"I have a plan, but you're not going to like it," I said.

Skipper glanced at me doubtfully. "I have a feeling that I'm not going to like it too."

Kowalski turned his gaze on me. "What is it?"

I looked at Skipper. "This has something to do with the deal we made earlier. I'll distract X while you guys escape."

"Hey!" argued Skipper. "When I made that promise earlier, I didn't plan for this."

I glanced sharply at him. "We made a deal, so don't you tell me that you're going to back out of it."

We reached a dead end. I looked at them all in turn. "Don't you see? I'm not going to let another penguin die on my watch again. You all have a better chance of making it out of here if I distract X."

Private placed a flipper on my back. "Skipper is right, Nathan. We can't let you do this."

Kowalski stepped up. "Never swim alone, remember?"

Rico nodded. "Relatively few penguins get left behind," he said.

I smiled at them. "As much as I hate you all right now, no penguin could ever wish for a better team."

Skipper smirked. "You can say that again."

"All right. No penguin could ever wish for a better team," I repeated.

Skipper rolled his eyes at me. "You'll never change, will you?"

I scoffed. "Of course not!"

Private smiled. "You know, we're all one big family."

I looked at him. "What happened to the happy part?"

"That part doesn't apply to us," said Kowalski.

"So," I said. "What's the plan, Kowalski my man?"

I chuckled. "See, it rhymes."

Everybody rolled their eyes. Skipper glanced at our only exit. "Hey, where's X? He should be here by now."

Private opened his beak. "Don't jinx it!" I shouted, but it was already too late.

"Maybe we lost him."

At that moment, X came around the corner. "Looks like I got you rule-breaking birds caught," he said.

Private whimpered. "Oh dear."

Kowalski smirked and glanced at me. "Wing it?" he suggested.

I looked at him. "I see you have a plan."

"You know," said Skipper. "I once took down a walrus with a wing, a prayer, and another wing."

I crouched down, ready to attack. "Oh really? How do you plan on beating this one?"

"Several wings, two prayers, and three sticks of dynamite."

I smiled. "On your mark?"

Skipper fixed his gaze on X. "Attack!"