The Speed of Darkness
Chapter 7 - The Unknown

Marlene sighed.

Once again, Skipper and the team were out on some exciting mission somewhere. Once again, she was locked inside the zoo. Once again, she sat on the edge of her small pool and twirled her foot in it, watching the ripples that it made in the pristine water.

Skipper had walked close to Marlene's habitat earlier in the day.

"Hi, Skipper!" She called to him from her perch on top of the tall, brick wall. He looked up to her from the pathway.

"Hey, Marlene," he responded in his usual matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Where are you headed to?" She said, wondering why Skipper was roaming the zoo by himself after it was closed. Usually he stuck with his team never really went on missions this late in the day.

Skipper looked uneasy, "Highly classified, Marlene."

Marlene rolled her eyes, "You're going on some top secret mission to some super secret hideout in the super secret country of Czechoslovakia, aren't you?"

"What? No, we're going on a sort of scouting mission. A little bit of reconnaissance if you know what I mean."

"Ooh, sounds exciting. Can I come?" She recalled all the times she had asked him that question in the past.

"Uh, Marlene," he began, sounding serious, "We're going outside of the zoo."

"Oh," the otter responded simply, crestfallen and knowing exactly why Skipper was so skeptical about letting her outside of the gates again.

"Besides, having you along would compromise the entire operation. We're a highly trained combat fighting force and operate with the highest efficiency possible. Having a tag along would be like..."

"I know, I know," interrupted Marlene. She really didn't want to hear Skipper ramble on and on about his team and his military operations right now. For some reason, she couldn't find the courage to ask him for a second chance.

Marlene sighed again and turned her head to look into the setting sun. It cast long, dark shadows across her habitat but also illuminated it with a bright glow.

She got up from her spot in front of the pool and then went to climb her artificial rock formation that apparently was supposed to be some sort of 'otter slide'. She had slid down it several times when she first arrived at Central Park, but now she only used it to get a vantage point. It was the second highest point in the whole zoo, the only higher point being King Julien's mountain where his throne resided. As for the fact that it was supposed to be a slide, the penguins probably got more use out of it than she did.

Skipper hadn't come back yet. The only exciting things ever happened when he, Kowalski, Private, and Rico were up to something. She wished that he would come back so that she could go over to the penguin headquarters. Skipper would vent his frustration at her for always bursting into a 'highly classified military establishment'. He would shake his fist, raise his voice, and stomp on the ground a little until he finally agreed to let her stay. They would play chess, watch a movie on the penguins' TV or have some sort of an adventure.

The otter sat down and pulled her knees into her chest. One day, she would get out of her prison. One day she would convince Skipper that she could leave the zoo without loosing her mind. One day she would convince herself that she could. One day she was going to have an adventure.

She got up and hopped back down the concrete formation. She had waited for Skipper long enough; he wasn't going to get back anytime soon. She walked around to the opening of her cavelike home before turning to take in a deep inhale of fresh air.

Suddenly she heard what sounded like rock grinding on rock. It was faint, but just loud enough to be heard by her heightened sense of hearing. She perked up her ears and stood as still as possible to determine where the sound was coming from. It slowly grew louder until she realized it was echoing at her from all directions. It was emitting from her den, and she suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She took a few steps into the opening, but the difference in light and angle of the sun made it hard to see anything inside.

She had grown used to weird sounds resounding around her room before. After all, she had one of the few entrances to the sewer in the floor of her small space, and strange sounds were always coming from there. Sometimes it was Rodger the sewer alligator, other times it was just rats scurrying or water flowing.

The sound continued to grow louder, then suddenly stopped. She held her breath and listened intently for the slightest hint that it still existed, whatever it was. She winced and gritted her teeth as she heard the grinding of metal across concrete. Something had just opened the sewer grate cover, sliding it across the floor of her den. She couldn't see into her home yet; her eyes hadn't adjusted enough yet. She only saw a large, dark figure pull itself out of the manhole. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.

It grunted as it pulled itself over the edge. It was a deep grunt that resounded around her cave. Was it Skipper? No, what would he be doing in the sewer beneath her house? He also wouldn't be struggling to pull himself up when he was usually seen doing impressive acrobatic back flips in the air and his team would be right behind him. What if something happened to his team? Her heart quickened as her brain raced through all of her thoughts. The figure stood to its full hight. What if Skipper got into a fight with the Rat King? What if the figure was the Rat King, come back to start some more trouble in the zoo? The shadow moved and she saw a faint glint of light.

The thoughts buzzing around her head and the fear she was experiencing were too much for the otter, and she let out a loud scream. The shadow jumped at the sudden noise and looked directly at Marlene. She suddenly felt stupid; whatever it was, it now knew that she was there. It took a few slow steps forward. Marlene took a few steps backward. She wanted to turn and run, but her muscles were locked up and all she could do was inch away.

"Stay back!" she said, trying to put as much authority in her voice as possible but she knew that it cracked. The approaching threat stopped before tilting its head curiously at Marlene. She tightened her paws into tight fists as her mind buzzed as what the strange being was about to do next.

"Where is Skipper?" it spoke, a dry and raspy voice. It sounded tired.

"I don't know," responded Marlene, unsure of what else to say.

"Where is Skipper?" it asked again. It's voice was calm and without emotion.

"Why do you care?" she returned. She tried to take another step back but her foot splashed into her pool and she nearly fell of balance, but caught herself.

The figure didn't respond, but simply took a few more steps forward and continued to gaze at her.

"You're an otter," it said finally.

"Yes, I am. What are you doing in my habitat?" Marlene decided to ask.

"Looking for Skipper. Why else would I be here?" Finally she was getting somewhere.

Marlene's eyes were starting to adjust to the differences in light. She could make out a face, white and black feathers, and an orange beak. She was looking at a penguin for sure, a masculine one at that, and for a moment thought she was looking at Skipper until she convinced herself otherwise.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"I don't know," Marlene stalled. She wasn't sure if she should run, stay, fight, or try to find out more about this penguin's purpose. She wouldn't give it the information it requested though, knowing that Skipper wouldn't give out his own credentials so easily.

"You are friends with him, yes?"

"Wait, how did you know?" said Marlene quickly before realizing how stupid she was to say that.

"I've been watching this zoo for a while. You're quite close to the penguin Skipper, arn't you, little otter?"

Marlene blinked.

"There's you. There's that tall lemur, Julio or something. He's got two pals that follow him all over the place, doesn't he? There's those too chimps Skipper uses to translate common writing into speech. One's deaf, I know that. There's that soft crocodile that lives in the sewers beneath us."

"Who are you?" Marlene said, stunned at this penguin. She had never met him before, but he spoke as though he had been living in the zoo for a long time now.

"That's not important," he responded simply. "Now tell me where Skipper is. I know that you know, and I will force it out of you."

The ghostly penguin took another few steps forward, and Marlene audibly gulped.

"Stay back!" she said. "I'm warning you, I know taekwondo!"

"Oh do you?" answered the approaching penguin. He was now completely illuminated by the failing evening light, and Marlene got a better look at him. He had blue eyes, or rather one eye, as the other was completely white, showing that he was blind in that eye. His feathers looked ruffled and dirty and a patch of them was missing on his right shoulder. He had a few feathers sticking up on the top of his head, much in the same way that Rico had. His whole complexion looked shockingly similar to Skipper's, except for the minute details.

"Yes I do," assured Marlene.

"I think you don't."

Marlene tried her best to take a convincing fighting pose. The penguin stopped and tilted its head at her.

"Cute," he said plainly.

Marlene knew that she was expressing fear through her movements and facial expressions, but she didn't know to stop herself from doing so. The penguin took another few steps forward, leaving him only feet from Marlene.

"I'll ask you one more time," he said, "Where is Skipper?"

"He's not here... he's out on confidential business," returned the otter.

Suddenly, the penguin lunged forward and grabbed Marlene's arm tightly. She jerked to get away but was too slow, and the penguin held her in his grip.

"Listen to me, otter. I have a highly trained force of over one hundred men who are just outside the city. On my word, they will storm this place and burn it to the ground. All I need is a little bit of information and your precious zoo will be fine."

"H-he's..." Marlene stuttered.

"Ayyeeeeiiii!" came a cry from Marlene's side. In a blur, the penguin was tackled to the ground and released Marlene's arm. Marlene recognized the white and gray fur, and the palm leaf crown laying on the ground not far away instantly.

"If you are having a problem with de king, you should be talking to de king!" cried Julien through grunts.

He held down the penguin who struggled to get up. Eventually, he freed one of his flippers, balled it into a fist, and slammed Julien across the snout. Julien rolled off of the penguin, clutching his nose and crying in pain. Marlene was frozen as the penguin picked himself up and kicked a whimpering Julien in the side.

"Oh my nose," he said, "my kingly nose!"

"King Julien!" came a deeper voice from the same direction as the lemur king had emerged. Marlene looked and saw Maurice, a wide and stubby lemur, bounding towards his fallen king, closely followed by Mort the mouse lemur.

"I'll be back," said the penguin simply, knowing he wouldn't be able to hold off any more animals if they came. "And next time, I'll bring some backup."

Marlene just stood there, mouth agape as Maurice chased the penguin into her home. He charged, but was too slow as the penguin climbed back into the sewer entrance and repositioned the grate on top.

"Yeah, you better run!" called Maurice, shaking his fist in the air. Seeing the threat was gone, he returned outside of Marlene's home.

"Are you alright, King Julien?" came Mort's high pitched whine. Julien stood, holding his side and mumbling something about his nose.

"Marlene, what was that all about?" asked Maurice. "We heard you scream and came here as fast as we could. Who was that penguin?"

"I don't know. He just waltzed in here and started asking for Skipper. When I didn't answer him, he threatened to attack the zoo with an army."

Maurice looked confused. "I wonder why he was asking for Skipper?"

"Me too," responded Marlene.

"Oh, my kingly nose is ruined!" Julien had moved his hands and was looking down at his snout. It looked fine, except for a little trickle of blood coming out of his left nostril.

"Thanks for scaring him away, guys." Marlene said.

"We need to tell Skipper about this when he gets back." Maurice affirmed. "He'll know what to do."

Marlene looked into her home and at the sewer grate. "Can I stay with you guys tonight?"