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Marlene's Log	By : pronker Category: +M through R > Penguins of Madagascar Views: 1781 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I wrote this not-for-profit fanfiction using Dreamworks' Penguins of Madagascar characters and settings and I do not own Dreamworks.

Chapter List
- 1-1/?
- 2-2/3
- 3-3/3
- 2
- 3
Along with the beautiful rainbows, music filtered through Marlene's consciousness as some Madagascar-y song drifted throughout the zoo from the lemurs. She could almost hear a divine chorus as Julien, Maurice and Mort thumped their feet in syncopation. Julien's voice alternated between annoying, cute and ringing at the best of times and this time she spotted him dancing his ringtail heart out while he proclaimed royal joy to his Sky Spirits about the heavenly display. It was actually inspiring, or she hoped it would be to bring satisfaction to the ticklish situation.

As Skipper's jaw dropped at the visual and auditory overload, Manfredi and Johnson were the only animals who retained the power of speech at the moment. Marlene pricked up her otter ears to catch what they said as they pivoted to see what their friends saw behind them.

"Hey look, Manfredi."

"Yeah, what's that, Johnson."

"A double rainbow."

"Any different than the ones of Bora Bora or up in Nunavut?"

"Nope."

"Well then, stop gawking and teamwork me over the fence, nature lover."

Johnson shrugged. "You always was a nature hater."

"A rock's a rock and a tree's a tree wherever you roam."

"Says you?"

"Says me."

"C'mere, you big baby. Yeah yeah, I remember how ticklish you are. I'll be careful."

Waving off Private and Rico's offers to help as they trotted up, Johnson slipped his bad flipper out of its sling. He passed his snowcone to Manfredi and then princess carried him to the fence, balanced him atop it and eased the good leg down first. The wooden leg followed. Manfredi adjusted his eyepatch after gaining his balance and then he stuck his good leg through the fence while clenching the bars with the appendage not holding the two snowcones.

With such a small boost as that, Marlene admired the tactic that Johnson could stand upon Manfredi's knee and use his good flipper to grip the top metal rail. Johnson's bad flipper stayed clamped to his right side and Marlene heard him hiss, either in pain or to signal Manfredi to flex his knee. Johnson placed a foot on Manfredi's knee and jumped upwards. He swung himself with a grunt over the fence to land adroitly at Manfredi's side and retrieve his snowcone for a quick lick. He replaced his sling, high-oned Manfredi, hip bumped him and bowed low. They managed all that without dropping their treats as they stood on the outer lip of the habitat's pool. "Ta dah!" came from both of them.

Now they only had to cross the water to reach the island. Piece of cake. Marlene could almost hear Private's hmmmngh of worry from the other side of the fence as Johnson made himself into a stiff Frankenstein and toppled into the water face first after passing Manfredi back his snowcone. He rotated with stiff kicks from powerful legs and fountained water from his beak with a grin. He looked like Sally did when her teething produced more drool than the law allows.

"Stop showing off, Johnson, and execute what we practiced, you goofball." Johnson docked himself near Manfredi, who stepped aboard without wetting his wooden leg. He stuck his good leg into the water to act as a keel while paddling the good ship Johnson with one flipper to the island. Carefully, he scootched down Johnson's long torso to reach his crotch and then rolled himself onto the cement. Still flat on his back, he extended his snowcone-less flipper and Johnson clasped it with his good one to pull himself ashore. They stood up with a mutual "Ta dah!"

There it was, the truth and nothing but about their conditions, all in sixty-five seconds' worth of activity. Marlene's smile wavered before she adjusted it to bright enough to light birthday candles on Sally's first birthday cake nine months from today. "Oh you two, that routine is one for the books!"

"Can't read, lady," Manfredi slurped around his cherry and passion fruit snowcone.

Johnson's tongue had turned the color of luscious blueberry and blackberry syrup as he slalomed it down one side and up the other before spiraling to the tip of the diminishing snowcone. "Too old to learn and what's the point? I already know everything."

Marlene pushed on as Kowalski joined them. "I'm naming your Routine Eighty-Six: Steamy-Teamy-Weamy-Work," she said stoutly.

Skipper took Marlene's paw. "Approved," he said in a loud, commander-ish voice and then murmured, "It would feel like a defeat for them to assign them to overseas HQ to let the Big Boss handle the sitch, am I right or am I right? And they're not my favorites."

Marlene squeezed the flipper of the father of her child. She nodded. Yes, whatever happened next in her new friends' careers, or lives, because at this point the two were inseparable, ought to come from the skipper whose team they had rejoined. They had waited a long time for that chance.

"Sir," Kowalski added sotto voce, "there's no need for words from you. I'll tell them."

Marlene kept quiet, feeling out of the loop. Skipper squeezed her paw harder and then let go. "Negative, I'll do it." A poignant question burst from him. "Are there any other options?"

Rico and Private vaulted over the rail to splash noisily into the water to whoop it up as a diversion, or so Marlene assumed. They, too, would miss the comrades so long assumed dead.

Kowalski stroked his beak. "I have none worthwhile to polish except aversion conditioning to convince each one to disdain the other and that is be --- "

"---yond cruel and unusual punishment for something which isn't their fault," Marlene finished. She buckled down for a fight if necessary. "That Avian Bechdel-Wallace Test is for the birds, yes I realize what I just said. Hush, here they come."

"Did you enjoy yourselves getting treats, men?" asked Skipper. "Say, where's the popcorn you were bringing back to share?"

Manfredi rubbed Johnson's belly. "I gave mine to him and he ate both."

"My bad, sir," Johnson admitted. "I got carried away. Manfredi, don't lie, I let you have some first." He swatted the flipper down.

"Sure, you let me have the old maids at the bottom of the packet, whoopty do."

"That's because old maids are your date of choice since they're desperate. Hey, check this! The rainbow's blue is just like my tongue." He stuck it out for all to see. "Wookit."

"You'll never change --- "

"You like me this way --- "

"Who says I like you --- "

"Guys --- " began Marlene but on it went, the two finishing each other's sentences until Marlene got dizzy and a leaderly cough made them stop.

"Sorry, sir, we're just so happy together --- "

Johnson's tone clanged a warning as he pitched the soggy snowcone holder in Rico's direction. "Shut your fish hole, Manfredi. Skipper, we're fit for duty now that we've acclimated to zoo life again. Standing by for your orders."

Manfredi swiped a thoughtful, last lick of his cherry-passion fruit snowcone before crumpling its paper and tossing it to Rico, whose wonder gut did its paper shredding miracle. "I miss Seaville in one way, though."

"Coddlemighty, Manfredi, how? We got locked up right after the hospital rehab ward discharged us! We couldn't escape with, with" --- Johnson pointed to Manfredi's remaining leg and his own crippled flipper --- "this and this! It sucked!"

Manfredi barreled past Johnson's bluster to face him head on. "We performed best we could for the crowd. We got closer to humans when they allowed their littles to pet us. They were cute and that was the one thing about the place that made me feel comfy-cozy."

Johnson appeared to Marlene like he'd swallowed his blue tongue or maybe it was brain freeze from his snowcone. "Uh. They sure were cute. I like babies and whatnot." His brow furrowed and then smoothed. "Maybe you'll get serious about some curvy gal and have a family yourself, Manfredi. Then you won't miss out on anything in life like littles of your own. Wouldn't that be great?"

Truth was the order of the day and although Marlene hadn't expected Johnson to be the one blinded by sentiment, she was wrong. Manfredi answered steadily, "Look at me, Johnson. Look close. Is that likely?"

Johnson inhaled hard enough to whistle before spewing, "Sure it is. You're a catch, bror. I'll fight anybody who says different."

"I'm caught, bicciuridu."

"Children's petting zoo duty it is! Splendid!" Skipper unleashed a barrage of orders. "Kowalski, do that computer genius thing pronto as soon as we can infiltrate Alice's office. Do like you did for Roger that time to transfer him and oh yeah, the lemurs that other time. Uh, forget the fallout from those missions and just do it. Manfredi and Johnson, you don't have much to pack, so chill until my mark. Rico and Private, keep lookout for Kowalski while he does his hard drive magic."

"Aye aye, sir," Kowalski said as he joined Rico and Private in smiles so wide that Marlene thought their jaws would dislocate. She wasn't yet ready to add hers as she noticed that Kowalski was undeniably smart, but flattery won out over his brain power every time. She wondered what her own weakness as a team member consisted of.

"Problem, querida?" asked Skipper as genial backslappings from Rico and Kowalski staggered Manfredi and Johnson while Private pirouetted in joy.

"It's just what the petting zoo needs, two jolly penguins with kid experience to add publicity. Well played, leader man."

Skipper preened himself. "Time for Operation: Synergy, babe."

One more thing needed saying before Marlene could smile again. "I'm sorry I said you were buttering up the Big Boss --- "

"The words were sucking up to, actually."

"Yeah, they were. Sorry. Everything turned out well enough."

Skipper crossed his flippers tightly over his chest. "As much as Kowalski spouting Doctor Phil's sayings gets my nanny goat, the medico got one thing right: Winners deal with the truth."

"I suppose they do, even when the truth hurts."

"There's a spot open now for a warrant officer if you want to take the test. I suggest keeping a log of pluses and minuses about your decision because I go back to my cassette tape every now and then about my decisions. How about it?"

Marlene jolted. "What?" Did she hear a beckoning quack from her habitat or was it imagination?

"It took moxie to stand up to me and I appreciate moxie." Skipper slid a flipper over her shoulders to draw her near. "Think about it."

"Rico or Private haven't kids and each has seniority --- "

"They've already said they're not interested. I was hoping Private could --- but never mind. Think it over, huh?"

A clot of happy penguins approached for enthusiastic high ones and Marlene joined in with smile firmly in place. The two warrant officers sparked two pitch perfect salutes, Johnson trying not to smile as he saluted with his left flipper and Manfredi not even trying not to as he saluted with the proper one. "Petting zoo duty? Sir yes sir!" he said.

IOIOIOIOIO

Marlene's Log First Entry, note to self: I am not a techie so I'll sing my log, Skipper, thank you very much.

Hey, you know what paradise is
It's a lie
A fantasy we create about people
And places as we'd like them to be
But you know what truth is
It's that little baby you're holding
And it's that man you fought with this morning
The same one you're going to make love with tonight
That's truth, that's love ...

"I'm thinking it over, Log."

IOIOIOIOIO

The End.

IOIOIOIOIO
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Marlene's Log