A.N.—And here's chapter 21! :D and I can say for sure that there will be one more chapter and then an epilogue and then I will start the next story :)

Trixy: I can't believe you had me give up on my ribbon and go back to New York without it :O

Me: Well, concider it pay back for sarcasm...

Trixy: XP

Me: Anywho, I hope you guys like the chapter and thank you all so much for the reviews! :D This story's reviews have already topped my record :D So, thank you all, again :)

Chapter 21: They're Gone...

The plane touches down in an empty, deserted part of the Central Park in New York. Apollo turns off the plane and looks over at Private and Trixy who are still seated in the copilot seat. "Well, here we are, kiddos; New York." He says with a small smile.

Private and Trixy nod and unbuckle their seatbelt. "Thank you, sir." Trixy and Private say with a smile to him.

"Anytime." Captain Apollo says with a nod to them. He pushes a button on the plane's dashboard and a door opens on the plane. Private and Trixy then exit the plane and waddle a little bit away from it. They wave at Apollo as he and his plane take off again and leave.

Trixy suddenly looks at Private with a small gasp. "We forgot to say goodbye!" She says shocked at herself.

"...Then maybe that means that this isn't the last we've seen of him." Private suggests with a small shrug and smile.

Trixy smiles back at him. "Maybe..." She then smiles even wider. "Race you back to the HQ!" She says with a very excited laugh.

"You're on!" Private laughs, too. They both then slide to the HQ. They get there and find it deserted. Private frowns as he looks around the empty and silent HQ. "I wondah where the othahs are..." He mumbles.

Skipper and Marlene run down the path and somehow make it back to the shore with the sloop and the submarine. They stop running and glance behind them, panting a little. "I think we lost them." Skipper says as he gets his breathing back under control.

Marlene nods. "Yeah...I think we did too..." She pants in reply.

"We need to find the others and warn them about the penguin cannibals." Skipper says thinking.

"Uh huh...And speaking of cannibal penguins, thank you." She says and looks at Skipper with a smile.

Skipper looks back at Marlene with a small grin. "For what?"

"For saving me!" Marlene says with a very small laugh. "And for not breaking your neck from falling out of that tree..." She gives him a small kiss on the cheek.

Skipper turns a little red. "Euhm...Erm...You're...Uhm...You—you're wel–...Uhm...You're welcome." Skipper stutters back, greatly surprised.

Marlene gives another little laugh at Skipper's sudden blushing. 'So...Maybe he likes me back?' Marlene thinks to herself happily. 'I hope so...'

Kowalski and Rico follow the path to a branch that is in the way of the rest of the path. They look around and see no one and then look back at each other. "Well, either Julian and Maurice were wrong, or they've already returned to the shore..." Kowalski says.

Rico nods. "Yup."

Kowalski nods also. "Let's go back and check." Kowalski and Rico slide back down the way they came and slide back to the beach. They find Skipper and Marlene there. "Skipper!" Kowalski calls and slides over to him.

Skipper turns and looks at him. "Yes, Kowalski? Did you two find anything?" He asks.

Kowalski nods. "Yes, sir. Rico?" Kowalski turns towards Rico. Rico regurgitates the bright pink ribbon and holds it up. Skipper glances from the ribbon to them with a questioning look. "It's Trixy's ribbon...We found it among some coral during our search..."

"Oh..." Skipper says. "So...That means that they had probably been on this island, then?"

Kowalski nods and then gives Skipper a curious look. "Been, sir?"

"Yes...Been...You see, Kowalski, this island is infested with cannibal penguins...If they had been here, then they were probably..." Skipper's voice trails off and he looks down at the ground.

Marlene looks at Skipper with wide eyes. "So...Does that mean that...They're gone?" She asks with a sad expression. Skipper says nothing but gives a small, slow nod.

Kowalski looks at Skipper and Marlene. "But...What if they weren't eaten?"

Skipper looks back up at Kowalski. "Then they drowned in the sea." He says a bit more sharply than he meant. "Either way, they're gone and we've lost two young recruits to the weather." Skipper turns around then and waddles over to the boat quickly. He wipes his eyes with a flipper when he thinks he is far enough away with his back turned to them. "Go get Ringtail and the rest...We're going back to the zoo..." He says after a moment.

Kowalski looks at Skipper with a soft look and nods. "Yes, sir..." He says and turns away. "Come on, Rico..." He mutters to Rico with a small nudge. Rico nods and waddles with Kowalski back to the lemurs.

Trixy and Private waddle out of the HQ and continue to look around. They go to Marlene's. Trixy even knocks on the cave's wall before entering. "Marlene?" She asks quietly before waddling into the cave. There is no reply and no one is in the habitat besides themselves. "Well this is odd..."

Private nods. "Very..." He says. They quietly leave Marlene's habitat and go to the lemurs'. It is silent there, too.

"Where the Buckingham is everyone?!" Trixy says looking around with wide eyes. "Did they all go off on a mission without us?"

Private looks around. "I-I wouldn't think so...Maybe...Maybe they're not back from the trip yet?"

Trixy looks at Private. "That wouldn't explain the othahs' disappearances though..."

Private looks back at Trixy. She was right; it was not an explanation to where the others could be. He looks at the ground. "I don't know, Trix..." He says silently. "I really don't know..."

Trixy looks at Private and then back towards the HQ. "Maybe they did go on a mission without us...Why don't we go on back to the HQ and wait for them if that's the case?"

Private nods. "Alright..." Trixy nods and takes Private's flipper and they waddle back to the HQ.

Kowalski and Rico waddle up to Julian, Maurice, and Mort who are all still in the little clearing, not doing what they were ordered to do. "Julian." Kowalski says.

Julian looks at Kowalski. "That's King Julian, to you, smarty penguin." He says.

Kowalski gives a sigh. "Whatever...Anyway, Skipper says its time to go...Back to the zoo." He says as he looks at them.

Maurice gives them a curious look. "What do you mean back to the zoo? Did you guys find Private and Trixy?" He asks.

Rico shakes his head. "Nuh uh...'Ipper 'ay dey 'obably yum yum." He says.

"What?" Julian asks as he gives Rico a weird look and glances at Kowalski for an explanation.

Kowalski gives a small sigh before answering. "They were most likely eaten by the cannibal penguins on the island...And if they weren't, then they probably drowned on the way to the island..." He says sadly. "Either way...They're gone..."

Mort looks at Kowalski with huge puppy-like eyes. "No more Private?" He asks.

Kowalski looks at him and swallows with a nod. "N-no more Private."

"And no more Trixy?" Mort continues to ask and looks at Kowalski still with wide, sad eyes.

"And no more Trixy..." Kowalski says and turns away. He swallows back some tears before speaking again. "C-come on back to the boat..." He says and waddles off towards the boat and sub without waiting for them.

Rico looks at Kowalski's retreating form and then looks at the lemurs. "Aw man, don' lea' ee ere 'ith dem!" He says and looks at the lemurs again. "'Ome on, 'et's 'o." He tells them and waves his flipper towards the way Kowalski had went. He and the lemurs then walk back to the beach after Kowalski.