Chapter 12: Fireworks and Heartbreak

Skipper brushed a spider-web out of everyone's way, but was grossed out when he discovered that it just stuck to his flipper.

After he brushed it off, he got back in line, giving a suspicious glance around.

"Guys, this is getting pretty weird." Maurice pointed out. "I mean the dude just dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. You got us in with some sketchy people, King Julien."

Julien waved him off. "Nonsense, Maurice! We will be getting there in no time. Eh, if we don't get lost."

A theoretical lightbulb went off over Skipper's head. "Hey, 'Walski, did you bring that GPS with you?"

"Absolutely." Kowalski nodded. "Rico, if you would."

Rico obliged and hacked up Kowalski's new GPS/tracker.

Everyone stood around in a huddle while Kowalski powered it up.

Isobel looked up through the canopy of trees and saw the moon. At least that was there to give them some light.

The solar/lunar panels on the GPS tilted up, and the mini satellite dish mounted on it began to turn in circles, picking up their location. Once it did, the screen lit up, and a red dot blinked in the middle of a map.

"Well, we certainly are in Brazil." Kowalski noticed straight away. "And we are a little less than half a mile from Rio de Janeiro."

Skipper nodded. "Good, so we weren't lied to."

"Of course not." Julien folded his arms. "I told you, these guys are like legit."

"Which way should we go, Kowalski?" Private asked.

"We need to take a left right now." Kowalski instructed. "And we'll continue that way for three hundred feet, and then take a right, and so on and so forth."

Skipper took the lead, and they began their walk. Once they got further from the landing sight, the jungle began to seem a little friendlier. There were no birds this time of night, but some polite reptiles tried to help them, even though they didn't speak English and no one in the group knew Portuguese.

Soon enough, the lemurs' sensitive ears could pick up the pulsing noises of parade music. Everyone picked up the pace, and suddenly they were out of the forest and nearing the city. They could all hear the celebrations and see the lights now.

Once they finally reached the streets, they all stopped in their tracks to gawk at the spectacle. Everything was an explosion of color. Dancers in exotic costumes twirled through the streets, performers on floats threw plastic, beaded necklaces and sweets to the cheering crowds below them, and since the crowd was either too entranced or intoxicated, no one noticed the group of animals weaving in between them.

Maurice had a tight grip on Mort, as it would be ridiculously easy to lose him there. The penguins stayed together because Skipper was especially paranoid in this crowd, and wanted to be prepared for an attack at any time. Isobel and Julien tried not to get too far from the penguins, but something new caught their, mostly Julien's, attention every few seconds.

Isobel smiled up at Julien, and they ran off again in search of something tall to stand on to look down on the parade.

Private had picked up six shiny necklaces, and brought them back to his team and Mort and Maurice. Mort was thrilled with his orange one, and Maurice was cool with getting a purple one.

Private handed Rico a red one, Kowalski a blue one, and Skipper a pink one.

"Really, Private?" Skipper raised an eyebrow at the necklace.

Private shrugged. "Well I'll trade you."

He gave Skipper a dark green one and he took the pink one. But Skipper shook his head and handed it back to Private.

"No obstruction should we be ambushed." Skipper said seriously. "You wear both."

"Nothing bad will happen to us, Skippa!" Private laughed a little. "You've got to loosen up. We're just here for a festival. I'm sure no bad guys would be after us here."

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Benedito sat on the wing of his plane, swinging his feet and impatiently checking his watch. He was already a little on edge from his boss calling him, and he never like having to meet up with his henchmen.

Soon enough, a gang of six short-tailed opossums crept out of the jungle and towards the plane. They all had dark, menacing eyes and stooped over a little when they walked upright, giving them a sinister look.

Benedito swallowed. "Olá."

The lead opossum smiled toothily at the mongoose. "Ah, Bene, nossa! So, the chefe called us. And he called you, I am guessing?"

The mongoose nodded. "Yes, Rafael."

Rafael was still smiling with his crooked teeth, and his whiskers twitched. "Where are our friends then?"

"They went to Carnaval of course." Benedito replied, trying not to look nervous. "I am sure they are sticking to the sidewalks."

"Good." Rafael said, cracking his fingers. "And you told them not to wander, of course?"

"Well," Benedito nervously adjusted his tie, "I-I told them to come back to the plane by sunrise and not a minute later."

Rafael hissed a little, pulling a knife from his belt and flashing it intimidatingly at Benedito. "This is why chefe wanted us here, he knew you couldn't handle even a few zoo animals! Luckily for you, we'll make sure they stay where they're supposed to. They will return by dawn, or else."

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Isobel and Julien, after stopping quite a lot along the way to pick up whatever the performers threw from the floats, finally found the perfect rooftop to watch the parade from. It was a typical Brazilian house with a flat roof, and best of all, no people were on it.

They laughed as they bumped into each other, their beaded necklaces getting tangled up. Isobel untangled them, and they went to sit down.

"So, are you happy that I brought us here?" Julien asked.

Isobel nodded, the lights reflecting in her eyes. "Yes. It's beautiful and alive here."

"Not to mention this music, am I right?" Julien tapped his fingers to the beat of the drums.

Suddenly, they heard someone coming up on the roof, and they turned their heads, frozen.

However, it was only Maurice, and his face lit up when he saw them.

"There you guys are!" Maurice said. "I was just looking for you, Skipper wanted to do a roll call or whatever. We're hanging out on the street right below you guys, so I'll leave you alone now."

He went back down, and Julien and Isobel exhaled in relief.

"I'm a little on edge." Isobel admitted.

Isobel shook her head. "I'm not sure. It is probably just nerves."

Julien nodded in understanding, also feeling nervous, but probably for different reasons.

They looked at each for a moment, and were about to kiss, but were interrupted when a loud firework went off above them. They instantly looked to the sky to see it explode into red bursts and showers of silver. They sat a little closer together as they watched more rounds of fireworks. Since it was Valentine's Day (but not for long as it was quickly approaching midnight), the people setting off the fireworks were using ones that would produce special shapes, all in silver, pink, red, and gold. There were many fireworks that exploded into heart-shaped rings and even some cupids. Some were merely meant to look romantic, like the bright bursts of red and soft pink, followed by shimmering flecks that almost seemed to rain down.

Julien looked at Isobel. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Isobel smiled at him. "Happy Valentine's Day." She looked back at the display.

But Julien did not look away, and he took Isobel's paw. "Isobel?"

Isobel turned back to him, still smiling and green eyes bright.

Julien swallowed, trying to ignore his rapid heartbeat. "Isobel, marry me."

A golden firework burst and lit up Isobel's features, and it was clear she was no longer smiling.

"What?" She asked very quietly, her tone unreadable.

"I…" Julien knew this wasn't good. "I love you. Won't you?"

Isobel moved her paw away from Julien's, and stood up. But she didn't look away from him. She did not look angry, but she also seemed a little sad.

"Julien…" She was hardly speaking louder than before. "No."

Julien felt his heart rip open, and strangely a sharp sting in his back, but before he could feel anything else, he blacked out, and so did Isobel.

Ah, how I love a cliffhanger. *evil laughter* What did you think? And what will happen next? Goodbye for now, and please review!