Madison let out a yelp and rolled over to her side, giving Private the opportunity to run away. Her breathing quickly became labored, the bullet in her right flank welling up with sickly dark green blood. Julien stopped his fighting and ran to Madison, sniffing her injured side. Fear lit up in his eyes when he noticed the wound, glancing at Rico with terror, and ran away. The werepenguin was left there...to die.

Rico felt tears well up in his eyes. In pure disgust in himself, he threw the gun aside. He brought his flippers to his face, cupping it, and groaned to himself. 'Why me? Of everyone, why me?'

Flora, having seen what happened, gasped. She used the claws on her webbed feet to get away from Skipper and tried to flap away with her bat like wings. Her effort looked struggled, and she noticed immediately that part of her left wing was torn. She hissed in frustration and toppled to the ground. Quickly, she started to limp away, escaping the bloody scene.

Amber had been chewing on the ropes and fell through the hole she had created. Following Flora's example, she limped off.

Feral Marlene suddenly collapsed to the ground, a familiar gray shape escaping her body. Kowalski and the badgers looked in shock, and horror, at Sara. She looked very distressed and angered. The ghost penguin formed feet, since she had not had them before, and slowly came to the ground. She stepped over to the werepenguin with everyone stopping what they had been doing to watch.

She loomed over Madison, looking at her in the eye. The werepenguin looked back tiredly, blood trickling from her mouth. Strange as it was, Sara started to shake with sobs. Instead of being clear, like they should have been, they were a light green. They fell onto Madison's head, making her whine weakly at the sharp pain. They evaporated once they touched her feathers, or was it fur, and left a steam of green climb up into the sky.

Sara drew back, thinking she had hurt her, and apologized quietly. A wave of fury erupted inside of her all a sudden. Throwing her head up, she wailed, "Why?" It was loud enough that the whole Zoo could hear. It ended with a blood curdling shriek, one of despair and fury.

Rico felt overwhelmed with guilt and started to sob as well. His body convulsed and he fell to the ground in his pool of despair. Rico loved Madison so much. No, he still did, with all of his heart. She was one he could share laughs with, encouraged him to blow everything sky high, one that would never be disturbed by what he did or looked like. And she had loved him back.

Having someone you love die was more heart wrenching then he could have imagined. Now, having been the one responsible for her death was even worse. He would have to carry that for as long as he lived, if he made it through this situation.

Skipper, as well, felt guilty. He had forced Rico to do this, and now he felt just as responsible. He waddled up to Rico, patting his back for comfort. Surprisingly, he was pushed away, and the psychopath tried to get to Madison before she died. But once he got close enough, Sara started to get hostile.

"Get away!" the ghost penguin screeched, light green tears splattering on the pavement. "You killed her! How could you? You killed her and after I saved your stupid life! I will never forgive you!" Her feet evaporated and she was hovering over the ground again. The ghost penguin's eyes were narrowed dangerously with tears coming down in the bucket loads. Her flippers, existent or not, clenched and unclenched again. "Go away! You're making it worse!"

These words she spoke hit Rico hard but he pressed on, ignoring her for now. He fell to Madison's side, her green blood soaking his feathers. The werepenguin's eyes slowly moved to meet his own. They narrowed, ever so slightly, at the sight of him. Her new icy blue eyes had dulled drastically, already making her look dead.

"I'm sorry," Rico murmured, choking on his sobs. He wrapped his flippers around her, still keeping eye contact. Her eyes...they looked confused but all aggression was gone. He moved one of her three feathery bangs from her face, another thing she retained from her transformation. "I love you," he sobbed. Never had he felt so emotional but when he loved something, he just couldn't let it go easy.

"Get away from her," Sara cried, her anger lowering dramatically. "Leave her alone..." She slowly became transparent and vanished from everyone's sight.

Madison let out a low whine, watching Rico till her last breath, before her eyes rolled back in her head, and her breathing came to a complete and permanent stop.

Rico swallowed thickly and tried to suppress his cries but that was all in vain. He had a total break down and hugged Madison's body, which was quickly becoming cold. His tears soaked her feathers, or fur, which only helped it become more matted then it had been before. Even through the transformation, Rico could smell fish, chlorine and that familiar smell of Antarctica. He was going to miss that smell so much.

Private was crying silently, his body shaking. He also felt that it was his fault. If he had gotten away from her then there would have never been the option of bringing a gun out into the fight. Truth be told, just about everyone on the scene thought it was their fault. Though for different reasons their minds came up with.

Since they all were too distracted by the loss, nobody, not even Rico, noticed the green blood that had pooled out of Madison soak up into the maniac. It was like he was a rag, soaking up the green mess. Hauntingly, his veins were lighting up green, though it was hard to notice through his feathers.

"Let's go," Skipper said, placing a flipper on Rico's back after approaching the mess.

Reluctantly, Rico stood up, wiping away some tears

Kowalski came over and picked up Madison's lifeless form for experimentation. He didn't want to but it was necessary. He heard a choking sound from behind him but he tried to ignore it, knowing it was all Rico. The strategist didn't blame him. He wouldn't want Flora to be experimented on either. From the corner of his eye, he saw Skipper pick up Marlene's body. She was a concern now as well. She wasn't waking up.

Together, they all went back to their habitat, cautious of the monstrous animals that were no doubt watching them. Jumping into their hidden HQ, they separated. The badgers solemnly offered their condolence's, rarely showing such a serious level and despair, and left. The penguins commenced to put the HQ on lock-down after the badger sisters disappeared. Skipper put Marlene's body in a bunk like he had done for Maurice and nodded to Kowalski's lab.

In the lab, there was flashing lights emitting from the partly opened door. Rico was in his bunk, left alone, with Marlene in the lowest bunk and Maurice above her. The three other flightless birds were in the lab, conducting tests on Madison's body. However, their interest surrounded the green glop that dripped from her.

Kowalski was currently taking a sample of this green substance. "Interesting," he mumbled while looking at it under a microscope. If it weren't for its color then it would have looked like bubbling hot tar. It did bear a striking resemblance. "This isn't even blood," he concluded aloud, shocked, and pulled away from the microscope. "In fact, with what it's made of, Madison shouldn't have even been alive with this in her blood stream."

Skipper was a bit shaken to say the least. "So what does this mean?" He patted a quivering Private on the back for comfort. The private was looking at Madison's dead body that was laid out on a table with rays and various tools hanging above her with an air of weariness. The picture of it was like a mad scientist scene in one of those horror movies he has seen.

"To put it simply, we are working with something that breaks the laws of science."

"Then make some new laws!" Skipper hollered, letting his frustration out onto his second in command. He sighed at the look Kowalski gave him. "Give me an analysis on their odd behavior," the flat headed leader ordered. "They are as bipolar as you can get."

Kowalski looked on solemnly. "I think they remember," he admitted. "I think they might remember us and, well, everything." This conflicted with his earlier belief that none of the girls had any memory of their past lives, living alone with a blank canvas in their heads with instinct being their only guide. The strategist couldn't decide if this was a good or a bad thing.

Skipper looked at the taller bird quizzically. "Explain."

"It seems that the girls might actually be aware of their memories," Kowalski said. Still, it didn't fit right. He re-thought this and contemplated it quickly, coming up with a different explanation. "That or they are subconsciously emotionally attached to each other, explaining Sara's surprising behavior towards Madison's death."

"So she might remember us?" Private piped up, the first words he spoke since the ordeal. His tone sounded hopeful, a naive idea probably planted in his head.

Kowalski confirmed halfheartedly, "There is a possibility. But we should refrain from trying to communicate." He saw Private withdraw again, like his dreams just shattered in front of him. "But I think I can make a cure from Madison's...blood. Thus fixing up everyone affected by this."

"The only downside is Madison won't be alive to see it," Skipper put out.

All three sadly acknowledged this. A price to pay to save the zoo and New York from mutated animals. If the situation wasn't fixed soon then this would spread like disease, the bubonic plague, Kowalski compared. And if they couldn't stop it, then who could?

Back in the main part of the hidden head-quarters, Rico was having a physical conflict along with an emotional one as well. Cringing, he clasped his flipper over where Madison had dug her claws into his abdomen. There was a searing pain coming from that area and it was more painful than ever. Sure, there had been brief spasms of agony but this was much worse. Though he tried to ignore it, the pain was inevitable now, begging desperately for his attention with each agonizing spasm.

He scratched at the binding blindly, a weak attempt to get rid of it. Groaning, he finally ripped off the binding and looked at the wound, breathing heavily. Rico inhaled sharply at what he saw. The claw marks were pulsing a dull green through the dried up blood. Another wave of pain made the psychopath clutch his stomach helplessly.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" a voice spoke.

Rico's head whipped up and he was suddenly staring into beady red eyes. He swallowed thickly. It was Sara. Again. Jeez, was she going to keep doing that?

She was glaring at him intensely. "You deserve it," Sara spat. Her glare turned into something more pitiful and she started to cry again. "Madison died. I didn't want her to die," she sobbed.

Rico was filled with guilt all over again but gasped when another spasm of pain exploded around his stomach.

Sara hardened again and glared with blinding fury. "I'm here for that price," she stated, floating upside down as she casually got into a laying position, successfully keeping eye contact. "You owe me," the ghost hissed. "More than before."

The psychotic shifted in discomfort. 'Oops,' he thought. 'Forgot.' "What do you want?" he wheezed. 'Probably going to take my soul,' he assumed frightfully.

"You owe me a life," Sara told him blankly. "I didn't like Marlene's body. You'll do though."

Rico closed his eyes tightly, cringing. 'Knew it.' It would have been easy to inflict a physical fight against her but even Rico knew it wasn't going to help. Considering Sara was a ghost, it wouldn't even affect her if he did. It would only get her angrier. He expected to feel her taking control by now but she wasn't. He opened his eye a crack.

Sara was watching him intently then she grinned. "Oh..." she drawled out, snickering. Rico didn't like it. "I almost forgot. You've been bit and scratched by Madison. You're going to be a werewolf soon." Shock was evident on Rico's expression. "I think I'll speed up the process for you."

He didn't even have time to react before Sara took control of his body. He tried to fight back in his mind but she easily brought down his walls. His vision was enveloped in darkness with only a tiny speck of light before Rico became stuck in an endless dark void.

His eyes turned red and a sadistic grin spread across his face, owned by Sara. A shot of agony raced up the spine of Rico's body. "Ow," Sara winced, making the sight a bit ridicules if it weren't for the red eyes. You could only imagine the slightly pitched feminine voice that was coming from Rico's beak looked like. "That does hurt." The possessed body jumped out of the bunk and stumbled to the ladder, climbing it clumsily. "Stupid adjustments..."

The fishbowl had only just closed back up when the three other males came into the room.

"I swore I heard something," Skipper grumbled. "Rico, did you-" he stopped, noting the psychopath was nowhere in sight. "Where'd he go?"

Kowalski was on the verge of panicking. "Something most of happened. Rico wouldn't just leave!"

Private's eyes widened. "Do you think it was Sara?"

"Calm down," Skipper instructed. "We're just going to look out for a peek. We can't endanger all of us." He was actually very worried for Rico. But charging out blindly would not only leave their base undefended but would expose them, making them easy targets. The monsters were afraid of Rico because of the gun incident but Skipper and his team was easy pickings in their eyes.

They flinched when they heard a loud howl above them. All of them felt the same dread. "Oh no..." In an instant, they were up the ladder and pushing aside the fishbowl. Their eyes widened with shock. Rico was standing in front, a werewolf. They had not seen that coming.

Kowalski, however, was frustrated with himself. "How could I have been so stupid?" he exclaimed. "You become a werewolf when bit or scratched by one, why did I forget this?" Skipper slapped the back of his head to stop his possible rant. "Thanks..."

Rico turned to them and showed his rows of teeth. It was disgusting and unfitting in simple terms. "A werepenguin body...This'll be fun!" he growled. Rico's voice was strangely feminine. Only Private was able to identify who it was.

"Sara!" he exclaimed.

"Bingo." Rico, Sara I mean, started to glower. "Why are you so against me?" she asked suddenly. The possessor didn't even give them time to answer. "Why do you have to torture Madison, even in death?" She growled, exposing those sharp teeth again. "I'm going to make you pay. You ALL will pay for what you've done!" It was obvious that Sara was a bit bipolar.

Skipper met her glare. "What we've done? Have you seen what you and your friends have done?"

Kowalski and Private were shaking their heads, silently telling him to shut up.

Sara leaned in and blew a puff of air into their faces. They blinked and gagged at the smell. "I'll make everyone turn on you," she murmured from Rico's body. Then she vaulted over the fence and raced away in the direction of the gorilla habitat.

Skipper, Private and Kowalski looked on in pure shock and horror.

"We are so dead."

Oh wow. WAY past Halloween. I don't know if anyone cares about this anymore but I'm gunna try and finish this before Of Lies and Deceptions. I did a bad job, I know. It was a day's work, kinda rushed. And cheesy. I don't know where I'm going with this so I'm just winging it. Ahaha, sorry for the late update. Please review.