Rico growled and clenched his fists. "Rikki."
"I'll save her." Skipper said.
"You can't go alone!" Private said.
"Watch me." Skipper huffed. He grabbed a few items and exited.
"Wait!"
"Don't follow me; I know what I'm doing."
"He's going to get himself killed!" Kowalski said.
"Come on, Skippy, let's think of some-"
"NO. Rocky, if we keep stalling like this then Rikki is in even more danger."
"But we can go through with our mission and save her if we just think of a plan." Kowalski said. "It will do no good to get yourself in trouble and leave us without a leader."
"My sister!"
"No one should have to go out alone." Private said. "I bet real penguins never swim alone."
"Never swim alone…" Skipper repeated. He sighed and turned to the team. "Well, how do you propose we do this?"
"First, we have to figure out how we were being spied on in the first place." Kowalski said. "No one else could have known that we're part of a team."
"Alright, here's the deal." Skipper said. "There's a shopping center three blocks away from the warehouse. I'll ask someone to drive Rico and Kowalski there. Rocky, you drop me off about a block away from the warehouse and come back for Private. Drop him off close to the shopping center too. Look natural. Private, while we're being driven around I want you to investigate anything you remember that might lead to our spy."
"But you're still-"
"Alone? Yeah, I know. I'm pretty sure it's a trap too."
"Then why go?"
"Because, Private, they'll be expecting me to avoid the trap, not walk right into it."
"That made no sense…no sense at all."
Skipper winked and picked up a bag. "Whatever happens, go with your gut instinct."
Rocky and the boys hurried downstairs. Rocky called a friend to pick up Rico and Kowalski.
Private ran to the front desk and hurriedly rang the bell. Alice stormed out of her office and swiped the bell away.
"I heard you the first time, Alvin." She said.
"I'm looking for Rikki." Private said. "Rikki Blue, about yea high." He motioned with his hand. "Looks pretty much like Rico except without the scar and she's blind."
"I know who she is, I'm not stupid."
"Did you see her leave the building?"
"Yes, she got in a car with someone."
"In a car with whom, may I ask?"
"What?"
Private rolled his eyes. "Who was she in the car with?"
"I don't know, but your little friend ran outside yelling about something."
Private saw Barry chatting with other students in the dining hall. "Kenny? Where is Kenny?"
"I don't have time for questions." Alice huffed.
"But this is a matter of life and death, ma'am!"
Alice shook her head and returned to her office.
"BARRY!" Private yelled.
Barry jumped and gave Private an odd look before running right over.
"And is there a reason that you couldn't approach me?"
"Where did Kenny go?"
"He told me he was getting a head start, but he didn't come to lunch."
"He's in trouble. Rikki was kidnapped and I think he tried to follow her."
Barry looked startled.
"Do you remember if anyone gave me anything odd or if you saw suspicious behavior?"
"No…wait. There was this one time that I gave you this wind up puffin and it looked weird."
"Puffin?"
"Yeah, I was told to give it to-hey, where are you going?"
Private rushed upstairs and into his room. He tore through his belongings, but his search came to nothing. A look through Kowalski's side of the room had no result. He sighed deeply and entered the other room. He looked through Skipper's side and Rico's, but there was nothing odd.
He groaned and was about to exit the room when a strange noise drew his attention. It sounded like a faint tapping noise. He entered the bathroom to see the puffin toy walking into the wall. He shrieked when it turned around suddenly. Its eyes began to glow a harsh red color. Private ducked as it fired lasers. He slammed the door closed and called Kowalski.
"It's the puffin!" He yelled. "That horrible puffin toy Barry gave me, it's the spy bug."
"Don't yell that!" Kowalski scolded. "Destroy it! There's a target laser in your backpack."
Private found a small compartment in his backpack and pulled out the laser gun. He opened the door and pointed it at the puffin toy. The toy began walking towards him with glowing eyes. He pulled the trigger and sent out a blast of energy. The puffin exploded.
Private ran out of the room and down the stairs, promptly crashing into Barry.
"What's going on?"
"Who gave you the puffin?"
"I don't remember…hey could you-?"
"Sorry, no time." Private ran out of the building and found Rocky waiting outside for him. He got in and they drove to meet Rico and Kowalski.
Rocky and the boys changed into disguises and walked to the warehouse.
Private tried to keep calm, but his insides were twisting with anxiety. Kowalski and Rico looked determined, and Rocky looked a little nervous.
From the outside, it looked simply like an old and worn down place. There were two men dressed in red, sitting in front of the place, playing cards.
"Hey, hey! Who are you?" One of the men asked, seeing the four of them approaching.
"None of your business." Kowalski said gruffly. "What's your beef?"
"You don't need to be here, doctor's orders."
"Well it so happens that the good Doctor asked us to come here."
"Oh really?" The other man said. "Why ain't you wearing the uniforms?"
"We happen to be the street team."
"Street team? What do you take me for, a fool?"
"That's what he thought." Kowalski growled, gesturing to Private. The youngest boy had been given a makeup job and now looked scarred and beaten. "We sorted him out."
"Those are horrible!" The first man said. "And you did that to him?"
"Don't be stupid, he did."
Rico grinned insanely and licked his lips slowly.
"Okay, they creep me out. Let them in."
"Finally, you're lucky I'm in a good mood today or else the boss would have heard about it."
The men grunted and returned to their game.
Once Rocky and the boys were in, they sighed in relief.
"That was easy." Rocky whispered.
"Yeah, how'd they buy that so easily?"
"They had those expressions on their faces that I've seen before." Kowalski said. "Now we're looking for Rikki and Kenny…and maybe even Skipper."
"Alright, Private and I will go to the right and you two go to the left." Rocky said.
The boys nodded. Kowalski looked paler than usual.
"Don't worry, we'll save him. And we'll save Rikki."
"I can't lose my brother…" Kowalski said. "He's the only…he's my baby brother and I can't lose him or I…I don't know what I'll d-"
"We will find him." Rocky said.
"And Rikki." Rico said.
The four split up and searched the edges of the warehouse. The entire upper level was filled with storage boxes. They regrouped at the lower level, having found nothing of importance.
Suddenly, a muffled yell echoed through the room. Rico found a wall of boxes with a door behind it. They moved the boxes until the door was fully visible.
"On three." Kowalski said.
"One." Private whispered.
"Two." Rocky breathed.
"Three." Rico said.
They opened the door and snuck into the room. Strange machines were at the center and a giant screen flashed on the wall. Near the center of the room were Rikki and Kenny, bound and gagged. Kenny had a blindfold on. A shadow moved in the room and a chuckle sounded.
"No one is listening, stupid boy." A hard voice said. "Yes, I think I shall make you my first experiments. AHAHAHAHA! You foolish child, you thought you could save your little friend, eh? And little Skipper thought he could actually save you. And so did you four."
Rocky hid further behind a box, followed by Private. Rico and Kowalski had gone to the other side of the room.
"Don't try to hide from me." The man said. "I had a tip off that you would come." A small square of light appeared beside the machine. The man laughed. "I really should be thanking Barry for warning me. 'Kenny, dude, where are you? I think Private and his friends went to look for you.'" he said mockingly. "Lights up."
The lights switched on and Private almost shrieked. The man had a mechanical right eye with a faint pink scar above and below it. He had grey hair and his other eye was small and dark. He had a wild smile on his face. He wore a lab coat.
"Oh children, come out." He said. "I see all four of you. Save my soldiers the time of having to force you out."
The four of them stood up and stared fiercely at him.
"Ooh, I do believe I'm in trouble."
"What have you done with Skipper?" Rocky demanded.
"Let those two go!" Kowalski said.
"Yeah!" Rico shouted.
"Leave Barry out of this!" Private said.
"Oh dear, I'm getting scolded by a bunch of children." The man said. "Now, now, dear children. We mustn't get off on the wrong foot. My name is Doctor Blowhole, what are your names?"
"Oh my name is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Kowalski yelled.
"Rather impatient, aren't we?" Blowhole said. "We should get to know one another first. Come here, children. I want to show you something."
The four of them exchanged looks. A crash sounded from the other room followed by grunts and shouts.
"Oh, ignore that." Blowhole said, turning to his machine.
Rocky slid out of the room.
"I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Skipper's voice rang out. The boys gasped.
"Just because your hero is here, doesn't mean he's going to save you in time."
"What do you want with us?" Kowalski asked. "And why do you only have one other soldier with you?"
"Dear Kowalski, I want what everyone wants. Power, complete domination."
"But not everyone wants that!" Private said. "In fact, there are loads of people who would like a bit of power, but only enough to make their voices heard."
"You mean like that pathetic group you call The Penguins?"
"How-?"
"I have my source, Rico."
Rico growled.
"And I see you really are incapable of more speech…pity, you picked the wrong side. We could always use a psychopath."
The two men who had been playing cards earlier entered the room. One of them grabbed Private from behind and the other tried to grab the other two.
Kowalski and Rico jumped away and ran to their siblings.
"You really think you can try to stop me?" Blowhole said. "Let the small one go, he's useless."
The man let go of Private and inched towards the older boys.
None of them noticed Private's hand going into his backpack. He winced as he twisted his arm to the limit. He found a device and set it on the ground. It scuttled away.
Blowhole began to explain that the machine was for taking the knowledge out of someone's brain and leaving them clueless.
"And when I'm done, you two will be a couple of blubbering blobs" Blowhole cackled. "And none of you can stop- hey where'd the small one go?"
At that moment, Skipper came crashing through the door. He was followed by Rocky. A masked figure ran into the room.
"Hold on." Blowhole said. "I've got an advantage here."
They turned to see lasers pointed at Kenny, Kowalski, Rico, and Rikki.
"Drop your weapons."
Rico and Kowalski put their bags on the ground.
"Good. Now, where is the little British kid?"
Private had managed to find a room with several computer screens and a control panel. He had an oxygen mask over his face. Apparently, the object he dropped contained a heavy knockout gas and several people were out cold on the floor.
He found another object in his backpack and held onto it. Approaching the control panels, he found that he had no idea what he was doing. There were complicated blueprints and schematics. One screen had the last picture that the spy puffin had captured. It was of Private about to destroy it.
He opened the door slightly and released the knockout device. The watch on his wrist flashed and he whispered for help.
He then found a metal rod and began smashing the computers.
"What's going on?" Blowhole asked as the lights began to spark and flicker.
One of the men ran into the control room and was immediately knocked out by the gas. The gas began seeping through to the main room. In a swift movement, Rico found the oxygen masks and put them over himself and Kowalski. Skipper found his and gave it to Rocky. The masked figure was about to intervene when Skipper tackled him to the ground.
Rico pulled out a crowbar and a bat. He and Kowalski smashed the lasers and the machine.
"No! What's going on?"
Rocky hurriedly freed Rikki and Kenny.
"I feel dizzy." Kenny said.
"Get out of here." Rocky said. "Take Rikki and get as far away as you can from this place. We'll be okay."
Kenny looked at her tearfully.
"GO!" Kowalski shouted.
Kenny grabbed Rikki and both of them ran, stumbling, out the door.
The second device began emitting gas.
Private left the control room and hurried into the main room where he bumped into Blowhole.
"Thanks, kid." Blowhole said, snatching Private's mask.
Private immediately felt dizzy. He tried to hold his breath, but as soon as he drew breath, he felt an odd heavy sensation.
"Goodbye, children." Blowhole said as he pushed a button. "AHAHAHA!"
SELF DESTRUCT IN ONE MINUTE
Rico and Kowalski tried to stop the mad scientist from leaving, but the building began shaking.
Rico lifted Private onto his back and hurried out of the room.
Rocky and Kowalski found Skipper unconscious by the exit. They heaved him up and managed to exit just as the beginning bangs sounded.
They saw an object fly off into the sky.
"He got away." Kowalski growled. "We almost got him."
"But we saved innocent people, at that's what counts." Rocky said.
"Mission complete." Rico grunted.
"Who is that?" Rocky asked, pointing to a couple of cars. "Hey, that's my car!"
"Mr. Bone!" Kowalski said.
"Private called for help." Johnny said. "Looks like we're too late...well, at least we can help you now. Oh, and I suppose your siblings can know as long as they keep it a secret."
Rico and Kowalski nodded.
"Did you hotwire my car?" Rocky asked.
"Yep." Johnny said. "Rikki and Kenny are safely inside your car."
"We found Blowhole, sir." Kowalski said. "He was making this knowledge draining machine. We still don't know why he wanted Skipper to come alone. Also, someone planted a spy bug in our room."
"Hmm…I don't know either. We'll continue investigations while you enjoy your winter break."
"Alright."
Once everyone had returned to the apartments, Kowalski and Rico explained everything to Rocky, Kenny and Rikki.
"Whoa, cool!" Kenny said.
"Yeah, but you must never tell anyone, understand?" Kowalski said. "Not even your friends can know."
"Not even our dad?" Rikki asked.
"I'm sorry, it's better that he doesn't know. And it's especially better that your soon to be stepmother doesn't know."
Rikki sighed. "We've never kept a secret from our dad before…"
"Our family is all in it so I don't know what to say…" Rocky said.
"What about Barry?" Kenny asked. "He was worried about me and I don't think Private gave a good explanation. None of us explained anything about why Private and Skipper were knocked out."
Kowalski and Rico shared a look.
"I don't know, Kenny." Kowalski said. "Can we fully trust Barry? And if so, Ramona and Allie can't know. How would he feel about keeping a secret from his best friends? He tends to blurt things out when he's angry or overexcited. "
"I would say don't tell him unless he becomes directly involved." Rocky said. "You and Rikki were told because you were directly involved in this."
Kenny nodded. His face was blank of emotion.
"Well, we were gone for hours and I think we should relax and go to bed." Kowalski said.
The others agreed and separated.
Skipper woke up early in the morning and was startled to find himself in bed. Rico was sprawled out on the bed across from him. He pulled himself out of bed and checked on the other two. A few hours later, he was downstairs as he finished his fifth cup of coffee.
Kowalski and Rico had come down looking as tired as he felt.
"How's the Private?" Skipper asked.
"Still out."
Rico gasped loudly, startling the other two.
"Plane!" He said.
"That's right, Private was supposed to be on the plane in half an hour." Kowalski said.
"Relax, I switched out the ticket." Skipper said. "I called his dad and explained that he wasn't feeling well enough to fly so he's leaving Wednesday. Aren't you and Rikki leaving today?"
Rico nodded.
…
Private woke up Monday afternoon. Kowalski was typing on his computer when he heard Private groan.
"'Walski?"
"Private, you're up!"
"Yea…'m from Europe…"
Kowalski laughed. "I'm glad you're awake."
"Dry…" Private said, putting a stiff arm to his throat.
Kowalski got a bottle of water and helped Private sit up.
"And there goes my stomach…" Private said hoarsely. "How long?"
"You've been out for about two days." Kowalski said. "Alice is upset because the building is almost empty and she wants us gone. It is literally only you, me, my brother, Barry, Skipper, and Rocky left. Skipper was waiting for you to wake up. Rocky's going to drive Barry home tomorrow. Actually, Kenny and Barry are in the dining hall with Rocky right now."
Private smiled weakly. "Did we finish the mission?"
"Yeah. Blowhole escaped, but we managed to destroy the majority of the things in the base. Also, the explosion is being explained as a misunderstanding with a demolition crew. We've been worried about you. I was about to email Rico." Kowalski said. "Let me finish it really quick."
He finished the email and closed his computer. He helped Private up. Both of them rode the elevator down, causing Private's legs to feel even more like gelatin. On the way, Kowalski explained that Kenny and Rikki knew now, but Barry must not know.
Skipper, Rocky, Barry, and Kenny cheered as Private and Kowalski came in. Barry stood up to make Private a plate.
"How's it going, kiddo?" Rocky asked.
"Private, you were amazing." Skipper said. "You risked your safety for the mission, but you helped us out a lot and I am proud of you."
"Thanks."
Barry came back with the food and the six of them ate and chatted. Barry reluctantly accepted an explanation from Skipper that it was just a crazy day and that it wasn't open for discussion. He promised not to press his friends for information and that he would dismiss it.
Private and Kenny spent the rest of the day in Barry's room, watching Invader Zim on YouTube along with other shows.
They spent Tuesday watching shows on Netflix and the first two Harry Potter movies. They also watched a few Disney-Pixar movies. Kenny and Private were quoting shows non-stop by bedtime. At that time, however, Rocky had to leave and took Barry with her.
Private decided to spend that night in Barry's bed. He and Kenny stayed up for a while, watching Kids Next Door and My Gym Partner's a Monkey on two different computers. The television was on as well, showing episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place.
Kowalski came by to check on them at one in the morning and found the television off. Kenny had been woken up by his brother knocking, but Private crashed on the couch while his computer was still going.
"It's a cruddy teenager!" Kenny said as he opened the door.
"Ahaha, funny." Kowalski said, having watched a couple of shows earlier. "You two should be in bed."
"I know."
Kowalski and Kenny shut down the computers. Kenny woke up Private and the two of them went to bed. They were woken early by Kowalski, who said that Private had a ride to the airport.
Kowalski and Kenny accompanied Private and helped him pack his stuff. It was a surprise to both of the younger boys when Kowalski announced that Kenny would be flying to England with Private.
"What about you?" Private asked as the boys brought bags downstairs.
"Me? Oh, I'm staying at the base. There's enough food and drink to last me-"
"You're not going home for Christmas?" Private asked, seeing Kenny chat happily with Henry.
"Uh, well, I-I really don't see any problem in staying."
"Is that why Kenny's coming with me? He's spending Christmas with us instead of going home?"
Kowalski sighed. "It's alright, I couldn't afford plane tickets for both of us to go back to Wisconsin. Johnny felt bad that Kenny got wrapped up in this that he let Kenny have a plane ticket. Please don't ask, but make sure he has a good Christmas."
Private looked startled. "Er, okay…I will."
"I already called Allie and her parents say that Kenny can spend the last week of vacation with them."
"And will you be okay?" Private asked.
"Yeah." Kowalski said sadly. "This is really the first time I've been apart from him for the Christmas holiday."
"Kowalski…"
"And I hope you have a great vacation. Please come back next term."
"I'll try."
"I know the three of us don't show it, but we are really happy that you came and we couldn't have been a true team without you."
Private grinned. "We'd be nothing without you either."
Kowalski ruffled Private's hair. Private put his items in the car as the two brothers chatted. Kenny looked sad, but excited at the same time. Johnny had told them that there would be another agent watching the boys and that Private's father already knew this.
Private and Kenny walked through the airport with their tickets and bags. Kowalski had given both of them hugs and wished them luck. Kenny tried not to cry as he hugged his brother.
The younger boys boarded the plane. A woman nodded to them as Private looked around. The boys found their seats and stowed their bags.
Small white flakes began appearing as they were told to buckle up.
"Snow…" Kenny breathed. "Wow, it's so cool."
"Yeah, I think it's a good luck sign." Private said. "We're being wished safe travels by everyone."
"I think this might be the best Christmas ever." Kenny said.
