New PoM story! YAY! Enjoy!

The HQ was quiet as the nine penguins went about their business. Suddenly, a large explosion came from the Lab.

"AHHH!" Cleo screamed. She rushed out the door, coughing from the smoke.

"Are you okay?" Kowalski asked, rushing to her side, concern on his face.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine!" Cleo was smiling ear-hole-to-ear-hole, her grey eyes dancing with excitement. "But I've succeeded!"

"Succeeded in what?" Rusty asked, immediately interested. He, Cam, Ace and Gracie gathered round to listen.

"I have succeeded in creating these!" She held out her flipper, which balanced a plate which held a pile of golden-brown discs, with little dark brown spots scattered about.

"What are those?" Gracie asked.

"They're cookies, silly," Cleo laughed. "Try one." Gracie reached for a cookie; as did Rusty, Ace and Cam. Cam took a bite.

"OH MY HOLY SWEET-TOOTH!" she cried, staring at the delicious food in her flipper. "That's the best thing I've ever tasted!"

"Better then furros?" Private pondered.

"Never tasted one," Cam replied. Gracie nibbled hers, and smiled.

"This is very yummy! You try some, Daddy!" She handed her cookie to Private, who also tasted it.

"That's a smashing good cookie," Private nodded. "What's the recipe?"

"Uh… recipe?" Cleo asked.

"Yes, the recipe. What's in the cookies?"

"Uh… well… th-that's classified. Highly confidential."

"Fair enough," Ace agreed. "Wouldn't want someone to steal the recipe to these delicious cookies."

"I've had a marvellous idea!" Gracie's usually soft British accent spoke up. "Why don't we sell these to the other zoo animals? It would be very selfish to keep this yummy biscuits to ourselves. What do you say, Cleo?"

"I say that's a great idea!" Cleo agreed. "Let's start now!" The five chicks ran out of the HQ, slamming the fish-bowl door behind them.

"Cookies! Get your fresh, hot, delicious cookies! Get 'em right here!" Rusty cried into a megaphone.

"Did I hear the magic-y words?" Julian asked, as he jumped down next to Rusty, startling him. Mort and Maurice followed.

"What word would those be?" Gracie asked.

"Since you asked so nicely, I will be telling you," Julian said, leaning his face into hers. "The magic-y words are being delicious, and cookies. Now where would I be getting some of these delicious cookies?"

"Cleo made them!" Gracie said with a grin.

Julian reached over to the plate on the ground next to Cleo, before Cam slapped his paw away.

"Ah, ah, ah," she said. "You have to pay. We're selling the cookies, not giving them away!"

"Uh… how do we pay?" Maurice asked. Cam tapped her beak in thought.

"You have to get us some bananas!" Cleo cut in. Cam looked at her in surprise.

"Bananas? Really?"

"They're one of the ingredients of the cookies," Cleo explained. "I can't make more if I don't have bananas."

"I do not want to be giving away my bananas," Julian said, rubbing his chin in deep thought. "But I do want to be having one of these delicious cookies."

"Only one banana per cookie," Cleo continued, trying to tempt him. "Take it or leave it."

"Errmmm…" Julian sighed. "I'll take it."

"Sold!" Ace exclaimed. Maurice ran to fetch three bananas, and they each purchased a cookie. Mort and Maurice made sure they ate theirs before Julian tried his, in case he took them. Julian took a cautious bite. His ears perked up, his eyes widened, and his smiled as he chewed.

"Wow," he said, between bites. "This is… one of the… best cookies I've ever… HAD! Maurice!" he called to his right-hand lemur. "Get me sixteen more bananas! No, no, make it seventeen!"
"Right away, you majesty!" Maurice saluted, scampering off to the lemur habitat.

"And you." He pointed at Cleo. "I command you to make more of these cookies! I shall come over everyday to buy some off you."

"Uh… yes, sir!" Cleo said. After Maurice came back with the bananas, and Julian got his seventeen cookies, the lemurs left, leaving the five chicks alone to sell the rest.

"Cookies! Fresh, hot, delicious cookies!" Rusty yelled into the megaphone. "Only one banana each!"

"We're not getting many more customers today," Ace said.

"Cleo, be a dear and let me have a cookie," Cam said for the umpteenth time that day.

"No," Cleo said for the umpteenth time that day. Cam sighed, and sat down on the ground to fiddle with some weird looking piece of equipment.

Rusty set down the megaphone, and took a drink of water.

"Can I take a break?" he asked in a croaky voice. "My throat hurts."

"Go ahead," Cleo said with a sigh. Rusty sat down next to Gracie, who was flipping through a comic book.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked, looking over her shoulder.

"It's a detective comic," Gracie replied, her beak in the book. "Well, actually, it's more of a graphic novel."

"But you can't read. I can't either. How do you know what's going on?" Rusty asked. Gracie hesitated.

"Uh…" Gracie gulped; she had promised never to tell a lie, but this was super important for her to keep to herself - the fact that she had learned to read and write! "The illustrator is obviously very good at telling a story in pictures," Gracie explained. "I can follow the story perfectly! Sometimes," she giggled at herself, "I even solve the mystery before the detective."

"Hey, let me see that!" Cleo gasped as she scanned the page. "This is amazing! Where did you find this?"

"Um… I think it fell out of child's knapsack," Gracie replied. "He had a whole series of these, all tied up in a nice, convenient bundle, and they were so colourful and interesting, I couldn't resist them."

"Well, they certainly look inviting," Cleo agreed. "Shame you can't understand what the characters are saying, though."
"Yeah…" Gracie agreed, with a little laugh. "Such a shame."