Authors Note: A long waited update by RandomFanFictionPressGirl14 and I! Woo! What are your thoughts of the return of the hippies? Review!
~Natty.
Not the Hippies!
~PoM and M~
"We got a visual on the enemy, Doc." A lobster hiding outside of the Central Park Zoo in the bushes said. He spoke into a handheld radio, kind of hard to hold with claws so he held it in two.
He and the lobster next to him watched the four penguins make their way out of the zoo gates; The flat headed one leading and searching around with hard suspicion, the youngest one following with a frown, the tallest one following that one with a scanner in his flippers, and the one with the scar looked indifferent in it all. They were the enemies the crustaceans' boss had them lead out for his own nefarious purposes.
"We smoked 'em out, boss. Do we strike 'em?" The second lobster asked.
"No…I have something bigger planned…" The dolphin responded through the speaker. "Something that will change everything…"
~PoM & M~
Private looked around the perimeter of the park, or really just the completely deserted area they were in. He blinked and frowned. "I don't see any space-squids, Skippah. In fact, I don't see anything at all really." The small penguin rubbed his head curiously.
"Those sneaky demons, you think they're there and they are and then they go all invisibility on you!" Skipper complained and started looking around the area of the park suspiciously. "YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SMART? HUH SPACE-SQUID? SHOW YOURSELF MONSTER!"
"According to this reader, outer orbital levels are exceedingly low, Skipper." Kowalski observed. "There are no signs of intergalactic travel or life. It's just a normal park on a Tuesday afternoon."
"That doesn't make any sense!" Skipper said. "SOMETHING crashed here!"
Private shrugged. "Perhaps it was a snow cone cart accident?"
Skipper shook his head. "Do you see any raw snow cone carnage, Private? Or ANY signs of ANY snow cone cart crash AT ALL?" The leader asked annoyed.
"Well, no, but-"
"Good now hush."
"But-"
"Private, what did I say?"
"To hush, Skippah but I don't think-"
"Shuuush!" Skipper urged.
Private sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Aye, sir."
"Now where was I?" Skipper asked, scratching his head.
"Ranting about space-squids." Kowalski sighed.
"It just doesn't make sense! Where ARE they? They should be here! I know the sound of a crash landing from experience! And that had to be one! It just had to!" the leader claimed.
"Uh, Skippah? Do crash landings sound slightly similar to knocked over trash cans?" Private asked seemingly at random.
"Actually they do kind of sound like that." Skipper blinked. "Why?"
Private pointed to some overturned trashcans nearby, causing everyone's attention to be directed to the trashcans.
"That's not what I heard!" The leader argued. "SOMETHING crashed here!"
"But there's nothing here." The private reasoned. "Do you see anything, Rico?"
Rico looked around, picked up the analyst and looked under there. "Nope."
"Excuse me!" Kowalski scowled up in the air.
"'zuntight, 'Walski!" The weapon's expert excused.
"I didn't sneeze!" The analyst exclaimed as he was set on his feet again.
Meanwhile Skipper was pacing, looking around and searching high and low for that spaceship. Where was it? Those space-squids! Tricky gigantic demons!
"Skippah, there isn't anything there-" Private tried.
"SHHHHuuuuush Priiivate!" The leader whined.
Private sighed but got an idea. "Perhaps the space-squids suspected we'd be looking for them here…sooo they went into the zoo to…well…trick us then?"
"Those sneaky squids! That's exactly something they would do!" Skipper said.
"They would?" Private blinked. "I mean, yes they would!" He looked away. "…I suppose…"
"Good deducting, soldier!" Skipper praised. "We know where they are now let's- what the deuce?!"
"What on EARTH!" Kowalski shouted.
"HEY!" Rico complained.
"Skippah, what's happening!" Private exclaimed as the four penguins were closed up in a sturdy box in the middle of the park. It was pitch black inside and only their four sets of eyes were visible.
"Space-squids, young Private." Skipper's eyes narrowed. "Space-squids are happening."
Kowalski's eyes fell to a frown almost. "That's a bit on the questionable side, Skipper. Don't you think?"
"Curse you SPACE-SQUIDS!" His leader yelled out to nothing.
The analyst only sighed in his spot in the dark.
Private's eyes blinked. "Are we going to pick up the trashcans then?"
~PoM & M~
In the meantime, a certain lion, zebra, hippo, and giraffe were at a pier, but only the lion was talking. More like ranting.
Marty gave a tired sigh, resting his chin on his hooves, sitting on top of a wooden crate. There just was no stopping his best friend when he was upset. This the zebra had learned since they were kids back at the zoo. It was best to just let it take its course. Normally the lion would get over it but it's been almost two years and Alex hadn't lightened up since. They'd been trying their best to get home since being kicked out of the circus back in Europe. Apparently that wasn't enough for the lion or his main concern, because the only thing Alex seemed to be concerned about was-
"Those stupid penguins!" The lion practically finished his friend's thought. "Why did they leave us? They promised to help us get back home, and look at where we are now! Those birds are liars I tell you! They're no good!"
"Mmhm…" Melman responded unenthusiastic. The lion only got angrier when they didn't reply or at least pretended to be listening to his constant rants. So the giraffe learned it was better to just go along. He sighed sitting on his own crate opposite Marty. Gloria was on one to the right of him. Alex stood pacing or more like furiously walking back and forth while running his mouth.
"I swear, if they were here now, they'd regret leaving us! They'd be a scrambled mess on the floor, that's what they would be!" Alex continued.
"Alex…come on man. You don't mean that." Marty said.
"Yes, I DO mean that, Marty! They had no right to just leave us there! We were in it together, yet they ran off without us! Aren't you angry at them?"
"I'm a little annoyed, yeah." Marty shrugged. "But at least we have each other right?"
"You're acting like we have to rely on the penguins for everything!" Alex scoffed.
Marty shrugged again. "We kinda do, Al."
"He's right, you know." Melman nodded.
Gloria put her hands on her hips. "Face it, Alex. We rely on those birds. You're just being all grumpy because someone has to fish for himself. No more hand delivery. Stop being so lazy. A little water won't kill you."
"But a lot will!" the lion argued.
"Alex…" Gloria sighed with an eye roll.
Alex frowned deeply. "I'm just telling you; I'd give anything to go back and give them a piece of my mind."
"And we can do that!" Marty reassured, putting an arm around his friend. "Soon as we get back to New York! Whenever that is... This boat's not exactly movin'." He looked back at the random docked boat they were waiting to start running so they could hop on. They'd been waiting for a while and it didn't look like it'd be starting anytime soon. The cargo was still just sitting there piled up, not even loaded. It was like a maze of wooden boxes, almost as tall as Melman.
Alex groaned. "Ugh! Nothing is in our favor! Just face it!"
"Maybe it's just out of gas or defective." Melman suggested. "The people will fix it."
"I bet the penguins could fix it like THAT." Marty miraculously snapped his hoof.
"See? You're depending on the penguins again!" Alex pulled at his mane in frustration.
"Not dependin'. I'm just thinkin'." Marty replied casually.
Alex growled and sat down, muttering, "I hate them..." Over and over again.
The giraffe, zebra, and hippo sighed on their crates. They'd been waiting for this boat they came across to start working for days, and they'd hearing Alex yapping for more than a year now. They were also bored. So there was nothing to do but exhale air loudly throughout the mouth. There was silence on the pier and the occasional squawk from a seagull flying above.
Suddenly, there was a sound. "Dude, did you hear that?" Marty asked, standing up.
"I heard it!" Alex jumped up, happy to have anything take his mind off of things. Any disturbance to him would be welcome, even some random sound.
Melman took a smell of the air. "Something smells like saltwater."
Gloria quirked a brow. "Well that's a good thing considering we're next to the ocean, sweetie."
Alex shook his head, smelling the air. "No he's right. It's different than that. It's weird…" The sound of tapping came again and the lion started wandering over.
"Hold on, where do you think you're going?" Gloria pulled the lion's shoulder back.
"To see what it is! What are you, my mother?"
"I may as well be." Gloria said crossly and let him go. "Well go on, go check it out."
"Should I come with ya, Al? We don't want ya to get lost now." Marty joked.
"I'm not a child Marty!" Alex stormed off to the boxes in a huff.
Gloria shook her head with a tsk. "For someone who's not a child he sure does act like one. Marty you don't mind Alex. You know he's just been a grouch ever since the last time we saw those four birds."
"Na, don't worry bout it." Marty gave a wave of his hoof. "Nothing he says can really get to me."
"That's not what I heard" Melman perked his ears, adding in.
"And just what did you hear?" The zebra turned to the giraffe.
"You know, that time he couldn't tell you apart from the other zebras. I couldn't either until he told me how." Melman admitted.
Marty stood and pointed crossly at his tall friend. "Alright, so that was one time!"
Gloria laughed that snorting laugh, the very unappealing one that only her boyfriend could and does love.
"She has the most amazing laugh." Melman sighed with a lovesick smile.
Marty shook his head to clear it of the horrible guffawing. "You could say that again. But I wouldn't!" the zebra sighed, using the tip of his hoof to twist around in his ear. "So how does Alex tell me apart from the other zebras?"
The giraffe shrugged modestly. "Well…"
~PoM & M~
Alex had his arms folded over his chest as he mimicked the others. "'You're just being grumpy because someone has to fish for themself!' 'Well, I may as well be your mother!' 'Don't want you to get lost now!' Uhg! They're all just a big buncha-"
He rounded the crate, and was unprepared for what came next. There was a sound of something breaking and a second later he rounded the corner that led right to the noise. It appeared that a crate had fallen over but they were all tied down. It looked like the rope had been cut on purpose.
"What the…?" Alex looked at the crate's scattered contents scattered on the ground. He heard a scuffling nearby. "Is somebody back here? This isn't funny…" The only response was more noise. "Is that you Marty? You know you have a lot of nerve trying to scare me. You know how much I've been through!" Alex said, checking behind several boxes to find the zebra that wasn't there. "You've had your fun. You can come out. I won't eat you." the lion smirked. Then frowned because no one came out. "Gloria? Are you trying to get back at me for yelling?" He looked around another crate. Nothing. "Come on, you can come out now! …Guys, come on. This isn't- huh?"
The lion looked down as something was thrown by his feet. It looked like a metal can. He stepped toward it and it opened up with a hiss. Blue gas escaped and filled the air, the king of New York's eyes rolling back as he fell forward unconscious. Faintly he heard some clicking noises approach him and something was poking him trying to lift him up. There were voices…but everything faded out before Alex could make out a single thing.
"We got one, boss…The one with the crazy hair…" Someone said with a Boston accent.
"Excellent…" A voice high in pitch responded through some sort of radio. "He will be the fruit of my scheme…"
"Fruit, Doc?" The lobster questioned.
The dolphin growled back. "Yes! The fruit! It's…It's a figure of speech you idiot! Now just-"
"Alex? Are you STILL back here?" Marty called, not that far away.
"Someone's coming, boss!" Another lobster exclaimed, grabbing the walkie talkie in panic and not knowing what to do.
"Do not panic, Red One! Just listen to me. I need you to…"
~PoM & M~
"THAT'S how he tells me apart from other zebras?" Marty exclaimed.
Melman nodded. "Yeah. You didn't know? I thought you did, otherwise I really wouldn't have-"
"I'll be right back." Marty said with a growing glare.
"Where are you going?" the giraffe asked, watching his friend go towards the boxes.
"To talk to Alex!" Marty glared back. "He's got some explaining to do..." Then he turned back and continued walking.
As Marty walked he tried to look behind him, spinning around to try to see the supposed bite scar on his rear. Apparently that's how Alex tells him apart.
The zebra talked to himself irritably as he stomped to find his friend. "I can't believe it! He's been keeping that from me all along? That's just-That's just-NO! Grrr, Alex, you're gonna need all nine of your kitty lives after this one! …Alex! Get your old thoroughly shampoo covered butt back out here! We really got to do some talking about all this! ...Alex!" Marty called, frowning more and more. "...Alex?"
Another can was rolled and it stopped at the zebra's hind feet.
"Ha ha ha. Alex, if you think this is a joke, it's-" The can popped open, and out came the same gas. "What the!" Marty screeched and jumped back, coughing as he inhaled the hazy blue smoke.
There were screams by the remaining two large mammals as the four of them were carried away by poky claws and scuffling feet, put into a crate as phase one of Blowhole's plan was complete.