Chapter 2
Trick or treat?

Skipper looked up; an irritating noise was coming from the penguins' newly fitted doorbell, "What, trick-or-treaters already? We're not even in costume!" Skipper turned to his three recruits who seemed relatively un-phased by this unexpected and unwelcome visitor.

Kowalski noted the concern in his voice as the leader sipped at his fish coffee, "Just checking the scope, Skipper." An unmanly squeal came from where Kowalski had been standing. He suspected the worst.

"Kowalski, you can't possibly be..."

"It's Doris!" Rico jumped back in disgust; he could almost see the soppy love-hearts dancing round the scientist's dreamy face.

"Let me see..." Skipper grumbled. The scene from the periscope was too shocking for words. Blowhole's evil, delphinium face poisoned its vision; his soulless, red, robot eye just peering from behind the locks of a crude, golden wig; tight lips tickled by the smear of ruby red lipstick. Fake eyelashes rimmed his one, remaining eye...

"Trick or treat, p-pen-gu-ins... let me in!" Blowhole's ridiculous disguise wavered for a second as the wig made a slip from his pearly head, but his sneer quickly returned as the dolphin adjusted discreetly, the hair that had made a dive for the ground. His lashes flickered with an obvious sense of triumph. Skipper was paralysed to the cold, stone floor of the penguins' lair...

*Knock, knock, knock* No answer.*Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock*

King Julien burst through the secret hatch behind Private's first prize plaque, (one of only fifth-teen escape tunnels leading in and out of the penguins' secret lair)"Trick or treat silly penguins, give to me your candies!" Julien found himself staring uncomfortably into the face of Dr. Blowhole himself, dressed as a fairy and standing in the middle of the four tied-up penguins, "Ok, now that's scary. I'm gonna go now."

There was just enough time for Mort to make a brief "Hello," before the door slammed fast.

Blowhole pointed a sinister flipper to the lobsters that encircled him, "Get them!"

Julien's face exposed nothing but a forced, guilty grin. All eyes were on the King; fuming, blood-shot eyes. King Julien glanced at the chains that bound him, the penguins, and his loyalist subjects, "This is the worst Halloween ever..."

"I suppose you are wondering why I, Dr. Blowhole, have chosen to gather you here today, on this very night..."

"Not really." Skipper cut, performing a rather exaggerated yawn. Rico made the same gesture.

Blowhole seemed stumped for a moment, he would need to increase the pressure, "Do you not realise that I have you, your b-b-buddy..."

"I thought we went over this, we're not friends."

"Can you let me finish?" He shrieked. The walls of the penguins' base rang with the sound of Blowhole's sinister voice. He liked it, "I have inventions, I have data, I have weapons, I have this, I have that... But best of all, I have YOU! And do you know why that makes me feel so good?" The deranged dolphin paused. Somebody was interrupting his sentence; somebody was staring; somebody was laughing at him! The irritating, hum of ugly, mocking laughter he had received so much at Coney Island; it haunted him, haunted him so badly he had wanted to scream and flop to the bottom of the pool and stay there forever...

"Private..." Kowalski scolded as he giggled through Blowhole's droning lecture.
The young penguin was almost close to tears, which was ironic really, because penguins don't cry, "Sorry Kowalski, but, it's just... He looks like a fairy!" If Kowalski or the rest of the penguins had had free flippers, they would have slapped him, although, come to think of it, it was...pretty...

"I should take this off, really, shouldn't I..." He removed the wig; "Now what I was going to say was..."

"We get jet-skis, take up swimming lessons and watch all the mammals die. From the ring of fire." The lemur.

"No, IDIOT! That was my last revenge, which, I am not here to talk about, because it failed, but I haven't even got to what I wanted to talk about, because I keep getting interrupted! Tell you what, diminutive pen-gu-ins. We shall have this meeting somewhere else, some place more fun..."

Skipper decided to really rub in the Dolphin's frustration, "Let me guess, Coney Island?"

"Oh... That was the same place as last year!" Private added, winking towards the fearless team leader.

Blowhole flashed back a defeated, yet witty smile, "We shall see about that... I've been decorating... Ahh, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"You need to work on your charm."

"Shut up!"

The lair was submerged in a choking, white mist, smelling of... Skipper no longer had the senses to distinguish what it was... He was falling into a deep, dreary sleep...