Skipper's Replacement

Chapter 5:

Meanwhile, Skipper dragged his luggage over to the baggage chute like he was instructed to do. He piled it on the conveyor belt with a bunch of other suitcases and surplus and waited boredly for it to reach the end.

Any more delays and I am going to miss my flight, he thought impatiently. He had already waited in a mile-long line to have his plane ticket checked, and waited again just to get his bag on the chute.

Security agents behind the counters looked at the contents of each bag as it passed through an X-ray screen, and passed them back to their owners. Skipper's bag finally was placed underneath the X-ray. Instead of showing blank nothingness that proved there was nothing dangerous inside, a bunch of objects popped up on the screen, so many that a single item could hardly be destinguished from another.

Suddenly an alarm sounded off and many security agents secured the suitcase and scanning it with metal detectors. "Sir, you're not allowed to bring explosives to an airport. We will be forced to confiscate these."

Skipper backed up a few steps, momentaily confused. What were they talking about? He just brought standard military equipment, nothing you wouldn't normally find in Rico. The security agents carted it awy and disappeared behind a door. "What? Those are my military supplies! You can't just-"

"Sir, we are going to have to ask you to leave."

Skipper could have taken out the whole lot of them right there and then, but then the whole airport would be warned of the weapon-stasher and warn his flight long before he could even get his ticket checked. So he did leave.

"What bad luck," Skipper muttered. "They confiscated my luggage, but at least I still have my ticket. I could always get some more at the Bahamas I suppose." He marched over to wait in yet another line to get on his flight and impatiently waited for the line to shrink. Finally he reached the counter.

"Ticket, please," the guard ordered.

"Ticket. Of course." Skipper did have his ticket and placed it onto the counter, feeling relieved that this whole nightmare would end soon. He had got this far, but he guessed somehow these jerks would find a way to make more trouble. He was right.

"Sir, this is a counterfeit ticket. You are under arrest for producing a fake copy of a government-issued plane ticket."

Two security guards grabbed his flippers and hauled him away to the back room where unspeakable evil laid beyond. Skipper struggled and tried to wrench them free, but the guards were too strong. No, he couldn't let them take him to the room of unspeakable darkness!

"Think again." Skipper kicked the first one and his grip loosened on one of his flippers. He did a backflip and the force twisted his other free as well. The first one made a reach to grab him but Skipper dodged to the side and he fell to the ground like a tree. Feeling satisfied, Skipper quickly knocked the other one out and rushed to the door, throwing a smoke bomb behind him, exploding smoke everywhere, forming a good cover to escape.

The vacation couldn't really get any worse than this. Skipper decided that on his long trek back to the zoo. His stuff was taken, he almost got arrested for a counterfeit ticket, and he couldn't even go on his luxury vacation. This really was a tricked-out conspiracy.

He returned to the zoo, too tired to even perform a perimeter check before sliding uder the fence and into the pool to his base. He trekked down the stairs and opened the door, prepared to slide into bed and forget this humilating chapter of his life. He unlatched the door and leaped back when a pillow almost hit him in the face. He dodged it and searched for the hurler.

What the?

"The first one to do...50 pushups wins!" Kowalski ordered and all the penguins fell down flat and began doing push-ups as if their lives depended on it. What confused Skipper was that he didn't even order them to do it.

"No dice. First one to juggle 5 balls while balancing on a bowling ball wins!" Private shouted and they began scrambling around like ants once again.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?" Skipper roared and the three penguins immediately stopped their scramble to stare at him. Finally.

"Get Skipper!" Rico choked and before he could run he was sabataged. Skipper wriggled out from beneath Rico and shoved him against Kowalski, tossing them backward. He then rolled to the side and Private flew past, crashing into Kowalski and Rico. They all laid there in a heap.

"What has got into you men? Attacking your leader like this?" Skipper growled and the three penguins looked up at him with wide eyes like they could't believe what they just did. He glared at each one of them, waiting for a brave soul to respond."We...were just," Private stuttered, "having a contest."

"The contest on which one of you knuckleheads could beat up your leader?" Skipper replied, making Private dive behind Kowalski.

"We were competing to see which one of us would become your replacement," Kowalski confessed. "By statistical matters, we were attempting to make a decision. We weren't thinking."

"All this?"

Private re-emerged hesitantly from behind Kowalski. "Which one of us were you going to pick?" he asked cautiously. "To be leader?"

Skipper yawned and crawled into his bed, too tired to think. "You know what? I know. The first one who can get me a smoothie, become a manuel fan, and give me a foot massage will get to be leader the next time I leave."

Private got a lef and began fanning Skipper desperately while Kowalski ran off to make a smoothie, and Rico stayed by his feet and started licking.

Skipper sighed with pleasure, and fell to sleep. It was good to be home.