Hello everyone! CJzilla here with another update! In this chapter, Sheba is getting comfortable in the zoo and the animals are wary. How much longer until push comes to shove and Julien and Sheba trade blows? Enjoy.
As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... Review.
Chapter 4
This Means War
The next morning, the animals were awoken by the sounds of construction. The noise even carried through the bowels of the penguin habitat and to Skipper's ears. The screech of a drill shocked the leader of the quartet of penguins out of sleep.
"Holy mother of-!" BLAM! Skipper slammed his head on the top of his concrete bunk.
Skipper tumbled out of his top bunk and smacked the floor. By that time the rest of the penguins, Rico, Kowalski and Private were on their feet and wide awake. Immediately Rico and Kowalski jumped on Private, plugging his ears so he couldn't hear their leader's colorful language as he held his head. Skipper danced around their underground base, cursing and holding his face. Finally, but with a flipper clapped on his head, he turned to his team.
"Game time boys!" Skipper commanded. "Something's going down! Upstairs! Move! Move!"
The four flightless birds zipped up the ladder and popped out on the surface of their enclosure. Blinking and adjusting their eyes to the morning sun, the penguin's mouths dropped to the ground. Zoo staff was busy constructing a HUGE cage around a tree, on the other side of the gift shop.
"What in the glorified name of the marching penguins is going on?" Skipper grunted in confusion. Then they heard a little laugh from above and to the right of them.
"Good morning my penguin subjects!" Craning around, the quartet of penguins saw Queen Sheba, the royal bird of paradise, perched on a light just outside of their home. The beautiful green and purple gave a jovial laugh before gliding down to them.
Private froze, still nervous to know that he had to spend as much time as he could with the beautiful yet flashy female bird. But Sheba approached Skipper and gave him a smile.
"I have to say, black and white never gets old." She said. "We're both birds of style."
Sheba opened her wings in another showy display of her feathers. Skipper felt his eyebrow twitch. It was too early to play polite and patient with this spoiled female bird.
"What's with the boom boom bang?" He cut to the chase. "It's coming from your side of the zoo."
Sheba gave him an exuberant smile.
"I've ordered construction of my temporary living quarters to begin, Mr. Skipper." The bird of paradise nodded at the quickly assembling cage. "Depending on how much these zoo keepers love their queen, my royal digs should be ready by nighttime."
Skipper looked over Sheba's shoulder and saw that her cage was all ready two stories tall and growing. Blinking, the lead penguin looked back at the female bird.
"Extending your stay, queenie?" Skipper asked less politely, folding his flippers. Sheba laughed and fluffed her feathers.
"Queenie? How cute! I love it!" She responded. "But no. My flight from Bengal was delayed yesterday so when I arrived, there was no time to set up my quarters. Today my human servants will have to catch up on lost time. I expect to only remain here for two days more. Can you believe I had to spend the night in a dreadful room inside the reptile house?"
Skipper refrained from rolling his eyes while Kowalski jumped in.
"I hear those are accommodations are quite nice. Heated baths, foliage and around-the-clock care." The brainy penguin voiced. But then he saw the look on Sheba's face. "But… uh, nothing suited for a queen, your majesty."
"Nice save, Kowalski." Skipper whispered back at the tallest penguin.
Sheba gave an aggravated groan as she started pacing.
"It was simply DISGUSTING!" Sheba carried on. "It was muggy, smelt like mulch and my bath had no mineral water in it! I was forced to perch on a tree that blocked my view! And then there was this boa constrictor in the pen across from me that couldn't stop talking to me! He kept telling me how beautiful my feathers were and how he'd never seen anything like me before-"
Skipper's eyes widened.
"Whoa! Whoa! Constrictor? Did he have orange, brown, black and tan scales?" The lead penguin gave her a firm look. Sheba, though interrupted, nodded. "That's Crazy Calvin. STAY away from him, queenie. He's constantly on the prowl for a hapless meal. He's made a crack at most of the zoo keepers here, including most of the animals that are within his range."
The bird of paradise swallowed as her brown eyes grew large.
"I see…" Sheba breathed, wing clapped to her chest. "Then it is a great thing that they are setting up my quarters! I wish not to see that lesser pen again."
She huffed before cleaning her face.
"To get my mind off of my lousy night, I wish to start my tour as soon as possible." Sheba looked up. "Do you penguins know where the otter resides? She is to give me a tour today."
Skipper felt an irritated frown tug on his beak.
"Her name is Marlene and she lives a stone's throw from us." He pointed a flipper to two enclosures down and one across from them. Then he pushed Private into the open. "Private will show you."
Once in front of Sheba, Private's head sunk between his shoulders and he swallowed loudly. Sheba, on the other hand, was enthralled.
"Good morning, Private!" She gave him a big smile. "You look even cuter in the daylight."
Again Private's black and white plumage turned red and black.
"Come then!" The bird of paradise opened her wings and flapped them. "I wish to start right now!"
The penguins watched her glide up to a light pole and wait for Private. Private whirled around to Skipper.
"Don't MAKE me, Skipper!" The youngest penguin grabbed his leader by the shoulders and shook him. Skipper slapped him again.
"Get it together, man!" The lead penguin snapped. "Do just as I instructed you last night. Flatter her but make sure she talks. We need to know what she knows!"
"Private!" Sheba called down to the penguin in a singsong voice. Private looked like someone dropped an electric eel down his throat.
"We salute you, Private." Skipper saluted. "Now go get her!"
With a shove, Private was pushed into the water. The other penguins stood on in honorable silence as Private tackled the most dangerous missions in zoo history.
"Private… probably won't survive." Kowalski voiced just as soon as both Private and Sheba were out of earshot. Skipper turned back to the door to their base.
"I wouldn't either if I had to wake up Marlene and get inside a woman's head, all in the same day." The lead penguin remarked waddling to the entrance.
"Dead…" Rico bowed his head. Then he twitched and zipped toward the base along side Skipper.
Kowalski was the only one to remain standing there.
"What's in your head, Kowalski?" Skipper called back at his friend. The tallest and smartest penguin held a flipper thoughtfully to his chin.
"With all the construction and new signs-" Kowalski pointed to a HUGE banner with Sheba's likeness on it being installed on the entrance of the zoo. "-I wonder if Julien's seen this yet."
And as if on cue, a blood-curdling scream was heard out of the lemur habitat. Another sick smile spread over Skipper's beak.
"That's a big, fat yes, Kowalski." He eyed the lemur habitat with a silent chuckle. But then he was brought out of his evil thought bubble by Kowalski.
"You did agree with Marlene that we would be doing some damage control, Skipper." The brainy penguin voiced. "It is within reasonable context of that agreement that we calm the little temper tantrum Julien is likely having."
Skipper rolled his eyes but agreed with his teammate.
"I did agree to that, didn't I?" He looked at the two remaining members of his team. Rico and Kowalski nodded. "Fine. But let be enjoy his harrowing screams for a few minuets."
Across the way, in the lemur habitat, Julien was rubbing his eyes so hard he nearly forced them back into his skull. This HAD to be a dream! He HAD to still be sleeping. Then the ring-tailed lemur opened his eyes again. Nope. There were billboards of that vexatious bird of paradise surrounding him.
"Dis is bad! A BAD dream that I am having!" Julien bit down on his fingertips. "I am still asleep in slumber! Yes! That is what is going on now!"
And with that the lemur flopped down onto his bounce-house bed. Lying there for a few long seconds, Julien rolled around twice before "waking up" again. The ring-tailed lemur forced a yawn, trying to authenticate his "reawakening". Sitting up on his bounce-house bed, he smacked his lips and gave his ear a scratch. Snatching his crown off of the little pillow beside him, Julien put it onto his head.
"Okay… When I open my eyes, I shall see my untainted kingdom." He chanted to himself. Finally, he took his hands off of his eyes.
Nope. Now there seemed to be more of that accursed bird's pictures surrounding him. A poster of her appearance was on every light post, every door and every wall. Julien began to hyperventilate and pull on his ears.
"BAD DAY!" He exclaimed before screaming again.
When Skipper, Kowalski and Rico finally made an appearance to Julien, they all happened upon a strange and disturbing sight. Upon zipping into the lemur habitat, all was strangely and uncharacteristically silent and when they finally came to Julien's throne, they saw how upset the ring-tailed lemur was. Julien was curled up on his throne, looking absolutely livid. At the foot of his throne was Mort and Maurice, on their bellies with their faces on the ground.
"What are you two doing?" Skipper saw Maurice and Mort on the floor. That got him a venom glare from Julien.
"Penguins!" The lemur hopped up in his seat. "PAY HOMAGE TO YOUR KING!"
Skipper narrowed his eyes.
"Not in a million year-" Before he could finish his sentence, Julien flew off of his throne faster than he'd ever seen the lemur move. Julien was immediately in Skipper's face.
"WHAT… did you say?" The ring-tailed lemur snarled, an unnatural rile in his golden eyes and his fur standing on end.
Though Skipper could easily take this crybaby mammal, it wasn't going to do the agreement he had with Marlene any good. The lead penguin gave a sigh and looked away.
"Uh… as much homage as we have in our hearts." Skipper returned, unexcited and lying through his beak. Julien looked somewhat pacified and stomped back to his throne.
Thank you shallow royal flattery.
"What's got your royal undies in such a bunch there, Ring Tail?" Skipper squeezed out, clearly swallowing his pride to talk comforting to such a thorn in his side.
Julien growled.
"Dis!" He gestured out over the heavily promotionalized zoo. "Everywhere I turn, dere is a poster of that annoying she-harpy! She is NO queen! I am de ONLY royalty here!"
Skipper looked up at Kowalski and gave him a pleading look.
"And why are Maurice and Mort on the ground?" Was all that Kowalski was interested in. A scowl rippled across Julien's face.
"They are groveling. Which I demanded of them." The ring-tailed lemur returned. Then he shot daggers at the three penguins. "Why are you not groveling?"
Skipper slapped his forehead and bit down. This was going to be torture. Here's hoping Private was having better luck with Sheba and Marlene.
Meanwhile Private was standing near Sheba as Marlene told her all about the animals and the zoo. The youngest penguin was having a hard time keeping his composure. This was indeed a dangerous assignment. Sheba and Marlene together proved to be difficult to balance. They were speaking a different language; the tongue of the females. It didn't help that Marlene had inadvertently lead them to another confrontation with Julien.
"Private? Private?" Marlene snapped her fingers in front of his face. The penguin zapped out of his fearful staring. "What's wrong? You look stressed."
The bird of paradise then looked over at her little penguin friend.
"Does he?" Sheba questioned, turning to the little bird. "I can't have my favorite penguin stressed."
Private gave a squeak, unable to form words. The girls looked at each other.
"Yup. He's stressed." The Asian otter nodded at Sheba. The bird of paradise shook her colorful head.
"This will not do. Marlene, comfort him." The queenly female bird ordered. Marlene gave her a glare; as politely a glare as one could give royalty.
Sheba gave a little grin before turning and looking at a brochure. Holding in a sigh, Marlene walked over to Private and put her hands on his shoulder. Private tensed even more.
"Relax." She smiled. "You get any tenser and you'll squeak when you walk."
The little penguin squeaked.
"How can you be so calm, Marlene?" He whispered back at the otter. Marlene couldn't help but smile at his nervousness.
"I just keep in mind that I've made a new friend." The otter responded. "You should think of Sheba as the same."
Then she got a funny look from Private.
"No, not that." He told her, casting his eyes over her shoulder. "We're at the lemur habitat."
Marlene's amber eyes widened and she craned around. This stretch of sidewalk looked eerily familiar. The female otter gave a horrified gasp.
"Private! We need to get her out of-!" But Marlene was cut off by a snicker from Sheba.
"This colorful pamphlet indicates that we are right across from the lemurs." The bird of paradise gave an evil grin as she brought her eyes up to a tall wall. Then Sheba looked back at Marlene. "I have another task for you, Marlene."
Skipper sat back, letting Kowalski do all the "comforting" to Julien. It was times like this that it was good to be leader; bossing around his teammates to do things he didn't want to do. Glancing over at Rico, who was absentmindedly staring off, Skipper gave a quiet sigh.
"You're lucky you're crazy, Rico." The lead penguin remarked. "You have a one-way ticket out of situations like this."
Rico gave a nod, his eyes crossed and his tongue hanging out of his head. Skipper glared back at Julien who was still curled up on his throne, still looking angry.
"A license to kill and I'm playing wet nurse to an unhinged lesser mammal with delusions of royalty." The lead penguin grumbled. "I'm doing a fine job of wasting my training."
Just then they heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, all animals saw Marlene standing on the wall of the lemur habitat. The female otter looked apprehensive as she waved at them.
"Hello everyone!" Marlene greeted, trying to ignore the strange looks the lemurs and penguins were giving her.
"Marlene?" Skipper got to his feet. "What are you doing?"
The otter squirmed as her eyes came to Julien, Maurice and Mort.
"I-… I bring a message to…" She sighed. "Mr. Stinky Raccoon Face from Queen Sheba."
Skipper was horrified as Julien's fur rose off of his body again.
"What are you speaking, otter?" The ring-tailed lemur growled dangerously. Skipper shot Julien a glare.
"Don't talk to Marlene like that!" He snapped. "She's just the messenger."
Just before the two rivals could get into a yelling match, there was another sigh from Marlene.
"The wonderful and beautiful Queen Sheba directs THIS comment to the, uh…" She looked over the other side of the wall and listened as Sheba relayed her message. Marlene cringed but looked at Julien. "-very sad Possum-headed raccoon."
Julien raked his teeth together as Marlene continued.
"Queen Sheba asks if Mr. Raccoon enjoys being the village fool as much as he enjoys his stench." The otter winced, waiting for Julien's childish rebuttal. Sure enough, the lemur flew head-long into a freak out.
"MORT!" Julien snatched the mouse lemur from the ground. "Relay my glorious words to the feathery viper!"
Without room for Mort to reply, Julien threw him football-style into Marlene's arms.
"Hi!" The little lemur beamed waving at Marlene.
"MORT! Focus!" Julien called to his lesser servant. Mort snapped to attention.
"Oh, c'mon, Ring Tail!" Skipper gestured exasperatedly. "Save whatever dignity you have left."
Julien didn't hear the penguin over his own furious snorting.
"Mort! Tell dat molting turkey that she's all hot air and no substance! You tell her dat!" The ring-tailed lemur snarled. Mort saluted and looked over the wall.
"Julien says you're a smoking turkey that has hot hair and no substitutes." The little mouse lemur told Sheba. Julien, hearing Mort's words, slapped his forehead.
Then Marlene got a message from Sheba.
"Queen Sheba says that your compliments are as bad as your crown." The otter called over to Julien. The self-proclaimed lemur king fumed.
"Mort! Tell that goose dat I wasn't complimenting her!" The ring-tailed lemur snarled. Mort nodded.
"Okay!" The little, adorable lemur turned to Sheba. "Julien says that he wasn't contemplating a goose!"
Marlene watched Sheba's reaction. Then she turned to the other animals.
"She's kinda busy laughing." The otter shrugged. Julien dug his fingers into his armrests, his eye twitching badly.
Suddenly Sheba flew to the wall and looked into the lemur habitat. Julien was furious to see her and laughing so hysterically.
"I HATE her." The ring-tailed lemur shot out of his seat again. "DROP DEAD YOU AWFUL PEACOCK!"
The bird of paradise finally came off of her laughter.
"You're too much, Mr. Gerbil!" Sheba wiped her eyes. "I haven't laughed that hard since I saw you in the net."
She screamed with laughter again. Julien zipped out of his throne and to the edge of the raised platform.
"I am not dat funny!" He shook a fist at her. Sheba just laughed and laughed.
"Oh, yes you are." The bird of paradise then flicked her wings. "But what am I to expect from the king of fools."
"I am KING! RULER of all dat my eyeballs take in!" Julien was hopping mad. Then he calmed for a second. "But I will not argue dat my subjects are a little screwy in de brain."
"HEY!" The other animals called back. Sheba was suddenly not laughing anymore.
The bird of paradise was looking over his habitat and found it slightly infuriating. It was nice… MUCH nicer than the one she spent the night in. Then, at that moment, Sheba felt a small poke inside of her. Maybe this lemur was what he said he was.
Julien was looking for something to throw at the female bird. Just when he was going to call for a fruit, he saw her turn up her beak.
"Riveting though this was, I must continue with my tour." Sheba told him. "But you know what they say, Mr. Raccoon: a skunk cannot smell their own stink. Good day."
With that Sheba turned, opened her wings and glided down to the ground again. Marlene, looking relieved suddenly had one last message for Julien.
"Queen Sheba says that you are still a stinky possum face." With that, the female otter hopped back down to Sheba and Private.
Julien stood there, rigid with fury. Finally, he snapped his fingers.
"Maurice! Get me the chimps." The ring-tailed lemur ordered. Maurice exchanged a frightened look with Skipper.
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