Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing back in! Well, uh...not much to say this time around. So, I'll just say it: a new chapter is up!
NOTE:
-I do not own anything presented in this story other than my own OC.
Operation: Unite and Conquer
Chapter 4: PHASE TWO – The transfer.
"Wow..."
Marlene's little trip down Memory Lane was finished, and Jason couldn't help but stare at her.
"You've really done all that stuff?"
"Yeah. With the guys here, that's basically your normal day."
He then turned away from her. "Well, I just learned two things from your stories."
"And what's that?"
"Number one: this zoo is gonna be a great home. Their crazy stunts sound like a lot of fun." After saying this, Jason stood up. "And number two: you have all the reason to like Skipper."
Marlene couldn't help but blush, not saying anything.
"And yet, it forces me to ask: why haven't you told him how you feel?"
"You've seen him. You know how he acts. I doubt that he feels the same way I do. He didn't even care about Fred supposedly being my perfect match." She let out a sigh.
"OK, but what if he does?"
"If he does, I want him to admit his feelings first. If he can get his pride out of the way long enough to say it, that's good enough."
"I see..." Jason looked at Marlene thoughtfully. "Wow...she really loves him. I know that feeling. It's a good thing we started this plan. Speaking of..." He then remembered the next step. "Hey, Marlene?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna go for a walk. Is that OK with you?"
"Sure. I could use a moment alone anyway."
And with that, he headed outside.
Now, to the penguins...
"Alright, boys. Good job. Training is over."
The three other penguins saluted their leader. "Aye-aye, Skipper."
As they headed back inside, Kowalski noticed that Skipper wasn't going back inside with them. He was just standing there, looking over at the otter habitat again.
He then remembered something he wanted to ask Skipper during their talk.
"Uh, Skipper?"
Skipper then turned to Kowalski. "Speak up, soldier."
"I have a question for you. One related to our previous talk."
"Go ahead." Skipper's voice softened.
"You never reacted to the original erroneous result of the Love-u-lator. You just went through with it like you didn't care. Why didn't you react to it?"
Unlike last time, Skipper didn't have trouble talking. "I really thought the machine was right. I convinced myself that I wasn't right for Marlene." He turned away from Kowalski. "And when the radar said her match was outside the zoo, I decided that, at the very least, she should be with the one who was right for her. If I couldn't be with her, at least she would be happy."
Kowalski couldn't help but stare at his captain, a look of extreme respect plastered on his face. "Skipper...you're exactly the way Private described you. You were even willing to let her be with someone else, just for her sake. Marlene probably doesn't know how fortunate she is." And then, like Jason, he remembered the next step of his plan. "Skipper, I request your authorization to do recon."
"Permission granted, soldier." Skipper's voice went back to its usual tone.
Kowalski saluted his leader, and headed for the outside.
We go to their meeting point now...
Jason was inside the zoovenir store, waiting for Kowalski to show up. As he looked at all the merchandise, he heard the door open. Upon turning around, he saw that the tall penguin had entered the store, carrying his notepad.
"Took you a while." Jason dropped down to the ground. "So, what have you got?"
Kowalski began to go through his notes. "Actually, I have good news and bad news."
"OK...bad news first. That way, the good news might offer some relief."
"The bad news is...well...we can't go through with phase two."
"Wait, what? Why?"
The penguin kept going through his notes. "The popcorn cart just got taken away. So did the piñata we were about to take. Also, I couldn't get any glue out from inside Rico."
"Aw, crud." The otter then sat down, disappointed. "So...what's the good news?"
Kowalski still kept going through his notes. "The good news is that I have come up with a backup plan."
Upon hearing this, Jason got up again. "Well, that is really good." He then walked up to the penguin and stopped right next to him. "So, how does that go?"
Kowalski just handed his notepad to Jason, who began to see what was written on it. When he was done going through the new plan, he was completely overtaken by emotion.
"You...you mean...?"
Kowalski just smiled at his otter friend. "That's right, Jason." He then pointed at the office. "We are going to bring your girlfriend to the zoo."
Upon hearing this, Jason felt a smile forming in his face. "I'm gonna see her again?"
"If you can fulfill the requirements, yes."
Jason gave the notepad back to Kowalski. "OK, let's do this. Hand me that thing."
"It's over there. Now, I'm going back to the base."
Jason just gave a grin. "This is gonna be sweet!"
Now, we go back to the penguin HQ...
It had been a long while since the intellectual and the newcomer had gone outside.
Private was watching a movie, while Rico was combing his doll's hair again. Skipper was sitting down on the table, holding his coffee cup.
He was still going over what Kowalski had told him.
"The right time...when will that be?"
As he took a sip of his coffee, Kowalski came back into the HQ.
"I'm back, Skipper."
Skipper left his cup in the table, and got up quickly. "What did you see, Kowalski?"
"Everything is fine, Skipper. No enemies sighted."
"Perfecto." Upon saying this, the head penguin went back to his coffee, while Kowalski went back to his collection of gizmos and gadgets.
As he took one of them out, Marlene came through the door.
"Hey, guys!"
Three of the penguins got into their fighting stances, while Kowalski still worked on his invention.
Upon seeing the female, they calmed down.
Skipper, however, stood in front of her. "Marlene, do you always have to come in unannounced?"
Marlene put her paws on her hips. "Does that sound familiar to you, Skipper?" She reminded him of how they always came in without knocking. "Well, anyway...is Jason around here? It's been a while, and he hasn't come back yet."
"That's a negative, Marlene. You're the only otter in this base."
After this, an awkward silence followed.
The penguin and otter just stood in place, looking into each other's eyes while Private and Rico watched. They debated whether or not to confess their feelings...
"Skipper!"
...until Kowalski called out for his captain.
Upon hearing the call, Skipper went to where Kowalski was, with Marlene and his team following him.
"What is it, Kowalski?"
The intellectual penguin pointed to a signal his radar was receiving. "It seems we have an incoming transmission."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Patch it through the com!"
"I'm on it."
After some work, the penguins and otter could hear the transmission.
"I'm telling you, we are not bringing in another animal! Not like this!" It sounded like Alice.
"Face it, Alice, we have to! Look at the numbers!" And there was someone else talking with her.
"Trust me, you can't have another one of those in here! It's already hard enough with those penguins around! It's not worth it!"
"I'm sorry, the decision is already made. I'm out."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." After making sure there was no one else listening, the voice continued. "Too bad you don't know I already erased that. And you never will. We're not gonna go with another otter, especially one from Brookfield. One female is more than enough!" A thud was heard, followed by a groan. "I hate this job..."
The transmission ended.
Skipper then rounded up his men.
"Attention, soldiers. We have an important mission." He then pointed to the door. "We have to revert Alice's sabotage and ensure that the new mammal will arrive at the zoo."
The three penguins saluted. "Aye-aye, sir!"
"Let's roll out!"
As three of the penguins slid outside, Marlene instinctively followed them. Kowalski, however, stayed behind for a moment.
"Well done, Jason. Those impersonations were spot on."
The otter's voice could be heard from where the previous transmission had come from. "No problem. Imitating voices is my forte!"
"Alright, meet us in front of the office. And don't forget...act natural."
"Gotcha."
The transmission ended again, and Kowalski headed outside to catch up with the others.
Outside the office...
"They should be here any moment now." He turned around, only to see they were coming closer. "Ah, here they are. OK, act natural."
The four penguins came to a stop in front of Jason, with Marlene closely behind.
"Hey, guys! What's going on?"
Skipper took a step forward. "The zookeeper Alice has made an attempt at boycotting a transfer, and we are here to undo her work."
"Another transfer?"
Private stepped forward too. "She said it was a female otter, from the Brookfield Zoo."
"A female? But there was only one female when I left, and it hasn't been that long."
"Wait...wouldn't that mean...?" Marlene remembered her roommate's story.
"Yeah. It means I'm on this, too."
"Not so fast, otter." Skipper stopped him. "We can't bring a civilian into this. Not unless you're an asset to the mission."
Everything was going as planned.
"The whole transfer thing is on a computer, right?"
"Affirmative."
"That means you have to read. Can any of you guys read?"
As all the others remained silent, Rico just managed to grunt out an answer. "Uh-uh."
Skipper realized that they rushed to the office without the chimps, the only ones in the zoo who knew how to read.
Or so he thought.
"Well, Skipper, this is your lucky day." Jason walked up in front of him. "Back at the Brookfield Zoo, my girlfriend Lani taught me how to read. From what I can tell, you're gonna need me."
Skipper sighed. "OK, you're coming on this mission. But don't try anything funny!" He then pointed at the door. "Alright, men...and Marlene...we are going in!"
As they entered, Jason and Kowalski stayed behind the others.
"Kowalski, you were right. He brought out this whole 'civilian' thing with me, even though he doesn't even care that Marlene came here with you guys." The otter whispered, being careful not to ruin the plan.
"Yes. And he hasn't even noticed yet." Kowalski then pointed up. "Time to get to work."
The penguins and otters then got up to the desk and turned on the computer.
Skipper turned to Marlene and his team. "Kowalski! Newcomer! Do your thing."
"Aye-aye, Skipper." Both males replied. Although Kowalski was being serious, Jason was just joking around.
7 and a half minutes later...
The office door opened up, and the group of animals came out.
"Operation: Override is officially a success!" Skipper declared to his men.
The penguins celebrated with some high-fives and low-fives, like they usually do, while the two otters just watched.
"Do they always do that?"
"Yeah. You'll get used to it."
Skipper then turned to the mammals. "Newcomer, I...uh, I hate to admit it, but we couldn't have done it without you." He then extended his flipper.
"Uh...sure, no problem." Jason raised his arm and completed the handshake.
Immediately after, Skipper turned back to his men. "Alright, soldiers. Back to base!"
The three penguins replied. "Aye-aye, Skipper." After this, the team went back to their habitat, leaving the otters behind.
Jason then looked at Marlene, who was looking at the stars.
"Skipper..."
He then put a paw on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Marlene. Something tells me that he'll say it soon enough."
"Thanks, Jason."
"No problem. Let's head back home now."
And they did. As they walked away, Jason was thinking about something.
"Phase two is done, and I feel great!"
Well, here you go, people. Still not much to say. But here's something: I'd like to give some more thanks that I didn't give last time. Thanks to VivianShadowGirl and Mastermindhunter, for keeping such a close watch on the fic. I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
OK, Lani is coming to the zoo, and the plan is nearing completion. Only one chapter to go!
This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.