Alright, time to hopefully break free of this In Our World creativity slump. Welcome to Book 8, BTW! If you haven't read the stories in the order I have them in my bio, go back and read all those. Sorry for all the prerequisite reading, but none of this will make sense. Now let's get started with Chapter 1.

CHAPTER 1 – Memories and Weirdness

(P to me) Both Dylan and Julia were growing up fast. It had been great to see them growing up. They were still as adorable as when they were born. Since Emily and I had made all four of the children face X about 3 months earlier, it'd been pretty quiet. But we always kept a watchful gaze on Blowhole, prepping for his whatever his next plan would be if he were de-mind-jacked again.

The children were a handful sometimes, when they were being mischievous. Thankfully, I was always able to make them stop. And they complained about too much power. But I was their father. I wasn't trying to be a total jerk, though, as I did let them have fun. But only when Emily and I had both agreed to let them have fun. That had just happened, actually.

"Thanks for letting us have fun this time Mom and Dad," Dylan said happily to Emily and I. "You're welcome. But do you have to be so mischievous all the time?" I asked them. Both he and Julia chuckled. "It's not our fault. Right Mom?" Julia asked Emily.

"Yes, it's your father's fault," Emily said. "Sorry honey, but as I always remind you, it was your idea," I said to her smirking. "You'll never let that go will you?" Emily asked me. "Nope. Never," I said kissing her.

"Isn't curiosity better than mischievousness Mom and Dad?" Anna asked Skipper and Marlene. "Oh, by far sweetie. But your curiosity has gotten the better of you," Skipper said to her and Sam.

"It's still not my fault! It was Anna who pressed the button on the Segway!" Samuel exclaimed. * "Says the Pengotter that came up with the idea," Anna said to him, smirking. Sam frowned. "Come on, you know you could have talked me out of it," he said.

Dylan and Julia were snickering at their cousins ranting about each other. "Now, now children, that's enough," Marlene said to Anna and Sam. They dropped that subject. "Now let's get up for our training, shall we?" Skipper asked everyone. We all saluted him and climbed out of the hatch.

We all did well, as usual. Things had been quiet ever since Dylan and Julia had been born. That was good, as they had been trained and were able to defend themselves. The last thing Emily and I wanted was for them to wind up where she had been. Sam and Anna had done a good job of training them.

I was actually slightly jealous of the two. They had learned first what our children could do. And they had trained our children first. ** That was our job. But, at least they were ready. That was the most important thing.

After awhile, we finished with our training. "Alright everyone, good training session today," Skipper said to us all. "How did we do?" Julia asked Emily and I. "You did great sweetie. I wish we had trained you. But you did a good job, Annabelle and Samuel," Emily said to them.

They smiled. "Thanks. It was only logical. Can you imagine if someone attacked and we had to get us out of it?" Sam asked us all. We all thought for a moment as if that had happened. "That would have been even more insane than what actually did happen," I said.

"That was a fun ruse," Dylan said. Both he and Julia smiled. "You sure fooled us all. Something made you grow up fast," I said. "You really don't remember us communicating when I was pregnant with you two?" Emily asked our children. *** "No Mom. In fact, we actually wish we did," Julia said.

"That serum was the same batch as the one that spilled on you two. How come you, Marlene, couldn't communicate with Anna and Sam, but Emily could with Dylan and Julia?" I asked her. "Well, I was only pregnant for three months. Maybe the four and a half months did something to that," Marlene suggested.

"That is a good possibility. After all, I was pregnant for twice as long as we're supposed to be. That sure was an interesting few months," Emily said happily. "Yeah, you got us," Dylan said happily, speaking of himself and Julia. We gave them big hugs, so happy they were our children.

Suddenly we all heard the bell for the zoo to open. "Honey?" Emily asked me. "Absolutely," I said to her happily, kissing her. I then sent her, Marlene, Anna, and Julia to the Otter habitat. "That's still insane to me Dad," Dylan said to me. "It is to me too. I owe that to you, Sam, and Anna, for suggesting we test that," I said to Sam. ****

"It's no problem Uncle Matthew. Remember how surprised you all were when we showed you?" Sam asked everyone. "Yes, that was interesting. That was right after you stopped Blowhole for the 2nd time. And, interestingly, on the same day as Emily came here," Skipper said.

I sighed longingly, remembering that day. "Once again, thank you so much for bringing us together," I said happily. "You helped bring Marlene and I together. And you fulfilled her prophecy," Skipper said. ***** "Now that is still crazy. But awesome," I said.

(P to Emily) "That's still wild to me Mom that Dad can do that," Julia said to me. "I know sweetie. It is for me too. Thanks for suggesting that you test that Annabelle," I said to her. She smiled. "You're welcome Aunt Emily. But it's a shame when we lose that," Annabelle said.

"Or if we forget about it," Marlene said. I shivered, since that had happened. "I'm sorry sis. Does that bring back a bad memory?" Marlene asked me apologetically. "It does. But thank you for the apology," I said to her. "I'm so glad you were born after we got back," I said to Julia.

"Me too, from what you told us Mom. I don't want to be a slave of his and hurt anyone," she said to me happily. "Sam and I helped Uncle Matthew stop Blowhole," Annabelle said happily.

"Thank you for unknowingly fulfilling my prophecy," I said to her. "I wish I remembered that," Marlene said. "It's probably for the best you don't Mom," Annabelle said to her. Marlene smiled. "Well, yes, based off what you showed me," she said happily.

(P to me after the zoo closes) "That was a fun day," I said to everyone after they came back. "I agree Dad. Alice had a good batch of popcorn today," Julia said happily. We all laughed, as Alice had ignored the popcorn once again. "Are you doing that honey?" Emily asked me.

"Actually, no. It's weird. Of course, she hasn't checked in years, right?" I asked the original five. ****** "Nope. Not since the popcorn covered the entire zoo," Marlene said happily. We all laughed. "Wow, it's really been 7 years since I saw that. So much time…" I said, trailing off into the memories of the show.

Except for the children, we all remembered what we were doing back then. I was at home, Skipper and Marlene and the guys were doing the obvious, and Emily was at the aquarium with her parents still. It had hurt her the hardest, but she had all of us now. Her sister, and her new larger family. Life was good.

Suddenly, we saw sparks coming from the middle of the HQ. But nothing was there, so we totally backed away. And then a yellow Portal appeared. "Kowalski?" Skipper asked him suspiciously. "It's not mine Skipper. And everyone is accounted for right now," Kowalski said.

"Yeah, we popped out of the yellow Portal last time," Anna said, speaking of herself, Sam, and I. ******* "Whatever it is, I'll shut it down," I said. I thought in script to shut it down. "Honey?" Emily asked me after a minute. "I'm trying. Why isn't it working? It always does here," I said.

Suddenly, the wind picked up. To get us away, I sent us to the park. "OK, that was just weird," Sam said. "I know. Why couldn't I shut it down?" I said. "Well, at least we're away from it," Emily said.

As we were about to continue talking, it popped up again. Once again I couldn't stop it. The wind picked up again as well. But I couldn't do anything else again. "This is like the first Portal," Marlene shouted. We were all clinging to a tree, trying not to get sucked in. We were about to call our Escape Suits, but lost our grip as the wind got stronger.

And then we fell through the Portal. It promptly closed as we tried to get back. "This is just ridiculous," I said as we fell through the tunnel. "Kowalski, are you sure this isn't yours?" Skipper asked him. "No. I haven't done anything relating to the Portals.

Suddenly another one opened a little ahead. But we couldn't see anything up ahead. We were all getting a bad feeling about what was happening to us. "Where do you think we'll end up?" Julia asked us all. "Hopefully not in my world, so that I can get us home easier," I said. We passed through the Portal and hit a wall, blacking out.

Not the best intro chapter, but it gets the job done. Please review it. Hopefully it is good to read until my next chapter comes out. I've got lots of notes today.

* Referencing Pengotters: The Early Months.

** Referencing Ottans: The Early Months.

*** Referencing Book 7.

**** Referencing Book 5.

***** Referencing Pengotters: The Early Months and Book 5.

****** Referencing "Popcorn Panic".

******* Referencing Book 4.