Even Otter Things Have Happened

Plot Summary Takes place after 'Otter Things have Happened'. Julien tries to make up with Marlene, but she doesn't want to. He enlists the help of the penguins to create a love potion for him, but things don't turn quite out right….

Disclaimer: The Penguins of Madagascar is the property of Dreamworks Animation Studios in association with Nickelodeon. I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar

Thanks again to the reviewers! To Poette O'Deal (thanks again! Thumbs Up!) and to Byakuyafan1. To DrunkenRookie, get better soon! Miztah Han, you know what I'm gonna say! Thanks to Panacea447 for all the help with this chapter. Well here ya go guys:

Chapter III: Smashing Encounter

Skipper told Private about his nightmare: Fred, Marlene, Hoboken, all of it. Private listened carefully, and when Skipper finished, he was as horrified as he was.

"Skipper, I've been having the same nightmare, Fred replacing all of us, but not you going away to Hoboken!"

"I know Private" said Skipper, laying down on Private. "My gut's just giving me the feeling that somehow, it might just be true."

"I won't let you leave Skipper. The team won't be the same without you!" he whispered, since Rico started snoring.

"I know Private. I know, but if that makes Marlene happy, then I'll have no other choice." He whispered back, and with a huge yawn, he fell asleep.

* The following morning*

Private woke up to see Kowalski the only one awake, wrapping up untidy documents, the finished love potion for King Julien lying on the table. Rico was still snoring loudly, and Skipper fell asleep in Private's flippers after telling him of his nightmare. So as not to wake Skipper, he slowly edged himself off his friend's bunk and waddled over to Kowalski. He had a plan in mind to keep Skipper from leaving the zoo.

"Kowalski, is it possible to make an antidote for the ultra-serum?"

"Well, I already have some in stock in case things go badly, but I thought you said that Fred needed those traits the serum gave him?"

"I know Kowalski, but – well – it's giving all of us nightmares just to think about it, and I've never seen Skipper so sad before. He even told me of his nightmares, Fred marries Marlene, Julien dies, and Skipper gets transferred to Hoboken!"

"Hmm. Private, did it ever occur to you that Skipper may be romantically attracted to Marlene?"

"What? No. I mean," he glanced over at the sleeping Skipper and sighed deeply. "Well, he might…"

"Don't tell Skipper, but I've been monitoring his emotional status since the whole Fred crisis, and I've even run a few scans. You know, the Lovulator and the physical stuff like the influx of emotions and respiration rates, but my point is – he may see Marlene as more of a friend now."

"Wait! Skipper loves Marlene?" Private said in a hushed whisper, and glanced behind him at the stirring Skipper. "Well, I kind of suspected."

"Look Private, and this may only be hypothetical, but there is a great possibility that if Marlene meets Fred again, she could – what is it? – fall in love with him, the sight of which could shatter Skipper's heart, not literally of course."

"Then that will cause him to leave the zoo. Oh no, we need to fix this! We need to keep Marlene from meeting Fred. Kowalski, you're a genius!" he said, hugging his hero.

"Yes, who doesn't think that!" he said sarcastically, waiting for Private to release him.

"Alright, I need the antidote for the serum for my plan to work. We may need to bring Rico along if it has any chance of working."

"Well what did you have in mi – " Kowalski began, but a wrenching sound of metal scraping on rock alerted them to the entrance of King Julien, interrupting him and causing Rico to scream and wake, and propelling Skipper into a battle stance.

"Helo der neighbor. Now, did you find my lovey potion?"

"Here…" said Kowalski, thoroughly bored and acting as if nothing happened as he glanced at Skipper. "It was under your bouncy."

"Ah. I am supposedly supposed to be thanking you penguins for it. Maurice!" he screamed to someone above the ladder. "Give to this penguin his reward!"

'Yes your majesty!" came the lemur's voice, followed by Mort's high-pitched squeal as he came tumbling down the rungs of the ladder, followed by a few overripe mangoes and a green banana, which all struck Mort's head.

"Yay! I like falling!"

"Ringtail! It's 7 AM, what are you doing waking up the whole city?" Skipper demanded, his eyes still bleary and red but glowing with anger.

"Nunya bisness silly penguin. All I know is that I finally have a date wid da lovely Marlene!"

Private leaned over to Kowalski and hushed, "Does the love potion really work?"

"Only if Marlene happens to be a baboon." He whispered back, and smiled at Private.

"Right." Came Skipper's voice. "Now you have your love potion, now LEAVE!"

A smug smile came from King Julien before he left, stepping on Mort on his way out. Mort had already eaten all of his food, including the unripe banana. "Mmm! I like mango!"

"Oh well, since we're all up, I suppose we can do some training? What do you say boys?"

During their training sessions, Private and Kowalski called for a break, which Skipper reluctantly agreed to, and discussed their plan with Rico. Rico smiled his evil grin, and resumed the training.

*Later On*

"Guys? Why did you bring me here?"

Fred slowly climbed down the ladder and into their habitat. It took him a while to work his way through the fish-bowl entrance, considering he was twice as wide.

"Oh nothing." Kowalski said invitingly. "Just wanted to chat with our good friend Fred! Maybe patch things up about yesterday. Rico?"

"Wha? Oh yah! Ahm soree…"

"See? Now is there anything you want to drink? A hot beverage? Tea, coffee, cocoa? Hmm?" Kowalski offered, presenting each option to Fred on a tray.

"Cocoa I guess. But thanks guys, you really didn't need to apologize. It's all good."

"Yes it is, isn't it?" Private said while Kowalski made a big show of adding 'sugar' to Fred's cocoa with his back turned. "Say Fred, would you like to watch the telly with me?"

As Kowalski set the cocoa spiked with antidote in front of Fred, the fish-head door burst open and flew off, almost flattening Rico, and the startled penguin spilled the cocoa on Fred. Kowalski stuttered an apology, which Fred waved off ('It's nothing, really…), but paused when he saw who had entered. It was Marlene, and she was lit up in rage.

"KOWALSKI! DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT JULIEN AND A LOVE POTION!" she screamed, charging at the startled penguin. Upon reaching him, she grabbed him and smashed him against the wall, which cracked and splintered where the penguin was struck upon it. Kowalski was too startled to speak or resist, even if he had the will to, he was no match for an angry Marlene.

"WELL DO YOU?" she repeated, shouting in his face and smashing him up against the wall again. Private was quaking in fear, and looked as if he was about to faint at her rage, and Rico screamed like a small girl and hid in the bunk beds, also shaking. Kowalski's mouth was gaping open and small stutters came out, which only angered the mad otter even more. Through all this, Fred stared at the two with a bored expression on his face, which was still on his face when he stood up and opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey Marlene?"

"WHAT!" she roared, turning her head in the direction of the interruption. But upon seeing Fred, this time her mouth was the one that fell and started to stutter. She gazed at Fred for a long time, and Kowalski was still choked up in fear, not daring to wriggle out of her grasp while she was looking at the squirrel, even though his spine felt fractured into a million tiny pieces.

"F-F-F-Fred?" came a low croak from Marlene. "I-I-Is th-th-that y-you?"

"Yeah." He replied, still bored.

Now Private did faint, and Rico covered his head with a pillow, still cowering underneath it. Marlene released Kowalski, who dropped like a doll with all its stuffing ripped out and whimpered more in fear than in pain.

"You look different." She whispered, walking towards the squirrel, her eyes wide and glassy.

"Yeah." He repeated, still bored.

"Did something happen to you?" she hushed, eyeing his face then his body, still with a shocked expression on her face.

"Yeah." Boredom ringing throughout the monosyllabic response.

"Hmmm, maybe I can give you another chance." She concluded, and took Fred's paw in her own and walked toward the fish-head tunnel entrance. She was obviously taking him to her habitat.

"What the deuce?" came a voice from above the fish-bowl entrance. "What's with all the yelling and the noise?"

Skipper lowered himself down the ladder and saw a sorry sight: Kowalski lay crumpled on the floor, the only sign of movement coming from his chest in labored breathing and tiny chunks of stone falling of from the spider-web cracks on the wall above him; Private was unconscious near the television, which was nothing but a broken box with a less-than-injured Mort inside, a few wires emitting sparks and whatever remained of the stuffed fish-head that concealed the tunnel pulverized the television and Mort in splinters around it; and a squealing, cowering lump that was obviously Rico underneath a pillow on the lowest bunk bed.

"What happened here?" he demanded. "Are we under attack? Is it Blowhole? Speak to me men!"

Summoning up the last vestige of courage he could, Rico unearthed his head from beneath the pillow and pointed at the tunnel near the entrance. Skipper turned to see what he was pointing at, and glimpsed the retreating forms of Marlene and the supersized Fred, her arm wrapped around his. Skipper's heart sunk to the lowest point possible, and fell right out of him. Compared to what he felt, Kowalski's fate looked like nothing short of a great birthday party.