The X Cells
A Penguins of Madagascar fanfic by Miscellaneous Thief
(Week 1 in July)
A/N: Squee! So, here we are with yet another installment of my series! I meant to take a writing break to give myself time to do something other than writing, but that didn't even last a day. I was too excited to start this story. The idea has been floating around in my head for weeks, popping up at the most random moments, just begging to be written. I'm taking a self oath right now to try and upload at least one chapter a week, maybe more. I don't want to have another repeat of Man Down, where I wouldn't upload for weeks at a time.
Also, if you haven't read Christmas in July yet, you probably should, otherwise this first chapter might be a little confusing.
Disclaimer: I don't even know why I have to do this. I mean, it's pretty obvious I don't own Pom, and are not stealing their ideas, right?
Chapter 1: A (Seemingly) Normal Run For Snow Cones (Aly's pov)
I stood up and began searching HQ for something to cool me down, or at least something entertaining. I was bored and had nothing at the current moment to do. It was during zoo hours, which meant that Mary and I had to stay inside so that we wouldn't make the zoo keepers wonder why two extra penguins suddenly appeared. But, unfortunately, that also meant that at least three penguins had to stay up top, so we were alone most of the time.
Right now, however, Kowalski was sitting at the table with Mary, doing his lessons with her. After Mary and I had found out one afternoon that none of the penguins knew how to read, Mary had taken it upon herself the task of teaching Kowalski how to read. So everyday for the past week they had been having lessons during the late afternoon, when the zoo was almost void of any visitors.
"Okay, so what does this word spell? Remember to use phonetics." Mary instructed as she pointed to the word cat.
Kowalski stared at the word intently "K-ah-t. Cat!" He exclaimed excitedly.
"Good job, Kowalski. Now what does this word spell?" Mary asked as she pointed to dog.
I rolled my eyes and continued searching for what I wanted: a fan. It was one of those weeks in summer where the temperature's were 'record high', or, in other words, really freakin' hot.
Not finding a fan, I plopped down in my favorite corner and began fanning myself with my flipper. I sighed in boredom, this heat wave really had a way to put a damper on a penguin's mood.
But my mood instantly brightened up when I heard the familiar chime signaling the zoo's closing time. Private, my boyfriend, climbed down the ladder with Skipper following after him. God, how I love calling Private my boyfriend. It made me giddy like a school girl every time I thought about it. We had been going out for a little over a week now, and I was loving every moment of it.
Private caught me staring at him and came over to me. I stood up and we hugged each other. I took in his sweet scent, which was a mixture of salt, fish, and sea air. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Skipper glaring at us.
"No PDA, soldiers." He reminded.
I sighed and pulled out of the hug. Ever since Skipper had caught Private and I kissing the day after the Christmas party, he's been on our case. After being grossed out a bit at the thought of a human and a penguin dating, he'd told us he would be fine with whatever we did in our free time as long as it didn't affect our missions, and we did it in private. We had both agreed to his terms, but I was having issues with the whole PDA thing. I couldn't help it, I just felt like hugging Private every time I saw him.
"So, how are you today, Aly?" Private asked me sweetly.
"I'm hot." I complained.
"Yes, you are." He replied slyly.
At that I giggled and Skipper groaned. He then turned and went into the kitchen to grab something out of the fridge. I stopped focusing on him and returned my attention back to the penguin in front of me.
"You are so cheesy." I teased Private.
"You think I'm good with nachos?" Private asked, confused.
I laughed again. Private is just too dang cute! "No, silly, it means-"
"Alright soldiers, who ate the last snow cone?" Skipper interrupted.
He stood, flippers crossed, in front of an empty freezer. Immediately all eyes turned to me.
"Hey," I defended "Just because I ate the last snow cone last time, doesn't mean that I did it this time."
Skipper glared at me "Cadet..." he warned.
"Okay. It might mean that I did it." I agreed.
Skipper's glare intensified.
"There's a fifty-fifty chance that I did it?" I said hopefully.
Skipper put his flippers o his hips and continued
"I probably did it?" I offered, my voice getting higher in pitch.
"Cadet, do I need to take away all dating privileges?" Skipper warned.
I sighed and held my flippers up in defeat "Okay okay, I ate the snow cone. Happy?"
Skipper let go of his glare and grinned smugly "Yes, now that you're going to the park to get us some more. And no, Private can't come."
I cursed under my breath.
I went over to Mary, who was done with her lesson and was now cleaning up. I leaned over to help her.
"Hey," She greeted "What's up?"
"Nothing much." I replied "Wanna come to the park with me?"
She glanced up from her work to raise an eyebrow at me "Didn't Skipper say you couldn't bring anybody?"
"No," I corrected "He said I couldn't bring Private. There's a distinct difference between you and Private. Besides, I want to talk to you about a certain something that's happening tomorrow"
She grumbled "Fine. But if we get into trouble, I'm blaming you."
I held my flippers up "Fine by me."
So then we got up and left. If only I had known what what was going to happen later today, I probably never would have eaten that last snow cone.
"So," I started off "What do you want to do for your birthday tomorrow?"
Mary blinked back in surprise "That's what your were talking about earlier? You remembered?"
"Of course I remembered!" I scoffed "What kind of a cousin would I be if I forgot something like that?"
In response, she took a bite out her snow cone. We had already gotten the snow cones and now we were on our way back to HQ. We each had a tray of snow cones cradled in one flipper, and our own snow cone in the other.
"I don't know," Mary shrugged "I just thought that with everything that's been happening lately, something like my birthday would be the last thing on your mind. I mean, we're freaking penguins! That doesn't just slip into the back of you head."
I laughed "Oh trust me, I definitely haven't forgotten about that. Besides, things have been kind of calm lately. Well, as calm as things can be living with four commando penguins, anyway."
"Yeah, with you though, things don't stay calm for long. In fact, now's the perfect time to panic." Mary half-joked.
"My point is," I said sharply "What else could go wrong?"
Then, I swear, almost as if the fates themselves were laughing at me (which I don't doubt), a cage fell on top of me. I let out a surprised yelp as the snow cone tray was knocked out my flippers and I suddenly found myself trapped.
"You had to say it!" Mary scolded me from outside the cage.
"Yeah, whatever. Just help me get out of here." I replied, a little frustrated.
"I finally caught you penguins." Said a voice from behind a bush, catching our attention. Suddenly a black man dressed in a blue suit and weapon belt stepped out into the open.
"Oh no you don't." Mary threatened as she got into a defensive pose "Anybody who messes with my cousin messes with me!"
The man sniffed the air curiously, almost as if he could tell what Mary was saying. Then his face spread into an amused grin "You're not the penguins I've dealt with before. No matter, you're still going down. The name's X. Officer X."
Mary shook her head "Yeah, right, we'll see about that buddy. I bet you go down as easily as the snow cone man did."
"Mary, be careful," I warned her "I think he's animal control."
But, ignoring me, Mary ran forward instead and jumped up into the air aiming a kick for his head. Acting on super-human impulses, so fast that I could barely see him move, X whipped out a tazer stick and shot Mary while she was still in mid-air.
"Mary!" I shrieked, subconsciously gripping the bars of the cage.
With a scream of pain, Mary fell to the ground as she was electrocuted. Her body seized for six whole seconds, then stopped when Officer X finally turned the gun off.
X picked up the now unconscious Mary and tossed her carelessly into a separate cage than mine. He grabbed my cage and then proceeded to carry the both us away to an animal patrol car.
I didn't know what to do now. Mary and I were both seriously screwed. I was terrified about what was going to happen to us now. There was one name that played in my mind over and over again as I huddled in the cage. I wanted to call out for him so bad, wanted him to be here for me, but he was at the zoo, too far away to hear me. But still, I decided, I had to try.
"PRIVATE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Please let him hear me, I prayed.
(Narrator's Pov)
"And yet, going against all laws and the law physics, Aly's cry for help echoed all across Central Park until it met the ear holes of the very penguin who the call was intended for."
(Private's Pov)
I put the last bowl into place. Everything was absolutely perfect. Because Skippah wouldn't allow me to assist Aly in her snow cone run- something, I knew, that would make her a little upset- , I decided to surprise when she got back with a elegant brunch on top of the concrete floe. I had made her a batch of my famous Flipper's soup, extra love added. She is going to be so happy when she returns.
I stepped back to admire my work, and that's when I heard a sound so scary it nearly stopped my heart.
"PRIVATE!" Aly's voice screamed in terror.
Not wasting a second, I dropped what I was doing and tobogganed in the direction that the scream came from. I repeatably called out Aly's name as I went. I've never gone so fast in my life.
Soon I found myself in the middle of Central Park, but there was no sign of Aly anywhere I looked. As I searched around, I stepped in something cold and wet. I glanced down to discover two abandoned trays of snow cones. Now I knew for certain something horrible had happened.
Several possible culprits of who would want to take Aly ran through my mind- Blowhole, the Rat King, the Red Squirrel, and even space squids.
I knew I had to get back to HQ and get Skippah, but I didn't want to. I wanted to stay, to find more evidence, to search for Aly on the off chance she was still in the park, to anything but face the truth, but I knew I couldn't. I had to face that I had been too late to save Aly.
Somewhere in the distance I heard a car door slam and an engine start, but I hardly payed it any attention. Wallowing in fear and dejection, I turned away from the crime scene and began running back to HQ.
A/N: Yay! Longest first chapter ever! So, what do ya think? I wonder why I enjoy torturing Private and Aly so much? I mean, you'd think I would give them a break. But say la vee (I have no clue how to spell that). Now for two self references I put into this chapter: First, the argument that Aly had with Skipper was based on the same argument I had with my mom once, only I was denying doing something else. And second, my dad came up with Flipper's Soup one night when we had boiled fish (not as bad as it sounds) and then asked me to include it in one of my stories, so kudos to my dad!
R.E.V.I.E.W.- Responsive Enlightenment of Views Importantly Expressed to the Writer