Nighttime arrived within hours and the starting time of the performance was drawing near. The field was full of excitement and wonder. The circus tent was lit it inside and out, balloons of all different colors, shapes and sizes seemed to float above the big top, and searchlights slowly waved their beams of light into the dark sky. People crowded outside the ticket booth, where adults slid their money to the clown behind the glass (who in reality was Mason and Phil in a goofy clown costume) and were given a precise number of admission tickets. Those who got their tickets entered the tent and took their seats in the bleachers, waiting patiently for the show to begin.
As the bleachers continued to be filled with people, adults and children alike, Gloria poked her head out from one of the curtains that served as an entrance and exit for the circus animals. "Wow!" she gasped. "It looks like we've got a full house tonight!"
Vitaly walked over and peered out into the center ring. "Indeed so," he said.
Vitaly strolled backstage and clapped his paws. "Alright, everyone, this is it!" he announced. "Our final show before our winter break begins in a few minutes."
"We have precisely seven minutes before the show goes on," Private informed everyone; "so make sure you give everyone the greatest show they'll ever see!"
The circus animals voiced their enthusiasm for the upcoming performance. They cheered and jumped up and down in great excitement.
Gloria walked over to Melman, who was her partner in their tightrope act, and Marty who was waiting for Stefano to finish tightening the strap of his helmet. "You boys ready for tonight's show?" she asked in exhilaration.
"Definitely!" Melman replied eagerly.
"Who isn't excited for the show?" Marty asked in the same tone of eagerness. "We're gonna blow this crowd away!"
"Far away to Canada!" Stefano chirped, even when he didn't know what he was saying.
The sea-lion's unfunny comment was ignored as the other animals made last-minute preparations for the show.
Gloria took a quick trip to one of the large fun house mirrors to see if she was show-ready. Her to-to was on just right and her paint-work was perfect, the stripes and shapes were in the right shade and design. Gloria was one of the circus animals who performed while wearing a striking paint design. Her partner Melman had his spots painted blue and Marty's stripes were a shade of green. It was one of the many reasons that loved performing.
Melman strolled over to Gloria and said, "I certainly can't get over how amazing we look in paint."
Gloria chuckled and looked at her partner. "You certainly have a way with words, Melman," she replied. "Even when you try to sound romantic, it works."
Melman felt a little embarrassed by his comment; he found it to be a bit stupid. But considering that Gloria had accepted it kindly, he felt better instantly.
Marty joined them in looking at their reflections in the mirror. "Don't you think we've always looked the same since our first performance?" he inquired Melman.
"Yeah," Melman replied; "but don't you think we look incredible with different colors?"
"Yeah, we do," said Marty; "even when you must've said that back in London."
Stefano snuck his way in front of them and popped up. "What are we looking at?" he asked.
"We're just admiring our body-paint designs," Marty told his sea-lion partner. "Nothing special."
"You don't think your painted outfits are special?" Stefano questioned with a bit of concern.
"No, of course not," Marty responded. "We all like our body-paint. Scratch that- we love our body-paint! Why would think that we would hate them?"
"I don't know, really," said Stefano. "Perhaps I misunderstood something and I can't remember it."
"Don't worry about it now," said Marty. "Just be ready to fly out of the cannon on cue."
"Absolutely!" Stefano chirped and he ran off to prepare himself for the act he and Marty would perform.
Marty, Melman, and Gloria walked away from the mirror but they continued to talk to each other.
"Did anyone say where we'll be staying over the winter?" Marty inquired his pals.
"Nobody told me anything," Melman told the zebra.
"I think I heard King Julien rambling on about a 'jumbo animal-only resort'," said Gloria. "I'm not sure what he was saying but I got a feeling that it's probably an indoor zoo."
Marty and Melman groaned.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Marty whined. "We didn't go to one last winter! Why do have to go to one this time?"
"Marty's right," said Melman. "We don't need to be in zoo habitats anymore. We're part of the most successful traveling shows in history! I will not allow this to happen!"
"It's probably too late, Melman," Gloria sighed. "Skipper probably made the arrangement weeks ago, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it!"
Marty gasped while Melman's jaw dropped. "Whoa, don't tell me you're gonna be swearing now!" cried the zebra.
"I'm sorry but I just can't help it!" Gloria snapped. "Skipper's driving everyone nuts and he's not even caring if he offends anyone or not!"
"Yeah, he's getting on everyone's nerves," said Marty. "I just don't understand why he's doing this, but he's gotta figure out how to stop himself from being such a douchebag."
Marty's eyes grew to the shape of saucers as did Melman's.
"Oh no, not you too!" Melman cried.
"Just forget it, Melman!" Gloria snarled. "Everyone's gonna swear once in their lifetime!"
"Well, it's just shocking to me that we would actually use curse words," Melman told his hippo partner.
"Just do what Gloria says and don't worry about it," said Marty. "We all know that when Skipper finally decides to seek a therapist of some kind and gets his attitude adjusted to an agreeable angle, then everything will be back to normal."
Everything quieted down after that. The trio was surprised and thankful that none of the other animals tried to jump in and break up the fight. If one of them did, things would have gotten ugly; perhaps to the point where the show would have to be cancelled, and no one wanted that to happen, not before they went on winter break. They needed the money- true, they still had sixty-five thousand dollars in their pockets, but they knew in their hearts that the show had to go on.
Private walked up to them and inquired, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, we were just concerned about Skipper," Melman responded.
"Everyone is," said Private. "I've talked to Kowalski about the issue and he said he'll try to do a little research on how we can stop Skipper from swearing."
"Tell him to do it as quick as he can," Gloria told the tiny penguin. "That foul-mouthed penguin is getting on our nerves!"
"Will do," Private replied, and he waddled away.
Gloria went back to the mirror and began inspecting her paint-work. "I hope I'm not sweating," she grumbled. "The last thing I need is my body art getting ruined so quickly."
"Just relax," Marty told her. "The last thing we need is our show to come crashing down so quickly."
"That would be a disaster," Gloria replied.
"Just remember to calmly breathe and keep thinking happy thoughts," said Marty. "The more calm and happy we are, the more spectacular our show's gonna be."
"Speaking of spectacular, where's Alex and Gia?" Melman asked.
Marty and Gloria glanced around the backstage area but couldn't see Alex or Gia anyway.
"Maybe they're putting on their body-paint," Marty guessed.
"They wouldn't do so at the last-minute," Gloria objected. "They're both dedicated to performing their trapeze act. To say that is like saying they hate living here."
"You're right," said Marty. "Still though, the only time I've seen them both was when they were rehearsing. Hopefully they haven't gone off to...oh, here they come."
Melman and Gloria looked in Marty's direction to see Alex and Gia strolling towards them looking immensely cheerful. They both had various shades of pink body-paint on them, but their designs were different from each other. While Gia had all of her spots painted pink, Alex had some portions of his face and mane painted pink. Not one of Alex's friends ever thought that he would never do something that would affect his appearance, as they thought he would be ridiculed because of it, but, since they were now circus animals, Alex felt more comfortable to do so.
"Hey, guys," Alex said as he and Gia approached the trio.
"Hey, Alex; hey, Gia," Melman replied. "You both ready for tonight's show?"
"I'd be surprised if someone wasn't," said Gia.
"You're telling me!" Marty said cheerfully. "This is our last show before winter break. To think that someone here isn't happy about us getting another break is quite out of the ordinary."
Gia frowned and replied, "Well, unless you consider Skipper as a 'someone', then you'd be wrong."
Everyone around her groaned in agreement. The cheerfulness that had reappeared had now vanished once again.
"How could we forget?" Alex grunted. "But that's just great! For the next few months while we're temporarily out of work, we're all going to be stuck with him and his bad attitude!"
"That's the cabin fever no one ever wants to go through!" said Marty.
"Have you talked to one of the other penguins about this?" Gia asked.
"Private told us he and the others will look up ways to get him to calm down," Gloria responded. "Hopefully they'll find a computer as soon as possible."
"Where are they going to find a computer?" Alex inquired. "For that matter, how are they going to get a high-speed internet connection?"
"Hopefully there's a signal at this indoor zoo we'll all be staying at during winter," said Melman.
Alex glared at Melman. "Indoor zoo?" he asked in disbelief. "That's where we're staying over the winter? An indoor zoo?"
"Well that's what Gloria told us," Melman replied.
"And I heard it from King Julien," Gloria added.
"The childish lemur?" Gia asked. "Why would you believe someone who's always saying and doing crazy stuff?"
"Well, it's plausible that we're going to a place that's like a zoo," Alex began; "and it's also possible that it's going to be indoors because none of us like the bitter cold. So, chances are-"
Alex glanced down at Gia who was staring at him suspiciously. She knew that he was trying to tell her that it wasn't the place she was thinking about, and he obviously saw that she knew he was making a fool of himself.
Alex sighed and said, "Yeah, we're staying at an indoor zoo during winter."
"Wonderful," Gia groaned as she rolled her eyes.
Gia crossed her arms and her head drooped because of the intense anger raging inside.
"Now, don't get too angry, Gia," Alex said as he cautiously wrapped an arm around his jaguar partner. "We all know that it's going to be one hell of a winter we'll be having with Skipper, but you mustn't let anger dominate your thoughts. If you get angry while we're performing, something's gonna go wrong."
Gia didn't react when Alex wrapped his arm around her, but she did sigh when he advised her that being angry during a circus performance meant obvious trouble. While she was aware of what her lion partner had told her, she was still vexed that she and everyone else was going to spend an entire winter with an ill-tempered penguin who used curse words nonstop, no matter what the subject was or even if there was a subject to be talked about.
"Not to mention that we won't be in service again until next spring," Marty added. "Therefore, it's a good idea if we all found something to do that would be far away from Skipper- or, at least, something we can seclude him from."
"You sure that would be a good idea?" Melman inquired. "He could probably get more angry if we were to do something that involved us sneaking out of the place, whatever it is."
"Who said anything about sneaking out?" Marty questioned. "You think we would find ourselves on a new, life-threatening adventure that we don't need to go on?"
"No, that's not what I meant!" Melman objected. "All I'm saying is-"
"Okay, both of you, shut up!" Gloria demanded. "We're all trying to be excited for our final show of the year, and what are we doing instead? Making things worse!" Let's get serious, guys! Let's put on a show that this crowd has paid money for!"
After that, everyone who was in a non-circus mood agreed that their current feelings were not suitable for the upcoming event, which was about to start. They all wanted their audience to be in awe of their show. Even if their circus was all over the news when it was first performed in New York City, they still had one of the most popular and successful traveling shows of all time; and it would be a shame if something were to happen that would weaken their reputation, and cause their popularity and profits to slowly decline until they could no longer function as a business.
Alex noticed that Gia had morphed from being irate to being greatly animated. The sight of her mood alteration was enough to make him smile.
Just then, Vitaly called out to everyone: "Everyone, to your positions! The show starts in two minutes!"
"Well, this is it!" Gia told Alex enthusiastically. "You'd better head up to your spot above the center ring! I'll meet you up there in my spot- if you're fast enough!"
Alex chuckled while Gia laughed as she walked away at a fast pace.
Alex was about to take off for his position above the center ring but an unusual sight caught his attention. It was the way Gia's lower body moved as she walked. The way her rear appeared to shake was enough to revive the lion's sexual excitement he felt when he met up with Gia before rehearsals. He imagined himself alone with Gia in a fancy hotel bedroom. In his daydream, the jaguar appeared more attractive than she usually did- as a matter of fact, her behavior and actions made her greatly seductive.
Alex continued daydreaming about him and Gia when he suddenly heard her call out to him. "Alex!"
The lion snapped back into reality. He realized where he was and how much erotic euphoria he was feeling. He gasped and swiftly covered his lower region just in case there was someone staring at him in a suspicious or disgusted way. He began to think of other thoughts in hope that it would allow the sexual excitement would die down.
To his relief, Gia was the only other animal near him. She was looking at him while leaning against a stack of wooden boxes. The smirk on her face told Alex that she must've noticed him staring at her as if he was under a spell.
Alex began to panic. "Uh, Gia, you weren't...you didn't...happen to notice me..."
"I know you were staring at my ass," Gia said while smirking; much to Alex's surprise and relief, she wasn't mad at all.
"Maybe I was," Alex responded timidly; "but I couldn't help it!"
Gia, still smiling slyly, asked, "Alex, do you love me or my body?"
Alex was dumbfounded by Gia's accusation that he loved her body than her altogether and the way she said it. He didn't know how to respond at first, but he found the right words to reply to her question.
"Honestly, I'm in love with you both," Alex told Gia. "While it's true that I can't stop staring at you or your butt whenever I find myself staring at you or your butt, I also can't stop thinking of how impressive you are at being protective of your passion and the entire circus. The girl lions I've met in Africa were both beautiful and noble, but not one of them could outmatch your standards."
Alex was still afraid of what Gia would do next but she remained where she was and continued to stare at him and smirk.
A moment later, Gia said, "Considering of how nice your compliment was, and of course you're sorry for your behavior, I'll forgive you. Just don't let it overpower you; okay?"
Alex nodded and Gia hurried away to her position for the performance.
From somewhere far away, Private shouted, "One minute till curtain!"
Alex quickly dashed to his position above the center ring.
Vitaly was mentally preparing himself for his act, which was also the starting act of the show. He had previously doused himself in hair conditioner and was now waiting for the penguins to give Stefano the cue to waddle out and light the tiny hoop in the center of the performing area.
Stefano waited for the penguins to signal him to start the show. He held a single match in his flipper and made sure that he didn't lose it.
From where they were, the penguins could see that all the people in the bleachers were ecstatic to see the show that took the country by storm. While Private, Kowalski, and Rico were calm, Skipper appeared indignant. The three other penguins were aware that their leader was still hot under the collar from the pressure of managing the circus. They hoped that they would eventually find a cure for his vile anger, because if no one did and allowed it to worsen, the future of the circus would be effected in a very negative way.
"Somebody better not fuck this up!" Skipper grumbled in quietly as he could.
Even when he tried to keep his voice at a hoarse whisper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico heard him.
"Skipper, please calm down," Private said aloud. "We don't want things to get bad between us."
"Shut your beaks and keep an eye on the clock!" Skipper ordered. "If there's anybody in this God forsaken circus that I don't want to fuck things up, I don't want either of you to be that guy!"
Kowalski, Rico, and Private sighed angrily. Skipper's rage and bitterness was increasing hour by hour. They feared of how high his level of anger would reach before he would explode and cause a lot of trouble- much like how a ton of dynamite would cause a large portion of rock to crumble off a mountain side.
Kowalski glanced at an alarm clock they had nearby. "It's showtime!" he announced.
Private pressed a button on the walkie-talkie he had and said, "Alright, Stefano, you're on!"
Seconds later, the lights dimmed and Stefano ran out into the center ring. Upon seeing the sea-lion, the audience erupted in applause; several cheers and whistles were heard among the ovation.
Stefano made his way to the stand which held the tiny hoop. He then lit the match and carefully held it close to the hoop. It caught fire immediately. Stefano blew the lit match out and ran behind the curtains so Vitaly could make his grand entrance.
It took only five seconds for silence to engulf the crowd. Everyone held their breath. Several people, mostly teenagers, had their cell phones out and were recording the moment- after all, no one wanted to forget such a magical event as the Fur Power Circus.
Vitaly stepped out from behind the curtains. He carefully analyzed his objective standing yards away from him. Once he was sure that he could do it, the tiger prepared himself to run and, once he was ready, he dashed towards the hoop. As he sprinted, Vitaly did a few cartwheels before finally jumping forward and seemingly flew towards the hoop with one arm in front of him.
Vitaly appeared on the other side of the hoop untouched. The hair conditioner had done its work and he had avoided catching fire like he did many years ago. And just like every performance when he was a star and after his revival, the crowd cheered and applauded him for his short but incredible act.
Within moments, the entire show began. As the music blared, special effects, mostly lights, added an exhilarating sensation into the atmosphere. Every person in the bleachers was immediately amazed by how the props and other equipment moved. For the young children in the crowd, it was enough evidence to prove that magic was real.
The circus went on without a single problem. In fact, it was probably one of the best shows any of the animals did in the past few months. Gloria and Melman were having a lot of fun performing their tightrope act, and Marty and Stefano were having a blast with their cannon act (literally).
Eventually, it came time for Alex and Gia to perform their trapeze act. From their respective platforms, the lion and jaguar could see that everyone was ecstatic to see them in action. When the props were put in their proper places, they took a deep breath and then looked forward to face each other.
"Ready, Gia?" Alex called out to his partner.
"Always, Alex!" Gia responded.
With that, Alex and Gia dashed forward and dived off their platforms. They swiftly grabbed a trapeze bar and swung upwards.
The rest of their act went on just as they had done it since the start. Alex and Gia flipped and spun as they swung on trapeze bars, flew through large hoops, and bounced on floating trampolines. Below them, people watched in amazement, and the teenagers continued to film the event with the camera function on their cell phones, as the felines performed their trapeze act, which Alex and Gia had dubbed "Trapeze Americano".
When they finished their act, the audience erupted in the same ovation they had when the show had started, only louder and more exhilarated than before. Alex and Gia left the center ring and hurried backstage to recollect their newly made memory.
"Alex, that was the best trapeze we've ever done by far!" Gia cheered.
"I know!" Alex replied ecstatically. "What a way to wow everyone before our winter break!"
"Yeah," Gia said as the excitement in her voice dropped a little. "Too bad we have to wait until spring to do it again."
"Trust me, that sucks," Alex replied. "But, hey, at least we did our best tonight and we didn't disappoint anybody."
Gia nodded and gazed into Alex's blue eyes. "So, what do you think we're going to do all winter?" she inquired.
"That's a good question, Gia," Alex told her. "We're all gonna have to keep ourselves active and busy, and mostly away from Skipper. Hopefully the penguins will figure out how to calm him down."
"We're all praying for a miracle," said Gia.
For a brief moment the felines were slightly downhearted. Then Alex looked into Gia's hazel eyes with a warm smile on his face. "Look on the bright side," he said. "At least we'll have all our friends around."
"As well as each other," Gia added with a small giggle.
"Oh, that's a plus," Alex replied.
Alex and Gia shared a warm-hearted chuckle before they looked at each other passionately. A powerful force brought them closer to each other. They found themselves so close that their noses touched. Gia giggled again and Alex smiled lovingly.
Slowly, Alex and Gia lifted their heads up. Their noses were no longer touching. But soon, it was their lips that were connected together. All love they felt was at its greatest. Alex wasn't sure if Gia was sensing it herself, but he felt sexual excitement growing inside for the third time that day. While it was becoming a nuisance to him, he couldn't help but allow it to course through his body.
After thirty seconds, Alex and Gia opened their eyes to gaze once again into their partner's eyes. They continued to kiss romantically; both were absorbed in so much euphoria that they appeared to have shut out the world around them. Just like Vitaly had told Alex, he and Gia were both unbreakable.
Suddenly, Gia broke away from their kiss. Even when she acted calm, it was easy to make out that she was frantic. Though he was disappointed that the kiss ended abruptly, Alex was concerned about his partner. "Gia, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Um...it's, um...I," Gia faltered, obviously worried about what she was trying to tell Alex.
"Gia, tell me what's the matter," said Alex. "I can help you."
Alex calmly approached her but Gia staggered back in fear. She once again began to falter her words and Alex could see that tears were forming in her eyes.
"Gia, please, talk to me," Alex said much more concerned.
"I'm sorry, Alex," Gia whimpered. "I need to be alone."
Gia then ran out of the tent with her paws to her face. Alex called out to her to come back so they could talk but she ignored him. The bewildered lion watched as the melancholy jaguar dashed to one of the train's boxcars, opened the large sliding doors, climbed in, and slammed them shut. The sight, along with the sound of her crying, broke Alex's heart. "What did I do?" he asked himself.
Just then, Marty, Stefano, Gloria, Melman, and Vitaly entered the area.
"Hey, Alex, what's happening?" Marty asked.
"Gia and I kissed," Alex responded dispiritedly.
"Really?" Melman asked in a gasp. "You finally kissed her?"
"Alex, that's wonderful!" Gloria said delightedly. "I knew you could win her heart!"
Alex sadly nodded.
"See, Alex," Melman told his lion friend; "when you tell someone your feelings, things will go smoothly; like you telling Gia you love her."
"Gia must be so happy that you're both making it official!" said Marty.
"Yeah," Alex replied as his head drooped. "She's overjoyed."
Everyone began to sense the sadness Alex was feeling and the happiness they felt for their friend immediately drained away.
"What happened?" Gloria inquired.
"I don't know," said Alex. "One moment, she was happy that we were in love; and then, she's suddenly miserable. I tried to get her to tell me what's wrong but she just takes off crying. I don't know why she got so sad like that. I'm not sure what I did that made her so upset."
Marty wrapped an arm around Alex. "Don't worry, Al," he told him. "I'm sure that Gia will be calm again tomorrow. It might be hard for her to explain, but I'm sure she'll tell you."
While Marty, Gloria, and Melman were consoling Alex, Vitaly and Stefano were standing far away from them. Stefano was sad to see one of his friends heartbroken. He looked up at Vitaly who was staring at the group with a somber look on his face.
At one point, Vitaly let out a long sigh and muttered, "I should have told him earlier that this would happen. It's been years since, but that dreadful memory still hangs over her."
Stefano looked away from Vitaly and back to Alex and his friends. He knew all too well what the tiger was referring to. That was a moment in his life- more appropriately Gia's life -that was as dark as life could get. He never knew that something like it could happen, but it did, and it happened to the one animal he and Vitaly cared about, and now who Alex cared about.
Along with the unpredictable weather and Skipper's uncontrollable anger, it was going to be a long, horrible winter.