The Speed of Darkness
Chapter 52 - Knifed

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

Julien and Rico seemed to ask it at the same time, pulling themselves off of the ground. Manfredi merely glanced in Skipper's direction, knowing exactly what had happened. Skipper nodded to him, and then turned to the confused bird and lemur.

"Sarge had got his hands on the Sun," he said, simply. Neither animal seemed to react.

"So de Sun causes de shaking of de Earth?" Julien asked, confused.

"It can cause far more than just that. There's no time to explain now, though," Skipper returned. "Let's move out."

As soon as Skipper turned to run full speed down the hallway, Manfredi dove into him, knocking him to the ground. Before Skipper could even think about asking him why he had done that, he opened his eyes to see a massive, glowing wave of energy pass over the top of them. It was blinding white and like Skipper had never seen before.

After it had passed, Skipper turned to Manfredi, giving him a confused look. The bird didn't respond. He merely gave Skipper a solemn look. Neither of them knew what the energy had been, but they both knew it had something to do with the Sun.

"Double time!" Skipper ordered, picking himself up. Rico and Julien peeked out from behind the arches they had dove behind and fell back into line behind him.

"Dat... energy ball," Julien commented as they ran. "It was like it was being de real Sun. It felt hot." As he spoke, wisps of vapor formed in front of his snout, signifying how cold it had now become.

"All I know is that we were smart to avoid it. I don't think we want to get caught up in that thing," said Skipper. Manfredi nodded.

"Kaboom!" Rico called from the back of the group.

"For some reason I think the result would be much worse than an explosion," returned Skipper.

They continued to race down the hallway. The blue torches had extinguished, making it intensely hard for Skipper to see even a few feet in front of his face. He wasn't afraid of running into any walls, though; the hallway they were in was a straight shot to the antechamber, where the Sun and Sarge would both be. Occasionally, Skipper turned his head to make sure everyone was with him. He identified Manfredi's glowing red eye, Julien's white, striped tail, and Rico's white chest feathers. A little darkness wasn't going to prevent them from getting to Sarge.

It wasn't long until a glowing, orange light began to form at the end of the tunnel. Skipper immediately recognized it as the glow from the Sun. It was the same glow that he had worked so hard to hide on his way to return the sun back to this place. He pushed himself to run faster, feeling his heart rate accelerate to keep up with the exertion he was putting on his muscles. He began to distance himself from Rico and Julien a bit, but Manfredi managed to keep up. The antechamber came into more detailed few as they approached. Skipper recognized it as if he had just been here yesterday.

Eventually the glow began to reveal two figures standing in the opening of the chamber that was in front of the leader penguin. Skipper squinted and recognized them as Private and Marlene. What were they doing there, just standing around? Was Sarge even present anymore? Why weren't they being attacked, or more importantly, defending themselves?

They waved to Skipper, seeming oddly calm. Skipper felt a little suspicious about the scene, but continued running as hard as his short legs could carry him. He jumped forward, sliding on his belly to close the last few hundred feet between himself and his teammates in a second. Manfredi followed his gesture, and Skipper noted the grinding of his metal plates against the hard tile.

Right when he thought he had gotten to Marlene and Private safely, there was a sharp, "Now!" from his left. He whipped his head around to see who it was. Instead, his eyes were greeted with a flash of light so bright that he felt sharp pain shoot through them.

He lost his balance, rolling forward and flipping a few times from the momentum he had gained before sliding. When he finally came to a rest, he immediately rubbed his eyes. They were burning so badly from the flash that he didn't even notice his ears ringing or the smell of singed feathers. He let out a grunt of pain as he opened his eyes was only greeted by a painfully bright, pinkish hue. He closed them tightly again, wondering what it was that had blinded him.

Suddenly, he felt his flipper being wrenched away from his face. Unable to hear or see, the leader penguin merely flipped himself over defensively, feeling his foot land on something soft. He heard a grunt of pain and the grip on his flipper lighten suddenly as he landed on top of the unseen foe. It wasn't long until another force grabbed his other flipper, though, and they were forced behind his back. Skipper opened his eyes again, this time being greeted with a very blurry image of a penguin. He assumed it had been Sarge, and he tried to throw is flipper forward to punch him. He felt a sharp pain shoot through his arm as it didn't obey him, though, and he realized he was bound tightly with a rope.

He clenched his eyes tightly one last time, trying to blink the water that had formed in them as a result of the bright light. He shifted slightly in his place, trying to figure out where he was sitting. He felt a familiar coat of feathers behind his own, and could only assume he had been tied to Rico or Manfredi.

"Agh," came Julien's voice, "my eyes!"

"It'll go away in a few moments, don't worry," came Marlene's caring voice.

"Marlene? Marlene where are you?"

"I'm... I'm right, oof!" Skipper heard the pair topple to the ground, Julien presumably having crashed into the otter.

The noise was followed by some incoherent babbling from Rico. Skipper heard him grunt madly, hearing a slicing of air that could only have been him fighting with nothing, his vision and hearing impaired. That made Skipper conclude that he was tied to Manfredi, and not his weapons expert.

"Once again, Kowalski, you have shown your ability as a trustworthy ally," said a familiar, dark voice. It was Sargant Caspian Fishslader, and Skipper clenched his beak. He struggled against the restraints again momentarily, but realized it was no use. He still couldn't see and could hardly hear. What was going on?

"I'm not your ally," Kowalski said back, surprisingly angry. "We only have an agreement. Nothing more. Skipper and Manfredi are restrained now, so I suggest you take your Sun and go."

"Kowalski?" asked Skipper.

"I'm hear Skipper. Your vision should come back in a few moments. Until then, it is imperative that you relax," Kowalski said to him.

"Not my ally?" called Sarge. "Is that so? Then why did you require my help to restrain Skipper in the first place? He just landed a kick on you, didn't he?"

Skipper felt a sudden fear emerge from inside of him. Kowalski and Sarge were working together. The leader couldn't believe his ears.

"I did require help, yes," said Kowalski, "and I thank you for that. Now that they are restrained, however, I suggest you leave immediately."

"And miss all of the fun?" chuckled the evil penguin. "Are you not going to let me revel a little in my victory?"

Kowalski didn't respond, and instead Skipper felt another pair of flippers struggling with the ropes.

"Rico!" called Kowalski. "Don't free them."

The large penguin immediately froze. Skipper wondered why he was bound while the weapons expert was not. "Why?" he coughed.

"Trust me. I'll explain everything later."

"Rico," Skipper heard Manfredi whisper. The penguin near them shifted in place suddenly. "My knife must be laying on the floor nearby. Grab it and use it to cut the ropes," Manfredi instructed.

"Uh-huh," the penguin said back.

"Now, Kowalski," said Sarge, drawing Skipper's attention back to the task at hand. "You must realize that I can't simply leave my greatest enemies here without letting them at least know that I was the victor."

Skipper's vision had cleared a bit more and he was able to make out the penguins standing around him. Julien was leaned over into Marlene's arms, and they were both looking at Kowalski who was standing near Sarge, Gier, and Thurgo. Skipper couldn't believe his eyes—he had driven his strategist to aid the enemy. The tall penguin had tied him up with Sarge's help. Skipper cursed himself for falling into the trap so easily. Meanwhile, Sarge clutched a glowing red-orange cylinder in his hands. The Sun!

"How so?" Kowalski continued, crossing his flippers and furrowing his brow. "Our agreement pertained only to you retrieving the Sun while I kept Skipper and Manfredi away from you. Nothing else."

"Tsk, tsk," said Thurgo, who then laughed.

"You see, Kowalski," Sarge began, "the two penguins that you bound for me have caused me a lot of trouble in the past. They were the ones, along with their little friend, who blew up my base and killed my entire army. They murdered over three thousand penguins, did you know that?"

"Kowalski, don't listen to him," Skipper shouted suddenly, finding his voice again. "He's telling you lies! He was the one who killed those penguins!"

"Shut him up, Kowalski," ordered Sarge suddenly.

Kowalski froze on the spot, glancing towards Skipper. Skipper clenched his beak again, at the look the strategist gave him. It was the first exchange they had shared since Kowalski's abduction, and it was not a friendly one. Kowalski lowered his brow, and though the look seemed pleading enough, Skipper could see some anger underneath it.

"I was expecting you to slap him. You know, slapping is one of the greatest insults that you can give another penguin. That's why we always slapped the rookies back at training camp. Did Skipper ever slap you, Kowalski?" Sarge said to Kowalski. Skipper saw Kowalski rub the side of his face with his flipper, but immediately return it to his side.

"You know, your precious leader isn't any better than I am. I know you've heard of my atrocious murders. You know, I've really only killed one other penguin before. Skipper, on the other hand, has ended the lives of around three thousand by ripping the sun away from my base, causing it to explode."

"Three thousand misguided penguins that were fighting for you!" said Skipper. "They'd never have died if you..." his voice trailed off as he felt a powerful slap travel across his face.

"Skipper, quiet... please," Kowalski mumbled to him.

Skipper lowered his brow at the intellectual. At this moment in time, the ranks that had been assigned to the quartet since they first assembled at the penguin HQ did not matter. Kowalski had openly slapped his superior, but Skipper was not mad. Kowalski was doing this because of what he did—he could only blame himself.

"That's better," said Sarge, chuckling. "Good ol' slap. That always shuts up the mouthy ones. Didn't that feel good, Kowalski? Wouldn't you like to do it again?"
Skipper felt himself tense up, expecting another hit to come. Surprisingly, it didn't the leader looked up to see Private holding back Kowalski. His flipper was visibly quivering.

"Stop it, Kowalski!" Private pleaded with him. "Hitting Skippah isn't accomplishing anything!"
Kowalski glanced at him, but returned a heated stare at Skipper. Skipper couldn't help but avert his eyes. He was bound, and knew that there was nothing he could do right now. If he tried to speak again, Sarge would make Kowalski shut up him again. His first mate had been brainwashed somehow by the evil bird; tricked to believe that Skipper was his enemy. That, or the taller bird was putting on a really good act. Skipper hoped it was the latter.

"It feels good to strike someone who has caused you pain, doesn't it, Kowalski?" Sarge asked.

"No," Kowalski responded quickly. "Skipper has made some less than ideal decisions, yes, but I'd never strike him out of anger. I merely wish for him to remain quiet so you will leave sooner."

Sarge shrugged. "You know, I strongly disagree with you. Skipper has caused me a lot of pain... grieving over my lost soldiers..."

"You never grieved! You never even mourned. The moment you got out of the ruined base, you were seeking to obtain the Sun again!" Manfredi argued. Skipper was surprised he hadn't said a word so far.

"Kowalski, your associates test my patience," Sarge growled. Skipper flinched as Kowalski's flipper flew by his head and he heard it slap Manfredi across the face. Manfredi briefly struggled against the rope again, but stopped. "Good, good."

"Why are you still standing around?" Kowalski called to the leader. "Our agreement is over. You should leave."

"Our agreement is not over," Sarge said. "In fact, it is nearly void."

"What?" Kowalski gasped.

Suddenly, Geir cocked his rifle and pointed it a little ways over the top of Skipper's head. "Drop that knife," Sarge called. Skipper strained his neck and barely managed to see Rico drop Manfredi's knife to the ground, throwing his flippers up into the air. He took a few steps back before Gier lowered the rifle again.

"Be careful who you choose to work with, Kowalski. You're a very intelligent penguin. You'd do much better away from these fools. They still think they can stop me from keeping the Sun. You seem like the only one who realizes that its hopeless to try."

"Kowalski, don't listen to him!" Skipper felt himself blurt out, but wished he hadn't. Neither Sarge nor Kowalski seemed to react, though.

"You know, I think you'd make a good addition to my team. We could use your expertise in the future. Now that we have the Sun, we are going to need to defend it. You seem like someone who could build me another base. We could bring the world to its knees."

Kowalski crossed his flippers again, simply staring at the leader penguin with a blank expression his face. He briefly glanced at the animals standing around him. Private, Julien, Marlene, and Rico all gave him worried looks. Skipper couldn't imagine that the penguin was considering joining up with Sarge. Sarge was persuasive like that, though. That was probably how he got Edgar Blackbeak and all those three thousand penguins to work for him in the first place. Kowalski wouldn't fall into the same trap. Skipper knew he was too smart for that.

"Alright," said Kowalski.

Skipper felt his heart drop at the statement. "Kowalski, no!" he shouted in unison with Private, Rico and Marlene.

"The Sun interests me, yes. And past events have shown me that it is an acceptable act to run away from one's current team without saying goodbye, and without consequence." Skipper felt a lump get stuck in his throat as the intellectual spoke. "I will join you."

"You can't be serious Kowalski," Marlene said. She was still holding Julien close to herself. Surprisingly, the lemur's face expressed shock.

"I am, Marlene. Skipper doesn't care about us. He never did. The only reason you and the others got dragged into this is because Skipper knew he had no choice but to use your help. If he could have helped it, he would have came after Sarge alone. Maybe with Manfredi. Maybe without. He doesn't care about you, though. He'll abandon you immediately after this whole event is over, just like he did to us."

"Very good, Kowalski," said Sarge. "It is strange to see Skipper and Manfredi working together again after all these years. I thought for sure Skipper was going to leave that psycho behind, as well."

"Come on, then," said Kowalski. "We should leave." He waddled closer to his new team, and Skipper felt his flippers tense up as Kowalski walked near his enemy. The bird was throwing his life away—stabbing his leader in the back. He was going to be working for an evil cause. He knew that Kowalski wouldn't stand to try to take over the world, and Sarge would eventually kill him. The bird was intelligent, but he was walking into a trap! He was confused because of how Skipper had treated him!

"Kowalski, please," cried Skipper suddenly. He felt slightly weak as the words left him—a feeling he had not experienced in some time rising to the surface. Helplessness. "Don't do this. I know I made a huge mistake by leaving you men in the dark when I raced off. I should have told you were I was going and invited you to come with. Please, don't join with Sarge."

Kowalski stopped and turned to his ex-leader. He looked slightly confused, like he was musing over what his leader was saying. Skipper continued.

"Believe me, just this once. I will tell you everything when we get out of here, I promise!"

Kowalski shook his head slowly, and Skipper felt like he had been hit by a ton of bricks. The tall bird turned away from Skipper and lined up next to Thurgo, who elbowed him playfully. Kowalski didn't respond, and merely looked towards Skipper with, surprisingly, a slight tinge of sadness on his face.

"Welcome to the team, Kowalski," Sarge smirked. Kowalski didn't look at him, keeping his eyes focused on his ex-leader. Skipper felt his gaze burn deep into him. It made him avoid the strategist's gaze and made him want to cry.

His eyes fell on Private, who seemed to be quivering. His eyes were were glazed over with tears and his flippers were balled in front of his face. He looked over towards Marlene and Julien. When he had gotten their attention he signaled them by nodding his head towards Sarge. Marlene nodded, and following her lead, Julien did as well. Then Private glanced towards Rico, who returned the gesture. They were going to strike!

"Let's go," Kowalski said dimly. He lowered his head slightly as he began walking towards the exit of the antechamber.

"One last thing," said Sarge. Kowalski froze in his tracks.

"What now?" he responded.

"I never really got a chance to prove to my enemies my victory," Sarge explained.

Kowalski blinked as Sarge raised his right flipper into the air. Simultaneously, Gier's raised the barrel of his penguin rifle. The end of it was directed towards Skipper and Manfredi. Softly, the rock-hopper clicked the gun's mechanism, pushing a bullet into the chamber.

"See if you can get both of them with one bullet," whispered Sarge. Skipper and Manfredi began struggling against their restraints immediately, knowing that they were lined up in such a way that a bullet traveling through Skipper's head would also travel through Manfredi's.

As Skipper struggled, he thought back to Kowalski. Was this the end? Was Kowalski just going to let him die like this? He thought of the others—how he had told them everything. The Penguin City, the temple, the Penguin Army... everything. If only Kowalski had been there. Then none of this would be happening.

Surprisingly, Kowalski shouted "No!" as Sarge prepared to lower his flipper. Skipper knew the action would mean Gier would pull the trigger on the rifle, bringing the end of his life.

"Go, now!" he heard Private cry from his left. His heart skipped a beat as he saw the four animals near him charge towards Sarge at full speed.

~Author's Note: Day 9. The action begins. What will happen next?