Chapter 3 - Death in the Zoo

A few more hours passed, and Skipper was still stitting in the same place he had been sitting since the beginning of the party. Being a little antisocial, he didn't want to get into the party. He noticed Rico was done stuffing his face and was now sliding around the dance floor on his belly. Skipper chuckled. Marlene was sitting on top of the rock by Julien, smiling and looking down. Everyone else was tuckered out and sitting down or talking. Julien himself had taken another seat in his throne and even aloud poor Mort and Maurice to have a break as well. He hadn't seen private for a while, but he assumed that the young penguin was just resting somewhere.

Skipper noticed suddenly that a dark figure moved up behind Julien, but the lemur king did not notice because of the loud music. Skipper couldn't make out who it was because of a shadow cast by Julien's throne, but he could see the figure pour something into Julien's coconut drink cup, which was sitting on a small table next to him. Julien soon took a drink and the dark figure moved away. Suddenly, Skipper's paranoia kicked in.

"Julien!" He shouted, although he knew the lemur would not be able to see him. The penguin jumped up and slid on his belly over to the large rock. He jumped up as fast as he could, climbing flipper over foot at the fastest rate his body would allow him to. "Julien!" he shouted again. When he reached the top, he slid over to Julien and slapped the cup out of the lemur's hand.

"Just what do you think are you doing?" the lemur king said, looking angry.

"I have reason to believe someone poisoned your drink!" Skipper shouted between breaths. "There was someone behind you and they poured something into it!"

"Silly penguin, that was your friend the tall one," he explained over the music, looking a little more cheerful. "He said he was giving me some kingly brew to try that May-Lay had made for me. Recipe from Madagascar, I am thinking." Sure enough, Kowalski stepped out from behind the throne with a bottle in his hands. It was unlabeled but Skipper could tell there had been a label on it at one point.

"Oh wow, Skipper!" the tall penguin said, enthusiastically, "You have to try this Madagascar stuff! It is absolutely dee-licious!"

"I'll pass. No more candy for you tonight, soldier."

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Kowalski returned, giggling. Meanwhile, Julien had downed his coconut cup of the strange liquid. Skipper returned to the spot where he had been sitting and looked up. The sky, which was clear at the beginning of the night, was now clouding over. He saw a flash of lighting from far away. Sure enough, a few minutes later, it began to sprinkle and then downpour. The Animals who were afraid to get wet scattered, including Maurice and Mort. Skipper and the penguins were used to it, and so was Marlene. He noticed Julien was still sitting in his throne despite the rain. Figuring it was time to go, he made his way over and collected Rico from where he was sliding around, although now he was covered in mud. The two them climbed the rock and found Kowalski giggling with King Julien.

"Kowalski, lets get out of here," Skipper said to him after turning off the stereo. He shielded his face from the rain and "Where's Private?" Both penguins shrugged.

"I bet he's off taking a dump!" said Kowalski, laughing. Skipper disregarded the statement.

"You two head back to headquarters, I'll get Private and head back." Rico nodded and Kowalski continued laughing. Rico grabbed his flipper and headed for the secret passageway.

Skipper watched his two teammates slide quickly away until they were out of sight. Then he looked over at Julien who was sitting back in his seat looking up with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

"Isn't it amazing when the sky spirits are crying?" He said suddenly.

"Julien, you should head into shelter, this storm is getting bad." shouted Skipper over a crack of thunder.

"No!" Julien said back. Leaning forward on his chair and opening his eyes wide. The penguin could see that his eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were dilated. "If I go into the housey thingy Mort will beat me up!"

"Good Lord, man, are you alright?" Skipper said, looking at Julien's eyes.

"Do not bother me with such pointless questions, silly penguin." He muttered, almost too quietly for Skipper to hear.

"Whatever. Do you know where Private is?" asked the penguin.

"What? Why are you wanting to see my privates?" gasped Julien, taken aback. Skipper shook his head in frustration.

"Skipper!" said a familiar female voice. Skipper glanced to his left to see the dark figure of Maelie standing not far from him.

"Ah finally someone who's sane. Do you know where Private is?"

"I d-don't know, but I think he may have r-ran into shelter with Maurice and M-Mort." she stuttered.

"Why all the stuttering mammal? You look very uneasy." Skipper inquired. The lemur looked awfully uneasy and nervous. She jumped when a crack of thunder sounded.

"I'm cold, and I am not very fond of thunderstorms." she responded quickly, although her voice no longer trembled. "You should get headed to shelter."

To this skipper said, "Not without private, Leave no man behind."

"Its quite alright, he's hiding with Mort. Says he's afraid of thunderstorms." Skipper never remembered Private being afraid of thunderstorms, he had weathered many. He noted how Maelie looked uneasy at first but now it seemed like she was rushing to get rid of him. Skipper became suspicious instantly, and arched his brow.

"OK, you win. Send him home as soon as the rain stops. I'll be waiting." He said, and then pretended to start to walk away. As soon as he had descended the rock, he hid underneath the cliff and tried to listen to what was happening up top, although it was of no use. The rain pouring down was too much of a din, so instead he positioned himself in a way so he could see what was going on, but he could not be seen.

He saw Maelie walk over to Julien and grab his arm. She tried to pull him up, but Julien just fell down again on purpose. He could see the king lemur laugh hysterically and roll on the ground. Maelie frowned and walked up to Julien. She didn't look like she was playing games anymore. She grabbed him again, forcing him to stand up. Skipper noticed she was mouthing some words, but he couldn't understand a single word. Oh how he wished he was close enough to hear! Maelie then took the king lemur by the hand and walked down the less steep ramp, and skipper made sure to keep a visual on them. He didn't like this Maelie character anymore.

What is she doing? They're going away from the lemur's shelter! Skipper thought to himself. The two lemurs ventured into a grouping of bushes in a corner of the enclosure. Suddenly he understood, and he chuckled and shook his head. The two lemurs were simply in love and were about to have a fun night. Although skipper didn't see how a violent thunderstorm would be romantic, but he didn't care. He was just glad that Julien had found someone other then him to spend his time around.

Then, he realized how wrong it would be to spy on them in their most personal moment, so he took Maelie's advice and made his way towards the secret passage. He would leave Private there to wait out the storm. It wasn't until he was almost to the passage that he heard it.

It was a loud pop, quite like one of those cork guns that children bring and pretend to shoot at the penguins while they preform. Although this was much louder, and over the sound of the storm, it had to have been considerably loud. It sounded more like some sort of a small explosion when he thought about it. He wondered for a second what could make that noise, but decided he would sort it out later. The wind was picking up and the storm was becoming fierce. He slid to the shelter of the secret passage and made his way back to HQ.

AN ~~~~~~~~~~~ AN
by now you've probally realized that I'm not the best of writers :P. I'm writing for a genre thats new for me, so bare with me. I'm trying to learn and make it better, so please review!