Bright and early, the Penguins waddle back into their HQ. Evidently, they are coming back after a successful fishing trip. Skipper carries a fishing rod proudly. On the other end of the device is a massive fish. It is so large in fact, it's twice the size of Private. The young penguin walks beside Skipper. His eyes are bright as he stares on at the beast of a fish.
"After three hours of fishing off the Hudson Bay, I'd say we came back with a mighty good prize, boys." Skipper yawns in delight. The lures and bobbers dangle off his fishing hat, as he speaks.
"That has to be the biggest fish, I've ever seen, Skippah!" Private cheers. He can only begin to fathom how good it will taste. They'll have leftovers for a week. Well, with Rico… maybe it'll be more like a matter of days.
"Oh, I've seen bigger, Young Private." Skipper chuckles. He doesn't mean to brag but the older penguin has many fish stories he could share. The young one still has a lot to learn.
"Really?" Private's eyes widen.
"Pfft, yeah. Once you've traveled the world as long as I have, you see all kinds of things." Skipper humbly gloats. Yes, there are many tales he would love to share with Private and the others… without a hint of exaggeration, of course. But those are classified. And Private knew better than to ask.
Just as Skipper and Private are deep in conversation, Rico and Kowalski are stumbling with the cooler. They are yards behind the other two. Perhaps, they had overestimated the number of snacks and bait they would need for the trip. It was really coming back to bite them now. It feels like they have been carrying it around for hours. On either side of the blue cooler, Rico and Kowalski strain to hold up a handle.
Kowalski and Rico are preparing to lower the cooler. Finally, they are approaching the habitat. The end of their difficult track is in sight. Now, lowering the cooler with be another task within itself. To ensure a steady stop, Kowalski instructs a strategic procedure.
"All right, Rico. We're going to lower on the count of 3. 1… 2…" Kowalski carefully annunciates each word. It is imperative to keep Rico's full attention to avoid potential injury.
However, Rico's attention is typically fleeting. Skipper and Private stop outside of the habitat. This allows the smell of the fish to linger. Once Rico catches a whiff of the fish, he's gone. In, a dash, he leaves Kowalski alone to handle the cooler.
"Fiiish!" Rico takes off running.
In doing so, he drops his end of the cooler. Thus, he haphazardly causes the cooler to fall. He forgets the strain of carrying the cooler. His attention shifts in a second. The crazed penguin is now an inch from the fish. Completely mesmerized, he's ready to take a bite.
The weight of the cooler is too much for Kowalski. The unexpected force sends Kowalski's handle out of his grip. His end of the cooler crashes down. Unfortunately, it lands right on his foot.
"Ow." Kowalski squeaks in falsetto.
Slowly, he reaches down to his foot. Nonchalantly, he grasps his leg and pulls. His orange foot stretches and snaps out from under the cooler. Like taffy, he stretches back to him. Kowalski's face crumples. He looks down at his wounded foot. In both flippers, he lifts his foot.
He then proceeds to hop in a circle on one foot. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"
Completely oblivious to all of this, the other three continue their conversation. Skipper places a flipper in between Rico's beak and the fish. Just in time, too. Any second later and Rico would have taken a big bite out of it.
"Ah, ah, ah." Skipper taps Rico's beak 3 times. This causes the wild penguin to blink with each tap. "Not until tomorrow evening."
Rico shrinks. "Aw man!" He waddles off to singlehandedly lift the cooler above his head and move it towards the fish. Kowalski looks on in dismay.
Private tilts his head. He isn't quite following. "What's so special about tomorrow evening, Skippah?"
As he does so, Kowalski and Rico cram the fish into the much smaller cooler. They struggle to close the lid. Despite folding the fish in half, it's still considerably too large. Rico hops on top of the lid repeatedly to close it.
"Well, it's Thanksgiving, Private." He wraps his flipper around the little one. "We can't just waste this bad boy on any regular, old meal."
Private is still confused. What's a Thanksgiving?
Kowalski wipes his brow and gasps for air. Finally, he had managed to shut the cooler. "It's an American holiday dedicated to gratitude, overeating, football -."
"And ravenous consumerism!" Skipper chimes in. Behind him Rico holds up a coupon ad for Black Friday deals.
"If my calculations are correct, sir. This fish will be the epitome of center pieces!" Kowalski smiles, patting the lid of the cooler.
"Splendid! Now, all we have to do is get this in the lair and we'll be –" Skipper muses but is interrupted by sudden wailing.
"Noo! Noo! Noo!" Roger cries from a distance.
"Roger?" Private spins around with a furrowed brow.
"File in, men!" Skipper goes to work. He lifts a flipper and declares. "Sounds like we've got a case of crocodile tears in the gator habitat!"
The Penguins leap off of their island. The only straggler is Rico. He kicks the cooler. This sends it gliding towards the hole. It drops down into the HQ with a THUD. He then follows his brothers.
When the Penguins arrive to Roger's habitat, it is clear the reptile is distraught. The ground shakes with each chaotic step he takes. He staggers around, with his claws on his head. In fact, the gator is so enshrouded in his own distress that he doesn't notice the Penguins' arrival. Instead, he just continues pacing.
"It's all right, Roger! Help is here. Who do we fight?" Skipper leaps to his battle formation. The penguin chops at the air with a swift flipper. This cues his team to prepare as well.
"It's awful! I don't know what to do! I have no idea what I'm going to do!" He stops pacing. Now, his claws are fanned out to the side.
Kowalski clears his throat and speaks. "Roger, given your current state, it might be difficult for us to help you."
Roger sighs. Trying to gather himself, he repeatedly lowers his short arms up and down. "You're right. You're right. It's best to talk about your problems."
"Exactly," Skipper crosses his flippers across his chest. "Then, solve them with brute force."
Private looks up at Roger with kindness and sympathy. He chirps. "Would taking a deep breath help?"
Roger nods. Dramatically, he inhales expanding his large, scaley belly. Then, exhales releasing the tension. He closes his eyes. As if to gain a moment of Zen, he concentrates greatly. But it's not much use. He opens his eyes back up and lets out a sigh. A moment of peace won't make his situation any different.
"It's my parents." Roger sighs.
Private covers his beak with a flipper. He giggles cheekily. "Your parents? Is that what all of this is about?"
"Yes!" Roger roars in agony once more. "I just got their postcard. They said they're coming here for Thanksgiving!"
The Penguins exchange glances. Does this really merit their time?
"So?" Skipper asks.
"You see, my parents well… they're not exactly like me. While I'm more of a city boy, they're more swamp gators."
The Penguins stare on at him. Private blinks with eyes that reflect no thoughts behind them. They aren't too familiar with Gator Culture. Many of these words mean nothing to the team. It appears Roger will have to elaborate more. It's clear they have very limited interactions with alligators beyond their friend here.
"You know, hunt your own food? Strictly carnivorous, alligators?" Roger rephrases his prior statement. "Well, they'll eat anything really… But they love doing it!" Panic returns to his bulging eyes.
"Hmm," Kowalski thinks. "I take it they don't share your thespian habits."
"No!" Roger is relieved they're finally understanding his predicament. "And they want me to be some big, scary monster of a gator. Terrorizing prey and running amuck."
Private smiles up at Roger once more. He places a flipper on Roger's side. "I'm sure if you show them the real you, they'll be happy with who you are, Roger."
"That's the problem." Roger hangs his head low. "They think I'm the big, bad monster – a menace to society."
"And why would they think that?" Skipper asks, raising his brow with suspicion.
Roger anxiously taps two claws together. "Because I sort of gave them that impression…"
Skipper leans his head back. With his beak to the sky, he groans. This is where they come in. Turns out this may be a mission for them after all. All he wanted to do was enjoy a nice, peaceful holiday. Now, it looks like they'll be solving Roger's problems. It appears the big guy hasn't really helped his case either. Skipper has to admit, the situation is rather cliché.
"You don't make things easy, now do you, Roger?" Skipper lowers his flippers, reprimanding the large predator.
Roger flops down woefully. In doing so, he nearly lands right on top of Rico. Lucky for the penguin, he side steps out of the way. One step less and he would have been smushed. Roger doesn't notice. He hides his eyes in his hands. The enormous snout juts out from under his claws.
"I know!" He weeps.
"But, Roger, they're your parents. They will love you no matter what." Private comforts his friend.
"Really?" The gator lifts a claw to reveal his eye peaking at the penguin.
"Eh," Rico shrugs. It appears none of the other penguins are quite in agreement with the youngest.
"Oh, don't be idealistic, Private." Skipper shakes his head with his flippers on his hips. "These backwoods gators won't take kindly to Roger's…." He takes a look at Roger, "theatrical interests."
"Skipper's right." Kowalski flips through his notepad. "Based on demographics and Roger's prior description of his family, I'd say the likelihood that they accept Roger would be approximately…" He scribbles a few notes. "30 percent."
All at once, Roger panics. He grabs ahold of the Penguins. Squeezing them together like a feathery accordion, it appears he has forgotten his own strength. The sudden response makes Skipper wonder whether Roger might be trying to make good on that image he presented of himself. Private's life flashes before his big, crossed eyes.
"Guys! You gotta help me! They're expecting me to be a full-fledged carnivore!" Roger lifts them and lowers them, like they're a pillow or plush toy. "I'm a vegetarian!" He cries.
"Ah!" The Penguins sound their disapproval of the rough handling.
"Oh. Sorry!" Roger releases them on the ground.
"Actually," Kowalski holds his head until the zoo stops spinning around him. "You would be considered more of a pescatarian."
"Fine," Skipper sighs. "We'll help you with this delightfully classic scenario."
"Oh, great! Thank you!" Roger sits straight up. He clasps his claws together.
"But, Skipper," Kowalski swiftly turns to his leader. "This will surely put a hold on our Thanksgiving plans."
"Meh," Skipper shrugs. He's weighed the pros and cons. "If it keeps Roger's family from feasting on half the zoo, it'll be worth it." This didn't just involve Roger anymore. This is a potentially hazardous situation for all zoo citizens. And Skipper sees it as his personal duty to protect the denizens of the zoo.
"That is true." Private nods. He knows that he would rather not be feasted on by Roger's family. Though he is still somewhat disappointed. They just caught that gigantic fish. "But what about our fish?"
"Fish," Rico whimpers.
"We'll just have our dinner after Roger's." Skipper suggests. Then at the end of the day, the Penguins could enjoy their holiday… hopefully with everyone fully accounted for.
"Thanks so much, guys! I'll make it up to you, I promise!" Roger nearly grovels.
The Penguins are already prepared for the mission. Maybe it won't be so bad. In fact, Roger's family could be great company. After all, the Penguins get along with Roger just fine. The apple couldn't fall too far from the tree, right? Or… the gator couldn't fall to far from the swamp.
"What can we do to assist you, Roger?" Kowalski asks, saluting him.
…
The next day, the Penguins are ready for their mission. Roger already has an idea of how he wants the Penguins to help him. The question is if they would be willing to do so. Putting it simply, this isn't their typical style. Not in the least. They are standing in a straight, line formation. On their chests are little, black bowties. They look sleek up against their countershading. Each of the Penguins holds their flipper bent out in front of them. Hanging off their flipper is a fancy, folded napkin.
"It's perfect!" Roger steps back and beholds the Penguins between his claws.
"It's degrading." Skipper gripes. Clearly, this isn't how he wants to spend his holiday. It's hard enough for other animals to take penguins seriously as it is. Now, they're diving headfirst into penguin stereotypes. "So, we're what? Your waiters?"
"Actually, I was thinking more along the line of butlers." Roger sheepishly responds.
"I like it!" Private waggles his tail feathers and smiles.
Without hesitation, Kowalski sends a firm slap to the back of Private's head. This reprimands the young penguin. He shapes up in return.
"Kowalski, progress report!" Skipper points sharply to his lieutenant.
Kowalski leaps over to the table. It appears the Penguins have laid out quite the lovely spread. A pristine white tablecloth adorns a long, rectangular family. Each spot has a placemat with a character drawn on each of them. Flowers and empty plates decorate the table. Surrounding them are delicately folded napkins and silverware.
"The table is all set for Roger's family. Each seat is specifically reserved for a different member of Roger's family.
As the family's matriarch, Granny Gator will be seated at the head of the table… far from her son-in-law, Dawson, Roger's father's.
Next, we have Beau, Roger's little brother. According to Roger's postcards, his hobbies mostly include coloring books."
"Aw," Private tilts his head. That sounds adorable.
Kowalski finishes his thought. "And hunting down prey with his father."
Rico and Skipper shoot judgmental glances towards Private. Skipper looks on with his flippers on his hips and his beak in a firm, downward line. Rico just shakes his head. The Private is always too eager to be optimistic.
"Oh," Private draws into himself.
"Which is why we'll need to keep an extra eye on those two. Beau will sit between his parents.
Annabelle, Beau and Roger's mother, will be sitting across from Roger. This also dilutes any possibility of a conflict between her and her sister, Roger's Aunt Bailey. They have a bitter sibling rivalry." Kowalski concludes.
"Excellent! Now, how's that menu looking?" Skipper claps his flippers together.
"In place of the wild game, your family is accustomed to, Roger," Kowalski turns to Roger, "we thought steak would be a good replacement. It's ambiguous to be anything."
"All right," Roger is slowly feeling more reassured by the minute. "Looking good, fellas!"
"And I made cookies for dessert!" Private beams, lifting up a tray of cookies.
"With frosted smiley faces." Kowalski adds this important detail.
It is all coming together. However, there is just one more major detail Roger hasn't told the Penguins. Seeing their reactions to their uniforms, he isn't too eager to share this detail. They had already helped him tremendously. He feels bad at this point adding on another task for them. However, missing this key detail could threaten the act entirely.
"Yes… you're my butlers. And… my parents sort of… kind of … think you all are afraid of me." Roger tries to lessen the blow of this last-minute information.
"So, we're groveling, huh?" Skipper lifts his brow and crosses his flippers sassily.
"If you could, I think it would really sell it." Roger pitches it to them.
Just then, a sewer lid scrapes the tiled floor of the zoo. This gets all of their attention. Each head in the alligator habitat swivels. The sound of the sewer lid could only mean one out of a few possibilities. It could be the Rats invading the zoo once more. More likely than not, it's Roger's family arriving. Of course, Skipper is always suspicious of the Mole Men, too. It could be them.
"They're here!" Roger squeals. Before saying anything else, he rushes out to greet them.
Sure enough, a family of ginormous gators is emerging from the sewer. All five of them crawl out, just as Roger described. A monstrous male gator stands at nearly 12 feet tall. He is first out of the sewer. Reaching down, he helps a slightly smaller female gator lift a youngster. The portly, young alligator squirms his stubby arms and legs until he reaches the ground. Soon enough, his mother crawls her way out. She turns to assist another female gator in guiding a wrinkled, scraggily gator out as well. With a good tug, they are able to pull the old alligator up as well. Now, they are all accounted for.
"Ma! You made it! It's good to see you!" Roger exclaims.
The largest female gator spins around to see him. "Hello, honeybun!" His mother, Annabelle, greets with a thick southern twang. Then, the two embrace in a warm hug.
"Always good to see you, darlin'!" Roger's Aunt Bailey pinches Roger's cheek in her claw. "I remember when you were just a little hatchling. Now look at you."
That's when Roger's father, Dawson, speaks up. He extends out his arms to greet Roger. Now that it's his turn, he wants to show his pride in his son. After all, he's heard so many things about him. Over the years, Roger's grown into a full-grown alligator. Dawson couldn't be much prouder. Now, he gets to witness his handiwork in person.
"There he is! Roger, the great hunter!" Dawson growls playfully.
Roger scratches the back of his head and laughs nervously. What can he say? He just has to play along until the end of the day. It can't be that difficult. Right? All he'll have to do is show that he can act like a big, scary predator. He tries to think of this as his greatest acting challenge to date. It's one step closer for the alligator to make his break on Broadway.
Dawson whips out a zoo brochure and a pair of bifocals. Then, he places the glasses on his snout. With the brochure far out in front of him, the large gator squints and opens it up.
"You know, Roger, I've been looking at this menu. Looks like you've got quite the buffet here." Dawson commends.
"Oh, dad, well, you know," Roger stammers. "That's really just a zoo brochure."
"Well, I reckon it don't make much of a difference." Dawson shrugs, losing the bifocals and map. He wraps his arm around Roger and pulls him in. The force resembles somewhat of a headlock. "From what you've told us, you practically run this zoo, don't you? Why I'm sure you've eaten at least one of everything here."
Before Roger can even cringe, his little brother chimes in eagerly. "I wanna try some exotic meats!" Bo pumps his fist. He's excited to see his brother in action and perhaps get a snack for himself.
"Well, I don't know…" Roger stammers off. All he can do at this point is change the subject. "Anyway! I should show you around the place!" Yes, that's a good diversion. Something to get their minds off hunting for just once.
The gaggle enters the gator habitat where the Penguins are still standing in line. Turns out some of their training is coming in handy. Skipper had trained his men how to limit their movements when camouflaging or preparing for an attack. To prevent drawing attention to themselves, they stand still. Well, they do the best they can. No one is moving a muscle other than Private. The little one has an itchy beak. The poor penguin goes cross-eyed twitching his beak in hopes of relieving the discomfort.
"Remember, boys. We play the part of simpering servants for just a few hours and we're home free. Pretty soon it'll be fish o' clock." Skipper encourages his men in a hushed tone.
"Yum!" Private whispers.
"Uh-huh…" Rico dreamily trails off. With his beak agape and tongue dangling out, a string of drool droops out. This causes Kowalski to side step away.
Roger tries not to draw attention to the Penguins either. Instead, he is much more interested in showing off his home décor. This in itself highlights the differences in Roger's priorities compared to that of his family members. Roger immediately walks over to his pond. He begins giving his family an in-depth tour of his place. However, not a single gator is listening. Something else has caught their attention. After the long trip up north, the Penguins look like a delicious treat to the gators.
"So, this over here is my pond. It's very lovely this time of year!" Roger rambles on. "You know, going for a dip in the pond is so much nicer than those sewers. And would you believe they come and clean it every month?"
Roger turns to find that no one is listening to him. All of the gators are staring longingly at the Penguins. They each take turns getting a whiff of the penguin-y aroma and licking their chops.
"Roger, sweetheart," Annabelle slightly resists the hungry trance the gators have found themselves in. She points a hesitant claw at the row of penguins. "Is this dinner?"
The Penguins look in shock at one another. This is certainly not a good start to the family gathering. Sure, they were willing to help Roger, but they did not want to end up being the main dish. Skipper glares at Roger. One thing they all know for sure, this is going an interesting holiday.
[To Be Continued]