Note: Since we are arriving at the point at the beginning of the Penguins of Madagascar Movie, scenes throughout the rest of the story will be the in-between scenes of the movie, focusing on what Dave was doing throughout the movie during the scenes he wasn't in. I will not be recreating the movie's scenes here, give or take maybe a few lines as necessary to help you keep up, as I feel that's redundant and I want to focus on original content.

— § —

Kentucky.

That was where the circus was headed to next. My henchmen had confirmed it. I had also requested they get a little closer, and figure out what their plans were so we could chart a course of action.

Apparently, it was Private's tenth birthday soon.

I spent some time ruminating on this. The penguins had arrived at the Central Park Zoo shortly after Private had hatched. I'd only known them for almost three months before I was transferred without warning to another location, when my journey began. If Private's tenth birthday was coming up, that meant it had been only a few months short of a decade that I met them.

Still, it seemed like a lifetime ago.

Anyways.

My henchmen informed me that Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico were planning on surprising Private with a trip to Fort Knox. Not for the gold, but, unsurprisingly, for a bag of some of the last remaining stores of Cheezy Dibbles in the state. The snack had been banned or highly regulated in some states for being "chemically hazardous."

I suppose they hadn't had any in years. They were definitely hard to come by, but with my resources, I had had many over the last near-decade. In fact, I had bought so many, I'd gone from "Dr. Octavius Brine, renowned geneticist" to "Dr. Octavius Brine, renowned geneticist and cheese enthusiast." And, of course, a frequent donor to NPR pledge drives.

Anyways, back on topic.

My henchmen had come up with many good plans on how to lure the penguins in and capture them, but eventually an idea so brilliant came to me that I even impressed myself.

"Actually," I said, "I have an even better idea. Why put in the effort to lure the penguins in when we know exactly where they're going? Why not let them come to us and not even realize it? We'll use their own plans against them."

My henchmen nodded to each other in agreement.

I clasped two arms together. "Perfect. They'll lead themselves right into their own trap. Let's hammer out the details."

As we planned, the emptiness inside me concerningly didn't change much. But I forced some excitement as I realized that that void would be filled soon enough, the longing for which was stronger than ever.

It was finally happening.

— § —

If there was anything I knew about humans, it was how insufficient they were at planning things. Of all the gold that was in this building, it shouldn't have been this easy to break in. I doubted the penguins would have many issues either. In fact, I counted on it.

My henchmen circled the air above in my helicopter. At this point, it was a waiting game. They confirmed before I took my position that the penguins were on their way and should be there soon.

Finally, peering through the rows of Cheesy Dibbles, I saw the four long-awaited black and white figures enter the room. My hearts quickened in pace. They took their sweet time telling Private that his birthday gift was a bag of Dibbles, but finally they gave him a quarter and he approached.

Wait for it.

With wild eyes, I watched as the winding of a spring brought forward a bag of Dibbles, and felt the thud of the bag hit the bottom of the machine. A squeak of the swing door. The taps of a flipper searching for the bag.

Bingo.

I grasped his flipper and started to pull him into the vending machine. He was a bit plump so it took a few twists and pulls to get him through the slot, but I managed to pull him in. I squeezed him right into one of the slots at the front so the other penguins would be lured closer.

Sure enough, the other three noticed Private in the machine and moved forward. I could hear their muffled voices, confused and concerned. My hearts fluttered as they moved just closer to the machine.

While they were distracted, I reached out and grabbed one, pulling him into the machine, whom I realized was Rico. I reached out again and grabbed a flipper, which turned out to be Kowalski's. I nestled them both into one of the vending machine slots. Skipper had taken a few steps back. I studied him with a grin through the coils, my heartrates wildly pounding inside me.

"I don't think I like your attitude, vending machine," he stated. I stifled a laugh. He had no idea. "Or your prices! Release them!"

I reached out a final time and snatched Skipper right from the ground like a daisy and pulled him into the machine, putting him in his own little slot right next to his brothers.

At that moment, a guard walked into the room and freaked out, barely having time to react before I bashed him in the head with the vending machine, pushing my arms out of the bottom. I dashed forward, smashing through a wall and knocking over a couple more guards before scaling a pile of gold.

After smashing through the ceiling, I leapt from the roof, knowing my henchmen would be there to catch me. Sure enough, I felt the strong magnet slam into the top of the vending machine and gravity shifted as we were all lifted upward. I hit a button inside the vending machine that would retract the coils and replace the interior with a cage to ensure they wouldn't find their way out on the way to Venice. Climbing out of the vending machine and slithering up the cable into the helicopter, I felt myself laughing with sadistic glee.

That had been easier than I thought. I had actually done it! Now the real fun begins, and the void inside me would finally be filled.

— § —

It was a long flight back to Venice. Occasionally, I looked down at the vending machine and couldn't help but grin. They were probably terrified in there.

"Excellent work, everyone!" I called as they cruised my helicopter forward. "Tyra, bank left and bring us higher. We don't want to arouse suspicion from the humans."

I watched the skyline in the distance out of the front window of the helicopter. We had been flying for a few hours now and the Atlantic Ocean was coming into view. It would be another forty or so hours before we reached Venice, so plenty of time to kill. Don't worry, the penguins would have plenty of Dibbles to survive on in the meantime. Remember, I wanted to turn them into monsters, not starve them to death. Where was the fun in that?

I moved over to the center table, where we had maps laid out along with the pictures my henchmen had taken of the penguins as they spied on them to keep track of their whereabouts over the past few years. I shifted them around as I internally rehearsed my introduction to the penguins. They were going to be floored when they realized who had kidnapped them. They would beg for my forgiveness.

A futile plea.

As I shifted through the photos, one in particular caught my eye. After Glenne had left me for the last time, I had a henchman help me get a picture of her with the CCTV, no questions asked of course. It was the image of her final moments before leaving, in the moment when she looked at me, realizing I was the monster the humans always made me out to be. I picked up the photo and studied it.

Carefully, I studied her frightened eyes, her tense posture, the way she backed away from me. I noticed how her arms were pulled into herself, protecting herself. In her eyes, I was no more than the monsters I'd created. A different kind of monster. Something worse. I had received a lot of terrified stares, but nothing like the one she had given me that day. I wanted to keep it because it reminded me of who I am, who I've become. Who I was made to be.

It reminded me of the void inside of me, the one that could only be satisfied with revenge. Not even she could love me, so why bother trying to be anything more.

Exhaling, I crumpled the photo and threw it into the bin by the table. I no longer needed reminding. That was in the past. I must tend to the future. Happiness must be taken.

And I will take mine.

— § —

The anticipation built higher and higher as we reached the submarine stationed in Venice. The penguins had to be scared out of their minds by now. Who was this mysterious captor that took them far away from home? They would soon find out.

"Get us on target now," I told the pilot. "Rob, lower the vending machine," I ordered my henchman as we hovered over the submarine, where another henchman on board had opened the hatch for us. The vending machine disappeared into the sub and I grinned.

I slithered down the cable myself after them and darted into a room where my henchmen were awaiting my command. They helped me get dressed in my Dr. Octavius Brine disguise. I wanted to see their faces the moment I revealed myself. I quickly looked over at a tablet which connected to the CCTV footage of where the penguins had been deposited in a pile of Cheesy Dibble dust. They had already managed to escape the cage, not that I hadn't anticipated they would do that. Private hit a button that brought them down to a lower level.

Silly, naive Private. If I was lucky, he would activate my ray on all of them himself and make my job easier. Of course, that would ruin the fun of revealing who was responsible for bringing them here.

I walked down to the lower level with one of my henchman, Christopher, walkin' beside me with the tablet. Private had hit another button that brought my ray right up to their terrified faces. By now we were right above them on a landing. I climbed underneath the landing and stood hanging off of it like a bat just as Private attempted to hit another button to activate the ray. The others had stopped him, but we had already removed the Medusa Serum canister and put it somewhere else for safekeeping until I was ready to use it, so it wouldn't have done anything anyway. Didn't want any spoiled surprises, of course.

The void inside me felt hollow with eagerness, waiting in anticipation for the one thing that would bring it fulfillment.

Some of the slime from my body dripped from my face as I watched from above with a grin, and I didn't stop it. It landed right on top of their flippers and they looked up in shock and confusion.

Still grinning, I started walking forward.

— § —

"After them!" I screamed as three of my henchmen chased after the penguins as they escaped the submarine.

I turned around, rage bubbling up inside me.

"How dare they!" I screamed, the nearby henchman wincing at my volume and hiding behind his clipboard. I was certain they'd never seen me this angry. "After everything I did for them!" With each sentence, I either threw something or slammed my fist into something. "Not only do they not appreciate me, they don't even remember me?! And then they had the gall to steal my snowglobe collection?!"

I began throwing random items about, rage fueling me more than it ever had.

"I didn't go through all of this, prepare for this very moment, just to be forgotten just like every other blasted human that's forsaken me!"

I slammed my arms in fists on a table, breathing heavily. My henchmen stood by with bated breath, awaiting my command once I had finished raging.

As my breathing steadied, my rage remained ignited. This was about more than just taking away everything I loved. This was about more than just not appreciating anything I had done. This was more than just forsaking everything I had done to get to where I am today, all the work I'd achieved over the past six years.

This just got personal.

They may not remember me now, but they'll never forget me again when I got through with them.

I whipped around to the nearest henchmen. "Jesse, Jackson, get me the CCTV of the city!" I ordered. There was no hesitation as I followed them to the surveillance room. They scurried quickly forward, scrambling to open the door for me as we entered. We watched in anticipation as my henchmen chased the penguins through the city, my henchmen switching the cameras as they moved through the city. Even when they ran out of canal, the penguins continued to find ways to evade my henchmen.

I felt every muscle in my body tense with fury with each moment they escaped the grips of my henchmen. My face contorted with anger as the images from the screens reflected in my eyes. I realized I was holding my breath but exhaled and grinned as the penguins became cornered in an alley. It was over. I leaned forward so I could watch the moment they were captured as closely as possible.

But just as I thought we had them again, my jaw dropped as a white owl swooped down and scooped one of my henchmen up and threw him through a window. A seal popped out of a street lamp and launched a low grade explosive at the second, the shockwave sending her into a wall and knocking her out cold. Then a telephone box unfolded to reveal a polar bear, who tased the third, his limp body slipping into a drain.

My teeth gritted. North Wind.

The wolf finally arrived on a North Wind jet, and they took the penguins away to safety. I turned to a henchman.

"Chaka, can you still get into the North Wind systems?" I asked sharply. Chaka nodded quickly. "Start on that now. I want to be talking to them as soon as possible. Angelina, Jolie, get the Medusa Serum ready," I ordered. The henchmen quickly saluted and headed off to carry out my orders.

"Get in contact with our initial strike teams," I ordered the rest of them. "Tell them to get into position. They'll be collecting our first prisoners soon enough."

At this point I had several teams of henchmen stationed in various places around the world, near the first zoos and aquariums I'd been kicked out of. As soon as I was done taunting the North Wind, I was going to unleash them, and the beginning of the end would commence. I didn't want any of them to have time to figure out where I would strike first.

One henchman asked me if we should continue hunting down the four penguins. I shook my head and grinned.

"Oh, Shakira, Shakira," I started. "No need for that. Their escape was nothing but a minor setback. They'll be back soon enough. They won't be able to resist trying to help their fellow penguins once they realize what I'm doing."

Shakira commented that I was taking this rather well. I exhaled and smiled at her.

"I have worked far too hard to get to this point. Nothing is getting in my way now nor ever. Especially not after the way they treated me," I finished through my teeth. Shakira shrunk down as my tone sharpened. I sighed. "Run along and help my team prepare for first contact."

A short while later, Chaka came back into the room to let me know that the Medusa Serum was ready, as well as the video call she had worked diligently to create as she hacked into North Wind's systems.

"Perfect," I responded, "let's get this party started."

— § —

Note: Celebrity puns in this chapter were: Tyra Banks, Christopher Walken, Chaka Khan, Angelina Jolie, Shakira.

Quotes in this chapter were: "I must tend to the future. Happiness must be taken. And I will take mine," spoken by Lord Shen (portrayed by Gary Oldman) in Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011).