Disclaimer: I do not own Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters. I do own Dany and Chloe and Chloe's parents and the idea for this story, though I had a lot of help with it from my best friend.
It was so unfair! Staring up at the colorful bouncy castle, Chloe felt anger rising in her. Every morning she would lay down on her favorite spot and listen to the radio playing over the speakers. But now she can't.
Her tail twitched furiously. Ever since that king arrived, her life has been falling apart. She lost her spot; she can't see her best friend; what's next?
With a growl, she turned her back on the bouncy castle, but she ran into a solid wall of gray. She fell back and sighed as she looked up. The king glared down at her.
"Watch it," he ordered.
Chloe was about to apologize, but stopped herself just in time. Rolling her eyes, she pushed past him. She heard him let out a snort of disgust, but she ignored him. She was almost at the cave when someone called her name.
Turning, she was surprised to see the heavyset lemur, Maurice, walking over to her. "Hello, how are you?" he asked in a friendly tone.
She eyed him suspiciously. He hasn't talked to her since the new lemurs first arrived and Dany started that fight with them. Then she sighed and hung her head. "Not good," she murmured. "And it's thanks to your king."
"He's not all that bad," Maurice said, and Chloe let out a disbelieving snort. "No, really," he insisted. "He's just so stressed. He's had to leave all his subjects behind and move here, and he's used to being ruler of the lemurs. He's not used to lemurs arguing with him. Back home, people were grateful for a leader coming up with their decisions."
Chloe didn't care. "He didn't have to come here," she growled. "You all could have stayed where you were. Better than ruining my life."
"I'm sorry," Maurice apologized. "I miss Madagascar very much, but Julien wanted to move here and as his adviser I had to go with him." Just then the little lemur ran past, calling for Julien as he hurtled himself at the king, wrapping his body around his feet. Maurice sighed. "Mort also wanted to come. We tried leaving him behind, but he followed us."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Chloe asked, confused.
"So you can understand, and hopefully not take everything Julien does or say to heart. He doesn't mean any of it."
Chloe didn't reply and after another moment Maurice sighed and turned away. Chloe watched him leave, then turned to go into the cave, her mind racing. Why should she care about what that king was feeling? It didn't give him the right to boss her around! But still guilt gnawed at her as she laid in her bed and she didn't understand why.
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"Okay, so we're all clear on the plan?" Dany asked as she stood from her seat.
"Clear, yes. In agreement, not entirely," said Skipper. "I don't particularly like these new lemurs eithers, but are you sure your 'emergency' necessarily calls for such actions? I don't want to drag my team into teenage drama." Skipper tapped his chin with a flipper as he continued to consider this plan.
"It's definitely necessary. They've just walked into our home and claimed ownership of it, and of us. We can't allow this to happen. What will you do when he comes to you making demands? Will you just put up with it to avoid conflict?" Dany paused, waiting for acknowledgement. When the penguins seemed to respond positively to her, she continued, "We need to put them in their place now, before they get too comfortable here. The longer we put up with their self proclaimed leadership, the more they will assume that they should be in charge. We have to stop them now."
Skipper looked thoughtful for a moment then sighed. "Alright, you make a good point. We will try this your way for now. But I retain the right to change the plan at any point. Understood?"
"Understood." Dany was really excited about the fact that they were working together and they seemed to think of her as a competent partner. Maybe one day, she could be on their team with them.
About half an hour later, the penguins and otters were inside the lemur habitat, surrounding the home of the self proclaimed king. "Preparations complete. Are you both ready?" Kowalski asked Skipper and Dany. Both nodded, and the two penguins—along with Marlene—leapt off in the direction of their assigned places while Dany picked up her handful of mangoes, and she walked up to the entrance of the lemurs home. Fortunately, they were awake. Unfortunately, they were blaring horrible music and dancing. She bit her tongue to avoid making rude comments.
"Um... hi..." Dany spoke loudly in order to get their attention. They turned and looked at her, perplexed. "Okay, now that I have your attention, I'm here to discuss this recent issue of you saying that I can't come here. I'm gonna need you to stop that."
"Excuse me, rude otter girl?" Julien asked in an offended tone.
Dany ignored him and continued. "So, I brought you these mangoes in an attempt to work out a peaceful agreement. Otherwise, I'll have to turn to more aggressive tactics. So, will you accept the peaceful agreement or will I have to resort to force?"
"Force? How are you planning on forcing us out?" Maurice asked, starting to seem worried.
"Oh please, she has no plan! This little otter type girl cannot possibly force me out! I am the king! My loyal subjects will force her out! Leave, annoying child!" Julien shouted in a derisive tone of voice.
"Well, you asked for it." Dany casually turned her head to the nearby tree. "Offensive maneuvers."
Suddenly, bunches of mangoes and other fruits were flying at the lemurs from all directions. The lemurs ducked and tried to protect their heads with their hands, and Julien hid crouched under Maurice to avoid the fruit assault.
Maurice shouted at the trees and their occupants, "Okay, okay. Please stop. We'll discuss this in a civil manner."
"Wait, what! I did not authorize this!" Julien yelled at him.
"Just do it, your highness. We have no way of defending against an attack here."
"Ugh! Fine! We surrender! We'll talk about it," Julien said in a sassy tone while rolling his eyes.
"Alright then. We appreciate your cooperation." Dany replied in a cocky manner.
Julien gave her a hostile look then groaned as he gave in and walked over to the otters with his subjects so they could begin the discussion.
The commotion outside brought Chloe out of the cave and she couldn't believe her eyes. Dany was there, talking to the lemur king, who wasn't looking happy at all. Maurice and Mort hopped off the pedestal to join Julien as he and Dany debated. Marlene stood behind her roommate with the commando penguin team. Chloe stared at the scene with huge eyes.
Wait, Dany actually spoke to the penguins and brought them here! But why? she suddenly wondered.
She walked over to everyone just as her parents appeared. "What is going on here?" Chloe's dad demanded. Then he noticed Dany and widened his eyes. "Dany, what are you doing here? The king said you weren't welcome here."
Chloe noticed the flash of anger in Dany's eyes, but she remained calm as she responded. "We are discussing that now," she told him.
"I don't understand," said Chloe's mother.
Julien, looking annoyed, started explaining how Dany had shown up and demanded a talk, then attacked them when they refused. He was just saying that they gave in when the youngest of the penguin team suddenly raised the alarm.
"Alice!" he called. "Alice is coming!"
In a flash, the penguins bolted out of the lemur habitat, Marlene right behind them, but she paused when Dany didn't move. "Come on!" her roommate ordered, grabbing her arm and pulling her away. Dany fought to get free, but Marlene had a tight grip on her. "We need to go!"
Dany locked eyes with Chloe, and Chloe waved goodbye to her. Then the otters disappeared over the wall just when Alice the zookeeper opened the back door to the habitat. She strolled in, a large cage in her hand that unsteadied her, muttering to herself the whole time.
"I don't know why we got new lemurs just to get rid of the old ones. Too much work for me." The zookeeper sighed and set down the cage. She looked up to see all the lemurs gathered together. She walked over to them, shooing the new lemurs away with a wave of her hand. Julien and his subjects retreated to the bouncy castle, watching Alice curiously.
Chloe backed away as the human came over to her and her parents. She didn't trust the zookeepers like her parents did. She was thankful to them for feeding them and giving them a place to live, but something about them always unsettled her. Maybe it was their large, pink paws, the clumsy way they walked, or even the way they talked to her like she was a baby.
She watched as the zookeeper ushered her parents into the cage. Cautiously, she inched closer, eyeing Alice as she stopped in front of the open door to the cage.
"What's going on?" she asked her parents.
"Don't you fear, my sweet," her mother murmured, rubbing behind her daughter's ear.
"We're… going away, Chloe," her dad reluctantly told her.
Chloe felt like the ground just opened up and swallowed her. "What?" she squeaked in horror. "N-No, you c-can't! I need you!"
"We don't have a choice, dear one," said her mother. "There are too many lemurs here. They are sending us to a zoo that needs more lemurs."
"You knew they were sending you away?" Chloe choked.
Chloe's dad nodded. "The penguins told us right before the king and his subjects arrived."
"The penguins… told you." Anger rose in Chloe. Why hadn't they told her or even Dany, when the little otter talked them into her plan?
"We were going to tell you," her dad went on. "We just didn't know how. We're sorry," he murmured.
Chloe opened her mouth to say it wasn't their fault but that it was Julien's. But before she could get a word out, the door to the cage closed, cutting Chloe off from her parents. Her mom reached through the bars to touch Chloe's hand. "Be brave, my dear Chloe."
Chloe shook her head. "How can I be without you here with me?"
Her dad was about to reply, but just then Alice picked up the cage and walked away. Chloe ran after her, calling out to her parents.
"No! Come back! I need you!"
"Goodbye, Chloe," her dad whispered, and Chloe just saw a glimpse of her mom's face twisted with grief, then the door closed and Chloe was left there, her heart breaking with sadness. "Please, don't go…"
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