Chapter 5 – Strange connections

A/N: Thanks for all the positive reviews you gave my story. You guys are the best!

~PoM~

Private and his teammates were on their way back home. The sun has set and the sky turned dark. Private looked down to the leafy crown he was carrying, still thinking about Julian and the penguin in the alley.

Meanwhile. Maurice was pacing up and down with his hand behind his back in front of the zoo gate waiting for the penguins to return.

"Relax Maurice. I'm sure the penguins will be here any minute" said the otter.

The lemur sighed. "I sure hope so" he looked over to the horizon and saw the four flightless birds, causing his face to light up.

"Look! the penguins are back and they're…" he trailed off at the sight of the wounded Rico and Private holding Julian's crown.

"What happened to you guys?" Marlene asked in concern.

"Some penguin came out of nowhere and attacked Rico and Private" Skipper explained. Marlene glanced over to private to check on him and he nodded to assure her that he's okay.

"But what about King Julian?" Maurice asked. At this everyone went silent. No one knew how to break the news to him.

Skipper slowly shook his head. "The trail has gone cold for him. All we've found was his crown, nothing else" he said. Private handed the leafy crown to him. Maurice gazed down to it with his eyes filled with grief and confusion. Private felt his own beak quiver, he promised Maurice he would bring Julian back, but he let him down instead.

Saying no words, he followed his teammates to the penguin base.

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After treating Rico's injury Private told Kowalski more about the penguin that attacked them in the alley passage, but Kowalski on the other hand blew the story off and asked him more than once if he's over describing the enemy.

Skipper and Kowalski didn't get a good look at the penguin as much as Rico and Private did.

"I'm telling the truth!" Private insisted.

"Okay even if what you're saying is true, why would that cyborg penguin attack you?" Kowalski questioned.

Private rubbed his neck. "I dunno. He thinks that we have some key he needed, but I don't understand why he's so eager just to open a door"

"Perhaps it's not an actual key he wanted but a solution for a problem" Kowalski said as he tapped his beak.

"Maybe, but why did he come to us of all the animals around?" Private wondered. At this Kowalski shrugged his shoulders. Nothing made sense so far. It felt like something bigger was happening, but they had no idea about. Private could tell that Julian's disappearance and the cyborg penguin attack are somehow related, but couldn't say how. Then he looked back to the bunks and focused his gaze at Rico's sleeping form. He had bandages wrapped around his head and kept moaning in pain in his sleep. Private then felt guilty for what happened to him. He touched his own face and remembered the incident. If it weren't for Rico it could have been him who got hit, it could have been him who is in a coma right now. The weapon expert sacrificed himself to keep him safe.

The young bird felt his own heart being wrenched and struggled to hold back the tears in his eyes. Kowalski noticed that and placed a flipper on his shoulder.

"Rico's fine Private, I assure you that he will soon wake up and start blowing things up like he always do" the strategist cooed. His words put some relief in Private and he nodded.

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Skipper sat on the fake, ice floe, thinking about what happened throughout this day, from their mission to the market, to searching for Julian and the mysterious penguin attack, a lot had happened in one day, he thought, but what surprised him the most was that penguin who attacked his teammates and for some reason he felt familiar with him. For the first time Skipper became confused of what to think of.

"Hey Skipper" a familiar voice came. Skipper spun around and saw Marlene standing before him.

"Marlene, what are you doing here? Were you spying on me?" he asked the otter.

"What of course not. I just came to check on you guys" she answered.

"Oh" Skipper lowered a brow and turned his gaze to a random direction. Marlene looked confused and stepped closer to him.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

Skipper sighed. Marlene knew him well and she could tell that he was hiding something. "I don't know Marlene I just feel like I failed to protect my men. Private and Rico were in danger and I wasn't there to protect them. And we're still clueless on Ringtail. I take full responsibility for what happened" he stated in a sad tone.

Marlene shook her head. "That's not true. You guys tried your best but things just got out of hand. You shouldn't blame yourself." Marlene said to him. She was trying to ease his feeling of guilt. "And besides, there's still a chance that Julian might come back on his own, right?"

Skipper found truth in the otter's words and smiled. "Right" he returned. He looked above and saw snow beginning to fall. "Let's get inside" the leader said. Marlene nodded and both went down the hatch.

A/N: I think my chapters a bit too short. Whaddya think should I make longer chapters or keep it this way? Please review.