Welcome to chapter 4. I hope you like Book 2 of "In Our World" so far. As usual, *'s means notes at the bottom and (P) means a perspective change from one character or scene to another. Italicized text means I'm quoting what a character said before. Let's get reading shall we?

CHAPTER 4 – Of Trains and Cars

"Well, I've got a general idea of us getting into the city, getting you a disguise, and figuring out what Blowhole's plan is," I said. "That's a good start. So how are we getting there?" Marlene asked. "Well, we could drive around the whole bay and come up from the south, but that would take awhile," I suggested.

"We could go over the bridge from the east, but Blowhole might somehow spot you in the car. Our best plan, I think, is to take BART underneath the bay and then go from there," I suggested. "What's BART?" Marlene asked. "It's almost the same thing as the subway," I answered.

"Well, how am I supposed to get on the train? I'm not exactly a human," Marlene said. "Oh. Good point. Let me think… I've got it!" I exclaimed. "Well, how about a canvas bag?" I asked. "A bag?" Marlene asked. "Don't worry. Air always flows into it and I can place it over my shoulder and you can safely rest inside," I said.

"That sounds fine, but how will we communicate on the train? Won't it look suspicious with you talking to a bag and it talking back?" Marlene asked. "We can communicate by texting. I've got an old phone, which I can give service to and we'll be able to talk by text. A teenager looking at a phone isn't suspicious at all. Lately, it's been the norm. And since you have paws, and not flippers, you'll be able to use the phone's touchscreen," I said.

"Good idea. So how long will we be on the train for?" Marlene asked. "Well, usually if there's no problems with the trains, it usually takes no more than an hour," I replied. "What do you mean by a problem?" Marlene asked. "Well, if there's many trains on the tracks, then the trains have to stop more often. Or if they're doing some maintenance, it takes a few minutes longer as well," I answered.

"That's a relief. I thought there would be major problems like trains randomly stopping. Let's go!" Marlene said. We both got in the car and I started driving us to the BART station. After we parked, I put the phone in the bag, along with my wallet.

"Are you ready Marlene?" I asked, making sure she wanted to go through with this. "I was born ready," she replied and jumped into the bag. "You're really getting to sound like Skipper," I said. "You think so?" Marlene asked from inside. "Yes, that definitely sounds like something Skipper would say," I replied. At this point, we continued all our conversations by text. *

Me: Are you all right in there Marlene?

Marlene: Yep. It's actually nice in here. I can still breathe and the sun isn't in my eyes.

Me: That's good. Hold on for a second, I'm buying our ticket. Could you pass me my wallet?

Marlene: Sure thing.

I took my wallet from Marlene and went through the process of buying a ticket. Once the machine gave me my ticket, I went through the ticket gate.

Me: I've got the ticket. If you feel like we're going up in a few seconds, that's due to an escalator.

Marlene: Oh, good. Thanks for the update. How crowded do you think the train will be?

Me: Well, it's a weekday, but it's past rush hour, so that'll make it less crowded. Plus, with the news of Blowhole being in San Francisco, people may have cancelled their plans to go there today.

Marlene: That'd definitely cut down on train passengers. I remember seeing on the Penguins' TV after Blowhole got control of the MP3 player ** that many humans avoided New York for a few days.

Me: Even though you guys were under control of that MP3 player, you're all really good singers. If I tried to sing, I'd probably sing terribly. ***

Marlene: No one sings as bad as the chameleons.

Me: That is so true. Also, the train looks to be nearly empty. I guess we were right about Blowhole affecting ridership.

Marlene: That quick, huh? The way that news spreads so fast between you guys still astonishes me. Maybe after all this, I can get the Penguins and myself some phones.

Me: That sounds like a good plan. Also, the train's moving now and there's no one else in this car. But because of the security cameras, I don't think we can take our chances with them seeing you. If someone sees you and me interacting, since there's no sound, they might think I abducted you from somewhere. But at least we can speak again.

"That and since Blowhole's causing this mess, I don't think any humans would be excited to see me, either, if they happened to come into this train or looked at the security cameras," Marlene said.

"It'd definitely confuse many people as to how you got here. Also, I've got a question," I said. "Go ahead," Marlene said, curious. "After this is all over, can I have a seat at the wedding?" I asked. "I'm sure Kowalski can find a way to turn me into an animal or can zap me with his Transmatterer," I finished.

"Of course," Marlene answered. "If you can get turned into an animal or invisible, you can be the official photographer. That way, Skipper and I will have photos and videos of that moment. Plus, it'll help that community you told me about last time. How is it?" she asked.

"Oh, it's definitely grown since that photo of you two went up," I answered. I've gotten lots of questions about it. If I told any of them that I actually know you, though, I think they'd want to meet you guys as well. And thanks for that spot at the wedding," I said. "No problem," Marlene said.

Suddenly, my phone began vibrating like mad again. It was another news bulletin saying to go to their site to see a live video. I forwarded the link to Marlene's phone.

"What's this link?" Marlene asked. "I'm not sure, but it's another update from San Francisco," I said. We both clicked on the link and it was another live camera. Only this time, it was showing Blowhole and he looked like he had something on his mind to say. Suddenly he started speaking into the camera.

"Humans!" he said. "I have come here looking for 4 penguins and an otter. They are not normal animals. First of all, they can talk, like you and me. The Penguins names are Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. They are 4 military Penguins who are my arch-foes," Blowhole said.

The otter's name is Marlene," he continued. Both Marlene and I quivered a bit at the sound of him saying that. "She's in love with the Penguin named Skipper. Give them up, and nothing will happen to you. Don't give them up and well we'll get to that later," he finished. He cackled with his signature dolphin laugh and flew off.

(P to the Penguins in the car)

"Kowalski, scan the airwaves for the news. We need to know what's going on in San Francisco," Skipper said. "Yes sir," Kowalski said and began turning the dial for the news station. "Found it, Skipper," Kowalski said. They all began listening to the news when they suddenly heard Blowhole speak.

"Humans!" Blowhole said. "I have come here looking for 4 penguins and an otter," he said. "Oh, that's not good," Private commented. "They are not normal animals. First of all, they can talk, like you and me," Blowhole continued. "So how are they understanding him?" Kowalski asked aloud.

"The Penguins names are Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. They are 4 military Penguins who are my arch-foes," Blowhole said. The four Penguins looked nervously at each other. Blowhole continued again, "The otter's name is Marlene. She's in love with the Penguin named Skipper," he continued. "Curse you, you Bottlenose freak!" Skipper shouted angrily.

"Give them up, and nothing will happen to you. Don't give them up and well, we'll get to that later," Blowhole finished. He cackled with his signature dolphin laugh and the audio cut out. "Kowalski, time to our destination," Skipper ordered. "4 hours currently Skipper," Kowalski replied.

"Men, we've got to get Marlene back and defeat Blowhole. Did it sound like to you that he had her?" Skipper asked Kowalski. "Negative, Skipper. He said give them up, which means he was talking about all five of us, so he does not. But I still don't know where Marlene could be, other than us knowing she's in this universe," Kowalski answered.

"Well, that's some good relief for now. But we've still got to defeat Blowhole! Kowalski, work on some options," Skipper ordered. (P to Skipper)

"Thank goodness Blowhole doesn't have Marlene. I don't want to know what he'd do to her if he did," I thought to myself. "I hope wherever she is, she's safe."

Oh, crud. Well, at least the Penguins are on their way along with Marlene and myself. Please rate and review this chapter. See you in chapter 5. Time for notes.

* Seriously, texting is a great invention. So many useful purposes.

** Reference to the second half "The Return Of The Revenge of Dr. Blowhole" where Blowhole got control of Julian's MP3 player.

*** I'm terrible at singing. The mind-manipulating MP3 player might help, but no experience with that means I'll never know.