Even Otter Things Have Happened
Plot Summary: Takes place after 'Otter Things Have Happened'. Julien tries to make up with Marlene, but she doesn't want to. He enlists the help of the penguins to create a love potion for him, but things don't turn out quite right….
Disclaimer: The Penguins of Madagascar is the property of Dreamworks Animation Studios in association with Nickelodeon. I do not claim ownership of The Penguins of Madagascar.
Rated Teen (T) for Mild/Fantasy Violence, and Minor Suggestive Themes
First of all, our DrunkenRookie is finally back on his feet after two long weeks of absence from taking a sick leave! Good to have you back big bro!
Finally I get to update! I'm really, really, really sorry for having to keep you guys waiting, but Taekwondo practices (i'm into it) are just becoming so rigorous, I'm just so exhausted to even write. Oh well, I can honestly say I missed you too. Thanks so much to reviewers Poette O'Deal, noname, xxAznPenguin, Hanzo of the Salamander, Icicle1Penguin, The Darkly Angel, HarleyQuinn, Lightningfur, Thunderfox, TheOtterWoman, and lemurqueen. All your reviews made me smile and push on with the next chapter! Read, enjoy, and don't forget to review!
I'm also running a poll, it's on our profile page!
~Triksterr206, Drunken Tavern Juniors
Chapter X: Commando vs. Madman
Skipper began to rise; as he wiped his beak with his flipper, he could hear his own heartbeat as it got louder and louder, faster and faster but as he looked around and imagined to see all of the people he cared about hurt by the mad bottlenose, it kept him going. He stood up, putting his two feet on the cold, blood stained floor. Power readily surged throughout his core as he rose to fight Blowhole's machine, the creator laughing evilly. Trying to ignore the annoying, mocking sound of the dolphin's laughter, he tried to gauge the amount of strength the machine possessed. The punch that had met his charge and threw him face down showed the robot's agility; the force with which Skipper got smashed displayed its strength; and the dolphin's mad laughter convinced Skipper that he had to put an end to this. He raised his now-beefy flippers and parted his now-muscular feet to form a battle stance. The edges of his vision starting to turn a deep red, his beak curved instantly into a snarl as the power continued to surge through him like an electric charge.
"Blowhole." He whispered under his breath.
The sounds of the dolphin's manic laughter growing louder, he narrowed his vision and anticipated his opponent's next attack. Blowhole's laughter slowly ebbed away, and upon seeing Skipper, growled and pushed a button. The hatches opened behind his back to reveal the twin saws, circular and jagged, spinning rapidly and looked capable to cutting Burt the elephant in half with one clean blow. The behemoth shuffled forward, its mechanized feet tensing, preparing to spring. And spring it did, the machine jumping high into the air and aiming to land on Skipper. Its taloned feet would have flattened the penguin had he not jumped out the way. In his past state, Skipper wouldn't have been able to even clear that, but now with the power coursing through him, he was strong and agile enough to clear it, and even powerful enough to have countered with a kick to the robot's midsection, just below the screen that displayed Blowhole's face. Landing on the blood-stained floor, he stared at the robot again, only to have his eyes open wide in surprise. The part he intended to kick was covered in a layer of chrome plating, the toughest metal alloy known, and yet the armor plating displayed a foot-shaped dent on the place it had met his kick. The blood haze parted momentarily as Skipper realized the totality of his latent powers as it surged throughout him. It was an invigorating feeling that further strengthened him, to see not just himself finally injure the once-unstoppable machine, but to realize that he now had a chance and the means of stopping it. Blowhole seemed to have realized this as well, as the robot's 'eyes' fell on the dented plating.
"No! No, that's impossible!"
A second later, something hit Skipper in the belly hard; so hard that he flew into the air and landed flat on the ground. He was too amazed by his powers, and Blowhole caught him off guard. He promised himself that wouldn't happen as he straightened up, but has caught by a kick. He barely got his muscled flippers up in time to catch the mechanical foot before he was impaled by the talons, scant inches away from his chest. He strained against it, trying to force it away from him. The two were locked in a stalemate, and neither was willing to give up. Straining against it, Skipper looked up to see Blowhole press a button on the control panel, and the saws emerged once more, and began to spin. Skipper sensed what was coming, and he couldn't hold of the kick without being sliced, or dodging the saws without being impaled before his flippers fully released it. The penguin grunted in frustration, snapping his beak in an effort to hold off the taloned foot. Power continued to course through Skipper, but even his newfound strength started to diminish. The saws edge closer to the straining penguin, Blowhole taking his time as he savored another moment of victory.
"I told you to surrender. Now it's too late little peng-you-in!"
Skipper jammed his eyelids shut, and turned his head in weariness, refusing to give up despite being locked in the horns of dilemma. He opened his eyes only to see the three penguin shaped holes on the wall. In one of them, he saw Private, who looked at him with a tear in his eye. Skipper could sense Private's worry and concern for him which gave him a little strength then Rico, and Kowalski who had finally regained consciousness stood up with all their strength, comforting Private, patting his back and wiping his tears. Skipper smiled at the mirage, but the smile turned into a look of utter bliss as his icy-blue eyes met her imaginary hazel ones, and at that moment, all sound was deafened, and it was only him and her that mattered.
'Don't give up!'
He could see Marlene wrapping an arm around Private, who smiled and cheered Skipper on; Kowalski and Rico doing the same. Marlene smiled at him, supporting him, for she was the source of his strength, they all were. The image vanishing, Skipper returned his gaze to the mechanical giant in front of him. Only his vision didn't dim, it didn't turn into the deep crimson of hate and anger, it didn't even portray Blowhole as a devil-in-disguise. It only saw Marlene. He felt a renewed surge of power, which doubled, then tripled, until Skipper felt overwhelmed by the amount of energy that coursed through him. He closed his eyes again as he was blinded by light, light that surrounded the form of Marlene, smiling at him and pushing him on. He felt the crimson haze parting, and his flippers push forward. He opened his eyes to see his flippers pushing against the behemoth's foot involuntarily, the robotic joints starting to bend. His eyes went wider in shock, and saw Marlene beside him. He wondered whether he was dreaming or not, as she placed paws made of purest light on his flipper's muscles and pushed with him. He sensed another presence beside him, and turned his head to see Kowalski, Rico and Private, also composed of light as they placed their flippers on Skipper and pushed. Each of them wore the most pleasant of smiles, and even Rico's didn't strike Skipper as disturbing. But none of those could have compared to Marlene's.
"How are you doing this?"
He pushed with all his might and heard Blowhole cry out in shock which soon turned to anger as he pushed more power into the mechanized limb. It couldn't match against Skipper's strength, and he gasped in surprise as the leg snapped. The robot swayed unbalanced before it fell on the side of the broken limb. It didn't stop there as Skipper jumped up and grabbed onto a saw, catching the part that attached it to the behemoth, and snapped it off as well. With a quick fluid motion, he sliced its twin off and threw the deadly weapon away. With that threat neutralized and its mobility severely crippled, Skipper grabbed onto the head and stared directly into the remaining 'eye', a snarl on his beak as he punched the head, the force of which rocked it to the side. He remembered what Kowalski had said earlier, and nimbly leapt to the back, his flipper catching the edge of the hatch that contained the saw blades. His flippers found the edge of the plating, and he began to pull with all his might.
"Little rat! Get off of there!"
Skipper swayed to the side as the drill tried to catch him, hanging onto the plate's edge for dear life. The drill missed by a few inches, and Skipper repeated the action. The plate edged slowly open, and Skipper could feel electricity coming from within it. The drill came round again, but this time the commando was ready. Dodging it, he grabbed onto the arm that held it, and with one chop from his flipper crushed it. The drill ceased spinning; it's the wires that controlled it no longer functional. Skipper planted his feet on the leviathan's lower back, and with one great tug, managed to yank it open. Within, he saw wires running in and out of the buzzing machine. Lifting himself up on the dented plate and using it as a foothold, he clenched his flipper and drove it into the center of the power core. Oddly, he felt no pain when his flipper met with it, shattering several capacitors and disconnecting wires as electricity coursed through his flipper. Instead, the power within him absorbed the electricity, in doing so relieving him of any pain. Retracting his flipper, he prepared for another strike.
"YOU-WILL-NEVER-HURT-HER-AGAIN!" Skipper yelled, punctuating each syllable with a punch to the power core.
"No! That's impossi - !" Blowhole began, but his voice faded and grew distorted as the last of the machine's energy was spent before the thrashing arms and legs finally ceased movement, and the red light from the eye dimmed and went out.
Skipper panted in relief and sighed. He wasn't tired, in fact the surging powers within made him feel he could run around the world and make it back to this spot in under a minute, but he had more pressing matters on his mind. He jumped off of the ruptured plating and made his way to the form of the unconscious otter. He peered around at his surroundings as he did so, seeing the ceiling lights flicker eerily, others shattered by a missile or their wirings cut off. He caught the eyes of chameleons glancing at him from behind hiding spots. Snakes started to appear behind the glass displays, and others slithered out of broken ones. A gigantic green python (but looked like just a worm compared to Savio) made its way to Skipper, moving over the rough, uneven floor.
"¡Gracias amigo!" he hissed as he bowed to Skipper, smiling with the tip of his tongue stretching out.
"Anytime." Skipper said idly as he made his way to the unconscious form of Marlene, the python slithering away to his tank.
He jumped up and secured himself on the chains like he did earlier, and examined her condition. She looked so peaceful, but now he knew she wasn't dead. Staring at her with glassy eyes, his beak moved forward involuntarily and planted a small kiss on her forehead. He smiled before he lifted himself and placed his beak around the chains that suspended the unconscious otter. He snapped his beak shut, and the chains were cut. Landing and then catching her, he undid the chains with as much gentleness as he could, not taking his eyes off of her face. She looked so serene, it was breathtaking for Skipper as she shone in the flickering light. The other animals stared with curiosity, wondering what their savior was doing. Marlene moaned, and her eyes slowly opened. Her hazel ones met Skipper's blue ones filled with concern, and a smile broke over her face. Skipper found it amazing how she still was able to smile after all that happened to her.
"Hey Skipper." She groaned, her voice raspy and tired.
Her eyes seemed unfocused for a moment, but then widened in horror as she sat up with blinding speed.
"The-the-the robot! It's gonna kill us!" she screamed, her paws wrapped tight around Skipper and her eyes flashing wide with terror. "Kowalski, Pri - !"
Her cry was interrupted by a sharp gasp when her eyes fell on the still-smoking machine. It took her a few seconds to realize it, after which she turned her head to look at Skipper, but jumped up in surprise as her eyes travelled beneath the half-concerned, half-relieved look on his face. Her eyes jumped to the flippers that cradled her, and laid a paw on one of them, running it over his flippers that looked strong enough to crush her. Skipper would never do such a thing of course, but probably would if she entered his habitat or snuck up behind him unannounced. Her eyes resumed contact with his, and the thought that he never took his eyes off her filled her mind as her paws found their way to his biceps, thrice as large than they normally should have been. She lowered her eyes and placed a paw as gently as she could on his muscled chest, and could feel his chest rising as he silently breathed.
"Been workin' out?" she whispered, chuckling at her little joke.
His eyes continued to bore into hers, which made her wonder whether he was even capable of blinking or not. She tried to straighten herself and stand up, but weakness overwhelmed her and she stumbled. She expected to fall, but Skipper's flippers never left, and she swayed until she fell unto him, her head resting on his large barrel chest. His feathers felt soft and cool, and a strong to desire to fall into unconsciousness overwhelmed her. He helped her up, and stood slowly, allowing her to regain her footing. She held onto his flippers, and looked up to meet his eyes, but started in surprise to see him a head taller than her, his icy blue eyes piercing her from above. She smiled back, and let go of him, his flippers sliding off her. She turned to the exit, but halted when she scanned the area around her.
"Whoa! Looks like I missed a lot."
The glass panes of the reptile exhibits were shattered and cracked in places, while some were missing entirely. There were multiple holes on the right wall, three of them penguin shaped. She felt a pang in her heart as she remembered the fate of Private and Rico, and apparently Kowalski. Her eyes wandered over the cracked and battlefield-worthy floor, pieces of tiles everywhere and drying blood stains adorning it. Her vision then focused on the shell of the robot, and parts of it strewn everywhere. She identified two saw blades, dents in the shiny armor, a missing leg and arm, and shards of broken machinery from the gaping hole in its back. She tried to remember the events of the past few hours, but all she could remember were shadowy figures attacking her, falling unconscious, and the Penguins' battle against the destructive robot. Her heart skipped a beat at the memory of Skipper dying on the floor, and of her screaming his name, Kowalski feeding him something, and her blacking out again. She placed a paw to the side of her head, and took a deep breath. She turned to see Skipper beside her, a look of worry on his face.
"It's okay, I'm fine Ski – "she began, but paused when she heard footsteps approaching, footsteps that were definitely human.
Her heart began to thump faster, but she gasped in surprise as Skipper gently picked her up as a groom would do his newly-wed bride, and sprang with lightning speed to the big, gaping hole on the left wall that opened up into the expanse of night. He stopped and took shelter in the shadows, his flippers still cradling his love. Sure enough, he was greeted by the voice of Alice, which denoted the end of the world.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!"
He peeked to see the various reptiles scampering or slithering back to their habitats and Alice striding over to the shell of the defeated machine, and kick it with her boot.
"What the hell are these kids playing with today? First those morons pick all my flowers, now they smuggle in experimental toys? That's it! I'll see that that inspection proposition passes even if it's the last thing I do!"
And with that, the grumbling zookeeper left as she flicked off the lights. Skipper turned to see Marlene staring back at him, a cheesy smile on her face. Understanding it instantly, he set her down softly, and the duo walked away from the battered Reptile House before Alice and a crew of zoo workers showed up to round up the homeless animals.
They continued to walk wordlessly towards her habitat, glancing at each other every once and a while. Once they had reached the center of the zoo, the penguin habitat, they turned right to Marlene's but stopped abruptly when they heard footsteps approaching, only this time, it wasn't human. Marlene looked up curiously, but was met with a flipper from Skipper as he moved Marlene behind him, he himself entering a battle stance. Marlene frowned and crossed her arms at her penguin companion's sudden overprotective behavior. The footsteps grew louder, and Skipper straightened, a snarl forming on his beak. A shadow of the newcomer formed, and they saw it walking towards them, but then tripped. The two started in surprise, only to see the falling form to be Fred. But Fred was smaller, shorter, and looked just as he did not so long ago. His gigantic teeth struck the pavement and embedded themselves in it, the miniaturized squirrel trying to force them out.
"Oh, heh gahs!" he muttered, still trying to force his teeth out he tried to wave at them at the same time.
Skipper whirled around and expected to see Marlene's expression of utter sadness, but only saw her staring at him with a blank expression on her face. She stared at the squirrel, her face expressionless. He expected her to cry at any moment, her one source of happiness now reduced to nothing but a bundle of stupidity. But she didn't cry, or lament, not even pout, she just stood there. Then again, she wasn't one to lose face in public.
"You're taking this awfully well."
Skipper was surprised to find he was the one who was speaking, and realized that those were the first words he had said to the otter in the past few days. She turned to look at him, and a smile returned to her face.
"Easy come, easy go I guess." She said blandly. "Maybe we're just not meant to be…"
A sudden surge of happiness overwhelmed Skipper for but a brief moment; he felt his beak would break into a fully fledged grin if his iron resolve had not been intact. He also felt an overpowering desire to hug her for what she had said, but it was denied as well.
"Heh, yourh tallah than ah remembahd." Fred said, his teeth still stuck, glancing at Skipper.
Skipper caught Marlene turning away on the edge of his vision, and a sudden thought struck him. Fred was gone, and Marlene was all his. He had never gotten the chance to tell her what he truly felt, and as he watched her walk away, his heart beat faster in anxiety for his decision. She would soon be too far to hear him, and that one golden opportunity would be lost forever. It was now or never…
"Wait, Marlene!" Skipper called and sped toward her, closing the distance in a few strides. He grabbed onto her paw as she slowly turned around to see who it was. His stomach felt twisted into a knot for what he had to say, and for what he had to do, but he knew it had to be done. He personally felt he would rather face ten of Blowhole's robots without Kowalski's ultra-serum than summon up the guts to actually carry out what he had in mind. But it went past the point of no return as the words tumbled forth from his beak,
"Marlene, would you go out on a date with me?"