Disclaimer: Penguins of Madagascar and all related characters are the property of Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, and any or all related affiliates. Characters of my own creation are my property and may not be used by others without express permission. This fiction was created for the purpose of having fun and being creative, no money is being made in any way from its creation and posting.
Hell Hath No Fury
Chapter 18
By
Wildgoose
(It is night at the Central Park Zoo as most of the animals go about their usual business. Kitsune has chosen to give Ming her space for the time being as she attempts to adjust to being home after several days of gaining insight about herself as well as those around her. Marlene has taken to almost anything she can think to do with herself in order to keep her mind off of the news that Ming brought to her about her children. Eventually, Kitsune worries that Marlene will wring her own fur out if she's not distracted further so she prompts Marlene to come take a drive with her outside of the zoo. Marlene starts to decline the offer but soon discovers that she doesn't have a say in the matter since Kitsune has picked her up out of the habitat and begun to carry her away. The scene snaps to not long afterward in the penguins theater room where Ming has situated herself on the couch to watch whatever might be on. She isn't there for very long before the door to the room opens and Kowalski Jr. followed by Astrid enters the room and take positions on the couch close to Ming.)
Ming: (looks to either side of her) I thought you guys were all going to give me my space?
Astrid: We are. (Gestures between herself and Ming) Look, there's space between us right now.
Ming: I don't think that's …
Jr.: So what are you watching?
Ming: (Sighs) Nothing yet, …I was just flipping. I've missed this TV; it gets so many more channels than the one Mrs. Kitsune has. Mostly she's just tuned to a Japanese satellite channel, it looks like a great culture but I can't understand a word of it.
Jr.: (Looks proud of himself) It's all in knowing who and what to hack; there will be no subtitles on this TV screen while I'm around.
Ming: So what did you guys need?
Astrid: Nothing at all, what makes you think we need anything?
Jr.: Yea, …can't we just visit somebody without any real reason?
Ming: (Downbeat) You came looking for more information, didn't you? That seems to be all anybody wants from me anymore.
Astrid: (Smirks) Better be careful, Jr. I think she can read minds now.
Jr.: No she can't! (Worried tone) You can't, right? (Ming shakes her head)
Ming: Look, …please don't follow me around. Being different is hard enough on me as it is and this badgering isn't helping me.
Astrid: (Faux concern) Careful, …Becky and Stacy might not be asleep yet.
Jr.: (Ignores the comment and looks hurt) I wasn't trying to badger you! (Sighs) I'll admit I'm looking for information but it isn't just to be nosey or exploit your talents.
Astrid: Look, …your siblings are my family too. We have the same dad, that gives me the right to worry about them.
Jr.: ..And Loki is my best bud, …we're BOTH worried about ALL of them. My days around here would be just totally BORING without Loki. (Astrid scowls at him) The parts that aren't spent with my better half that is.
Astrid: (smirks) Way to dig yourself out of the doghouse, Jr.
Ming: I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have any new information. I've told you everything I know so far. Loki and Yoshi are trying to help dad stop this Blowhole guy and Hannibal is on the operating table. That's all I know. (Jr. and Astrid grumble in defeat and allow themselves to slouch on the couch.) Wait a minute, …I remember hearing something about trying to hack a control signal for some heat devices that Blowhole is melting the poles with. Jr., since you're such a brainy tech nut maybe you can figure out a way to do that to help the others out.
Jr.: (Energized) Yes, …yes I can! Why didn't you tell me that before, I could have had that done already! (Jr. gets up and quickly heads out of the room.)
Astrid: (Smirks) Were you just trying to get him out of the room?
Ming: (Wears a caught expression and laughs nervously) Yes and no, …what I said was the truth but it WAS intended to get him out of here.
Astrid: (Leans over and pats Ming on the shoulder) Good one. (Pause) Seriously though, if there's something that we actually have a shot with helping at then please let us know. Okay…? (Ming nods and Astrid gets up to leave.)
Ming: I'll let you know how Hannibal's doing as soon as there's a change.
Astrid: (Curious) How are you going to do that if he's unconscious and the other two aren't in the room with him?
Ming: (Blushes) Um, …. (Long pause) He's… likely to come around and open his eyes sooner or later? (Astrid still wears her curious expression but lets the matter go and leaves the room.)
(Cut to the parking area outside of the zoo walls as Kitsune approaches her car with Marlene in hand)
Marlene: (Loud protests) Hey, …I get the picture! You can let me go now, …I need a distraction, I get it! (Kitsune brings Marlene up to sit on her shoulder) What am I a parrot now? Marlene wants a cracker? (Kitsune responds by using her key remote to unlock the car just before she opens the door and places Marlene in the passenger seat. Kitsune pauses to sniff the air in the car after putting Marlene down having noticed a fish like odor and then begins to look around the car for whatever is causing the scent she smells. Before long she discovers a pile of penguins hiding on the floor in the back as well as under the car seats. Kitsune inquires as to their intentions by staring at them and drumming her fingers on the passenger side headrest.)
Pepper: Oh come ON, Kitsune! We never get to go anywhere anymore; it's not like back home.
Elisa: She's right you know, we heard how you took Ming for a ladies night out and now you're taking Marlene out for a drive? (Pause) Where's the love for us? We used to work side by side with you, even going so far as to cover up some things that shall not be mentioned here? (Makes an "off with her head" gesture with her flipper prompting a scowl from Kitsune.)
Syron: Come on, Kitsune. (Smirks) Aside from texting the zookeeper with whatever Ming finds out, there's really nothing else we can do from here. (Kitsune still scowls) There's that and the fact that we need to get away from the kids once in a while ourselves, from one parent to another. (Kitsune lets out a long heavy sigh and then closes the passenger door to walk around to the driver side.)
Meg: Sweet! (Once in her seat with the door closed Kitsune turns about to face them with a written note asking how they managed to disarm the alarm system and unlock the doors to get into the vehicle. In a panic everyone points a flipper at Erin.)
Erin: (Grumbling as she looks at all of the flippers pointed at her) Traitors…. (The following note warns of impending death if anything is found to be wrong with the car and the scene fades to later as Kitsune drives through the streets of NY.)
Pepper: So what are we going to do tonight? (Kitsune shrugs and then writes when safe to do so at the next stop light.)
Kitsune: (Writes) The same thing we do every night, try to take over the world! (Kitsune waits for a moment before saying anything else as she can feel the surprised stares through the care seat. After allowing them to stew in concern for a moment Kitsune writes again.) Seriously though I'm thinking, ..I'd originally just planned to drive about and have a heart to heart with Marlene concerning her family but now it seems as if we're in need of a place to go. (Pause) I'd thought of driving to the burger place just to have Marlene place an order in the drive though for the sake of screwing with the guy but I don't think you guys are into hamburger. (Low chuckles emanate from the back seat after reading the note.)
Marlene: It's too late to ask Tony if we could catch a movie.
Kitsune: (Writes when it is safe to do so) I suppose I'll just take you where I took Ming, that place is open pretty late.
(Cut to a short time later inside of a small privately owned Japanese restaurant. Kitsune after getting the okay from the owner brings the others in and they take their seats in a booth. Once seated the owner approaches them and greets Kitsune with a bow. Any conversation between Kitsune and this person is in Japanese.)
Kitsune: (Writes) It's good to see you again, Tsukuri.
Tsukuri: The honor is mine, Kitsune. Please forgive my rudeness but I have trouble understanding the company you keep, where do these animals come from? It's only because of the hour that I'm able to let them in here without consequence. (Looks about the room) As it stands I have no patrons so luck is with you.
Kitsune: (Writes) Thank you for admitting them, …I understand the risk you take with the public health codes. (Tsukuri nods) They are my friends. (One of the penguins says something to Kitsune and she replies with a "just a moment" gesture.)
Tsukuri: These do not speak English as the other animal did? (Kitsune points to Marlene and makes a so-so gesture) (Taken aback) Yet you understand them? (Kitsune nods) Truly remarkable! (Sighs) Your confidence is kept as before, but I hope you will grace me with a story of your relationship with them at some point. (Kitsune nods as Tsukuri puts down a menu prompting Kitsune to tap the table a few times and then points to others.) They read as well? (Tsukuri shakes her head) This story will surely be one worth waiting for, Kitsune. (Pause) I will return in a few moments to take your order. (Tsukuri heads away from the table to tend to something else.)
Syron: Hey, thanks for including us in the conversation Kitsune. What was all of that about?
Kitsune: (Writes) It was personal, mostly I thanked her for admitting all of you.
Erin: You guys must be close; she didn't seem to have a problem with us. How did you end up finding a friend like that?
Kitsune: (Writes) Japanese lore is replete with humans and animals interacting so our little group isn't so hard for her to take in as it would be for Americans. (Pause) Aside from that, she is ingratiated to me. Her ex-mate was highly abusive so I took care of him for her. (Places a note on the table and looks away) The rats in this city seem very egger to work.
Meg: (Chuckles) You still have some of the old Kitsune left in you, huh? (The others begin to look over the menu prompting a frustrated groan from Marlene just before she pulls her glasses out from somewhere on her person and places them on her nose. Minutes later Tsukuri approaches the table to take their orders and pauses for a moment with a smirk on her face at seeing an otter wearing glasses.)
Marlene: Okay Kitsune fess up, you've got me here so what's the distraction? (Kitsune gestures all about her) Um okay, right, it's definitely a nice place but that doesn't answer the question.
Kitsune: (Writes) Are you wringing your paws and pacing right now? (Marlene thinks for a moment and then shakes her head)
Marlene: Why would I be?
Kitsune: (Writes) Just wondering. (Pause) What are you thinking about right now?
Marlene: (Chuckles and then blushes) I was uh… (Pause) Well actually, …I couldn't help but think of the night I tried to tell Skipper that I was pregnant. (Pause) We came to this very restaurant as a matter of fact.
Kitsune: (Writes) It sounds to me like there's no need to speak of distractions any further. (Smiles) So tell me some more about that night with Skipper. (In the background the others place their orders by gesturing to Tsukuri the item they want on the menu. The scene snaps to the theater room in the penguin's habitat where Ming after finally being left alone has begun her night's meditation. The POV closes on her face as she slowly begins to smile.)
(Cut to a room within Hans's bunker. Skipper's crew as well as Hans, Loki, Yoshi, and Beowulf are pacing about the room with the schematic that Hans had previously drawn up still sitting on the table. Active debate goes on regarding Yoshi's recommended plan of action.)
Skipper: It seems over complicated for such a simple operation, Yoshi. Taking the control room with the limited crustacean forces left by Blowhole to help Red shouldn't be any real problem at all. We've dealt with those lobsters before; they fall down like paper targets.
Yoshi: You're missing the point, dad! You can't just rush in there expecting things to happen exactly as you want them to. You have to plan ahead and that involves anticipating the other guys move before he makes it.
Skipper: Kowalski, statistics report! What are the odds that Blowhole could reinforce his lobsters between now and the time we choose to hit them?
Kowalski: (Crunches numbers on the nearby concrete wall with a piece of chalk) Given Blowhole's current distance from us and the time it would take for any reinforcements to travel said distance, I would say the odds are astronomical Skipper.
Yoshi: I thought you liked a smooth well planned operation, dad. Why won't you just trust me?
Skipper: It's not about trusting you, Yoshi. It's about the experience needed to do these sorts of things and you just don't have it yet. Now my gut tells me that my crew and I should have no problem sailing right in there and taking out any resistance with little or no effort at all. So we probably won't even need the squirrels. The only real effort will be made by Kowalski who will be working with the pressure of the fate of the world hanging on his shoulders while he tries to hack Blowhole's signal and shut down those devices. (Pause) Right Kowalski?
Kowalski: Consider it a done deal, Skipper!
Private: (Having been looking back and forth between everyone while listening) Doe's anyone think that perhaps we should all just take a potty break and perhaps…re-think this whole thing? (The room falls silent and everyone turns to stare at Private for a moment before speaking up)
Everyone else: (Voices overlapping) Uh, …yea sure. I could go for a bathroom break. (Similar comments are made by others as they disperse to find a bathroom. Yoshi sighs as Beowulf remains at her side.)
Beowulf: Your father did not appear to be as forthcoming as you were hoping.
Yoshi: (Sighs again) Don't worry, he will be. He just isn't aware of it yet.
Beowulf: You're a step ahead of him are you?
Yoshi: A step ahead is a plan, several steps ahead is a well laid plan. He's behaving exactly as I thought he would. What can I say, I know my dad.
Beowulf: (Smirks) I'm starting to like you already. (Pause) You're brother seems to have made a smart move handing the reins to you.
Yoshi: My dad is a smart guy too, …he's just not used letting someone else make the plans. He also seems a little overconfident; I think he's trying to impress his daughter.
Beowulf: So what's the REAL plan?
Yoshi: (Puts the baby carrot back in her teeth like a cigar) I thought you'd never ask, first we let my dad, Hans, and crew go in first like they're insisting.
Beowulf: (Thinks for a moment) You're going to use them as bait and distraction to get the enemy to show their true strength before making your move. (Pause with a smile) You'd do that to your own dad?
Yoshi: (Smiles evilly) I know, …I'm just bad.
Beowulf: No, …I was just going to reiterate that I'm starting to like you. (Yoshi laughs briefly) So where does your other brother come into this? (Yoshi continues to explain the plan to Beowulf as the scene fades out.)
(Cut to the blues helicopter as Mel works at the radio after finally getting through to the aircraft carrier that has helped them previously.)
Digger: So what news?
Mel: The news is that these dingoes are sticklers for protocol, they wouldn't say squat to me until they had verified who we were.
Babs: Were you able to make any progress with them?
Mel: Well that's the good news out of sitting on the com with them for an eternity; they said they'd be standing by to render aid once we get there. (Chuckles) I wonder if they'll be as surprised as that tanker crew to find out that we're actually penguins.
Nigel: I wonder what the odds are that they'd fancy an airstrike on this place once we get our guys out of the way. We might as well level it once and for all.
Digger: Considering that this is a "covert op" so to speak, I think the Dane's would have a problem with the Yanks coming in here and leveling a piece of historical landscape. Bunkers like this were once part of one the really big human wars.
Nigel: (Sighs) I suppose, …leave it to the humans to take the fun out of everything.
Babs: (groans) So now we wait. We wait, and wait some more! (Annoyed) I'm beginning to think that our part in this mission sucks.
Digger: Calm down, Babs. You're just not used to sitting on the ground waiting things out.
Babs: Well of course not! Our missions always composed of flying and getting the job done, not sitting on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to do it.
Digger: Hey, we are getting the job done. That missile you shot down was targeted at somebody and there's a good chance the world would be circling the drain right now if you hadn't. Now the next part of the job involves making sure things are ready so we can pull our people out of harm's way and for now that involves waiting.
Nigel: You know Babs, you could think of it this way. Where were you before you were placed into a zoo and recruited for this team?
Babs: (Heavy sigh) Digging my first burrow in Tasmania. Mom always put a lot of emphasis on digging a large enough burrow to bring a guy home to. (Shakes her head) I was glad to get out of there, I knew there had to more to life than breeding.
Nigel: There, you see? Even waiting here with us is better than where you used to be. (Babs cracks a weak smile and heads up front to sit back at her station.)
Digger: (Turns to Nigel after watching Babs take her seat) So where were YOU before all of this?
(Cut to the room where Hannibal is being worked on. Toby and Don stand on either side of the table near Heidi offering assistance whenever it is requested of them. Heidi having made the best of her ultrasound equipment frequently glances back to the images that are frozen on the screen in reference to her work. A sizzling sound is occasionally heard accompanied by the scent of electricity as Heidi does her best to prevent unnecessary bleeding.)
Don: I would never have thought of improvising a scalpel out of a high heat soldering iron.
Heidi: When you don't have the resources to obtain the best equipment for the job, sometimes you have to make your own. (Looks back and forth at them noting concern in their faces) Rest easy, this tool has never been used for anything other than surgery and is always cleaned thoroughly. Yet the truth be told, I'd love to get my wings on a laser knife. I wouldn't need sutures to close a wound anymore. (Pause) You know, it's amazing how this kid has managed to remain out cold despite the lack of general anesthetic. I've been petrified this whole time that he would wake up screaming right in the middle of all of this.
Toby: (looks on as Heidi continues to talk while working on Hannibal) How can you possibly be so calm? Look at you; your wings are touching his insides!
Heidi: (Glances up at Toby) What kind of medic are you?
Toby: I've only done external first aid, stabilization procedures, and CPR. What you're doing is way out of my league.
Heidi: I'm guessing you've never even witnessed an operation before? (Toby shakes his head) What can I say, after you've done it enough times you just get used to it.
Don: So… what's going through your head during all of this?
Heidi: (After requesting an assortment of other tools and suture thread) I'm thinking that this kid is dang freggin lucky, I was able to control the bleeding and can stitch up these blood vessels. If he'd sprung a leak from the major artery off to the left here then he'd have bled out before we could ever work on him. As it stands though, it's just going to take time so nobody fall asleep on me. (Pause) I'll tell you what, when red wants you gone he gives it his best effort.
Toby: That doesn't look like a blood vessel you're stitching.
Heidi: Nope, that's the large intestine. Fortunately it only got nicked but we can't let it go for risk of sepsis setting in. Bacterial contamination of everything else we're working on would be a major problem if I don't take care of it.
Toby: So what's next?
Heidi: As long as the blood vessels are holding, I'm going to finish with this. Once that's done I'll double check the blood vessels and then close up this side and work on the back.
Toby: I know the blade went all of the way through …but if you took care of everything through his abdominal cavity, shouldn't you just need to stitch the exit wound?
Heidi: I can't get to his renal organ from where I am now. I just hope we don't aggravate the wounds when we turn him over.
Don: Do you think you can repair it?
Heidi: (Shakes her head) Judging by the ultrasound it looks like it was severed right down the middle; he's likely going to lose it. At least he'll have the other to fall back on.
Toby: Is there anything more we can do to help besides what we're doing?
Heidi: (Pauses in thought as she works) Um yea actually, you could not pass out, fall asleep while assisting me, run out of the room for a potty break, and if it turns out that you might be sick from watching all of this then don't barf on the patient…or me. That last part is a big one, don't yack on me or I'll stitch your bill shut.
Don: Um…right then, we'll do our best to avoid all of that.
Heidi: That's all I ask. (Heidi continues to work for several moments before a look of concern comes over Toby's face as he is checking for vitals.)
Toby: I think we have a problem! I lost track of his pulse.
Heidi: Check again, he's been doing fine this whole time. (Toby complies and then shakes his head) Alright, get out of the way! (She moves to the head of the table and checks for herself.) We've been cutting into him without general anesthesia this whole time; the stress has probably been too much for him. (Begins to do chest compressions)
Don: Somebody can just shut down like that?
Heidi: If you go into shock, yes. There are other reasons as well that I'll get into when I'm trying not to lose the patient. Were his pulse and breathing still rapid as before until you lost them?
Toby: The whole time, it never changed until now.
Heidi: I doubt it's an allergic reaction to the morphine or this would have happened a long time ago. (Pause) There might be a clot somewhere, or his blood might not be carrying enough oxygen due to loss and dilution with saline. Let's just figure this out first and then we'll hunting for the cause. (Gestures to the table) Do you know how to intubate? (Toby nods) Perfect, the tools are in the tote with the brown stripe, now grab the resuscitation mask and bag him! Don, take over for Toby and let me know when you pick up a pulse. (Grumbles) What I wouldn't give for a defibrillator about now.
(Cut to NY as Kitsune, Marlene, and the others are leaving the restaurant and heading down the sidewalk to the car. The area seems almost deserted with most people at home in bed at this time of night. The penguins reach the car first as they call their gratitude for the food back to the others as they converse while walking.)
Marlene: I have to admit, I haven't had that much fun in a while.
Kitsune: (Writes) I often find memory lane to be a nice place to visit when I need a distraction myself. (Pause) Do you think you'll be able to sleep tonight or are you going to bug Ming as soon as you get home?
Marlene: (Laughs lightly) I'll do my best not to, but I make no guarantee's. I'm still a worried mother you know. (Kitsune opens the car door and allows everybody to pile in. Kitsune is about to close the door when she notices everyone point to behind her. She is about to turn when she feels something press up against her back and hears a man's voice speaking in a low tone.)
Man: Don't panic and don't turn around. I just want the car, now slowly hand me the keys and nobody gets hurt. (Pause) …And what's with the zoo menagerie here? (Kitsune quickly glances at the others who are sitting quietly in the car wondering what to do, and then she glances at the car's side mirror to get a look at the person behind her. Kitsune quickly scribbles a note and hands it over her shoulder.)
Man: What are you doing?
Kitsune: (writes) I'm mute and need the pen and notes to communicate. (Pause and then writes again) Listen, I'm in a good mood so I'm going to give you the opportunity to walk away and forget this happened. (Upon reading the note the man chuckles prompting Kitsune to roll her eyes and the scene fades to early the next morning outside of the emergency room of the closest hospital. Two police officers are comparing notes in preparation to write a report.)
Officer1: Were you able to speak to anyone who actually witnessed the incident?
Officer2: There was a lady in the Japanese place a few buildings away who said she heard the scuffle but didn't see anything. I was able to access the footage from the camera at the next stop light and was able to determine that this started as a carjacking. Our guy in the ER there isn't the victim, he's the perp. It looks like the lady whose car he tried to grab beat the crap out of him and then her pets tied him up.
Officer1: (Amused) Wait, …her PETS tied him up?
Officer2: That's what the footage showed. (Pause) Hey, …it's New York.
Officer1: (Sighs) Okay, a carjacking. Was there a weapon involved?
Officer2: The footage shows one but we haven't been able to find it yet. (As they are conversing a doctor comes through the ER doors looking for the officers.)
Dr.: Are you the guys who brought in the attack victim? (The officers nod)
Officer1: How is he doing?
Dr.: We've made him as comfortable as possible while we're waiting for a proctologist. (The officer's exchange glances) Apparently the patient has a firearm wedged into his rectum.
Officer1: Um, right. Thanks for the heads up doc., keep us informed please. (The Dr. shrugs at the lack of further questions and heads back into the ER) Okay, so where's the ACTUAL victim?
Officer2: She got back in her car and drove off like it was a minor inconvenience. (The two officers shake their heads and begin to discuss how to contact her regarding the incident)
(Cut to a hallway just outside of the control room in Hans's bunker. Skipper, Hans, and crew are peering through the cracked open doorway attempting to gather information before entering.)
Skipper: Kowalski, report!
Kowalski: There appears to be minimal personnel occupying the control room at this time. I anticipate a high probability of success for this operation.
Skipper: A cake walk, got it.
Hans: I recommend caution, Blowhole didn't have a large number of lobsters here but that definitely isn't all of them in there. When we make our move the rest of them could come back and cut off our route of escape.
Skipper: What escape? Once we take that room we intend to hold it until Kowalski accomplishes his objective. After that any remaining lobsters should be nothing more than a work out for us. Right, Rico? (Rico responds by flexing his flippers and posing for a moment) I intend to leave that room with nothing short of a victory strut. Now everybody remember the plan and this will be all over before you can say global warming.
Chapter 19 coming soon.
Comments and suggestions are always welcome.