Chapter Three

After a relatively enjoyable evening and a dinner of ice-cold sushi, Eggy went to sleep completely exhausted. And the four penguins gathered around the table to discuss their options. "Marlene doesn't know anything," Kowalski admitted. "The badgers haven't seen any ducks in weeks, Joey told me the same thing after he kicked me in the head, and Phil and Mason don't know anything either. As far as anyone in this zoo knows, there are no ducks in New York City at this point in time."

"I was wondering," Private began nervously. "What if Miss Kitka knows something?" Skipper looked like he was about to interrupt, so Private rushed to finish his statements. "I'm not saying that she ate them, but what if she knows if another falcon did?"

"Braaaawk," Rico croaked in agreement. Skipper shook his head.

"I thought we all learned our lesson about not judging a book by its cover. But if it makes you feel better we'll go talk to Miss Kitka tomorrow."

"Skipper, do you think we're just being paranoid?" Kowalski asked. "What if there really isn't anything going on, and it really was just an accident that Eggy got left behind? Marlene was saying-" here Skipper cut him off.

"Marlene is always saying something. Are you going to let her twisted head games get in the way of our objective? Listen to me- all of you! We're going to find Eggy's mom and in the meantime, he will continue to train with us. Something's going on around this zoo. Mama Duck would never leave one of her children behind! So here's the plan..."

Unknown to the penguins, little ears had overheard the conversation. Eggy shuffled around nervously. In his heart of hearts, he knew he should tell the penguins what had happened. He knew they just wanted to help him and figure out what had happened- what had led to the duckling sheltering under a park bench for several days. But he couldn't forget the hate and rage that had burned, festering behind that giant fish's eyes when it had taken away his family. And he couldn't forget the cruel words that the... thing had whispered in his ear. "Tell anyone what happened here and your entire family gets it, starting with your mother." Eggy shuddered.

No, falcons had not eaten his mother and his siblings. Instead, they had all been busy preparing for the migration nearly a week and a half ago when a large fish-thing that could somehow make it onto land drove up on a Segway scooter. He had been very polite at first, introducing himself as "Dr." something- Eggy couldn't quite remember. But he had asked for directions to some important human landmark- the Statue of Freedom or Liberty or something like that. When Mama Duck didn't know what he was talking about, the giant fish had flown into a psychotic rage and gathered up all of Eggy's family, trapping them in a cage he'd managed to get off the back of his scooter. Eggy dodged in time, but the rest of his family hadn't gotten the same training he had as an egg, and weren't able to avoid the crashing, clanging metal of the cage. He had been terrified that the fish would go after him next, but instead, he just leaned down and whispered into the duckling's ear.

"Tell anyone what happened here and your entire family gets it, starting with your mother," the fish had hissed. "And trust me, little one, I will find out. I know everything. You don't want your siblings to be dinner for some hungry animal, now, do you?" Eggy had shook his head vigorously.

"No, sir," he said quickly. The fish-thing just smirked.

"Good. I knew you'd see reason. I especially do not want those infernal penguins to find out. They'll ruin everything. Keep that in mind, if you want your family to stay alive. Ciao!" And with that, the creature roared off into the distance, taking Eggy's hysterically screaming family with him.

For the next week and a half, Eggy had kept himself hidden well. He took shelter under the park bench at night, missing his mother's fluffy wings to cuddle under for warmth. He missed playing with his siblings in the water. And he missed having decent food. He'd been keeping himself alive by eating worms that occasionally popped out of the ground, and by trying to eat some of the vegetation he'd seen other creatures eating. But it didn't satisfy him. What he wouldn't give for a tasty snail, or some fish.

When Kowalski found him that morning, at first, Eggy had been ecstatic. If anyone could help him, the penguins could. He had been about to ask for Kowalski's help when his family's kidnapper's words barreled through his head like a runaway freight train. Instead of the duckling asking for help from someone who he knew could help, he fed the penguin some half-baked story about missing the migration to Cancún. At first, it seemed like the penguins bought it, but as Eggy wasn't surprised to eee, they were beginning to see through it. Anyone who knew Mama Duck would know that she wouldn't leave one of her ducklings behind, ever, much less for something as major as the yearly migration.

Nervously, Eggy tiptoed back to bed, hoping and praying that the penguins would see through his pathetic lie soon. It made him feel horrible, lying the way he had, but he was afraid. Afraid of what that insane creature would do to his family, and afraid of what the penguins would think of him once they found out. After they had been so kind to him, here he was feeding them this line of complete crap. At least, he hoped, they would understand why it had been necessary.

"Mama, do you think Eggy is going to save us?" one of the ducklings asked her mother. The entire family (minus Eggy, of course) was huddled together for warmth in their cage, suspended high above Dr. Blowhole's lair. The insane dolphin hadn't detailed his plans for the ducks, but whatever they were, they couldn't be good. Mama Duck sighed, bringing her daughter closer to her.

"Rose, what could Eggy possibly do? He's only a little boy," she said.

"But mom!" one of her sons exclaimed. "He's got those mad commando skills! He could bust in here any moment and save us!" The other ducklings nodded in agreement. But Mama Duck was firm.

"I certainly hope that Eggy doesn't try to come here. He could get hurt! Don't worry, kids, it's only a matter of time before someone comes to help us."

Down below, Dr. Blowhole snickered, having heard every word. "Don't count on it," he muttered as he went through some paperwork. "If that little duck does what he's supposed to, he'll open those penguins right up to my attack! Then I'll grab them and put them up there with you. Then my real plan can begin!" He started to chuckle maniacally to himself, causing some of his crab henchmen to scuttle out of the way quickly. They knew better than to go anywhere near the boss when he was in Crazy Psycho mode.

To Be Continued

Authors' Comments:

Before anyone says anything to me about "DOLPHINS ARE NOT FISH, STUPID!"- I know that. Dolphins are mammals. But Eggy, never having seen a dolphin before, thought Dr. Blowhole looked like one, and not having a schema for "dolphin," put him into the "fish" category.

And now the truth comes out about what really happened to the ducks, although our favorite penguins don't know it yet. Don't worry, things will be getting more exciting soon. This is a relatively short story, though, so we're about at the halfway point, at least in my current plans.

I also apologize for the lateness in getting this out. I had some other stories I wanted to work on, I've been dealing with a dispute with my neighbors which is taking up quite a lot of my time, and may be going to a Resident Life panel, which is basically court for university students. I really hope it doesn't come to that, because that means I'll have even less time to myself, but whatever. If it means the constant destructive partying and complete disregard for personal space they've displayed stops, then I'd gladly go to an actual court. In fact, I haven't completely ruled that out, not after they allowed their friends access to my living space through the connecting door and destroyed my printer in drunken idiocy. But that's enough about my personal issues. Especially because you came here to read fic, not listen to me complain about my obnoxious neighbors.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope to have the next chapter out sooner, but don't be surprised if it takes almost a month again. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Kaboom