2025 Madagascar Party @madagascarparty - Tumblr Blog

Dec 14, 2025

A little to the left

It was an average day at Central Park Zoo, until suddenly everything around the zoo starts to break! Luckily, the resident can rely on the local secret agents, the Seals of Madagascar!

What, did you expect someone else?

(Can also be read on AO3 here)

The air inside of their cave was a cool relief from the evening sun. Private was resting quietly in the pool outside, taking the chance to sleep at a time when the sun wouldn't bake him under his dark grey fur. Kowalski and Skipper were inside of their base, the entrance hidden behind one of the decorative boulders. Meanwhile, Rico was laid out and waiting for dinner to arrive. The Zoo's closing time was drawing closer as the sun fell, finishing off a day of acting sweet and snuggly for the masses.

Rico perked up as he heard Alice walking towards them, letting out a bark to alert Kowalski and Skipper.

“Of all the days for the water cleaner to stop working, it just had to be the day I worked. That thing was meant to be invincible," she complained while tossing their fish towards them. Skipper slipped to the edge of the pond, catching one of the fish in his mouth. “If this keeps up, we'll have to do a deep clean of every habitat ourselves, and I do not want to be a part of that!”

She dumped the rest of the fish into their pond before walking away, not caring enough to keep throwing them. The last of the Zoo's visitors wandered passed, watching as Private twirled in the water to grab the fish.

“Alright Private, enough show boating,” Skipper cut in, “Did you hear what that crazy land animal said? We can't let anyone near the cave, imagine what could happen if our base was compromised!” He looked towards the staff building, eyes narrowed, and said “Let's wait ‘til it's dark and take a look at those systems.”

The staff rooms were rarely locked, and they were lucky for it. It was hard enough to sneak around when you were over eight feet long and weighed well over two tons, but trying to pick the lock or break down the door put them at more risk than they'd like. Unfortunately, it seemed like today the Zookeepers actually knew what they were doing, as the door remained stubbornly closed.

As Kowalski debated the options and whether the risk was worth it, Skipper hushed him, gesturing toward an open window. They all piled together under the window to hear.

“I'm telling you, it's like sabotage!” Alice exclaimed. “Why is everything going wrong today? First the cleaner, now the announcements! What's next, the lights?”

"Alice, it's fine. It's not sabotage, just bad luck.” That was one of the other Zookeepers.

“Didn't you hire that new maintenance guy? Where's he during all this, isn't fixing stuff literally his job?”

“Hey, lay off Jamie. The kid’s alright, just nervous. He came in earlier today and said everything was fine. You know, I'm not even sure he got told about the speakers, and the cleaner got noticed after he left, didn't it?”

“If he doesn't get his act together and stop things from breaking like this, I'm making him look over all the habitats tomorrow." Skipper gestured for them to leave, sliding out of sight from the door just as it opened. The two Zookeepers walked out, conveniently forgetting to lock the door once again.

Skipper narrowed his eyes, glancing around. “Did you hear that? Sabotage! In our own zoo!” He pushed the door open. “Well, we can't let that vandal get away with it- let's fix this up and see what else he did. Kowalski, see what's wrong with the announcements. Rico, come with me, let's see if we can fix that cleaner. Private, look for any clues on who this vandal could really be.”

Kowalski slid to the desk where the announcement system sat. It was fairly simple, with a microphone connected to a set of dials and buttons, which were then connected to a series of wires leading outside.

He leaned against the desk, examining the microphone. The cord was long, well over eight feet. "How odd," he muttered, before he set it back down. He examined the wires leading out of the system and into the wall. Something about them bugged him, though he couldn't quite tell what.

He leaned closer, cursing his nearsighted eyes. They were always awful while on land, making him need to squint and lean incredibly close while in his lab. It was with this though that he almost missed the small flash of light behind some of the wires. He brushed them out of the way, startling when one of them fell from where they were plugged in. Where all of the others had plenty of slack behind them, enough that they grazed the floor, this one was barely long enough to reach the socket.

In fact, he found that it hung out half way when he tried to plug it in, occasionally sparking as it struggled.

Really, this was the perfect cord for the microphone. As he looked between the two, he noticed that they were the exact same type of cord. He hummed as he thought, before he had an idea. All he needed to do was switch the cords, and the system would work properly again. He tested the microphone and heard distant feedback around the zoo from the now working speakers.

Meanwhile, Skipper and Rico stood around staring at the filter for the aquatic habitats.

"So Rico! Do you have...any idea what we're looking at?"

"Nuh uh."

The system looked awful. Saying it was clogged would be being kind. Fur, feathers, bits of plants, and who knew what else covered the entirety of it. Water struggled through slowly, barely managing a trickle.

"Well, let's try to clean this up. Give me something to grab it with." Rico coughed up a grabber, helping Skipper pull out the clogged filter. Most of the sludge dripped onto the floor, but some remained stubbornly stuck.

"Rico, grab some of that water and get that gunk off of there!"

Rico took a large gulp of the clean water before spitting a jet towards the filter. They should have, maybe, made sure to hold it down somehow, and the filter when flying across the room, bouncing against the walls. The two of them had to roll outside the room to avoid being hit. When they heard the bouncing finally stop, they peaked inside carefully.

Resting on the floor, now perfectly clean, was the filter, completely undamaged.

"Well. Glad that worked. Let's put it back and regroup."

They all met back up outside the entrance, with Private having found the new maintenance person's employee file. Distantly, they heard the clock tower chime towards midnight.

"Good job Private! Now, let's see who this sabotager is." The file opened, and-

"That...that looks like a regular person..." Private mumbled.

It was just some guy. Average looking, young, had a decent list of references. It really was just a new employee, nothing really suspicious.

"That's what he wants you to think, Private! What were you expecting destruction to be in his list of skills?" Skipper looked carefully over the paper, looking at the resume. "Let's bring this to the hyenas to read, they should be awake by now."

Mason and Phil, for all they were land animals, were usually happy to help them when they were needed. Unfortunately, as they approached their habitat, they could hear sounds of argument from Mason.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to be sleeping outside! Especially not when you can't admit it's your fault!"

They looked over the edge of the habitat just in time to see Mason knock his paw against a door on one of the walls. "Mason, Phil, is everything alright?"

The two of them turned upwards, the pair's ears flat in agitation. "Phil was mucking around earlier and hit the door. He must have knocked something loose with the lock, because now it's not letting us in for the night!" Phil, in turn, rushed to defend himself, quickly signing something. "Yes, I know you said that the door was already messed up, but quite honesty, I'm not sure whether to believe you!"

If possible, Phil's signing became even more aggressive, and he began letting out a sharp yipping sound. Mason responded in kind, spotted fur bristled.

"Alright you two, break it up!" Skipper yelled as he leapt down. "Rico, get that door down. Without explosives!" He added, almost forgetting who he was talking to. "Kowalski, go see what's wrong with the door." He turned back to the hyenas. "Now, you two. What is with you?! I don't think I've ever seen you at each other's throats like this!"

Mason looked away, ears flat against his skull. "I suppose today has been a tad trying. Could hardly get any rest with the way the new Zookeeper kept yelling whenever we so much as moved. I didn't help that someone kept annoying him on purpose," he threw a sharp look at Phil as he finished. Phil, at least, had the decency to look a bit sheepish, though he quickly turned back and started signing.

"What do you mean 'I didn't mean to'? You kept growling at him whenever he looked away!" More signing. "What? Of course it bothered me! I don't particularly like tormenting random zoo staff for no reason, you know. Or seeing you get yelled at." Skipper was beginning to feel a little forgotten, if he was being honest.

Luckily for him, Private cut into the conversation. "It seems like you two need to have a conversation about what is bothering you. Maybe after a nap to catch up on rest?" Private smiled sweetly, gesturing at the now open door to their indoor habitat. (The kid was good at what he did, Skipper would give him that.)

Mason and Phil looked at each other, before Mason nodded. "I suppose you are right. And- Phil, I do apologize for being so snappish. It really wasn't deserved."

Phil smiled, before signing again and playfully batting against Mason's ear. The two began to pad towards the door, before Kowalski called out "Wait! Can you read this for us?" He asked, holding out the resume of the new maintenance worker.

Phil leaned over to look, signing as he read. "Jamie Peterson, aged 23..." Phil stopped, squinting hard at something. He pointed to the picture, turning to Mason "What? Oh, you're right- that is the same person from today. But what was he doing here all morning?"

"Probably install the new lock on your door- quite poorly, might I add. When Phil hit it earlier it likely jammed shut. I fixed it though, not to worry." Kowalski had the decency to look only a little smug.

"Why are you asking about this?" Mason asked as Phil looked over the papers again, "The new Zoo higher being bad at their job isn't anything noteworthy. Almost seems like a requirement, really."

"This seems to go a bit beyond stupidity and well into malice."

Mason raised a brow. "Really? That's what you immediately think of?" He shook his head. "Well, either way, thank you again. I was not looking forward to sleeping in this weather." Mason shivered. Though the seals felt fine, they could tell it was definitely cooler than those with thinner fur would prefer. "Oh, before you go- the references are strange. They're from many different types of shops. You'd expect a maintenance worker to put more focus on maintenance, no? Just thought you'd like to know."

With that, the two headed inside. Skipper glared down at the paper, doubt only growing. This new guy shows up with a bunch of weirdly vague references, and suddenly everything is broken? Yeah, pretty suspicious if you asked him.

"Well boys, let's head home. I think we need to figure out a plan around this 'Jamie'."

The four had nearly reached their base when they heard sounds of distress coming from the nearby aviary.

"Skipper, aren't we going to see what's wrong?" Private asked as they slid by.

"Negatory soldier. It is way too late to deal with whatever tantrum that brat is having. Whatever it is, they can handle it tonight."

"But they might be in real trouble!" Skipper groaned, but they still turned towards the aviary. Strangely, no music was playing, and as Skipper thought about it he realized that he hadn't heard anything coming from here all night.

Maurice stood by the sound system the Zookeepers used during events involving the birds. The lemurs had managed to find a way to use it during off hours for their parties, much to everyone's chagrin. Now though, it almost looked as if the system itself was fighting back with how tangled in wires he was.

"Maurice! What-" Kowalski cut himself off as Maurice frantically began shushing him, head whipping around to glare at him.

"I'm fine, I just got a bit stuck. Think you could help me out? Quietly, please." As Kowalski worked to unravel the wires and cords from Maurice's feathers, Skipper looked around for the other inhabitants. Tucked in the corners on opposite sides were Julien and Mort, fast asleep. Julien's grey and black feathers were rumpled like something was bothering him even in his sleep, while Mort hardly looked like he was breathing with how little he moved. (Though, honestly? That seemed pretty par for the course. He always gave off creepy vibes, no matter how small and cute he was.)

"What are you doing up, anyways? Thought you'd love some time without 'his majesty' bothering you."

"I'm an owl, we're pretty nocturnal. Usually I'd take this time to clean things up for tomorrow, but these speakers decided to give out. No idea why, they were apparently working fine this morning, but when Julien tried it tonight? Nothing." Maurice shook off the last of the wires, letting them fall. "I managed to get Mort to distract him, but if this isn't fixed tonight we're gonna have major problems."

"We?" Skipper asked, squinting hard. "I don't see why we have to fix this. Less awful music for us to listen to."

"Yeah well, if you think Julien's bad now? Imagine how bad he'll be when he doesn't have any music to distract him."

The team thought for a moment, before collectively shuddering. "Kowalski, go help the man," Skipper ordered.

The two of them stood in front of the sound system. "Alright, before we start. You did try turning it off and back on, correct?" Kowalski put his flippers up in surrender at the look Maurice shot him. "I had to make sure. Can you tell me what happened before it broke?"

"Well, it was right after I woke up, around midday. One of the Zookeepers was messing around with it, kept playing it for a bit before turning it off again. Then when he left, it wouldn't work at all! The guy took it out while he was working on it, so I don't know what he even did, or where to start fixing it. Couldn't even see the guy's face."

Kowalski brushed through the wires while humming "Hm. Are you sure it was a Zookeeper?"

Maurice looked at him confused. "Sure had the uniform. No one would wear that unless they had to."

"No, but- look at this. Does this man look familiar?" Kowalski held up the photo from the file.

Maurice squinted at it, tilting his head. "Hm. The hair does look familiar... can't say for sure, but it definitely looks like the same guy. That a new hire?"

"New maintenance guy to be specific. Seems like whatever he touches manages to mysteriously break. As if it's intentional..."

"Woah, what? This guy? He looks...kinda harmless, don't you think?"

Kowalski tossed the page back with the others. "Looks can be quite deceiving, Maurice. You've met Private, after all."

"I guess you might be right. Still, what would some random guy get by ruining random stuff around the zoo?" Maurice shook out his wings, combing through loose feathers. "Not like there's much here, except for you guys, and I'd bet if your stuff was broken you'd all be freaking out, not here helping people."

Kowalski rested his chin against his flipper, turning to look at Maurice. "We like helping people. It's what we do."

Maurice let out a quiet huff, like he was laughing but trying to hide it. "It sure is, isn't it?"

A crushed paper ball hit Kowalski perfectly on the snout, managing to bounce and also hit Maurice. "Hurry up and fix that, it is too late to be wasting time like this. Poor Private is almost asleep just sitting there."

(Private was, in fact, completely knocked out. He'd blearily blinked awake for a second when he heard his name, but was otherwise dead to the world.)

Kowalski winced. "Sorry Skipper. It should be a pretty easy fix, it seems like he tried to connect these speakers to the rest of the Zoo's system, without realizing that they were completely different systems."

"Well, thanks for the help. Sorry I couldn't tell you anything else about today." Maurice pecked at the speakers, which started playing something soft and slow.

"Don't worry about it, you were fine help," Kowalski reassured. "Have a nice night!"

"Good night, you four." As they turned away, Maurice gently picked up Mort from the corner before settling him next to Julien, also taking care to flatten Julien's ruffled feathers. The seals slid back towards their habitat, hopefully for the last time.

"Skipper, may I suggest that we continue our investigation tomorrow?" Kowalski called as they finally reached their habitat.

"Suggestion approved. It's not like we'll get much investigating done. Everyone else is definitely asl-"

"Hey guys?"

(If anyone ever asked him, Skipper did not scream. Anyone who said otherwise was a complete and utter liar.)

"Woah, hey it's just me guys! You know, Marlene? Your friend?" Marlene slithered back, her yellow and slitted eyes wide, startled by their reactions.

"You know better than to sneak up on us Marlene! Especially when we're discussing highly sensitive information." Marlene’s scales, already a dark brown, seemed nearly black with how dark it was.

"I'm sorry guys, I just- really need your help. Something's wrong with my habitat, it's not warm at all." Marlene said slowly, the cold clearly getting to her.

Skipper sighed, shaking his head. "You three head in. I'll take care of this." The others didn't need to be told twice. They tiredly slid into the cave.

"Alright Marlene, let's get this done quickly. Hop on," he offered, holding out his flipper. As the snake settled on his back, he asked her "So, what's the problem?" He began to quickly slide towards the reptile house.

"So, earlier today some of the techs were working on our tanks, right? Well, apparently, they decided to let the new guy work on mine. Guy had no idea what he was doing, had to be walked through it step by step the whole time! Apparently the guy was scared of snakes, kept saying it wasn't a big deal, but, you know, the snake who was literally just sitting there doing nothing while he freaked out would beg to differ! Really, can't stand people who come in even though they know they'll freak out, it really-"

"Marlene, please," Skipper groaned. He may be perfectly able to withstand a bit of sleep deprivation, but even he could admit this was a bit much. He stopped in front of the reptile house, before quietly opening the door. "We're here. What did you need help with?"

Marlene winced. "Sorry Skipper." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "After everyone else left, the new guy was meant to replace the bulb in my heat lamp, but he got freaked out and totally bailed! It wasn't that bad at first, because the lights for the guests get crazy warm, but then it was night and it got really cold, and I could not fall asleep, let me tell you. No one else could let me into one of their habitats, because they're always locked up so tight. Eventually I thought about how a lot of you guys have heated indoor areas, and thought I could just- bunk with one of you! Well, not literally you, I know how cold you keep your base- I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

Skipper didn't bother answering, just turning to send her a look. Marlene coiled in on herself, hiding her face. "I'm sorry Skipper. I'm just really tired, and that always makes me so rambley for some reason."

Skipper shrugged, turning back to the walls of tanks, noting how all of them had lights. "Happens to everyone. Now, where is yours?"

Marlene slid off his back, heading around the corner and past a few odd boxes against the wall. She gestured to one of the larger tanks, the only one completely dark. There was a stool sitting next to the glass, the perfect height to work on. "So," she started, smile growing wider, "Does 'everyone' include you too?"

"Of course not. Sleep deprivation has no effect on me."

"Sure, right. But since birth? I doubt it. Come on Skipper, you have to have at least one story."

Skipper sighed, shaking his head and turning back to the habitat. The top was already opened, lid set to the side. "...I managed to put a hole in a wall once."

Marlene turned so fast he was almost worried about whiplash, grinning like a kid in a candy store. "Really?! How'd you manage that?"

"I may have started down a hill at full speed and- zoned out. With my eyes closed. Next thing I know, there's a wall with a seal shaped dent and a very startled shop owner coming to yell at me," Skipper chuckled fondly, "The river nearby saved me. Don't think I ever swam so fast."

Marlene’s eyes were wide as she laughed, imagining a young Skipper managed to fall asleep like that. "Oh my god, when was this?!"

"Hmm...a year ago or so? Maybe two now."

Marlene’s laughter kicked up a notch, only muffled by the way she tucked her face into her scales. "This was recent! I was imagining, like, baby Skipper, not you!"

Skipper huffed. "Oh, don't start. Come on, let's see what needs done."

Really, all they needed to do was get a new bulb. Skipper almost left to get Rico, before Marlene, who had finally stopped laughing enough to help, pointing out the boxes contained both tools and the bulbs. From there, it was just a matter of screwing in the bulb.

"This would be so much easier if we had hands," Skipper grumbled, slowly turning the bulb with the tips of his flippers.

"Agreed," replied Marlene, sweeping up their previous attempt.

With Marlene’s light finally screwed in and working, her enclosure was already beginning to warm. Skipper bid her a tired goodnight, before stopping himself. "Did you catch the new tech's name, by the way?"

Marlene hummed, thinking. "It was something with a J, I think? Jan, or something."

"Jamie?"

"Oh, yeah! It was Jamie, how'd you know?"

"He's been sabotaging the zoo," he said simply.

Marlene stopped to squint at him. "Right, well. I hope you get some sleep tonight!"

Skipper slid away into the cool night air. It would only be a few hours until morning, but maybe he'd manage to fall asleep.

The next morning came far too soon for the team's liking. The morning sun felt more like an attack on their eyes than something to be welcomed. All four decided to spend the morning tucked away in the back of their cave until breakfast came.

"Alright, listen you. Over here, now!" Alice's voice called sharply from the edge of the habitat. All four shared a weary sigh, but obeyed, sliding to the edge of the water.

"What? No, not you four. Jamie, get over here!" Four heads turned to the person careful approaching the edge.

"Are, um- Ms. Alice, are you sure that's safe? I mean, what if they try and attack me?" There, standing in all his glory, was their vandal. He looked...well, he looked normal. A bit shorter than they thought, and a lot more anxious. Afraid, almost.

"He's good. Not even a trace of guilt," Kowalski muttered. Rico barked an agreement. The sound made Jamie jump hard enough he stumbled backwards, nearly knocking into Alice.

"Kid, they're not gonna do anything," Alice rolled her eyes. "They couldn't hurt anyone if they tried. They're too lazy to do much. Now come fix this lock. We can't have them getting out, no matter how harmless they are." Alice gestured to one of the gates staff used to get into their habitat.

"But- I- Alright."

Slowly, without taking his eyes off the four, Jamie walked towards the gate, tools held out in front of him. He stood in front of it, hands clearly shaking even from their point of view. He froze as Private shifted on the ice, letting out a small squeak.

"Jamie, seriously, start working or you're out of here faster than you can say 'Zoo'. What, are you afraid of animals somehow?"

Jamie stayed quiet.

"Oh my god, you can not be serious."

"I'm sorry!" Jamie cried (Almost literally, by the look of it).

"Why would you apply at a zoo when you're afraid of animals?!"

"I applied everywhere- you guys are the only people who called me back! I need a job so bad, pleasedon'tfireme."

Suddenly the vagueness of the resume made a lot of sense. If he was spending out resumes to everyone he could, he wouldn't have been able to tailor them to specific jobs.

"Do you even know how to fix stuff like this?" Alice groaned as she rubbed her eyes.

"Well I've- fixed some things at my parents house before?"

Alice's expression went flat as she heard this, before she took him by the arm and dragged him to her office, yelling the entire way.

"Well," Skipper said slowly, "I guess there's probably some sort of lesson here."

"Don't assume malice when incompetence is just as viable an answer?" Said Kowalski.

"Don't spend all night fixing someone else's mistakes?" Said Private.

"Don' lie to your boss?" Finished Rico.

"Yeah. One of those." Nodded Skipper.

#2025madaparty #theme 2 #alternate universe #theme 4 #character redesign #fanfiction #fanfic #stabby-stabby-yall

madagascarparty

Dec 14, 2025

just-pauline

One of the topics I missed in Madaparty was the Alternate Universe

And since I've been in the undertale fandom, I know a little bit about how the small changes that make au a kind of trash mixed with horror. So yes, there's going to be a long post about my feverish au.

Warn you that the content may not be very pleasant.

An alternate universe in which the Skipper, after Hans' betrayal, became more radical in his decisions to fight justice, considering the most correct option is to eliminate the source of the problem. In this au, Hans is dead, the penguin team does not exist, and many villains, if they act, are extremely rare. Some villains have gone through the so-called path of correction, but not because they have changed their views, but simply in order to survive, because the only way to remove Skipper's justice from themselves is to move away from criminal activity. Why doesn't the penguin team exist? Because I have headcanons for their acquaintance, and I decided that by changing one aspect of the character's character (instead of feeling sorry for Hans, the decision to finish him off), I need to change his relationships with others. With such a character, the Skipper would never have taken a very green Private with him, without some events that could have happened after Denmark, he would not have met Rico, and Kowalski might simply have been repelled by such ultra violence, and he would rather have preferred solitude, well, or another team. In this story, the Skipper is a prisoner of his own beliefs, and he seems to be fighting for good, but being too tough in his decisions, he will never be able to establish at least some healthy relationships.

I also want to mention the fact that the Skipper from this AU is no stronger than the main four of the series. This Skipper could keep enemies at bay due to the fact that he was fighting their earlier, not yet so dangerous versions. For example, Dr.Blowhole that I drew as a consequence of Skipper's justice. This Skipper did not meet the same Blowhole that we saw in "The Revenge of Dr. Blowhole", he met his earlier hypostasis, with a prototype prosthesis and an early version of segway, possibly without any special weapons. He could intimidate this Blowhole enough to end his villainous career. At the time of the episode "Dr. Blowhole's Revenge", he would hardly have handled it so well.

+additional sketches

#2025madaparty #theme 2 #alternate universe #just-pauline #fanart #concept

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