i'm back in the USA! *hugs cheese steak* Did you miss me? xD
~The plane ride was actually enjoyable for once, and we got here safe and sound.
~thanks for all the reviews while i was gone ^^ i decided to treat you guys to an extra-special long chapter xD
~i've also seen the new episodes of POM! my opinions are as follows: (in no apparent order)
-"Otter Gone Wild"
at first i thought this would be my favorite new episode, but it kind of disappointed me. i'm not such a fan of Julene, and the way the penguins treated her at the end (ignoring her and leaving her in a cage) was just so mean. the only Skilene moment i managed to find in it was near the beginning, but it's tiny.
-"Roger Dodger"
this maketh me laugh. my favorite parts were at the beginning when Marlene pops in unexpectedly and scares the penguins (classic) and when the penguins sing barber-shop style at the end ^^
-"Monkey Love"
this has gotta be my fav out of all of them. It was funny, yet had enough Skilene in it to make me smile. i luv when Marlene reminisces on her dream date. the whole time i was thinking: "OMAIGAWSH. She's planning this with Skipper, isn't she?" 8D and at the end when Skipper asked if talking worked... i was like: "TELL MARLENE! SEE? IT WORKS!" the one thing that did have me peeved throughout this episode was how they were ignoring Marlene's thoughts. Honestly, if they replaced the oysters with bananas and used her idea it would've worked.
-"Skorca"
OMAIGAWSH. this was the funniest one. i absolutely ADORED it when Private got a sugar-rush from the peanut butter winkies and got all hyper xD
-"Cat's Cradle"
This was the 2nd funniest one, my fav part was when Kowalski got shocked and started babling and going crazy, and my other fav part was at the beginning when Skipper mentioned the "Dames" again ;D
-"Tagged"
hmm... this was lemur-oriented so it wasn't one of my favorites. Marlene was in it for like 2 seconds. But i did enjoy the part when the lemurs had to push the buttons and they were all the same shade of red xD i also enjoyed when Skipper and Rico were trying to act like normal penguins, and private suggested preening xD that creepy smile Rico had on made my skin crawl.
(for quotes from the new episodes visit my profile)
~ So here we go with the story, this one is in 3 different perspectives ^^ enjoy the longest chapter i've written so far,
~and remember to review ^^ they make my day :3
Chapter Ten: Temptation
Marlene awoke from yet another dreamless slumber when she heard the scurry of rats nearing her cage. She hid the dart behind her back, and watched as they carried something in. It seemed to be another cage. Marlene squinted her eyes, and barely saw any movement coming from it.
The tiny rats chuckled cruelly as they set it down next to hers. Marlene sat up and warily neared the cage…
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"k'wolski" shouted Private, "K'WOLSKI!"
"Dorisss…" mumbled the snoozing penguin, "mmm…. diameter.."
The tiny penguin frantically tried to awake his friend.
"Confuciussss.." snored Kowalski…
Private decided to try one last time. He franticly shook the drowsy penguin and yelled in his ears "K'WOLSKI! WAKE UP!"
Kowalski awoke startled, "THE QUADRATIC FORMULA IS THE OPPOSITE OF B PLUS OR MINUS THE SQUARE-ROOT OF B SQUARED MINUS FOUR…" the penguin blinked a few times, as he realized he wasn't in the middle of a math-test. "P-Private?" he asked, "Where are we?"
"I-I don't know," answered the young penguin.
Kowalski sat up, shook his head a couple of times, and began to pace around the room. He reached his flippers out and felt metal bars in front of him, "hmmm…" he tapped his beak in thought, retreated back to his pacing, and finally he come up with a theory. "It seems we've been trapped in some sort of containment unit," he concluded.
"K'wolski, Skipper's not here. In English please?" replied Private in confusion.
Kowalski sighed and answered plainly, "We're in a cage." Then his expression turned to shock when he fully processed what the young penguin had said. "W-wait. Skipper's not here?"
Private nodded solemnly, "n-neither is Rico" he stammered, "oh dear…"
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Rico awoke in shock. Where was he? He tried to move, and realized his flippers wouldn't budge. Huh? He attempted to regurgitate an object to help him, but his beak wouldn't open. The penguin choked on what seemed to be a flamethrower in his throat, and finally had no choice but to swallow it back down in sorrow. He muffled something angrily, and started to waddle forward.
He kept waddling until he ran into something hard and fell on his back; the object appeared to be a metal bar. Rico swore at the metal bar silently; If only he had a bomb, he'd show that bar whose boss. The penguin sat up and realized in alarm that he was surrounded by metal bars. They all seemed to gaze at him in fascination. Rico started sweating; So many bars! He waddled around in psychotic circles until he fell flat on his beak. No bomb… he thought in misery…
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As Marlene advanced towards the cage, she was able to make out the shape of a porcupine leaning against the barrier closest to her. A porcupine? The otter gripped the metal bars and stared at the lifeless shape a few inches away. She realized with a sharp intake of air, that it wasn't a porcupine. It was a penguin covered in darts! In fact, its whole back was concealed by them, giving it the appearance of a porcupine.
The penguin was rolled onto its side so Marlene couldn't quite see its face; instead she watched its body rise and fall, and realized in relief that it was only sleeping. Marlene pitied the creature, and decided to rid him of his darts. The otter reached her paw between her bars and began plucking the darts from the penguin's back. Each dart was completely emptied, which meant the poor penguin had absorbed quite a lot of the poison.
When her work was done and the darts were out of the way, Marlene eyed the creature closely. Without the darts veiling his body she was able to clearly view his back. She gazed at it, and admired the penguin's short but brawny figure, and sturdy-looking shoulders. It rolled onto its back and Marlene gasped at the revelation of his familiar face. Skipper? She fell to her knees in grief; Skipper was in a cage, because of her. Why did he follow me? Why couldn't he have left me alone? She covered her eyes with her paws and sniffled sadly. It was like her nightmares coming true. Skipper was weak and caged and she couldn't bring herself to help him because she knew it was her fault that he was like this. The fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, and her lower lip quivered with gulit.
Skipper mumbled something in his sleep, and her paws retreated to her sides in alarm; His beak was pulled into a content smile, and Marlene couldn't help but awe at the penguin's handsome face. His eyelids were relaxed, and he lacked his usual air of command. Marlene found him adorable when he was sleeping; and it seemed as if the real emotions stirring beneath his usual mask of conceit seemed to break through and leak into his expression.
There was only one thing ruining his flawless appearance, and that was a small dart situated right smack dab in between his closed eyes. Marlene cautiously reached out and tentatively plucked the final dart from his body. The otter couldn't help but smile at his resulting grin; it was the same one he'd had when she'd saved him.
Marlene sat down as close as she could beside Skipper, and watched the penguin with tear-filled eyes and a frivolous smile on her lips; I must be going crazy, she thought in desperation; she felt as if the penguin's situation was her fault, but at the same time she felt giddy just being near him. Was it wrong to feel her body tense in excitement when he smiled? Surely it must have been wrong when she felt herself melt whilst he murmured her name. Every limb of her body fizzled with anticipation as she sensed herself leaning closer to him.
The sudden urge to reach out and touch him was unbearable, but she forced her arm back. Yet, the temptation to feel him was too strong, and the otter watched in horror as her paw snaked its way between the bars and stroked his peaceful face. Marlene's eyes widened at her own actions, but she couldn't resist. As soon as her paw made contact, warm tingles rippled through her arms and crackled like tiny sparks throughout her body; igniting her with bliss. She gasped silently as a wave of safety washed over her, rinsing away all her fear and sorrow. How could one penguin make her feel so warm and safe?
Her paw traced his face with content; His feathers were slick, yet had a soft texture, almost like down. Marlene sighed, and rested her head on the bars just inches from Skipper's body. She yawned as her paw repeated its motion; I just woke up.. I can't seriously be tired… but another yawn answered her question, and she found peaceful slumber to be quite alluring… Must be an after-effect from the dart, was her last thought before her eyes gently closed and she drifted off to sleep.
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Rico felt his cage being lifted and he was able to catch a glimpse of who was responsible; Rats? Rico despised the little creatures. He could have taken them all in one shot, but as he squirmed he was once again reminded of his restricted situation. The penguin tried again to move his flippers, but his efforts were in vain. Too tight, he never knew such tiny rats could tie knots like that. Rico looked cagily both ways then firmly closed his eyes and began to meditate. It was something he had started to do after the whole 'switching bodies with Roger the alligator-fiasco'.
The penguins had attempted to switch the gentle gator's mind with his in order to scare the rats and win Roger's home back. The plan had begun to work, but they hadn't counted on the strong reaction to the warm-blood to cold-blood transformation. Kowalski had later explained to him that Roger's cold-blood had increased his viciousness and rage. After returning to his own body, Kowalski had recommended that he learn a few ways to control his anger.
It had been one night when he was watching TV with Private, and they had flipped to a yoga channel by accident. Ever since then Rico had been practicing Yoga and meditation. Of course Skipper knew nothing about it; he didn't want his leader to think he was going soft. Besides, Dolly, his girlfriend, liked him better when he was calm. She claimed he was easier to snuggle with.
Rico preferred yoga than mediation, but it was impossible for Rico to practice yoga with his limbs tied up as they were, so instead he settled for the latter. With closed eyes, Rico's breathing steadied and he began to search his mind for a solution to his problem. It was extremely difficult to calm down with his beak clamped shut, and above that, he had tiny rats carrying his cage.
Just as Rico thought he was going to be sick from all the movement, the rats finally set him down. At least his stomach wasn't churning anymore. Rico closed his eyes and tried to meditate again. He pushed aside thoughts of blowing up his cage, for it was now obvious to him that it would be impossible to regurgitate anything. The penguin sighed; Skipper, Private and Kowalski weren't around to help him… or were they? Rico cracked an eye open when he heard a strange familiar sound…
ack. that was my first time writing romance.. *shudders* not easy for me to do... i had to revise this like 3 times..
~in the next chapter: Capes, Skipper and MORT?? maybe.... time shall tell...
~ remember remember to review! =3