The trio crept into the gloomy, melancholy, reptile house, being careful to stop their feet from squeaking on the dark, grubby tiles that covered the floor. Thick shadows blanketed the far corners of the room, and crept around the mysterious corridors, spreading out as if it was following them. Emma gulped and glanced in every corner of the reptile house, and looked ahead, her mind on the alert. It almost seemed as if the shadows were creeping over them, trying to pull them further into the surrounding darkness, making them feel cold, isolated, and petrified. Mort's eyes were wide with pure fear, and worry, as his little paws tiptoed along the grim corridor, making less noise than a fly on the wall. Emma turned to Tom, who's light brown eyes were darting uncertainly from place to place, an unsettled feeling in his stomach. He clutched the shrink cá đuối, ray cautiously in his shaking flippers. Emma stared into the dark abyss, in front of them, and barley made out a dark outline of a wall.
Must be the corner. She realised. She thought about Kowalski and an anxious feeling filled her stomach and spread to the rest of her body. What if they all had been digested? What if they had died a few phút ago? What if they were gone forever? Emma felt tears forming at the back of her eyes and she pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind. Don't think like that, last time, Mort survived nearly 12 hours in Savio, and so far Maurice and Julien have only been in about 7, and they were the first ones in. She remembered. The little chuột vong linh, vượn cáo had now huddled closer to her and Emma held his paw comfortingly. Just before they reached the sinister looking corner, Emma pointed to her left, and spotted the Chameleon habitat. Tom nodded silently and sneaked over, taking one last look at Emma and Mort before they disappeared around the corner.
"Hey guys." Tom whispered in the quietest voice he could manage.
They changed colours a few times. (Hey Tom, what brings bạn here?) Tom smiled at them.
"Well I was wondering if bạn know how the new snakes are getting out of their habitat. Any ideas?" He questioned glancing to his right, just incase one of them came around. Most of the Chameleons shook their reptilian heads and Tom sighed, feeling a bit disappointed. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw one, very small, trái cam, màu da cam Chameleon nodding it's head and walking forward, towards the shiny glass. It began changing colours, very dark, vivid colours, ranging from, deep, blood red, to passionate pinks. Tom quickly took out a piece of scrunched up paper, and began scribble down what he was saying. As the Chameleon was talking, Tom's eyes widened in surprise and he stared down at the paper in shock. "Really?" He asked, a little puzzled. The little Chameleon nodded and Tom held onto the messy paper carefully. "Thanks guys." He told them gratefully. He was about to warn Emma, when he got pulled into a casual conversation with his Những người bạn and he Mất tích focus on what he was supposed to be doing.
Meanwhile Emma and Mort had ventured far into the tiếp theo corridor, and still hadn't come to the snake habitat. This corridor seemed even darker than the last, the shadows much thicker. Emma could barely even see the shorter animal to her left, only distinguishable bởi his big, bright eyes. This journey to the snake habitat was taking longer than usual, but then again, they weren't racing down through the reptile house like last time.
"Emma?" Mort whispered, looking up at her.
"Hmm?" Emma replied, her eyes still focused on in front of them.
"What if we can't get them out? What if we get eaten bởi the bad snakes?" He asked fearfully, his furry body shaking uncontrollably.
"Don't worry Mort, we will get them out." Emma reassured him, patting his head. Admittedly, Emma wasn't too sure of this herself, since Tom had the shrink ray, and he hadn't come back from his talk with the Chameleons yet. Also, they had never beaten Savio, an they didn't even know Sinistra's methods, hoặc tactics, which made their foes seem even thêm formidable. The forbidding snake habitat started to enter their sight in front of them and Emma's stomach flipped inside her, as she stared into the habitat in horror.
"W...where are t.. the s.... snakes...?" Mort trembled, in a barely audible whisper.
"I.... I don't know...." Emma admitted, her breathing speeding up, as she peered thêm closely into the habitat. There was no sign of the snakes at all, just a few scraps of shed snakeskin.
"Do bạn think, th.. they're still out, h.. hunting?" Mort stammered.
"Maybe." Emma replied, part of her wishing that to be true, then they wouldn't be in here. She turned around and tried to scan the corners around her, but she realised that she could only see things that were about a meter in front of her.
Damn darkness. She thought angrily. She heard a faint hissing sound in the distance to her right, and Mort jumped into her flippers and buried his face into her feathers, making a whimpering sound as he did. Emma was about to run for her life when she spotted a pair, of glowing red eyes far in the surrounding darkness. Emma's feet instinctively anchored to the ground and she froze on the spot, fear overcoming her.
"Mort, run, now, I can't move." She told him urgently, trying to lift her feet off the floor. But she couldn't, every muscle in her legs stopped working and they felt as heavy as a two tonne rock.
"But then bạn will get eaten." Mort protested.
"I know, but bạn can warn Tom." She pointed out, losing focus of the red eyes for a second. Mort looked thoughtful, and was about to move, when something leaped at them, and the duo were consumed bởi a wet, thick darkness.
Tom was still chatting with his reptilian friends, unaware of his sisters disappearance. Suddenly all of the Chameleons started changing colours rapidly, and Tom's jaw dropped, and he moved to his left. Savio smacked into the glass and hissed angrily. Tom panicked and ran for the small light at the end of the corridor, hoping it was the door. Sinistra stopped him at the last một phút and the little chim cánh cụt tripped over her tail. As he stumbled to his feet, Savio tried to grab him again, just missing him. Tom jumped over Sinistra's tail, and burst out of the door, sliding faster than he thought was possible. He ran back to the HQ, and locked himself in the lab, panting as he did. As the fog of panic lifted from his mind, thoughts began to return to him.
"What do I do?" He asked himself desperately, his head against the silver door. His Những người bạn and family had been eaten, and the Chameleons were in the reptile house where the snakes were. He was all alone, young and helpless in a dark world. The young chim cánh cụt sat on the floor and stared around the lab for inspiration. He still had the shrink cá đuối, ray in his flippers, but he couldn't gather up the courage to go back to the reptile house.
You have to go, hoặc everyone bạn care about in the zoo could be gone forever. He told himself sternly. But I just can't do it. If they eat me too, then no one can help and we'll all be doomed. He argued. He looked over at the spare shrink cá đuối, ray and a little idea came to mind. He unlocked the lab door and opened it a little, then waddled over to it and shrank the first shrink cá đuối, ray with it. He then pointed the spare shrink cá đuối, ray at himself and shrunk down to about a twelfth of Mort's normal size. He picked up the tiny shrink ray, feeling pretty pleased with himself. So now the snakes shouldn't be able to see me so good, and I can sneak up on them. He thought triumphantly. He slipped out of the lab, and stared up at the ladder leading towards the fishbowl.
"This is gonna take a while." He remarked in a high pitched voice.
Meanwhile Emma opened her eyes uncertainly and glanced around her. She was in what looked like a compact, dark tunnel. She could just about make out 4 other shapes in this tunnel. 3 chim cánh cụt shapes, and one vong linh, vượn cáo shape. As her eyes became thêm accustomed to the dark, she made out a flat head opposite her.
"Skipper? Is that you?" She whispered.
"Yes sis." He replied gravely.
"Who... who else is down here?" Emma asked, realising where she actually was.
"Well in here, there is Me, the Private, Mort and Ashley." He answered. "I think the others are in Savio. Do bạn know where Tom is?"
"Last time I saw him, he was asking the Chameleons how the snakes were getting out." Emma told him.
"Hopefully he hasn't been eaten yet, maybe he can save us." Ashley pointed out, a trace of worry in his voice.
"Hopefully." Private remarked, trembling a little.
"I'm just glad bạn guys haven't been digested yet." Emma said, hugging Mort, who was making a little frightened noise.
"It shouldn't be too long now though." Skipper told her sadly.
"We still have about 4 hoặc 5 hours don't we?" Emma asked feeling puzzled.
"The snakes đã đưa ý kiến that they were going to wait till about 8pm then they would digest us." Private piped up. Emma's eyes widened with horror and she instinctively looked around for a time. Luckily Ashley was wearing a watch, and he showed it to her. The time read 7:30pm. Emma gulped and she tried to climb up the slimy snake's body.
"No use sis, we've already tried." Skipper informed her, watching her pityingly. Emma stopped and she sat down burying her face in her flippers.
"Hey we still have some hope, Tom might save us." Ashley pointed out, patting Emma on the back.
"If he hasn't been eaten bởi Savio." Emma replied not looking up. Ashley was Mất tích for words, so he just hugged Emma comfortingly.
Tom had just got out of the HQ and he started to slide along the floor, towards the reptile house, still holding the tiny shrink cá đuối, ray in his flippers.
I hope I get there in time. He thought, worriedly.
Emma looked at the time on Ashley's watch for the một giây time, and she started to lose hope. It was now 7:50pm, and they only had 10 phút until they would be digested. She thought about Kowalski who was in Savio, and tears started to form in her eyes. If Tom didn't get them out, she would never see him again, never be able to hug him again, never make another invention with him, and never be able to wake up with him tiếp theo to her. Tears rolled down her face, and she held on tighter to Mort and Ashley. Private was shaking with fear and Skipper hugged him to calm him down. The group huddled together, and stared down at the watch, waiting for their demise. Ashley still had a faint glimmer of hope in his heart, and he looked up Sinistra's body hopefully. He had learned from when he had been captured Blowhole, to never give up hope, no matter how small the odds.
Sinistra and Savio had retired to their habitats for the day, and Sinistra was taking a nap. Savio watched her lovingly, and nuzzled her neck, before lying down tiếp theo to her. He poked her gently, and she woke with a start.
"It's almost time for digestion." He reminded the shorter snake, a devious smile on his face. She looked up at the clock, and grinned evilly.
"I can't wait to hear their screams." Sinistra stated, her eyes glowing with sheer excitement.
"Well, why should we wait?" Savio said, looking at his own long body.
"Well I'm waiting, but bạn can start to digest if bạn want to." Sinistra replied casually. Savio smiled and the digestive juices inside of him released, and screams could be heard from inside him. Inside Sinistra, the animals, looked up, and listened intently, their faces panic-stricken. A few giây later, Tom crept into the reptile house, and sneaked into the snake habitat. Savio looked at the floor, and his eyes widened.
"What on earth is that?!" He asked, staring down at the tiny chim cánh cụt in shock.
"It.. it looks like one of those penguins." Sinistra answered.
"Ooh, a bite size penguin, how cute." Savio taunted, realising that it was Tom. Savio made a grab for Tom, but he jumped out of the way at the last second. The little chim cánh cụt tried to evade them but they were too big, He was eventually cornered bởi the snakes.
"You can have this one." Sinistra đã đưa ý kiến to the bigger snake, who then started to close in on the miniature penguin. Tom closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger on the shrink ray. A strange sound echoed through the reptile house, drowning out the screams from Savio for a second. Tom opened his eyes, and saw the both of the snakes were now about a tenth of his height. He grinned triumphantly and picked up Savio, and started squeezing him. Sinistra watched with horror, and quickly released her own digestive juices inside herself. Emma's eye widened, and the little group tried to climb up her body hastily. The juices burned at her feet, and she let out a yelp of pain. Meanwhile, Savio had just threw up the động vật inside him, and now Tom had picked up Sinistra. She stared at Tom angrily, and tried to bite him. Tom rolled his eyes and squeezed her, making her throw up the contents of her stomach. Emma tumbled out, followed bởi the others, and she held her feet, which were stinging painfully. Emma looked up at Tom, her eyes widened.
"Woah, you'e massive!" She marvelled.
"I'm actually really small, and you're even smaller." Tom giggled growing himself, and the others back to normal. Emma's eyes fell on Kowalski's group and her jaw dropped. They were so badly burned bởi the digestive juices, that they hadn't even managed to get off the floor yet. She rushed over to them, her group closely on her heels. Marlene, Julien and Maurice weren't too bad, so Skipper helped them up, and Tom passed them a first aid kit that he had brought with him. But Kowalski and Rico were still unconscious on the floor. Emma sat over them, and looked over their burns. She felt tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, and she tried shaking them awake.
"Please be ok guys." She whispered, checking their heartbeats. A wave of relief washed over her, and she poked Kowalski lightly underneath his flipper. His eyelids began to open, and she hugged him instantly. Kowalski was took bởi surprise but he hugged her back. "Oh thank goodness you're ok!" Emma exclaimed, as Kowalski began to sit up. To their left, Rico was just waking up too, and he stared around in confusion.
"What happened?" Kowalski asked, stroking Emma's hair comfortingly.
"I'm not 100% sure my self to be honest." Emma admitted, giggling a little. "But I think Tom had something to do with it." She added, gazing at her little brother proudly. Tom smiled, and his eyes fell on the little snakes, who were trying to slither away.
"Don't bạn even think about it!" He told them sternly, picking them up bởi their tails, and putting them in an empty cup, then covering it with paper, the same method you'd use to catch a spider.
"So did bạn find out how the snakes were getting out?" Skipper asked curiously.
"Yup, when they get fed, there's this little underground tunnel, where their thực phẩm comes out of, so when the humans put something in there, they use the tunnel to slip out." Tom explained.
"That's pretty clever actually." Ashley remarked, peering into the tiny cup.
"So what are we gonna do with these guys?" Emma asked, taking the cup and looking at the snakes sternly.
"We could ship them to another zoo." Kowalski suggested.
"But then the động vật there would be in danger." Marlene pointed out.
"Well what can we do?" Private wondered.
"Keep them tiny?" Mort piped up.
"Don't be so stupidy Mort!" Julien scolded, crossing his arms, and ordering Maurice to brush down his fur.
"Hmm, that's not a bad idea actually." Emma remarked.
"What? Brushing my fur?" Julien asked.
"Ugh, no! Keeping the snakes small." Emma replied, putting a flipper to her forehead and rolling her eyes at Julien.
"eally?" (Really?) Rico asked, looking at his sister with curiousity.
"Yeah, though because they are living things, the effects won't be permanent." Emma answered, looking thoughtful.
"But what about when they grow back to normal?" Maurice questioned.
"Hmm, well they need an extremely secure habitat, one that is impenetrable, except for food." Emma thought aloud. She thought back to the forcefield, that kept her in a cage 4 years ago, because it was chim cánh cụt repelling. She smiled, and ran back to the HQ. She and Kowalski had invented a similar forcefield once, and now seemed like a good time to use it. She brought it back, and set it up around the habitat, and changed the setting to snake repelling, so they couldn't even use the tunnel. The group of động vật left the tiny snakes, and hopped through the tunnel. They all went back to the HQ, and got bandaged up. Emma wrapped a bandage around Kowalski's flipper and smiled up at him. He smiled back, and hugged her gently, nuzzling her neck softly. She blushed and hugged him back. Everyone turned to Tom, and gave him a hug. (Except fro Julien, who merely said, 'Thank bạn silly penguin.' rather reluctantly.)
"You did a Công chúa tóc xù thing Tom." Skipper began, patting his little brother on the back. "So bạn need to be rewarded. What do bạn want thêm than anything.?" He asked.
"Sleep." Tom replied casually. Skipper made a barely audible sound of frustration.
"I mean something that bạn haven't already got." Skipper rephrased. "Oh I know what bạn can get." Skipper said, as he went to his bunk, and took a box out from under his pillow. He took out a fancy looking medal from it and passed it to his brother who stared at it with wide eyes. "I got that for extreme bravery in a time of peril." Skipper explained. "It's yours now."
"Really? You're just giving it to me?" Tom asked in bewilderment.
"You deserve it, bạn saved everyone from being eaten." Skipper replied, smiling at Tom. Tom grinned and hugged his older brother, before fastening the medal on his feathers. All of the động vật went around to congratulate him, except for Private, who was calling Uncle Nigel, and telling him what happened. The ngày rolled on slowly, and shades of màu hồng, hồng and vàng filled the habitats with a warming glow. The zoo was finally at ease.
Must be the corner. She realised. She thought about Kowalski and an anxious feeling filled her stomach and spread to the rest of her body. What if they all had been digested? What if they had died a few phút ago? What if they were gone forever? Emma felt tears forming at the back of her eyes and she pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind. Don't think like that, last time, Mort survived nearly 12 hours in Savio, and so far Maurice and Julien have only been in about 7, and they were the first ones in. She remembered. The little chuột vong linh, vượn cáo had now huddled closer to her and Emma held his paw comfortingly. Just before they reached the sinister looking corner, Emma pointed to her left, and spotted the Chameleon habitat. Tom nodded silently and sneaked over, taking one last look at Emma and Mort before they disappeared around the corner.
"Hey guys." Tom whispered in the quietest voice he could manage.
They changed colours a few times. (Hey Tom, what brings bạn here?) Tom smiled at them.
"Well I was wondering if bạn know how the new snakes are getting out of their habitat. Any ideas?" He questioned glancing to his right, just incase one of them came around. Most of the Chameleons shook their reptilian heads and Tom sighed, feeling a bit disappointed. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw one, very small, trái cam, màu da cam Chameleon nodding it's head and walking forward, towards the shiny glass. It began changing colours, very dark, vivid colours, ranging from, deep, blood red, to passionate pinks. Tom quickly took out a piece of scrunched up paper, and began scribble down what he was saying. As the Chameleon was talking, Tom's eyes widened in surprise and he stared down at the paper in shock. "Really?" He asked, a little puzzled. The little Chameleon nodded and Tom held onto the messy paper carefully. "Thanks guys." He told them gratefully. He was about to warn Emma, when he got pulled into a casual conversation with his Những người bạn and he Mất tích focus on what he was supposed to be doing.
Meanwhile Emma and Mort had ventured far into the tiếp theo corridor, and still hadn't come to the snake habitat. This corridor seemed even darker than the last, the shadows much thicker. Emma could barely even see the shorter animal to her left, only distinguishable bởi his big, bright eyes. This journey to the snake habitat was taking longer than usual, but then again, they weren't racing down through the reptile house like last time.
"Emma?" Mort whispered, looking up at her.
"Hmm?" Emma replied, her eyes still focused on in front of them.
"What if we can't get them out? What if we get eaten bởi the bad snakes?" He asked fearfully, his furry body shaking uncontrollably.
"Don't worry Mort, we will get them out." Emma reassured him, patting his head. Admittedly, Emma wasn't too sure of this herself, since Tom had the shrink ray, and he hadn't come back from his talk with the Chameleons yet. Also, they had never beaten Savio, an they didn't even know Sinistra's methods, hoặc tactics, which made their foes seem even thêm formidable. The forbidding snake habitat started to enter their sight in front of them and Emma's stomach flipped inside her, as she stared into the habitat in horror.
"W...where are t.. the s.... snakes...?" Mort trembled, in a barely audible whisper.
"I.... I don't know...." Emma admitted, her breathing speeding up, as she peered thêm closely into the habitat. There was no sign of the snakes at all, just a few scraps of shed snakeskin.
"Do bạn think, th.. they're still out, h.. hunting?" Mort stammered.
"Maybe." Emma replied, part of her wishing that to be true, then they wouldn't be in here. She turned around and tried to scan the corners around her, but she realised that she could only see things that were about a meter in front of her.
Damn darkness. She thought angrily. She heard a faint hissing sound in the distance to her right, and Mort jumped into her flippers and buried his face into her feathers, making a whimpering sound as he did. Emma was about to run for her life when she spotted a pair, of glowing red eyes far in the surrounding darkness. Emma's feet instinctively anchored to the ground and she froze on the spot, fear overcoming her.
"Mort, run, now, I can't move." She told him urgently, trying to lift her feet off the floor. But she couldn't, every muscle in her legs stopped working and they felt as heavy as a two tonne rock.
"But then bạn will get eaten." Mort protested.
"I know, but bạn can warn Tom." She pointed out, losing focus of the red eyes for a second. Mort looked thoughtful, and was about to move, when something leaped at them, and the duo were consumed bởi a wet, thick darkness.
Tom was still chatting with his reptilian friends, unaware of his sisters disappearance. Suddenly all of the Chameleons started changing colours rapidly, and Tom's jaw dropped, and he moved to his left. Savio smacked into the glass and hissed angrily. Tom panicked and ran for the small light at the end of the corridor, hoping it was the door. Sinistra stopped him at the last một phút and the little chim cánh cụt tripped over her tail. As he stumbled to his feet, Savio tried to grab him again, just missing him. Tom jumped over Sinistra's tail, and burst out of the door, sliding faster than he thought was possible. He ran back to the HQ, and locked himself in the lab, panting as he did. As the fog of panic lifted from his mind, thoughts began to return to him.
"What do I do?" He asked himself desperately, his head against the silver door. His Những người bạn and family had been eaten, and the Chameleons were in the reptile house where the snakes were. He was all alone, young and helpless in a dark world. The young chim cánh cụt sat on the floor and stared around the lab for inspiration. He still had the shrink cá đuối, ray in his flippers, but he couldn't gather up the courage to go back to the reptile house.
You have to go, hoặc everyone bạn care about in the zoo could be gone forever. He told himself sternly. But I just can't do it. If they eat me too, then no one can help and we'll all be doomed. He argued. He looked over at the spare shrink cá đuối, ray and a little idea came to mind. He unlocked the lab door and opened it a little, then waddled over to it and shrank the first shrink cá đuối, ray with it. He then pointed the spare shrink cá đuối, ray at himself and shrunk down to about a twelfth of Mort's normal size. He picked up the tiny shrink ray, feeling pretty pleased with himself. So now the snakes shouldn't be able to see me so good, and I can sneak up on them. He thought triumphantly. He slipped out of the lab, and stared up at the ladder leading towards the fishbowl.
"This is gonna take a while." He remarked in a high pitched voice.
Meanwhile Emma opened her eyes uncertainly and glanced around her. She was in what looked like a compact, dark tunnel. She could just about make out 4 other shapes in this tunnel. 3 chim cánh cụt shapes, and one vong linh, vượn cáo shape. As her eyes became thêm accustomed to the dark, she made out a flat head opposite her.
"Skipper? Is that you?" She whispered.
"Yes sis." He replied gravely.
"Who... who else is down here?" Emma asked, realising where she actually was.
"Well in here, there is Me, the Private, Mort and Ashley." He answered. "I think the others are in Savio. Do bạn know where Tom is?"
"Last time I saw him, he was asking the Chameleons how the snakes were getting out." Emma told him.
"Hopefully he hasn't been eaten yet, maybe he can save us." Ashley pointed out, a trace of worry in his voice.
"Hopefully." Private remarked, trembling a little.
"I'm just glad bạn guys haven't been digested yet." Emma said, hugging Mort, who was making a little frightened noise.
"It shouldn't be too long now though." Skipper told her sadly.
"We still have about 4 hoặc 5 hours don't we?" Emma asked feeling puzzled.
"The snakes đã đưa ý kiến that they were going to wait till about 8pm then they would digest us." Private piped up. Emma's eyes widened with horror and she instinctively looked around for a time. Luckily Ashley was wearing a watch, and he showed it to her. The time read 7:30pm. Emma gulped and she tried to climb up the slimy snake's body.
"No use sis, we've already tried." Skipper informed her, watching her pityingly. Emma stopped and she sat down burying her face in her flippers.
"Hey we still have some hope, Tom might save us." Ashley pointed out, patting Emma on the back.
"If he hasn't been eaten bởi Savio." Emma replied not looking up. Ashley was Mất tích for words, so he just hugged Emma comfortingly.
Tom had just got out of the HQ and he started to slide along the floor, towards the reptile house, still holding the tiny shrink cá đuối, ray in his flippers.
I hope I get there in time. He thought, worriedly.
Emma looked at the time on Ashley's watch for the một giây time, and she started to lose hope. It was now 7:50pm, and they only had 10 phút until they would be digested. She thought about Kowalski who was in Savio, and tears started to form in her eyes. If Tom didn't get them out, she would never see him again, never be able to hug him again, never make another invention with him, and never be able to wake up with him tiếp theo to her. Tears rolled down her face, and she held on tighter to Mort and Ashley. Private was shaking with fear and Skipper hugged him to calm him down. The group huddled together, and stared down at the watch, waiting for their demise. Ashley still had a faint glimmer of hope in his heart, and he looked up Sinistra's body hopefully. He had learned from when he had been captured Blowhole, to never give up hope, no matter how small the odds.
Sinistra and Savio had retired to their habitats for the day, and Sinistra was taking a nap. Savio watched her lovingly, and nuzzled her neck, before lying down tiếp theo to her. He poked her gently, and she woke with a start.
"It's almost time for digestion." He reminded the shorter snake, a devious smile on his face. She looked up at the clock, and grinned evilly.
"I can't wait to hear their screams." Sinistra stated, her eyes glowing with sheer excitement.
"Well, why should we wait?" Savio said, looking at his own long body.
"Well I'm waiting, but bạn can start to digest if bạn want to." Sinistra replied casually. Savio smiled and the digestive juices inside of him released, and screams could be heard from inside him. Inside Sinistra, the animals, looked up, and listened intently, their faces panic-stricken. A few giây later, Tom crept into the reptile house, and sneaked into the snake habitat. Savio looked at the floor, and his eyes widened.
"What on earth is that?!" He asked, staring down at the tiny chim cánh cụt in shock.
"It.. it looks like one of those penguins." Sinistra answered.
"Ooh, a bite size penguin, how cute." Savio taunted, realising that it was Tom. Savio made a grab for Tom, but he jumped out of the way at the last second. The little chim cánh cụt tried to evade them but they were too big, He was eventually cornered bởi the snakes.
"You can have this one." Sinistra đã đưa ý kiến to the bigger snake, who then started to close in on the miniature penguin. Tom closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger on the shrink ray. A strange sound echoed through the reptile house, drowning out the screams from Savio for a second. Tom opened his eyes, and saw the both of the snakes were now about a tenth of his height. He grinned triumphantly and picked up Savio, and started squeezing him. Sinistra watched with horror, and quickly released her own digestive juices inside herself. Emma's eye widened, and the little group tried to climb up her body hastily. The juices burned at her feet, and she let out a yelp of pain. Meanwhile, Savio had just threw up the động vật inside him, and now Tom had picked up Sinistra. She stared at Tom angrily, and tried to bite him. Tom rolled his eyes and squeezed her, making her throw up the contents of her stomach. Emma tumbled out, followed bởi the others, and she held her feet, which were stinging painfully. Emma looked up at Tom, her eyes widened.
"Woah, you'e massive!" She marvelled.
"I'm actually really small, and you're even smaller." Tom giggled growing himself, and the others back to normal. Emma's eyes fell on Kowalski's group and her jaw dropped. They were so badly burned bởi the digestive juices, that they hadn't even managed to get off the floor yet. She rushed over to them, her group closely on her heels. Marlene, Julien and Maurice weren't too bad, so Skipper helped them up, and Tom passed them a first aid kit that he had brought with him. But Kowalski and Rico were still unconscious on the floor. Emma sat over them, and looked over their burns. She felt tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, and she tried shaking them awake.
"Please be ok guys." She whispered, checking their heartbeats. A wave of relief washed over her, and she poked Kowalski lightly underneath his flipper. His eyelids began to open, and she hugged him instantly. Kowalski was took bởi surprise but he hugged her back. "Oh thank goodness you're ok!" Emma exclaimed, as Kowalski began to sit up. To their left, Rico was just waking up too, and he stared around in confusion.
"What happened?" Kowalski asked, stroking Emma's hair comfortingly.
"I'm not 100% sure my self to be honest." Emma admitted, giggling a little. "But I think Tom had something to do with it." She added, gazing at her little brother proudly. Tom smiled, and his eyes fell on the little snakes, who were trying to slither away.
"Don't bạn even think about it!" He told them sternly, picking them up bởi their tails, and putting them in an empty cup, then covering it with paper, the same method you'd use to catch a spider.
"So did bạn find out how the snakes were getting out?" Skipper asked curiously.
"Yup, when they get fed, there's this little underground tunnel, where their thực phẩm comes out of, so when the humans put something in there, they use the tunnel to slip out." Tom explained.
"That's pretty clever actually." Ashley remarked, peering into the tiny cup.
"So what are we gonna do with these guys?" Emma asked, taking the cup and looking at the snakes sternly.
"We could ship them to another zoo." Kowalski suggested.
"But then the động vật there would be in danger." Marlene pointed out.
"Well what can we do?" Private wondered.
"Keep them tiny?" Mort piped up.
"Don't be so stupidy Mort!" Julien scolded, crossing his arms, and ordering Maurice to brush down his fur.
"Hmm, that's not a bad idea actually." Emma remarked.
"What? Brushing my fur?" Julien asked.
"Ugh, no! Keeping the snakes small." Emma replied, putting a flipper to her forehead and rolling her eyes at Julien.
"eally?" (Really?) Rico asked, looking at his sister with curiousity.
"Yeah, though because they are living things, the effects won't be permanent." Emma answered, looking thoughtful.
"But what about when they grow back to normal?" Maurice questioned.
"Hmm, well they need an extremely secure habitat, one that is impenetrable, except for food." Emma thought aloud. She thought back to the forcefield, that kept her in a cage 4 years ago, because it was chim cánh cụt repelling. She smiled, and ran back to the HQ. She and Kowalski had invented a similar forcefield once, and now seemed like a good time to use it. She brought it back, and set it up around the habitat, and changed the setting to snake repelling, so they couldn't even use the tunnel. The group of động vật left the tiny snakes, and hopped through the tunnel. They all went back to the HQ, and got bandaged up. Emma wrapped a bandage around Kowalski's flipper and smiled up at him. He smiled back, and hugged her gently, nuzzling her neck softly. She blushed and hugged him back. Everyone turned to Tom, and gave him a hug. (Except fro Julien, who merely said, 'Thank bạn silly penguin.' rather reluctantly.)
"You did a Công chúa tóc xù thing Tom." Skipper began, patting his little brother on the back. "So bạn need to be rewarded. What do bạn want thêm than anything.?" He asked.
"Sleep." Tom replied casually. Skipper made a barely audible sound of frustration.
"I mean something that bạn haven't already got." Skipper rephrased. "Oh I know what bạn can get." Skipper said, as he went to his bunk, and took a box out from under his pillow. He took out a fancy looking medal from it and passed it to his brother who stared at it with wide eyes. "I got that for extreme bravery in a time of peril." Skipper explained. "It's yours now."
"Really? You're just giving it to me?" Tom asked in bewilderment.
"You deserve it, bạn saved everyone from being eaten." Skipper replied, smiling at Tom. Tom grinned and hugged his older brother, before fastening the medal on his feathers. All of the động vật went around to congratulate him, except for Private, who was calling Uncle Nigel, and telling him what happened. The ngày rolled on slowly, and shades of màu hồng, hồng and vàng filled the habitats with a warming glow. The zoo was finally at ease.