If anyone's curious as to why I'm lumping Maurice and Mort together, that's mostly because there isn't a lot I can do in terms of story ideas for Maurice solo, so I figured putting them together would help get some creative juices flowing.

Chapter 6 – City (Maurice & Mort's Story)

It was a hot day at the zoo, and most of the animals were busy trying to either keep cool or just stay out of the sun. Skipper, though, decided to take the opportunity to tan while the sun was out and no one was around.

Meanwhile, inside the lemur habitat, Maurice was being run ragged, as the heat made Julien extra cranky, and the only one around that he could complain to who would listen to him was the adviser.

"Maurice! Where is de king's mango smoothie? I have been waiting for two whole minutes and the smoothie is not already in de king's hand!"

"Coming, your majesty!" said Maurice, although the tone of his reply betrayed the sheer panic he was feeling at the moment.

He clearly remembered seeing the supply of mangoes in the usual cupboard behind the bar last night before he went to bed. When he woke up, though, he checked the cupboard to find that they were all gone! While it was true that there were not that many left, he was surprised to see them disappear so quickly.

Desperate, he looked around and found Mort behind the bar, facing towards the back of the habitat and his head moving up and down, making it look like he was eating something.

"Mort, there you are! You were supposed to be helping me with making King Julien's smoothies!"

Maurice then noticed that Mort wasn't paying attention and saw what he was chewing on.

"Mort? What's that you're eating?"

Mort's head popped up in surprise before turning around to face Maurice.

"Uh…nothing?"

Mort put on as big of a smile as he could muster, but Maurice wasn't buying it one bit. Walking over in front of Mort, he found a small pile of mostly eaten mangoes.

"Mort, that was the last of our mangoes! Now how are we going to make King Julien's smoothies?"

Mort paused, thinking about his answer.

"Kisses and huggies?"

Maurice rolled his eyes and grabbed Mort's arm, intending to pull him up so he can help out, when Julien called out once again.

"Maurice! Where are you? De sun is beating down on my kingly skin, and I do not want to be getting de sun burnings!"

Maurice quickly rushed over to King Julien's throne.

"I'm here, your majesty!"

"Dere you are, Maurice! Where is de mango smoothie I wanted you to be making for me?"

Maurice nervously gulped before replying.

"Uh…unfortunately we've run out of mangoes. Mort ate the last few ones we had."

Julien sighed.

"I am very disappointed in you, Maurice. I cannot believe that you would forget to lock de mangoes away from someone like Mort."

"I know, sir, but we don't have any locks that we could use."

"Den find some! I will not be having de mango supply be sullied by de hands of someone less important den me! And bring me some more mangoes as well. I will require two mango smoothies when you two return to make up for de one dat you missed."

"But where am I going to find these locks?" asked Maurice.

"I do not know! Stop asking dese questions! You are making de king's head hurt!"

Maurice was about to leave when he was interrupted.

"Before I forget, take Mort with you as well. He needs to be taught a lesson for eating de king's mangoes."

Maurice was unsure of what Julien meant by lesson, but he decided not to ask any more questions, bringing Mort along as they hopped over the habitat's fence.

Maurice and Mort spent the next hour looking around the zoo for locks, as well as any mangoes that they could find, but there was no sign of them anywhere.

Tired, they made their way back to their area of the zoo, stopping between their home and the penguin habitat.

"Wait, we can't just go back in there empty-handed! Julien'll be furious!" said Maurice.

"I don't like mad King Julien!"

"You're right. Our only option is to go into the city and hope we find what we're looking for."

"But…but the city is scary!" said Mort.

Maurice paused, trying to think of a solution.

"Well, we could hire some protection. I'm sure the penguins probably wouldn't mind."

"Oh, I like that plan!"

Nodding, Maurice hopped over the fence into the penguin habitat, Mort following close behind.

When the two of them dropped down in the Penguin HQ, they were greeted with the sight of Private and Rico fighting over the TV remote, while Skipper was unsuccessfully trying to break them up. Kowalski was also there as well, but he was busy awkwardly trying to convince at least one of the two of them to stop.

"Rico, please! The Lunacorns are on the telly right now, and I don't want to miss it!" said Private.

"Nuh-uh!" said Rico, followed by a string of gibberish.

Having had enough, Skipper backed away from the two of them and started yelling.

"Will you two CUT IT OUT?!"

The melee stopped immediately as Private and Rico looked at Skipper, both still clutching the remote.

"Since you two can't seem to agree on a show to watch, I'm officially confiscating the remote until further notice."

"B-but Skippah! The Lunacorns!"

"I'm sure you can survive without watching that show for a while, Private."

Private sighed, disappointed.

"Same goes for you too, Rico."

Rico groaned.

Finally, they noticed the presence of the two lemurs, and Skipper acted accordingly.

"Hey! I thought I told you to stay out of here!"

Skipper moved to escort them out, but Maurice held up his hands stopping the commander in his tracks temporarily.

"Wait a second, Skipper. Won't you at least hear us out first?"

"Not interested. Now leave before I throw you out myself."

It was then that Skipper noticed that the second half of the lemur duo was not standing next to Maurice. Confused, he looked around for a second and found Mort standing right next to him, clutching his flipper while he had the biggest puppy dog look on his face he could manage.

Slightly perturbed, Skipper decided to ask what he wanted so that Mort would let go of him quicker.

"Spit it out, Sad Eyes. What do you guys want?"

"King Julien wants us to go to the big, scary city to find a lock and some more mangoes. I do not like the city! Can you come with us and protect me and Maurice? Pleeeeaaassseee?"

As much as Skipper wanted to say no, he couldn't resist the look that Mort was giving him, sighing in defeat.

"Alright, we'll come with you. But don't expect us to put our lives on the line for you guys. That'll cost extra."

"Yay, I convinced him!"

"Thanks a lot, Skipper." said Maurice.

"Hey, I'm only doing this for you guys because you're not as irritating as Ringtail usually is. Speaking of, where is he anyway?"

"Oh, he's probably still at the habitat, still sitting on his throne."

Skipper shrugged.

"Eh, no big loss. We need to get ready, so meet us out by the car."

Maurice and Mort nodded, heading back out of the HQ and towards the car, which they had a bit of difficulty finding with how well it was hidden.

When the penguins finally hopped out of their habitat a few minutes later, they slid up to where the car was to find Maurice and Mort waiting in front.

"Why aren't you two already in the car?" asked Skipper.

Maurice opened his mouth to answer, but Kowalski jumped in to answer.

"I think I should be able to answer this one, Skipper. Our car can only fit four penguins inside of it, so there are only four seatbelts. However, with the two lemurs, there are now six of us, which means that there aren't enough seatbelts to go around."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem. Rico, I'll handle the driving. No offense, but we'd only end up losing the two of them if you drive."

Rico sighed, disappointed, but he jumped in next to the driver's seat. As the rest of the penguins jumped into the car, with Kowalski and Private taking the back seats, this left Maurice and Mort standing around, wondering what to do.

"Just grab on to the seats and hold on tight. Don't worry, I don't drive like Rico does."

"'Ey!"

Maurice reluctantly climbed into the car, grabbing one of the seats as instructed. Mort, meanwhile, chose to hop on Kowalski's lap, which caught the analyst off guard.

"Um…Skipper?"

Skipper turned around intending to ask what he wanted when he saw where Mort was sitting. He sighed, looking forward to when this would be over.

"Just let him sit there, Kowalski. This mission isn't going to take long."

Kowalski opened his beak to argue, but closed it when Mort gave him another one of his cute looks. Sighing, he held on to Mort as Skipper pulled the car out of the parking spot.

The first part of the journey to the city went pretty smoothly. Skipper kept driving at a decent speed, where they would be able to get to the city in good time without having to worry about the lemurs staying in the car.

Speaking of the lemurs, Maurice decided to let his mind wander for a bit, thinking that Skipper was still watching out for their safety.

However, something on the side of the road caught Rico's eye, and he immediately went ballistic, trying to grab the wheel away. As Skipper was desperately trying to hold him off, the car suddenly started swerving, pulling Maurice out of his thoughts as he clutched the back seat harder.

"Rico, what is the matter with you?!"

Kowalski looked behind the car to see what set Rico off, but he didn't really need to.

"Perky! Perky!"

Kowalski immediately managed to figure it out.

"Judging from Rico's expression and what he's saying, I would have to guess that we must have passed some kind of Miss Perky-related advertisement."

"That's wonderful, Kowalski. Now would you mind helping me subdue him?" asked Skipper, while still fending off the crazed penguin.

Kowalski looked around, trying to figure out a way to calm Rico down, when his eyes landed on Mort, and he formulated an idea.

"Mort, would you mind doing me a favor and keeping our friend Rico busy for a moment?"

Although Mort was going to agree, Kowalski didn't wait for an answer, tossing Mort into Rico's arms and somehow not sending him flying with the speed the car was going at.

Confused, Rico lifted up Mort and stared at the mouse lemur, who smiled at him.

"Hi! I'm a distraction!"

Rico immediately tossed Mort back into the backseat where Kowalski caught him. This gave Skipper enough time to chop him in the neck, knocking the hefty penguin out.

As Skipper brought the car back into control, Maurice sighed, mentally kicking himself for thinking this was going to be an easy trip.

Rico woke up just as they reached their first destination, a hardware store in the middle of the city. Thankfully, the rest calmed him down, so he was back to his normal self, which Maurice was thankful for.

"Alright, you two. I want you to stick close to us and do everything I say. Is that clear?" said Skipper.

Both Maurice and Mort nodded, as the six of them slipped into the store.

Like with the drive over, the first part of the search for a lock went pretty smoothly, as the penguins efficiently made their way through the busy store full of humans, leading the lemurs along to keep them out of sight as well.

However, when they passed by a large display of flowers, Mort's eyes suddenly went wide, and he quickly rushed over to where they were.

"Mort, where are you going?" whispered Maurice, not wanting to be heard.

Skipper, annoyed, slid back over to where Maurice was.

"Sad Eyes is compromising the mission! Go get him and get back over here. We're running out of time!"

Nervous, Maurice made his way over to the flowers, barely dodging being stepped on. Once he reached the display, he found Mort chewing on one of the rhododendrons.

"Mort, get down here! We don't have time for lunch!"

When Mort didn't listen, Maurice climbed up and grabbed Mort's hand, pulling him away from the flowers.

Somehow, they managed to get back to the penguins without any issue, but before they moved on, the two of them were accosted by Skipper.

"Make sure to keep an eye on him, Maurice. I don't want him running off again."

Maurice nodded, and the group resumed their search.

They managed to find a decent padlock a few minutes after. However, the large amount of people in the store prevented them from paying for it without being spotted, so they were forced to sneak out with it.

When they reached the front door, they found that there were two sensors on either side of the door, which would most likely sound the alarm if they went through it.

"I knew that it wouldn't be this easy getting out. Kowalski, give me some options!" said Skipper.

Kowalski was about to pull out his notebook, but he spotted something important and decided not to.

"No need, Skipper. I have just the way to get out of here. There's some space between the sensors and the door, so we should be able to go around them and slip through to get out of here."

"Well, that sounds easier than I thought it would. Let's go, men! And make sure not to touch any part of the sensor, or we're done for."

The penguins and lemurs made their way over to the door and slowly slipped their way through the opening one at a time, except for Maurice, who decided it would be best not to let Mort go through himself. So, he decided to carry Mort through, somehow making it through despite not being able to see where he was going.

A little while later, after leaving the hardware store, they managed to find a grocery store that had mangoes available. However, considering the fact that there were only six of them there, there was no chance that they would be able to get very many of them.

As they all stared at the mango display from their hiding spot, Private decided to voice what they were all thinking.

"So Skippah, how are we supposed to get all of these mangoes out to the car?"

Skipper thought for a moment before turning towards Maurice.

"How many mangoes do you think you're going to need to appease Ringtail?"

"Uh…I suppose twelve should probably last us to the next time that Alice delivers some more to us at the zoo."

"Sorry, but that's not going to happen. Even with the six of us, there's no way I'm giving up the fighting capabilities of my team just so we can all carry two of them. We should be okay if we each carry one mango. It'll still give us one flipper to defend ourselves."

Maurice didn't think that six would be enough, but he decided not to argue as he wanted to get this trip over with.

The group began slipping their way towards the display. Kowalski, Private, Maurice and Mort hid under the table, while Rico boosted Skipper up on to the table, and the commander started dropping mangoes down for Rico to catch and hand off for everyone else to hold on to. Once they reached six, Skipper hopped down from the table and grabbed his mango from Rico, who was temporarily holding it for him.

They began making their way back to the front door, but not before Rico pulled himself up on one of the registers, regurgitating some change on the counter and quickly hopping back off before the cashier noticed, rejoining the group as they went out the door.

When the penguins and lemurs returned to the zoo and parked the car in the usual spot, Maurice and Mort grabbed all of the supplies. The penguins were about to head back to the HQ when Maurice called out to them.

"Wait up, you guys!"

When they stopped and turned back around, Maurice sighed.

"I wanted to thank you guys for helping Mort and I out around the city. Without you, I don't think we'd ever have gotten back here!"

"No problem, you two. However, I would like you to do one thing for us." said Skipper.

"What's that?" asked Maurice.

"You didn't see anything." said Skipper, waving his flippers in circles.

"What?"

"Look, just don't tell Ringtail we helped you guys out. It might give him ideas."

Maurice stared at him for a second, before shrugging and heading towards the lemur habitat, Mort following close behind.

"Where have you two been? I have been waiting here all day!"

King Julien was still sitting on his throne as Maurice and Mort were passing by to put away the mangoes.

"Uh…we were out in the city all day looking for the lock and the mangoes. We did manage to find both of them, though." said Maurice.

"Oh, dat is great! Now Mort won't be able to get into my mangoes, and I can have as many smoothies as I want! Oh, by de way, for taking so long, you now owe me three smoothies."

Maurice sighed before replying.

"Look, we only managed to get six mangoes for you. I can do two smoothies for you, but the third will have to wait until Alice brings them tomorrow."

"Ugh, fine. Dat third smoothie must be heavenly, though! I will not be happy if my smoothie is not de best tasting smoothie I have ever had!"

"Of course, your majesty."

As Maurice set to work on making more smoothies, he was happy to know that him and Mort weren't alone in having to wait on someone like King Julien.