Just wanted to thank everyone for the fantastic reviews! Anyway, here's chapter 2! Please read, review and enjoy!
□Chapter Two■
Skipper opened his eyes slowly, moaning in pain. "Hoover Dam…" He muttered, swinging around to look at the clock of the wall of the H.Q. 11:48am. His eyes widened.
Kowalski looked up from a quick experiment he was conducting as he heard movement. "Morning, Skipper." He greeted the commando penguin. "How do you feel?"
"Fine," Skipper replied gruffly. "What happened?"
"You passed out," Kowalski responded, turning his attention back to his experiment.
"Where's Rico? And Private?"
"Doing recon," Kowalski replied immediately. Well, he seems a bit calmer, the intellectual penguin thought. "You've been out for two days."
"Two days?" Skipper exclaimed, jumping down from his bunk. "Fish and chips, man! Why didn't you wake me sooner?"
"Skippah, you obviously needed the rest!" Private piped as he and Rico slid down the ladder into the H.Q.
"Yup!" Rico agreed with Private.
"I was doing fine." Skipper said firmly. "Any sign of Blowhole?" He demanded.
"Not a trace," Private assured Skipper.
Rico nodded.
Skipper took a deep breath. "Maybe I was being a bit on edge."
"A bit?" Kowalski raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, a lot on edge," Skipper agreed. "Well, no more. Since Blowhole hasn't got the guts to come back looking for more, we can return to our regular routines."
"Great!" Private piped up happily.
"Now, let's go topside, men!" Skipper ordered.
The four penguins climbed up the ladder and began practicing their basic moves.
"Private, let's work on your roundhouse!" Skipper barked. "Kowalski, you stand as Private's target."
"Goota hav Skipa bak!" Rico murmured to Private happily.
"You're right, Rico. It is good to have Skippah back!" Private agreed, taking position across from Kowalski.
Kowalski took up position.
"On my mark…" Skipper said, raising a flipper. "Now!"
Private ran at Kowalski, and was about to kick up to complete his roundhouse, when…
"Alikc! Alikc!" Rico croaked.
"Skipper, Alice alert!" Kowalski warned, sliding out of Private's way.
"Cute and cuddly, boys!" Skipper ordered. Private stopped mid-kick, causing him to slide into the water. Skipper sighed, and Private immediately pulled himself out of the water and stood next to the other three penguins. The group of commando penguins watched the zookeeper walk by.
Alice paid no attention to the penguins, and she spoke into a walkie-talkie. "Yeah, it's the otter, she's missing. We're going to have to close down the zoo for the day, just in case she's wandering around here." She walked towards her office.
Skipper's eyes widened. "Marlene!" He exclaimed.
A worried expression crept onto Kowalski's face.
After Alice had left, the penguins slid over to Marlene's habitat. They leaped into their fighting stances- and waited. After a few moments, there was no movement or response to the penguins' actions.
"Spread out, men!" Skipper barked. The penguins nodded and disperse throughout Marlene's home.
"Marlene?" Skipper slid on his belly into Marlene's cave, searching quietly. No movement, no response. "Marlene? You here?" Skipper called. He stood, and looked around. The room was dead silent. There were a few of Marlene's items scattered throughout the cave, all broken or damaged, proving that there had been a struggle. Throughout the huge mess, the commando penguin noticed some small, dot-like tracks. "Kowalski!" He yelled.
Kowalski slid into Marlene's cave. "Find something, Skipper?" He asked hopefully.
Skipper nodded. "Analysis." He said, pointing to the tracks.
Kowalski observed the tracks closely. There were many of them, small and close together, shaped like circles. "Lobster tracks, Skipper. About two days old." The intellectual penguin reported.
"I knew it," Skipper murmured, "Blowhole's behind this. But what would he want with Marlene?" He shivered, thinking of all the horrible things that his arch nemesis could have done to the otter.
Rico and Private entered the cave. "We didn't find a single trace of Marlene, Skippah." Private said sadly.
"It was Blowhole." Skipper explained. "We found some tracks.
"Lobster tracks," Kowalski corrected, "which proves that Blowhole still relies on his army of crustaceans.
"Right you are, penguins." An all too familiar voice said, a hint of amusement lingering in his voice.
The penguins leaped into the H.Q, landing in their fighting stances. "Look!" Private pointed at the TV- Dr. Blowhole was looking at the penguins through the screen, appearing to be slightly amused, an evil grin plastered to his face. "So we meet once again, penguins."
Skipper remained in his fighting stance, anger burning in his eyes. "What have you done to Marlene?" He demanded.
"Don't worry, Skipper. Your little 'friend' is safe… at the moment." Dr. Blowhole said with an evil smiled. The penguins gasped. In the background, Marlene was chained to a wall. She opened her eyes and saw the penguins on the screen.
"Skipper! It's a trap! Don't come for me-" Marlene screamed. There were four lobsters guarding her- each with a chrome claw. The largest of the four hit Marlene with its claw, and she kept quiet.
"You see, Skipper," Blowhole began, "the last time we met, my greatest creation, Chrome Claw, almost defeated you. So now, I have given the rest of my lobster minions the same abilities as Chrome Claw." He smiled evilly.
Skipper couldn't take his eyes off of Marlene. He just couldn't believe it. Blowhole had officially crossed the line. "Just wait until I get my flippers on you, Blowhole!" He growled. "You'll be sorry."
Kowalski's ice blue eyes seemed to be flaming with rage. Rico coughed up a chainsaw with the usual crazy, threatening gleam in his eyes, and Private held his fighting stance.
Dr. Blowhole merely laughed. "We'll see about that." Marlene shot the penguins one last glance, and shook her head sadly. Then the screen went black.
Skipper didn't hesitate. "Kowalski, options!"
Kowalski pulled out his clipboard. "It appears as though Dr. Blowhole rebuilt his hideout in its previous location."
"Subway accessible, at least." Private chirped.
"Private, I told you last time! He'll be expecting that." Skipper reminded Private, slapping the young penguin across the face.
"Sorry, Skippah." Private apologized.
Kowalski continued, "… So we'll need a fast transport. Walking and sliding would take about…" He made the calculations, "2.5 days to reach our destination."
"Too slow," Skipper replied.
"Or, we could go by car." Kowalski said.
"How long should that take?" Skipper inquired.
"Depends who's driving." Kowalski replied, making quick calculations. "If Private drives, it will take us about… 3.9 days to reach Blowhole's hideout."
Private looked down and mumbled something under his breath.
Rico looked at Kowalski with an excited, crazy expression. "Meh! Meh!"
"Oh, right. If Rico drives, we should reach Blowhole's hideout in… under 32 minutes." Kowalski calculated.
"Excellente," Skipper said. "Roll out, men!"
The commando penguins shot up the ladder and onto the makeshift floe. "Kowalski, analysis."
"All clear, Skipper," Kowalski reported.
"Keep moving, men!" Skipper barked. The penguins dove into the water, and emerged on the opposite side. They slid on their bellies towards the zoo entrance. Skipper noticed a parked truck, and motioned to Rico. Rico grinned, and coughed up a crow bar from his gullet, and broke into the zoo delivery truck by breaking the window. He took out the truck driver with a swing of the crowbar to the back of his head. He motioned for the other penguins as he shoved the unconscious driver out of the vehicle.
Private stepped on the gas pedal, and Rico took the wheel. Kowalski was doing a few calculations, and shook his head to himself as the truck hurtled down the road.
"What is it, Kowalski?" Skipper asked.
Kowalski sighed. "I was doing a few calculations of our chances of survival against the Chrome Claw lobsters."
"And…?" Skipper inquired.
"We have a… 29.67 percent chance of survival." Kowalski calculated. "With weapons, a 46.9 percent chance."
"What about Marlene?"
Kowalski thought, jotting down some notes and diagrams on his clipboard, then shook his head again. "3.2 percent."
"What?"
"Think about it, Skipper. She has no training or skill on the battlefield. At least, no skill that we've witnessed." Kowalski explained.
Skipper felt a harsh, cold pang of fear in his chest. Not fear for his safety, but Marlene's.
Kowalski also feared for their friend's safety. What if they weren't able to get to Marlene in time? The odds were already against them, even if they had Rico's weapons.
Skipper and Kowalski were suddenly hurled to one side of the vehicle as Rico took a sharp corner. "Rico!" Skipper warned as he and Kowalski hit the far window, face first.
"Soree," Rico croaked, taking another sharp corner and hurling Kowalski and Skipper to the other side of the truck.
Skipper sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Private suddenly slammed on the brakes at Rico's command, "Brak! Braakks!" Rico may not be the safest driver, but he's smart enough not to run a red light.
Kowalski moaned as the light flicked to green, and Private stepped on the gas. "Could you slow down a little?" He begged, rubbing the back of his neck.
"No dice!" Skipper said, answering for Rico. "We need to get there, ASAP. Private!"
Private put more pressure on the gas pedal.
Kowalski muttered something under his breath and sat up slowly. "Skipper, if we go any faster, we'll catch the attention of the other drivers," The intellectual penguin warned.
Skipper ignored him. "Private!"
Private sighed, leaning on the gas pedal. "Skippah, I think K'walski might be right-"
"No arguments, Private! Floor it!" Skipper commanded.
A wild, carefree grin took over Rico's face and he steered the truck towards Blowhole's hideout, enjoying the speed and excitement.
"Braks!" Rico yelled to Private, and the young penguin threw himself at the brakes, causing the vehicle to skid to a less-than-graceful stop, in turn, causing Skipper and Kowalski to fly forward and hit the windshield.
"M… maybe I should have calculated our chances of survival with Rico driving first." Kowalski murmured, dazed.
"You think?" Skipper said irritably as he sat up.
"Soree," Rico croaked, a sly grin creeping onto his face.
Private leaped on to the seat to stand next to the other penguins. "Now what, Skippah?"
When he was done seeing stars, Skipper blinked to clear the blurriness in the edges of his vision. "First we have to find a way in."
Kowalski looked towards the hideout, and noticed a small, almost completely hidden ventilation shaft opening. "How about through there, Skipper?" He suggested, motioning to the shaft with one flipper.
"Good idea, Kowalski. Rico!" Skipper pointed towards the weapon-crazed penguin.
Rico hacked up a rope, and Skipper caught it, tying one end to a lamppost and throwing the rope down the shaft. "Let's go, men." Skipper leaped down the shaft first, grasping the rope with one flipper as he descended. Close behind was Kowalski, then Rico. Private, after a moment's hesitation, brought up the rear.
The four penguins landed in their fighting stances, back to back. Skipper observed the hideout. It was pitch black, and completely silent. "Kowalski, analysis."
"It appears that the area is… dark." Kowalski offered.
Skipper rolled his eyes. "Come on, men." The four penguins slid through the dark hideout, Skipper in the lead.
"Marlene?" Skipper called softly into the dark hideout. No response. "Marlene? Are you okay? Can you hear me?" He called again, raising his voice only slightly. This time, he got a response. But it was not the response Skipper had been aching to hear from the otter. It was a worn out, beaten down, hesitant call from the captured otter that sent chills down Skipper's spine and made his heart feel as if it had been skewered by an icicle. Blowhole, whatever you did to her you're going to pay for…
"S… Skipper? Is th… that you?" Marlene called into the shadows.
"Marlene! Where are you? I can't see a thing!" Skipper said, peering into the darkness.
"D…don't come any closer. Pl… please, Skipper. They… they'll kill you… it's a t…trap-" There was a loud 'clank,' then an eerie silence.
"Marlene?" Kowalski called, his eyes widening in fear for the otter.
Skipper peered through the cloak of darkness that engulfed the room, and saw shining metal claws surrounding Marlene, then the shadowy outlines of the lobsters.
Kowalski gulped as the lights suddenly flicked on to reveal Marlene, still chained to the wall, now unconscious.
"Show yourself, Blowhole!" Skipper growled.
Kowalski swallowed hard. "Umm… Skipper?" He pointed Skipper towards a large steel door, which was slowly opening to reveal Blowhole's army of Chrome Claw minions.
Skipper thought quickly. "Rico! Hacksaw me!"
Rico coughed up a hacksaw and Skipper caught it with one flipper. "Roll out, men!" He ordered. The three other penguins nodded and dispersed, disappearing into the crowd of Chrome Claw lobsters.
DUN DUN DUN! A cliff hanger… sort of. *shrug* Whateves. R&R, Chapter 3 should be up soon! I had a lot of fun with this chapter, mostly because I made Skipper and Kowalski get thrown around in the truck. XD