11 – Final Exam Part 2

First of all, I believe there is someone I owe some credits. She gave me the idea for the concept of this trap (self-sacrifice). My original idea was a "Skilene vs. Julene" type of trap, but after reconsidering it, I believe this one worked much better. Thank you AlwaysRemainMe.

Thank you for all the reviews and enjoy!

Inch by inch, the gears were pulling the penguin's flipper into its jaws. Skipper braced his free fin against the device, again, to try and slow it down. Another vein burst, as the pressure became too much, and spilled its crimson contents over the turning metal wheels.

Skipper was getting drowsy, the blood loss combined with the agonizing pain were putting a lot of strain on his already weakened heart. The sprockets were almost at the joint now, where the bone gets thicker. The lead penguin glanced at it, with his weary eyes, while breathing shallowly. For a brief second, he thought he had won; that his bones were strong enough to beat the device. The machine released a metallic screech as a lot of strain was put on both it and the calcium infused organ.

The penguin felt the vibration of a crack, when it reached his eardrum, travelling through his skeleton, and was tugged an inch further into the device. This surge of pain, however, did little. Skipper didn't cry or scream, his sadness had made him numb to the outer world. "I failed," was the only thing he managed to mutter before giving up. He didn't fight it anymore and he didn't care what might happen to him next. The only thing he was grateful for, was the fact that Marlene won't suffer like him. She just had to fall asleep… and never wake up.

The sprockets passed the blood onto each other as they made contact. Soon, every tooth was covered with the crimson liquid. More of it was being wrung out of the flipper and it oozed through the machinery. It reached the bottom, which had a metal plate screwed into place. The blood seeped through the cracks on its edge and reached the control box. A single drop was all that managed to form as most of the liquid tissue had already coagulated. It felt right onto a microchip, creating a few sparks and eventually smoke.

The gears suddenly stopped and Skipper's eyes fluttered open. He looked at them and felt their grip on his flipper disappearing. He pulled his fin back, once again going over his raw muscles and open nerves, but at least the sprockets allowed his appendage to escape.

His brain was so drugged with endorphins, desperate to dull the pain, that he didn't even register the sensation of his free flipper. His entire focus was set on something else.

He staggered over to the steps again and climbed them with the help of his good flipper. He once again reached the glass coffin, which was now slightly open. The locking mechanism was electronic and once that was out of the picture the entire thing broke. The pushed his fin into the crack and slowly opened it.

She lied there before him, no more cages or glass panels. All Skipper could do, was smile. Marlene's eyes slowly opened and she immediately spotted the black and white figure above her. "Skipper?" she asked as her eyes slowly focusing on him. Only then did she realize what was wrong with the image. "Skipper!" she yelled and stood up. She grabbed his good flipper with both her paws and asked, with tears forming in her eyes, "What did you do?"

Some of his beak was missing on the side, but that was nothing compared to the state his flipper was in; it was bent unnaturally in the middle and there were two lines running across it. Blood was dripping from it and forming an ever-growing puddle right next to the coffin.

"I… I s-saved you," the penguin said right before his eyes closed. His body rocked to the sides slightly and was threatening to fall over.

"SKIPPER!" shouted the otter, catching him, when she saw him leaning dangerously close to the edge of the steps. The two were about the same size, but there was no doubt that he was heavier than her so she had to gently lay him on the ground. She once again looked him over, unsure of what to do; he was still bleeding.

The worst part was definitely the shape. It resembled a piece of modern art and that was making Marlene sick. But she had to put her stomach aside here, if she didn't do something, he would surely bleed out.

The penguin stirred and when the sudden surge of agony struck his brain, his eyes shot open and he let out a grunt as his spine involuntarily arched. He wanted to stand up, but something was holding him down, he tried fighting it, but he was too weak, "Don't push yourself, you need to rest."

That voice, that soft voice; he looked up and was met with a pair of hazel brown eyes. "You're okay," she said and hugged him tightly.

The penguin was at a loss; he clumsily wrapped his good flipper around her and returned the embrace. "You were gone for so long I didn't think you'd ever wake up again. I… I just… I just don't think I could go through losing you again," Skipper's eyes widened; did she have feelings for him, after all.

This made matters more complicated; he wanted to flee the state, or even the country, but now what? He couldn't imagine pulling Marlene into this as well.

Skipper broke the hug and took a look at his throbbing flipper. It was once again straight and wrapped in white cloth, already stained with blood. The appendage had been immobilized by two pieces of wood, no doubt from the broken bench, he saw behind the otter's back.

"Did you do this?" he asked.

"I know I'm no doctor, but I had to help you somehow," she explained looking at the ground, "I'm sorry about your feathers, they were in the way."

There was a small pile of black feather besides them and Skipper chuckled at the sight of it. "They'll grow back… but you're unique, if I lost you today, I wouldn't know what to do," his words created an awkward silence between the otter and penguin.

"*Static*… Well done Skipper I gotta say, I'm impressed," said Rockgut's voice emanating from somewhere, "You proved yourself and are free to go, unless you want to stay and help your teammates."

The penguin jumped up, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Nothing special, it's just that your friends had their own troubles letting go of some things and I decided to lend them a flipper in doing so."

"Son of a- WHERE ARE THEY?" he demanded.

"Like that would do you any good. You couldn't save them all if you tried, probably just one… if you're lucky."

He turned back to Marlene who had a frightened look in her eyes. 'Why can't this thing just be over already?' he thought and waddled over to her. "Marlene, listen carefully. I want you to find an exit and leave; don't wait for anyone. Once you're outside, head directly back to the zoo."

"B-but, what about you and the guys?"

"We'll be fine, I promise," he said and turned to leave.

But something stopped him in his tracks. A feeling inside him, as if something was missing, he felt like he had to do something. Skipper turned back to Marlene and looked her in the eyes, before kissing her. She was taken by surprise as his hard beak met her soft lips. She didn't know how to respond to it so she just closed her eyes and wrapped her paws around the penguin.

Skipper had to force himself into breaking the kiss, he kept repeating: "Your team needs you", in his head, just to do so. As he pulled his beak back and saw the disappointed look in the otter's eyes, he forced the words out of his beak, "I'm not saying goodbye, we'll see each other again," he told her and slid off towards the exit, hoping it wasn't a lie.

Marlene followed him with her gaze and once he was out of sight, she smiled, "I sure hope so." There was only one door leading out of the room, the same Skipper left through, so she had no other choice than to follow him. The door led into a hallway, on her left, was pure darkness, and on her right, was an otter-sized door, with a green "EXIT" sign flickering above it.

She remembered very well what Skipper's orders were and she also knew the direction he went in, but she didn't want to just leave him behind, it didn't feel right. She balled her paws into fists, but her anger quickly subdued again. "Just… just make sure you don't abuse my trust," she said before leaving the building.

Somewhere in the complex, there were three different rooms, holding three different penguins, which all began regaining their consciousnesses at the same time. The rooms were adjacent to each other, via a fourth, smaller, one.

Rockgut observed them all on a set of computer monitors and was grinning. Skipper, however, was nowhere in sight. "Better hurry up soldier, the games wait for no bird," he said and pressed a button on the control panel.

Kowalski:
The genius bird woke up lying on the ground. He had a terrible headache so he rubbed his temples to relieve it. He also found it rather hard to breathe and after a second of consideration, he realized that was due to something pressing against his neck. He brought his flippers to it and felt it, it was a shackle of some sort, he quickly analyzed.

He looked around and scanned his surroundings, "I'm in a glass bulb adjacent, via a mechanical release mechanism, to another identical glass bulb above me, filled with what seems to be a granular white substance."

He was interrupted by some static, "Hello Kowalski, I want to play a game. You are a brilliant penguin, who uses his intellect to benefit others. Yet all your achievements only bring pain to both yourself as well as those around you. Afterwards you drown your sorrow in large quantities of sugar. It is a bad way of dealing with depression and I would advise you to let go of it, but… your life isn't in your flippers anymore. In 60 seconds you will be consumed by your vice and never again hurt an animal. Live or die? It's not your choice."

Private:
The chubby bird woke up in a lying position underneath a single light, but he couldn't move his feet or flippers. He looked at a fin and saw it wrapped in barbed wire. Some of the barbs had imbedded themselves into his flesh and caused some bleeding. He tried freeing his appendage, but it only caused him more pain so he let it go.

Static filled a room, followed by a deep emotionless voice, "Hello Private, I want to play a game. Have you ever heard the expression, "Act your age"? Would you say it's something you do? I say not. You still watch cartoons and collect childish toys. It's time to break free from those things and finally grow up, wouldn't you agree?"

More lights turned on revealing the rest of the room to Private. He was lying in the center of two railroads, crossing each other at a right angle. They weren't meant for a real train, but they still were larger than your regular toy train. The other ends of the barbed wires, tied to his limbs, were connected to four different locomotives, each "Driven" by a Lunacorn doll. The penguin gasped, "Princess Self-Respectra, why?" he asked and let a tear escape his eye.

"In 60 seconds, your childish ways will become your downfall, unless of course, you are shown mercy, but that isn't up to you. Live or die? The choice will be made for you"

Rico:
The weapons' expert woke up in a standing position. His neck was chaffing and he wanted to scratch it, but his flippers reached an obstruction, "What the?" he grunted in frustration and tried wiggling free, but whatever it was, it just caused him more pain.

After a minute or so, the lights finally turned on and he could see that he wasn't alone in the room, "Ms. Perky?" he asked surprised at the sight of his doll.

She was tied and hung from the ceiling. The rope reached down just to Rico's eye level so the two were face to face. Above her, was also a digital timer, but it wasn't showing anything at the moment.

The maniac wanted to break free to help his girlfriend. He looked down to see what was holding him in place. His head was peeking out of the neck opening of a male mannequin mold. The hole was just barely big enough to squeeze his head through. Inside the upper half of the chest cavity was a small wooden platform, which supported his body. His legs were kept in place by a pillory, which lacked the third hole for the head. There were also two tubes run from the ground into the shoulders of the mold.

Rico didn't waste a second on the contraption, his first goal was breaking free, fast. He tried regurgitating something to aid him in the escape. However, nothing exited his stomach. A growl from his abdomen confirmed his fear, he was empty… and hungry, but more importantly, empty. A frown appeared across his face as he looked into Perky's dead eyes and he let out a sigh.

Static caught his attention and ended the depression, "Hello Ricardo, or as your friends call you, Rico," began the all too familiar voice (to you, the readers, that is). "Most of your life, you wasted alone, rejected by society. Due to your unique speech, you were the victim of prejudice, but all you ever wanted was companionship. You found it, eventually, in the form of a plastic doll."

"Hey, leave 'er alone!" he grunted angrily.

"Then, you found friends and formed a team, but you refused to let go of the doll, which could never return your feelings. Do you know why? Because you, like her, are empty inside. The device you have found yourself in will bring the two of you closer together. In 60 seconds, it will begin filling with molten plastic, encasing your body, turning you into what your companion is, a hollow, immobile doll. Live or die? You will see."

Kowalski:
A green light turned on, on what he presumed to be the release mechanism, and the tall penguin was showered with the white granular substance. He instinctively shielded his eyes with his flippers and averted his gaze. He managed to divert most of the sugar that way and dared a peek to his side. The pile of the sweet substance was growing and he couldn't resist taking a taste of it.

Like a chameleon he stretched out his tongue and dipped it before allowing the sweet sensation to send shivers down his body, "Delightful," he said in bliss.

Rico:
The maniac heard a click beneath him and he looked down. The gears of a device, at the base of the mannequin mold, began turning and he could feel the heat emanating from it. The tubes run from it jerked slightly before a thick gray liquid began pouring out of their ends. It was flowing down the sides of the mold, all the way to the feet, which were filling up first.

The bird saw that it would take some time for it to reach him, but with the heat building up, it already felt like a sauna to him.

Private:
The young penguin began shaking in fear. He heard a beep and looked up, only to see a timer to his demise; 59 seconds. He gulped and sweat started running down his forehead. A whistle, from one of the four trains made him flinch.

Private began twisting and turning, but the wire only cut deeper with each movement. Before long, he subdued to the pain and stopped struggling.

Panting, he looked up, "20 seconds to go," he said, reading the timer.

Kowalski:
The scientist keep blocking the sugar out of his face, but the piles around him grew. It was too late when he realized that. He tried pushing them away, only to find out that they were too heavy to move. Kowalski tried using both flippers, but that only resulted in a face full of the sweet substance.

Some of it entered his lungs and it made him cough. "Oh Dubrunfaut, I promise I'll never *cough* again eat this addictive, delightful, diabetes-inducing, heavenly, number one cause of child o-PFFT!" he was quieted by a mouthful of sugar.

He managed to catch a glance of a small timer on the release mechanism. '17 seconds, I assume that's the time my captor presumes I have until I am buried underneath all this sucrose,' he thought.

Rico:
The liquid plastic was getting dangerously close to the wooden platform and he was getting really nervous right about now. He looked over to his girlfriend, who was still smiling like she usually does, but it wasn't calming like usual, it just made him shiver.

His gaze instead shifted to the timer above the doll; 13 seconds.

Everyone:
If you were told you're going to die, everything would change. You would look at the world in a whole new light. Some say your life flashes in front of your eyes, but what if you have Alzheimer's. Others tell of a light at the end of a hallway, but what if you're agoraphobic and prefer the hallway to the open space on the other end.

Atoms don't age, time doesn't stop, what if we're like water in the sink, once you enter the drain, there's no trace you ever existed.

Private, Kowalski and Rico all glanced at their death clocks: "3… 2… 1…"

Their hearts simultaneously skipped a beat, before everything went dark.

Hope you liked it… one more chapter… and maybe an appendix… anyway, review!