"So, how did it go?" Skipper queried, taking a sip of coffee out of his cup with the fish in it.
"Oh, it went great! Becky and Stacy are trying not to get angry all the time! And they said they were sorry!" Private exclaimed, hopping up and down. Skipper raised his eyebrows.
"So, they are practically training?" Skipper questioned.
"Pretty much." Private replied. Marlene stood by the door, smiling. Kowalski and Rico grinned at each other.
"Marlene, when is the next time you guys are going to hang out?" Skipper asked, turning to the otter. She smiled at him.
"Tomorrow. We can't hang out with them tonight because I'm going on a date with Antonio." Marlene explained. Skipper grimaced at Marlene's boyfriend's name.
"Well, can you bring them over here tomorrow?" Skipper asked.
"Sure," Marlene answered. Skipper turned to Kowalski and Rico.
"We're gonna help them train, boys!" Skipper announced. Kowalski and Rico smiled. Private high-fived Marlene. After that, she turned and left.
Marlene woke up, feeling exhausted. Marlene and Antonio had stayed up a long time last night. She walked outside and glanced at the trees. Yellow. She sighed. The air was crisp and smelled of fall. Summer was leaving. She walked over to the entrance of the zoo.
"Hey cousin!" Marlene heard a voice. She turned around to see Becky and Stacy. She yawned again. "Are you tired?"
"A little," Marlene said.
"Should we leave you alone?" Becky asked. Marlene shook her head. "Good! Because we really want to hang out!"
"Sure, but first, I want you to meet another one of your cousins! He's my boyfriend, his name is Antonio." Marlene turned around to see Antonio comes walking towards her. He was smiling. He put his hand out.
"Hola, amigos! I'm Antonio. You must be Becky and Stacy! I've heard a lot about you two." Antonio greeted. They shook both of his hands.
"Woah, Marlene, your boyfriend is Hispanic?" Stacy commented. Marlene nodded, grinning.
"We love Mexico, even though we've never been there, but Spanish is such a beautiful language!" Becky added. Antonio chuckled.
"We really want to go sometime." Stacy replied. Antonio laughed.
"I've been to Mexico once, but I was only a child then." Antonio said. Becky and Stacy stared at him, eager to here more.
"What was it like?" Stacy asked.
"Where did you go?" Becky queried.
"I went all over the country. We stayed at Cancun for a week. They have a great beach there, si! We spent another week in Mexico City, and Durango was just magnifico!" Antonio described. Marlene started to feel uneasy.
"What was the best place there?" Becky queried. Antonio thought for a moment. Marlene grasped his arm.
"The Aztec temple was awesome! The rainforest was beautiful there, and the temple was completely fascinating!" Antonio answered. The two badgers inched forward, and Marlene started to feel defensive towards her boyfriend. She bit back a retort, remembering the last time she had made them angry. Antonio saw the fear and anger in her eyes and decided to change the subject.
"Um, how about we go to the penguins?" Antonio said. Becky and Stacy nodded. Marlene sighed. While they were walking, Antonio bent down and whispered into Marlene's ear, "It's okay. Me and the badgers, we're just friends. No one could ever replace you." He quickly kissed Marlene's cheek. She felt better already.
The four animals walked inside the penguins' HQ. They were talking to each other about what had happened over the past month. Suddenly, the penguins appeared, in their battle stances. They stopped.
"Oh, it's just you," Skipper relaxed. Marlene nodded, a bit annoyed. "So, did you guys get along on the way here?" Marlene trembled. She had, but she was still feeling ticked off about how the badgers were acting towards her boyfriend. She shook her head. Of course they weren't flirting with him! They were her friends, and they were just asking him about Mexico. "So you're not?"
"No, no, we're getting along perfectly." Marlene replied, shooting a glance at Antonio. He smiled at her and she sighed.
"Well, that's good! Now, ready for the training?" Skipper queried. Stacy and Becky turned and stared at each other.
"Training?" They said, their expressions quizzical. Skipper smirked.
"Yep! You two said that you were training so you didn't get mad at every word that exits everyone's' mouths." Skipper started. Stacy and Becky stared at Skipper, their eyebrows starting to furrow and growls starting to escape their throats. "So we're going to help you!" Marlene quickly grasped the badgers' shoulders, and they swiveled their heads to see Marlene's worried look. They glanced at their feet, took a deep breath, and looked back at Skipper.
"Okay," Stacy said. Becky looked up at the other three penguins and forced a tiny smile. Private grinned excitedly, Kowalski shrugged, and unsure smile on his face, and Rico nodded. Stacy turned to Becky and whispered something into her ear. Becky nodded and Stacy leaned away.
"Yay!" Private raced up to Stacy and Becky and hugged them. They kissed his cheeks. He giggled.
"Let's get on with the training!" Skipper yelled.
Marlene sat across the table from Becky and Stacy. She twiddled her thumbs. They looked worried too. Marlene breathed in and out.
"Okay, you ready?"
"Yep!"
"Er… yes."
"Okay… Will you guys just stop badgering me?" Marlene's voice shook. They started to growl. Without warning, a baseball bat came down and hit them on the heads. They automatically put their hands on their heads and rubbed them, leaping to their feet.
"What was that for?" Stacy snapped. Rico held the baseball bat, laughing. Becky couldn't help but grin at the penguin.
"Nice hairdo, Rico!" Becky quickly changed the subject. Rico giggled and blushed. Stacy raised an eye-brow and turned back to Marlene. The otter was almost pale with fear and looked as if she was going to faint. Antonio ran up to her and hugged her. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them back up again, looking better.
"Every time you start to get angry, we will hit you with the bat." Skipper gestured to Rico, who was swinging the bat around. "Not in here, Rico!" Becky chuckled and Stacy stared at her like she was crazy. "Okay, lets do it again."
Antonio was sitting there this time, deep in thought. Finally, he snapped back to reality, grinning in a somewhat evil way.
"Gosh, who would want to play some stupid, silly little games with you guys?" Antonio stared at them, his hypnotizing green eyes flickering back and forth, looking at both of the badgers. They ironed their ears to their heads and glared menacingly at the Hispanic otter.
"Oh, I wish you hadn't said that!" Stacy growled, her voice almost to low to hear. Antonio shivered.
"Silly g- OW!" Becky shrieked as the bat hit both of them on the heads. They turned to Rico who was laughing. Stacy turned away from the penguin but Becky kept her stare on Rico. Rico stared back. Stacy suddenly turned Becky around so she was facing Antonio.
But now Private was sitting there. He was very scared, but was happy to have Rico there. Without warning, Private whipped out some garlic from behind his back and waved it in the air.
"I've got some garlic! It'll warn off evil badger spirits!" Private prompted them. They twitched, trying not to get angry.
"Stace…" Becky's voice faded away and she gulped. "Whatever you do, don't get mad." But it was too late. Stacy leapt to her feet and sprung at the penguin, but fortunately the bat came, hit Stacy and sent her flying across the room. Becky turned to Rico and gave him a weird smile. Rico winked at the yellow badger.
"Good job Becky! Looks as if you got this whole 'nice thing' down alright!" Skipper applauded for Becky. She giggled and shot another glance at Rico. Rico blushed.
The orange badger got up and stumbled over to Skipper.
"How did I do?" she queried, as if she was high, then collapsed on the ground.
"As for Stacy… we'll need to work on that." Skipper kept his eyes on the badger.
The training continued all night and all the next day. Everyone was exhausted, but Skipper wanted to do it until they were perfect. Finally the time came. Becky and Stacy staggered out of the penguins' HQ and home. They had done it. They were nice!