" Meet the Sergeants, in 2023"
Hello and welcome to " Meet the Sergeants, in 2023". It is a branch from my other story " In the Not Too Distant Future". This is not meant to be a sequel, just a further peek into the characters' futures. Also. This was one of my original ideas that I was going to post before the other one came to mind, but I wanted to clarify the O/C's and a few other things before hand. Anyways. Please enjoy.
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It was September 4, 2023 in New York City, New York. Maddie, who was now twelve years old, was just
barely starting the seventh grade, along with her cousins, Debra and Barbara. All three girls had grown a lot
since they were little, but they were not nearly as tall as their parents. On their way home from the middle
school, which was located in the basement of an abandoned building, two blocks in front of the zoo, the girls
began talking about their day.
" Oh, my, gosh," Debra the dolphin squealed. " Did you see the way that other dolphin looked at me in Home
Economics? He was a hunk."
" No," Barbara scoffed then pushed her eyeglasses back up to the base of her beak. " I was too busy
ionizing the charged particles for my electromagnetic field. It should be ready for its first field test, next
Thursday."
" Bar-Bar," Debra raised an eyebrow at her intelligent, younger sister. Due to her performance in elementary
school, Barbara got to skip a grade. Debra resented her for that and had been harsh about it ever since.
" What, Debs," Barbara stared up at Debra, knowing that she was going to say something rude to her.
" You're such a science geek," Debra rolled her blue eyes.
" And you are a boy crazy, fashion snob," Barbara glared with her brown eyes then waddled ahead of the
group.
" Barbara, wait," Maddie walked to catch up to her cousin. " Remember the penguin credo that our fathers
go by?"
" Never swim alone," Barbara glanced at Maddie. " I know. My father reminds me of it everyday. And every
time I forget it or I get into trouble for destroying something with one of my science experiments, he makes
me recite the entire forty-six page long speech about it from memory. It's insane."
" At least your father doesn't make you run five laps around the zoo as a punishment, like mine does,"
Maddie pointed to herself. " or put you on maitenance duty for a month."
" I thought that was you running around the zoo," Debra snickered as she caught up from behind. " What
did you do to deserve that?"
" I broke Max's walkman by accident," Maddie snarled. " You see, I asked him if I could borrow it so I can test
the effects of music on plants and he said it was okay. Well, last week, when I went to go get the walkman
from him, Max refused to give it to me, so I snatched it from his flippers and we chased each other around
the otter habitat. And while we were chasing each other, Max tackled me, and caused me to fall down and
break his Walkman. That's when my daddy caught us and punished us both for fighting. It was one of the
worst days of my life."
" Whoa," Debra and Barbara's eyes widened.
" Help," a male's voice screeched. " Somebody help."
" Did you hear that," Maddie stopped walking and looked around. Her cousins did the same, except they
stopped and looked at Maddie.
" I'm sure it's just a panhandler trying to hustle a few bucks off of someone," Barbara sniffed then began
waddling away with her sister. " Just keep walking." Maddie shook her head, peered into an alley, and saw
a couple of large Dobermans, chasing a tabby cat. Maddie then looked over at her cousins, who were pretending that they did not hear anything. The otter rolled her eyes then rushed into the alley to help
whoever was yelling.
" Okay, Max," one of the Dobermans, snarled as he got close to the cat's face. " Where are those bones you
owe us?"
" I have no idea what you're talking about," Max, an orange tabby, with one blue eye and one green eye,
scrunched into a corner by a dumpster. " I paid you my rent last month."
" That was only a couple of banana peels and a picture of your Aunt Martha," the other Doberman, chomped.
" Now, where are the goods?"
" I don't have them," Max shrugged. " I seem to have left them in my other fur coat."
" Monty," the first Doberman licked his scarred lips as he whispered. " How about we persuade 'em."
" After you, Roscoe," Monty, who had a scar over his right eye, smirked. " After all, you're the boss."
Suddenly, he and Monty chuckled and jumped toward Max.
Max covered his head with his paws, expecting the worse to come, but it did not. When he opened his eyes,
he had discovered that a black and white otter had pushed the Dobermans off to the side.
She began punching and kicking them. " You," Maddie growled. " You two leave that cat alone." Suddenly,
Roscoe swung one of his paws and hit Maddie clear across the side of her face, causing her to skid across
and fall flat onto the ground.
" You stay out of this, girly," Roscoe snapped. " This is between me and the feline. You dig?"
" I don't think so," Maddie rubbed the sore side of her face then hopped back up on her feet. She lunged
toward the dogs, again. " Hiya," the otter cried as she did a flying, helicopter kick. She popped them both in
the mouths, knocking a couple of their teeth out, and began running away. The dogs rubbed their mouths
where Maddie had hit them and began chasing her down the alley, away from the direction of the otter's
cousins and Max the cat.
Less than a few seconds later, Maddie had reached a chain link fence, which had a small basketball court
behind it. She stopped and began searching for a quick way to get out and lead the Dobermans further
away from Max. Soon, Maddie turned around and noticed that the dogs were only a few feet away from her,
cutting her planning time short. Both were growling as their teeth started showing. The young otter took a
deep breath as she backed up then charged at the dogs at full speed. Next, she jumped off of Monty's head
and did the corkscrew move, which she had been able to do since she was a baby, and landed feet first on
top of the dogs, knocking them both unconscious. Maddie wiped the dust off of her paws by clapping them
together and went back to find Max. He was still hiding in the corner. His eyes were widened from what he
had just seen the young otter do. Maddie approached him slowly then stopped several inches away. " You
can come out now," the young otter smirked.
" Thanks, little girl," Max grinned as he stood up on his hind paws. " You know, you really shouldn't be
walking the streets of the city by yourself. It's dangerous."
" I was with my cousins when I saw you were in trouble," Maddie shrugged. " So, I left them to help you."
" That's real nice of you," Max stated as he stared at the otter. " Say, why are you black and white?"
" I'm part penguin," Maddie retorted, lowering her eyebrows.
" Part penguin, you say," Max put a paw to his chin. " Is your father by any chance a leader of a group of
penguins at the Central Park Zoo? You know, the one that leads the one with the clipboard, the one with
the accent, and the one that coughs up random things."
" Yes," Maddie squinted her eyes at the cat and raised one of her eyebrows. " You know him?" I can see why
Momma and Daddy told me never to talk to strangers. They ask too many questions.
" Of course," Max nodded his head. " His name was Skipper, I believe. I haven't seen him and the other
flightless birds in years. How are they?"
" The same as usual, I guess," Maddie rolled her sapphire blue eyes as she spoke slowly.
" Did they ever mention me to you," Max quickly mumbled.
" Come to think of it," Maddie tapped her chin with one of her paws as she stared at Max. " No, they haven't.
Anyway, I've got to get going. If my daddy sees me come home by myself, he'll put me on maintenance duty
for a month."
" Can I come with you, please," Max raised both of his eyebrows and clasped his front paws together.
" Sure," Maddie uttered with a slight smile. " Why not?" Maddie's memo log: Keep an eye on this cat who calls
himself by the same name as my brother. " Besides," she stated. " If my daddy doesn't believe me at least I'll
have you there to convince him otherwise."
" Oh, thank-you," Max shouted as he grabbed and shook one of Maddie's paws. " Thank-you. Thank-you.
And don't worry, I'll fill in every detail to Skipper about what a life saver you are. He'll be so proud."
Meanwhile, Debra and Barbara arrived at the zoo gates where their parents, along with the other kids, were
waiting for them.
" Hi Momma. Hi Daddy," Barbara waved at Kowalski and Doris.
" Hey kids," Doris smiled. " How was school?"
" Same old, same old," Debra scoffed.
" Where's Maddie," Skipper raised an eyebrow at the girls.
" Oh. She is," Barbara turned around then turned back. " She was right behind us."
" Was," Skipper's voice cracked then firmed as he put his flippers on his hips. " Where was the last place you
seen her?"
" On Broadway Avenue and Sunnyvale Lane, I think," Barbara looked up at him as she pointed behind
herself.
" Great," Skipper grumbled under his breath then dashed off, leaving his son, Max, behind with the others.
Max, who was shorter than his sister, was a brown and white penguin with brown eyes. Also, he was only
eight years old and went to the elementary school, which was located in the central furnace room. He sat in
one spot as he watched his father run off to find Maddie.
" I should probably follow him, incase he has an emotional breakdown," Kowalski muttered to Doris, kissed
her on the cheek then waddled off to catch up to Skipper. When he finally caught up to Skipper, he began
talking. " Skipper," he huffed. " You're never going to find Maddie going at this rapid rate. You might miss
her."
" I'm aiming at starting off at Barbara's coordinates first then making my way slowly down the streets,
Kowalski," Skipper puffed. " But thanks for telling me that."
Eventually, the two made it to the proper street signs then began to look around. They searched for almost
an hour, before stopping for a break behind a trashcan. Skipper sat down and covered his eyes with his
flippers, while Kowalski sat down next to him leaned his back against the trashcan. Kowalski looked down at
his oldest brother. He could tell he was stressed out and worried.
Skipper took a deep sigh. " This is just great," his voice shook a bit as he tried to hold back his tears. " First
Marlene, now Maddie."
" Skipper," Kowalski laid a flipper on one of Skipper's shoulders. " If Maddie is anything like you or Marlene,
she'll be fine."
" But what if she isn't, Kowalski," Skipper looked up from his flippers as tears began escaping from his eyes.
" For all we know, she could've been kidnapped, murdered, or something else unmentionable. I mean, what
if I never see her, again?"
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Wow. There is a forty-six page long speech about the penguin credo? That is insane. LOL. Whoa . A Doberman hit Maddie? That was not right! Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 2. Catch Kowalski's reaction to Skipper's outburst. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: The other kids and characters from " In the Not Too Distant Future" will appear later. Thank-you for reading this message.