Author's note: I swear this was like the Koju chapter but I promise the Kico shall soon come! Jib if you're reading this then you're gonna looooove this chapter hehe

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters they belong to Dreamworks and Nickelodeon

Caged

"There," Kowlaski said as he swept all of the remainder of the glass into the garbage bags. He made sure to be thorough with his cleaning and not leave a single piece of evidence behind. The last thing they needed was Alice finding out.

Final thing left to do was to lock the door and he would be on his way back home. Nobody would know he was gone.

Kowalski exited the zoovenir shop and pushed the door firmly shut, making sure the click was heard. He moved the bags back together and placed the lock back on the handle, also making sure he didn't fall and slip this time. That last fall wasn't so pleasant to want to do it a second time.

Now leaving the shop he caught sight of something out of the ordinary. There was a faint glow at the main entrance of the zoo as if there was someone there. Were those headlights?

Before he could go investigate, he heard someone call out his name. Or at least it sounded like his name.

"Julien?" Kowalski turned and barely was able to avoid the lemur as he came rushing toward him.

"Smarty penguin you have to help! There is big huge guy outside the zoo you must go do something about it! I do not want him ruining things for me with his presence!"

Kowalski was observing the fact that Julien still had the outfit on. Whatever the reason for him to still be wearing it, he sure was committed.

"So my suspicions were correct. Someone definitely is here but why?" Kowalski questioned, wondering what tactic would be the best. Going on an investigation now would be tricky especially when doing so alone.

"I am seeing a lot of standing around when I should be seeing a lot of penguin action!" Julien interrupted his thoughts, raising his arms up in frustration seeing how nothing has been done yet to deal with this problem. "I bet if Skipper were around he would teach that guy a lesson!"

"Skipper isn't here and you promised to keep quiet about this, Julien. So keep it down," Kowalski ordered, making sure that Julien didn't go run off to tell Skipper. If he played his cards right he could deal with whoever was sneaking around the zoo and still return home without getting caught.

Julien merely folded his arms and began tapping his foot impatiently. "Okay but for a smart penguin you sure are slow."

"Just relax and tell me all that you saw. I need a detailed description to know what we are up against," Kowalski said, reaching for his drawing pad which he always took everywhere with him no matter what. You never know when his intellect and drawing skills would be needed.

"There is this strange guy out there in this very hideous blue outfit. So out of date I'm telling you. And he is trying to use one of those magic camera thingies to capture us all!"

Kowalski lightly smacked his forehead at the lemur's ignorance. "We have already been through this before. Cameras are not magic nor do they capture beings and trap them inside. I thought we made that clear during your whole losing Maurice incident."

"This is no time for your smart talk, Koal...Cole...Koala?"

"It's Kowalski!" He couldn't believe Julien didn't know his name. How long have they known each other?

"I forget sometimes okay! You penguins and your names! It's much easier to call you whatever I want like silly penguin, bossy penguin, or even flightless bird. Ooh can I call you...Bobbie!?" Julien asked with an innocent smile.

"I would prefer you don't call us whatever you want. We have names you know," Kowalski reminded.

"I don't always do it I say Skipper sometimes."

"What?" Kowalski questioned, eyeing him curiously.

"What? I didn't say anything clearly you are crazy," Julien said with a nervous laugh.

Kowalski didn't have time for this he needed answers now. "Focus Julien! The headlights over there near the front gate. Who do they belong to?"

"I am trying to tell you it is some huge guy with big muscles and he was even wearing shades. He is trying to act all cool like he owns the place. Who does that?" Julien scoffed.

Kowalski drew all of this down, making note of the outfit that sounded familiar. Perhaps they met someone who wore blue all the time. Looking down at the finished drawing, he was able to come up with some theories who the intruder might be. The guy described sounded too much like a certain someone and he hoped it wasn't him they were dealing with here.

Putting the drawing supplies away, he started heading over to the direction of the headlights but staying close to the walls where he could hide if needed.

"Hey you can't be doing this by yourself!" Julien called out, following Kowalski to his hiding spot.

"I would advise you to head back to your habitat. I can handle this myself. You'll only get in the way and you tagging along will increase the chances for one of us to get caught. Most likely you of course."

Julien placed his paws on his hips. "Oh if anybody is getting captured it shall be you!"

"I am used to this sort of missions and you are only familiar with lemur activities," Kowalski countered.

"If by lemur activities you mean me a king and a born leader then yes perhaps," Julien replied smugly, obviously wanting to get under his nerves.

Kowalski saw no point in continuing this conversation and decided to just let him do what he felt like doing. He seriously wondered how Skipper controlled him. The lemur just never liked to listen to reason!

"Alright just keep the voice level to a minimum and follow me," Kowalski ordered, leading the way to the front of the zoo but stopping short in order not to reveal himself just yet. He peeked his head out from the cement walls and heard a really familiar voice.

"Do you see now penguin!?" Julien asked after having pounced on his back and pointing to the direction of the intruder. "Who is this guy who dares interrupt my quest!"

Kowalski shoved Julien away, narrowing his eyes at him. However, he knew the answer, no matter how much he wished it wasn't true. There was no mistaking it now after having heard the voice. It was that crazed lunatic of an animal control worker, Officer X.

Officer X finished setting up more video cameras around the front of the zoo. "Those darn penguins have me close to losing my job if I can't find one single evidence I can kiss this animal control job goodbye."

"He is kissing who now?" Julien asked with a hint of fear and disgust in his voice. "That guy is not kissing me if that is what he is planning."

"That would be the least of your problems. The four of us have a difficult time dealing with him I don't think revealing ourselves to deal with it ourselves would be a wise idea," Kowalski explained, still focused on his movements to make sure they were still safe and out of sight.

"This can be our secret mission!" Julien squealed with joy, already getting excited to prove himself. "We steal those cameras and then no more problem It's so simple and so clever like me! The clever part not the simple part."

"We don't know for certain he even has any evidence for anything. Blowing our cover now would be too high of a risk," Kowalski responded.

"Sounds to me you are just too scared to try," Julien said smugly. "Do I need to bring out the mocking for you too like I did with Skipper. You remember that day. The day we beat you flightless birds in that capture the flag game."

Kowalski rolled his eyes. "Now isn't the time to start having flashbacks, Julien. Plus we beat you in the end."

Then Kowalski spotted Officer X entering within the zoo grounds and now they were trapped with him inside. He had no trouble getting over the cement walls.

Officer X had a more serious look on his face. "You penguins can't hide from me I know what you four do at night!"

Julien slowly turned to Kowalski with a concerned look on his face and the scientist shook his head the second he got what Julien might be thinking.

"Secret missions to make my life miserable that is what!" Officer X continued as he started searching for any sign of suspicious activity.

Kowalski began backing up, forcing Julien to do the same.

"We need to get back into our habitats!" Kowalski whispered. He knew retreating would be the best thing to do at this moment and anything else would be unnecessary if not also idiotic.

"Are we running away? Is this how you penguins take care of problems?" Julien asked with a judgemental look on his face.

"No this is retreating but manlier. Back to the habitat you go!" Kowalski didn't wait for an answer back and started pushing the lemur to the direction of his habitat.

"Wait!" Julien stopped abruptly, causing Kowalski to almost trip over him.

"What is it Julien!?" Kowalski's voice almost squeaked as he was in a state of panic and anger at the moment and he was not about to let Julien get him caught.

Julien was searching all sides, freaking out over what looked like nothing.

"I can't find Skipper! He's gone I lost him! I need to go find him." The lemur was shaking him repeatedly while Kowalski tried his best to calm him down.

Kowalski had to push himself out of his grasp before he could even focus on what Julien was telling him. "You realize Skipper is not here right?"

"Not that Skipper!" Julien corrected him. "The cute little figure from the snowglobe! I lost him and I need to find him right now!"

Kowalski took a while to get what Julien was referring to.

He was enraged for Julien to even suggest they go look for that object! "You are out of your mind if you think-" Footsteps approaching them quieted him down. Without further thinking he dragged Julien to Marlene's habitat and into the water before Officer X made it to the spot where they previously were.

Officer X squinted when he heard a splash. Now he was on high alert once he became aware that he certainly was being watched.

"Hold your breath,"

"Why do you I need to hold my breath?" Julien received his answer when Kowalski pushed him underwater. He joined him and gave him a nod, indicating that everything would be fine.

That didn't have much effect on Julien. The lemur was fighting to get out of the water but Kowalski kept him in place until he knew enough time passed for them to get out safely unnoticed. He would be fine. There was no way he was going to let him run out of air, making him have to give...mouth to mouth. The mere thought of it sent chills down his spine.

Counting numbers in his head, he waited until he reached to ten before releasing Julien. Julien didn't waste any time to resurface, already flailing his arms and yelling.

"You could have killed me and you got my outfit all wet! I should have you punished for this!" Julien was horrified at the sight of his outfit possibly ruined.

"Just be quiet!" Kowalski shushed him. "I needed to do so he would leave that spot and fortunately for us it worked. This is our chance to get back home." Sadly for him, the outfit he borrowed from the zoovenir shop got the same treatment. No worries he could always air dry it and everything would be fine.

"I must find that Skipper I need it! It's the law of finders keepers that I must have it with me and not lost!"

"Even if it was a law you shouldn't risk your life for some toy figure that you could get some other day! Let me remind you it's of our leader, Skipper! When I say our I don't include you by the way," Kowalski didn't have the slightest idea why this figure was so important to Julien. He had to be acting like this so that he could complicate things for him.

Julien ignored him and seemed to be focused on something near the zoo's main entrance. Something had caught his attention but Kowalski couldn't quite see what it was.

"There he is!" Was all Julien said before leaping out of the water and over to whatever it was he saw.

"Julien you are just going to get caught!" Kowalski didn't know whether to feel annoyed or afraid. One thing was for certain was that he needed to get Julien out of plain sight.

By the time he reached Julien, he was already cuddling with what he would guess was the toy figure.

"You naughty penguin escaping the handsome me," Julien spoke in a soft voice to it.

Kowalski watched him snuggle closer to it and begin murmuring stuff to the figure but it was now too low for him to hear.

"Alright you have that toy back now please go back to your habitat!" Kowalski urged, also trying to shove him in the process.

"So this is where you two were."

Officer X was confronting them, cornering them into a dead end.

Kowalski already was thinking of his options. "Julien I will divert his attention onto me. You are going to slip past him and grab the others. Don't bother with keeping the promis I will think of something later."

"Ehhh that sounds like something the sciency penguin can do. You go do it," Julien said, pushing him forward.

The scientist attempted sliding past but Kowalski couldn't even move past his legs before Officer X grabbed him and placed him into a cage. Officer X wasted no time capturing Julien and soon they were captive in the small cage.

"I knew I'd get something tonight," Officer X said in a proud manner. "I thought I would just get footage of your midnight crimes but getting live proof will serve me better."

Kowalski knew that they were going to be taken for interrogation now and there was no chance of escape.

The officer was now whistling a happy tune as he walked back to his van to collect his equipment. He threw both them and the equipment into the back, not bothering to do so gently as they fell with a loud thump.

"You two just get comfy because escape is impossible when Officer X is around. I may not have all four of you penguins but one is enough to show an audience how dangerous you really are. The lemur can be used for your target practice." He laughed at his last comment before closing the two doors shut, enclosing them in darkness.

"What are we gonna do!? Do something penguin because I do not want to be a target for anybody!" Julien was attempting to push the cage door open but with his small intellect he was not going to figure out how the cage actually opens. Plus there was a lock so any attempts wouldn't work anyway with the amount of force he was using.

"Remain calm Julien," Kowalski began, placing his flippers on Julien's shoulder to make him stop moving and focus. "We will get out I just need to think of a plan."

"Hurry it up already and use that brainy parts of yours! I don't want to spend the rest of my life stuck in a cage with you!" Julien whined, crossing his arms across his chest.

A thought came to him or more so a reminder did. He remembered he still had the paper clip.

Kowalski started gagging to try to get the paper clip out. Any second now he will be able to free them!

Nothing was coming out and he even tried punching his gut like how they would with Rico but still no paper clip.

"We have a problem," Kowalski said soon after.

"Oh don't you even think about it!" Julien moved quickly to the farthest side of the cage away from Kowalski. "I'm not going to get that paper clip out for you. These paws are royalty!"

The sound of an engine running grabbed his attention, causing him to panic a bit. He couldn't even remember if he had swallowed the paper clip beforehand or if he had dropped it somewhere.

The van now was definitely moving, the feel of slight bumps on the road shaking them in the cage was proof of that.

"Heh...anytime penguin. Actually right now would be better!" Julien was gripping at the cage bars and rocking it back and forth.

"Enough Julien! We will get our chance when he opens those doors."

"Oh this is just great," Julien pouted, sitting back down with his arms crossed once again. "Us men try to show off our feminine sides and we get treated like dirt! He can't contain us forever!"

Kowalski shook his head, "He isn't containing us for that."

"Oh? So he doesn't mind our very gorgeous outfits?" Julien asked, posing as if he were getting his picture taken.

Julien continued posing until the van came to a screeching halt, causing Julien to get flung to the front of the cage face first.

Kowalski got the same treatment as he came into contact with the cage bars.

There were no windows so he couldn't see if they arrived their destination yet but he assumed they were. It was the silence that was getting to him. What was happening?

He almost got a heart attack when the back doors burst open. It wasn't Officer X that was standing in front of them.

"Skipper!" Julien was excited to see him but Kowalski had more of a mixture of fear within that excitement.

"Kowalski you better hope you thought of a really good excuse during your captivity," Skipper suggested, clearly not in a good mood to find them here.

Since someone sure wanted their notes here at the end of the story (coughs..jib... coughs again) I shall write some.
Jib challenged me to include Officer X in this and I didnt even know how I was gonna do that so I just went with it. Anyway here is the end of chapter 2 and still more to come