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.
Hey guys! First of all, I'm really sorry for the delay in the updating, not that I had anything to with it of course. The storms in the Philippines have just been progressively getting worse, and I consider myself fortunate on days where we have electricity, let alone an internet connection. The floods have also been messing up the country, and the rains are just nonstop! So I was very happy that the typhoons cleared up and gave us a breather, but for my other countrymen who continue to suffer the brunt of the storms, I hope for the best for them, since there is little an 11-year old girl can do to stop a natural disaster!
Anywho, thanks so much for DrunkenRookie with the help with this chapter. Thanks also to the reviewers: The Darkly Angel (OMG so nice of you!), Hanzo of the Salamander, xxAznPenguin, lemurqueen (haha, I didn't even have that in mind when I wrote it! XD), Asmith137, Poette O'Deal, and to P3MF-Richter (Thanks so much for the advice, it really means a lot to me you take time to help me develop both as a writer and as a person!). Hope you enjoy this extra-long chapter!
~Triksterr206, DrunkenTavern Juniors
Chapter XI: Date Night
"What?"
"Umm, you know, a date." Skipper stuttered, his flipper jumping to the top of his head. "Isn't the code you civilians use for it?"
Nervousness and anxiety wracking his brain, he stared at his own feet, feeling he would break at any second. What felt like an eternity passed as he waited for something, anything to come along before he collapsed before her. He looked up at Marlene, but as soon as he did that, he looked down again, trying to avoid her eyes. He expected her to just burst into laughter and stomp off laughing, but he looked up again to see her staring at him with a confused expression.
"Huh?"
"The code, you know, for going out, having a small conversation with another civilian?"
"Date? Don't you mean hanging out?" At this point, she let out a small giggle that was light and friendly, but made Skipper almost quiver in anticipation, and a small smile broke over her face.
"Uh, yeah. Hanging out would work. Maybe, umm, later at 9 at the Zoo Entrance?" Skipper spoke so softly that if it wasn't just the two of them, would have sounded like a passing breeze. The smile stretched wider, and to his surprise, she nodded her head.
"Sure. I'll see you then?"
"Affirmative then." He said as Marlene turned and walked away, and all the anxiety and nervousness vanish to be replaced by an overwhelming sensation to leap into the air. Skipper suppressed it, of course, but it wasn't meant to last, for another thought found its way into his consciousness.
"What the hell will I do now!"
Skipper suddenly realized the situation he just put himself in; he had no experience or information on dating, except for that small relationship with Kitka, which Skipper guessed he just lucked out. He had no knowledge when it came to romance, except for the fact that he knew he was in love with Marlene, which was absolute and would never change. If he couldn't smooth out his own inner turmoil, who would he turn to for help? Kowalski would never succeed in helping him; the strategist had even less experience when it came to matters of love than even Skipper. The memory of his rather disastrous attempts of courtship for Doris the dolphin still burned at the back of Skipper's head; the aftermath of which resulting into him considering Kowalski extremely fortunate he still had some of his dignity left. Rico was even worse than Kowalski, that much was clear, and Skipper found it better and less chaotic that the maniac loved some plastic doll than he would a living person. The incident in Guatemala proved that the more Rico was in love with another, the more devastating his 'courtship rituals' would be. In this case, well, all Skipper would bother to think of is that Rico is the primary reason as to why the Guatemalan quetzal is now on the endangered species list. To sum it up to a grand total, Skipper went on two dates, zero for Kowalski, and fifty-seven for Rico, not counting the dates with the doll of course, and Private, well…
"Private!"
Realization hitting him with the force of a nuclear explosion, he slid on his belly towards the Reptile House. How could he have forgotten the young Private? The boy had as much comprehension and experience on matters of love that is on par or even superior to Marlene's. Skipper couldn't recall any time when Private had actually gone on a date, but had more than enough knowledge of it to make up for it. He darted behind a lamppost as he caught a glance of several zoo workers placing several snakes in cages, and Alice striding amongst the debris. Quickly scanning the area, he knew his former teammates wouldn't bother to linger in such a location, and he sped off away from the Reptile House as he remembered what had happened to them during the fight. He steered himself in the direction of his former habitat, hoping that his friends were still there. He moved far faster than usual, the muscles on his belly exerting as much effort as they could, but did not tire Skipper in the least. He jumped up and cleared the fence, landing gracefully next to the hatch that led to their lair. Peeking inside, his heart skipped a beat as he caught sight of Kowalski administering bandages to Private's right flipper, meaning they weren't as injured as Skipper thought they would be. Remembering why he had come in the first place, he jumped down the hatch and looked up to see the other penguins staring at the newcomer in awe, with such intensity Skipper had never seen before.
"Is there something wrong Commander?"
Kowalski flinched at being addressed as such, apparently Skipper had not forgotten the transfer of command, but the strategist paid no attention to that as his eyes lingered on Skipper. Skipper looked around, seeing Private's beak opened in shock and relief, Kowalski's flippers still frozen on the halfway-bandaged flipper, the owner still silent from being overwhelmed by Skipper's sudden reappearance after his transformation. Rico was sitting on the bottommost bunk, not even wounded from the previous battle, but his flippers resting on the first aid kit, the plastic exterior still covered in sickly green digestive fluids. Skipper stared at them, feeling the awkwardness pressing in, but which was broken a few seconds later by Private, who gave a yell of joy and ran over to Skipper with the speed of a bullet. Upon reaching the supersized penguin, he wrapped his flippers around his former leader's midsection as he rested his head on Skipper's sleek, white feathers. Recovering from the affectionate assault, Skipper returned the hug, which lasted longer than Skipper usually would allow.
"Skipper! You're alive! I can't believe that you're alive!"
Skipper looked up to see Kowalski smiling approvingly and a smile breaking over Rico's face. He broke away from Private, the young penguin's right flipper flinching in pain, but Private paid no mind.
"Ummm, Private, can I have a word? In, well, private?"
"Shu-sure Skipper. You're our friend, even though you're not our leader. You can tell us anything!"
"Well I, ummm, I guess I…"
"What is it Skipper" asked Private, a quizzical expression forming over the young penguin's face.
"I asked, ummm, I asked Marlene out on, ahh, a date." Skipper whispered, bowing his head in embarrassment, speaking so low it was barely audible, but due to the way Skipper had trained them, it didn't make a difference anyway.
At that moment, three things happened at the same time: Rico gave a loud catcall that sounded incredibly similar to the high-pitched squeal of a gossipy housewife; Kowalski broke into a fit of giggling that was reminiscent of a little schoolgirl; and Private squeaked with delight and pulled Skipper into a hug that would have crushed his ribcage if he had not been given the serum earlier.
"What? Is there something wrong?"
"Oh, noth – haha – nothing Skipper!" Kowalski panted through giggles which soon became full-fledged laughter, trying and failing to clamp his beak shut with his flippers.
"Yup!" Rico squealed, nodding his head but starting to giggle as well, Kowalski never laughed as much as he did now, and it was contagious.
"Okay umm….what do I say? What do I say?" Skipper slowly said and then started pacing nervously.
Private chuckled in a childish manner, Kowalski's and now Rico's laughter starting to infect him, as he broke away from Skipper.
"Oh Skipper. You don't have to recite lines in front of the mirror!" Private said, breaking into wild laughter.
"What do you mean?"
"You just have to be relaxed and confident." He replied trying to recover from laughing.
"You got to help me man!" He said forcefully, grabbing Private's shoulders and pulling him so close his beak almost pierced Private's eyes, and with such ease the penguin might as well have been a ragdoll. "I can't stand cracking up in front of her, I just can't!"
"Wait! You're serious!" Private said as he gulped in the rest of his laughter, and his eyes widened in horror at what he had just done. Kowalski and Rico seemed to realize this as well. Rico's whistling died down, and Kowalski, who had collapsed on the floor with his flippers clutching his ribs, awkwardly stared at Skipper, apparently aware of all the maniacal laughter that came from him.
"Oh. Umm. Okay." Private was unsettled by Skipper's bloodshot eyes and the crazy look on his face. Truth be told, he had only seen Skipper act this way if he was denied sleep, couldn't figure out how he had been constantly outwitted in a capture-the-flag game, and whenever he had lost in something, whether it was an operation, a mission, or even a game.
The realization that Skipper never really possessed any dating experience stunned him momentarily. Staring blankly at Skipper's face, absentmindedly whispered "Okay Skipper. I'll help you."
"Okay where do we start?"
"Where to start? Let's just work on your self-esteem first. Okay Skipper."
"My what?"
"You know….your confidence."
"Oh yeah! That thing." He nervously replied. He wasn't quite sure what Private was talking about.
"Don't feel nervous Skipper. I've seen you nervous around Marlene lots of times, but it you shouldn't let it ruin your date!"
"You know what? You're absolutely right young Private…how could have I been so blind!"
"See. That's the spirit Skipper." Private beamed.
"You're right, Private. I'll just cancel the date and pretend this whole thing never happened. Kowalski…brain washing options, oh no wait, you don't work for me anymore."
"No Skipper! Don't you see?"
"See what?"
Private gave a grunt of impatience and, to everyone's surprise, picked Skipper up with a rather angry and disappointed look on his face, and then practically dragged Skipper into Kowalski's laboratory, which was remarkably clean considering that Kowalski always blew it up by mixing chemicals and whatever he needed in his messed-up experiments. He took the two chairs where Skipper used to sob and weep over Marlene, carried Skipper effortlessly in one flipper and amazingly, had two chairs, one on top of the other in the other flipper.
Rico and Kowalski simply stared, their eyes following the youngest penguin of the group dragging their former-commanding officer, not to mention that he was twice as large as Private, across the floor and into the lab.
"Umm….Private?" Kowalski bravely interrupted. He was remarkably brave enough to try and stop Private. He raised his flipper as he talked but eventually, Private pretended as if he did not hear a thing, and slammed the door of the laboratory. They both heard a clicking noise as the door was locked, and both of the penguins stared at each other.
Rico heard Kowalski swallow as both tried to listen carefully which was easily achieved since after Kowalski's bold statement, the roam was dead silent. Rico heard Kowalski's heartbeat beating like there was no tomorrow. He knew that what Kowalski had done was bold but wrong: he shouldn't have tried to interrupt the young, but somewhat oddly possessed penguin in an act that would be very memorable since such an incident rarely happened, occurring only due to understandable reasons: an angry Private.
Kowalski evidently noticed Rico's stare and felt a very low point happening in his life, feeling like a rookie, a first-year hatchling. A few moments earlier, he even anticipated Private's burst of anger coming, the force of which could probably destroy the entire zoo. He just didn't know why it wasn't registering in his beautiful mind at all when it actually came. He could hear himself swallow again which then led to his excessive stuttering, as he felt he was about to faint. No one, not even Skipper, wanted to trigger a Private Panic. Finally, he slowly put his flipper down and shut his beak which was numb and dry. He broke the awkward staring contest and looked around, his eyes freezing on the spot where Private had vanished. He had read, well, had Mason and Phil read to him several books on psychology, especially after Private's recruitment into the team. Private was always soft and complacent, even a little naïve, but it turns out different, for the more caring Private was, the more deadly his dark side would be.
He felt like he was about to escape from what could have been the most embarrassing moment of his life, next to what happened between him and Doris the dolphin. He shivered involuntarily at the memory of it, so horrifying and so embarrassing to even bother remembering. Feeling quite sure that his brain was then properly functioning, the shivers left his body as Kowalski slowly began to relax and tried to think of what Private had planned for Skipper. Being in the company of an angry Private was scary, but being alone with one would be a nightmare. He heard shouts and banging echoing from behind the door as Kowalski recognized one as Skipper, shouting in muffled agony.
"Whoa." Rico said, unable to remain speechless.
The door suddenly sprang open as Kowalski and Rico jumped back a foot in the air as Private's head peeked from behind the metal door.
"Kowalski, check in on us in an hour or two, I've got some work to do." Private said, slamming the door shut, not even bothering to wait for Kowalski's response, even if he had any.
"Oh well, I was going to show him some charts I drew up, but, well, now seems to be a bad time. Would-would you like to see them Rico?"
Rico shrugged in response, his eyes still firmly locked on the door, wondering if it would burst open again, destroying the only thing that shielded the two penguins from the Private Panic. A few moments later, Rico tore his eyes away from it, wanting something, anything, to distract him from thinking about what was going on inside the laboratory. Rico approached Kowalski, who was sitting down on a nearby chair, interested in what he had to say, something that wasn't one of his plans about stealing fish from a truck or buying a new Miss Perky. This time he was interested in something that could give him any kind of relief from the nightmarish thoughts that pushed themselves into his mind, even if it meant listening to some boring speech by the strategist. Even Rico, tough as he was, was unnerved by a Private Panic, especially after Private's wrath exploded on Rico during their infiltration of a Fish Canning Factory in downtown, the aftermath of which Rico thought he was lucky to even be alive, and made him more aware of eating the last of the Peanut Butter Winkies.
"Aha!" He screamed as he fell from his chair, a folder in his right flipper.
"Whazzat?"
"Oh, it's a document containing, well, Skipper's progress. Well you see Rico, I've been monitoring Skipper's you know - "
"Hiz wah?" He replied, a his eyes narrowing in curiosity. He wasn't quite sure that he knew what Kowalski was talking about.
"His-his-his-"
"Hizzzzz?" Rico hissed, apparently aware that what Kowalski wanted to say was about something he wasn't comfortable doing.
"His emotions, of course." Kowalski hushed, bowing his head as he lifted the folder to obscure the lower half of his beak, afraid his voice might carry into the lab.
"Whoa."
"No, no, Look it's really quite simple Rico. It's just you know-"
"Noh wah?"
"This." He pulled out a sheet of paper labeled 'TOP SECRET' out of the folder.
"Whoa."
"You see, I wanted to show Private this. I've been monitoring Skipper's fluctuation of emotions since the whole Fred incident, but now they've spiked to dangerously high levels, especially after that last battle with Blowhole. And if in any case that Marlene rejects Skipper, even the thought of which, will push Skipper into a state of extreme desperation. So, Rico - " Kowalski looked up from the document to look at Rico, but the scarred penguin just stared blankly into the space above Kowalski's head. "Uhh, Rico?"
"Wah? Oh yah, BORING!"
"No, just hear me out. I'll just summarize it for you. Hmmm, how to put this in a way you'll understand…" Kowalski rubbed the bottom of his beak with his flipper, pondering how best to communicate it to Rico.
"Aha! Skipper – love – Marlene – big – very – very – big."
"Oh, uh-huh!"
"Yes Rico." He replied.
Rico's eyes lit up in amazement and his beak parted, possibly to squeal that housewife scream again but he was interrupted with the sound of something being smashed against the door.
BANG!
The two penguins stared at the door as it slowly opened, and Skipper emerged with Private behind him. Kowalski hastily hid the folder behind his back as they both stood up.
"That was quick." Kowalski blurted out, finding anything to take attention away from the folder behind his back.
No one responded as Skipper took a deep breath and made his way to the ladder that led to the exit of their lair. Kowalski theorized that Private was secretly a brilliant scientist when it came to love and made the best love potion in the world. But Rico thought that maybe Private actually replaced the real Skipper with a robotic drone that was in Private's control. Growling slightly, he regurgitated a baseball bat and made to lunge at the young penguin, but he abruptly stopped as Skipper's voice broke the silence.
"Boys, I think we all know that it's safe to say that-"
"Come on Skipper. Say it!" Private giggled in joy.
"I'm ready for my date!"
"Really? Yay! I'm so proud of you Skipper!" said the young penguin in intense joy, hugging what Rico still thought was his 'creation'.
"No need young Private. And by the way, you will never find me ungrateful. Heck, Kowalski might just give you a promotion."
Kowalski's and Rico's eyes jumped to Private, staring at him in awe at what he had just done. Walking to the dumbstruck strategist's side, Private wrapped his flippers around his commander's midsection and looked up at him apologetically. Private only chuckled softly as Kowalski smiled back. Kowalski still couldn't figure out how Private was able to do such an outstanding feat. Perhaps it was one of his brilliant therapist secrets he never told anyone, and used it only when the right situation called for it. In truth, he was more proud of himself, he liked giving a big contribution to people's lives. That was one of the traits that marked him as 'the nicest animal in the zoo'.
Skipper climbed up the ladder, opened the hatch and quickly jumped out.
"Wish me luck boys!" came an echoing voice from above.
The trio watched their former leader and friend leave, but stared at Private again as they heard sniffling sounds.
"They just grow up so fast!"