The FT Squad's Adventures in Madagascar P9

On the entrance of the predator side of Madagascar, Marty stood trying to shake a cactus off his rear.  Having travelled to the territory of the fossa in search of Alex, Marty had gone the same way Alex did.  After shaking off the cactus, Marty resumed calling out to Alex.  “ALEX!  COME OUT ALEX!  THE BOAT’S HERE!  WE CAN GO HOME,” he called, unaware that he was being watched by some hungry fossa.

Lightning flashed in the sky as Alex lay in his isolation spot.  He was weak and desperate for food.  As he lay in his spot, he slowly opened his eyes while shading his face from the flashing lightning.  As he opened his eyes, he found himself back in his exhibit at the Central Park zoo, with hundreds of steaks smiling at him.  “ALEX, ALEX, ALEX, ALEX, ALEX, ALEX, ALEX, ALEX…” they cheered.

Overcome with hunger again, he slowly got to his feet and raised his paws into the air, claws out, and tongue flicking.  The crowd cheered before Alex heard a familiar voice.  “ALEX!”

Suddenly his vision of being at the zoo ended and he noticed Marty standing nearby, trying to get his attention.  “Alex,” said Marty again.

Alex stood completely surprised that his friend was standing there.  “Marty,” he asked, getting nervous.

“Snap out of it Alex,” said Marty, “the boat came back.  We can get outta here.  We can go back to civilization, and everything will be just like it used to be.”

Despite hearing that rescue was on the island, Alex was extremely reluctant, fearing that he’ll hurt Marty again.  “Stay back…please,” begged Alex as he backed away, “I’m a monster.”

“Alex, you’re no monster,” said Marty, trying to reassure him, “you’re my friend.  We’re a team.  You and me, remember?”

Suddenly, Alex lunged forward and tried lashing out at the zebra with his claws.  Marty swiftly backed away, shocked that Alex did this once again.  But Alex quickly regained his senses and panted again.  “I don’t wanna hurt you,” he said sadly.

Marty, seeing that Alex was still struggling with his predatory instincts, felt very sad.  Alex, on the brink of going predator again, stopped himself and, feeling no other choice, hid himself in a nearby cave.  Marty watched him run and felt helpless.  However, Marty didn’t know that he was being watched from above by the fossa pack.  They panted quietly while some stuck out their tongues, waiting for the right moment to attack.  Marty, oblivious to his stalkers, looked at the cave, still worried about Alex, but unwilling to give up on him.  He got into the isolation zone and approached the cave.  Inside the cave, Alex sat in a corner, completely unsure of what to do.  “Alex,” said Marty, “I ain’t leaving without you.”

Alex hid his face in shame.  Marty, still seeing that Alex was refusing to comply, out of fear for Marty’s safety, felt down again.  But instead of leave, he walked over to a nearby rock and sat on it.  He didn’t know what to do.  How was he to get Alex to come out without worrying about going predator again?  But Marty was not quitting on Alex: the lion he was best friends with for years, the one who he had fun with while on Madagascar.  As Marty thought for a moment on how to get Alex to come out, he remembered something from back at the zoo.  “Alex,” he said, “I’m thinking of a song.  It’s a wonderful song.  I’m sure you’re familiar with it.  ‘Start spreading the news…I’m leaving today…’”

Alex opened his eyes, remembering this as the song he sang to cheer Marty up on his birthday.  “‘We are a great big part of it,’” Marty continued, hoping to get Alex to join in, “come on, you know the words…two little words.”

Alex started coming back to his senses as he listened to Marty, but was still too nervous to come out.  “Please don’t make me sing this by myself,” begged Marty, “you really don’t wanna hear me sing this by myself.”

But before he could say anything else, he spotted something lurking in the shadows.  It was a fossa, sneaking up on him, as if he was about to pounce.  He was joined by several other fossa, and they all looked hungry.  Marty got up and backed away, starting to get nervous.  “Hey, uh, Alex…could you come here for a minute,” he asked before backing up to in between two of the sharp sticks, “hey, Alex.  A…li…li…li…little help…”

One of the fossas jumped towards Marty, but Marty swiftly kicked him away in a reflex.  Now seeing that he was in huge trouble, Marty screamed before turning around to flee.  “AAAAHHH!  HELP ME,” he screamed before fleeing for his life, with the fossa right behind him, “ALEX!  HE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-LP!”

Alex, hearing Marty’s scream for help, remained in his cave, but gave an angry glare, knowing what he had to do.

The hungry fossa chased the zebra far from Alex’s area, all giggling maniacally.  Marty kept fleeing as fast as he could.  “HELP ME!  ANYBODY HELP ME,” he cried as he noticed some of the fossa chase after him from a cliff, “SOMEBODY!”

He turned and saw two fossa pouring salt on Marty.  Marty swiftly shook them off as he kept running.  “HE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-LP!”

Some of the fossa got in Marty’s path, stopping the zebra in his tracks.  Now having their prey surrounded, the fossa crept up on the terrified zebra, ready to attack.  The fossa started piling up on Marty, ready to feast, when suddenly, they all heard a loud jungle cry.  Everyone looked and saw Melman swinging on a vine like Tarzan.  Melman rammed through the crowd of fossa grabbed Marty.  “Melman,” asked a surprised Marty as they rode into the jungle.

“That’s right baby,” said Melman before crashing into a rock.

Nearby, Gloria and the FT Squad grabbed their friends and made a dash to get away.  “RUN,” cried Gloria.

“QUICK, THIS WAY,” said Kaytlin.

The fossa, confused at first, became angry seeing that their prey was getting away.  They chased after the group again.  “What’s the plan,” asked Marty as they ran.

“This is the plan,” said Gloria as they kept running.

“Fossa hungry,” said one of the fossa.

“Fossa eat,” said another.

“THIS IS THE PLAN,” asked a frantic Marty.

“SKIPPER, GO,” shouted Kyle.

Skipper swiftly rolled out from behind a branch and pointed a red pistol at the fossa.  “Fossa halt,” he ordered.

The fossa stopped and looked at the penguin, confused.  The zoosters and squad looked at Skipper, surprised too.  Skipper turned his gun into the sky and fired.  A blast of fire flew into the sky and erupted in the air.  Lines of smoke came flying down to the ground like a fireworks display.  This act made every one of the fossa look in awe.  “Ooooh,” they said as they stared at the sky, “fossa aaaahhh!”  

With them distracted, Skipper crawled underneath their legs, where he met up with Kowalski.  Rico vaulted himself over the predators, with a long staff from the boat.  “Fossa oooh!”

Skipper, Kowalski and Private put the boat steering wheel on the ground.  Rico landed the staff in the center of the wheel.  With that, Kowalski put out a plate and Private positioned himself posing on it.  Skipper put some cream on Private’s face while Rico barfed out a cherry.  “Fossa aaaahhh!”

Private let out a whistle while the other penguins hid underneath the wheel.  “Come and get it,” said Private.

The fossa turned their attention to Private and became attracted, thinking he would make a good meal.  But before they could attack, the other penguins spun the wheel around.  The fossa crashed into the spinning wheel and collapsed onto the ground while Private ran alongside the wheel.  As for everyone else, they watched the penguins do their trick.  But as they, watched, they heard some of the fossa appear from behind them.  Seeing that they were still in trouble, they tried running, but found themselves surrounded by more and more of the pack.  Surrounded, but not going down without a fight, Gloria used Melman’s head as a hammer and whacked the fossa sticking their heads out of a log.  “Take that,” said Melman as he whacked them.

“Fossa ow!”

“These guys just keep coming,” said Donkey as he fought back.

“Don’t give up guys,” said Kyle as he fended off as many fossa as he could, “keep fighting.”

“TAKE THIS, YOU ANNOYING WEASELS,” snapped Rudy as he attacked the fossa with his tail and fists.

But there were so many of the fossa and they kept coming at the squad members.  “Kyle, we’re outnumbered,” said Kimmy, before getting swarmed by a lot of them, “CRUD!”

“KIMMY,” cried Cassidy before getting pounced on herself.

As for the penguins, they started getting overwhelmed too.  “There’s too many of them Skipper,” said Private as he dodged some of the attacks.

“It’s been a real pleasure serving with you boys,” said Skipper as he, Kowalski and Rico stood together.

Skipper karate chopped a nearby fossa, before seeing that there were a lot more coming.  But before the fossa could turn the tide of the fight in their favor, everyone heard a loud, terrifying roar coming from above.  They looked and saw Alex on all four legs, roaring loudly.  “Alex,” asked Marty, hopeful.

“That’s my kill,” said Alex to the fossa, “mine.”

Everyone became nervous upon hearing Alex’s words.  Alex leaped onto ground level, where everyone else was and slowly approached the group.  The fossa backed out of the snarling Alex’s way as he got closer to Marty and the others.  “Alex hungry,” he said, “Alex eat.”

Both of Alex’s front claws extracted out as he growled.  Seeing that Alex was once again going predator, but now having nowhere to run, everyone nervously braced themselves for his attack.  The fossa gave Alex some space as he got closer.  None of the fossa were on Marty, Gloria, Melman or the squad when Alex got very, very close to them.  Alex had his eyes on Marty first and he slowly approached the terrified zebra, snarling quietly.  Marty hid his eyes, bracing for an attack, but before anything could happen, Alex quietly whispered, “psst.”

Marty nervously opened his eyes as Alex whispered, “it’s showtime.”

Marty opened his eyes wide upon seeing that Alex was faking his attack.  “Thanks for not giving up on me Marty,” said Alex.

Although Alex wasn’t going to attack, Marty still had some complaints.  “Man, you almost gave me a heart attack,” he said as Gloria, Melman and the squad realized what Alex was doing, “you can’t just come sneak up on me.  Just because you’re a lion…”

Alex quickly shut Marty’s mouth, not wanting him to ruin the fake attack.  “Shh, shh.  We’re getting out of here,” he whispered, “guys, just go with me on this.  Like I said, ‘it’s showtime.’”

Alex let out a growl as he grabbed onto Marty.  “Mine,” he said as he then grabbed Gloria, Melman and the squad, all while acting like he was going to attack, “my kill!  THEY’RE ALL MINE!”

Deciding to play along, the zoosters and squad started despairing while the fossa started getting nervous.  “AH!  It’s the king of the beasts,” cried Gloria, “OH NO!”

“Please don’t eat me Mr. Lion,” begged Marty.

“He’s big and scary,” said Melman.

“NO, DON’T EAT US KING OF BEASTS,” begged Kyle dramatically, “PLEASE LET US GO!”

“SPARE ME PLEASE!  I HAVE A WIFE AND A COUPLE OF KIDS,” cried Donkey, “ok, maybe not yet, BUT STILL!  I CAN’T TAKE IT!”

“FEAR ME,” said Alex to the fossa, “savagery beyond comprehension!”

“AAHH,” screamed Gloria.

“NO, PLEASE DON’T,” cried Wubbzy.

“I’m far too young to die,” begged Marty.

“A monster,” cried Melman, “A MONSTER!”

Alex swiftly tossed everyone aside before turning to the fossa.  “AND YOU,” he said angrily as he pointed towards them.

The fossa got more frightened.  “Me,” asked one of them.

Now springing into physical action, Alex swiped some of the fossa away before swiping away another group.  The zoosters and squad, now revealing that they were faking it, started fighting back as well.  “Oh you want some of this,” asked Gloria before squishing some of the fossa with her bottom, “YOU BETTER RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”

Alex grabbed one of the fossa and tossed him towards Marty.  Marty caught him and held him to the ground.  “Somebody call the cop,” said Marty as Melman hit him away like a golf ball.

“HE’S PSYCHOTIC,” exclaimed Melman.

Kaytlin jumped into the air and did a somersault before landing near the terrified fossa.  She spun herself around and kicked every fossa around her.  As for Dennis, he started hopping around the fossa very fast.  “‘OH WHEN THE SAINTS…GO MARCHING IN!  OH WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN…DAH, DAH, DAH, DAH…” he sang wildly as the fossa tried catching him, but were distracted by Alex.

“Now you are talking my language pal,” a voice came from the nearby vegetation.

The squad looked in the direction of where the voice came from, and to their amazement, they saw Speedy emerge from the bushes.  “SPEEDY,” they cried.

Moving fast, Speedy jumped over the fossa like he was leaping over some rocks.  The fossa watched the snail jump, unable to believe that he was capable of doing this.  With Speedy jumping, this gave Alex another chance to attack them.  “Can’t catch me, crazy little fossa,” said Speedy calmly as he kept distracting them.

Alex grabbed one of the fossa’s tails and swung him around his body like a gymnastic ribbon.  The other fossa backed away in fear over the powerful lion.  “This is MY territory,” said Alex, “UNDERSTAND?”

The fossa nodded yes frantically as Alex said, “I never EVER wanna see you on my terf again.”

Alex let out a loud roar, scaring off the fossa once again.  Unable to take it anymore, they all fled back to the predator territory.  One of the fossa tripped after accidentally bonking his head with another fossa.  He nervously looked back and saw the squad and Alex staring at him.  “Heh, heh,” chucked Kyle.

“Heh, heh, heh,” chucked Speedy.

“HEH,” chucked Donkey.

“Boo,” Alex said.

The lone fossa swiftly turned around and fled to catch up with his fellow fossa.  With the predators gone, everyone happily rejoiced.  “WAHOO,” cheered Gloria.

“YEAH, YOU THE CAT,” cheered Marty.

“WOOHOO,” cheered Melman as they approached their friend.

“YOU DID IT ALEX,” said Kyle, “JOB WELL DONE!”

Everyone embraced with Alex.  “GOT MY BOY BACK,” said Gloria happily.

But they weren’t the only ones celebrating.  In a branch overhead, they heard someone cheering as well.  “I DID IT!”

They looked and saw King Julien and Maurice.  Julien, seeing that his plan of having Alex scare off the fossa worked, rejoiced as well.  “GIVE ME SOME LOVE,” he celebrated, “THE PLAN WORKED, THE PLAN WORKED!  I’M VERY CLEVER!”

Everyone rolled their eyes as they watched Julien celebrated, seeing that he did nothing during their fight.  “What a happy, happy lemur,” said Speedy.

“Oh my gosh Speedy,” said Kaytlin, who was happy to see Speedy all ok, “I can’t believe it.  You’re still alive.”

“That’s right my gal,” said Speedy, “I’m A-OK.”

“But how,” asked Rudy, “we thought you were gone after Alex attacked us during that party.”

“I thought I was too, but I was capable of getting away through hiding in my shell,” said Speedy, “then Julien and Maurice up there came back and found me when all was calm again.”

“So they must be the ones who brought you back to us,” said Walden.

“Julien’s right about one thing anyway,” said Donkey, “he and Maurice saved your skin.”

“I’M THE ONE BABY!  Come on, time to robot,” celebrated Julien before doing robotic maneuvers with Maurice and talking like a robot, “I am very clever king.  I am super genius.  I am robot king of the monkey things.  Compute, compute…”

The squad sighed as they watched the lemur’s crazy antics.  “For a king, he’s very whacky and nuts,” whispered Cassidy.

“I hear ya,” said Dennis.

“So…what’s for lunch,” asked Alex.

Everyone became nervous upon hearing Alex ask that question.  Although they fended off the fossa and were together again, they now had one more problem: feed Alex before something bad happens with his instincts.

Some time later, at the Casa Del Wild bar, everyone, including the rest of the lemurs, gathered at a table.  Alex had his mane cleaned up and he was getting orders from Skipper on what to do.  “Close those eyes,” ordered Skipper.

“Why do I have to close my…”

“Do it,” ordered Skipper again.

Alex closed his eyes.  “Yeah, they’re closed.”

“Tighter.”

“Yes sir,” replied Alex before peaking a little.

“No peaking.”

“Alright, they’re closed,” said Alex as he closed his eyes again.

“Rico,” ordered Skipper.

Rico, who was standing at the bar table, took out a fish and started chopping it into pieces with two long knives, like a seasoned chef.  After swinging his knives around effortlessly, he launched the fish into the air.  It came back down in several pieces of cube like shapes.  “Hai,” said Rico before tossing Skipper a piece.

“Open that hatch,” said Skipper.

Alex opened his mouth and Skipper put the fish piece on his tongue.  “Fire in the hole,” announced Skipper before closing his mouth, “now chew.”

Alex started chewing.  “Chew like you mean it,” said Skipper.

Alex did that and he started feeling the taste of fish.  “Savor it,” said Skipper.

Everyone else was nearby and they waited eagerly for Alex to say something about the fish piece he just ate.  “And,” asked Marty.

“Well,” asked Gloria.

“Pretty good, right,” asked Melman.

“There’s always plan B,” said Julien as he offered Alex Mort.

“You gotta have some reaction to that taste,” said Rudy, “what do you think?  Is it good?”

Although he had eaten steak all his life, he thought this piece of fish was delicious.  “This is better than steak,” he said, “I love it!  I LOVE IT!”

“The kitty loves the fishy,” announced Skipper.

The lemurs cheered while Skipper high fived Kowalski and Private.  “I propose a toast.  Now he may be a pain the butt at times, trust me, I know,” said Marty before showing where Alex bit him on the rear, “but this cat proved to me without a doubt, that his heart is bigger than his stomach.  To Alex.”

“TO ALEX,” everyone cheered as they held up their coconut drinks.

Everyone took a drink, and since it was saltwater, they quickly spat it out.  Everyone, from Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, the squad, the penguins and lemurs, spat out their drinks.  In Julien’s case, he spat his water on Maurice, but Maurice spat his out back at him.  “Enough, stop it,” said Julien, before doing it again.

“Well, what do you guys think,” asked Marty, “should we head back to New York?”

“I don’t know Marty,” said Alex, “I mean, this is your dream.  You sure you wanna leave?”

“I don’t care where we are,” said Marty as he and his fellow zoo animals for an embrace, “as long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“Well we have to go back to New York ourselves anyway,” said Kyle, “but whatever you guys are doing, we’ll support you, no matter what.”

“I might not have gotten along with you at first,” said Rudy, “but now I see you as one of the funniest and most awesome groups I’ve ever known.”

“Me too,” said Daizy, “you guys are great friends.”

“And great travelling buddies too,” added Donkey, “way to go!”

“You guys rock,” said Dennis.

“Wherever you go, and whatever you do, we wish you good luck,” said Cassidy.

“Big kudos to everyone of y’all,” said Speedy.

“Well, in that case,” said Alex before turning to Rico, “yo Rico, I’ll take three hundred orders, to go!”

Rico started chopping up more fish pieces as Julien spoke up.  “Yes, yes, but before you leave, I have an announcement to make, so shut up everyone,” he said as everyone settled down, “after much deep and profound things inside my head, I have decided to thank you for bringing peace…to our home, and to make you feel good, I’m gonna give you this lovely parting gift.”

Julien handed Alex his crown.  Despite the nice gift, Alex was modest about taking it.  “No, I couldn’t.  Really, I can’t take your crown,” he said.

“That’s ok, I’ve got a bigger crown,” said Julien as Maurice put another crown, one that had red, pinkish leaves on it and a gecko, “it’s got a gecko on it.  Look at him shake!  Go Stevie go!”

After the celebration, the New Yorkers and squad, with Speedy now by their side, stood on the boat bow, waving goodbye to all of the cheering lemurs.  “Bye little fuzzbuckets,” said Alex.

“Thanks for everything,” said Gloria.

“Bye,” said Marty.

“So long fellas,” said Kimmy.

“Bye-bye now,” said Julien.

“Arrivederci,” said Rudy.

“Adios amigos” said Cassidy.

“Bye-bye,” said Julien.

“Toodle-oo,” shouted Maurice.

“See you later crocodile,” said Julien before turning to Maurice, “Maurice, my arm is tired.  Wave it for me.”

Julien sat on a coconut and rested his feet on Mort’s head.  Maurice dryly waved Julien’s hand while Mort waved back to squad and zoosters again.  “Faster you naughty little monkey.”

On the boat, everyone looked at the lemurs, happy to have known them during their time on the island.  Behind them, Mason and Phil, still in their crates, waved as well, ignoring the conversation Alex and the others had.  “Thanks for letting me come on along fellas,” said Speedy.

“Don’t mention it pal,” said Dennis, “we think you’d make a great teammate.”

“You’ve been very helpful by helping us see the bright side of our time on the island,” said Kyle, “we all owe you a big thanks.”

“Sometimes thinking like that can make things easier and less stressful,” said Rudy, “it’s like how Baloo taught us the Bare Necessities.”

“Or how Timon and Pumbaa taught us Hakuna Matata,” added Kaytlin.

“You know guys, by the time we get back to New York, it’s gonna be the middle of winter,” said Alex, “so I was thinking, why rush?  Maybe we could make a few side stops along the way.”

Marty, liking this idea, said, “maybe Paris.”

“WOO, you just read my mind,” said Gloria.

“You know, we could always have another adventure with you four,” said Kyle, “that is as long as we can find a place to contact our authorities once our badges come back online.”

“Yeah, we’ll get there,” said Alex, “don’t worry.  Thinking positive like Speedy, remember?  You’ll see your loved ones again.  I know it.”

“Maybe we can go to Spain before we get to New York,” said Rudy.

“Or maybe Gibraltar,” suggested Cassidy.

“Yeah, run with the bulls,” suggested Marty.

“What about Fiji,” asked Gloria.

“Ooh, Canada, can we,” asked Melman, “cheap meds.  Eh?”

“You know, I wouldn’t even mind coming back here for a visit sometime,” said Alex.

“That’s a definite possibility,” said Kyle.

“I could do that,” said Melman.

“You can say that again,” said Gloria.

The only ones who weren’t taking part in the goodbye ceremony were the penguins.  They rested in the sun, a short distance away from the lemurs, catching a tan, though they got some sunburns on their faces.  Despite this, they were enjoying basking in the warm sun of the island.  “Skipper,” said Private, “don’t you think we should tell them that the boat’s out of gas?”

The other penguins looked at Skipper, thinking about that question.  Skipper looked at his fellow penguins and thought.  “Nah!  Just smile and wave boys,” he said as he and the other penguins waved, “smile and wave.”

TO BE CONTINUED...