Chapter 4 – Mysterious figure

A/N: Hey guys, Sorry for the late update. I got busy with school, but I'm glad that we made it to chapter four where my OC villain will show himself, but his identity will stay a mystery until later in this story.

~PoM~

Private ran to catch up to his teammates. He looked ahead and saw the city was coming into view. Then He looked back to the zoo and remembered the talk they had with their friends before leaving.

Flashback

"What do you mean I can't come with you? King Julian is somewhere out, cold and alone. I have to go, he needs me!" Maurice protested.

"Sorry lemur, but the concrete jungle is too dangerous for either you or Sad Eyes to wander about" Skipper stated with his flippers crossed over his chest. "And besides. If Alice hadn't notice one lemur missing from her zoo yet, then she'll surely notice all three of them"

"Oh" Maurice did, averting his eyes to the ground, feeling helpless. Private felt sorry for him and placed a flipper on his shoulder to help him feel better.

"Don't worry Maurice. We will bring Julian back. That's a promise" he said to him. The lemur in return gave him a small, sad smile.

"Thanks Private"

End of flashback

The thought of it made him feel warm and determined from the inside, but also worried for the ring-tailed lemur. He was a good friend to him and even though he might be seen annoying and selfish sometimes, he had his moments where he had shown himself to be someone you can rely on. He really missed seeing him around and hoped they would find him soon.

"Kowalski, are sure your invention is leading us straight to Ringtail?" he heard Skipper say.

"Skipper, I assure you that with help of this baby we'll surely, without a doubt…" before he could finish his sentence the device exploded right in his face.

"MY BABY!" the scientist squealed.

Skipper shrugged, placing his flippers on his hips. "Well that bound to happen"

"But how are we going to find Julian now Skippah?" asked Private.

"We'll have to split up. You and Rico search the alleys while we look in the streets" the leader instructed. The three penguins agreed and split up in pairs.

XXXXXXXX

Skipper was looking through his binoculars from on top of a building for any sign of ring-tailed when suddenly he spotted something on the sidewalk. To his surprise, it was Julian's crown! Wasting no time, he slid down the rain pipe and went to get it up. He picked it up and examined it carefully. It didn't look damaged though, merely scratched, but why?

"Why would Ringtail leave his crown behind? What did really happen to him?" Skipper thought and went to show it to Kowalski.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Julian! Hello?" Private called out, his voice echoed in the alley passage, but no one called back. So they both resumed walking deeper into the dark passage. Suddenly, they saw a stocky, figure approaching them from the dark.

"Skippah?" Private asked, but the figure didn't respond and stared at them for a while. Private soon realized that it wasn't Skipper who they were looking at when he saw his left eye was glowing red.

"Where's the key?" it finally spoke, its voice was deep and raspy.

Rico and Private exchanged glares. "What?"

"Where's the key? I know you have it" it asked again, more eagerly this time.

"Eh…I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about" the young bird said honestly. A moment of silence passed until it spoke again.

"Fine, I guess I'll have to force the truth out of you" the penguin stated as it stepped out of the shade.

Private gasped when he saw his body was half robot. The penguin's left flipper was made of metal, a small piece of armor on his shoulder and he had a robotic, red eye like Dr. Blowhole's.

The mechanical penguin charged at Private, attempting to hit him with his metal flipper. Before he could, Rico pushed Private out of way and took the hit instead of him, sending him flying into the ground.

"Rico!" Private cried and rushed to his side. He was completely unconscious and he had a huge bruise on his head. He looked back and saw the mechanical penguin approaching them.

"Stay back!" Private yelled, trying to hide the quiver in his voice but he knew it was obvious that he was scared. The penguin stopped and smirked at him.

"How cute" he said and resumed his way towards. Private felt his breathing become choppy and his heart racing. He knew he can't beat the mechanical penguin by himself and thought he was done for until he heard a familiar voice shout.

"Stop!" Skipper came running and knocked the mechanical bird hundreds of feet away from them, followed by Kowalski who was holding Julian's crown. The mechanical stood up and glared at them briefly before running back into the dark, passage.

Skipper and Kowalski turned their attention to Rico and hurried to his side.

"We need to get him back to HQ to treat his wound!" Kowalski said in concern. Skipper nodded.

"But what about Julian?" Private questioned.

Skipper glanced at him, a look of worry on his face "Sorry Private, but we need to get Rico to safety, so we have no choice but to compromise this mission and take him back to HQ" Skipper answered. He and Kowalski then carried Rico carefully out of the alley.

Private picked up the lemur's crown and glanced back to the passage again. Who was he? He thought before following his teammates.

A/N: I know the plot doesn't make much sense right now but I promise it will in the future. If you have any questions drop a review and I will happily answer them.