Julien whipped his head around and snarled at the two hidden penguins'.
His eyes were now a blood red, a red tint to his fur also. His fur itself was a bit shaggy and had gotten noticeably longer. His tail had gotten a bit shorter, and his white rings were now gray. His teeth were very sharp, a disgusting yellow and green color to it, and his eyes seemed to have more depth to them than they ever had before. His paws now had long, sharp, black claws, making him all the more dangerous and beastly.
Julien was a werelemur. And Skipper and Private were dead meat.
(Outside the Zoo 0200 Hours)
In a tree in the public Central Park of New York were two figures that, if someone were to have had heard the news, would've been thought to be dead. No, they were very much alive, just injured.
"Ow, too tight!" Rico winced as Kowalski continued to tie bandages around his flipper. Kowalski had just finished doing it with his chest. He was too tired to really do anything but just sit against the tree bark and bleed. However, he wasn't too tired to complain to his higher ranking teammate.
"Rico, just hold still and stop squirming." Kowalski was getting increasingly frustrated with Rico's resistance. He was just trying to help for crying out loud! "We have to get back to the Zoo; we have been wasting too much time already."
Rico grumbled to himself and scowled at the scientist as he continued to wrap bandages around his flipper. The look softened as he was drawn into his thoughts. He was lucky to only get injured the way he did. He could have gotten killed. Rico still remembered what happened but, at this point, he wished he didn't…
(Flashback)
Rico looked over the Zoo with his binoculars while he stood on top of the Zoovenier shop.
Private was standing in front of their habitat as bait, and he could see Kowalski and Skipper in the bushes from his post. The outcome of this would be interesting, Rico could feel it. He then heard something that sounded like flapping and instinctively looked up. It was Flora and she was flying straight toward Private, who was the bait for their trap.
This made Rico start to panic. Quickly, he took the miniature radio and began to shout into it, "HEY! MONS-" He was cut short when the radio was slapped out of his grip. He turned around and screamed before the radio was crushed under a clawed foot. Rico gulped thickly.
It was Madison.
He laughed nervously and backed away slowly, holding his flippers out for a sign of peace. Madison took a few threatening steps forward before Rico regurgitated a flamethrower. He aimed it at her and grumbled, "Don't move." Honestly, he didn't want to shoot, especially since she was his girlfriend. There was going to be some bumps in their relationship if he did…and some scorched feathers.
Madison didn't seem to hear him or just didn't want to listen. She then ran straight at him and, before he could pull the trigger, she had him pinned down and the flamethrower was tossed away on the building's roof. She growled in his face with some saliva coming from her toothed beak, threatening to splatter onto Rico's face.
The psychopath grimaced and tried to use his feet to get her off, but he was too restricted to do so. The werepenguin took his flipper and bit down deeply into it. Rico screeched in pain, which made Madison's grip on him slacken due to her sensitive wolf like ears. He snarled and, using the falter to his advantage, tossed her away. She landed on her back while Rico jumped back to his feet with an open chance at a counter attack. Lucky for her, he didn't want to. The weapons expert raised his flippers up in a defensive position as Madison got back up and shook herself. She snarled, obviously pissed off, and made a move to tackle him. Rico easily kicked her away but it only fueled the werepenguin's anger.
Madison's eyes flared with fury, and she howled to the sky in her growing rage. She launched herself at him with such a tremendous amount of force that she easily managed to knock him down, making Rico gasp for breath as the wind was knocked out of him. She took one of her claw flippers and pressed it forcefully on his belly, sinking her claws into his abdomen.
Rico cringed and struggled when he felt the claws break through his skin and feathers. He was starting to bleed, and he couldn't stop it. He looked Madison in the eyes, begging for her to stop this. "Please," Rico panted as she pressed her claw even deeper into his stomach. There it was; that faint glint of recognition. It was quick, just a second, but it was gone. He felt the pressure from his stomach lift a bit but it quickly went back in.
Rico continued to breathe heavily as Madison continued to put him through slow torture. Why wouldn't she just end it already? He looked over the side of building, just barely able to see what was happening. Flora had just dodged a net and it had pinned Private down instead. Rico gasped painfully when Madison's claws sunk even deeper, as if forcing him to pay attention to her instead. It was at least three inches deep.
Madison suddenly growled and the pressure went down a bit. Rio looked up and saw Sara glaring at the werepenguin. He was faintly surprised to see Sara at all but the pain made him think only about staying awake. His vision swayed around, everything starting to get blurry from the pain and blood loss.
What Sara said made Rico let out a confused gurgled grunt come from the back of his throat, mostly from shock. "I will help you if you make a deal with me." Sara glared at Madison as she directed what she said to Rico.
Madison snarled in disapproval and dug her other flippers claws onto Rico's already injured flipper. The weapons expert only growled in pain, refusing to scream.
Sara brought her red eyed gaze onto Rico as she calmly said, "Give me what I want, and you will live."
Rico could detect a distinct menace in her voice, but he was blinded by pain as he nodded. He didn't know what she wanted, but he was sure he would find out soon. His eyes bugged out when Sara hissed and disappeared into the other mutated bird.
The werepenguin snorted and tossed her head around; her hat managing to stay on her feathered head.
Rico struggled to sit up, but he managed to despite the pain. He could guess with his limited intelligence that Sara was possessing Madison or something like that. He wondered why she would help him, even if she was going to get something in return, why would she? She has been the first to communicate out of the four, and it wasn't like Madison was going to talk anytime soon.
The angered werepenguin seemed to be in a battle of her own and was smacking her head harshly against the ground. Rico's chest clenched when he saw Madison reaching the edge of the building, moving frantically to rid of the possessor. Though Sara wasn't trying very hard to possess to be fair.
Madison yelped as she fell over the edge and Rico had just enough time to see Sara come out of her body before the werepenguin plummeted. Rico felt a sting in his heart when he heard a crash sound come from where Madison had fell. This was like torture to him. He looked at Sara, who didn't seem all that friendly, as she approached him.
"What do you want?" he croaked and spat out some blood. Sara didn't answer and just…vanished. What did she want? Wasn't she going to tell him? He sighed and gave up with it. He cringed as he stood up and limped to the side of the building. Blood was coming out of his newly obtained wound.
The maniac looked over the edge of the roof, and saw Madison jumping out of a garbage bin. He saw her run around the corner of the building, and he knew she was going to go after his friends. He wanted to go after her, but he was too exhausted.
Rico suddenly clutched his chest, specifically where the wound was, and fell onto his back. The weapons expert groaned in pain. He took a glance at his damaged flipper and grimaced. 'This freaking sucks,' he thought.
(End of Flashback)
Rico winced at the memory. He looked at Kowalski briefly, the guy that had saved him.
Kowalski looked up at Rico and shook his head in disapproval. "What happened, Rico?" he inquired curiously to his companion, keeping most of his focus on fixing Rico back up if only by a little.
"Madison," Rico grunted with reluctance and sadness in his tone.
Kowalski hummed, understanding his friend's predicament, and decided not to make further comments. "Almost done," he announced and tightened the last bandage on his flipper. Rico sighed and was thankful to start moving again. Kowalski watched as Rico started to stretch, every once in a while, wincing in pain. Rico probably saved his life too. Not Skipper or Private's but his. It was about an hour or two ago actually…
(Flashback)
Kowalski had completely freaked out when he had seen Madison. She nearly gave him a heart attack! He was sliding away as fast as possible from her. The strategist dared to look back, and saw Skipper and Private still there. He yelled in his mind for them to get out of there alive.
It was then that Kowalski noticed something, but just barely. He saw something jump off the roof of the Zoovenier shop. He scoffed at the thought and continued to move but, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something jumping from the trees.
The scared stiff scientist did his best to ignore it and continued forward. He flinched and went even faster when he heard Madison's claws scraping across the ground. Kowalski went around a corner and found himself at a dead end. He cursed himself and was tempted to go back but it was too risky.
He yelped in surprise when something landed on him. He rolled over and pinned whatever had landed on him. He was shocked when he saw it was Rico.
"Rico?" Kowalski gaped disbelievingly. He had thought Rico was dead or had gone missing somehow by the girls. Rico looked terrible though. Blood was coming out of his left flipper and his stomach had a gash with blood beginning to pool out. It was a mystery to how he was still alive with all that blood loss but his glazed over eyes suggested he was trying to remain conscious.
Kowalski got off the heavier penguin and helped him up.
Rico had ragged breathing as he tried to remain standing. His blood was getting all over the ground. "Go," Rico attempted to say hoarsely and showed the scientist a grappling hook he had regurgitated.
Kowalski shook his head and asked, "What about Skipper and Private?"
"Go!" Rico repeated with more force and lowered his brow intimidatingly.
Kowalski sighed and held Rico tightly so he wouldn't slip from his grip and aimed the grappling hook. He shot it out and it hooked onto the back of the wall. They both came to the solid obstacle and landed on top of the edge. Kowalski stumbled and struggled to keep his balance but it was all in vain. He and Rico both yelped as they fell over the wall. The last thing he saw was Madison coming into the area and corner Skipper and Private.
(End of Flashback)
Kowalski was still confident that the two were alive, but he wasn't going to take any chances by waiting out the mess. "We have to go back to the Zoo," he stated and stood up on the large tree branch they were on. No way was he going to leave his other teammates by themselves.
Rico nodded grimly in agreement.
They had wasted enough time; they had to get back. They both jumped out of the tree and started going back to the zoo, which was only going to bring misery for everyone involved.
"Private!" Skipper yelled angrily and slapped the back of the penguins head. "You just blew our cover!"
"Sorry!" the young cadet yelped.
Julien rushed to them and took both penguins by their feet. He yanked them out from under the bench before they could do anything. Julien then tossed them at the wall of a nearby habitat. He grinned, showing his yellow teeth, in satisfaction when they slapped against the brick, leaving an imprint of their bodies on it from the force.
Skipper and Private fell onto their backs, seeing stars. They were quickly pinned down on the ground by someone, or something, that was not Julien.
Skipper identified who it was immediately and groaned. "Aw c'mon! I thought we ditched you!" He pointed a flipper at Madison, who had him pinned down to the ground. She almost looked like she was smirking at him, though it was hard to tell due to all those teeth. "Ugh, now I know why penguins don't have incisors."
Private flinched as Flora looked down at him with an angry gaze. He felt his heart beat quicken. "Look, um, can't we just talk this out?" He whimpered when she shook her head with a demented grin.
That's when complete chaos came.
Two black shapes tackled the two mutated birds, releasing Private and Skipper from their grip.
Skipper and Private looked up in shock and their eyes bugged out when they saw their rescuers were their missing teammates. "Kowalski, Rico?" both penguins harmonized in shock.
Rico ignored them while he landed hits on Madison as they rolled around on the ground, both making nonsense noises as they did. It wasn't the best reunion for the two but both had high aggression levels at the moment, and their eyes were sharper than ever.
"Yes, we are alive, now help me out!" Kowalski shrieked as Flora made an attempt to bite him.
Skipper didn't hesitate, and tossed Flora aside with a powerful right hook. She hissed at him once she recovered and back flipped to her feet. She quickly lunged at Skipper and they were both bowled over across the ground.
Kowalski was about to go help him but was stopped by growling. He looked up slowly and saw Marlene glowering above him. "Ooh, hi Marlene- Oh mama!" Kowalski hollered when Marlene suddenly tackled him. Her paws thrust his flippers on either side of his head. "For the love of science, make it quick!" he cried. Kowalski abruptly stiffened when he got a good look at her face. Her eyes were a pulsing red and her body was in its feral form. "Sweet Galileo!"
Marlene growled once more and tried to slash at his exposed stomach, leaving his flippers unattended.
Kowalski blocked it as best as he could, but Marlene was too strong for him. He was angered and terrified when Julien came into the fight. He tried to fight them both back but it was very difficult. He was confused about why Marlene was feral when they were in the Zoo, but the red eyes told him Sara had something to do with it.
When two shapes loomed over him; he groaned when he thought it was going to be two of the other girls, but he was surprised as he realized it was only Becky and Stacy.
"Oh my goodness!" they both exclaimed in shock.
"What the heck," Stacy began.
"Happened here?" Becky finished.
"Wha-?" Kowalski started and got punched in the face by Marlene. She grabbed him and flung him across the floor. His face painfully went across the floor and he muttered, "Dang."
In a different area; Private was a huddled ball under the park bench and was shaking violently. Marlene in her feral form, Madison, Flora and Julien were all there. He had no sight of Sara so that left… Private was pulled so suddenly from the bench that he forgot to breathe. A shocked squeak escaped his beak.
Amber had pulled him while he wasn't paying attention, a fault on his part. She made some kind of gurgled growling and attempted to bite him.
Private thought quickly and twisted in her grip. The young penguin heard a crunch as he escaped from her grip and realized that he had made her flipper rip out of its socket. He nearly threw up when he saw Amber take the appendage from where it had been dropped and put it back in its place. Private thought it would have come off for good, but he was partly glad that it hadn't.
Amber started going to him with a generally slow pace she possessed.
Private backed away slowly and had his flippers raised up defensively, for Amber was unpredictable as a zombie, not that she wasn't when she was actually alive. "I'm a friend remember?" Private asked hopefully. Only a moan in response was all he got from the zombie penguin.
He came into a light and that's when an idea struck him. He was under the light that Skipper had set up the trap. He waited in place and, despite his shaking, he wore a determined expression. This plan was going to need timing. Private continued to wait as Amber slowly approached, waiting for the right moment.
Amber suddenly lunged at him, which was what he was hoping for. The private jumped out of the way, resulting in Amber landing right on the net trap. It activated the moment she landed on it and the net came up, bringing her with it. She was trapped in a suspended net, and Private smiled successfully when she grunted in confusion.
"Oh yes!" Private jumped up in pride of his success. It was short lived when Madison suddenly tackled him. This was a continuous onslaught.
Rico poked his head out from the trashcan Madison had thrown him in before going after Private. He jumped out and sprayed garbage everywhere as he did. The psychopath knew Private was in trouble and he was determined to assist his teammate. Private shouted for help and tried to keep Madison off of him as she tried to claw at his body to rip his flesh for eats.
Skipper came over and was bleeding a bit from his flipper. "I lost Flora, I don't know where she-" Skipper stopped himself when he saw the trouble Private was in. He felt anger boil; he wasn't about to lose one of his men. "Rico, give me that weapon I told you to keep for emergencies!" Skipper ordered.
Rico hesitated before hacking up the requested item. It was a gun.
"And the silver bullet." Skipper shared a knowing stare with him. He had to kill Madison. This was getting out of hand or flipper in their case.
Rico then knew what Skipper intended to do. He shook his head and backed up. He didn't want Madison killed no matter how much of a danger she was.
"That was an order," Skipper glared at his weapons expert. Still, Rico refused. Skipper came to him and forcefully hit his stomach and a silver bullet came out of him unintentionally. Rico frowned grimly as Skipper loaded the gun. "The only way to kill a werewolf. At least from what I know," Skipper said and pointed the gun where Madison and Private were. "We will talk about your insubordination later," Skipper grumbled as he glanced at Rico before looking back at his target.
Rico's frown deepened and he sighed to himself, biting on his own flippers to restrain himself to tackle his superior. Before Skipper could shoot; Flora tackled him. The gun was knocked out of his flipper and slid across the ground. It was only a few feet away from Rico.
"Rico!" Skipper shouted as he blocked a hit from Flora. The two continued to scuffle on the ground. "Do it Rico!"
"What?" Rico yelped and looked at the gun with a horrified expression. He couldn't, not to Madison.
"Rico," Skipper growled and punched Flora in the face. "That's an order. Do it for the sake of our zoo!"
Rico gulped and took the gun that held a single silver bullet. He looked around, but he couldn't find Madison or Private anywhere anymore. He sighed in relief when he saw Private alone, but still shaking, under a bench. He was about to turn around and help Skipper when his breath hitched. Madison was running straight to Kowalski and the two badgers, who were trying to defend themselves from a feral Marlene and werewolf Julien.
"Rico, do it now!" Skipper ordered and continued to fend Flora off.
Rico swallowed and looked at the gun. If he didn't; Kowalski, Stacy and Becky would die for sure, but if he did; Madison would die and it would be his fault. Her and his other friend's lives were in his flippers. Literally. The gun, the thing that has cursed him to go through such deep thinking.
The weapons expert looked at the scene intently. Amber was hung up in a trap; Skipper was fighting Flora; Kowalski and the badgers were trying to fend off feral Marlene and Julien, and Madison was running straight at them with purpose. He knew what he had to do.
'I'm going to regret this,' Rico thought to himself bitterly. He aimed, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger. A gunshot rang out in the zoo, making everything go quiet...
I thought a werewolf would suit Julien, so there you go. Don't have much to say on that subject. Now what do you think Sara wants? I will tell you one thing: don't bargain with the dead or the undead for that matter.
Hey; I like Madison and all but this is fun to do, killing off characters and stuff. You should try it. You might hate me for what I'm doing then you might not. I honestly don't care at the moment since I'm so bored right now. Look out for the next chapter!
