Skipper reluctantly climbed up the ladder, staring at the other two jealously (they had fallen asleep before he had even gotten to the चोटी, शीर्ष of the ladder). He was so distracted द्वारा 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 पेंगुइन 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 या 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 फ्रेड probably tripped on a पेड़ branch या fell off accidentally for one reason या another and blamed it on someone kicking him. Skipper had climbed the पेड़ 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 मछली bowl aside and was about to climb down when he saw a lone figure moving through the blackness towards the पेंगुइन habitat. Slightly intrigued, as it was very late at night, he decided to investigate.

The figure continued to advance towards the पेंगुइन 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 बंदर, लेमूर habitat was right अगला door and one of the lemurs, probably Julien, was snoring very loudly.

The zoo was so dark that Skipper लॉस्ट sight of the figure several times before he eventually found them, silhouetted against the light of the moon या 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 या beaker, like the kind Kowalski had in his lab. Finally, it reached the edge of the zoo boundaries and its current path was blocked द्वारा a wall. Skipper sincerely hoped that it would not climb the दीवार 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 द्वारा 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 स्रोत 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 या 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 द्वारा the lights suddenly coming on, but was even और startled द्वारा 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 कहा 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 आप doing?” कहा Skipper, sitting up and rubbing his chest. “And although I admire your reflexes, did आप have to kick so hard?”

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

“Eh…sorry” कहा Skipper, trying to speak quickly to get him out of trouble. “I was on recon duty and saw आप 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” कहा 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 दिया situation.

“Hold up sister! I can’t just let आप go wandering off द्वारा yourself on a night like this! Don’t आप remember what happened to poor फ्रेड just a few hours ago?” कहा Skipper dramatically.

“Skipper, he got kicked out of a tree,” कहा Marlene. “If he had been stabbed with a चाकू या something I’d be worried. Besides, it’s Fred, he probably just tripped या something and blamed it on someone kicking him.”

“Hey, that’s exactly what I thought,” टिप्पणी जोड़ा गया हे Skipper. “Um, I mean…”

“Yeah” कहा 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…” कहा Skipper, glancing around with shifty eyes.

“I’ll take my chances,” कहा Marlene.

“Sorry Marlene, but leaving a defenseless citizen in a time of peril violates the पेंगुइन Code” कहा Skipper.

“Well, I guess आप just got your butt kicked द्वारा a defenseless citizen” smirked Marlene. Skipper blushed slightly. Marlene sighed.

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

“Not liking the tone much, Marlene,” कहा 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 दिन for me.”

Skipper looked at her curiously.

Marlene sighed. “Six years पूर्व today, while I was still living in my old aquarium, my dad died. When I moved to the zoo, I buried his प्रिय समुद्र तट ball behind this warehouse.”

Skipper felt very awkward. “You buried his…beach ball?” कहा Skipper.

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

“Okay, okay,” कहा 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 आप get those nice फूल Marlene?” कहा Skipper, trying to get her mind off her father even though he knew perfectly well that they grew in the घास of her habitat.

Marlene gave a very annoyed look. “Of course, why would आप care? आप never even knew him!” snapped Marlene. She stepped away from Skipper and began to walk away, but turned around and addressed Skipper one और 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 चोटी, शीर्ष of the warehouse, Kowalski surveyed the situation through his powerful binoculars, conveniently equipped with night vision. As soon as Skipper was back in the पेंगुइन 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. द्वारा the time he had adjusted the zoom, she had already laid the फूल on the ground and was about to walk away. Kowalski needed to act quickly या 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 संगीत issued from the player.

“What the…?” कहा 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 संगीत 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 या 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 एंजल of music…” “Aah!” कहा Marlene, jumping slightly. “Skipper, is that you? Pretending to be the Phantom of the Opera?”
“Aw man, आप figured it out that quickly?” कहा Kowalski, retreating behind the trashcan and turning off the music.

“Yep. Obviously, आप don’t know me that well. I memorized that entire play when I was only a few years old” कहा Marlene.

“You saw it as a play?” कहा Kowalski.

“No, silly! I had all of the संगीत 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 कहा in a mock cheerful voice.

“And take off all of those black clothes! I can’t see आप at all!” कहा 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 झाड़ी, बुश the binoculars were in.

“Man, I still can’t see anything,” कहा 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!?” कहा Marlene, expecting Skipper. “Okay, you’re gonna have to explain this one to me.”

“What? Why it’s me and not Skipper?” कहा Kowalski.

“No! Didn’t you…die?” कहा Marlene shakily.

“Oh that. Well I kinda…sorta…staged my own death, if आप know what I mean,” कहा Kowalski.

“WHY?” shouted Marlene.

“Classified” कहा Kowalski. “Maybe I’ll tell आप later. But I need आप to promise me something. Whatever आप 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 आप two have, I need to tell him,” कहा Marlene harshly.

“PLEASE!” कहा Kowalski, making a pathetic face.

“Oh all right!” कहा Marlene. “But don’t आप think आप 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” कहा Kowalski.

“So, what were आप doing here anyway?” कहा Marlene.

“Oh, right. I was going to offer to help आप practice for your audition,” कहा Kowalski very simply.

“That’s what all this was about?” कहा Marlene. “My audition? And what do आप know about गाना anyway?”

“Well, I’ve been studying the physical processes of गाना and thought I could at least share some tips to help आप sing better and waste less oxygen while doing so,” कहा Kowalski.

“Why do आप have to turn everything into a big scientific mess?” कहा 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 और of using my…super cool underground lair!” कहा Kowalski, hesitating slightly in order to think of something better than ‘the sewer’. “Besides, I have an organ.”

“You do not!” कहा Marlene.

“Yes I do” कहा Kowalski.

“A real one?”

“Yup.”

“Lead the way!” कहा Marlene.