Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing back in! Hey, just in case, I want to apologize for taking so long with this. Well, anyway, now we have another chapter for the people who have shown interest in this. You guys rock! Here you go!
NOTE:
-I do not own anything presented in this story other than my own OC.
Operation: Unite and Conquer
Chapter 3: PHASE ONE – The intervention.
At the otter habitat, the two roommates were inside their room, making some space for Jason's stuff.
The newcomer had only brought a minimal amount of baggage: a TV and some pictures. As such, they didn't have to work too much on that. In a matter of minutes, they had a space prepared for his stuff.
"OK, I think we got it."
"All we need to do is move the TV here, and we're done."
As Marlene walked towards her bed, she saw Jason looking at his photos.
"Are those from your old zoo?"
"Sort of." He stood up and began to approach her. "Speaking of, what zoo did you come from?"
Marlene was flooded by memories as she began to answer. "The Monterey Bay Aquarium, back in California."
"Is there anything you miss about it?"
"Well, there's not really much. I got along well with everyone, we had a pretty good attendance, and I won the popularity contest three years in a row, until I became unable to participate in the contest again."
"Yeah, I just noticed the trophies...wait, you're out of the competition?"
"Scandal. Long story." Marlene then noticed that Jason went back to his pictures.
After taking a glance, she then noticed that they weren't images of somewhere, but someone.
"Who is that?"
He handed her a couple pictures. The images that Marlene had in her paws were of her roommate, right next to another female otter.
"That's my girlfriend, Lani." Upon hearing this, she looked at him. "I met her back at the Brookfield Zoo."
"How did that happen?"
"She got transferred from the Minnesota Zoo, I think. No idea why, though."
"You miss her?"
"Yeah, I really do. Especially since we got separated by something really ridiculous." Jason then stopped looking at his photos and faced Marlene. "Remember when I told you the last place I got sent to was awkward?" The female nodded. "You're not gonna believe this, but...I got sent to the Bronx Zoo."
Her face turned to a mixture of shock and disbelief. "Wait, whoa, whoa. The Bronx Zoo?"
"I'm not kidding here, Marlene. I got shipped there, and I don't even know why it happened. They don't even have any otters in there. All I saw were sea lions, and, to be honest, the guys weren't exactly fun to be around. And let me tell you, the Bronx is freaky." After saying that, Jason shuddered. "Trust me, you do not want to go there."
Upon saying that, he turned back to his pictures.
"I'm sure that Lani misses you just as much as you miss her, Jason."
"I know, but I can't believe that it happened." About half a minute later, he put them down and turned back to her. "But enough about that. What about you? Have you ever gotten lucky, Marlene?"
Marlene was taken by surprise by the question. "Well, I...um...uh, not really."
"Anyone here catch your interest?"
"Actually..." She was about to answer, but stopped mid-sentence. She was unsure about whether she should say what had come to her mind...since she didn't quite understand it.
She thought about saying "no", but at the same time, she was thinking about Skipper.
They were close friends, they trusted each other despite Skipper's paranoia, and she had even went on some missions with him and his team. He was extremely protective of her, and he was actually somewhat more casual and less paranoid whenever she was around. And yet, whenever he was around, she didn't know how she was supposed to feel.
She couldn't even recall why exactly she was so enthusiastic about working with Skipper to get their Chinese takeout. It certainly wasn't the food; she had forgotten about it as soon as Kowalski mentioned the possibility of her taking his place. Could it be? Was she...?
"Yes. But before I tell you, promise me you won't laugh or anything."
"I promise. Go ahead."
Marlene took a deep breath. "You won't believe it, but...I'm actually...in love with Skipper."
"Wait, wait...Skipper? Really?" Jason did his best to play surprised.
And so, the two otters began to talk about all of Marlene's adventures with the penguins, and how and why she came to feel the way she felt about the head penguin.
Now, let's go look at the penguins...
The penguins had just finished their morning training, and all the 'ninja' bowling pins had been taken back into their base.
Rico was watching a movie with Private, with his doll right next to him. Meanwhile, Skipper & Kowalski were playing chess, with Skipper losing badly.
"I move my queen here, and...checkmate."
Skipper just stared, a lack of concentration showing on his face.
"Uh, Skipper?"
No response.
"Rico, we have a problem! Skipper is catatonic!"
Upon hearing this, Rico regurgitated his trusty chainsaw and approached the table, laughing maniacally as he did.
"Rico! How many times do I have to tell you? The chainsaw isn't an approved weapon!" This time, Skipper actually reacted to what was happening around him.
Kowalski sighed in relief, while the scarred penguin swallowed his chainsaw again and returned to his place between Private and his girlfriend.
"Kowalski, status report!"
The tall penguin did his best to describe the situation. "Well...Private and Rico are watching TV, and you lost the chess game."
"Really?" Skipper turned to the table, and saw that he had lost to Kowalski yet again. "I don't remember that happening."
"Well, you did space out during my final move." Kowalski took out his notepad and pencil. "In fact, it's the first time that has ever happened. Any particular reason?"
Before answering, Skipper approached his lieutenant. "Follow me outside."
Once outside, the head penguin began to speak.
"You see, your love machine made me realize something, Kowalski. I..." Like Marlene, Skipper was unable to complete his sentence easily. "I..."
Kowalski knew what he was going for, but had to pretend he didn't for his plan to work. "Come on, Skipper. You know you can. Just say it."
"I..." Skipper swallowed hard. "I'm in love...with Marlene."
"With...Marlene?" Kowalski began to write down, his notepad covering the satisfied smile that appeared on his face. "How long have you felt this way?"
"Since the 'haunted habitat' incident. You see...Marlene...she..." Skipper had trouble swallowing his pride, as the thought he was risking Kowalski's respect by telling him all this. "She saved my life that day. More than once, actually."
-flashback-
After hearing the sound that was frightening Marlene, they blew a manhole open, deciding to search for the source. Skipper immediately approached it, followed by Marlene.
"Anything?"
"Negatorio. Nada. Zippo."
While looking into the hole, they failed to realize that the cap was coming down.
"I'm telling you, there is something-" Marlene's sentence was interrupted by the cap dropping on top of her and Skipper, sending them down the sewers.
They fell into the water, Skipper having gone unconscious because of the blow to his head. Swimming towards him, Marlene was stopped by the penguin subconsciously going into one of his fighting stances. However, that didn't stop her from dragging him out of the water.
After forcing the water out of his lungs, she saw him wake up.
"Are you my mommy?" Clearly, he was still dazed.
"Skipper, are you OK?" She shone the flashlight in his face, which seemed to snap him back to normal.
"Never better."
"SEWER MONSTER! RETREAT!"
The monster was about to trample Skipper as he stepped back. However, as it came closer, a pair of legs came down and grabbed him, swinging him up until he was facing a pipe.
After the monster went past them, they finally let go of him, and he landed on top of his recorder. As he straightened himself back up, his face was frozen with shock, as he realized it was Marlene who had saved him.
Kowalski turned to see Skipper talking to Marlene, and walked towards them, stopping right next to Skipper.
"Lucky break you were down there to rescue Marlene, eh, Skipper?"
But the answer that he gave was unexpected. "Actually, Kowalski...I didn't so much rescue Marlene as..." He stopped in the middle of his sentence, his pride getting in the way.
As Marlene looked at him with a satisfied look on her face, he decided to continue. "Well, let's just say...next time I find myself caught in the swirling currents of raw sewage...I hope that Marlene is at my side."
The otter's face just melted into a happy expression. "Aww, that's so sweet!" And then, she switched to a confused face. "...I think."
-end flashback-
As Skipper finished his story, Kowalski was still writing down on his notepad.
"The thing is...I never could bring myself to tell her. I kept telling myself that a military leader has no time for something as love. Besides, you know how things went with Lola. I wasn't sure if I was made to love."
"I see." The intellectual penguin then put away his notepad, turning to his leader. "And what exactly has incited this change of behavior? You never acted like this until now."
"You said the Love-u-lator was designed to find the subject's ideal match, right?" Kowalski nodded. "Well, it said that the squirrel was Marlene's perfect match. Her date failed, but it's clear that I'm not the one for her."
Kowalski then remembered. "Actually, Skipper..." He took out his radar. "The failure wasn't because of science." He opened the radar and showed the wiring to Skipper. "I made a mistake when building the radar. I just fixed it and, well..."
He put it back together, and showed the results to his leader. After looking at the radar, Skipper stood in place, completely shocked.
"According to this, you are Marlene's perfect match."
Skipper put down the radar, his face now seeming more determined. "Thank you, Kowalski."
"What now, Skipper?"
"I have to go and tell her." He began to walk out of their base, but was stopped by Kowalski. "What are you doing, Kowalski?"
"Skipper, I understand that you want to be with Marlene, but you can't just go and speak like this." He then let go of his captain. "You should wait for the right moment."
"How will I know when that is?"
Kowalski put a flipper on Skipper's shoulder. "Trust me, Skipper. You'll know it when you see it."
With this, the two went back into their HQ. Kowalski, however, was still thinking about one thing.
"Phase one: complete."
Sorry about the long wait, people. I hope you haven't given up on me. Anyway, the reason I took so long with this was because I had to work a lot back at home. Also, I had to investigate about zoos, so I could put what you saw up there.
Phase one is complete. But what is phase two? Stay tuned to find out.
This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.