Blowhole stared at the screen, his head in his hands.
"What happened?" The android shoved the lobster that went to open the door for him aside, marching hurriedly towards the scientist.
"I don't know…" Blowhole looked up, wondering how much this getting out would hurt his reputation, "It all just went wrong."
"He broke control?!" Skipper exclaimed, his eyes growing a more intense shade of red than usual.
"No, more like morphed it," Blowhole pointed to the readings on the screen. Skipper scanned the list of figures.
"How did it happen?"
"Technically, it's impossible, but then those Penguins seem to eat impossible for breakfast," Blowhole didn't even notice the complement he'd paid his archenemies, so great was his anxiety. It was one thing for your own scheme to fail, but he'd seen what had happened to Barry. If the android was supposed to have less of a conscience than Skipper, he didn't like his chances, "The only thing I can think of, was that his mind was just too strong."
"Can you regain control?"
"I can try," Blowhole paused, considering his wording, "But the chances aren't good. You're better off…"
"We go ahead with the plan."
"It will only waste time and energy. It's a 98.9997% chance, if I keep trying, that he'll break free completely," Well, if he pulled out now, which he probably could using this as an excuse, he could wait for the plan to fail and say I told you so, "The mind control technology you gave me is ancient, it's barely keeping together. We could simply cut our losses, and…"
"I suggest you take a look at security camera 2234, the tunnels under Hoboken."
Immediately Blowhole's expression changed. He'd suspected something was wrong when Doris hadn't answered her phone, and security systems confirmed she'd left the apartment at two in the morning and hadn't returned since. He'd put his mind at rest assuming she'd gone through with her crazy dream of eloping with Kowalski, which was, if disappointing, somewhat inevitable.
"I anticipated your change of mind, and prepared for it." The machine explained coldly, though the image on the screen illustrated his point better.
"You didn't…" He barely whispered, though quickly put on an act of indifference, "Go ahead. Kill her."
"Miss Blue says otherwise. Get him under control. If you hit the kill switch," Skipper threatened indifferently, as he opened the door to leave, "it's hooked up to both of them. You kill him, you kill her."
"Hans!?" Skipper exclaimed, less than trusting thoughts filling his head. However, he wasn't as shocked as he expected to be. Well, at least in some part of his mind, he remembered all this.
"I told you he couldn't handle it." Johnson hissed.
"Skipper, Hans has been our leader while we were trying to find you." Manfridi explained.
"But I…"
"…Like cookies, yes we all do." Johnson interrupted nervously, giving Skipper a warning look, "that's right!"
Skipper, however, did not take the hint and continued: "I killed you." Hans' expression darkened.
"Poor Geert, always so eager to please," Hans recounted, "he only wanted to prove he was good enough to work with the team, by proving he was better than me."
"The fish fighting…" the memory seemed to pop into his head as if some invisible person had whispered it to him.
"I was the only one who could best you in our little matches," Hans sighed, "Geert kept causing trouble, playing the villain so he could keep confronting you, but he just kept losing. I never realised what he was doing until it was too late."
"I…" He tried to recall exactly what had happened that night. All he could remember was the salmon on the tray. The rest seemed blurred and muddled, until the team arrived.
The bitterness in the Dane's eyes dimmed slightly, "It's just hard to forget. Well, we don't have time for sentimentality, do we Skippar." Hans smiled slightly, as if it was some joke they'd once shared.
"Wait so…"
"Hans was in charge of the other team we were working with on OPENSANDWICH."
"OPeration ENter Secure AND Watch (this Includes agent CHase)," Skipper recited, though he had no idea how he remembered this.
"Yeah, that was our name for it," Johnson chuckled slightly, "the real one was a whole lot duller."
"Ironically, Chase was the one who got us caught," Manfridi added, "The kid didn't understand the 'this includes Agent Chase' part," Manfridi turned to Hans, "And if I remember, Hans, he was on your team."
"He was a new recruit who was a little too eager for battle," Hans defended, "Anyway, you and Johnson…"
The conversation was interrupted by skipper's phone. He was about to switch the device on silent, however, the name of the caller caused him to change his mind.
"Special Agent Rockgut, sir." Skipper answered, mildly surprised he had signal.
"The whole HQ's been compromised," Rockgut shouted so loud the rest of the room could hear, "I need backup."
"What's the situation?"
"Mind control. Don't know which of the Skipper-haters club is behind this, but it's probably Blowhole. You're the only one I know hasn't been compromised."
"I can bring more…"
"What type of control is it?" Manfridi asked, having heard a majority of the conversation.
"Ma… Kitka asks what type of control it is." Skipper relayed.
"Don't bring her," Rockgut ordered, "If they turn us, there'll be no one able to take us down. Don't bring the twins and Svenson either."
"Yes, sir." Skipper asked, too concerned to wonder how Rockgut knew who he was with. He lowered the phone, and addressed his friends, "Exception to the never swim alone, boys." It was obvious how much the recently reunited team wanted to disobey orders, but they understood, that by accompanying Skipper, they would be not only be risking themselves, but, worst case scenario, almost every Penguin agent or civilian the unknown enemy disliked. Skipper could see their reasoning spelled out on their faces. They didn't have the right to take that risk. Over the last few years, they'd seen how much damage he could do on the other side.
"Yes sir." They answered. The hint of a proud smile ghosted across Skipper's face. It felt good to be back.
"So are we talking psychological attacks and appeals to our morality," Skipper asked, entering the security room through one of the hidden panels, "or the mindless zombie variety?"
"Type one," Rockgut answered sharply, "I'm locking down the building now you're in. I don't want them spreading."
"Good, then we aren't up against augmented strength."
"No, but they're better than most. Hard to keep from giving in at times. I've been holed up in here, waiting to..." the screen began to flash red, "Mackerel, they're after the tech in research and development."
"Why are they attacking?!"
Skipper struggled against the crowd of agents, most of which he knew. Every time he took down one, two more took their place. Rockgut was right, they were pretty convincing, and this only added to the problem.
"They must have gone double!"
"What are you doing?!" Skipper exclaimed, his surprise barely leaving him enough time to duck under an incoming punch. The officer had fired on an agent, fatally wounding him.
"Squirrel Drones, I recognise the symptoms," Rockgut shouted back, "they're minds are gone. Literally. There's nothing we'd be able to do to save them."
"Someone call reinforcements! I don't know what's wrong with them!"
"What's he talking about?!"
"Are you sure?" Skipper asked, his hand edging closer to the knife he'd kept sheaved; he would have a better chance at surviving this if lethal force. Skipper had read up on Squirrel Drones, and Rockgut was right, they were already dead.
"Completely." Skipper drew his knife. The drone's expressions looked shocked, terrified, but Skipper knew it was just an act. Still, that didn't make it feel much easier.
"He's got a knife!"
The agent in front of him made a dive for the knife, trying to knock it out of his hand. Skipper recognised him. More than that, they knew each other quite well. Skipper grimaced as he saw the opening created by the agent's attack. Still, he didn't hesitate as he grabbed the agent's gun from his holster, shooting him in the stomach.
"Sorry Andy." Skipper whispered, before turning towards the next agents. It was then a new thought occurred to him, "Blowhole and Blue are the only ones smart enough to do this." Skipper shouted to his commanding officer. He could morn later, "They'd be going after the classified documents, right?" Skipper could see Rockgut's eyes do a quick head count, "This is a distraction!"
"We have that many agents?!" Skipper thought the number packed into the large open plan lab looked about the amount of agents who worked at the HQ.
"You'd be surprised how many people work on the classified levels," Rockgut then began to literally fight his way through the crowd, "Escape tunnel Delta Charlie Zulu, NOW."
"I'll try and seal them in, go ahead." Skipper replied.
"I need your help to break in, cupcake." It was then Skipper spotted a test tube containing a blue liquid on the table.
"Get into the tunnel, I'll catch up."
Rockgut dived under one of the tables, hitting a nearly invisible button on the underside. Immediately the table shot down, an identical one taking its place almost as quickly. He found himself in one of the familiar concrete tunnels that led to almost all the rooms in the base. Rockgut had barely gone a few feet when the tables once again switched places, and Skipper raced into the tunnel as the floor shook, the concrete even cracking slightly with the explosion in the room above. This was accompanied by muffled screams.
"How did…?"
"I spotted the two chemicals that Kowalski used pretty much all the time. No idea what they are, but they'd probably do some damage, if Kowalski used them a lot." Skipper replied, "It should have taken out a decent amount of the hostiles." The two ran at a steady pace, they didn't want to tire themselves out though they wanted to get to the vault as fast as possible, through the dimly lit tunnels. There was no need to speak. This was just like one of those test missions they gave you in which everything was doomed to go wrong. Luckily for Skipper, he'd even managed to beat the instructors. He just hoped his teachers hadn't grown smarter since.
Rockgut flipped a switch, the ceiling above them slid open, and the two Penguins climbed the metal ladder into the room above. It, unlike previous rooms, was completely unfurnished, showing only the most complex lock both agents had ever seen.
"Alright, cupcake, get to work. You've done it before." Rockgut encouraged, becoming slightly annoyed at Skipper's inaction.
"Before they upgraded it." Skipper replied. It was hard to put a positive spin on a situation like this, and his men weren't here. He didn't need to keep up the good morale with fake confidence.
"Well that's just beautiful," Rockgut muttered.
"No, the design seems familiar," Skipper looked over the vault as Rockgut glanced nervously at the door wondering when it was going to come crashing down, "Of course, Kowalski was working on this!"
"How much time do you spend watching the guy?"
"Believe me, if I didn't you'd be having to explain more mysteriously destroyed buildings than you already do," Skipper then spotted the key pad in the corner, "Why don't you have the code?"
"Even I don't have clearance for this kind of stuff."
Skipper set to work, using his knife to leaver the key pad off the wall. Kowalski had often complained that he couldn't get the anti-tamper guards to work on the top left corner.
"Any time, cupcake," Rockgut warned after a few minutes had passed, "We've gotta get those files out of the building before the enemy gets to them."
"I hate electronics," Skipper growled, as he continued to scrutinize the circuit boards and wires beneath the panel, not even sure where to start, "Oh, what the hell?!" he grabbed a handful of the wires, hoping they weren't too high voltage, and yanked them out.
"Defences, disabled." The annoyingly calm automated voice they used for all the systems at Penguin announced.
"Brute force beats science any day," Skipper smirked, "alright, Rockgut, vault's open…" Skipper never got the opportunity to finish his sentence as the butt of the senior agent's gun knocked Skipper over the head. The other agent taken care of, Rockgut entered the vault, and set to work removing the files.
Sorry for the late update. Hopefully, in the next couple of chapters, there should be more of the rest of the team, but for reasons of leaving clues, I had to focus on Skipper. I'd love to hear what you think so far, ideas, suggestions etc.