Chapter 12 – Long pursuit

A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you for all the great reviews and reading this story. I had a lot of free time so I've update earlier than usual. This is a special chapter that contain fluff and bonding between the characters before reaching Antarctica.

Enjoy!

~PoM~

After their conflict with Weston, Skipper and the other penguins left the zoo to go after him. Marlene and the lemurs offered their help but Skipper refused to let them come along. The mission was far too dangerous and they didn't have much experience. He thought. The six penguins made their way to the docks, took one of the boats, and soon left to the sea.

Inside the captain's room where the steering wheel was, the penguins began searching for anything they could use to help them get to Antarctica like a map or any navigation device. Skipper looked over to Rico who was steering the wheel and smiled in satisfaction. It's been an hour ever since they left the docks and at this rate they'll surely catch up to Weston's ship.

"I still feel bad for not letting Marlene and the others come with us, Skippah" Private said as he carried a small box of supplies he found.

"Don't worry Private. I'm sure they understand the situation." Skipper placed a flipper on his shoulder. Suddenly a loud sound of crashing was heard behind them. They all turned around to see four figures lying in front of an open closet, dazed.

"Eh…..hello" Julian greeted awkwardly. Marlene, Maurice, and Mort were with him.

"Ringtail! What are you doing here?" Skipper muttered in shock.

Rubbing his head, Julian picked up his crown and placed it back on his head. "Since you penguins are going to the Ante-rtica place to fight the evil penguins I have decided to lend you my Kingly cleverness to help." he explained. Skipper then shot the Asian otter a glare.

"You too Marlene!" he shouted.

"I want to help you guys too, Skipper." Marlene countered. She got tired of sitting on the side lines and everyone protecting her. This time she'll fight. Julian on the other hand just wants to look heroic in front of everyone when they return home. Skipper glanced at Maurice and Mort and gave them a questioning look.

"What about you two?"

"Wherever King Julian goes, we go." Maurice said proudly. Mort nodded.

Skipper slapped his forehead in disbelieve. "Don't you get it? We're heading to a battle and we can't afford getting any of you hurt!" he growled, losing his patience.

Nigel placed his flipper on the leader's shoulder and gave his opinion. "Actually. We could use all the help we can get." he noted. Everyone agreed with him.

Sighing in defeat, Skipper finally agreed. "Fine. You can come along." He said. The four animals cheered in joy after hearing this. Once they found all the necessary equipment they needed, all the animals left the room, except Rico who was still steering the wheel. Marlene shaded her eyes when the door was opened and a gasp of surprise escaped her when they were outside. The view of the sea was amazing! How the sea expanded to the horizon and how it reflected the sun light. She walked away from the group to get a better look. Skipper noticed that and followed her. Something about her felt different.

"Is there's something wrong Marlene?" he asked her.

"Oh…nothing it's just this is that this is the first time I go with you guys on a big adventure." she explained, staring to the horizon. "I know we're heading to a battle right now, but I'm glad to be here." She turned to him and smiled. Skipper smiled back.

"Marlene, there's something I want to tell you"

"What is it?"

"That I-"

"Skippah can you come over here lad!" Nigel called from behind them. Skipper sighed in frustration. Will he ever get the chance to tell her! He thought and waddled to where everyone was and sat down with them. Marlene did the same.

"So what is it that you want, Nigel?" he asked calmly.

"I was hoping you could give us some details about this 'weapon' that the cyborg penguin have. We need to know more about what we're up against." The spy penguin said. Everyone was paying attention.

Skipper nodded, tapping his beak he tried to remember. "I don't really know much about it but I do know that it's freezing weapon and like I said before it can destroy an entire city in matter of minutes."

"Oh did your secret penguin friends tell you that?" Kowalski cut him off, referring to Weston and his gang. Skipper ignored his comment and focused on the topic.

"I'm not sure what Weston wants with it but I'm certain that it can't be good." he finished.

Marlene who was sitting next to Buck noticed a thoughtful look on the agent's face. "Are you okay?"

Buck snapped from his thoughts and turned to her. "Why do you ask, princess?"

"Well, you just find out that your long lost teammate is an evil villain who is might be trying to conquer the world. Doesn't that bother you?" she questioned, confused by how calm he was during times like these.

The agent shrugged. "I'm must say I'm surprised that he's still alive, but now he's our enemy so I'll have to fight him eventually." He explained and looked away. Marlene could tell that he was hiding something.

"I sure hope Alice wouldn't notice that we're gone." Private said.

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Meanwhile at the zoo. Alice was carrying a heavy bucket of fish to the penguin habitat. She lifted it up and tossed the fish inside where four motionless plush penguins stood still.

"Whatever," she muttered and went back to her office.

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"She'll probably won't notice." Skipper shrugged.

"Maybe if a certain someone told the truth from the begging WE wouldn't have left in the first place." Kowalski stood up and walked away from him angrily. The group of animals looked at each other in puzzlement.

"What's wrong with him?" Julian asked clueless.

Private watched his leader leave too. He looked really depressed by what happened. The young penguin looked down saddened. "Can't we just go back, to the way were?" he thought.

Later that evening, Kowalski was sitting on the edge of the ship staring to the ocean thoughtfully. Rico and Private who've been watching him for a while walked in. "Kowalski, are you okay?" Private asked in concern. Kowalski didn't say respond which annoyed him.

"Kowalski, Skipper is trying really hard to undo his mistakes. You should have seen it by now." he huffed.

The scientist turned to him and scowled. "Private, the reason why Skipper didn't tell us before is because he never wanted to. Probably because he doesn't care!" he shot back.

"Wrong."

Everyone turned around to see Skipper walking towards them with a serious expression. He took a deep breath and then let it out. "Kowalski, Rico, Private. I know I caused you all a lot of pain and trouble, but the reason why I didn't tell you about my past before is because I wanted it to be forgotten. I didn't want to burden you with my problems or worry you but I guess I failed to do so. I'm sorry." He said, looking down in sadness. Kowalski didn't need to be a genius to see that Skipper wasn't lying or faking it. This is how he truly felt.

"It's okay Skipper. I forgive you" the scientist's expressions soften.

Skipper's eyes widen. "Really?" he didn't expect them to forgive him so soon, but the three penguins nodded eagerly to assure that. He felt really relived actually. "Thanks, boys" he grinned at them. "Alright. Let's go inside and get some rest." He ordered. They all saluted and followed him inside.

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A/N: I'm not sure about this but I think that this is one of the first stories that include many characters from the series working together for the same goal.

Please review!