The four space mates ripped off their pink frilly costumes as fast as they could. Rocky stomped on his.
“You’re insane, Captain,” said Fuzz, hurling his skipping rope away. “Why did you say we’d practise?”
“You didn’t even say we’d ‘mullet’ over,” said Rocky. “Get it?”
“The Great Flip is about to become the Great Escape,” said Captain Krill. “If we get it right, we can flip ourselves over the water, over the ClawBorg and on to the next island.”
“Wow,” said Splash. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
The penguins patted Captain Krill on the back and high-flippered each other.
The Captain gazed at his belly and frowned. “I’m not that fat,” he said.
BATTLE WITH THE CLAWBORG
The penguins took turns to practise the Great Flip in order of size – Rocky flipped Fuzz, Splash flipped Rocky, Captain Krill flipped Splash. Then they practised flipping each other in twos and threes. After a particularly high flip, Rocky accidentally kicked over a surveillance camera mounted on a pole by the water’s edge.
“Good riddance,” said Fuzz, waving cheerfully as the camera bubbled and sank.
“Now let’s see if we can do it with three of you at one end and me doing the flipping,” suggested the Captain.
This took a lot more practice. The penguins skidded, fell, bent their flippers in half, twisted their toes, and somersaulted over and over. Finally, they flopped on to the ice and took a break. They were starving by now, and forced themselves to eat some of the horrible “fish fingers”.
“There’s a really weird creature on the jungly island opposite,” said Splash, as he caught sight of something moving between the trees. “Seriously. It’s blue with a head like a balloon.”
“It must be thinking, Who are those handsome creatures on that iceberg? I wish I looked like them,” said Rocky.
“Hubba Blubba probably kidnapped it as well,” said Captain Krill. He frowned. “Remember the Intergalactic Space Report said creatures had been going missing from this section of the universe.”
“Old Hubba Blubberchops is one slimy customer,” said Fuzz.
Captain Krill finished his “fish finger” and wiped his beak with his flipper. “We’ll put the see-saw as close to the water as we can. I’ll flip you guys out of here.”
“Who’s going to flip you, Captain?” asked Splash.
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
Fuzz climbed on Rocky’s shoulders, and Rocky climbed on Splash’s shoulders. They balanced carefully as Captain Krill took a long waddle-up and jumped.
The three penguins did three perfect somersaults over the water and into the undergrowth opposite. The ClawBorg didn’t stir.
Rocky jumped up first, brushing leaves out of his eyebrows. “We did it!” he shouted. “Rockhopper on!”
“What’s your plan, Captain?” Splash called.
“I’m going to fly,” Captain Krill shouted back.
He moved the pivot, turning the see-saw into a ramp. Then he waddled as far up the iceberg as he could, lay on his belly and pushed hard with his flippers. Reaching the ramp, he zoomed up and soared above the water with his wings outstretched. But he didn’t soar far enough.
SPLOSHHH!
The ClawBorg exploded from the water. The Captain started swimming for his life, struggling between its steel tentacles.
“We’re coming, Captain!” roared Fuzz, leaping into the churning water. “Hold on!” Rocky and Splash dived in after him.
SLAM! A tentacle missed Splash by millimetres.
SLAM! The ClawBorg whacked Fuzz like a cricket ball, sending the little penguin up into the air.
“Try that again and I’ll turn you into ClawBorg soup!” roared Fuzz, landing back in the water with a plop.
The penguins darted among the ClawBorg’s thrashing tentacles. The water heaved and boiled. The ClawBorg grabbed in every direction, tying itself into an enormous knot. The claws on its horribly tangled tentacles clattered furiously, but the penguins were out of reach.
The triumphant penguins leaped on to the shoreline of the jungly island.
“TRIPLE awesome!” gasped Rocky. “We knotted the ClawBorg!”
“It may unknot itself quicker than we think,” said the Captain. “Get waddling, crew. We have to cross this island and get into the water on the other side before it’s too late.”
The jungly habitat was horribly hot. Within five minutes, the penguins were sweating. It was nearly impossible to waddle through the thick undergrowth.
“I feel like a soggy hankie,” puffed Fuzz. Moisture dripped off his beak. “Can we stop? You know, so we can breathe?”
Something crashed out of the undergrowth. Something tall and thin and blue, with long toes and a balloon-shaped head. It stared at the Space Penguins with big, dark eyes. The Space Penguins stared back.
“Shivering shrimps,” said Rocky.
“It looked smaller from our iceberg,” said Splash.
The balloon beast made a funny noise. “EEEE!”
“Did its head just get smaller?” asked Fuzz.
“EEEE!” went the balloon beast. Its head shrank a little more.
“I wish my head did that,” said Rocky admiringly.
“So do we,” said Splash. “Your head’s way too big.”
A hologram sign shimmered among the trees.
“‘AIREE’,” read Fuzz. “‘A rare mammal from Arcturon III, the Airee can inflate its head and fly short distances.’”
The balloon creature’s head was tiny now. It bent over and nibbled daintily at the vegetation by the penguins’ feet.
“I guess you’re an Airee,” the Captain said.
Splash patted the Airee’s side. It seemed to like it.
“Do you want to escape?” Splash asked. “With us?”
The Airee’s head started inflating again, until it was so full of air that the creature started rising off the ground.
“Grab its feet!” Captain Krill said. “It might float us on to that elevated walkway!” He pointed to the pink path stretching high above their heads like a strand of bubblegum, from one side of the dome to the other.
The penguins leaped up and grasped at the creature’s long toes with their flippers. Hanging on as tightly as they could, they let the Airee lift them gently off the ground.
But the Airee didn’t have enough air to reach the pathway. It sailed down again, over a high fence dividing the jungle island in half, and landed on a wide white beach on the other side.
The penguins gazed sadly across the water in front of them. In the distance they could see a grey rocky patch of land lying next to the glass walls of the dome.
“EEEE!” said the Airee apologetically.
“You did your best,” said Splash, patting it before turning to the others. “The Airee can only fly short distances, it said so on the sign.”
“Looks like we’ll have to swim after all,” said Captain Krill. “And hope the ClawBorg is still tied up.”
“Ouch!” yelped Rocky, as he stepped into a hole concealed beneath the undergrowth. “Give us a flipper, I’m stuck.”
“‘POMPOMS’,” read Captain Krill, as another holographic sign appeared. “‘Red-furred mammals from Azimus Pi that live in burrows.’”
“Silly place to put a burrow,” Rocky complained, as the Captain tugged him free. “Right under my feet.”
A dozen small, furry red creatures came scuttling out at once. They gathered around Splash.
“Aren’t they adorable!” said Splash, leaning down to stroke one. “We can’t leave them behind, Captain.”
“We’ll give them a ride across the water,” said the Captain. “But what about the Airee?”
“Its head should keep it afloat,” said Splash. “Like armbands do.”
Splash, Captain Krill and Rocky held out their flippers for the PomPoms to climb aboard. Two PomPoms sat on Rocky’s head, clinging to his eyebrows.
“Ready, team
?” said Captain Krill, preparing to dive in. “Then let’s go!”
THE WANGFLANG
Hubba Blubba had just finished a large supper. He glided into his Control Room, full of good humour and spewkrangle stew, to enjoy the sight of his newly captured penguins.
The screen showing the penguins’ iceberg was dark.
He tapped the screen crossly. “Where’s my penguin-cam?”
“It got broken when they were practising a trick,” said the Oozi technician operating the cameras. “We’re sending someone to fix it in a minute.”
“Send them NOW! I want to see those penguins playing! Eating! Doing tricks!”
A sudden movement on another screen caught Hubba Blubba’s eye. The slimy alien goggled at the sight of four penguins, a dozen PomPoms and an Airee swimming away from the jungle island. Where was the ClawBorg? How had the penguins got so far from their iceberg without being captured? And why were they stealing his Airee and his adorable PomPoms?
“Let’s see how those penguins get on with my next watery surprise,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “Activate the Wipeout Wave!”
“You’ll drown them if you do that, Chief,” said the technician in alarm.
“Press the button,” ordered Hubba Blubba. “No one escapes from my Space Zoo the day before my Grand Opening!”
The Space Penguins were halfway to the grey rocky habitat when sirens began to wail. They turned their heads and stared in horror at the great wall of water racing up behind them as they swam.
“Tsunami!” gasped Rocky.
“Bless you,” said Fuzz.
“Swim faster!” shouted Captain Krill.
It was too late. With a ghastly roar, the enormous wave swept them up.
The penguins, the PomPoms and the Airee spun and tumbled through the water.
Fuzz was the first to surface, riding the Airee like a jet ski. “We are the Space Penguins, hear us FLAP!” he shouted.
The PomPoms on Rocky’s head were using his eyebrows as reins. Five more were riding on the Captain’s back, clinging on to each other and squealing.
“Sprats away!” cried Splash, surfing on his belly beside the Captain and Rocky with four passengers balanced on his back.
With a mighty CRASH, the Wipeout Wave hurled them all down on to the rocky shoreline. Breathless and wet, the penguins tumbled beak over flippers and landed – PLONK – upside down in front of a big grey rock.
“What a ride!” shouted Fuzz above the sirens, clapping his flippers.
“EEEE!” said the Airee.
The PomPoms huddled into a tight ball, then exploded upwards in a triumphant shower of wet red fluff.
“That’s a great trick,” said Rocky enviously. “These little guys make my clam juggling look pretty lame.”
There was a slithering noise behind the rock. The penguins looked round.
“What in the name of smoked salmon is THAT?” said the Captain.
The creature facing them looked like an angry two-headed crocodile, with fierce red eyes and enormous black teeth. Its black coat shimmered like a slick of oil.
“Uh-oh,” said Splash. He pointed to the big hologram sign projected beside the rock.
The sirens suddenly went quiet. Hubba Blubba’s voice boomed over the loudspeakers.
“Calling the Space Penguins. All I wanted was for you to enjoy yourselves in my Space Zoo. You have ruined tomorrow’s Grand Opening. As my Wipeout Wave failed to drown you, my Wangflang will finish you off. Then I shall turn your iceberg into a slime-skiing mountain. You were a big disappointment.”
“No weedy Wangflang can finish off the Fuzzmeister,” said Fuzz, as the loudspeaker went quiet again.
The Wangflang roared. Two blasts of fire exploded by the penguins’ feet. The Airee inflated its head in alarm and took off, while the PomPoms scattered.
“Does anyone have a plan?” asked Rocky.
“Look,” said Splash.
The PomPoms had gathered beside the glass walls of the dome and were digging a hole in the sand.
“A tunnel!” gasped the Captain. “Flippers to attention, penguins. We just need to keep the Wangflang busy.”
“No problem,” said Fuzz. “CHAARGE!”
He waddled up the big grey rock, did a somersault in mid-air and landed on the Wangflang’s back. The beast bellowed in outrage and belched fire from both mouths at once. The jaws on its two heads snapped like traps.
“Can’t get me up here, can you?” Fuzz called out. “Take that, bonfire breath!”
WHACK, WHACK, WHACK went Fuzz’s tiny flippers.
The Wangflang roared again, flames shooting out from its mouths. Rocky’s eyebrows caught alight, and he rushed into the water to put them out.
With a sudden toss of its long spiky tail, the Wangflang sent Fuzz flying. Captain Krill and Splash dragged Fuzz out of the way as two jets of fire blasted into the ground, leaving smoking holes.
Rocky gave the Wangflang’s tail a good kick. “That’s for messing with the brows!”
The Wangflang opened its mouths, preparing to blast the penguins to charcoal.
The Space Penguins raced out of the way, shielding their heads with their flippers, as fire scorched the glass dome wall in long brown streaks.
“Too close,” gasped Rocky.
Splash lifted his belly and opened the egg-shaped toolbox on his feet.
“How did you keep hold of that?” said Fuzz. “We just swam through a tsunami!”
“Glue,” said Splash. He pulled out a catapult and picked up a jagged stone from the ground. “Let’s try this.”
TWANG!
The Wangflang gave an ear-shattering shriek of pain and anger as the stone struck it on the side of its head.
“My turn!” said Rocky, taking the catapult from Splash. He scooped up some rocks and took aim.
TWANG! TWANG!
This time the stones struck the Wangflang’s eyes. It stumbled about, lashing its tail like a whip.
Meanwhile, the PomPoms were digging so fast, the penguins could hardly see them through the flying sand. At last, the little creatures jumped into the hole and popped up on the other side of the glass dome, slime and sand coating their red fur.
“Any minute…” Captain Krill panted, dodging the Wangflang’s claws as the last of the PomPoms disappeared into the tunnel. “Now!”
As the smallest, Fuzz went first, leaping into the hole after the PomPoms. Then Rocky. Then Splash. Last of all, the Captain. Behind them, the Wangflang gave a mad howl of rage.
“Shame they didn’t make the hole bigger,” said Rocky, as the Captain’s belly got stuck halfway through.
The penguins grabbed on to the Captain’s flippers. “On three,” said Rocky. “One, two, three – pull!”
Captain Krill sucked in his tummy. With a POP, the others pulled him through the hole.
The four penguins collapsed in a cool puddle of slime. It felt wonderful on their singed feathers. They high-flippered each other and stroked the excited PomPoms by their feet, then high-flippered each other again. They were free!
TO THE RESCUE!
Up in the Control Room, Hubba Blubba was in a filthy temper. He had been watching his ClawBorg, which was still out of action despite the technicians’ best efforts. Now he was back at the Wangflang screen, and the Space Penguins were nowhere to be seen.
Glog slid into the Control Room, looking worried.
“I have come to apologize,” she said, with a low bow. “I think the penguins used the Great Flip to escape from their iceberg. I had no idea my trick would be used in such an underhand way.”
“Never mind that,” said Hubba Blubba crossly. “The Wangflang just ate them and I missed it. I wanted to hear the crunch of his jaws on their ungrateful penguin heads.”
On the screen, the Wangflang paced up and down, shrieking and blasting fire.
“I can’t see any bones or beaks, Chief,” said Glog. “Are you sure the Wangflang ate them?”
Hubba Blubba tapped the screen.
“If it didn’t eat them … they must have escaped. AGAIN,” he said. “But not for long.”
Tongues of Wangflang fire blasted through the hole under the dome wall as the penguins hastily filled it in and patted the earth down firmly. The PomPoms did their huddle-and-explode move in celebration.
“There’s no way that Wangflang can follow us now!” said Rocky in relief.
The Airee was still floating inside the walls of the dome, gazing sadly at them with its big dark eyes.
“We forgot the Airee!” Splash gasped. “We have to go back!”
“Yay!” said Fuzz. He started digging again.
“You crazy crayfish!” Rocky yanked Fuzz away from the hole. “The Wangflang’s still there! And Hubba Blubba would nab us for sure if we went inside again.”
“No one nabs the Fuzzmeister,” said Fuzz, conveniently forgetting that he’d already been captured once that day.
The sirens were going berserk. The air inside the dome was thick with Gooters.
“All Oozis report to the Space Zoo!” growled Hubba Blubba through a nearby loudspeaker. “Every single one of you! The Space Penguins have escaped from the Wangflang’s island and are hiding. Find them – and destroy them!”
“They think we’re still inside,” said Rocky.
“Bunch of idiots,” said Fuzz.
“What about the Airee?” Splash insisted.
Captain Krill looked down at his slimy, dripping, green body. The others were even slimier and greener than he was.
“I have a plan,” said the Captain. “We aren’t four famous intergalactic heroes for nothing. Just do exactly as I tell you.”
Space Penguins Planet Peril Page 3
