs, he was used to this sort of thing.

Sam's protective instincts take over. He stands up towering over the two. "Where'd it go?"

Manfredi shrinks. "Hey, relax…" he tries to laugh off his nerves. He looks to his buddy for support. "Johnson?"

"All right, friend, we'll get this sorted out. I mean, for anyone else it might be hard." Johnson stands up, lifting his flippers as if to defuse the situation.

"Yeah, we wouldn't do it for just anyone, but for you – of course we can... They don't scare us at all." Manfredi begins, as they make their way backstage.

Behind the stage door, Violet is sitting at a vanity, wiping her makeup off. The other sister, Crimson, is nowhere in sight.

Johnson is the first to enter, "Ladies - " he begins but is interrupted by a knife inches from his throat.

He chuckles nervously. "Woah, good to see you too, Crimson. You still know how to make an entrance, huh?"

Sure enough, Crimson was the one to get the drop on him. She lowers her knife. He really had to learn to announce himself before entering. "Ugh!" She lowers the knife. "What is it this time, Johnson?" Clearly, the two had history together.

"See, we brought a couple of friends with us here tonight, and we were wondering – if you don't mind …. – " Johnson begins to do the talking, while the other three enter.

"Oh!" Violet looks over, bouncing in her seat. She recognizes Skipper. "It's the dupe from the front row!"

"Hi" Skipper sighs and waves, back on cloud 9.

"Look, we just want our money back." Sam wants to cut to the chase.

"Please?" Manfredi squeaks.

Crimson gets defensive. "And who says we have it?" It was a crowded club after all. They couldn't just go around giving out money to every chump.

"C'mon, Crim. Don't be like that. These boys need their money back." Johnson whines, trying to bat his eyes.

From across the room, Skipper is already off talking to Violet. "Hi, you're pretty." He leans up against the vanity.

She giggles in response. "Aw thank you! You're so sweet!" She places a flipper on his cheek.

"A couple of girls have got to make a living for ourselves, you know." Crimson begrudges.

"Skipper, c'mon. Let's go, before you lose anything else." Sam sighs. He knew this was a bad idea.

"What? I don't think a blushing flower like her is any of our concern, Sam." Skipper looks over at Violet.

In an instant, she grabs his flipper and flips him. He lands with a thud, on his side, pressed up against the vanity's chair. His cheek squished up against the soft fabric. She pins him down, showing him that he was quite wrong in his summation.

"Appearances can surprise you!" She replies in a cheery voice, before lowering her voice and whispering to just Skipper. "Besides, seals like the sweet ones." She thrusts a knife down into the cushion, inches from Skipper's beak.

She then gives him a peck on the cheek. Still, he sighs happily.

"Ugh!" Sam rolls his eyes. Clearly, he isn't getting any backup from his brother over there. He turns to Crimson. "So, can we have the money back or not?"

"Fine, when you're caught. You're caught." She goes to a sack of money and begins counting. Clearly they have much more than just what they had stolen from Skipper.

She looks up. "You two aren't cops or anything, are you?"

"No! You think we'd bring the fuzz in here?" Johnson asks, a bit offended.

"Not on purpose… probably, but knowing you two I'm not so sure." Crimson rolls her eyes. Those two could be rather accident prone and incompetent. They had a reputation. It was a wonder they had survived for as long as they had.

"No, we're just two penguins from Antarctica, looking to explore the world." Sam explains, not willing to give out too much information but enough to save their hides.

"Pfft. What an awful thing to do." She hands him the money.

"Huh?" Sam questions.

"My advice – for both of you – turn back before you run into something you regret." It seems like she is being serious.

"The rest of the world can't be worse than Antarctica." Sam shakes his head. Why was he taking advice from her?

"You'd be surprised how cold a place the world can be – unforgiving. One minute you're living a carefree, reckless life, the next you end up like us. Most of us are wanted, you know, forbidden to show our faces in daylight. One bust could be the end of everything."

Sam is taken aback. Could that really happen to them? To Skipper - the little hatchling he saved from the skuas all those years ago? "Well, I'll make sure that doesn't happen to us." He backs away.

"Crim, they're just out in the world for the first time. Let them have their fun." Johnson sighs. Must she always be a downer?

"Fine, but I'd settle down into a nice cozy life as soon as you get the chance, before it's too late." She responds coldly.

"And on that note, let's get you two out of here." Manfredi places a flipper on Sam's shoulder.

"Sounds like a good idea." Sam crosses his flippers over his chest. "Skipper?"

He looks over to find that Violet has Skipper in a headlock. "Ope! There you go!" She releases him.

"What a woman!" Skipper staggers back to Sam.

Sam grabs Skipper's flipper and leads him out the door behind Manfredi and Johnson. Before leaving, Skipper looks back. Crimson and Violet both blow him a kiss. This causes him to stagger even more, as Sam practically drags him out of there.

After Manfredi and Johnson have left, Skipper and Sam are back walking around on their own. That was a close call. Sam thinks to himself. Maybe he had misjudged the situation. Skipper was much too naive to hold on to the money. The boy was growing up but he didn't need to grow up that fast. That group would be nothing but trouble if Skipper got mixed in with them. The thought made Sam nervous. Would Skipper ever start stealing too? Scamming other animals? No, that's not how he raised him. At least, that's not how he hopes he raised him.

"All right, Skipper, where to next?" Sam wraps a flipper round his kid brother.

"Aw, don't you wanna stay a few more days with Manfredi and Johnson? They're really cool, aren't they, Sam?" Skipper is unsure what the rush is. Sure, he had almost lost their money, but they had gotten it back. They ended up having a great time anyway, didn't they?

"Yeah, they're uh… they're something!" Sam thinks of a way to be more persuasive. He wants to get Skipper away from the party-scene. "Anyway, this is only our what? Sixth stop? We've got so much world to see. Plus, we can always come back later."

"You're right! This was just a taste of the life I'm hoping for." Skipper puts his flippers on his hips.

"Exactly! So where to next?" Sam encourages Skipper to think and think quickly.

"Let me think…" Skipper taps his chin but it doesn't take him too long to find a suggestion. "How about London?"

"Oh, yeah! That's the spirit! The home of fish and chips, Big Ben," Sam starts spouting off facts. Then, he imitates a posh, British accent for Skipper, "and posh society."

Skipper chuckles at Sam. "And… Johnson told me there's going to be a big shindig at the London Zoo tomorrow night with animals from all around."

Sam sighs. So that was the real reason Skipper wanted to go? As much as he wanted to protect Skipper, he had to realize the kid was growing up. He was going to forge his own path, make his own mistakes. It's not like he could shelter him forever. The real world was something that he wanted to discover, so in order to be a good brother, Sam figured he needed to get onboard with Skipper's new party mentality. He would be there for him if it ever proved to be a mistake, right? So, what could go wrong?

[To Be Continued]