Chapter 12
"Good god," Skipper whispered.
"He's alive." Kowalski said.
"For now." Sasha cackled.
Skipper looked at her, she'd gone insane. Her fur was a mess, her crown was lopsided and leaves had fallen out, and her eyes had a wild look in them.
Rocky was stunned. "What the heck?"
"Just another day in the life of your brother, eh?" Skipper said. Rocky stifled a snicker.
Rico hacked up a chainsaw and laughed maniacally. Rocky gasped in amazement.
"Please let us leave." Private whimpered.
"Never!" Sasha said hysterically, spit flying from her mouth. She laughed again, sounding like a deranged hyena. "I want justice! I want to be in charge, ME!"
"Yup, she's insane." Rocky said, putting up her flippers in defense.
She ran up to Julien, dragging Mort behind her. The rest of the lemurs were watching from the trees.
"You have caused all my followers to abandon me!" she screamed into his face, "I only have Jin left!" she indicated a buff lemur who was flexing his muscles.
"I really don't think you're in any position to be making demands of me." Julien snarled.
Sasha screamed in frustration and threw Mort. Private managed to catch the tiny lemur.
"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Sasha bellowed, "THE HUMILIATION I EXPERIENCED, AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"WHAT ABOUT MY PAIN!" Julien yelled back, "YOU RUINED MY CHILDHOOD, KILLED MORT'S PARENTS AND CORRUPTED THE PEACE OF THIS ISLAND!"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC LIFE; I WANT TO BE IN CHARGE!"
"SHOVE OFF!"
Skipper jumped between them with Kowalski on his right and Rico on the left.
"We don't want trouble." Skipper said calmly, "Sasha, please step down and-" WHAM!
Sasha had punched him in the face. She was tackled to the ground by Kowalski, and Rico had Jin at bay with the chainsaw.
Jin pulled a knife out and grinned at Rico, "Come on, let's make it a fair fight."
Rico scoffed and hacked up a knife, throwing his chainsaw behind him.
Jin jabbed at Rico forcefully. Rico managed to dodge it and licked the knife like a psycho. Rico swiveled and slashed the knife down. Jin barely avoided it. The knife scraped his arm.
"Gah! So you are not an amateur, penguin." Jin spat, aiming a kick at Rico.
Rico fell backwards and vomited, and then he jumped back up and growled. He sped towards the lemur like a bullet, knocking him into the air. Jin grabbed a branch and grinned, "That's all you got?"
"No." Rico rasped, "Jus' started."
"Show me your A-game, bird." The buff lemur jeered.
Rico snapped. He hacked up a flamethrower and picked up his chainsaw. A burst of flame shot out and burned the hairs on Jin's head.
Jin screamed, "That's not fair game!"
"Rico's a maverick, he makes his own rules." Skipper said, holding Sasha down.
Rocky slid around the trees and knocked out Sasha and Jin in two blows.
"I was getting to that." Skipper said, slightly annoyed.
"You were dragging it out." Rocky said, patting her brother's head.
The lemurs cheered and came out of hiding.
A surge of static came from Rico's gut. He hacked up a small radio.
"Skipper…co…i…Ski..." Marlene's voice sounded.
Skipper picked up the device, "Marlene! Are you okay? What's going on? We're in Madagascar. I found Rocky."
"Josie…labo…pai…Be…nd...Sta…y…ere..." She tried through the static interference.
"Labor pains?" Rocky suggested.
Julien gasped, "Skipper, I have to be there."
Skipper nodded, "Rico, Kowalski, Rocky, do you think you could get the raft?"
"Um, I hate to interrupt," Gerald said, "but Sasha found your raft and destroyed it, she pelted us with the remnants" He put a pile of broken sticks at their feet.
Private gasped, still holding Mort. "How do we get out of here?" He asked.
Rocky took the radio and fiddled with some buttons. "Antarctic Base, this is Team Skippy, come in. Repeat, Team Skippy contacting Antarctic base, come in Antarctic base." She spoke into the radio.
BZZT! Roger. BZZT! Signal…BZZT…choppy…-
The line went dead.
"Now what?" Private whimpered.
"We send them our coordinates," Rocky said, punching some buttons on the radio.
"Kowalski, location," Skipper ordered, "give it to me in latitude and longitude"
Kowalski took out his abacus and notepad, he fiddled with the beads and wrote down complex equations, "Mm-hm…" he muttered to himself, "Yeah, okay…" he took out a calculator and punched in some numbers, "Right, 20°174'S latitude and 44°17'E longitude, sir!"
Rocky entered the numbers into the radio and sighed, "Now, Andre, we wait." She said. "How's Ri-"
"Never found." Skipper said with a glare.
"Who?" Private asked.
"Shh!"
"Skippa! How come I never know anything?"
"Okay, I'll tell you anything but that."
"What happened to my parents?"
Silence came over the penguins; the only sound was of the lemurs chatting.
"You never told him?" Rocky asked, "Did you tell them about Rico and Kowalski?"
"I did, a little." Kowalski admitted, "I told them my story and how I found Rico."
"I guess it's time to tell the tale of Andre Peter Davis." Skipper sighed, "Let's see, it all started seventeen years ago, I was eleven at the time."
FLASHBACK: (SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO…Cherbourg, France
"Are you sure this is the right place?" A female penguin with a British accent asked, holding her baby.
"Yes, wait here." A rabbit said, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"Wait, I-"
"Mademoiselle?" A voice came from behind her; it was a penguin wearing a beret."Follow me." He said with a French accent.
"But I was told to wait here; I wish to return to Durlston National Park."
"Not here, please." The penguin whispered, leading her to what looked like a cubicle.
"Is that the loo? I don't have to go to go."
The male winked and pulled a lever, revealing a tube. "Come, the boy too."
"What, you think I'd leave my son here? He's barely a day old!" She called after him, but he was already in the tube. She sighed and followed him, clutching the baby tightly.
She landed on a mattress in what looked like an underground base.
"Hi, welcome to our French base." The other penguin said with an American accent.
"Aha, so you're not French." The female said.
"No, Candace, I'm Johnny Bone." He responded, "General Kent sent different agents to make sure you arrived safely. Skipper!"
A small penguin rushed over, "Sir?"
"Help her with the baby." Bone ordered.
"Yes, sir. Ma'am?" He held his flippers out for the baby.
"Be careful with him." Candace said.
"Don't worry, the little Private's safe with me." Skipper said.
"And so said the eleven year old." Bone said, shaking his head.
"He's only eleven?" Candace asked, shocked.
Bone nodded, "But back to the matter at hand."
"They were the best, Andrew and Nigel…and now…"
"I know, Koru is vicious."
They continued their discussion in hushed voices. Five minutes later Candace appeared deeply saddened, she looked over at Skipper. Skipper was trying to figure out why the child was so fascinated by his flipper. The baby had Skipper's flipper and did not want to let go.
"Gee, Private." Skipper said, "I'd love you on my team one day."
"That might not happen." Johnny said, finishing up with Candace. "He's to be brought to his Grandmother, and Candace here has to go into hiding."
"Oh, Andre…my Andre…" Candace said, tears falling from her eyes. "Be safe, my son."
The baby gurgled happily, Skipper tickled him.
FIVE YEARS LATER…found young Andre saying goodbye to his grandmother near Devon, England.
"Take care of him, Skipper."
"I will. He's going to his Uncle Nigel." Skipper reassured her.
"Skipper, why do we care about a sniveling baby?" Manfredi asked, throwing the four year old a look of disdain.
"Uhh, Dennis, it's probably best not to question the leader." Kowalski said, scribbling on his notepad.
"Stuff it, newbie; you've been here one year."
"Manfredi, don't tell him to stuff it, and I promised to take care of this baby." Skipper said. "Hey, Private, you're safe now." He told the small penguin that fell asleep in his flippers.
Nigel showed up and took Private to Greenland, where they stayed for two years.
Then one day, Uncle Nigel vanished, leaving no trace of where he had gone.
"Hi again," Skipper said once he found the small penguin, "I'm taking you to Antarctica."
The child nodded, tears forming in his eyes.
"Him again?" Manfredi spat, seeing Skipper holding the child's flipper.
"What can we do about it?" Johnson asked.
Manfredi chuckled to himself, "You'll see."
An hour later, they were riding a boat to Antarctica.
"Hey Kowalski, check on Private." Skipper ordered from the front.
Kowalski nodded and approached the bundle of blankets. He pulled a blanket back and gasped, "He's gone!"
"WHAT?" Skipper said, punching the brake on the boat, they sputtered to a stop. He leapt out of his seat and ran to the blankets. "Andre…PRIVATE?"
Skipper opened his beak to call again, when he spotted Manfredi and Johnson whispering.
"You did this." Skipper growled.
"Yeah, I did."
Skipper pounced on Manfredi and began hitting him.
Meanwhile, the seven year old penguin was being pulled onto the shore.
"Where am I?" he asked groggily.
"Nova Scotia." A voice answered, it was a spider monkey, holding a mini golf club. "You want to play a few rounds?"
"…I just got out of nearly drowning and you're asking me to play mini golf?" Andre said, looking at the monkey, puzzled.
"Yup." He replied, "I'm Sunny, who are you?"
"I don't really know." The penguin said.
"Eh, that's okay…how about Mr. Tux?" he asked, showing the young penguin a red bowtie.
"Ooh…yes!" the delighted young one said, admiring the bowtie, he put it on and smiled. "I love this!"
And thus began the three year reign of Mr. Tux. After he retired his bowtie and club at the age of ten, he wandered what he came to know as the United States of America.
Realizing that he had no food or water, he tried to find the ocean again.
"Where am I now?" he asked himself, the only reply came from his hungry belly.
After about an hour, he felt like he was being watched. He quickened his pace nervously.
"Hello?" he whimpered, "Who's following me?"
He mainly avoided the city, and then he felt a tap.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" He jumped and cowered.
"Hey, I won't hurt you." An otter said, smiling, "You and I are both lost, I'm trying to get home."
"Me too, where do you live?"
"Bayfield Wisconsin, I was taken by hunters. What about you, you're a kid?"
"England, then Greenland, now I'm not sure. My name's…er…I'm…" A distant memory brought something, "Private."
"Whoa, England, pretty far. I'm Tarizuki, but most call me Izzy or Izman…or annoying."
Private laughed.
"I hear something." Izzy said suddenly "Got to go! Take care of yourself kiddo!"
He vanished just as a shadow flew by him.
A female penguin came into view. "Hi, I'm Tori Veruna of the Antarctic force; I'm here to take you to Skipper."
Private nodded.
He was taken to New York where he met Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico.
END FLASHBACK
"And that, in a nutshell, is how we met you." Skipper concluded.
"So, my dad is dead and my mum is…where?" Private wondered.
"She's with my mother and Rico's father, in hiding."
"And what happened to Manfredi and Johnson?"
Skipper paused, scratching his beak, "We took you on your first mission, you wanted to find your grandmother. Unfortunately, she had passed away, so we went to find where she was buried. Johnson was jealous; he tried to get rid of you. We had a fight and I left him there. Manfredi told me I was stupid for picking a kid over my teammates…and I…I told him he could go…I didn't think he actually would…but he did."
"They hated me?" Private said softly, "But they always acted nice around me."
"I threatened them into being nice to you." Skipper said. "It seemed to work for a little while."
"You were in the Force when you were eleven?" Julien asked.
"Yes," Skipper said, "After our mother went into hiding, Rocky and I went our separate ways. We only saw each other once after that…the mission to Denmark…ugh."
"What is that sound?" Julien asked, covering his ears.
A loud motor sounded from above, a small helicopter descended upon them. The animals hid in the forest as the plane landed. A penguin stepped out of it, his goggles lopsided on his head.
"BONE!" Skipper said, he ran up and saluted the penguin. "Boys, come!"
Rocky and the boys ran up to Skipper and saluted the older penguin.
"Hi Johnny!" Rocky said.
"Hey Rocky!" He gave her a hug and saluted the boys. "Ready to go home?"
The animals nodded.
The helicopter was in the air with the penguins, Julien, and Mort on it.
"Here, use this radio to contact your zoo." Johnny Bone said, pointing to a radio.
Skipper fiddled with some buttons, "Central Park, this is Skipper, come in."
Static filled the helicopter, and then it stopped, "Skipper?" Marlene's voice came out of it.
"Yeah, I'm so glad to hear your voice, we're coming home!"
"Oh Skipper," Marlene sighed, "Oh! Josie's gone into labor; the baby's coming any minute!"
"Can you fly this tin can faster?" Julien asked.
"Sure!" Bone grinned, "TURBO BOOST!" He punched a button and they flew with the speed of a rocket.
The jolt had woken Mort, "Whoa!" he squealed.
They landed in the park. Julien hopped out and ran to his habitat. "Josie?"
A pained yell responded.
The penguins and Julien found Josie in a corner with Becky, Stacy, and Marlene around her.
Julien rushed to her side and squeezed her hand.
"One more time, push!" Becky squeaked.
A second of silence, then a baby's cry permeated the air.
"Julien?" Stacy said, "Would you like to meet your stepdaughter?"
"Yes," he held his arms out for her. "What should we name her?"
"I like Maya." Josie whispered.
"Hello, Maya Josephine."
A/N: Aaaaaaand end of chapter! Please leave a review!
