THIS IS ONGOING!!!

Contents 1 Chapter 1 2 Chapter 2 3 Chapter 3 4 Chapter 4 5 Chapter 5 6 Chapter 6 7 Chapter 7 8 Chapter 8 9 Chapter 9 10 Chapter 10 11 Chapter 11 12 Chapter 12 13 Comments

Chapter 1

Detective Chuck was bored. There had been no crime for the past 2 weeks. He wanted to take the night off, but he couldn't out of loyalty to his employers, Gary, Rookie, JPG, Dot and the Director. Still, Chuck wanted a night off with his friends. So he went to Gary and asked him if he could take the night off.

"Of course, Chuck," said Gary. "Lord Awesome seems to have vanished, so go party with your friends or whatever you young penguins do these days".

Chuck did just that, and knocked on the door of his good friend Green's igloo. He opened the door and saw Green with Mixer, Happy, Ron Libert and two unfamiliar penguins, one of which was gobbling up a 20-inch pizza.

"Hi Chuck," said Green. "This is Summit." Green pointed to a tall penguin with icicles hanging off of his beak. "And this is Welcome." Green pointed to the gluttonous penguin, who now made a burp loud enough to bust someone's eardrum.

"Pleased to meet you," said Summit.

Welcome made a strange noise. He swallowed and said, "Sorry, I shouldn't talk with my mouth full. Hi Chuck." Welcome picked up a glass plate and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Welcome," said Green, "Plates are not for eating. Anyway, why are you here, Chuck?"

"Gary gave me the night off. I was wondering if you wanted to see The Avengers with me."

"Of course!" everyone said in unison. So the party went off to the Stage and watched The Avengers. Welcome ordered 5 large bags of popcorn on his smartphone and gobbled them up in 12 minutes. After the movie, the party left.

"Wow, that was an awesome movie, wasn't it?" noticed Ron.

"Yes, it was very interesting," said Happy while tapping on his black iPad.

All of a sudden, Mixer heard a loud scream. He looked around. It seemed as if nobody had heard it. "Did you hear that?" he asked, scared.

"What?" asked Summit? I couldn't hear anything over the sound of Welcome chewing on that donut".

"There it is again!" said Mixer.

"Are you sure you aren't just imagining this?" asked Green doubtfully.

"No, really! I heard something!" yelled Mixer, extremely annoyed. The scream came again.

"Oh, that," said Chuck. "I hear it now". The rest of the party started nodding in agreement.

"But what is it?" asked Summit with a nervous expression on his face. "Aren't you a detective, Chuck? Shouldn't we look and see what happened?"

"Of course, Summit", said Chuck. "That's a very good point". The party ran down the streets, following the sounds of the scream. They saw a penguin huddled in the corner with a terrified expression on his face. Chuck recognized him as Sdg, a prominent member of Gary's agency. "Sdg!" he cried. "What are you doing in that corner?"

"Thank goodness you are here, Chuck!" The penguin's once confident expression had vanished. "My password..."

"What about your password?" asked Happy impatiently.

"Someone...someone...someone TOOK my password!" The party gasped.

"But isn't that password thing important or something?" asked Ron.

"It's very important, my dear", said Sdg. "That password gives me access to the Nook of Knowledge!"

"The Nook of Knowledge?" Welcome perked up. "Is that a food? I WANT FOOD!!!"

"No, fat penguin," said Sdg. "The Nook of Knowledge is where the most valuable secrets are stored. If the wrong person was to get their hands on that, we would be in utter catastrophe!"

"But this is serious!" Chuck paced along the sidewalk. "We need to know who took it. Did you get a glimpse of the thieves?"

"Well, I don't remember! I was just so afraid!"

"That's fine, Sdg. Ron! You can read minds. Can you see into his thoughts and make sense of this matter?"

"Sure thing, Chuck!" Ron closed his eyes and reached a hand towards Sdg. He began speaking, as if in a trance. "I see...I see 4 shapes. 3 penguins, but one...is that a polar bear? One penguin has a long, majestic cape. It's obvious that he is in a position of power. One has...one has a pair of scissors. LONG scissors, with blood on them. The third one...he has a bucket. I see...I see something long and thin...pulsating with electricity. The fourth...I can see nothing about the fourth. But wait! There is more! The caped penguin speaks!" Ron began to speak in a hissing voice. "Where is the password, fool? We have ways of finding it. You wouldn't want to be dropped in this bucket of eels, would you? That's right, be a good penguin. Hand it over. Sdg shivered, but the penguin with the scissors reached over and grabbed Sdg's bag. The penguin rummaged through it and stopped. The caped penguin smiled. Here it is. Let's go! The 3 penguins and polar bear disappeared from sight. Ron opened his eyes.

"Well? Do you know who took my password? I must recover it!"

"Let me think," said Chuck. "The caped penguin was definitely...Lord Awesome." All of the penguins gasped. Lord Awesome was well known, even among non-agents. "The others, I do not know of."

"Well, we must get to work at once! To find out more, we must speak to Croconaw! Does anybody wish to stay behind?" asked Green. Nobody spoke. "I didn't think so. Follow Chuck!"

Chapter 2

Lord Awesome didn't like to be kept waiting. But sometimes you had to be patient to get what you wanted. This was one of those times. Lord Awesome was waiting outside the door of Shurow, a bounty hunter for hire. Lord Awesome had heard from his spy that those pesky penguins were marching upon his castle. He needed Shurow to finish them off, once and for all. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the door opened. A penguin with a dark mask walked out. He was followed by seven masked penguins clad in all black.

"Ah, Lord Awesome," said Shurow. "I apologize for keeping you waiting. I had some...prior business to finish up."

"No matter," said Lord Awesome dismissively. "I need your assistance."

"Really? The great Lord Awesome needs help? That's a first!"

"ENOUGH, Shurow. This is important. Now listen carefully, I need my instructions followed precisely, otherwise you do not get ANY payment".

Chapter 3

The party was walking swiftly towards Dinosaur Forest, the dwelling place of Croconaw. Chuck was in the front, with Green behind him. Mixer and Happy walked side-by-side. Ron and Summit walked behind them, and Welcome brought up the rear. Welcome was trying to eat a penguin-sized cookie while walking, which proved to be a monumental task, even for Welcome. Ron jogged past Green, Happy and Mixer and caught up with Chuck.

"Hey, Chuck! Who is this Croconaw anyway?" asked Ron.

"Well, basically, Croconaw is physically the most powerful creature in the world. He's a dinosaur, you see," replied Chuck.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. He is the only one to ever defeat Lord Awesome in combat. Besides me, of course."

"You beat Lord Awesome in combat?" exclaimed Summit in awe.

"Well, it's a long story." Chuck said. Everyone but Chuck, Welcome and Summit groaned. Those who had known Chuck for a long time had heard this story several billion times.

Sorry to interrupt. I am the author of this story. You can call me "Author". I just want to say that I think it is time for a...FLASHBACK!!!!!

Detective Chuck slashed his sword at the evil penguin facing him. This evil penguin was Lord Awesome. Lord Awesome easily sidestepped the blow. He stabbed at

"Surrender, Chuck! You know that you are no match for me," said Lord Awesome.

"Never! I would rather die than surrender to you!"

"Then die, fool!" boomed the evil penguin. Lord Awesome fought with renewed vigor, and it seemed as if there was no way that Chuck would come out of this alive. But Chuck fought on. Chuck swung a wild blow at Lord Awesome. It struck him in the forehead. "Arrgh! Do you have any idea what you just did? Scars from swords are permanent! We shall meet again, Detective Chuck. Next time, you shall not be so lucky.

END FLASHBACK!

"Well, I am quite impressed, Chuck," said Summit, surprised. "But it looks like we are nearing Dinosaur Forest. And from what you've told me, that looks like Croconaw over there!"

Chapter 4

The party walked through the forest quietly. They had lost sight of Croconaw. The party were following Chuck blindly. All of a sudden, Croconaw walked in front of them.

"Hello. I trust that you were searching for me?" said Croconaw, scaring Welcome, who had been staring at a 9-foot-tall glass of soda the whole time.

"Are you Croconaw?" asked Chuck.

"I am. Sorry for my lateness, I had..." Croconaw hesitated. "I had other matters to attend to."

"It's OK. We just need to talk to you and ask if you've heard anything." said Green. Croconaw heard someone new speaking and looked up. He narrowed his eyes.

"Heard anything about what? I hear many things, and it would take my whole lifetime to list them all in front of you."

"We need to know what you have heard about the movements of Lord Awesome," said Happy. Croconaw narrowed his eyes.

"Perhaps we should talk about this in my house. Follow me, please." So, the party followed Croconaw through the forest. Mixer wondered why Croconaw didn't just use his powers to jump to his house, but the thought was quickly extinguished when the party arrived.

"Here we are at my humble abode," said Croconaw. "Get comfortable, I must tidy my bedroom. I shall be back soon." As soon as Croconaw stomped up the stairs, Happy heard a muffled cry.

"What was that?" asked Happy.

"What was what?" said Ron, exasperated.

"No, I heard it too!" exclaimed Chuck. The cry came again. "There it is again! It sounds like it is coming from this strange pit over here!" The party bent over it, and they saw a large blue dinosaur bound and gagged. Chuck violently ripped off his gag. Croconaw winced.

"Croconaw! But...if YOU'RE Croconaw, then who is that?"

"I don't know. I just saw some...masked figures, and I woke up in this pit!"

"Well, we will just have yo find out ourselves," said Chuck. "In the meantime, let's take off your bindings. They heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Many footsteps, as if the fake Croconaw was not alone. Summit tried to push Croconaw behind him, but it was too late.

"Ha! So you have discovered my ruse after all! The boss was convinced that you would not, and that I could just lead you into an ambush. But I can still do that with my Ninja Army!" said the evil penguin.

"Ninjas, attack!" said a masked penguin who had just appeared in front of the bad Croconaw. The ninjas converged on the seemingly defenseless party, running along the ceiling gracefully.

"But...who ARE you guys?" asked Chuck.

"Isn't it obvious, Detective Chuck?" the masked penguin spat. The fake Croconaw ripped off his disguise. "My colleague is Shurow, the bounty hunter. And I am the Ninja Ghost General, here to get revenge on Chuck for destroying me!"

Wait, wait a second," said Ron Libert. "You know this guy?"

I think it's time for a FLASHBACK!!

Chuck was running down the streets of the Plaza. He was being tailed by a masked penguin in all black.

"Return the book, Chuck! You know that you cannot escape me. Wherever you run off to, I shall always find you!"

"No, fiend! The book is going to the agency to be locked up so that no villain like you can ever get it again!"

"No cage can keep me out, not even death! If you kill me, I will rise up from the earth to get my revenge!" Chuck used his magic to open The Void, a place where the dead get trapped. He threw the masked penguin into The Void, and he repeated his curse. "One day, I will find you, and when I am done with you, you will wish that you had never sent me in here, Chuck!

END FLASHBACK!!!

"So you have returned, just as you said you would all those years ago," said Chuck, narrowing his eyes. "But I have learned since then. I have improved my skills, and I have gained new friends to help me destroy you. Have YOU improved after all of those years in The Void where I sent you and where you should be, if not for the meddling of Lord Awesome?"

The Ninja Ghost General (or NGG) laughed. "Lord Awesome? You think that Lord Awesome did this? There are those more powerful than Lord Awesome, but he is too blind to realize it! THIS was done by the combined efforts of the Three Generals, who you shall soon meet, I trust. But that is enough talk. Let me show you now that you are no match for us! CHARGE!!!!!!!" Shurow, NGG and the Ninja Army charged at the party. Every penguin was fighting off ninjas as quickly as possible. Croconaw and Chuck were punching ninjas left and right. Mixer was lifting ninjas and flinging them against the wall. Welcome destroyed six ninjas at once when his loud burp caused a bookshelf to fall on top of them. Happy was hitting ninjas in the head with his iPad. Ron Libert, a son of Poseidon, was shooting water at ninjas. Summit froze the ninjas with his icy breath. Even Green was pitching in, catching the ninjas that Mixer was throwing and using them to knock down the others. But the ninjas kept on coming, and it seemed impossible that Chuck would win this battle. But out of the darkness, a mysterious and shadowy penguin came inside the house and began to weave a spell. The air began to shimmer and a hole opened up. The ninjas, including NGG, were swept into the void. Only Shurow stayed standing, an astonished expression on his face.

As NGG was sucked into the void, he said, "Fear me, Chuck! My master will bring me back into this world, and when he does, you better watch out!" Chuck and the rest of the party looked around, but the mysterious penguin had vanished in a puff of smoke.

Green, it seemed, was still hungry for battle, so he picked up a sword and charged Shurow. Shurow smiled. "Well, I couldn't take all of you, so I will have to settle for one!" He teleported away and took Green with him.

"GREEN!!! NO!!!" cried Chuck.

"There's no finding your friend now. Well, actually, that's not true. You can ask Mr. Kowalski," said Croconaw.

"Mr. Kowalski? Am I supposed to know who that is or something?" asked Summit, perplexed.

"Mr. Kowalski is the most intelligent penguin on this island," replied Croconaw.

"Ah, I understand. So, If he cannot tell us what we want to know, nobody can," said Chuck.

"Precisely."

"Do you know where Mr. Kowalski is, Croconaw?" asked Happy, trying to repair his iPad, which had been broken in the fight with the ninjas.

"In fact, I do. He is on Dread Mountain, not too far from here. If nobody objects, I shall speed up your journey. Please hold on to this." Croconaw pointed to his tail. "This will ensure that you stay with me throughout this journey. Now, it is VERY IMPORTANT that nobody lets go. Is that clear?" Everybody nodded in assent and grabbed on to Croconaw's tail. But, at the last second, two penguins emerged from nowhere and grabbed Summit, Mixer and Happy. Ron tried to pull them back, but the attempt was in vain. The rest of the party had traveled without them.

Chapter 5

Summit, Mixer and Happy were very surprised when they were separated from the rest of the party. Mixer tried to call out, but his mouth was covered by a penguin who shared an eerie resemblance with Happy. Summit's vision cleared, and he saw two penguins, one looked like Happy, the other looked like Mixer, though they were the exact opposite in appearance. The others obviously noticed, because their eyes bugged out as if they were choking and they were gasping in shock. The Mixer-twin began to speak.

"I see that you are surprised. Our master would be pleased, wouldn't he?"

"Yes, he would," said the Happy-twin, taking out a white iPad. Happy would've clenched his fists if he had had any. Angry was just SO similar to him!

"Oh, how rude. We forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we?" said the Mixer-twin. :"I am Rexim, and this is Angry. And we are going to kill you!" Mixer let out a scream. Angry covered his mouth.

"Shush, dear. There's nobody to hear you scream."

"Actually, that's inaccurate. That's VERY inaccurate indeed," said a voice from the corner. Two penguins stepped out of the darkness. "I am Hey, and this is Traco!" Hey sent a table flying across the room and it hit Rexim's head. Rexim staggered back.

"Wow, you're telekinetic? AWESOME!" exclaimed Happy.

"You haven't seen anything yet," said Traco. The penguins averted their eyes as a pillar of bright blue light appeared where Traco had just stood. When they opened their eyes, a large bear stood where Traco was just several seconds before.

"Traco here is a shapeshifter." informed Hey. Angry breathed fire at Summit, and Summit cried in pain.

"I HATE fire!" he exclaimed. Traco briefly changed back into a pixie-like creature and healed Summit, but immediately changed back into a bear. Traco pounced on Angry, and he screeched.

"AAH!! I HATE bears! Off, bear, off!" Angry began to swat at the bear, but to no avail. Angry realized this, and used his breath power to burn Traco. Traco winced in pain and shifted into Ron Libert, and breathed water on him. Angry screamed and ran upstairs, followed closely by Traco-Ron. Rexim, as the rest of the penguins saw, was not exactly easy to defeat. He summoned a robot army to defend himself while he aimed attacks at Hey, who was attempting to slam objects into Rexim, but the robots were preventing most of the damage. Summit proved quite effective in freezing the robots with his ice-cold breath. Happy had just discovered his ability of super-speed, and he was a blur among the seas of robots that tried to stop him. And Mixer was slamming the robots into walls, but Rexim was still making more and more robots. All of a sudden, Traco-Ron ran down the stairs and shifted back into himself again.

"Angry got away," said Traco. "But I don't think that he will be back soon." Traco looked around and saw Rexim battling it out with Mixer. "Yo, Mixer! Do you want some help?" he yelled.

"No thanks," Mixer replied while trapping Rexim in a headlock. "You know, Rexim," he said, "I am wondering how you and Angry got created. Were you here the whole time or what?"

"We have always existed, just not in this world," Rexim answered. "We have our own world, called Twintopia. ALL of you have evil twins, but we were the only ones sent here by our leader, Kcuhc (pronounced kuh-CUCK) as representatives of our race. We were sent to our world to study your defensive capabilities." Traco morphed into Angry and breathed fire on the robots and Rexim. The robots melted, and Rexim cried out. "Arrgh! I am injured! I shall return to my world now. But you, young Mixer, are coming with me as an example of your race!"

"Um, that's NOT gonna happen," challenged Hey, who sent a bookshelf careening into the arm gripping Mixer, and Mixer pulled out of Rexim's grip, who teleported back to his world.

"Well, that's all over with," said Traco, shifting back into his normal self.

"Thanks, guys!" exclaimed Mixer. "We couldn't have done it without you." "How did you find us anyway?"

"It was easy," said Hey. "We had been told that some penguins were seeking Croconaw. A spy of ours in Lord Awesome's court told us that Croconaw was not who he seemed to be, so I took a ride on Traco's dragon form. We arrived here just in time, it looks like."

"Well, we appreciate it a lot," said Happy. But we need to get back to our friends as soon as possible. They are probably wondering where we are.

"Oh, I can help!" exclaimed Traco. "You can hitch a ride on my airplane form. Where are you going again?"

"We're going to talk to Mr. Kowalski. I think that's his name," said Summit.

"Ah, him." Hey grimaced. "I am aware of him. We shall now depart."

Chapter 6

The party was panicking. Their feeling of panic had nothing to do with the fact that Welcome had just thrown a box of 55 giant donuts and nearly flattened Croconaw, who jumped away just in time. Nor did it have anything to do with the fact that a giant-sized airplane was converging quickly on the party. No, it was because Summit, Mixer and Happy had somehow been left behind at Croconaw's house. And maybe it was because Green had just been kidnapped by a psychotic bounty hunter.

Everyone was chattering all at once, until someone (I don't know who) yelled, "SILENCE!!!"

Because everyone was FINALLY silent, they were FINALLY able to hear a rumbling noise, getting louder and louder by the second.

"What is that?" asked Ron?

"Whatever it is, I hope it's friendly," said Chuck. It was friendly. The party stepped back as an airplane with nobody in the cockpit landed. The party, especially Ron, was confused. How could an airplane if nobody was in the cockpit.

"Am I dreaming?" muttered Ron. The plane morphed back into Traco. "Yup. I am definitely dreaming. Summit, Mixer, Happy, Hey and Traco walked towards the party!

"MIXER! HAPPY! SUMMIT!" exclaimed Chuck, hugging all of them. He looked at Traco and Hey. "I see you've made some new friends," he said, obviously looking for an explanation. "What happened back there?"

"Well, it's a long story," said Mixer. He explained how they met Rexim and Angry, how Traco and Hey saved them with their unique powers, how Twintopia is led by Kcuhc, and everything that happened in between.

"Well, we are glad to have you, Traco and Hey," said Chuck, finally. "Do you wish to join our group?"

"Of course!" they both yelled in unison. All of a sudden, Chuck heard a creature clearing its throat. Suddenly, it dawned on the party that they had forgotten all about Croconaw.

"Well, I'll be going now. If you need me, I will always be there to help." He teleported back to his house.

So the penguins marched up Dread Mountain, the tallest in the world, silently, for each penguin was thinking about something else. Happy was thinking about his broken iPad. Hey, Traco, Mixer and Summit were thinking about the twins. Chuck was dwelling over the loss of Green. Ron was thinking about his father, Poseidon. And Welcome was thinking about the sad lack of donuts on Dread Mountain.

They were walking up the mountain when all of a sudden, Happy's iPad disappeared from his pocket. "MY iPAD!!! CURSE YOU, CRUEL FATE!!" yelled Happy.

"It's OK, small penguin," said a deep voice from above. "Nothing lasts forever." "It was broken anyway. What did you expect to use it for?" Happy was no longer happy.

"Did YOU take my iPad, disembodied voice?" asked Happy nervously.

The voice laughed. "Of course I did, Happy penguin. And now, you shall get it back." All of a sudden, Happy's iPad appeared in his hands. But it was not Happy's iPad. It was fully functional. It was more sleek and less worn. But it had all of Happy's same data and apps on it. Happy looked up.

"Thank you, voice, for restoring my iPad. But how do you have the power to do this? Do you have some strange power or something?"

The voice laughed "Power? I have no power. I am simply intelligent." In a brilliant flash of light, a blue penguin with a cape appeared on the mountain. "I am Mr. Kowalski. What do you seek?"

Chapter 7

"Lord, we have a problem." Shurow was standing across from Lord Awesome. Shurow's nervousness was all too evident. Lord Awesome wasn't exactly mentally stable, and nobody knew how he would react to this news. "Several problems, actually."

"Get to the point, Shurow!" yelled Lord Awesome impatiently. "Neither of us have all day, do we?"

"O-of course, not, Lord," Shurow stammered. "Well, I am sorry to report t-that w-we failed in the mission..."

"WHAT?" Lord Awesome stood up quickly. "You FAILED?"

"R-remember your mindfulness practice, Lord. Deep breaths, in and out." said Shurow.

"Of course, Shurow. I apologize for getting uncontrollably mad at you. So, what happened? Tell me. I must plan our next steps." Shurow explained how Chuck had gathered a force to combat Lord Awesome and how they had captured one of their penguins. "Well, ALMOST everything is going to plan. The penguin is here? Send him to Katoy. He needs to be instructed." Lord Awesome lingered over the word, as if he was not giving the whole truth to Shurow. Awesome beckoned at one of his servants. "You! Summon the war council. It's time for us to get organized, for once."

Chapter 8

The party was inside Mr. Kowalski's hut, eating delicious snow cones and seaweed pizza. Happy was studying his iPad, which was newly equipped with GPS, thanks to Mr. Kowalski.

"You see," Happy explained to the rest of the party. "We are here, on Dread Mountain. We want to go to the Nook of Knowledge, which is over here."

"But how can you expect to get in?" asked Mr. Kowalski. "The Nook is password-protected. None of you can access it."

"I can," interrupted Chuck. "Gary gave it to me."

"Really? Well, in that case, I can tell you that Lord Awesome is after Deathsinger, one of the Blades."

"Um, sorry?" asked Summit. "I may have missed something here, but what exactly are the Blades?"

Kowalski was about to answer, but Happy interrupted. "I can use this iPad's search tool to research that!" Happy started typing, but then, he stopped. "Um, what did you say the Blade was called? Breathdinger or something?"

"Deathsinger, Happy," Mixer sighed. "The Blade is called Deathsinger!"

"Are you SURE that it's called Deathsinger? I think that Breathdinger sounds right."

Mixer rolled his eyes at Happy. "I am SURE, Happy."

"Well, whatever. If you're wrong, don't blame me!" Happy searched it, and he found a link to a Pengipedia article about it. "Well, whaddaya know? Mixer was right! Hmm, what have we here?"

"Read it, Happy," said Ron.

"Well, OK. Deathsinger is the most powerful of the Blades, used by the Wizards of old to purge the world of necromancers, those who follow the path of death magic. The Wizards succeeded, or so they thought. They did not realize that one Necromancer had survived: Mr. Madness. Mr. Madness was the second-most powerful Necromancer who ever lived, second only to Lord Awesome, who was the apprentice of Mr. Madness. Mr. Madness brought all of the Necromancers back through the Void. The Wizards eventually led most of the Necromancers back into the void, but the remaining Necromancers are becoming more powerful by the day. Legend also has it that Lord Awesome has the ability to communicate with the strongest of the trapped Necromancers. As for the Blades, they are THE most powerful weapons in the known universe. They are all currently stored in the Nook of Knowledge. Each have hidden powers. Deathsinger had the ability to open the gateway to let the Necromancers back into the world. "

"Now do you see why Deathsinger must be protected at all costs? If it gets into the wrong hands, this world will be plunged into turmoil. Complete and utter turmoil!"

"OK, now we know what we need to know," said Chuck. "I guess we will be going now."

"Oh, no you won't." said Mr. Kowalski. "There are still many things that must be discussed. You need to know many more things. I can tell you what you still need to know! I can tell you all of your hidden powers. I can tell you what to do in the event that Lord Awesome has taken the Blade by the time you get to the Nook! I can tell you that there is an EVIL ROBOT hidden in this very room waiting to kill all of you! I can tell you that-"

"Wait, an evil robot in this very room?" exclaimed Summit. As soon as he said that, a robot jumped from the corner of the room and pinned Summit to the ground.

"SUMMIT!" Welcome had just exited Mr. Kowalski's kitchen, and held in his arm many exotic foods. "Do NOT hurt my friends, robot!" Welcome picked up the robot, who was thrashing wildly, and threw him to Mr. Kowalski. "Here! You're smart! You should know what to do!"

Mr. Kowalski almost fumbled the catch, but he managed to keep a hold on the robot. "Whichever of you is the strongest, hold him down for me!" Mixer stepped forwards and placed a hand on the robot's face. Mr. Kowalski began chanting, and green light began to envelop the robot, and the robot began to grow.

"What are you doing?" shouted Traco. "Are you trying to make him BIGGER?"

"No, I am not. As for what I am doing, you shall see soon enough." The robot's metal clothing vanished, and all that remained of the robot was a yellow penguin.

The penguin stood up and looked around. "W-where am I? W-who are you? W-why am I not a robot?"

"We are friends. What is your name?" asked Hey.

"M-my name is Wasp. A-and all of you? Who are you?"

"My name is Chuck. And these penguins are Ron, Hey, Traco, Happy, Mixer, Summit, Welcome, and Mr. Kowalski."

"So, Wasp, do you wish to join our party and help stop Lord Awesome?"

"Well," thought Wasp, "My master would be mad. And you don't want to make Rexim mad. No, no!"

"Are you sure?" asked a mysterious voice.

Chapter 9

"Rexim left you for dead. Get revenge on him! Show Rexim that he is not the only one who can fight." There was something eerie about the way the voice spoke, as if it wasn't saying the whole truth.

"Um, OK..." muttered Wasp, as if in a trance. "I have changed my mind, Chuck. I wish to join your team."

"Alright, Wasp," said Chuck. "In the meantime, we need to talk to Mr. Kowalski. Kowalski, earlier, you were discussing hidden powers. What did you mean?"

"Ah, that. Some of you think you have no powers, you think that you are perfectly normal. I am specifically talking to you, Happy. For example, Happy, did you know that you can shoot laser beams from your eyes?"

"Really? I have always wanted that! Let me try!" Happy squinted, and a beam of red light went from his eyes and hit a bookcase.

"Well, there go some rare books," muttered Mr. Kowalski.

"Sorry, sorry!" said Happy, concerned.

"It's OK, it's OK," assured Mr. Kowalski. "I can just go to the library. I am so popular there that they give me books to keep! That's where I got all of these!"

"Excuse me," interrupted Ron. "But didn't you say something about a backup plan in case Lord Awesome has taken Bladesinger by the time we get to the Nook?

"Ah, yes. Well, there is a penguin who goes by the name of XPlode. He holds the key to the Tower of Lord Awesome, but he will make one of you duel him first. Ron, I suggest you. XPlode is a fire magician, you see. Fire magicians hate water, meaning that they are naturally weak to your powers. The Tower is guarded by three fearsome guardians: Rogerroo the youth drainer, Yappat, and Pingutux. Sadly, I do not know much about the last two. Lord Awesome keeps many secrets.

"May I ask," added Mixer, "If you know anything about the Three Generals?"

"Ah." Kowalski grimaced. "Them. The Three Generals are the three most fearsome magicians that Lord Awesome has gathered since the fall of Mr. Madness. The first and most well-known to me is Damien. Beware of Damien. He may look small and unimportant, but he can pack a punch. Have you seen those scissors? They can snip bone. And not only does he have those scissors, he can turn invisible. And then, of course, there is Shrimp. Shrimp, well, he is also powerful. He carries that bucket of electric eels everywhere he goes. But do NOT let him look at you. Legend says that those eyes can melt your very bones. The last, Herbert, is the most mysterious. He is one of the few non-penguin magicians. He is a polar bear, you see. There is something about him that can drive you insane, but nobody knows what it is, of course. Everyone who knows has been driven insane, so they wouldn't know. He also has a gooey liquid form that can kill you, or at least burn you. That is all I know about them.

"Well, I guess that's everything. We'll be going now, I guess," decided Chuck.

"Wait, one more thing!" exclaimed Mr. Kowalski. "Chuck, come over here. Bring NOBODY else, OK?"

"Excuse me for a second," Chuck said to the party. He walked quietly over to Kowalski. "What is it?"

Kowalski had taken out a very small, blue cat-like creature. "This is Blue," he said. "He has the power of persuasion, but it does not work on Lord Awesome or his Three Generals. Use him well."

"Hello, Chuck. I have heard much about you," said Blue.

"Um, hello, I guess," replied Chuck. Chuck walked over to the party, Blue in his hands. Ron shot him a questioning look.

"And one more thing, guys," said Mr. Kowalski. If you happen to meet a penguin called Chase, send him my regards."

"Will do," said Hey.

Chapter 10

The party was flying through the air on an airplane. The airplane was Traco. Hey, Chuck, Mixer, Happy, Ron, Welcome and Summit were discussing Blue while Wasp was admiring the scenery from the front window.

"Uh-oh," said Wasp. "This can't be good."

"What?" asked Summit. "What can't be good?"

"Flying penguins," he said. "Flying penguins are never good." All of a sudden, the plane shook violently. Wasp read the console on the plane. "It looks like we lost an engine. That means we have three left." The plane shook again. "Make that two," he exclaimed. "Just one left! Looks like we are going down!"

"Wasp!" exclaimed Happy. "Don't you have power over the air?"

"Um, yes. But what does that have to do with...OH!" Wasp squinted and moved his hands about in what seemed like random motions. But the plane stayed in the air. The last engine exploded. Wasp grimaced "I-I can't do this much longer!" A red-clad penguin smashed through the front window and sent Wasp to the floor. The plane dropped as the red-clad penguin exited. The screams of penguins filled the crisp morning air.

Chapter 11

A group of 12 penguins sat around a table. There were several empty seats. None of the penguins looked particularly nice, especially not the one with the scar across his forehead, or the one with the scissors in his hands.

"Where is he? Is he late again?" asked Lord Awesome.

"He is always late," added Evil Agent Dps, one of Lord Awesome's most trusted henchmen.

"No matter," decided Lord Awesome. "You!" he said, pointing to one of his servants. "Get the attendance list!" The servant bowed and hurried out of the room. "They don't make good servants anymore," he muttered under his breath. The servant came back into the room.

"Read the attendance list!" Shrimp commanded. "In alphabetical order!"

"When the attendance dude calls your name, please raise your flipper, hand, paw or whatever you have!" shouted Damien.

"Bama!" shouted the servant.

"Bama has the flu," interrupted Herbert. "I hope he gets better soon. I wouldn't want him to miss our epic triumph."

"Cylly!" A thin penguin with a long green cape raised her hand.

"Damien!" Damien got to his feet. "You pronounce my name wrong, servant boy! My name is not DAY-mee-en! The name is DAH-myen! DAH-myen! Not DAY-mee-en!"

"Calm yourself, DAH-myen," said Lord Awesome. "You don't want to use all of your strength before the battle starts."

"Evil Agent Dps!" A tall, dark penguin with sunglasses raised his hand.

"FS!"

"First of all, his name is THE IMPERSONATOR! This list must be outdated. Second of all, The Impersonator, along with Nogginfan and NinjaON, is currently attempting to deal with that pesky creature named Chuck. I have no doubt that they shall fail, but we cannot have Chuck ambush us while we are meeting. That would be a bit messy, considering the protections of this room. Continue reading the names, servant!"

"Herbert!"

"Did you really need to ask whether or not I am here?" said Herbert, exasperated.

"Katoy!" A cat-like penguin raised her paw.

"Lord Awesome!" Lord Awesome raised his flipper with an annoyed glance at Damien.

"MVZMW!"

"He is on vacation in Australia," said a deep voice. Lord Awesome looked around, and his eyes widened in shock. Croconaw had spoken. He was accompanied by Shurow, NGG and a masked penguin. "I got the postcard today. He's my cousin, you know."

"NGG, I fail to see how you were late with such a creature as Croconaw." chastised Lord Awesome.

"Sorry, that was my fault, my Lord," said Shurow. "I wanted some hot chocolate. That delayed us quite a bit."

"No matter. But Croconaw! What a surprise! What brings you here to my Tower?

"As you should know, Lord Awesome, I serve the side that I believe shall win. All that Chuck has is a bunch of untrained soldiers. How could they beat the all-powerful Lord Awesome?"

"I am glad to hear that you have come to your senses, Croconaw!" said Lord Awesome. "I see that you have returned Phantom to me. He really shouldn't have tried to run away. Nothing escapes the clutches of Lord Awesome. I thought he had understood that." Phantom bowed his head, ashamed. "Get on with the attendance, servant!"

"Pingutux! Psaro! Rogerroo! Shrimp! XPlode! Yappat!" Six penguins raised their hands.

"Servant, you may exit. Welcome, friends, to our first meeting of the War Council--Croconaw, sit down! There's a chair right here! As you may know, a group of penguins led by Detective Chuck is trying to stop me from obtaining Deathsinger, the most powerful Blade. I am attempting to revive the contingent of Necromancers that were sucked into the Void many years ago, before most of you were even BORN. That includes you, NGG."

"I am aware of that," snarled NGG. "Though I may be old, I am not as old as some..."

"I shall ignore that blatant insult on my age," continued Lord Awesome. "Anyway, as I was saying, I want Deathsinger. Everyone wants Deathsinger, except for my mother. She's too busy baking gingersnap cookies for my return." This comment drew a few laughs, but Lord Awesome froze them all with a look that could kill the weak of heart. As it happens, the servant died on the spot. "I intend to use Deathsinger to return the necromancers to the world and destroy Chuck once and for all!" Everybody applauded. "Now, we need to come up with a few plans. Gather round, friends. I don't bite." And Lord Awesome began to whisper instructions to his minions...

Chapter 12

Chuck opened his eyes. He was lying on red hot sand. He winced as the heat burned through his skin. He looked around and saw that he and his friends were bound with rope, and he saw three penguins, one clad in red, conversing quietly in the corner. Chuck felt an urge to interrupt their conversation. "Hey you! Dude in red! What am I doing here?"

The three penguins turned around. Chuck could see that the second penguin wore a pink tiara, and that the third penguin wore a dress of seafoam green. Chuck laughed. :"Do not insult ussssssss, foul detective!" hissed the penguin in the dress. "Our master found thisssssss appearance pleasing when he employed ussssssss!"

"And I assume that your master is Lord Awesome?" asked Summit.

"Of courssssssse!" said the penguin in red, exasperated. "What did you think? Did you think that we wanted to come out here on thisssssss hot day? But what master saysssssss, we do! For we are the Brotherhood of Evil! I am NinjaON, the leader of thisssssss group! The penguin in the beautiful pink tiara is The Impersonator. He is extremely skilled in the art of impersonating, as his name suggests. And the penguin whose senior prom is tonight isssssss known as Nogginfan! We have been instructed by the master to bring you to him, so that he may execute you!"

"No, no!" said a hypnotizing voice coming from Chuck's pocket. "Execution is bad. What have these penguins done to you?"

"They make a good point," nodded The Impersonator.

"Foolsssssss!" NinjaON slapped The Impersonator. He manipulatessssssss you! Do you not see? The detective carries a hypnocat!"

"A hypnocat?" said Nogginfan excitedly. "Can we get one of those?"

"Of course not!" shouted NinjaON. We need to fight these penguinsssssss!"

"Please?" asked Nogginfan and The Impersonator. "Please please please please please please please please?"

"Oh, all right," sighed NinjaON. Nogginfan high-fived The Impersonator. "Prisonersssssss, we are going shopping! When we return, I expect that you shall be in that exact position, otherwissssssse we shall have to call Damien, I mean DAH-myen, to cut you up into little tiny piecesssssss, no? See you later! And Nogginfan, please tie your shoe! I might trip over it!"

As the Brotherhood flew off into the distance, a grey penguin climbed out of a pit of sand. "Well, well," he said. "If it isn't the famous Detective Chuck. I was told that you would be here."

"Um, who are you, and where on earth did you come from?" asked Traco.

"My name is Chase," said Chase. Chuck perked up at the name. It sounded familiar somehow. "As for how I got here, the birds and the beasts told me that our only hope was tied up in a desert. I took it upon myself to rescue you."

All of a sudden, Chuck remembered where he had heard the name. "You're Chase!" he exclaimed. "Mr. Kowalski told us about you."

"Did he now? Well, I haven't seem him in a while. But that's enough small talk. I suppose you want untying now, don't you?" The party nodded in agreement. "OK, I guess I will untie you now. I suppose you want to talk to Mr. Kowalski?"

"Yes, that would be nice," said Hey.

"OK," said Chase. "You, over there!" He pointed at a squirrel circling around the party. "Bring this note to Mr. Kowalski at once!" The squirrel nodded and ran off. "And you," Chase pointed to an eagle. "Make sure that three flying penguins don't get back here anytime soon! OK?" The eagle also nodded, and with a triumphant cry, he flew towards the shopping mall.

The penguins waited for a few minutes in the desert. All of a sudden, a penguin in a strange vehicle came riding behind the squirrel that Chase had sent to find Mr. Kowalski. "Well, hello, penguins and Chase! Long time no see! A squirrel informed me that I was needed here. I assume that was Chase's doing. So, do you have any questions for me?"

"As always, we do." sighed Chuck. "Well, as you may know, we lost a friend recently. His name was Green. He was taken by Shurow when we battled him in Dinosaur Forest. Is there a way to get him back?"

"Well, the only way to get him back is to storm the Tower of Lord Awesome. But of course, you are planning to do that anyway. Do you have any other questions?"

"Yes, we do. You told us to go to the Nook. But where IS it?" asked Happy.

"A very good question," said Mr. Kowalski. "Just what I would expect for an insightful penguin such as you. The Nook is hidden inside a shopping center. Look for a store called Helen's Skirt Shop." Mr. Kowalski passed Chuck a piece of parchment. "Here is a map of the Shop. The area with the red "X" is the entrance to the Nook." Mr. Kowalski paused to let this new information sink in. "Well, I have to go now," he said. "My security systems are picking up some intruders. Do widzenia!" Mr. Kowalski sped off on his strange vehicle.

"What did he say at the end?" Welcome asked.

"It means 'goodbye' in an ancient language known as Polish," Happy quoted. "This Pengipedia thing is really useful! Did you know that I am Gary's second cousin? Anyway, we're getting off track. To the Skirt Shop!"