Skipper reluctantly climbed up the ladder, staring at the other two jealously (they had fallen asleep before he had even gotten to the 上, ページのトップへ of the ladder). He was so distracted によって making nasty faces at them that he nearly slipped and fell off. After he regained his balance, he decided it was best to concentrate on climbing.

He popped out of the hole and into the ペンギン habitat, and immediately shivered. It was a very cold night and even though he was a penguin, he seemed to have little tolerance for the cold, presumably because he had been born and raised in warmer temperatures (see ‘Tagged’ for proof). He wondered why he had not been cold at the auditions earlier that night.

He was regretting his decision to send someone out on recon duty, but of course he would not have been if either Rico または Private had been out in the cold, he would be asleep in the HQ. Now that he was out doing it he was reasoning that フレッド probably tripped on a 木, ツリー branch または fell off accidentally for one reason または another and blamed it on someone kicking him. Skipper had climbed the 木, ツリー himself and had found no indication that anyone had been up there besides Fred.

Skipper decided to slip back into the HQ and go to sleep, since he knew the others were sound asleep. He slid the 魚 bowl aside and was about to climb down when he saw a lone figure moving through the blackness towards the ペンギン habitat. Slightly intrigued, as it was very late at night, he decided to investigate.

The figure continued to advance towards the ペンギン habitat, but eventually turned down a side path and disappeared from Skipper’s sight. Shaking from the cold and cursing his curiosity, Skipper jumped out of the habitat and ran off after the figure, taking care to make as little noise as possible. Fortunately for him, this was made easy as the キツネザル habitat was right 次 door and one of the lemurs, probably Julien, was snoring very loudly.

The zoo was so dark that Skipper ロスト sight of the figure several times before he eventually found them, silhouetted against the light of the moon または the city. He made sure to stay quiet and out of sight, wanting to see where the figure was heading before dealing with them if necessary.

The figure was constantly moving but walking very slowly and making strange noises. It also appeared to be holding something, which Skipper was having trouble making out, but its shape was similar to a large upside-down vial または beaker, like the kind Kowalski had in his lab. Finally, it reached the edge of the zoo boundaries and its current path was blocked によって a wall. Skipper sincerely hoped that it would not climb the ウォール and go into the park.

But the figure turned and walked behind one of the zoo warehouses, like the place where they had buried Kowalski except that it was on the complete opposite side of the zoo. It turned behind one of the warehouses and Skipper followed, hiding in the darkness cast によって the wall.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed on. Skipper was startled, but as he had been prepared for a fight all along he got into his karate pose, waiting to kick the stuffing out of anything that attacked him. However, the figure, which was only a few yards in front of him, yelped in surprise and stumbled onto the ground.

Skipper quickly looked up to determine the 情報源 of the light: it was one of those lights with motion sensors, which come on when someone walks by. This was obviously there to help zoo workers if they were making deliveries または moving objects while it was dark.

Skipper jumped over to the figure, which was completely wrapped in what appeared to be a blue blanket. Ready for anything, Skipper pulled off the blanket and stepped backwards in case it lunged. But there was no need. It was Marlene.

Marlene seemed startled enough によって the lights suddenly coming on, but was even もっと見る startled によって someone pulling off her blanket. She kicked out behind her, catching Skipper in the chest and knocking him to the ground. Then she got up and turned around, looking to see who it was.

“Hey!” she 発言しました when she saw it was only Skipper, lying on the ground and holding her blanket. “Not cool.” She grabbed the blanket from him and walked over to where she had fallen. Lying on the ground in front of the spot she had fallen was a tiny bouquet of five white flowers, which had been tied together with some string.

“Marlene…what are あなた doing?” 発言しました Skipper, sitting up and rubbing his chest. “And although I admire your reflexes, did あなた have to kick so hard?”

“Skipper, do あなた always have to know exactly what is going on in my life? Because, it’s really not any of あなた business” Marlene snapped, standing over Skipper and looking down at him.

“Eh…sorry” 発言しました Skipper, trying to speak quickly to get him out of trouble. “I was on recon duty and saw あなた walking through the shadows, I couldn’t tell who it was and, with all these strange occurrences going on around here I thought I should probably follow and make sure…”

“Okay, whatever” 発言しました Marlene. “Well, everything’s fine. Good night.”

She began to walk away, tossing the blanket over her shoulders and wrapping it around her. Skipper was reminded how cold it was and mentally congratulated Marlene for having enough sense to bring a blanket, even though he was a little put out about her choice of words. Skipper was not one to put himself in other people’s shoes and think about how they would react in any 与えられた situation.

“Hold up sister! I can’t just let あなた go wandering off によって yourself on a night like this! Don’t あなた remember what happened to poor フレッド just a few hours ago?” 発言しました Skipper dramatically.

“Skipper, he got kicked out of a tree,” 発言しました Marlene. “If he had been stabbed with a ナイフ または something I’d be worried. Besides, it’s Fred, he probably just tripped または something and blamed it on someone kicking him.”

“Hey, that’s exactly what I thought,” コメントしました Skipper. “Um, I mean…”

“Yeah” 発言しました Marlene. “Skipper…how do I put this…this is a time where I kind of want to be alone.”

“But Marlene, there could be a bloodthirsty madman lurking in the shadows, just waiting for me to walk away…” 発言しました Skipper, glancing around with shifty eyes.

“I’ll take my chances,” 発言しました Marlene.

“Sorry Marlene, but leaving a defenseless citizen in a time of peril violates the ペンギン Code” 発言しました Skipper.

“Well, I guess あなた just got your butt kicked によって a defenseless citizen” smirked Marlene. Skipper blushed slightly. Marlene sighed.

“Okay, if I tell you, will あなた go away?” she said.

“Not liking the tone much, Marlene,” 発言しました Skipper, standing up and patting Marlene on the head.

Marlene brushed Skipper’s wing off her head. “Skipper please” she said. “This is always a hard 日 for me.”

Skipper looked at her curiously.

Marlene sighed. “Six years 前 today, while I was still living in my old aquarium, my dad died. When I moved to the zoo, I buried his お気に入り ビーチ ball behind this warehouse.”

Skipper felt very awkward. “You buried his…beach ball?” 発言しました Skipper.

“Well, they removed the body and everything! What else was I supposed to do?” Marlene snapped.

“Okay, okay,” 発言しました Skipper. “Well, I guess this is sort of personal, so I guess I’ll just let you…”

Marlene suddenly threw herself onto Skipper and began to sob. Skipper nearly fell under the force of the impact, but caught himself. Slightly annoyed, but not wanting to comfort Marlene, he gave her an encouraging sort of hug.

“Oh Skipper” Marlene sobbed. “I miss him so much…I’ve never been the same since he died…”

Skipper found himself imagining how Marlene must have been like before her father died, but since he had no idea what her father was like, he really couldn’t.

“Where did あなた get those nice お花 Marlene?” 発言しました Skipper, trying to get her mind off her father even though he knew perfectly well that they grew in the 草 of her habitat.

Marlene gave a very annoyed look. “Of course, why would あなた care? あなた never even knew him!” snapped Marlene. She stepped away from Skipper and began to walk away, but turned around and addressed Skipper one もっと見る time before disappearing into the darkness. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Skipper, but tonight…I’m not really in the mood to talk.”

Skipper considered calling out after Marlene, but decided it would be fruitless. She obviously didn’t want to be bothered and she was almost certainly right about there being no villain wandering the zoo. It went against everything Skipper taught, but Marlene had made him at least somewhat aware of how preposterous it sounded. Besides, Skipper was tired and really wanted to get to sleep. Maybe he could sneak back in without the others even noticing…

He began to walk, and the automatic light turned on again. It was getting very annoying, Skipper thought. Right before he turned a corner, he glanced back at Marlene. He could see her silhouette about twenty feet away. She appeared to be kneeling crouching on the ground, still holding the flowers. Skipper inclined his head respectfully before walking away.

From the 上, ページのトップへ of the warehouse, Kowalski surveyed the situation through his powerful binoculars, conveniently equipped with night vision. As soon as Skipper was back in the ペンギン habitat, he hopped off the roof and prepared to execute his genius plan…at least that’s what he referred to it as. However, he made a mental note to be careful in case Skipper suddenly became concerned and rushed back to make sure Marlene was all right…that would blow his cover big time.

Kowalski hid behind a nearby trashcan and watched Marlene through his binoculars. によって the time he had adjusted the zoom, she had already laid the お花 on the ground and was about to walk away. Kowalski needed to act quickly または his plan was kaput!

Kowalski rummaged through a bush, which he had stored a few items in. He grabbed a large cassette player, which was actually the lemur’s ‘boomy box’, which he had swiped from their habitat while they slept. He then dropped the binoculars into the bush, but they landed on his left flipper as he was fiddling with the cassette player. He let out a grunt as they crushed his flipper, and Marlene turned around.

“Hello?” she said.

Quietly, Kowalski popped open the cassette player and popped in a tape and shut the player. Then he hit the play button and soothing violin 音楽 issued from the player.

“What the…?” 発言しました Marlene, walking closer to investigate.

Kowalski noticed that the volume was exceedingly loud and tried to turn it down as quickly as possible. Unfortunantly, he turned the knob the wrong way, so the 音楽 suddenly became very loud, then very soft. Marlene stood a few feet away, wondering what was going on.

Kowalski saw his plan falling apart. He decided it was now または never. Jumping out from behind the trashcan, he swirled his cape around and began to talk in what he hoped was his most mysterious-sounding voice.

“Your pleas have not fallen upon deaf ears, child. Your father has sent me. I am an angel…your エンジェル of music…” “Aah!” 発言しました Marlene, jumping slightly. “Skipper, is that you? Pretending to be the Phantom of the Opera?”
“Aw man, あなた figured it out that quickly?” 発言しました Kowalski, retreating behind the trashcan and turning off the music.

“Yep. Obviously, あなた don’t know me that well. I memorized that entire play when I was only a few years old” 発言しました Marlene.

“You saw it as a play?” 発言しました Kowalski.

“No, silly! I had all of the 音楽 on cassette tapes. I played them all the time. That is, until I got sick of them…”

Kowalski now felt very embarrassed. “Well, it was worth a shot!” he 発言しました in a mock cheerful voice.

“And take off all of those black clothes! I can’t see あなた at all!” 発言しました Marlene, blundering forward.

Despite the coldness of the night, Kowalski was feeling very stuffy inside of all of the clothes he was wearing. He threw off everything except the cloth covering his face. Marlene might think he was just playing but, with the ‘mask’ at least, he was not. He threw all of the clothes into the ブッシュ the binoculars were in.

“Man, I still can’t see anything,” 発言しました Marlene. “Hey, come over here.”

She scurried over to the side of the warehouse, where the automatic light came on and illuminated the area.

“Kowalski!?” 発言しました Marlene, expecting Skipper. “Okay, you’re gonna have to explain this one to me.”

“What? Why it’s me and not Skipper?” 発言しました Kowalski.

“No! Didn’t you…die?” 発言しました Marlene shakily.

“Oh that. Well I kinda…sorta…staged my own death, if あなた know what I mean,” 発言しました Kowalski.

“WHY?” shouted Marlene.

“Classified” 発言しました Kowalski. “Maybe I’ll tell あなた later. But I need あなた to promise me something. Whatever あなた do, DO NOT tell the others, especially Skipper!”

“Kowalski, I’m not going to lie to Skipper. I don’t care what kind of grudge あなた two have, I need to tell him,” 発言しました Marlene harshly.

“PLEASE!” 発言しました Kowalski, making a pathetic face.

“Oh all right!” 発言しました Marlene. “But don’t あなた think あなた can go doing whatever, you’d better think again, because if I need to tell Skipper what you’re up to, darn it I will!”

“That’s fine” 発言しました Kowalski.

“So, what were あなた doing here anyway?” 発言しました Marlene.

“Oh, right. I was going to offer to help あなた practice for your audition,” 発言しました Kowalski very simply.

“That’s what all this was about?” 発言しました Marlene. “My audition? And what do あなた know about 歌う anyway?”

“Well, I’ve been studying the physical processes of 歌う and thought I could at least share some tips to help あなた sing better and waste less oxygen while doing so,” 発言しました Kowalski.

“Why do あなた have to turn everything into a big scientific mess?” 発言しました Marlene. “But it does sound like it could help. Ah, what the heck, follow me back my habitat and we can practice there.”

“Actually, I was thinking もっと見る of using my…super cool underground lair!” 発言しました Kowalski, hesitating slightly in order to think of something better than ‘the sewer’. “Besides, I have an organ.”

“You do not!” 発言しました Marlene.

“Yes I do” 発言しました Kowalski.

“A real one?”

“Yup.”

“Lead the way!” 発言しました Marlene.