Stay with me ok? This story might take off a little slow. But trust me things will heat up.
The next morning the zoo did not open on time. Alice never came. Nor did she have a replacement. The maintenance workers never showed up either. The other workers also failed to show. The zoo was like a ghost town. Nothing moved, no lights came on, no doors opened. People walked by the gates like the zoo wasn't even there. Something wasn't right.
Everyone was gathered in front of the café. They were all talking, wondering what was wrong. Why no one had showed up to even take care of the zoo. It didn't make any sense. None at all. Someone always came in the morning. Where were all the humans? They were all basically freaking out.
Skipper jumped up onto a table. He had to calm everyone down, there was no real need to panic. The humans forgot about the zoo for a day. It was just one day. "Hey!" He shouted. "There's no need to panic, so the humans forgot about the zoo for a day. It's just one day, calm down," He said, calmly. "If they fail to show tomorrow we'll look further into it. But right now it'll be best if everyone remained calm. *Capisce?" He said with authority. No one needed to freak if the humans failed to show one day. The boss probably accidentally sent a memo to all of the workers that they could take the day off. George was stupid enough to do something like that. Skipper would normally be suspicious, but he knew the owner of the zoo. He had seen George show off his unintelligence many times. Something like this was just bound to happen sometime.
"But why aren't dey here?" Julian asked, "Aren't the humans always here? They are not allowed to take off all togethah! I, as the King, forbid it!"
Skipper sighed, "Julian one you aren't the king, and two, it was probably the owner. If you remember him and some of the things he's done, it wouldn't very surprising if he caused this." Skipper replied casually. He wasn't all that worried. The humans would probably be back tomorrow.
"Exactly," Kowalski agreed, "George is capable of such stupidity. He probably told everyone to take the day off. Every boss has to do that, well not all at the same time, to keep their employees," He explained.
"So… this isn't a sign of total disaster?" Marlene asked. She wanted to make sure she understood correctly.
"Nope," Rico replied.
"Not yet anyway," Private added innocently.
Marlene, and most other zoo inhabitants, let out a sigh of relief.
It was, however, very short lived.
All of a sudden, and out of nowhere, a bomb went off ten meters from their location. Everyone ran, dove under tables, and hid around corners. All but the penguins.
The quartette snapped into fighting positions and cautiously moved towards the wall of smoke created by the explosion. They were ready for everything and anything.
Skipper didn't know what to expect. Then again, when a random explosion goes off without warning, something worse usually follows. Still, it could be one of Rico's. A bomb sometimes got away from him. It only happened in the HQ though, never out in the open. Rico was normally good with keeping his dangerous explosives inside when they were outside of the HQ. Something didn't seem right. His gut told him that something was amiss. As he inched towards the smoke he thought… what if none of the humans showing up was a bad omen? Skipper wasn't big on coincidences, but he was beginning to wish and hope that this was one.
Kowalski thought it was Rico. He probably let a bomb get away again. It wasn't unnatural for things like that to happen with Rico, just never outside the HQ walls. Maybe it wasn't. But he hadn't seen anything fall from the sky. He hadn't noticed anyone throwing the explosive. If it was an enemy, it would explain why no humans had showed up today. But still, who would go through all that trouble?
Private was just hoping it wasn't someone very dangerous. He didn't feel like getting inflicted with pain today, or being captured. Having no humans show up was bad enough.
Rico knew it wasn't him. He never let a bomb get away from him. Not out in the open. He made sure no bomb accidently got away from him. If one did, everyone knew about it. His accidents were very clear to see. Most of the time. The question remained, if he didn't accidentally let the bomb get away from him…then where did it come from?
All four of them were blown away when the smoke cleared. They stood not five feet from the men who caused the explosion. The very men who had shown them most of the world. Who they trusted and looked up to. The very men who they thought were dead. KIC. Killed on a mission in Ecuador.
Standing in front of them were two Gentoo penguins. They were both staring at the quartette with looks of anger. They each wore two red painted squiggly lines on their foreheads, and had straps around their backs. They carried an assortment of grenades and knives on the front of the strap along with a few darts, and different types of weapons on their backs. One was taller than the other. The taller one carried an assortment of guns, machines and shotguns with a pistol on his hip. The other one had bows and arrows along with swords on his back and what looked to be a net and horseshoes on his hip. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. Any penguin would recognize a twosome like this anywhere. They were assassins.
All four of them, Skipper Kowalski Rico and Private, had to do a double take. They couldn't believe their eyes. It just couldn't be true. They had to be dreaming. These two were supposed to be dead. Eaten by piranhas and buried in Ecuador. What were they doing in the zoo? More importantly, most importantly, what were they doing in assassin costumes? Could it be true? Were they really alive? As assassins? They couldn't be. They were noble, honorable men. They were heroes, not assassins. They were dead. All four of them watched, helplessly as they died. They watched these two scream, they saw the little fish jumping in and out of the water, they watched the pool of blood spread out it the water. They watched these two die. They couldn't be here right now. They just couldn't be.
"Man-Manfredi? J-Johnson?" Skipper asked completely confused and shocked. "What-what are you doing here? Why aren't you dead? We watched you die." He was completely thrown off. Manfredi and Johnson were dead. That was a fact. Were his eyes deceiving him? Did he really see his fallen comrades before him?
"What you saw were our clones." Johnson replied emotionlessly. "You have failed Skipper."
"Failed?" Skipper asked. He had no clue as to what that meant. He had failed at a lot of things. There were some things that he just couldn't do. But he had a feeling the Johnson wasn't talking about failing something normal, like a dance competition or a game of cards.
"We are here on an assignment," Manfredi informed also with no emotion, "We are on two assignments."
"You weren't supposed to befriend these creatures," Johnson continued, "You were supposed to separate yourself from them. You were supposed to push these three," He motioned to Kowalski Rico and Private, "Away. You were supposed to close up. But you didn't. You did the opposite. You let them become even closer. You. Failed."
"Wh-Why would I need to-to push them away?" Skipper asked confused, and a little frightened, "They're-they're my friends. I-I wouldn't push them away."
"You were supposed to push the world away. When you were engulfed with our deaths you were supposed to turn to anger. You were supposed to lose the control you had gained over the years," Johnson explained.
"But we trained you too well," Manfredi continued. "Our training kept you in control. Instead of letting your anger take control you calmed yourself and transformed it back into sorrow. And these things," He motioned to the guys, "Only helped you keep control. You were all hit hard. But even so, you there for each other. More so than we had planned."
"You're not making any sense," Skipper replied, close to freaking out. He didn't understand any of this. What did he fail by letting people get close to him? How was that a bad thing? Opening up. It was supposed to be good. It was how you made friends. Friends were a good thing. He remembered the, what Johnson had told him once. Friends were just enemies that hadn't stuck yet. He had viewed it that way very few times. Only when he was in a paranoia fit did he think of it that way. But he still didn't understand anything.
"You want it plain and simple Skipper? We are trained assassins. We always have been. But we won't live forever. So we needed a replacement. You were supposed to be that replacement. We were training you to be an assassin. Everything we taught you was to prepare you. But you've settled. And you no longer have what it takes, heart wise," Johnson explained.
"An assassin?" Skipper said shocked. Never in his life did he ever think of them as assassins. But that's not what hit him. He was trained to be an assassin. Did that mean everything he learned was wrong? Evil? Was all of his training for those with no hearts? Could he be using the technique of assassins? The thought scared him. No one had ever cowered after he'd fought. People were impressed. But did they know about assassins? Did they know if the assassins had a secret fighting style, unique to the assassin society?
"Yes an assassin. That is what you were supposed to be. But you failed your final test. Now-" Johnson started.
"Wait. You-y," Skipper didn't understand still, "Y-y-y. You can't be assassins. You were honorable, noble. You're not supposed to be here. You're dead. Killed in combat. You were eaten by piranhas. I watched you die," He argued, confused and freaked.
"You're being difficult Skipper!" Johnson growled. "You're obviously not going to listen to us unless you have the information. So we'll give it to you. We knew about everything you've done since our clones died. A few things that might calm you down a bit. The credo wasn't made by assassins. It was created by an honorable man. A man of truth, if you will. Second, the style of combat that we taught you is used by many around the world. Though it is a minority, both good and evil use the style. And last but not least, we created the clones that you saw die in the river in Ecuador, for your final test. And we accepted these freaks to help clarify the final test, that might I remind you, YOU FAILED!" Johnson said annoyed.
Skipper just stared at them. This was real. This wasn't just a dream. Manfredi and Johnson were assassins. And he was their next target. He didn't want to believe it. They had lied to him half his life? They had been like brothers to him. They looked after him and took him places taught him things. It was all for preparation? To kill people? How- how could this be? How could they be so heartless? How could they be so good at deception? How? These-these-these men that he's trusted and looked up to since the day he met them. They had deceived him. Lied to him. They made him think of them as the most honorable men in the world when in reality they were quite the opposite. Outcasts who went around killing. Murdering. He was finding it very hard to believe. These men couldn't be the same ones Skipper had known in his past. They couldn't be.
"We are here to eliminate you. You and the King named Julian," Manfredi growled.
Skipper hated being so confused. He hated them for lying to him. For using him like a puppet. He wasn't a killer. Nothing that life had ever done to him could ever make him a killer. He lost his temper, sure. But everyone did. Few things made him lose his temper. Things that he hated. He hated being so confused, and shocked, and-and hurt. He was hurt by them. By how well they were able to deceive him. How able they were to just kill people in cold blood. He was disturbed. "How could you?" He growled. "How can you? How can you stand there, look me in the eye, and tell me that from the day I first met you you've lied to me? Do you know how heartless you have to be? Do even have a heart at all? I looked up to you. I trusted you. And lied to me. And now you tell me you're going to kill me? Why didn't you just leave me alone? Move onto your next victim? I would've never known. Why couldn't you just let me live with the lie? Let me die believing that you were heroes? The heroes you never were."
"It's not that easy," Johnson replied, emotionless once more.
"Care to explain that too? While you're at it explain why you taught me everything if I was just going to have to ignore it later," Skipper snapped.
"You are now evidence. If the king was to find your file and see that you were a fail that lived, you and all of your little friends would be eliminated. We might be killers, but we don't see why a group needs to suffer from one mistake. Plus we would suffer too," Manfredi explained.
"Cowards," Skipper spat. "You're just a bunch of cowards. That's all you ever were. Only cowards kill to solve problems. Only cowards kill for safety. You've been hiding behind your assassin group or whatever you call it. You've been hiding. Hiding behind lies and deceptions. You wouldn't last ten seconds without that title. I thought you were honorable men. But you know what? Now, I know a fact. Mort has more honor than you've ever had. And he doesn't even know what honor is. And you know what else, I know that even if you kill me. Even if you kill a thousand more soles after me, you'll be miserable. And you'll die miserable. I'd hate to be an assassin. Just because of that. I'd rather die right here right now than live a thousand years as one of you. Because, you can't say you've been happy. You can't say you've know what friends are, because you've never had any. The only thing that binds you together is the weapons on your back and your stone cold hearts. But me? I've known. I've seen with my own eyes, and felt it. You don't know what friendship is, but I do. And these things, these creatures, these freaks, they have more heart in the tips of their toes than you'd have in a thousand of your bodies. You came here to kill. You can kill me. I don't care. But I'd like to see you kill Julian. I dare you to. Go ahead, try. You won't succeed. I'll promise you that. As I live and breathe, you won't even get close to him," Skipper hissed. And he meant it too. Every word. They could've left him alone. They could've moved on, given the job to someone else, he would've never known. But they didn't. They chose to come here, they knew what it would do.
"Lot of words for one man. Don't' worry, we'll take you up on that little challenge of yours. As you live and breathe right? Well, we'll just have to kill you first," Johnson taunted.
Skipper growled, they lied to him. They made him believe things. But if the credo was true for all. Then he was going to follow it. Rule fifty one, never leave a man to death if it can be prevented. He had the ability to save Julian. And he was going to.
"You want to play a game Skipper? Fine. You be the target, don't move. We'll play the training men. We'll destroy you," Manfredi said.
"That's not going to work Manfredi. If I'm going to be your target, then I'm going to be a moving one. And I'm not just going to move back and forth," Skipper replied, emotionless. He didn't want them to get any ideas.
"And what do you have in mind, Kid?" Johnson asked.
"I'll leave you to find that out," Skipper said. "I'd wish you good luck. But then assassins don't get luck. They have skill. And that's it."
"You know more about us than you think. If you didn't have such a heart you'd make a great assassin," Johnson stated flatly.
"Just so you know, Johnson, there's nothing that this world could throw at me that would ever take my heart away. I was doomed to fail your little test from the start. I have to say, that last test of yours would've worked. But only for a short while. And you were right, if it wasn't for Kowalski, Rico, and Private I would've lost it. I'm glad I didn't. I'm grateful for their presence. Because of them I didn't turn into you. I am who I am because of them. And where you see that as a curse, I see it a blessing," Skipper said calmly.
They both growled back at him. But the rest of the zoo stood in shock. Before them stood the men who they heard as abnormal, yes, but good men. And they were the opposite. They doubted the guys at first, thinking that they had lived among assassins. But the guys had been fooled too. Skipper had absolutely blown them away, in a good way though. He had said many times that actions speak louder than words. And for some situations this was true. However, no actions could speak louder than the words that Skipper had said. No actions could hit harder, with such force, as those words. Skipper had always had a way with words. But not like that. His words were always different, at times hard to understand. But what he said was clear.
Manfredi and Johnson were liars and cowards, hiding behind their assassin title. They were heartless and dishonorable. They were killers. They were after Skipper and Julian, and Skipper would make sure they failed their assignment. Because he wasn't heartless. But most important, he recognized what he had. The friends he had, and felt blessed that he had them.
That is what hit everyone hardest. They never thought that Skipper thought of them that way. He probably hadn't either. But finding out what he did, made him realize it. The fact that he sees them as such an important part of who is was also shocking.
Most of them were too afraid to fully recognize this though, especially Julian. The only comfort Julian had was the knowledge that Skipper was going to protect him to the best of his ability. But these two had trained him, and there was two of them. Plus Skipper hated him. How far was Skipper going to be willing to go to keep him safe? Julian didn't know. He thought about running, but his curiosity kept him in place. He was hiding around the corner listening.
Manfredi and Johnson knew that they were better than Skipper. They knew that they had trained him and knew just about all he was capable of. They knew that as tough as he seemed, Skipper wouldn't be all too hard to take down. To eliminate.
But there was one thing they didn't know. Skipper may not have liked Julian. But he wasn't going to just stand by and let him die. No. He was going to keep himself alive. Not for himself. For Julian. He was going to keep himself alive to keep Julian alive. They might've thought that this was going to be a quick, in and out job. But Skipper had another though in mind. If they wanted to play assassin, then he was going to make sure they failed. They lost.
It was time for an old game. A game, of cat and mouse. Skipper planned it to be like the Tom and Jerry cartoon Private watched. The mouse always won. He and Julian would play Jerry. And the assassins would be Tom. But this wouldn't be an innocent cartoon. No, there would be near death encounters. Skipper knew that. Near death was an expectation. What Skipper hoped, was that Julian wouldn't be the one suffering the near death encounters. No, he wished it upon himself. It could be said that he wanted to be the one put in the most pain.
There was no, destination. There were no rules. And only one mission.
Survival.
Skipper had to keep them both alive. He had to find a way to win. Assassins had many rules. But the only one that was never, ever, broken, was probably the most enforced rule of all.
Don't return, don't sleep, until the target is terminated.
Julian would sleep. But Skipper wouldn't. He would be ready to move at all times. When you were an assassins target you had to be.
But the game had to start first. The chase had to begin. The target had to start moving. Running. Fleeing.
First there had to be a diversion.
This is where the thought began. This is when the game started.
Let the game begin.
*For those who didn't know this- I'm not trying to make you sound stupid, that's not what I do- Capisce is American pseudo Italian (possibly Italian slang I'm not 100% sure) for "Understand?" or "Know what I mean?" Most Americans (or others), misspell and pronounce it as Capeesh (true fact because I myself made the mistake when my bro first told me about it) and in formal Italian it is pronounced Cah-Pee-shay. Also most American-style context would require Capichi. I don't know why. I don't believe you needed to know all of that, I do only because my brother takes Italian. But hey, now you know right?