I think it's time to attempt my first Penguins of Madagascar story. While I'm not the biggest fan of the show, I do really like the humor as well as all of the interactions between the characters. It kind of makes me wish that it wasn't on Nickelodeon (a network I've stopped watching cause of the high concentration of bad shows to good shows), cause I'd really like to watch it more.
Anyhoo, I didn't want to go too ambitious for my first one, with me not being as experienced with this as with Regular Show (which you should go to my profile to read), so I decided to just do a simple life around the zoo fic, but with the focus of the story rotating around each of the characters each chapter. I won't reveal the actual order so you guys can be surprised, but do know the penguins will be split up (meaning there will be a chapter focusing on another one of the animals before the next penguin). So let's get it started with…
Chapter 1 – Paranoia (Skipper's Story)
It was nighttime at the zoo, and Skipper and the rest of the penguins have just returned after a rare failed mission, which involved having to retrieve King Julien's crown, which Mort accidentally dropped down the sewer. While Skipper himself wasn't interested, considering the bad blood between the two of them, but Private and Marlene managed to convince him to do it.
Needless to say, the Rat King beat them to it, and considering how caught off guard they were by his appearance, they got their butts handed to them, and they were forced to retreat.
While the penguins were pretty disappointed at losing out on the crown (having to explain it to Julien was no picnic either), Skipper seemed to be the most distraught.
Being the commander of a team of penguin commandos meant that he had to make sure that his team was ready for absolutely anything that pops up. His near perfect record of successful missions proves that point. But when a mission like the one that they just went through comes up, it makes him feel like he's failed his team.
Skipper sighed, catching Private's attention. The young penguin walked up to his captain and placed a comforting flipper on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, Skipper. I'm sure once we get a plan together; we'll take down the Rat King and get that crown back no problem!"
Even though Skipper was still quite shaken from the ordeal, he knew he had to put up a strong front for the team, so he quickly pulled himself together before replying.
"Thank you, Private. It's nice to see that you guys are still keeping your spirits up, even after a defeat like this."
It was at this point that the penguins finally returned to their habitat, and they all hopped down the hatch, except for Skipper, who was staring into space, lost in thought.
Private soon popped his head back out of the hatch, noticing that Skipper did not follow them in.
"Hey Skipper, are you all right?"
"What? Oh yeah, I'll be down in a minute. Tell Kowalski and Rico to head to bed. I want you guys up early for morning exercises."
"Aye aye, Skipper!"
Private saluted as he climbed back down the hatch, but not before giving Skipper one last worried look.
The next day started like any other. Skipper woke the rest of the team up, and they spent the morning before the zoo opened doing laps around the pool, Skipper pushing them as hard as he could manage. Once they finished, the three of them exited the pool, exhausted. Private and Kowalski sat down to catch their breath, while Rico simply collapsed.
"Come on, you guys! I know you're all tired, but we've got to get ready for the humans' arrival today!"
Private, Kowalski and Rico all got up with a loud groan before heading towards the hatch to get ready for the zoo's opening. But before Skipper could follow them down, Kowalski stopped in his tracks, turning around to face his commander.
"What's wrong, soldier? We don't exactly have the time for idle chit-chat."
"I'm curious, Skipper. We've never done morning exercises before at that kind of intensity. Mind if I ask what the reasoning is behind this sudden increase?"
"That's because we need to be at tip-top shape if we want to take down the Rat King and get Julien's crown back."
"But we only failed because we were caught off guard! If we just had a plan, we definitely wouldn't be having this kind of problem!"
"Even so, Kowalski, the Rat King is no slouch. He was one tough cookie every time we took him on."
Kowalski sighed, about to say something else when Skipper pushed him down the hatch so that the two of them could get ready for the day.
After the zoo finally closed for the day, the penguins returned to their hideout. Kowalski went into his lab, Rico started spending some time with Mrs. Perky, and Skipper sat down at the table to think.
Private, meanwhile, waddled up to Skipper as he sat down, intending to ask him about the mission.
"Say Skipper, do you think we're ready to get that crown back yet?"
Skipper temporarily glanced to the side before replying.
"Negatory, Private. We're going to need some more training before we're ready."
"Are you sure, Skipper? I mean, we could just have Rico blow something up down in the sewer. I'm sure that would probably convince the Rat King to give the crown back."
Rico, excited after hearing the words 'blow something up' being mentioned, stood up and horked up a stick of dynamite and a match.
"Kaboom?"
Skipper paused, thinking it over for a moment.
"Only as a last resort, Rico."
Rico groaned, disappointed as he sat down and returned to playing with Mrs. Perky.
"Oh, and the answer's still no, Private."
"Awww. I was hoping we could do it. King Julien looks so sad without his crown. Not to mention the fact that I really don't want to see that unsightly bald patch anymore."
And so it went for the next few days. Skipper wakes them up in the morning, works them to death in morning drills, and yet continues to refuse to authorize the mission.
At this point, it was starting to irritate the other penguins. So, after successfully managing to ditch Skipper, they went over to the otter habitat to visit Marlene, hoping that she can help out.
"Hey guys. How's getting Julien's crown back going?"
Kowalski cleared his throat before replying.
"Hasn't even started, I'm afraid. Skipper refuses to let us go down into the sewers."
"He's been working us like dogs for the past week, and yet he keeps making excuses!" said Private.
"What?!"
Annoyed, Marlene immediately hopped out of her habitat and began making her way to the penguin habitat, intending to give Skipper a piece of her mind.
"Wait, Marlene! I'm sure Skipper has a good reason for holding up the mission!" said Private.
"I don't care what kind of reason he has! Julien has been constantly asking me where his crown was any chance he gets, and it's annoying me to no end."
Private opened his beak to say something else, but decided against it, instead following Marlene while Rico and Kowalski tried to keep up.
When they returned to the penguin habitat, Marlene was about ready to barge in and start asking questions, when she was suddenly hit with an idea.
"Hey Rico, do you happen to have any rope?"
The weapons expert was confused, wondering what Marlene would want with rope.
"Uh…why?"
"I just want to make sure Skipper doesn't try to run out on us."
Finally understanding, Rico nodded happily before horking up a length of rope, pulling out the remaining length that didn't already come out.
Grabbing the rope, Marlene quietly made her way down the hatch, the other three penguins following close behind. Thankfully, Skipper was still there, so they all snuck up behind him, but he noticed, dodging the attempt at a tackle by Marlene.
The penguins and Marlene spent the next few minutes trying to keep Skipper down so that they could tie him up, but the commander was putting up a good fight. Eventually, Rico managed to take him down, chuckling while the rest of them hogtied Skipper.
"What is the meaning of this insubordination?"
As Skipper lied on the floor fuming, his flippers and feet tied together, Marlene decided to take the initiative on asking the questions.
"Would you mind explaining to me why you haven't done anything about getting King Julien's crown back?"
Skipper sighed, really not wanting to have to explain it again.
"They're not ready yet. Once I feel they're ready, then we'll go."
"After a week of high-intensity training, I feel that our preparedness is more than adequate, Skipper. What's the real reason?" asked Kowalski.
The three penguins and Marlene looked at Skipper angrily. Rico even horked up a pocket knife and opened it up, brandishing it to look more intimidating.
Finally, Skipper sighed in defeat, realizing he wasn't going to win this battle.
"I'm sorry, you guys. I held you back because I was scared of letting you guys down again. I guess I let my paranoid tendencies get the best of me there."
The others noticeably softened after hearing Skipper's apology. Private was the first to speak.
"That's alright, Skipper. You know what Princess Self-Respectra always says…"
The room fell silent, waiting for Private's quote. But it didn't come, as Private was lost in thought, trying to think of his answer.
"What? What did she say?" asked Skipper.
"You know what? I honestly can't think of anything that Princess Self-Respectra would say in this kind of situation."
Everyone groaned, before Kowalski decided to explain.
"Look, I think what Private was trying to say is that even if we fail a hundred more missions, it's not going to make us think any less of you as our commander, Skipper."
Skipper smiled as he looked around at everyone.
"Thanks, you guys. I'm glad to hear it. Anyhoo, if you all are okay with it, I think we have a date with the Rat King."
Everyone cheered before heading towards the hatch.
"Hey, would someone please untie me?!" yelled Skipper.
"Whoops." said Rico, nervously chuckling as he cut the rope with the pocket knife. Skipper then stood up and dusted himself off.
"Alright, people. Move out!"
Down in the sewers, the penguins and Marlene were creeping along, keeping an eye out for any sign of the Rat King. Eventually, they did find him inside his throne room, the crown sitting next to him as he was making a speech to the rest of the rats.
They immediately pressed up against the wall, before Skipper began making a series of hand signals. Private was confused at first, before realizing that it was the exact same series of hand signals he made himself during their mission at the Winky Factory.
Before he realized it, Rico and Kowalski were already gone, so he was forced to slide along quickly to catch up to them.
Skipper, meanwhile, beckoned for Marlene to come closer so that he could whisper in her ear.
"While the guys are distracting everyone, you and I are going to sneak up and take the crown."
"Gotcha, Skipper."
Skipper then quickly checked around the area to make sure no one was looking before darting around the corner and hiding in the darkness, Marlene following close behind.
Eventually, they made it to where it was a straight shot to the throne, and Skipper signaled across the way to where Rico, Kowalski, and Private were. The three of them walked out and began hula dancing, catching the attention of all of the rats, as well as the king, who immediately got up and started walking over to see what was going on.
This gave Skipper and Marlene their chance. They began slowly creeping their way over to the throne, making sure no one was looking. Eventually, they reached the throne, and Skipper reached out, almost managing to grab the crown when the Rat King turned around and noticed them.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
"Rico! Kowalski! Private! Attack Formation!"
The four of them immediately jumped together, and went to work, taking down all of the rats like they were nothing. Even Marlene managed to get in on the action some, taking down a few of the rats herself.
Eventually, it was down to just them and the Rat King. Said king chuckled as he cracked his knuckles.
"Well, it seems like you guys didn't get enough of a beating the first time around. Let me show you the true meaning of pain!"
The Rat King then charged, but the penguins all dodged away. They began trading blows, but no one really began to get the advantage until the Rat King suddenly dropped to one knee.
"He's getting tired! Take him down!" yelled Skipper.
Rico immediately charged forward, jumping off of the ground and getting the Rat King in the chest with a flying headbutt, sending him down for the count. The penguins and Marlene traded high fives in celebration.
"Nice work, fellas. Let's get that crown and get out of here."
However, once Private went ahead and grabbed the crown, the Rat King and all of the rats got back up.
"Where do you think you're going with that?"
The Rat King looked at the five of them menacingly as he slowly made his way towards them.
"Rico! Smokescreen!"
Rico did as he was asked, horking up a smoke bomb and setting it off. Skipper grabbed Marlene's hand as the smoke began covering the area, and the group made their escape.
After returning to the zoo, the penguins and Marlene first went over to the lemur habitat to return the crown.
Once they reached it, they found Julien still sulking, while Maurice and Mort were busy trying to cheer him up. However, Julien was pretty much ignoring the both of them, especially Mort, as it was his fault that the crown went missing in the first place.
"Oh looky here, it is the penguins who can't get de crown back for me! So what? Do you have more bad news for de king?" asked Julien.
Rather than reply, Private pulled out said crown from behind his back. Julien's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran over and grabbed the crown, placing it back on his head.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you! I don't know what I would be doing without the crown. It would almost be like I wasn't the king anymore!"
"No problemo, Ringtail. Just try not to drop it down the sewer again. This was the second time we had to get that crown back, and I'm really not interested in getting it a third time." said Skipper.
"Oh, don't you be worrying about dat, my friend. I will be making sure dat this crown never leaves my head again."
Julien accentuated his promise with a glare at Mort.
"I'm sorry, my liege! Can you ever forgive me?" asked Mort, tearing up.
"I don't know. I might be needing some more worshipping to be able to forgive you."
"Oh, I can do that!"
Mort immediately got to his knees and began bowing vigorously to King Julien.
"Yay, I'm so loyal!"
Maurice rolled his eyes before turning towards the penguins.
"Look, thanks for bringing his crown back, you guys. Hopefully this means King Julien will stop being so sulky all the time."
"We're glad to help, Maurice." said Private.
"Anyway, we should probably get going. We all need to get ourselves cleaned up." said Skipper.
Rico decided to illustrate that point by sniffing his armpit.
"Blech!"
The penguins and Marlene left the lemur habitat and went their separate ways, with Marlene returning to her habitat, and the penguins returning home.