Everyone now peered at the giraffe.

"San Diego?" Gloria questioned him.

"White sandy beaches, cleverly simulated natural environment, wide-open enclosures," Melman declared, scanning their new surroundings exclusively. "I'm telling you, this could be the San Diego Zoo. Complete with fake rocks." He tapped the bottom of his hoof against a rock laid in the Sand, the smooth surface of his hoof clicking like music against the rough object and not at all like a decoy.

"Wow, that looks real." He proclaimed, surprised.

"Melly," Ayana began, walking beside the rock. "The rock is real."

"To your eyes, it would be Ana," Melman replied, placing his hoof on the rock. "But people would take drastic measures to make something like this look real!"

"San Diego?" Alex asked, ignoring the conversation of the leopard and the giraffe. He broke free from the group hug, viewing the wall of trees with a look of complete sorrow. "What could be worse than San Diego?"

"I don't know," Marty remarked, a jovial grin overpowering the lion's scowl. He trotted past the lion and observed the trees with a much more accepting expression.

"This place is crack-a-lackin'!" He exclaimed, using his messed up slang. "Oh, I could hang here. I could hang here."

As soon as he faced his friends, Alex had snapped.

"I’m gonna kill you, Marty!" He screeched, chasing after the running zebra.

"Take it easy! Take it easy!" Marty screamed back, darting through Melman's long legs, Alex right on his tail.

"- strangle you!"

"Calm down. Calm down."

"Then bury you, then dig you up and clone you and kill your clones." Alex declared openly as the two began circling Gloria in a squall of gold, black and white.

"20-second timeout. 20-second timeout."

"And then I'm never talking to you again."

Gloria had enough of the entire tantrum, hooking her hands under Alex's arms, hoisting him off the ground to end his rampage. Ayana immediately raced to Marty's side, to wait for Alex to calm down and the striped animal crouched behind the leopard's figure.

"Stop it!" The female hippo screech.

"Now, look," Gloria announced through gritted teeth, jerking the male feline aggressively. "We're just going to find the people, get checked in, and have this mess straightened out." She heatedly threw Alex back on his feet, now watching as he was much calmer than earlier.

"Oh, great. This is just great. San Diego." Alex groaned. "Now I'll have to compete with Shamu and his smug little grin. I can't top that! Can't top it! I'm ruined!" The lion slumped on his knees as a weary person ready for bed, his legs half-buried in the sand, his brownish-gold mane shimmering in the bright sun. "I'm done. I'm out of the business. It's your fault, Marty!" He twisted back, pointing an accusing finger at his now ex-friend. "You've ruined me."

Watching Alex's demise about his career almost made Ayana regret even comforting him in the box. She risked herself for the lion, doing things she has never done before for anyone else besides Levi. How could he be such a-

What was that?

Ayana's ears twitched. It sounded nothing like the swaying trees or the birds.

"Come on, Alex." Marty pushed Gloria forward as he walked to Alex for protection. "Do you honestly think Ayana and I intended all of this to happen?" Marty asked while the leopard was focusing on something else. "You want me to say that I'm sorry? Is that what you want? Okay, I'm…"

"Shh." Alex hissed, turning to the zebra with a finger pressed to his snout.

Did he hear it too?

Ayana stepped forward, leaning on the lion's huge mane. Their eyes remained on the wilderness in front of him, his dark ears trying to push to the limit, concentrating.

He did hear it!

"He just shushed me," Marty gasped in shock.

"Marty," Gloria began. "you've got to be just a little bit more und…"

"Shh." Both felines had hushed.

"Don't you shush me!" Gloria sassed, waving her finger to scold them.

"Do you hear that? Do you hear that?" Alex questioned, turning to the leopard.

She nodded.

The others now stepped up in interest, trying to see and hear what had grabbed the two large cats' attention.

The group of five now raced through the thick jungle, music was now blasting, echoing through the braided vines and underbrush.

"I hear it now!" Marty yelled over the pounding beat.

"Where there's music, there's people," Gloria said next.

"And where there are people, there's food and a way back home." Ayana sounded.

"Go right to the head honcho," Alex interjected.

"A sidewalk would be nice." Melman piped in.

The tangled roots of trees Ayana almost hooked her foot under was enough encouragement to look at her feet as she ran.

"Yeah, what a dump," Gloria stated.

"They should call it the San Di-lame-o Zoo," Alex announced childishly. "First, they tell you, 'We got this great open plan thing. Let animals run wild.' Next thing, flowers in your hair, everybody's hugging everybody."

"This place kind of grows on you." Marty interrupted, cutting off Alex. "This way, guys! Come on!" Marty exclaimed as he passed under a low hanging branch. The others passed by it with no trouble, while Gloria held it up and out of their way. The moment she released it, it flew back in a flash of brown and green only to slam into Alex's face with a resonating thwack. He fell straight onto his back, clutching his nose. Ayana skidded herself to a stop and ran back to his side to help him.

"What the?" Alex whimpered out, standing to his feet. He staggered forward, groaning under his clasped paws, trying to catch up to the other Zoosters. He then hit his foot on a large rock, and hopped on one leg, clutching his already swelling foot, and then again as he stepped on a thorn riddled briar.

Then the lion stumbled right into a curtain of a spider web, frantically swiping at the glossy strands of white, crying out in disgust as he wiped at his head. During his hysteria, he ran straight into a tree, his head smacking the trunk with a sort of clunking sound.

In a desperate bid to regain his balance, his eyes crossed and his arms swaying at his sides only to have his legs taken out by a nearby log. And who wouldn't guess that the tree from moments before hadn't decided to crash down onto the lion plunged on his backside?

"Oh, no!" Alex screamed as the leafy top slammed onto his head.

It was hilarious at how ridiculous everything had seemed from another point of view. A lion who acted pompous every day of his life now fumbled over himself with each step he took.

Ayana felt her mouth curve upward when she saw the lion wrestling with the giant tree. She chuckled, walking over to Alex with a smug, toothy grin hoping he would see.

As if it were nothing, the leopard lifted the trunk off Alex's body, resting it in her hands over her head. For the smug effect, Ayana looked down at the feline, letting him know just much she can carry without even letting her back arch.

Alex sat up and because of their height difference, only had to move his eyes and neck an inch from their normal position.

The leopard was like, a little over 5 feet, shortest in the whole gang, but the strongest.

Then Alex's unamused expression from Ayana's secret boasting changed- undefined and tranced. His blues eyes slip away and for a moment catches sight of Ayana's position under the tree.

Alex wasn't only going to be interested in her physical stature.

Alex's just...really passionate about the fact Ayana is a three-dimensional, unconventionally beautiful, heavier girl who's physically far stronger than he is and has scars all over her body.

The faded exterior of the pigment is now fully shown into the light as a result of ungroomed fur. Though it was always ungroomed- the sides of her face- but always kept a perfect amount of class.

Alex wrapped his huge paw around Ayana's hip, bringing her close.

Ayana jerked away a few paces with a grunt while losing her grip on the tree, and Alex jerked as he rambled out an apology.

"I didn't- Oh- I...uh- I'm so, so sorry- " The trunk landed on his foot, sounding with a crash as the leopard scurried to a safe distance from the lion.

Alex had an indescribable, pained expression etched on his face. Alex screamed in agony, clutching his leg. Ayana stood still like a rock and covered her hands over her mouth, gasping.

Swiftly, she covered Alex's mouth with her hand to stop him from screaming.

She checked to see if her friends were still nearby, but she should've known they were long gone by now. Now, she has to lift the tree again, this time chucking it away at a safe distance.

"Sorry." She grumbled half-heartedly.

"Next time, could I handle the huge tree lifting?" Alex barked out, rubbing his before trying to stand. "Don't need anything else crushing my foot."

"You're welcome." Ayana said, rubbing her shoulder and her Alex almost begrudgingly say "thank you", as he strode before her.

They proceeded forward, the funky music still present, if not much louder. Their friends must've made it to the people by now.

-/-

Gloria, Melman, and Marty stop in front of an enormous coverage of leaves. The music is overwhelmingly loud.

"Okay," Gloria began. "Let’s make a good impression on the people. Smiles everyone, let’s get it together."

Marty shows off his winning smile, while Melman gives an impression of a clown.

"Is that the best you can do, Melman?" Gloria asks.

"Oh, I'm not smiling. It's gas."

"Okay. Well, great. Let's make gas look good."

Gloria pushed the leaves aside.

Revealed, was an enormous entryway, the grass was littered with flowers that glowed pink and orange, making the appearance of a rave. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of animals are dancing and cheering.

"Wow!" Marty gasped.

"It's not people." Gloria groaned. "It's animals."

"California animals. Dude." Melman breathes.

"This is like a puffy party!"

The music stops. A tall, grey creature who wore a wooden hat upon his fuzzy head. His long tail swayed behind him in all its black and white wonder as he began to sing.

"I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it! Ya like to..."

"Move it!"

He dances to the beat for a few seconds, then jumps off the rock he had perched on back-first, the people in the crowd catching him.

He then crowd surfs as began singing again.

"I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it! Ya like to..."

"Move it!"

"I like to move it, move it! You like to move it, move it! She like to move it, move it! He like to..."

"Move it!"

"All girls all over the world! Original King Julien 'pon yer case, man I love how all the girls that love to move their body! When ya move your body, ya do! Move it nice and sweet and sassy, all right!"

"What kind of zoo is this?" Gloria whispers as Melman's eyes widen.

"I just saw 26 blatant health code violations."

"I'm loving San Diego," Marty exclaimed. "This place is off the chain."

"27." The giraffe continued.

The king, or so the gang assumes, continues dancing and bumping his hips on the other animals.

"Woman, physically fit, physically fit, physically, physically, physically fit Woman Physically fit, Physically fit..."

"We should have brought chips and dip," Marty says, grooving along to the beat.

"Wait. Where's Alex and Ayana?" Gloria glanced side to side and behind the path that she and her friends just ran through in confusion. Then, she picks up Marty and pulls him back behind the leaves. "What happened to them? they were right behind us. Weren't they right behind us?"

"I don't know where they at, but they're missing one heck of a party," Marty replies, still swaying to the music.

Then, a scream rang out. Many more followed quickly enough.

"The fossa!" One of the animals screeched with every inch of his very being. "The fossa! The fossa are attacking! Run for your lives!"

The music stopped. All of the tiny, fuzzy creatures had run away and in the center sat half a dozen or so cat-like creatures with ugly green eyes and rolling tongues. Four of them caught, amid their attack, a small creature that heavily resembled a chipmunk.

"Fossa hungry." One of them spoke, sniffing the animal. "Fossa eat."

"I hate spiderwebs. Yeah, thanks a lot, guys." Alex called out as he and Ayana approached. "Thanks for waiting up. I really appreciate it." The trio turned to the two felines, but Alex walked up and past the giant fronds, revealing the opening once more.

"Hi." Alex greeted the smaller felines as they were tossing the smaller creature like a salad. "We just got in from New York, and we're looking for a supervisor. Because we've been sitting on that beach there for hours, and nobody's even bothered to show up."

The fossa focused on Alex with confused looks, not noticing the little animal getting away.

Crawling up on Alex's back with long, delicate legs and a bulbous abdomen patched with orange was the biggest spider all of the animals had ever seen. They froze, backs straightening like metal rods. How it got to be there and how they hadn't noticed it was unbeknownst to everyone else, but what they did know was that Alex hadn't seen it. At least not yet.

"I don't know how things are normally run around here, but there's been some sort of major screw-up, which is cool." The lion continued to talk, unaware of the animal scaling his shoulder blades. "If you could point us towards the administrative offices, we'll…" He slowly rounded his gaze to his backside, either from their conjoined stares penetrating his senses or the tips of the spider's legs had finally registered in his mind. He came face to face with the animal and his eyes dilated to dots.

"Well, howdy-do." The spider greeted cheerfully.

Alex jumped a full three feet in the air and cried out at the top of his lungs, waving his arms and shrieking. After that it was a blur of cries and screams as Gloria furiously wacked Alex with a long stick she had picked up, everyone crying out in various phrases such as "Spider! Spider! Spider on my back!" and "Come on, Gloria. Get it."

King Julien, his trusted right-hand man, and the rest of the creatures hid behind a collage of bushes. The King was especially shocked to have just witnessed the dreaded fossa running away from the new animals.

"Maurice, did you see that?"

"He scared the fossa away."

Ayana backed away from the complete mayhem as her hippopotamus friend beat the living daylights out of the lion. She glances at the ground to see the spider quickly skedaddled and out of harm's way.

"Come on, Gloria. Get him."

"Get it! Get it! Get it! Get it!" The spider shouted.

"That's it! Catch it, Gloria! Smack it! Get it, get it! Whip it! Whip it good! Where'd it go?"

"King Julien, what are they? What are they?!" Mort asks.

"They are aliens! Savage aliens from the savage future."

"They've come to kill us! And take our women! And our precious metals!"

The animals gasped at Maurice's words and Mort began to sob.

"Get up, Mort. Do not be near the king's feet, OK? Shh! Shh! We're hiding. Be quiet, everyone. Including me. Shh! Who's making that noise? Oh, it's me again."

"Enough! Enough with the stick." Alex cried after the last blow, grabbing the stick before Gloria took another blow. He tossed it to the side and everyone else picked him up off the ground.

"Did I get it?" Asked Gloria. "I think I got it."

"I think she got it," Melman commented.

"Is it still on me?" Alex said as he swayed in his feet, brushing himself off. "I hate spiders." Alex commented, wincing as he straightened up, shuddering in disgust at the word "spiders".

"It's OK. It's gone." Gloria reassured.

"They are savages! Tonight we die." Mort falls at Julien’s feet. He notices and begins kicking him away.

"The feet. I told you...I told you to...I told every...Didn't I tell him about the feet?"

"He did tell you about the feet," the stout creature, reminds him.

"Wait. I have a plan."

"Really?"

"I have devised a cunning test to see whether these are savage killers."

Julien looks down at Mort, then back at Maurice, making his eyes follow.

"No. Ooh!"

All of the animals turned around and saw the fuzzy brown rodent curled on the jungle floor. It watched her with round eyes, shaking with fear behind its bushy tail.

Everyone watched the lone critter, unsure of what to make of it. "Hi there," Marty said in a friendly manner.

Alex snapped at him in a beat. "You let me handle it. Alex handles it. Marty does nothing." Alex hissed through bared teeth, holding the zebra back.

After a moment, Alex took a step forward and bent over to eye level with the small being. "Hi, there!" The lion announced, grinning from ear to ear. The lion's large canines went on full display and the creature before him observed them with fearful eyes.

Then it began to cry, terrified at the golden feline's greetings."Oh, jeez. Sorry." Alex yelped.

"Oh, Alex, what'd you do?" Gloria asked.

"Stop. Stop. It's OK. It's OK." Alex had hurriedly hushed. "I'm just a silly... just a silly lion." Alex leaned down even closer and waved his paws at the sides of his head resulting in the creature erupting in tears. "Oh, jeez!" Alex screeched, jumping back as the brown animal wailed.

"Aw, Alex!" Marty chastised as the leopard beside had covered her ears from the point noise.

Ayana had, none too gently, nudged Alex in his side. "Let me try. Let me try." She said, her sentence being more worrisome than gentle.

The small creature watched with large eyes, nervously cowering in his tail. He watched as the leopard slowly lowered herself to the ground.

Ayana's head tilted to the side, and she raised her lips just to the perfect position so that mostly the teeth on the left side of her jaw was revealed.

"...Did he scare you?"

The response was a feeble nod.

Ayana closed her jaw but kept the tilt of the smile. "It's ok, don't worry. There's nothing 'scary' about a huge lion and a big leopard."

She outstretched her paw, slowly to make sure she didn't come off aggressive. The creature crawled into her open paw after a moment and, almost motherly, she cradled him. She ran her thumb over his head, his ear flicking lightly.

Ayana's shoulder blades untensed, and her chest had this uncertain but warm feeling. One that made her jump at the sound of Gloria's voice, the hippo walked to her side.

"Aww, look at you." She cooed.

"They are cute from a reasonable distance," Melman commented.

"Aren't you the sweetest little thing?" Gloria said as she tickled the creature's fluffy belly. It returned her actions with cute, bubbly giggles that made Ayana smile bigger. "I just want to dunk him in my coffee."

After another moment, Alex decided to look over Gloria's shoulder to see how the creature was doing.

As soon as he didn't scream at the sight of the lion, the sooner Alex got a little closer with a small smile on his face.

It got Ayana's attention, but it drew it away when she realized she stared at him for some time. Maybe he wants to hold now?

"Hey, Al. Wanna hold him?"