Chapter 6

Akino and the penguins were headed to the otter habitat with the robots right behind them.

"There it is!" Akino called out as they neared the habitat. They cleared the wall and and jumped into Marlene's habitat.

Meanwhile, Marlene was hangliding with Becky and Stacy when she saw Akino and the penguins being chased by the robots.

"Hey guys, look down there." Marlene called out as the badgers looked down to see the high speed persuit. However, the falcon caught sight of them, so it flew towards them and sliced through the hanglider with its talons.

"Kowalski, where will Marlene and the badgers hit?" Sipper called out, still on the run.

"Judging by the angle, they'll land in the park, all we have to do is lead them there." Kowalski replied as they cleared the wall and jumped out of the zoo, the robots still right behind them. They saw Marlene and the badgers land in a tree and went over to investigate.

"Remember, Marlene knows neither friend nor foe, so stay on your guard." Kowalski informed as they were now surrounded.

"What now?" Akino said, entering his fighting stance. Just then they heard a roar coming from the tree. Feral Marlene jumped from the tree and landed between the penguins and the robots.

"I think now is a good time to run."Akino suggested. The others nodded as Marlene faced the robots. She then lunged at the robots and started tearing them apart. The squirrel managed to get out of the fight and set its sight on Akino. Its massive tail opened to reveal a missile launcher that housed several missiles. Ity aimed its crosshairs and fired at Akino. Akino managed to dodge them, but they came back around.

Akino saw that the falcon flew out of the fight and he hatched an idea.

"Rico, you have a grapple?" Akino asked, dodging another flyby by the missiles. Rico coughed up a grapple which Aniko caught and fired at the falcon. It hooked around its left talon and Akino went flying with the missiles on his tail.

Meanehile, the penguins went after the squirrel and Marlene just about finished the porcupine and the otter. She then started walking towards the fox, who tried to run, but was grabbed by Marlene and literally torn apart. Moments passe dand the penguins finished the squirrel and looked to see Akino still with the falcon.

Akino reeled himself in and tried to sabotage the falcon's thrusters. He began ripping out wires until one of the thrusters gave away, taking down the speed by half. The missiles finally caught up with them and Akino waited just for the right time.

'Why do we have too cut these things so damn close?' Akino's consience asked as Akino jumped from the falcon just before they hit. The falcon got hit by all of the missiles, but the explosion caused by them engulfed Akino. The penguins saw a giant smoke cloud, and several pieces fly out of the smoke cloud. The last thing thing to fly out was a smoking form of Akino plummiting into the pond.

Wasting no time, everyone headed to the pond to look for him. The penguins jumped in and dived down until they saw Akino, slowly sinking into the depths. They grabbed them with their flippers and pulled him up and out of the pond. They layed him on the shore and shook the water off.

"Alright, let's get this soldier to the infirmary." Skipper ordered as everyone headed back to the zoo. They had some trouble getting Marlene back, but everyone got back in one piece.

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Akino woke up in the zoo infirmary. He opened his eyes to see Becky and Stacy standing over him, both with worried faces. His upper-back and chest area was bandaged along with his ear and most of his tail. His right arm was in a cast and strapped to his chest. He was in pretty bad shape.

"Akino, a-are you okay?" Becky asked, just as worried as Stacy. Akino's jaw hurt too much to move, so he gave a weak thumbs up and and a weak smile. Becky and Stacy smiled and felt a wave of relief wash over them. Just then, they heard the doctor open the door into the room. Becky and Stacy hid behind the small bed he was on as the doctor walked up to him.

"Ah, I see you're awake. Its a good thing you're still alive. Yor injuries wasn't deep enough to cause major damage, but they'll heal in a few months. Right now, its a good time to get some rest." the zoo doctor said before he walked out of the room.

Becky and Stacy came out from the side of the bed and went back on each side of Akino.

"Akino, can you talk?" Becky asked. Akino weakly shook his head no.

"Oh, well stay safe and we'll see you tomorrow." Stacy said as they both leaned in and kissed each side of his face, making him blush his brightest possible shade of red and his heart was fluttering. Once they parted, they then walked away and climbed out of the window. Akino then decided it was a good time to get some much needed rest. With that thought, he quietly dozed off.

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Over the next month Becky and Stacy came and checked on him every day and over that time, their relationship grew. Some of the zoo animals visited him over the time, but none as much as Becky or Stacy.

This lead Akino to one thought.

'I'm in love.'

Alright, I hope that wasn't the worst ending ever. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and as always, have a nice day. Peace.