Well I decided to actually change the last song I had planned. I'm back from that little three day away trip. St. Jose is alright but the ride there is a pain. Seven hours of crud nothing!
Probably not my best chapter either; I think I'm losing my edge or whatever. Anyway enjoy…
Land of The Dead
In the above world; it was probably more peaceful then what some people knew as the Underworld or even referred to as Hell.
But then again; the Underworld was probably more exciting to be at. Monsters that people had thought were only myths lived there, dead beings, and the souls that had surrendered themselves to a darker place or just came for power.
The place was like no other in the universe. Stones were made of bones, lights were only torches in a medieval style, demons and other monsters roamed freely, and everything was more old fashioned instead of high tech like the above world.
It was not perfect, but the residents there preferred it that way. They were independent, but even they needed a ruler. And that ruler was a specific penguin…
"The execution process is a 0400 hours," a tall penguin, still known as Kowalski said. "A man is to be executed for his crimes."
His female correspondent beside him added, "The mans hell dogs must also be contained and neutralized. They have destroyed…" Flora flipped through her rotten wooded clipboard as she looked through many pages. "About a hundred things on other residents properties."
Skipper looked at the two intently from a bone, velvet, and golden throne chair.
"Is that all for today's reports?" he asked. Both penguins looked down at their clipboards before looking back up and saying simultaneously, "Yes your Majesty." They nodded.
Skipper dismissed them and sighed aggravatingly. He had been told earlier that a certain lemur was sent to the Underworld, which meant he had to 'welcome' him.
Of course he knew who it was, and that was why he was not looking forward to the time ahead. Then again; he had a bone to pick and this would be the time to get rid of the problem for good.
He heard knocking come from a nearby door and he shouted for them to come in. As his body guards, which he honestly didn't need but was insisted upon him, were Rico and Madison.
They came in and were side to side by the lemur as they both pulled him in. They tossed him in front of their ruler forcefully which made the lemur crash to the ground. Rico joined Skippers side as Madison continued to stay next to the lemur.
"What do you want Ringtail?" Skipper growled. Julien looked up and frowned at the penguin, who looked bored and aggravated from his throne.
"I heard you became King. Why are you the King?" Julien asked loudly with narrowed eyes. He stood up, but ignored the warning glare he was getting from Madison. "I am the only King!"
Skipper, despite everything, chuckled at the ringtail. "I can make a better King then you would ever be."
"That is being outrageous!" Julien stamped his foot as if he were a child.
"Nu huh." Rico grunted as he raised a non existent brow at the lemur. "He the King," Rico pointed to Skipper.
"Listen Ringtail," Skipper began, now looking quite amused. "Back up there," Skipper pointed his flipper upwards. "You might have been the so called 'King' of the lemurs but here it's different."
"How did you even become king?" Julien questioned bitterly with his arms crossed.
"Simple," Skipper blinked. "I fought my way to the top and earned my place. Just like in the military…" Skippers eyes sparkled at the memories. "I miss the action, but being King here is good enough."
"Really?" Julien glared. "What's so great about king in this stinky place?"
Skipper smirked and jumped off of his throne. He took his time as he strode to Julien and he was soon in front of him. "Follow me Ringtail," he ordered.
Julien reluctantly followed the short penguin with Madison and Rico following closely behind.
They soon came outside where it was surrounded by fire, dead trees and dead plant life everywhere.
"What's so great about being King here?" Julien repeated. This only proved his point.
Skipper kept the smirk on his face and instead of answering directly; he started to sing.
"A Minotaur's my butler," Skipper started singing with a hint of actual enthusiasm. Rico and Madison both smiled as their King continued. "A Cyclops my valet!" Skipper then whistled and a centaur came out with a chariot attached to it.
Skipper took Julien and tossed him in there and he soon joined him as he climbed in. Julien shuffled in the seat as he looked around nervously. The centaur didn't look very friendly by the look on its face. Its lips were curled back in a snarl that exposed it rotten old teeth to Julien.
"A Centaur draws my chariot that takes me down the way!" Skipper continued. He whistled for the chariot to move and the Centaur did without complaint and looked back in front of itself.
The chariot jerked as it started going down the roads of the dead. It bumped up and down from the bones it ran over or undead residents.
Julien knew this when he saw blood splattering everywhere and a scream, but when he looked at the penguin, he knew this must have happened a lot due to the calm expression on Skipper's face.
Julien clutched the side of the chariot railing that was made of bones. The wood looked old and rotten like it would break at any moment. Despite Skipper being death royalty, the chariot was in poor condition, but the penguin didn't seem to mind a bit.
Skipper then gestured to a nearby river that did not have water but fire instead.
"Through a river made of fire," Skipper then gestured to the street grounds. "To a street that's paved with bones!"
Julien shivered as he realized that the street was paved with bones.
The chariot made a sudden stop which made Julien fall out of the vehicle and onto the ground. He yelped when he came face to face with a mutilated skull.
Skipper chuckled and jumped off the chariot. He landed right next to Julien, who was clutching his chest and panting heavily.
"Ready to admit it?" Skipper smirked and soon laughed at the pure terror on Julien's face.
"No way!" Julien shouted as he shook his fear away. He stood up so he towered over the penguin. "This only proves it!" Julien jabbed a finger at Skippers chest which greatly annoyed the flightless bird. "There is nothing great about being King of this dump!"
"Watch what you say Ringtail," Skipper growled with his smirk fading to a snarl. "The residents here wont exactly appreciate it." Skipper gestured to nearby creatures that had heard Julien's outburst. They were giving him death glares that made Julien flinch, and the fact that they were coming right for him didn't help his increasing fear.
He cowered behind Skipper in his fear. The penguin rolled his eyes and looked up at the chariot where Rico and Madison were hanging out at. They were playing cards on the hood of the chariot.
"Fight these things away while I take care of the crybaby," Skipper ordered to them.
Rico and Madison looked up from their game and nodded. Rico smirked as he put his cards down, revealing a winning hand. Madison growled and swatted all the cards into the river of fire. Both penguins then jumped in front of Skipper and Julien and snarled at the threatening monsters. They both shouted and started chasing them away into different parts of the death city.
"Aren't they suppose to be protecting you?" Julien inquired while still shaking.
"Yes." Skipper brushed imaginary dirt off his chest.
"Then who is going to be protecting us now?"
"Ringtail, I'm capable of defending myself," Skipper told him with a air of confidence. "I don't need guards."
"Then why do you?" Julien questioned as he came back to his full height and took a few steps away from his companion.
"Because everyone insisted that I should have them," Skipper growled. "But I don't need them." Skipper then started walking away with Julien scurrying after him. He ignored the passing by monsters and other things that was getting in his way. He simply dismissed them or smashed whatever was in his path.
Julien knew Skipper could defend himself at that point.
Skipper turned back to Julien as he stopped in front of his kingdom.
"How did we get here so fast?" Julien looked around with his oblivious orange eyes.
Skipper rolled his eyes. "We went in a damn circle." Skipper then continued his trek and headed for the large wooden door that led to the old looking castle. Julien followed with caution.
Skipper opened the large wooden, which was probably five inches thick door, with complete ease.
Skipper took a glance at Julien as they both came in. "Are you going to admit it?"
"Never," Julien hissed. "You don't even deserve to be King."
"I don't know why I bother with you Ringtail."
"Well it's because I'm-" Julien cut himself off with a yelp when something lifted him up. More like something's. He shivered as grotesque hands held him up. He looked up and saw that the same was happening to Skipper, but he didn't seem to mind one bit or even fazed by it. It seemed like he was use to this kind of things.
"And you know what else?" Skipper asked Julien. Before the ringtail could answer Skipper sang, "I got a dozen zombie skeletons to walk me to my throne!"
The creatures carried them into the throne room where Kowalski and Flora were looking around for something frantically. They both looked up when the creatures dropped Skipper and Julien onto the ground with a audible thud that echoed throughout the castle.
"There you are Your Majesty!" Flora exclaimed in utter relief.
"You have five more minutes before the execution at the middle of town!" Kowalski tapped his clipboard frantically. "You remember right?"
"Of course I do." Skipper waved a flipper around.
"Please don't scare us like that!" Flora shouted and looked down at her clipboard as she wrote something down. "At least tell us when your going out." She looked up and noticed Julien. "Especially with him."
Skipper chuckled. "I can handle myself."
"Sure, sure." Flora was already lost in her thoughts and waddled away to another room.
"Where did you go?" Kowalski questioned.
"Just showing the nuisance the Kingdom," Skipper replied and pointed his flipper at former self proclaimed lemur king, Julien.
"May I accompany you?" Kowalski asked.
"Eh, sure why not?" Skipper shrugged and started waddling to a different door that Flora had gone too. "Now where was I?"
"Sending me back there?" Julien pointed upwards sheepishly.
Skipper rolled his eyes but then remembered where he was at.
"In the land of the dead!" Skipper sang which made Kowalski smile briefly before looking back down at his rotted clipboard. "Heck boy, ain't it grand?" Skipper gestured around the castle.
"Not really," Julien said bitterly. Skipper glared but otherwise ignored Julien.
"I'm the overlord of the underworld cause I hold Horror's Hand!" Skipper sung before turning to look at Julien once again.
Much to Julies horror, Skippers eyes turned a blood red and large humongous bat wings erupted from the penguins back. Skipper's feathers looked like they turned to magma as he suddenly burst into flames.
"What the heck?" Julien shouted. Skipper laughed menacingly before going back to his regular stubby penguin form, although he still carried the haunting laugh.
Kowalski snickered, but this went unnoticed by the other two. That was one of the ways Skipper had gotten to the top and became ruler of the Underworld. Big responsibility but Kowalski had his full confidence in the stubby penguin.
"Get a sense of humor Ringtail," Skipper said once he stopped laughing. "Smile, laugh a little!"
"I don't find that funny," Julien said as he regained his confidence again.
Skipper shook his head and signaled the other two to follow him. Kowalski did so without hesitation but Julien was different. He chose his steps carefully as he walked with them, and looked around nervously for anything that would jump out at him.
This is why he screamed like a five year old girl when both Skipper and Kowalski sang in the loudest voice, "In the land of the dead!" Julien struggled to compose himself but he calmed down if not angered when he heard, "I'm darkside royalty."
Though it did anger him, for he was royalty. Not this penguin. His fear melted to anger and his usual arrogance. Being thrown down here was like living in a hell hole, which it was, but he had no idea why he had been thrown done here in the first place.
Well he didn't, but everyone else knew. The question was to how the penguins got down there.
Thoughts that seemed pointless ran through Julien's brain, if he had one, as they came outside of the castle.
Julien wasn't very impressed. Dead trees, skeletons, broken bones littered everywhere, and the regular fire was everywhere. But it was then that he realized Kowalski was no longer there. He was about to ask but Skipper cut him off.
"I'm far renowned in the underground, and you can't take that from me!" Skipper sang this low and slowly as he gestured to the ground of the outdoors. He smiled crookedly at Julien as at least five skeletons ripped their way out of the ground. Dirt, mud, and old dead roots was sprayed everywhere.
"Whoa!" Skipper sang loudly.
"Whoa!" the other skeletons sang in creepy harmony.
"Whoa!" Skipper sang even louder. Julien watched with wide eyes as they got even louder.
"Whoa!" The skeletons sang louder then before and slowly started to approach Julien and Skipper. Julien was faintly panicked by this, but Skipper remained unfazed and continued to stand at the same spot.
"Whoa!" Skipper clapped his flippers together loudly so it echoed. Why, Julien didn't have the faintest idea, but he was sure that it could be heard throughout the Underworld.
"Whoa!" the skeletons sang before Rico and Madison came from no where. The two began attacking and ripped the skeletons apart as each and everyone of them wailed, "Oow! Oow! Oow! Oow! Oow!"
Skipper gave them a nod of approval before gesturing for Julien to follow him and go further into the courtyard. Julien complied but he couldn't take his eyes of the sight of Rico and Madison tearing apart the skeletons.
He was faintly startled when he heard a loud snoring, and his first thought was thinking that it was Marlene, but it was simply another beast of the hell hole. He cringed at the sight of its bloodied fur and long black claws.
"Cerberus my lap dog is loyal as can be," Skipper pointed to the mutated dog that was laying down on the courtyard grounds. "My bed is made of skulls; I'm in the lap of luxury!" Skipper smiled crookedly and continued going along the stone pathway.
They soon came to a new area at the castle where there was a pool with red liquid inside, and a Jacuzzi nearby that was also filled with the same red liquid, but it had strange and gross looking creatures inside.
"I've got a Dragon's Blood jacuzzi; the Gorgons think it's cool." Skipper sung lowly.
Julien shivered at the creatures in the Jacuzzi. They were just hideous. Slime covered their matted hair and bile was coming from their mouths. They had sickening looking scales instead of skin and fork like tongues.
"And a seven-headed Hydra livin' in my swimmin' pool." Skipper pushed Julien forward so he could see the red hydra that was hiding in the red liquid, or as Julien assumed was dragons blood.
The hydra lifted three of its many heads and blew fire at two undead animals. It didn't affect them anyway, but Julien was still petrified with awe.
"In the land of the dead; heck boy, ain't it grand?" Skipper pulled Julien over to continue the 'tour' of the place. Why he was wasting his time to show him the castle and the Dead Lands, not even Skipper knew.
Julien became faintly aware that they were coming back to where the chariot had first appeared and his suspicions were confirmed when he noticed the river of fire running along, what he believed, to be a large circle around the very large castle.
"I'm the overlord of the underworld cause I hold Horror's Hand." Skipper shoved Julien's back for the lemur to go faster. Julien narrowed his eyes in annoyance, his fear completely melted and replaced by arrogance. "In the land of the dead; I'm darkside royalty."
Julien halted right before the gates to the castle's entrance, which is also where the river of fire started. Skipper stood right in front of him as he finished his song.
"I'm far renowned in the underground and you can't take that away from me!" Skipper then stared menacingly at Julien. "No you can't take that from me!" Skipper sang loudly and pointed his flipper at the lemur.
"Whatever," Julien waved him off and pushed the flipper away from his face. "I wouldn't want to. This place is still a terrible Kingdom."
Skipper glared at Julien and grabbed his tail. "I'm getting real tired of you Ringtail." Skipper then began dragging Julien to the river of fire.
"W-what a-are you d-doing?" Julien stuttered in utter terror.
"Getting rid of a problem," Skipper grunted as he lifted the ringtail lemur. Julien yelped as Skipper threw him in the river of fire.
You'd think since they were already dead that they couldn't die again. Well wrong.
Julien burned to death with agonizing screams that would send normal souls covering their hears and cringing in disgust.
Somehow though, in its a horrific way, it left his soul in peace, but Skipper was pleased to be rid of the nuisance.
"Bye, bye Ringtail," Skipper laughed manically.
Giant loads of thanks to hardrocker21, I probably wouldn't have been able to make this if it wasn't for him. He deserves some credit on this for helping me. Thanks man!
I made Skipper have a cold heart in the end but oh well. I'm kind of in a sour mood anyway. Reasons I will keep to myself besides the fact that I'm easily annoyed, and I will leave it at that.
Since skeletons don't have lungs how would they be able to speak, much less laugh or sing. Life's many mysteries.
I'm glad I was finally able to finish this though, but sorry for the long wait. Now gotta finish my other ones. Ugh, note to self: work on one story at a time. Eh, I might not listen to that. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it and please review!