It went months. Blowhole was patient with his injured prisoner. In the beginning he almost got worried Skipper wouldn't make it. That would have ruined his plan even before he got to the best part!
He drove through the corridors of his hideout on his Segway. He stopped when he got in front of a steel door. He took a deep breath before he opened it and went inside.
The room was lit up and painted in a hospital room looking style. There was only one bed in the room, and it wasn't very big. There were a lot of different monitors and devices all over the place and everyone was attached to the penguin on the bed. Big tubes went down the penguin's throat and there were many different needles in his flippers, legs and more or less everywhere else. A single lobster with a nurse hat was going over the different equipment and ran a few tests.
Blowhole went up behind him and cleared his throat. The lobster turned around and stared up at the dolphin.
-What? It asked and straightened the hat.
-How long is it before we can wake him up? Blowhole asked.
The lobster looked at the penguin on the bed and sighed.
-I'm not sure doc. It started.-He's been progressing quite fast, and if we're lucky, we can wake him up tomorrow. But since he was in such a bad condition, he might feel quite damaged. He must train up his lost muscles, eat normally and get full rehabilitation before you can go on with the plan.
Blowhole sighed and looked at the penguin on the table again.
-And how long will that take? He asked.
The lobster shrugged.
-It might take up to a year. It explained and walked over to the bed.-But my guess is that he will walk normally within a month and fight after the two next.
-How can you be so sure?
-Have you seen this guy? He beat "Chrome claw" almost by himself! This guy is bad guy fighter deluxe, especially together with his team. Of course it will depend on how much he is willing to train by himself, and we might have to threaten him to do so, but in the end it will be worth it.
Blowhole nodded and turned to the penguin on the table. He stretched out his flipper and touched the stabbed penguins'. The only trace of it was a scar. The same was for the wound on the bird's chest. It had gotten infected after the first couple of days, but they were able to treat it and it healed by itself.
The dolphin chuckled a bit and went out of the room. Let the plan begin.
The three penguins in central park zoo felt lost. The days turned to weeks, the weeks turned to months. It was so little to do without Skipper around, and nothing was funny anymore. Kowalski had given up science; he just couldn't come up with anything new. Private didn't watch the Lunacorns show anymore. He said everything on the program were too happy for his life. Rico didn't blow things up. He was too depressed and hoped that one day Skipper might return, but deep down inside he knew he never would see his leader again. Kowalski tried to take over the role as commanding officer, but it didn't turn out well. It almost ended with Rico crushing him with an anvil. Private stopped him though. Every day went slow. The penguins tried to complete missions to get the days go faster, but there were no missions that needed more than a couple of minutes.
Private had gotten a bit bitter, and often started fights with Kowalski and Rico. Rico had gotten soft. He cried every time he saw a person fall and if someone said something about crime or death he broke down in tears. Kowalski had put on some weight, and was now twice as big as he was when Skipper was alive. Private had tried to confront him about it, but the scientist just ignored it and ate a salmon. Skipper's death had shoved the team members away from each other, and they often started discussions within the team. Normally it was about minor things, like why someone hadn't taken out the garbage, but once; they actually fought about who was to blame for Skipper's passing. It was ferocious and soon all of them lay exhausted on the ground.
One day, after one of these minor fights, Rico went up top and out of the habitat. He waddled over to the clock tower and climbed it to the top. It was late afternoon and the sun was on its way down. The weapons expert looked up at the bright sky and his eyes got shiny.
-Why did 'u leav'? He said out loud before tears ran down his cheeks.
Little did he know that someplace else, where the stars were coming out and the sun went down in the horizon, another penguin sat with tears in his eyes. The penguin looked at the sky. He was exhausted after his training and was allowed out for a break.
-I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise. He said as a tear escaped from his eye.