A Bi-Polar Christmas
Skipper watched out of the periscope as the boys, with the help of Marlene, put headquarters into its Christmas best. He saw Alice, who was actually in a good mood and doing her best to stay that way. She was also trying to put the zoo into its Christmas best, but unlike the work going on in HQ it was slow going for Alice because her bosses just wouldn't leave her to it. Every time she would start on a Christmas thing they would call her away for something else. What irked Skipper the most was that they were also expecting her to get the zoo decorated ASAP.
Skipper, infected with the Christmas spirit as he was, just couldn't stand it. He actually made an angry sound that everyone in the base heard when he saw her get yelled at because she wasn't over in the chimpanzee habitat doing some other job while she was trying to string a garland around a light poll.
"Fine! If this place is going to get decorated then the animals are going to have to do it themselves!" she said as she threw it to the ground and stormed off to see to Phil and Mason. Residing herself to her normal bad mood.
"Not the garland! Those are The Privates favorite!" Skipper suddenly shouted. Making everyone, who was already watching him, tilt their heads in confusion. "Well, with the exception of The Plazas Tree of course." he said to himself as he turned around.
"Whats wrong Skipper?" asked Marlene
"Uh, well this is going to sound weird coming from me, but I'm starting to feel kind of sorry for Alice." he replied Everyone gave him a dumbfounded look. Rico was so stunned he burped up the Spanish Guitar that Kowalski had made with the others for Marlene.
He picked it up, hid it behind his back then jumped behind Private. "Sh!" he told him when he looked at him, because Marlene was looking to.
"Well, it looks like someone is suffering from a bad case of Christmas-itis." said Kowalski grinning.
"Is there any cure?" asked Skipper faining concern.
"I hope not!" said Private and Marlene together. Everyone laughed.
"So whats the problem?" Marlene asked afterwards. So Skipper briefed them on what he just saw.
"Well, that isn't fair at all." said Private after Skipper was finished.
"Thats what I was thinking." Skipper said
"So what are we going to do?" asked Rico
Just when Skipper was about to give his usual response of: 'Kowalski options!' Marlene said "We should do exactly what she said! Do the decorating ourselves! It will be much faster, get everyone in the Christmas mood and get Alices bosses off her back."
"Yeah, she will think that it was Christmas miracle!" said Private "I like that plan!"
"Your starting to sound like Mort, but yes I agree. Today, after closing time Operation: Deck The Halls is a go!" announced Skipper
So they spent the rest of the day, after HQ was finished, doing what they would normally do. For the penguins it was either elaborate swimming routines or smiling and waving at many a happy tourist. For Marlene it was doing flip tricks on her slid for the kiddies. As soon as the gate was shut Skipper had his team round up all their friends.
"Alright, I have bad news. Thanks to her bosses Alice won't decorate the zoo this year." said Skipper There were a lot of 'Awes', 'Darn its' and 'Whys?' "There riding her thats why, even harder then I ride my boys sometimes!" There were a couple of amazed looks and 'Wows'. "So I think its up to us to get this place ready for Christmas, who is with me?" Everyone was in. Skipper split them into teams and gave each team an assignment. Team Penguin took turns standing on the clock tower looking down at the zoo and deciding which parts of the zoo to do next. At one point Skipper was up there thinking, Marlene had followed him during the break in the action.
"I'm glad that you have gotten over that silly paranoid thought that she is a threat to you." she said
"Oh, shes still a threat to our operations. You have seen the suspicious looks she shoots us." Skipper replied "I just couldn't stand they way she was being treated."
"Thats not really what I meant. I meant how you thought that, given the chance, she would hurt you guys." replied Marlene
"Oh, well there was that time that she made it so Rico couldn't hack up that time bomb, remember that?"
"Yes, I remember when you guys told me about that. That was a misunderstanding though. She thought that he was sick and your paranoid mind led you into another direction, just like what started that whole thing in the first place."
"How do you know?" he asked
"I had Phil and Mason do some re-con." she answered He gave her a surprised look. "You just don't want to admit that shes kind of grown on you."
"Hmph!" was his response. As he couldn't come up with a suitable comeback. Marlene grinned at him.
Later when it was all done Private And Mort were standing there. Private was going to let Mort flip the switch that Kowalski made that turned it all on. He had a set of binoculars with him to make sure that everything turned on alright.
He also had a walkie talkie with him: "Alright, give us a countdown then!" He said to the others on the ground.
Skipper signaled everyone else: "Five, four, three, two, one!" Private then signaled to Mort, who flipped the switched. There was a pause then everything turned on fine.
"Yeah!" everyone cheered
"Look how pretty!" shouted Mort jumping up and down.
Private looked throughout the zoo with his binoculars to make sure everything had indeed turned on. When he was sure everything was fine he nodded, his eyes lingering on the garlands on the light poles. Skipper was right, they were his favorite decoration in the zoo. "Yup, its very pretty." he replied smiling at Mort.
All the pretty decorations and all the work of putting them up couldn't help but remind him of a Christmas that wasn't to long ago. Though it started and ended on Madagascar it was still one of his favorite ones to look fondly back on. It was when he met Cupid one of Santas reindeer, who had crashed and lost his memory because of Julian and Alex The Loin. He liked her and she liked him. Then they, he and his teammates, got to help save Christmas by taking her and the other reindeer places and helped deliver all the gifts. He had actually used her as his happy thought to get air born. He could only imagine what the other penguins thought of. Though in Ricos case he was glad to keep that a mystery. They ended up back on Madagascar at the end because they had to make sure Santa was alright. Which he was only after he, Private, accidentally bashed him with the sleigh. "We'll always have Madagascar!" He had shouted before she was gone. He couldn't help but wonder if she thought of him now and then. He was so deep in thought that he thought that he heard her calling him. He was a bit embarrassed when he realized it was Skipper over the walkie talkie he had forgotten he was holding.
"Private! I said is it mission accomplished? Did all the lights come on?"
"Oh! Sorry Skipper! Yes, everything came on perfectly." he replied "It looks great from up here. You guys should come up a have a look yourselves."
"Alright, we'll be right up." Skipper returned "Until we are over and out!" They both turned off their walkie talkies.
Private sat down near Mort and waited for his team. He looked over the zoo again, off in his own Christmas world when he thought that he heard Cupids voice again. Private shook himself out of it and went to answer the walkie talkie, figuring it was Skipper again. He blinked when he remembered that he had turned it off.
"No, it couldn't be." said Private as he got up and went to a place on the ledge that made it so he could see into the park. Once he did he got a really dreamy look on his face and kept staring into the park. Thats the state he was in when Skipper and the others arrived. With Julian tagging along for his own reasons.
"Private? Private, what are you staring at?" asked Kowalski But Private ignored him. His face continuing to get dreamier and dreamier. King Julian came over and took the binoculars just as Private dropped them. He looked through them following his gaze to see what it was that was holding his attention.
He screamed when he saw that it was Cupid the reindeer: "AAAA! One of the red night goblins henchmen! Run!" With that the two lemurs evacuated the area.
The ring tails scream brought Private out of his lovely dove (as Skipper would put it) trance. "I wonder what she could be doing here." he said upon realizing that the team was standing there.
"I have to say that I'm intrigued Skipper." Kowalski shrugged at Skipper.
"Me too. Lets go see what the lady wants." replied Skipper Rico nodded. The team then proceeded into the park, meeting Cupid half way in between where she was when Private saw her and the zoo.
She was panting heavily when they got to her so they knew that something was very wrong. They had to wait a few minutes before finding out as Kowalski told her to rest and try to calm down while he gave her a quick look over. Finding no injuries he let her talk when her breathing had evened out.
"So, something wrong in Christmas town?" he asked trying to be amusing.
She nodded: "Something is very wrong! Santa and the others are being held captive!" Team penguin gasped.
"By who and why?" asked Skipper before he could stop himself.
"Well, I don't know his name, but I do know that he is a loud mouth dolphin with some kind of metal hardware on one side of his face."
The team gasped again then shouted "Dr. Blow hole!" all at the same time.
"Someone you know?" asked Cupid
"Try our arch enemy!" answered Private
"Oh, that bad huh?" she said Private nodded.
"So whats the situation?" asked Skipper as Kowalski produced his clipboard from his feathers so he could take notes.
"OK, so we were all off on a training run with Santa. He likes to make sure that we are in shape before the big night. During those runs we don't fly, but he brings some of the stuff with him in case of emergency so we can get back quickly. Santa decided to be unexpected to make sure that we were on our toes." She stopped when Kowalski gave her a look. "Oh, you know what I mean. Anyway we took a rout that we hadn't taken in a long time. It took us to what looked like a work station of some sort. They, these strange looking lobsters, where taking down some weird machine."
"The Ring Of Fire!" announced the penguins all together.
"He must have plans to re-vamp it into something worse!" said Kowalski with a dark look on his face.
"Yup, sounds like him." said Rico
"I get the gist, he spotted you guys then you got captured. Not only because you were witnesses, but also because Santa is a human and Blow hole hates humans." said Skipper
"Only your loveliness escaped with the emergency flying stuff and made it here where you found us!" said Private the dreamy look returning. Skipper rolled his eyes as Cupid returned the look. The other two seemed to be overcome with a fit of giggles and couldn't say anything.
"So do you have anymore of the flying stuff left?" asked Skipper "Because we are going to need it if we are going to save Santa from that bottled nosed freak!"
Cupid shook her head: "I barely have enough to get from here to the zoos entrance."
"Speaking of how did you know that we were here and not still stuck in Madagascar?" asked Kowalski as they started to walk towards the zoo.
"Ye oldie yule tide secrete." replied Cupid
"Thats just your way of saying classified isn't?" asked Skipper with a slight grin on his face.
"Yes, I'm afraid so." she answered returning his grin. This time Private giggled. "So where are we headed to now?" She then asked as they entered the zoo.
"Our lair. So you can take a breather." answered Skipper
"And I'm headed to my lab so I can make a suitable copy of the substance that you use to fly so we can save Santa." answered Kowalski
"You can do that?" asked Cupid as she tossed Private onto her back using her antlers. He then hugged her. Rico giggled as Skipper rolled his eyes again.
"TSH, of course." answered Kowalski
"Hey Kowalski, your ego is showing!" Marlene taunted playfully from atop the bench they were passing. "So, who is your friend?" As they finished the walk to the base they told her the situation because Kowalski was going to have her help him with his task as Private was a bit distracted to say the least. She didn't entirely believe them, but was happy to help Kowalski. She had been dying to help him in the lab since the time when he said that she may have a future in science.
Once back in HQ they made Cupid a fruit smoothie and tried to keep her entertained and calm, while Kowalski and Marlene worked on the flying stuff, after Cupid had given him the rest she had with her so he could analyze it. Once that was done the real work began. It took the rest of the night for them to come up with something that worked as well as the stuff that Cupid had. To make sure it was potent, in this case meaning long lasting, he mixed the actual stuff in with his stuff. Which had the explosive reaction that woke everyone up the next morning.
"What was that?" asked Cupid
"Marlene! Kowalski!" yelled Skipper when he figured out where the kaboom had come from. Which was of course the lab. He opened the door and was immediately met by a twinkling silver cloud. It tasted oddly minty as Skipper accidentally took some in when he gasped at the sight of it.
"Say it with me Marlene!" came Kowalskis voice though the tall penguin had yet to be seen: "Eureka!" Marlene and Kowalski then shouted, both then laughed in mad scientist kind of way. It was during this that the silver cloud dispersed.
Skipper shook his head in an amused way as the others laughed: "You just couldn't help yourselves could you."
"Nope!" they both answered before they themselves burst out laughing.
"The evil type laughter was Marlenes idea." shrugged Kowalski
"Yeah sure." Everyone thought
"Yup, and that explosion was supposed to happen. So don't worry." said Marlene before anyone asked.
"Uh, this stuff isn't toxic is it?" asked Skipper
"No, trust me I took some in the face at one point while we were working." replied Marlene "And I feel fine."
"Well, nice touch with making it minty." said Private
"I was wondering why your whiskers looked silver plated." Skipper then reached up and brushed the silver dust off of her face. This was not missed by Cupid on the other side of the room.
"Private, may I ask you something?" she asked
"Sure." said Private as he brought her some breakfast.
"Are those two an item?"
"Who? Skipper and Marlene? No, the lot of us are just BFFs around here."
"Buffalo Fire Fighters?" asked Cupid confused.
Private laughed: "No, Best Friends Forever."
"Oh, right!" Cupid laughed too. "I guess I was more tired then I thought. Though he did shout her name first."
"Well, still no. Though now that you mention it, there are a few around the zoo that think that they would get on well together." said Private trying not to laugh.
"Really? So, what about Kowalski?"
"Thats a whole other can of worms that I would rather not open." said Private as he thought back to when Kowalski had played footage of himself reciting a poem to his dolphin crush Doris when he was trying to show them something entirely different.
"Man am I tired." said Marlene with a yawn.
"Yes, science can be exhausting, but it is so worth it!" said Kowalski hugging the container of silver flight dust.
"So, the substance part of the mission is accomplished?" asked Marlene
"Oh yeah!" replied Kowalski and the two shared a high five.
"Well in that case, I'm going back to my place for some sleep. See you boys when you get back." With that Marlene left.
"What about you Kowalski? Aren't you going to get some rest?" asked Skipper
"Once I get all the stuff we are going to need and finish up the new penguin decoys then I'll rest." answered Kowalski He then dashed back into his lab, accidentally slamming the door in his excitement, the force of which caused it to stay open a little.
"There he goes again." said Skipper shrugging.
"Coo coo." said Rico with a laugh.
"What was that all about?" asked Cupid as she and Private leaned on each other.
"Just Kowalskis little obsession, nothing to worry your antlers over." said Skipper
"Obsession?"
"Kowalski is obsessed with getting one over on Blow hole when it comes to tech or as he puts it he wants to be the one with the good stuff." explained Skipper
"I think its a scientist thing." said Private
"Hey!" Kowalskis sudden shout made everyone jump.
Private struggled to suppress a laugh then said "Not that Blow hole is a scientist and even if he was he can't beat you!"
"Thanks Private." said Kowalski as he came out of his lab carrying a fairly large bag.
"Whats that?" asked Skipper
"The good stuff!" answered Kowalski happily rubbing his wings together.
"Maybe you should slow down." said Skipper looking a little worried.
"What do you mean Skipper? I'm pumped!"
"Here it comes." said Private as he retrieved some gas masks.
"Here what comes?" asked Cupid
"Wait for it." he answered as he put on his gas mask, then hers. She simply blinked at him.
"Kowalski, have you been drinking Alices Red Bull again?" asked Skipper
"Uh, I plead the fifth!" he announced with a guilty grin.
"Rico, Sleepy Time Scenario." said Skipper quickly while giving Kowalski a look. Private tossed him a gas mask as Rico threw a sleeping gas bomb at Kowalskis feet, then pulled on his own gas mask. Kowalski was out like a light within seconds.
"How is that going to help?" asked Cupid after she pulled off her gas mask.
"When we go up against Blow hole everyone has to be at top form." replied Skipper "He'll be fine."
Rico and Private then went into the lab and finished off the new Penguin decoys Kowalski mentioned. The were robotic duplicates of the four of them. Good thing for them all they needed was a coat of paint.
Kowalski woke up ("I hate it when that happens." he mumbled as he got out of his bunk.) just in time to launch them as Alice arrived: "The best thing about them is that they run on fish so Alice will be none the wiser when its feeding time."
"Kowalski, those things look just like us. Thats kind of creepy." said Private as they watched them wonder around their habitat from a concealed location. The rest of them agreed and nodded in his direction.
"Relax, its not like I gave them any artificial intelligence." He then mumbled something that sounded freakishly like: 'This time' before rubbing his back like it hurt and hastily changing the subject to Alices reaction to Operation: Deck The Halls. She was amazed and loved it. So much so she actually started to prance around the zoo looking at everything.
"Kind of makes me feel all warm and fuzzy." said Skipper Everyone gave him a curious look, while at the same time nodding. "Well, as warm and fuzzy as a penguin can feel about Alice anyway." He added hastily crossing his wings.
"Shes grown on you Skipper, just admit it!" came Marlenes voice out of know where. They all jumped and spun around.
"Marlene, why must you do that?" asked Kowalski
"Its part of our friendly dynamic, thats why." she answered without missing a beat.
"Can't argue with that kind of logic." Kowalski shrugged
"How did you get those decoys and whats in that bag your carrying?" she then asked. Kowalski grinned. "Ah yes, Operation: Good Stuff. How could I forget? Well, have a good mission. Just do me a favor and come back in one piece, not to mention back in time for Christmas." Marlene she gave Skipper a high five, waved then left.
"Are you sure, you know about what we talked about before?" Cupid said to Private who grinned.
"Yes, quite sure. They don't call you Cupid for nothing do they?" replied Private She grinned at him, then gave him a cuddle.
"Awe." said the other three
"Private, you heart breaker you." said Skipper He then gave the signal to move out.
"You really are in a warm and fuzzy mood aren't you Skipper?" said Private He cleared his throat loudly and shrugged, but he didn't answer. Private grinned at him.
"Skippers Christmas-itis is acting up again!" said Kowalski
Cupid grinned: "So thats what it is." Everyone laughed.
Once they were in a suitable place in the park the team and Cupid donned the silver flight dust. To get air born they all thought the happiest thing they could think of: Kowalskis thought: Him standing over an utterly defeated Blow hole holding one of the teams weapons saying: "Penguins rule! Whose got the good stuff now?" Skippers thought: Him arriving at Blow holes base driving a tank that Kowalski's worked his magic on. The white flag appears over the base. Then Skipper shouts: "Mission accomplished!" Ricos thought: Him standing on a podium holding a trophy over his head. The trophy has a robot arm in it. Then an announcer shouts: "And the winner of The World Robot Smash and Bash is Rico!" Private and Cupids joint thought: Them in Hawaii together drinking out of coconuts, sunbathing. They were off like a shot.
By the time they arrived at the north pole in general they were exhausted and starving. Kowalski took some fruit out of his bag and gave it to Cupid, then the penguins went fishing. Afterwards Rico whipped up his famous sushi. After everyone was fed and rested, as they built a small snow cave to work as a base camp, they were off looking for their arch enemy.
When they arrived they stayed behind a snow drift. Skipper took a pair of binoculars out of Kowalskis bag and carefully peered over the top. He saw a bunch of strange looking lobsters standing guard outside of a fortified looking base that was built into a huge glacier. He stopped when a bunch of data appeared before his eyes unexpectedly. "Whoa! What was that?" he said
"Getting a reading of something Skipper?" asked Kowalski
"I think so, but I don't know what it means." He then gave the binoculars to Kowalski.
"What were you looking at when the data popped up?" asked Kowalski Skipper pointed him in the direction of the guard lobsters. "Ah, no wonder they can survive up here. According to this they are genetically altered. Which means they are also super strong, much stronger then the last batch we fought." Cupid and the team gave him a confused look. "Remember when we watched that B-grade Scifi movie the other day and the hero had those goggles that gave him Intel on whatever he was looking at?" The team nodded. "Well, they aren't Scifi anymore!" said Kowalski happily.
"Wow, you go Kowalski!" said Cupid Kowalski smiled at her and the other two, as they were giving him approving looks.
"While I'm impressed, I don't know how that helps." said Skipper
"It warns us not to fight, because it would make to much noise." answered Kowalski reaching into the bag again. He then pulled out something that looked like one of their grenade launchers, except that it was brown.
"What are you going to do with that?" asked Private
"Neutralize the guards!" he answered right before firing. Skipper was about to stop him, thinking it was going to give away their position. He was stunned silent when the weapon not only shot out some kind of super adhesive, but was remarkably quite as well. The super adhesive completely immobilized all of the the guards with one shot each. "And thats how its done gentlemen." said Kowalski putting it away.
"Nice!" said Skipper
"What else do you have in that bag of tricks of yours?" asked Cupid
"Awe, do I have to tell? I'd much rather it be a surprise." answered Kowalski grinning.
"Works for me." said Private Rico nodded.
"Whatever works. Lets move in!" said Skipper It was then that they made their way over to the bases entrance. Rico blew a raspberry at every guard they passed just because he could.
Once they reached the entrance Kowalski pulled out his hyper sensitive parabolic microphone to check for any approaching enemies. He was confused when he didn't pick up anything.
"We better be careful, this could very well be a trap." said Skipper They continued to move in, with great caution. Keeping an eye out for any kind of surveillance. They proceeded down the hallway until the reached an intersection: "Getting anything Kowalski?"
"No, this is weird. Where is everybody?" he answered a little uneasy. He saw a control panel on the wall when he turned to answer Skipper. He then passed the parabolic microphone to Rico. "This might tell us something." He then pulled a device out off his bag and used a wire to connect it to the control panel.
"He is a handy guy." said Cupid
"What are you doing?" asked Private
"Just a little mainframe hacking, won't be a minute." he replied grinning. A moment later: "Fifty seconds a new personal record, open says me!" Kowalski grinned broadly.
"So this is going to tell us what exactly?" asked Skipper
"It should tell us of any traps, surveillance or places guard might be stationed. Not to mention where the control room is. From their we should be able to find and free the hostages." answered Kowalski
"Wow!" said Rico
Everyone waited a moment as Kowalski did his tech thing. They started to get a bit nervous when he didn't say anything for a while.
"Kowalski, is there something wrong?" asked Cupid
"No, just a bit confusing. According to this there are almost no traps through the shortest rout to the control room, no guards nearby and there is no surveillance at all. Except in the room itself." answered Kowalski looking confused.
"In the room itself? What dose that mean?" asked Skipper
"The only surveillance in this place is on the prison cells for each reindeer and Santa. Theres also an empty one that was supposed to be Cupids." Kowalski answered with a shrug.
"Why did he separate them all?" asked Private
"It doesn't say. Though as to the guards, it could be that we lucked out and its a shift change." said Kowalski
"What about Blow hole?" asked Rico
"He doesn't seem to be around."
"In that case we should get a move on." said Skipper and so they did, Kowalski pulled the cord he placed out of the small control panel. As he put his device back into his bag he thought he saw it flash. He looked the panel over, but didn't see anything that sent up any red flags, so he left with the others. He figured that the flash was caused by him pulling the cord free, like it had caused a small spark.
"Speaking of Blow hole, how is he surviving here?" Private asked no one in particular.
"He stays in this strange hovering bubble looking thing." said Cupid
"Oh, I remember that thing. He always uses it to get away after we beat him." grinned Skipper
"Yupper-doodle!" said Rico Cupid laughed.
They made their way to the control room, using the shortest rout plotted by Kowalski, easily avoiding the few traps they met along the way. Kowalski used an access code he took from the panel from before to open the door. He stopped everyone from entering right away though.
"Rico, kendo stick." he said Though Rico was a little confused he hacked him up a kendo stick. Once he had it, Kowalski threw it into the room. It went end over end and was suddenly thrown into the air as a thick flat piece of metal suddenly sprang out of the floor. They then heard a bunch of holders lock onto nothing but air.
"Nicely played Kowalski!" said Skipper
"Saw that on the computer did you?" asked Private
"No, the room just didn't feel right to me." he answered
"Went with your gut, again I'm impressed." said Skipper Kowalski shrugged, not really knowing what to say. They then proceeded into the control room. The room had a surveillance area just like Kowalski said. Each one of the screens displaying a captive. Some of the reindeer were pacing around nervously, while others stayed stationary. Santa seemed to have been tied up.
"Hey, everyones OK!" Cupid said happily for she had, more then once, assumed the worst.
"Thats a relief." said Private as they passed the thick metal plate, they then gave each other a cuddle.
"Awe!" said Rico giggling.
"Now for the tricky bit, getting them and us out of here before-" Kowalski didn't get to finish his statement just then as a sizable and very secure cage suddenly fell from the ceiling around all of them.
"What in the name of Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer?" shouted Skipper They the heard the trademark laugh of their arch enemy as he also came down from the ceiling in his hover bubble.
"Before Blow hole shows up." said Kowalski finishing his statement with an annoyed sigh.
"Hello my flightless foes, your a bit early." said the dolphin in his usual cocky fashion.
"How did he know exactly where to find us with out any surveillance?" asked Private
"Did Kowalski tell you that? How disappointing." said Blow hole as he pointed a flipper at Cupid suddenly.
"Why is he pointing at me?" she asked trying not to freak out.
"She's a spy!" said Skipper as he and the other two spun around.
"What?" shouted Cupid backing up a few steps.
Private quickly stepped in between her and the team: "Now, now boys! Lets not jump to conclusions!"
"I agree, I'm more devious then that!" stated the dolphin He then hit a button on his control panel.
Thinking it was for some kind of weapon Private dove on her saying "Evasive action!" The other three ducked too. They heard a very tiny explosion and Cupids yelp of surprise before they all looked up at her again. When they did look, it was just in time to see something fall off of one of her antlers.
They looked at each other before Skipper said "Kowalski analysis." He bent down and gave the still smoldering object a close look.
"Its a tiny high definition camera!" he exclaimed "We were under surveillance since she arrived and didn't even know it!"
"That explains the lack of security around here." said Private making sure to keep himself between the team and Cupid. "Wait, that means that you let Cupid escape!" he suddenly shouted pointing an accusing wing at Dr. Blow hole.
"So, I led you all into a trap without knowing it?" said Cupid looking like she couldn't help feeling slightly guilty.
"Well, its about time you figured it out." replied Blow hole in a board tone.
"Hang on, how did he know about you two?" asked Skipper looking at Private and Cupid.
"Oh, I know all about your love interests." answered Blow hole hitting another button on his control panel. Some of the screens changed from the reindeer to various pictures or videos of the penguins. One was of Private and Cupid, another was of Rico and his Miss Perky, there was a video Skipper and Kitka having popcorn, there was even a shot of Skipper holding Marlene around the waist, with the two smiling at each other. Kowalski was horrified to see that the deranged dolphin had somehow gotten a hold of the footage of him reciting that poem for Doris and going to pieces. The now traumatized penguin walked to the back of the cage and stood next to Private.
"Can I just take a moment to say that Skipper and Marlene are not together?" said Private sounding like he would like nothing more then to get at the dolphin.
"You sure? Because he did break it off with that lady falcon pretty quick, if you ask me." Blow hole answered back giving the two pictures a once over. "You guys have quite the little soap opera going on in that zoo of yours." His newest captives glared at him. "But that thing with Rico and that doll? Yeah that kind of scares me."
That was the last straw as far as Rico was concerned. He hacked up his favorite chainsaw, revved it up to full power then jumped at the side of the cage planning on freeing everyone and going after Blow hole for not only insulting him, but embarrassing his team. Right when he jumped at the bars of the cage Blow hole pushed yet another button on his control panel. Upon contact with the bars an electrical surge of some sort went through the chainsaw, causing it to blow up. It threw everyone to the back of the cage. Before they recovered Blow hole activated a claw function on the blue under section his hover bubble that reached out and grabbed Kowalskis bag of tech.
"No!" shouted Kowalski trying and failing to grab it before it was out of the cage.
"Now I get to see for myself what kind of good stuff you have." Blow hole said before pushing a button that dropped the cage into a cell like the other captives were in. The cage busted open when it hit the floor. "Oh, and that light flash you saw before? That was just to remind me of my meeting with you guys." He spoke to them over a PA system.
"Why did you separate everyone, but us?" asked Kowalski and Cupid at the same time.
"I didn't separate you because of my awkward lack of space. You were a bit early you know." Blow hole answered. "As to the others, well I'm sure that Kowalski can figure that much out." Their arch enemies laughter then rang through the cell.
"You better keep my tech away from those poor reindeer, you evil thing!" shouted an enraged Kowalski, though he somehow knew that the PA system was now off.
"Simmer down Kowalski, we'll get out of this and save everyone." said Skipper Kowalski spun around and looked at him. He was leaning on the wall with a look on his face that everyone knew meant business. "Though I think that we have regrettably found a cure for Christmas-itis."
"Blow hole." said everyone at the same time.
"Oh and bye the way Cupid-" said Skipper quite suddenly. She looked at him. "Sorry about that whole thinking you were a spy thing." She smiled at him in a 'don't worry about it' sort of way.
"So, how are we going to get out of here?" asked Private keeping his voice low just in case Blow hole was listening in.
"I don't know, but I bet Kowalski dose." answered Cupid
Kowalski smiled: "But of course!" He then reached into his feathers for his options clipboard, for he had a plan written on one of its pages for just this situation. When his eyes suddenly bulged however they all tilted their heads at him, not worried just kind of weirded out. When he suddenly chased his tail feathers as if he was still looking for his trademark accessory however they became worried. Quite suddenly though he stopped and faced everyone only to put his wings over his head looking like he was bracing for some kind of impact. "I left . . . my clipboard . . . in my tech bag!"
"What?" shouted everyone Kowalski flinched back thinking that Skipper was going to slap him really hard.
"Well, what an interesting development." said Skipper instead.
"Huh?" said Kowalski confused.
"We haven't had a challenge like this in a while have we boys?" asked Skipper The team shook their heads at him slightly confused. "We like challenges though, so this isn't to bad!" Skipper then winked at Kowalski. Who grinned at him.
"So lets face this challenge head on!" shouted Private with out missing a beat.
"Yeah!" shouted everyone else.
"So as to getting out of here we'll use a brute force type plan since he will be excepting the obviously more strategic thing thats on your clipboard." said Skipper
"Fine with me." answered Kowalski Everyone was a bit surprised by the tall penguins answer. He was OK with it because in its own way that idea was quite strategic, so he figured that he would have the last laugh on Blow hole in the end.
Everyone fell silent as they all tried to come up with an escape plan. They were a little distracted when Cupid started walking around looking at some kind of panel on a wall. It was the sound of her hooves on the floor. The thing that they noticed the most about her was that she had the same calculating look that Kowalski always got when he was thinking.
"I've seen that look before. Better watch out Kowalski, she might be gunning for your job." Private whispered giggling. The shocked look he gave him made the other two laugh too. "Relax I was kidding." Kowalski sighed with relief and laughed nervously.
"I think that I've got something, but we will need a distraction." she whispered as she came back over to them.
"Fun!" said Rico
"That part will be easy to take care of." said Skipper grinning at Rico.
"Alright, we will also need the flight dust. Tell me you didn't leave that at base camp." she said to Kowalski, who also grinned at Rico. Cupid tilted her head at the two of them.
"This is going to be good." Private assured her.
Still in the control room, Blow hole was going through Kowalskis bag of tech using the same claw attachment. He saw the super adhesive shooter, then looked over the options clipboard.
"This must be the escape plan. Well I'm going to have to watch out for that now aren't I?" said Blow hole looking over the page, but then he noticed that the plan involved a tunnel. He took another look in the bag and saw that the drill helmet specified in the plan was in there. "And I was actually worried for a moment, silly me." On that gander into the bag he also saw a prototype of a new Team Penguin weapon: The Electro Blaster. Which was basically a gun like device that shot concentrated balls of electro magnetic energy. While not lethal to its target, it could paralyze them quite quickly. Also, it was extremely accurate, though not very speedy. "This looks like a fun little doodad." said Blow hole giving the weapon a look over. He then decided that he wanted to try it out on its maker to see how it worked. It was then that he heard an explosion coming from under his control room. It vibrated the floor a little. The dolphin spun around and looked back at the prison cell monitors. He settled on the one he knew the penguins and Cupid were in. He saw a big plume of smoke. "Must be Rico!" he said as he glared at the screen. Then saw Cupid come right up under the camera.
"That kaboom was for the south polars and this is for Santa and the other reindeer!" She then jumped right up in front of the camera in the same style as the penguins and kicked the camera with her hind legs, breaking it.
"Why that little!" shouted Blow hole as he turned his hover bubble towards the door, taking The Electro Blaster with him in case he was wrong about the bag thing: "They must have let me get that bag to get me to let down my guard! Either that or they have a spare drill helmet with them and they are blowing up part of the wall to get started." When he got into the hallway he heard more explosions, so he picked up his speed until he reached the correct door. He punched in his access code to open the door. When it did he was met by one of the thickest clouds of smoke he had ever seen.
What he didn't see was right when he opened the door three of the penguins and Cupid slipped out, off to his side flying as they once again donned the silver flight dust which Rico was secretly carrying. They were just below the ceiling. Each penguin had an additional smoke grenade on him and at least one stick of Ricos 'strike anywhere' dynamite. Cupid had a spare kendo stick and the extra flight dust in its container on her back.
It was Ricos job to lock Dr. Blow hole in his own cell. When some of the smoke cleared thats who he saw, shaking his booty at him not unlike King Julian. Unfortunately, Cupids inexperience at missions caught up to her, as she turned around worried about the scarred penguin. She spotted The Electro Blaster and sensing somehow that Rico hadn't seen it yet, gasped at the sight of it. Rico saw the weapon as Blow hole turned it on her and fired. Using the thought of Blow holes defeat as fuel, he activated the fight dust he was also donned with and went for Cupid.
"Go!" he shouted as he collided with her with such force that she slammed into the other three penguins and sent them all whizzing down the hallway. He took the blast himself and was sent to the floor as his mind in a sense went as numb as his body did. Although he did have enough movement in him to glare at the dolphin in a way that said 'I'm not giving up!'.
The four of them quickly went around the corner, spotted an air vent and decided to use it as cover. It was after Skipper shut it when he asked what happened just now and where Rico was looking briefly worried, but then switching to his normal stoic expression.
"I just got him captured by accident! All I wanted was to warn him that the dolphin was armed!" said Cupid hiding her face with her ears down.
"Don't worry, we'll get him back. We never leave a man behind." said Private patting Cupid on the back. She nodded at him, not really knowing what to say. It was then that she looked up at everyone. She then gave the team minus one a look over, her ears suddenly going up.
"Kowalski, do you know where this air vent goes?" she asked suddenly.
"I think it leads to the control room. Seeing as I briefly saw a lay out of the base on that control panel from before. Why?" answered Kowalski looking curious.
"Because I would like you guys to go save Santa and the other reindeer, while I go and get Rico." Cupids answer surprised the penguins.
"What?" said Private
"How?" asked Skipper
"It will come to me. Though I would like those extra smoke grenades and the dynamite." she answered Skipper, Kowalski and Private blinked at her. "Look, I messed up and I want to fix it-" Her ears suddenly twitched and she moved to look out the vent cover. "In any case, I do not think that we have time to argue right now. Some of those altered lobsters are coming, with some kind of scanning device."
"Scanning device?" asked Kowalski Cupid moved out of the way so he could have a look. "Thats my Heat Signature Detector! I forgot that was in that bag."
"Whats it do?" asked Private
"It detects the body heat of anyone that might be trying to hide." he answered looking slightly nervous, but secretly pleased that the gizmo worked.
"Go and save the others. I'll get Rico and meet back up with you later!" said Cupid suddenly ditching the flight dust and kendo stick, then quickly swiping the smoke grenades and dynamite sticks by standing on her hind and hugging the items to her chest with her front legs. She then took flight and used her antlers to bash her way out of the vent. She ended up directly in front of the lobsters. "Oh no!" she said in mock surprise before flying down the hallway.
"Theres one of them! Get her!" said one of the lobsters.
Skipper figured it was the leader of the group because they ran right bye them with out the slightest hesitation. Private made to go and help her but Skipper grabbed him, then shook his head when his youngest cadet looked at him: "She will be fine. Lets move out." His voice hitched slightly, but he never the less went into a belly slide down the vent. Kowalski gave him a pat on the shoulder and a comforting look. Then they both followed Skipper.
Though it surprised Kowalski slightly, (though he would never admit it) him and his two teammates did indeed end up back in the control room. "I should be able to free them all at once from here." said Kowalski as he jumped onto the computer section of the surveillance area and started pushing buttons. As the other two waited they noticed the tech bag laying nearby.
"He was actually so over confident he just left this here?" asked Skipper almost laughing. Private grinned at him and shrugged as he went over to it.
"Ur! He changed the access code and locked me out!" growled Kowalski "Crud theres a fire wall now? Clever dolphin!" He crossed his wings and glared at the computer.
"What did you just say?" asked Skipper doing a double take.
"I said that he was clever, I didn't say he was smart. There is a difference." answered Kowalski Skipper just blinked at him.
"But we have this back!" said Private holding up the drill helmet.
"Good thinking Private!" said Skipper
"Alright, yes that may get the north polars out of theirs cells, but I don't think Santa will fit in a tunnel made by that." said Kowalski
"Uh, right." said Private looking a bit awkward.
"Now I'm kind of wishing we kept some of that 'strike anywhere' dynamite that Cupid took." said Skipper
"I have it Skipper!" said Kowalski suddenly.
"Then share it." he replied
"We use the drill helmet to free the north polars. Then they simply use their antlers and collective strength to bash the door of Santas cell down!" said Kowalski
"Simple and full of brute force, I like it." said Skipper
"Yes, I still got it!" shouted Kowalski pumping his wings in the air.
Skipper smiled at him before pointing a wing at Private: "Dive man dive!" Private grinned, put on the drill helmet and dove.
He popped back up suddenly and asked "How will I know where I'm going?"
Skipper unzipped a small compartment on the bag and took out two mine communicators. The kind that they could hook into the feathers on their heads. He tossed one to Private and put the other on himself.
"How did you know that they were in there?" asked Kowalski
"Thats easy, I put them there myself while you were resting back at HQ." Skipper answered tossing Kowalski his hacking device. "Now use that big brain of yours to help me give Private directions." Kowalski grinned, then went to it. The first cell Private dug into was Comets.
He popped up and said "Come on, this is a jail break!"
"South polar?" he said recognizing him instantly for who he was. "How did you-?"
"Never doubt penguins on a mission!" he replied simply.
"Son of the gun!" he said to surprised to think of anything else.
The others were retrieved in quick succession and without any problems. Then met up with the other two penguins outside Santas cell.
"Wait, weren't there four of you?" asked Comet
"Guys, on the monitors did you see-?" began Private but the two shook their heads before he could finish. He sighed then turned to the reindeer: "Alright, now its the north polars turn. Do you think that you lot can take out this door?"
"Just watch, come on boys!" said Comet gently pushing Private out of the way. All the reindeer present faced the door then charged. When it didn't work they tried again, then again and again. "This door is some tough stuff." said Comet about to bash it again along with the others.
"Uh, fellas?" said Skipper The herd of reindeer looked at him. He then pointed at a purple button on the wall above them.
"Aren't we a bunch of knuckle heads for not seeing that sooner." said Comet with a laugh. Skipper shrugged in a 'I know right?' sort of way.
"Why is it always purple?" said Kowalski in a thinking out loud tone.
"So do you want to do the honors since you didn't get to push the purple button last time there was one?" asked Skipper grinning at him.
"I would actually." replied Kowalski with a bit of an embarrassed look on his face. Private giggled. Skipper gave him a boost and he hit the button saying "Oh yeah! We bad." Making Private giggle more. He shrugged at him grinning. The door opened.
"Good, we got the big man, now all we have to do is pick up the other two and blow out of here and its mission accomplished." said Skipper stretching his wings.
"Only theres one big problem." said Comet gesturing the penguins over so they could see into the cell. "We don't have the big man!"
"Santas sweat socks!" exclaimed Skipper when he saw that it was another trap door that Santa obviously fell through. Comet gave him an odd look because he was defiantly not expecting that to come out of Skipper. Then gave Kowalski a questioning look.
"You don't know him very well. Thats kind of his thing." he answered trying not to laugh at the look on Comets face.
"Well, that hole leads to Santa! Lets go fellas!" said Comet before he and the other reindeer jumped in the hole.
"Wait, its most likely a trap!" said Skipper But he was to late.
"Now what are going to do?" asked Private The other two shrugged.
The reindeer slid down the hole and landed in what kind of looked like an air plane hanger made out of ice. There was a huge cannon, that looked like it was made out of something that was completely different, pointed out of the opening. Stuck to the cannon was Santa Clause himself. Suddenly Blow hole made his presence known with his high pitched laughter. As he hovered in to view Comet couldn't help but notice that the hover bubble was now cracked for some reason.
"Let Santa go!" Comet shouted at him.
"Like thats going to happen." he answered in a board tone. He then pushed a button on his control panel. Kowalskis super adhesive shooter, which they hadn't noticed until now because they were to focused on Santa, fired enough times to stick them all into place. "You are probably wondering what this thing is?" asked Blow hole as a cable of some kind came out of the blue section of the hover bubble and connected to the cannon. "Its called The Ring Of Fire Super Cannon. Though it is untested as of now, when it is complete it will have the capability to melt entire cities. I say melt because its a heat ray. Now I know that my flightless foes were listening to all that, so where are they? Tell me."
"Like that going to happen." said Comet imitating the dolphins tone from before.
"You think your clever?" asked Blow hole getting angry. "With a push of a button I could put a serious hurting on New York and your human friend up there. Trust me, I already put in the coordinates. Tell me where they are!" When Comet didn't respond he hit a button on his control panel that activated The Ring Of Fire Super Cannon. "All it has to do now is power up and New York is history! You must be so proud." There was a strange metallic sound also. Comet didn't try to see what it was, he was in the middle of a stare down.
Out of nowhere some kind of canister was thrown. It landed in the middle of the reindeer and squirted some kind of clear liquid in all directions. This liquid dissolved the super adhesive. The reaction also released some thick purple gas that made it hard for everyone to see, except for the three angry penguins with the specialized goggles. Skipper and Kowalski went to get Santa, while Private kept Blow hole busy by diving at him with the drill helmet turned up to full power. He hit the crack in the hover bubble dead on, shattering it. It landed so hard it broke a section of the ice. Water could be heard running underneath.
Blow hole hit the ice with a smack kind of noise and screamed: "Its so cold!"
"Whats the matter? Cold weather endurance not your thing?" asked Private sarcastically. Blow hole glared and went for The Electro Blaster.
"Look out little one!" shouted Comet He slid in on the ice and collided with Blow hole so hard that he was knocked into the hole in the ice.
"Thanks for the assist." said Private smiling up at Comet.
"Now we are even." he replied smiling back.
"Kowalski, can you shut down that insane cannon?" they heard Skipper shout suddenly. The two then turned to see Kowalski standing where the weapons manual controls should have been.
"Its a no go Skipper. Its all sealed up!" answered Kowalski trying to pull it open, which was ineffective. He then tried to pry it open with the kendo stick, but it snapped.
Private went for the drill helmet thinking that may help. He almost screamed when he saw that the drill was broken. "Bad, bad,bad!" he said looking up at Comet again.
Suddenly there was an emergency announcement: "The weapons storage area has been compromised. Evacuate the base immediately."
"Was that Cupids voice?" asked Comet
"And Ricos to! But where are they?" said Private
"No time! We have got to get out of here!" said one of the other reindeer, possibly Dasher. Private didn't get a chance to ask as he kicked the container of flight dust off of where it was now duck tapped to Skippers back. (This of course also came from Kowalskis bag which he now had again.) The dust got on everyone and though it was tough the reindeer managed to get off of the ice.
"Wait we never leave a man behind!" said Skipper
The one Private thought was Dasher didn't seem to have heard him. He used his antlers to flip him on to his back. Comet did the same thing to Private and another did it to Kowalski. The rest helped Santa. They flew off at high speed.
"Wait, we can't leave yet!" yelled Kowalski
"Turn this outfit around pronto!" ordered Skipper his voice cracking slightly.
The reindeer acted like they didn't even hear them. Though when there was a huge explosion they all closed their eyes tightly and landed before they crashed. Team Penguin minus one jumped off their rides before they were on the ground. Then ran on the ice a short distance away. They stopped when they saw that the section in front of them was very thin. They just stood there, Private in the middle with the other two on either side of him, all three were hugging each other. No one was talking, no one was even moving. No one really knew or cared how long they were standing there when they heard a strange tapping noise. Everyone ignored it at first, figuring it was some ice settling somewhere. When it continued they all tried to figure out where it was coming from without moving or speaking.
A sudden shout from the penguins made everyone jump: "Ricos flaming Christmas tree!" They then took a few quick steps back as Rico finished pecking his way free of the ice. He shook himself off, not bothered of course by the low temperatures. Then bent back down into the hole and pulled out Cupid. Who was cold and wet, but in perfect condition.
Although the three penguins tried to hold it in, they all shouted "It's a Christmas miracle!" before they all hugged Rico, then they hugged Cupid. Then they moved out of the way so that the other reindeer could see their teammate. Santa came over a patted her on the head. He then did the same to the penguins, much to their surprise.
"I don't think that your to far off. That ice shouldn't have been able to handle that kind of explosion." said Cupid Rico nodded. They both then turned to looked at what remained of the base.
"So, what happened with the two of you?" asked Skipper
Rico and Cupid grinned at each other before she answered: "Well, the dolphin had Rico cornered. He seemed to like it when Rico screamed when he got hit with that blaster. I think that he was thinking that you guys would run to his rescue if he screamed loud enough. I came in and rammed the hover bubble full force with my antlers which started the crack on it. Before he knew what hit him I threw down two of the smoke bombs. Then I picked up Rico. The dolphin then used some kind of remote intercom type thing to request back up. Suddenly Rico jumped from my back, spun and used his beak to make the crack on the hover bubble bigger."
"Ah, yes the corkscrew!" said Skipper The rest of the team grinned.
"Perfect name for that move. Anyway Blow hole went to use the blaster again, but I got under the hover bubble and released the smoke from the last smoke bomb into the ventilation system of the bubble. So when the back up arrived they were more worried about weather or not their boss could breath and we were able to get away." Cupid continued
"Very good!" said Kowalski with an approving nod.
"It was after that, that we used the air ducts to get into the weapon storage area and as Rico put it, had some fun!" Rico then giggled manically. The team grinned at him. "We set charges that were in there and fired off weapons. We even tinkered with a few things so that they would over load. It when it all started to scare me a little and when I started to think that we went a little over board that we sent out that announcement to evacuate. Though, for good measure we set the 'strike anywhere' dynamite just before running for it."
"How did you get out so fast?" asked Santa
"The weapons room was adjacent to this hanger type room. We were planning on going out the opening, but we slipped on the ice and fell into this big crack, then we were swept away by the water that was flowing a short way down. Then there was the huge explosion and ice that we were sliding down broke and we fell into deeper water. It seems that, thats all that broke. Anyway, Rico grabbed me and started swimming. We didn't drown because we manged to find a couple of air pockets. Rico would peck at the top of each one. When the ice was thin enough he got us both out. Funny how we ended up right in front of you all." Cupid finished with a shrug. Private went over to her and gave her another hug. She cuddled him back and said "I told you that I would meet up with you guys with Rico later. You didn't doubt me did you?" Private shook his head.
"Awe!" said everyone one else. Private and Cupid shrugged while grinning.
"Well, that is one heck of a mission accomplished." said Skipper "But I do have one question."
"And whats that Skipper?" asked Private
"What happened to Dolphin Boy?"
"The bottle nosed is not made for the cold climate of either pole so I don't think that he would last long." answered Kowalski
"Uh huh, and whats your gut telling you?" asked Skipper
"Oh, just that we will definitely be seeing him again." he answered
"I thought so." said Skipper Kowalski shrugged.
"So now what happens?" asked Comet
"We head back to the house and take some time to recuperate. Then see what we can do about getting the south polars home." said Santa
"Works for me." said Skipper Then they all thought about their latest victory and took to the sky. Rico rode on Comets back while the other three penguins helped Cupid.
Christmas Eve night and the penguins were still not back. Which meant no party for the zoo. It just wouldn't feel right. They did it on Christmas Eve to keep the humans guessing. Marlene was worried as were Phil and Mason. Julian claimed not to care either way, but she noticed that he wasn't as active as he usually was and that he kept glancing over into their habitat. She rolled her eyes at him when she went over to see him just after closing when he said for about the fifth time that conversation that he didn't care. As every time he said it he would glance over at the decoy inhabited habitat.
Even Maurice got annoyed and said "Oh will you just admit that we are all friends already?"
He shook his head and said "No! But I will admit that they have grown on me. You know a little." Then he winked at Marlene, indicating that he liked messing with Maurice. She couldn't help but laugh.
Marlene was headed back over to her habitat thinking: "Maybe something bad happened on that mission." when she heard the sound. It was the sound of Christmas bells. They were coming from . . . the sky? She looked up in time to see something really big fly over head and land near the front gate. She ran over there to see what it was.
"That was fun!" Skipper shouted while the other three continued laugh. He looked down and saw Marlene standing there. "Oh, hey Marlene. Sorry were are late."
"You guys didn't hijack Santas sleigh did you?" she asked flabbergasted bye what she was looking at. Which was Santas sleigh complete with reindeer. A huge bag of stuff and four little penguins at the reins all wearing Santa hats.
"Of course not. Though Rico tried at one point. Hes a quick one." said Cupid Rico laughed nervously and shrugged.
"Since we helped him deliver the gifts and broke his record in doing so, thanks to a new system thought up by Kowalski he took five and let us drive home." said Private
Santa then sat up with a great big yawn: "Are we their already?"
"Man we are good!" said Kowalski
Marlene was tempted to tell him that his ego was showing again, but didn't want to make him look bad in front of Santa. So instead she asked "So did you forget to deliver that one?" and pointed to the large bag of stuff.
"Oops!" shouted all the penguins.
Santa laughed: "These are for you and your friends."
"Uh, yeah. I knew that." said Kowalski His eyes darted around nervously.
"Hey, aren't we supposed to be having a party?" Julian shouted suddenly. He then turned on his boom box to some thumping Christmas music. Everyone came out and had a good time. Even the reindeer joined in.
It was two minutes after midnight (technically Christmas morning) when they exchanged presents. Most of them ended up getting large amounts of their favorite New York food from each other and Santa. Marlene got her Spanish Guitar from the penguins and she gave them each a copy of their favorite movie. They didn't ask how she got them. They liked the mystery. Santa gave her a music audio book that taught her various songs. To the penguins Santa gave things that suited them, Skipper got some disguise accessories, Private got a new unicorn plush toy, Rico got a new sushi kit and Kowalski got a new options clipboard. Julian got a new boom box from Santa (Team Penguin was amazed that he was still on the nice list) and from the penguins tapes of new songs, mostly because they were really tired of the old ones. Julian gave the penguins and Marlene various pictures of himself posing. Mort and Maurice got new lawn chairs from Santa and cushions for them from the penguins.
Everyone was happy and laughing, thats when Kitka showed up. She somehow manged to sneak up behind Skipper who was talking to Marlene. What made it interesting was the fact that she had some mistletoe in her beak. She held it over their heads with out them noticing. Everyone was to overcome with the giggles to say anything.
"What? Why are you guys laughing so hard?" asked Skipper That of course just made it worse.
"Oh boy!" said Marlene when she finely looked up.
Skipper looked to see what she was looking at and actually jumped. Kitka was laughing so hard that she almost dropped it on them. What shocked everyone was when they started to get closer to each other. They were almost there when they swiftly turned to the crowed and yelled "Syke!" then ran in opposite directions.
"Hey, I've been hearing rumors. So I couldn't resist." said Kitka laughing.
"I told you so." said Private as he lightly nudged Cupid. Rico then swiped the mistletoe from Kitka and held it over their heads. Cupid hugged Private and planted one right on top of his head. Needles to say, the little penguin figuratively speaking melted into a puddle.
This was of course followed bye everyone saying "Awe!"
It was not long after the party when Santa and the reindeer had to leave. Before they went Skipper gave Cupid a badge he made. He did it after he and Marlene ditched the mistletoe.
"For getting us out of Blow holes prison cell and saving Rico I would like to make you an honorary penguin!" said Skipper right after she had put her harness back on.
"Really?" she asked surprised.
Skipper nodded: "I usually don't make badges, but hey I figured that its Christmas. Why not put in a little extra effort." Though in the back of his mind he hoped that Julian wasn't watching.
"Awe, thanks so much." Cupid replied She hugged Skipper then put the badge on her harness. The other penguins clapped. Then they waved as she began to leave with the others.
"Hey, don't be strangers now south polars. Come and visit yeah?" said Comet waving.
"Sure, why not. You too!" Skipper answered back as they all waved. Then Santa and the reindeer were gone.
"Huh, north polars and south polars in one place." said Kitka The penguins turned around and looked at her and Marlene standing there.
"What we just had here was a bi-polar Christmas." said Marlene with a thoughtful look on her face. The penguins grinned.
The End
~Authors note: I hope you enjoyed the story. Review if you like, just remember: no flames. In case you are wondering about that Operation: Good Stuff thing its a title of another penguins story of mine. Yeah, a shameless plug so sue me. Well thats about it, except two things, One: I would like to give the normal disclaimer which I put down here because I can: I do not own The Penguins Of Madagascar. Dream Works/Nickelodeon dose and Two: Merry Christmas!~