Chapter 4- The Good Neighbor Lodge

Marlene woke up early that morning by the sounds from Julien's boom box. She rose to the sound of Another One Bites the Dust and its loud percussion. She decided to head outside and get a little fresh air outside of her own enclosure.

So Marlene left. In the empty zoo sidewalk, she made out three bundles of something huddled together next to the brick wall. At first she thought a few popcorn buckets missed the trash can, but then she looked closer and saw white on those black fluffs. The penguins? She raced over immediately and looked down at them with horror.

"What's happened to you guys?" she exclaimed.

Kowalski moaned and rolled over. "Hey, Marlene. We didn't get any sleep last night. Julien made us dance all night."

"What? Why didn't Skipper do anything? Why aren't you at home?"

"Skipper booted us out," Private said miserably. "We were so stupid. Now we have nowhere to live."

"Skipper kicked you out," Marlene said sympathetically. "Oh, I saw him yelling at you yesterday afternoon, but I never expected he would simply throw you out."

"We took advantage of our freedom," Kowalski replied. "Now we end up like this. If you don't mind, we would like to get back to our sleeping now."

Kowalski and Private all stuffed themselves under a cheeseburger wrapper for warmth. It was so small that they all pushed each other to get under it. They fought and pulled on it desperately until it split down the middle and then they tried to snatch the pieces from each other. Marlene was awe-struck. The penguins were her friends and this was just pathetic.

"Come with me, penguins," she told them, wondering if she would regret this decision. "You can stay with me until Skipper cools down."

All the penguins jumped up suddenly and saluted Marlene like she was their leader. She shifted her feet uncomfortably and looked away.

"You are very nice, Marlene," Private complimented. "Are you really offering us your base?"

"It's no big deal," Marlene answered modestly. "It's the least I can do."

"Then we make a pledge to you right now," Kowalski continued. "That we will be no burden. We will protect your base from intruders and be the best neighbors we can be."

"No, really you don't need to-"

"We will form the Good Neighbor Lodge," Kowalski interrupted. "We will be the best roommates you will ever had and nothing bad will happen. Good Neighbor Lodge, fall out."

Marlene sighed and led them towards her otter habitat. The penguins saluted her again and marched along right beside her. She growled to herself when they just watched her as she went along.

"We have to make sure there are no rocks in your path that you might trip on," Private confirmed and removed a little pebble that she could of easily just stepped over.

"I'm fine!" she growled. "Just stop being nice."

"You look a little worked up," Kowalski said.

"Uh-huh," added Rico.

"Gee, I wonder why!" she screamed sarcastically. Apparently, the penguins didn't take that as sarcasm.

"Because you shouldn't be walking in this heat," Kowalski decided and began to panic. "Good Neighbor Lodge, assist!"

The penguins picked her up effortlessly and abducted her. They ran with her as their bounty. She squirmed and screamed, but they carried her all the way to her habitat. They placed her down gently when they got there.

"NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" she thundered. "Make yourselves at home!"

She was about to go inside her home, but the penguins couldn't stand for that. They picked her up and carried her inside.

"LEAVE!" she demanded. "Just…go outside for a while. I just need some time away from you three."

Marlene crawled back in bed and burrowed under her pillow to block out Julien's unnecessary racket. Kowalski, Rico, and Private stared at the sleeping Marlene with confusion. The Good Neighbor Lodge realized that they made their host very angry and went outside for a club meeting.

"I call the Good Neighbor Lodge together for a meeting," Kowalski announced. "First of all, we need to be official. Rico, fezzes."

Rico barfed up a red fez for everyone. They all put on their official symbols of the club and the meeting continued.

"It is obvious that our host is not very happy. We need to do something that will make Marlene like us again. Think, team. What can we do for Marlene to make her happy?"

"KABOOM!"

Rico was tingling with excitement as Kowalski thought it over. He whined with disappointment when Kowalski turned down the idea.

"Marlene does not like explosives," he answered. "Sorry, Rico. Private, your sensitive in your own special way. What would you recommend?"

"Well…we can give Marlene a makeover," Private suggested brightly. "Marlene does care about her reflection I have noticed, especially around Skipper."

"Makeover it is!" Kowalski agreed and Rico nodded with agreement. "Let's get started."

The penguins knew nothing of makeovers, but they were sure going to try for Marlene's sake. While she was asleep, they set to work.

Marlene awoke to see three pairs of topaz eyes looking over her. They were smiling happily like they just did something great. Marlene blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked up a them.

"I said I needed space," she grumbled. "I hope you three haven't destroyed the place yet."

"Of course not," Kowalski promised loyally.

"We would never," Private agreed and saluted her. "We are after all the G-"

"Don't say it!" Marlene snapped, making Private wince.

She felt a little bad for snapping at the youngest penguin and decided maybe she was a little hard on these penguins. They were only trying to make themselves worthy to her. She was just overreacting. She would do something nice for them when she brushed her fur. It did feel a little funny this morning. She grabbed her brush and looked in the mirror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

What she saw in that mirror was a monster, a terrifying monster. She saw a lump of brown matted fur with little bows sticking out at odd angles. She was so hideous it was unbelievable. Her eye twitched and she slowly turned to the penguins, so angry and shocked that she was calm.

"What is….in my fur?" she demanded.

"Um…we're not sure," Private admitted. "We found it in the-"

Rico slapped Private and he shut up. Marlene quickly pounced on top of Private and pinned him to the ground, shaking him so he whimpered with fright.

"WHAT IS IT?" she screamed.

"Sludge," he surrendered. "We found it in the monkey cages. It's hair gel."

"WHAT?"

Marlene couldn't take this any longer. She roughly grabbed all three of them hard enough for her claws to dig into their skin and then she threw them out.

"Good Neighbor Lodge, huh?" she snarled. "Leave! Find a new life to ruin!"

Then she slammed the door on them.