Chapter 2 - The Party
The rest of the week went by like pretty much any other week for the penguins. They did their morning training sessions in order to stay in top condition. Every day they then entertained the guests by being 'cute and cuddly' as skipper liked to call it. They then were thrown their fishcakes (which they in turn threw at Alice) and the rare fish to munch on. Most of the guests were more interested in the new lemur, but that didn't stop the penguins from drawing oohs and aahs from their happy observers.
The penguins didn't see much of the new lemur Maelie, she was always in the lemur exhibit, which Skipper didn't specifically like to go to. Julien, Maurice and Mort stopped by the Penguin's bunker once but he said that Maelie didn't want to come. Skipper began to think that she was more drawn back than he originally thought, but he also knew it might be just because she wanted some time away from Julien. He couldn't blame her for that. On Friday night, Julien and Maurice came by the penguins bunker.
"Hello my party people!" he said, after coming even against Skipper's will.
"What do you want, lower mammal?" staid the penguin, his fins on his hips. Maurice cleared his throat.
"You are hereby invited to King Julien's big reunion bash. Tonight after the zoo employees go home." he explained.
"We are going to party like we did back on Madagascar! We'll do the conga-ga and limbo and party all night!" Julien said excitedly, throwing his arms up. Skipper moved one flipper to his chin and thought for a minute while Julien stared at him.
"Skippah, can we please go to Julien's party?" said Private who had joined the group moments before. He was now looking at Skipper with a look on his face that read 'please?'. Skipper heard Rico grunt, and then looked to see him with a fish in his mouth nodding his head vigorously.
"Alright, I suppose we can go to the party. Scheduled HQ maintenance has been finished for this week, and you troops have been training hard." said skipper, smiling.
"Oh goody!" shouted Kowalski, jumping up from where he was sitting across the room. Everyone looked at him. "I mean, uh, it sounds like a most enjoyable experience.
"Alright then," Maurice said, "we'll see you in a few hours."
"Bring some snacks, because without snacks it won't be a party!" said Julien, who was still excited. The lemurs then made their way out through the secret passageway, which really was no longer a secret.
Skipper knew that letting his troops go out to Julien's party was probably not the best decision he could have made as a leader. But, he knew that he had been hard on them all, especially Private, over last week. He knew they had been working hard and they deserved to unwind a little. The Headquarters was looking spotless and his men were in peak condition. So, how could one little night hurt?
In a few hours time, the entire gang was down at the lemur's habitat having a good time. Julien was blasting his favorite party music from his boom box, and sitting on his throne tapping his foot to the music. He, of course, forced Mort and Maurice to continue dancing even though he took a break. Private and Marlene were bouncing in Julien's bounce house, and Marlene couldn't stop giggling at how Private couldn't keep his balance due to his short legs.
Rico was busy attacking a buffet table that had been laid out for the guests. The chimps and the penguins had raided a snack machine outside Alice's office and bags of Dorritos and Snicker's bars lay on the table. Not surprisingly, the chimps left the scene as soon as Julien attempted to do the Conga. Kowalski was dancing, or at least trying to dance, with some other animals in a clearing just below Julien's throne. Skipper could tell he had had way too much candy.
Skipper himself was leaning up against a rock just outside where the animals were dancing. He was enjoying watching the rest of the party unfold and the other animals enjoying themselves. It wasn't for quite a while that he noticed that the new lemur had been missing since the beginning of the party. He didn't make too much of it though, he probally just could not spot her in the crowd.
Meanwhile, Private fell out of the bounce house and was too tired to climb back in again. Marlene continued jumping up and down and he leaned up against a rock close to Julien's throne. He looked down on the animals having a good time, but he noticed he could not spot the new lemur Maelie. Curious, he climbed up the rock.
"Hey Julien, where's Maelie?" he asked the nearby Julien.
"What?" he said, cupping a hand close to his ear. The music was too loud for him to hear Private speak.
"Maelie. Where is she?" the small penguin shouted.
"Oh why did you not say so?" he responded, also shouting. "She said she was going be using the restroom." Private nodded and hopped off the rock. He figured he'd check up on her. Who takes more than an hour to go pee anyway?
Private made his way around Julien's rock and headed to the place where the lemurs had designated a restroom. On the way, he saw a table full of different fruits and snacks. That was probally where Maurice had prepared the snacks that were being devoured by Rico. Also, he saw a dark figure on one end of the table.
"Maelie?" He said, and the figure at the end of the table jumped.
"Yes?" she said. She looked like she was fumbling with something awfully fast.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spook you," Private said calmly, moving closer, "I was just worried that something was wrong. You have been gone for a while now."
"Don't come any closer!" gasped Maelie, sounding tense. She scrambled to put items she had on the table into a bag.
"Why not?" said the penguin, continuing to move closer. "Is everything alright?" He was now close enough to see some of the items on the table. There were the fruits and candy for the party of course, but he noticed some things in front of Maelie before she scooped them into a bag. There was a vial of dark liquid, which was hard to see in the faint light. There was a bottle, but Private couldn't read what it said on the label before Maelie scooped it into her bag.
"What's all this then?" He asked, inquisitive. "If it's a science experiment, K'walski can help you with that."
"Yeah, that's what it is," the mysterious lemur said, "Just a science experiment." Private continued to look at the objects on the table. There was a glint that caught his eye.
"What's this thing?" He said pointing to an item. It was shiny and in an L-shape, and it glinted in the faint party light. He thought he had seen one before on television, but he wasn't sure.
"That's, a.-a..." Maelie stuttered. Private suddenly realized what the object was.
"Oh wow, is that a gu..." His words trailed off as he was slammed over the head with a blunt object and knocked completely unconscious.
AN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AN
Sorry for king Julien's speech parts :p it's the best I could come up with. I'm pretty bad at personalizing quotes, but I hope you're enjoying the story so far at least =)
