A/N: Hey, everyone! Welcome to my story 'The Last Bow'. Remember, Penguins of Madagascar does not belong to Kookiebites13. She only owns Nana and some other OCs (and the story!) I hope you like it.
The Last Bow
Prologue 1
"The real job of a leader is the Four Ifs, young Private. And our real job is to protect each other."
Paris, France, ten years ago...
The old penguin waddles to her desk where her guest is waiting. Her guest is short and tiny. She's supposed to look cute but the guest only stares at her with no emotion. "Have you ever heard about a fairy tale called 'The Cat in the Lion?" Nana, the old penguin started.
"I've never heard such thing, Madam. I'm only interested in something more complicated than child fantasy stories. They only bring lies, though they do have good moral messages." Nana smiles at her tiny guest. Nana takes a sip of her tea and takes an action request file her guest had brought when she came. She starts reading it before letting out a sigh.
"Your whole life is complicated," Nana said with her eyes still at the papers.
"Well at least I don't have a son that betrays MIX." Nana didn't give any reaction. The tiny lemur always uses that fact to mock her back.
"The lion only scares the other animals. He is dangerous and smart but behind those fangs he's just a little cat. Fragile."
"It's either you who wants to be a fairy tale writer or you refers that story to me," the lemur stares at her interrogatively.
"You and I both know that you serve both good and evil. But your decision is what I'm worried about. Maybe it's not today, it's not tomorrow, but one day you'll have to make a decision. I'm not worried that you will choose evil over good but I fear that you will not be able to make a choice at all." Her guest seemed to be ignoring her but Nana knows that she actually heard every word of it. The lemur looked around, trying to change the topic and finally her eyes landed on the framed picture on Nana's desk. It's a picture of her grandson on his first mission, and that reminds her of something.
"I'm afraid agents of MIX have considered that you and your grandson's team are too old to play this game. They wanted to make the little one captain and get him his own team. But of course, it's still your decision."
When Nana let out another sigh, Kugy secretly whispered a victorious shout. When it's about her grandson, Nana did not dare to ignore the topic. She closes the file and looks at her in the eyes. "What about you? What do you think? Am I too old to play this game?" She grinned.
"Old people are the wisest." That's what her father had taught her.
"And do you think the little one's ready to be captain?" There's a long pause between them. Kugy knew that Nana was trying to backfire the situation. But for a genius, Kugy knows more about the old lady's trick. She smiled slightly before she finally answers.
"Not yet, but what better time to start training him than now? He needs to be ready anytime. And your grandson won't be alive forever, you know." Nana stared at her window. She loves this job. Was it too fun that she forgot how long she has been sitting there, leading the world's famous MIX?
"I think I'm ready to let go of my position, but I don't think so about my grandson." This time there's a tone of doubt, and Kugy spares the old lady from another shot of arguments. Instead, she responds gently.
"Your grandson is a good agent, and so as the other three. But just because their job here ends that doesn't mean they'll stop playing. If there is one thing that I'm sure about your grandson's team, is that they'll stop playing when they're dead. The game is not done yet. And another one is coming. I'm sure he will find it exciting." Nana smiled again and turns back to face her. She smiles slightly in agreement, but then the smile turns into something crazy. One look and Kugy knows the old lady's starting to go loco again. "You're going to take back Thames, aren't you?"
"Yes I will, my dear. It's never too late to have two headquarters. I love this city but I love Thames more." Suddenly the phone in Nana's office rings and the old penguin answers it without breaking eye contact with the lemur. "Yo, it's Nana... Okay, bring them in. We got some bad penguin butts to kick!" Nana ends the call and stares back at the grinning kid.
"I think that's a signal for my mission," she said to Nana. She saluted her and then walks to leave the room. But before she could leave, Nana stops her.
"Wait a minute, Kugy." Kugy turns around. "If you have the flash disk, would you protect it? Just ... picture it as one last favor for me." Kugy smiled.
"Certainly." Kugy left the room and Nana goes back to signing papers when suddenly three penguins enters her office and salutes her.
One is flat headed, one is tall, and the other one has a scar on his face. "Good morning, boys. I have a special assignment for you."
New York City, 15 years earlier...
"Father?" called a little girl. She has never been invited to her father's lab before and she got lost after taking some wrong turns in the main hall. Now she finds herself wandering in a dark smaller hall. The place is so cold as if no one has ever been there before. But she forced herself to be brave.
The girl was much smaller compared to herself now. She has grown up, and that cold-dark hall is just a memory now. That memory is just a piece of chapters that shouldn't have existed in her innocent mind. But Fate just loves twisting the story of life. And the little girl wouldn't be like who she is now if it weren't for some wrong steps she made fifteen years ago in her father's lab.
It's funny how life can be different just because of a few steps, isn't it?
"Father? You wanted to see me?"
But what if those wrong steps were actually the steps that her father wanted? What if Fate never changes anything at all? What if Fate wanted to tell her to run away instead of keep searching for her father?
But sometimes Fate is so selfish. Besides, to Fate, this whole life is just a show. And Fate wouldn't want to miss this special twist.
The little girl keeps moving forward. After wandering around for five minutes, she found doors – lots of doors. Each has a number printed on it.
Then she stopped in front of one of the doors. This one has the number thirty-two printed on it. Perhaps it is a coincidence, for thirty-two is the little girl's favorite number. But in this world, coincidence is just an excuse that Fate uses to keep every living thing brave so that the story could go on with the twist she wanted. Because curiosity strengthen imagination. If there's imagination, there will be spoilers. And you know how much Fate hates spoilers.
She tried to open the door as silently as she can, but the door is old and creaking sounds can't be avoided. The room is just as dark as the hall, except for a blue light coming from the far corner.
But the blue light is pretty, and the little girl is just an innocent child back then.
"Hello? Who's there?" With only the blue light as her light source, she walks in.
The room has an unpleasant smell, but her brother is used to play with stinky chemicals so she can handle it. This room smelled like some red liquid her brother called blood, and so far it's the smell she hates the most. What is it for, anyway? she thought.
She bumped into a few tables while walking towards the light, but she didn't suspect a thing. So she continued on, until she makes the last turn and found where the blue light was coming from.
It was an animal. And by the looks of it, dead.
That Christmas was the day she found out what blood really is, for the liquid was everywhere on that shining dead body. But how is it possible? The animal is certainly not a firefly, how does it shine?
She was about to run away when the neon lamps on the ceiling flicker on, and she can see what she bumped into. A metal table, with dead bodies on it.
She ran out of the room as fast as she can with a long, frightened scream. A shriek that probably could wake the dead bodies in room thirty-two.
She almost made it out of the hall, when two silhouettes suddenly appear in front of her.
"Aah! No! No! FATHER!" she screamed, tears already running down her cheeks.
"Calm down, Dear. What's wrong?" She mentally sighed in relief when she saw that the two silhouettes are her father and her brother, but she won't stop shaking and crying her eyes out.
From behind her father, two smaller silhouettes appear.
"What's wrong with her?" said one of the smaller silhouettes, raising his eyebrow. The other remained silent.
"I don't know. She came running towards us and she's already crying. Pff, cry baby!" scoffed her brother, crossing his flippers and smirking.
"Come on, boys. Let's go back upstairs. It's your turn to open the presents, right, Skipper?" The flat headed boy nodded. "There, there, girl. I was looking for you! I told you to meet me in my office, what were you doing in there?" The three already walked away, but Skipper and his friend are still standing there, near the dark hall. They saw a light coming from one of the rooms down the hall – a blue light – but shrugged it off.
"Is she going to be ok?" asked his friend. "She looks so frightened, Skipper. What do you think is down there?"
"Oh, we know exactly what's down there, Kowalski," said Skipper so casually. Then he grabs Kowalski and they both belly slid to catch up with the other three. "Hurry up! My gut says that there's that missile toy I wanted!"
The girl's father raised his eyebrow at his nephew. "Your gut, Skipper?"
"Yeah, my gut instinct! Let's go, Kowalski!" Skipper belly slid to the stairs, Kowalski following not far behind him.
"Hey, wait for me!" shouted her brother, and he followed them too.
Her father can only smile.
So he carries the crying girl upstairs and left the lab.
The girl never noticed that the light in room thirty-two suddenly went out by itself. But her father did.
A/N: Alright, that's a wrap! Tell me what you think ;)
P.S: If you're confused, the second part of this chapter is fifteen years before the events of the first part that happens in Paris.
Thanks for reading!