A/N: Yay! New chapter! Well, we are getting nearer to when two sneak peak characters will appear and nearer to when the time comes. So, please enjoy this and check out my other, pretty successful TABS called The Chosen Series. I thank all the reviewers so we shall continue on!
Chapter 7:
The Bagel Hero
Upon hearing the warning, we instantly turned and ran for cover from the screaming crowd of Brazilians barreling down the streets. They seem to be a mixture of performers and spectators, both human and animal alike.
We ducked behind a car, the terrified crowd passing us by. Then, Nick, Rico, Johnson and Private joined us behind the car. "What's going on?! What was that thing?!" Ernie asked.
"I don't know, it's too fast!" replied Johnson.
"It looked like some sort of lion...bird thing!" added Nick.
Manfredi then snuck a peek at the scene and saw the creature looking like it was trying to sniff us out. "Oh my Herring paste, it's a...Griffin," he answered as he ducked back down.
"A Griffin?! What is a Griffin doing here?! Aren't they like...not real?" I asked.
Manfredi shifted his gaze to me. "Oh, you're right about that, but that didn't look real at all," he said. "It looked like it was made of paper, like it was...oh of course it was them!"
We all looked at him like he just lost his marbles. "Urgh...I mean the Chinstrap Sisters!" We all gave a big 'ohhh...', telling him that we understood. "I think they used some reanimation spell or something..."
We all immediately quieted down when a low growl was heard just above where we hid. We crawled under the car, trying not to look up or make any noise. It jumped down onto the asphalt, its large, plastic claws scratching the ground irritably.
"Hey you!" a familiar voice shouted out of the blue. The Griffin clearly turned to its source and growled. We shifted to see what it was looking at and there stood Bagel, standing just outside the restaurant his library hid in.
Then, he took out some long stick from what seemed like a branch or something. It stood as tall as himself and it deemed great resemblance to Gandalf's staff in Lord of the Rings.
The creature then ran so fast towards him that all we saw was a big, moving blur. Despite this, Bagel successfully dodged it with a jump. When he landed, he aimed the stick at it, on its end, which I never noticed before, was a white, cloudy crystal.
What we saw next was insane.
"Do desejo de magia negra, queimar no fogo do inferno!" he shouted in what sounded like Portuguese. (Translation: From black magic's desire, burn down with hell's fire! (Sorry if it's slightly wrong; I used Google Translate))
An orange ball of light then shot out of the crystal and set the Griffin on fire, causing it to run straight for water.
"What the?!" Nick said before Bagel called us out.
"Quickly dudes! Head for a boat! I'll keep it busy!" Without wasting another second, we nodded and crawled out from under the car and started running for one of the nearby boats at the docks. As we did, more Portuguese phrases loomed from where Bagel was.
"Over there!" Johnson said, pointing at a decent sized trawler. One by one, we all hopped in, Ernie heading straight for the ship's wheel. Luckily, the key was in, so we started it up and collectively helped steer it out to sea.
"That was close!" Nick commented when we were decently far enough for the shore. We all just glanced at each other, all tired from the escape. "So, I guess now we just play the waiting game, right?"
Everyone nodded and flopped onto the floor like some coordinated flash mob group, well besides Ernie and I, who were busy steering the trawler.
"Hey," Ernie started. "You go rest up. I've got it under control here, for now."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, don't sweat it. I took boating lessons too you know." I slipped out a single chuckle and nodded.
"Penguins can't sweat dude. We got feathers for...uh, forget it. You know what I mean," I said, jumping down to the others, who were alsleep all over the place. "Haha, lol," I simply commented.
I went over to a crate just opposite the controls and took out that book that Bagel gave me right before we left the library. "I guess I better start reading this, whatever it's supposed to be."
[1 Day, 10 hours since incident - 0251 hours New York Time]
Nine hours passed, and throughout those nine hours I read various passages and writings from that book, all in what seemed to be in both Portuguese and English, the English part in someone's handwriting. For each passages I read in my mind, the English translation that Bagel most probably wrote helped me understand what it was about.
The others woke up around three hours ago and are currently exploring the trawler for anything we would need when we reach Antarctica. We managed to find some blankets and snow jackets for Ernie and anyone else who felt cold when we arrive so they can protect themselves against the extreme cold of Antarctica. The penguins of the group didn't really need any, but Hans may need it too.
We had around another two and a half days before we would reach Antarctica, so would better be quick when we make it there, or we may not be able to get back in time. I still had the 'Home' button, so returning wouldn't be too hard.
I'm driving the boat now. Ernie needed a small break from the driving so I had to take over. I wonder what's Skipper's and Kowalski's condition right now. I hope their still with us when we get back.
They can't die on us now.
[2 Days since incident - 1629 hours New York Time]
It was a grusome sight, but we had more important things to do than vomit all over the place. I put the now-bloodied pick back in its sheath and we helped Manfredi up to his remaining foot. We had to get him out of there before we could treat it, so we carried him out as quickly as we could through the intertwining maze of rubble.
We kept moving through, more and more of his blood draining onto the floor. He had already passed out when we took his foot off, which made it harder to drag him out. Upon seeing the exit, we ran as quickly as we could ever run and jumped straight through, ignoring the fact that there were stairs going down to cave floor.
Just as we did jumped through, the whole temple just stopped rumbling and we tumbled down the stairs. After rather painful landing, we glanced back at the temple to see it completely intact, like how it was when we first arrived.
"Manfredi!" I said, ignoring the weirdness behind me. He was bleeding badly from his now cut-off foot, a big pool of blood forming where he laid. I immediately asked Johnson for the first aid supplies and I started on Manfredi's leg.
"Don't die on us! Not now! Please come back!" I pleaded to his limp body.
Normal POV:
Ash nearly jumped out of her fur when Skipper randomly gasped and fell out of his bunk. It was nearly a day since the last time he awoke, but as always, he was unconscious when we went over to check him.
"Why does this keep happening to Skipper?" Ash asked her penguin step-sister. "This never happened at all on Kowalski, so why is it only on Skipper?"
"I hope they would get better soon. I don't know how long they have left," Gem commented. Ash agreed.
"I just hope this even has a cure, and that they're not too late when they get it here."
A/N: Hmm, I have nothing else to say other than I am now working on, just a little bit, on another original story based OFF The Penguins of Madagascar! Yeah, it is more of inspired by POM, cause it includes my ever awesome Josh Everett! Many of my OCs will be in it, cause they're mine, so I hope I can write the storyline as best as The Chosen Series. R&R!
