Julien slides the recently acquired penguin mask over his face.

Mort asks in alarm, "Where did he go? King Julien?!"

He looks around frantically. Julien bites his lip to keep from laughing.

"There is no Julien here - I have disposed of my foe once and for all, I, the bossiest of the penguins." He puts his hands on his hips and looms with menace over the diminutive Mort.

"Oh no, Skipper," Mort whimpers. "Why would you do such an awful thing?"

Mort starts to wail. Julien finds that annoying. He takes off the mask and strikes a dramatic pose. Mort's eyes widen, and he gasps.

"Ha ha I got you! It is just me, King Julien," he says, "And this nifty penguin mask from the gifting shop."

Mort sniffles. He still appears upset. Julien bends to give him a slight, quick hug. He can't be too compassionate, or others will walk all over him.

Maurice grumbles from the smoothie bar, "What are you doing to him?"

Julien rubs the back of his neck. "Just playing a game."

Maurice rolls his eyes, but he offers no further comment. Julien knows his shorter friend is not always approving of his antics. Yet, he remains loyal. Julien wonders sometimes that he doesn't get tired and leave. He's tried to stay away from Julien before, like when he helped the penguins with his thumbs.

Something Julien could have done, but the penguins don't put much trust in his abilities. He wishes he had some way to show them the true colors of his heart.

Then, he discovers the comics by the dumpster.

"Look at this!"

Maurice and Mort shuffle over, their curiosity grabbed. Julien holds up the comic and points excitedly at the pictures.

"This guy acts like a pompous billionaire in the day - but in the night he is a cool hero that everyone is loving him! A real people's person who serves the common good," Julien explains.

Maurice raises his eyebrows. "Didn't think you'd be interested in that kind of story."

"Here is his foe," Julien points at another frame. "He is a victim of circumstances. In the daylight the hero is causing this other guy much troubles, by sabotaging his tippy toppy secret operations. So, this villain at night tries to take revenge, and the hero is stopping him."

Julien giggles and hugs the comic. "The villain is not knowing he is actually fighting the billionaire, who he thinks is nothing but spoiled and stupidy!"

"I suppose that is intriguing," Maurice says. "Can I have a look?"

Julien tosses him the comic. "Sure! I am moving onto the next issue anyway."

He chews on a mango as he opens the next comic. Things are getting real! The sunlight disappears as he reads through the comics.

"Fetch the royal light making stick!"

Maurice hands him the flashlight. He shines it over the pages.

He clutches his heart and cries out in shock. He can't believe the villain just saved the hero from certain doom. Now, they learn they have much in common and are coming together to fight a greater evil than ever.

Maurice inquires, "What? What happened?"

Julien clicks his tongue. "No! I cannot be telling you - it would be a biggest spoiler."

Maurice deflates, his ears drooping. "Oh."

"Don't worry, you'll reach this chapter eventually. You won't be believing it, I tell you."

He reads through the night. Maurice falls asleep. Julien's eyes grow heavy and crusty, but he rubs them and defies the night to read on to one adventure after another. Dawn illuminates the zoo. Julien's flashlight slips out of his hand as he yawns. It flickers off, likely the batteries are drained. To himself he muses, "Have I been up all da night?"

Maurice stirs. He wakes up Mort, then begins to make breakfast smoothies. He brings Julien his smoothie, who takes it and sips it without looking at Maurice. He doesn't comment, instead watching Julien with amusement on his features.

Suddenly, the penguins appear on the wall of the habitat. Maurice and Mort look on in confusion. However, Julien still has his nose in the comic, and he's humming to himself.

"Ringtail?"

Maurice approaches them. "What's up?"

The penguins hop down.

Private says, "We were worried - well, mostly Skipper -"

"I'm merely observant!"

"Julien's been quiet for so long, Skipper - I mean we thought something might have happened," Kowalski elaborates. "He didn't react when the clock fell just now."

Maurice shrugs. He glances at Julien, who is still deeply immersed in the fictional world of his action hero idols. One scene makes him laugh out loud. The next one, he claps his hand over his muzzle and his eyes grow large. He sighs softly and says, "If only that could be me."

"More accurately, some fiend broke it," Skipper says.

Julien closes the comic issue he just finished. "Back up a little - The clock? Who would commit such a heinous crime?"

"I don't know. There has been strange activity lately."

Julien doesn't miss the way Rico, Kowalski, and Private all sheepishly rub the backs of their necks. He raises a suspicious eyebrow directly at the three. They notice him and alarmed, they all point flippers each other behind Skipper's back. He is oblivious to their guilty behavior.

Skipper is still looking at Maurice. He adds, "At least I know a certain impulsive, trouble-prone lemur has an alibi."

Julien interjects, "You don't need to be talking of Mort that way. He has done nothing wrong to you in his life!"

Maurice and Skipper glance at him but offer no comment. Julien knows Skipper was talking about him, but he's insulted the penguin felt the need to give it a poor disguise. It's better to play stupid than let them know his real feelings.

"Yeah. He's been reading those comics all the past day and night," Maurice says. He gathers the box of comics that Julien had already completed and dumps it out at the penguins' feet.

"He hasn't even mentioned partying. It's really captured his attention."

"So! That's where our comics went," Kowalski comments. "I wanted to look up a reference for my superhero costume - oh."

Skipper whips around to glare at him. Julien sniffs, satisfied by his correctness. He opens the next issue and blocks out the penguin-y nonsense.

"Oops! I mean - uh -"

Private groans, while Rico slaps Kowalski in the back of the head. Skipper turns his attention to the lemurs. He can deal with them later.

"I'm surprised, he has the attention span of a squirrel with a flea-sized brain," Skipper remarks. "Usually."

"Yeah, I don't know. It's interesting but…" Maurice lowers his voice, but he seems unaware that Julien is secretly listening. "I kinda got bored - I didn't tell him, in case it made him mad. He seems to relate to the heroes, somehow."

Maurice indicates the first set Julien read, spanning through most of yesterday.

"Surely you don't mean the tale with the Golden Lynx and Chrome Wolf?"

"He's read a few others, but that's the one that got him hooked."

Skipper chuckles. "In his wildest dreams. He has the Lynx's false public persona down, but his other side? I think not."

Julien groans and drops his head on the comic held in his hands. "Might you all be shutting it a little? I can hear every word you know - and I am trying to concentrate!"

Skipper glares at him and crosses his flippers. "Exactly my point. You only think of yourself, and you're rude to everyone around you."

Julien's shoulders slump at that. His eyes shift to the side. Skipper appears surprised at his reaction. Briefly, he reaches out a flipper as though to comfort Julien. He yanks it back to his side and fixates on one of the colorful comic covers.

Julien mumbles, "Am not."

Private, Kowalski, and Rico watch them, not having any words to offer to the conversation. Skipper shakes his head and signals them. In the blink of an eye, they're gone.

Julien frowns. He touches Maurice's shoulder.

"You don't really think I'm all like dat, do you?"

Maurice blinks, and he hesitates.

"That is all I needed to know." Tears drip from his eyes. He gathers his things and leaves to go to his secret get-away-from-everyone place.

"Remember, be back before the zoo opens!"

"I am knowing how to tell the time," Julien responds. He leaps over the wall and speed-walks out of the zoo. He spares a glance for the penguin habitat, his heart sinking.