21.) September 27, 2009: "Frozen Friends" [1C]
Just as Skipper and Marlene had entered into the small freezer door at Central Park's snow cone stand, the door shut and latched behind them.
"Don't worry, Marlene, the boys will eventually look for us here and let us out," Skipper then said.
"I'm so cold," Marlene stated as her teeth began to chatter.
Although Skipper didn't personally care for the cold, his body would allow him to stay in the freezer indefinitely. Marlene, however, might soon suffer hypothermia.
"Marlene, come here and hold me closely," Skipper told her. "My body heat will help keep you warm. Don't be afraid."
22.) September 28, 2009: "Life"
Once it seemed that the mission they were on was no longer worth pursuing, Kowalski turned to Skipper to confirm that the operation was indeed over.
"So, are we done, sir?" Kowalski asked. "Are we aborting?"
"Aborting?! No, Kowalski, I'm pro-life!" Skipper shouted as he raised a flipper and debated if he should slap his second-in-command.
"Any penguin worth their flippers is, sir," Kowalski stated. "I guess I should have just asked differently. And thus I will: Are we finished with this mission?"
"You should have asked that from the start," Skipper said, "but yes, our work here is done."
23.) September 29, 2009: "Of Rain and 'Jeopardy!'" [2C]
For a while now, the penguins tried to catch "Jeopardy!" on TV – weekdays at 1900 hours – whenever they could. Skipper considered the show a good training exercise of the mind, while Kowalski loved showing off how much he knew and recorded the number of questions he got right each time on paper.
Suddenly, during the Double Jeopardy! round, it began to rain at a decent rate. The picture on the TV soon stuck, and moments later, the reception from the satellite had been lost.
"Come back, Alex!" Kowalski shouted at the TV. "I've only gotten 14 right so far tonight!"
24.) September 30, 2009: "The Socket Wrench"
After waddling away with only the ratchet from Kowalski's toolbox, Skipper called over to Kowalski to bring him a socket so he could begin tightening a bolt on the HQ's door.
"Kowalski, grab me a socket, please," Skipper requested.
"What size, sir?" Kowalski inquired. "There's eleven-sixteenths, five-eighths, nine-sixteenths, half-inch, seven-sixteenths, three-eighths, eleven-thirty-seconds, five-sixteenths, nine-thirty-seconds, quarter-inch, and three-sixteenths."
"Wow, Kowalski," Skipper said sarcastically. "Did you forget anything?"
"Actually, yes," Kowalski replied. "There's also metric. I have 15-millimeter, 14-millimeter, 13-millimeter, 12-millimeter–"
"Forget it, Kowalski!" Skipper shouted as he threw his flippers up. "Let's make life simple – bring me an adjustable wrench instead!"
25.) October 1, 2009: "Scandal!" [3C]
"Marlene, Julien just told me that you mentioned involvement in a scandal to him," Skipper said as he entered Marlene's habitat. "I can't imagine you being caught up in something like that."
"I just told him that was why I couldn't compete in the Internet popularity contest," Marlene responded. "I didn't go into what the so-called 'scandal' was about."
"So, something did happen," Skipper said. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Are you asking out of curiosity or compassion?" Marlene inquired.
"Both," Skipper replied. "But I'll keep whatever it is between us."
"Well, it's a long story," Marlene began.
26.) October 2, 2009: "Penguin Pride" [4C]
As a penguin, hockey player, and someone who had hatched in that city, there was no bigger fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins than Skipper. While the other penguins also followed the team named after their species, Skipper was the true fanatic among them.
"I've been waiting since June 12, the day we won the Stanley Cup, to see these guys again," Skipper said as he and the others watched on TV as the Penguins took to the ice of Mellon Arena to face the New York Rangers in their first 2009-10 regular season game. "And we're gonna do it again!"
27.) October 3, 2009: "Need-to-Know"
"Get out, meddling mammal!" Skipper shouted as he and Rico carried Julien out the door of the HQ. "I swear the next creature that comes through this door without flippers and a bill I will slap silly!"
It was about 30 seconds later when such a creature arrived.
"Hi, guys," Marlene said as she entered.
"Disregard my last statement," Skipper conveyed to the other penguins. "Marlene's OK. She has security clearance."
"I have security clearance?" Marlene asked. "What kind?"
"The classified kind," Skipper informed her. "The kind that I can't tell you that you have until you need to know."
28.) October 4, 2009: "I Like it Here"
"Skipper, I need you to promise me something," Marlene suddenly approached Skipper and requested one day.
"What do you need?" Skipper asked.
"Most of my life I spent in California, and I had some great times there, but I believe I've finally found my place here," she said. "I really like it here. The best friends I've ever had are here. I've had a lot of fun adventures here. And you, Skipper, are here."
"So, what do you need me to promise you?" Skipper wondered.
"Assure me that I'll never be transferred away from here," Marlene stated.
"Done," Skipper replied.
29.) October 5, 2009: "Throw the Rice in the Air?" [5C]
"Do you, Skipper Joseph Fidelis, take Marlene Christine DeOtter to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, as long as you both shall live?" Roger asked as Skipper and Marlene stood before him.
"I do," Skipper replied.
Roger then asked the same to Marlene with the names reversed.
"I do," she responded.
"If anyone has any reason why these two shouldn't be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace," Roger said.
"I object!" Julien shouted from the back row.
"Why?!" Skipper angrily asked.
"Because, silly penguin, this isn't real!"
It was then that Skipper woke up.
30.) October 6, 2009: "The Pez Dispenser" [6C]
"Care for some Pez, Skipper?" Private asked as he held out a Pez dispenser for Skipper to take.
"Thank you, Private," Skipper said as he tilted the head of the dispenser back and took the piece of raspberry candy that pushed out.
Skipper then noticed the character that the dispenser featured.
"Private, don't you think this little guy looks a lot like me?" Skipper asked, pointing to the penguin figure that adorned the top of the dispenser.
"Now that you mention it, I think you're right," Private replied.
"Strange," Skipper commented. "You've gotta tell me where you got this thing."
* * *
Drabble Notes
1C: Marlene is now able to leave the zoo grounds at any time just like the penguins, as I "cured" her of her inability to leave the zoo condition in a fanfic titled "Freedom Isn't Free." (In the actual TV episode "Otter Gone Wild," it was implied that Marlene went wild in Central Park due to the overwhelming freedom of the outside world.)
2C: Based on what really happened to me as I watched "Jeopardy!" the day before I wrote this drabble. I had gotten 14 correct answers so far and was currently in the Double Jeopardy! round when the rain caused my satellite dish signal to be lost, thus preventing me from being able to watch the rest of that evening's show. I knew right after it happened that I would make it become the plot of a drabble.
3C: In the TV episode "Tangled in the Web," Marlene did in fact mention an unspecified "scandal" to Julien as the reason why she was no longer in competition.
4C: In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, thus I had to make Skipper one, too! (But in all honesty, what other hockey team could a penguin possibly support?) This drabble was written before the start of the day's game, which the Penguins would go on to win by a score of 3-2.
5C: The ending had to be this way for a couple of reasons. First, there's no way I could have written a respectable wedding scene in 100 words. Second, I'm not entirely sure that I would marry the characters (and it's not just because I'm not an ordained minister). At least I couldn't do it yet, as I believe in continuity (drabbles not exempted), and I find it more fun to, whenever I write stories with Skipper and Marlene, stop just short of either confessing any feelings of love to the other. This leaves more to readers' imaginations. As for the middle and last names I assigned to Skipper and Marlene in this drabble, they are of my own invention. I have created middle and last names for the eight main characters of the show, and this drabble is the debut of the ones for Skipper and Marlene. I have reasons for the names that I chose, but I do not want to have too long a note for this drabble, so I'll just explain Skipper's last name here. It comes from the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps, Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for "Always Faithful."
6C: This drabble breaks the fourth wall a little. Pez really did make dispensers featuring some of the characters from "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," including ones of Skipper, Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria. I do not own any of them, but the idea for this drabble came to me while I was eating raspberry Pez from a snowman dispenser.
