Penguins of Anarchy IV: Endgame

Prologue

Three penguins lay in a room. It was utterly silent aside from a pounding at the door. All three of the penguins were badly wounded, so badly that none of them had an assured chance of surviving.

The first penguin was a valiant warrior, a kid-turned-hero who once had wild dreams of leaving his home island and going on great adventures. Now he was a war hero who'd bitten off more than he could chew, but he'd still do everything in his power to get the job done—even if it cost him his life.

The second penguin was a reckless soldier, someone so molded by a lifetime of warring and loss that it had become a part of him, and he knew of nothing else. He had no idea where to go should this great war end with him still alive.

The third penguin was a bloodthirsty, genocidal maniac who had killed millions of innocent penguins but planned to rebuild the world into his ideal utopia if he survived the day. He was no hero, but he wasn't always the villain that he was now.

These three warriors, the most powerful soldiers alive, were all lying on the cold floor, gasping for breath, wondering how many breaths they had left, and wondering how they'd be remembered when they were gone. The winners write history, after all.

There was only one fact that they all knew: Only one of them would ever leave this place alive.

But that was in the near future. A while ago, a news station broadcasted this on every channel, on every television in North America: A blonde anchorpenguin reported, "We've just received word that the Martial Alliance has conquered the remaining resisting territories of Africa. The entire continent is under American control now. President Agamemnon will be making a public announcement of Africa's defeat within days, in New York City. Omniscion, Supreme Commander of the Martial Alliance, was meant to be joining the president during his speech, but has become tied up for unspecified reasons and will not be present for the conference."

I made a mistake. You make a mistake, you have to live with the consequences. I sure wish I had listened to that little voice in my head a little more often—the one telling me I'm doing something really stupid.

Far away, in Antarctica, another news station was broadcasting a big story. Five-second footage was played on a loop of a scowling brown penguin with silver hair driving his fist into the face of a yellow-green penguin with black hair as they stood on a stage. As this was shown, a news anchor said, "We've just received this footage of General Waff, leader of the Antarctican Army, driving a blow to the face of Sergeant Dreemo, a member of Task Force Anarchy who is widely regarded as a young war hero. Apparently, General Waff was announcing his plans for Project Homefront, a project intended to beef up Antarctica's defense systems in preparation for the next inevitable Martial Alliance attack, when Sgt. Dreemo shoved him off of the stage and encouraged the crowd to go on the offensive against the Martial Alliance, stating that no defensive measures could ever stop the Martial Alliance from taking over Antarctica. General Waff then got up and drove his fist into Sgt. Dreemo's face, knocking the young soldier unconscious, as shown in this footage. Waff then violently defended his plans for Project Homefront, stating that he has the absolute authority on how to respond to the American threat.

"Much of the crowd was cheering for Sgt. Dreemo as he made his passionate speech. Everyone is now wondering where the Antarctican Army will go from here, if it becomes divided between Project Homefront and going on the offensive."

I thought I could just go out on a limb and fix everything. Turns out there are some things that I just can't do alone. Too bad I didn't learn that sooner.

Several days later, all televisions in America were once again forced to display the news channel as a distraught-looking anchorpenguin said in a shaky voice, "Today is a very sad, very dark, and very disconcerting day for North America and the Martial Alliance. Agamemnon467, President of North America, has been assassinated by foreign infiltrators. One of the infiltrators has been killed, while the rest are still at large and have taken an American gunship with cloaking capabilities, meaning they could go anywhere unseen unless the cloaking device's solar-powered battery runs out. It's been reported that there are four enemy soldiers in total that are still at large. If anyone sees anything suspicious or spots a military gunship flying overhead, please report it immediately. God help us all as we mourn the loss of our president and pray that we can make it through this tragic time without any more casualties."