A/N: Thanks for checking out another Halfhuman123 special! This one's going to be extra SUPER special, because I got to steal... I mean kidnap... I mean... Borrow. Ponytail30527's mini's! I've been working on this for near a month, making sure it's perfect for you people! So, without further ado, I own ONLY two characters in this story, thanks to Ponytail for being awesome, and review!

Geeze Doumani -- Exclamation, said after something very odd happens.

Chapter 1: Monster Hunters!

It was Friday, long after the doors to the zoo had closed. And Fridays meant the people were away, and the zoo kids would play! So the girls invited each other for a slumber-party at the slasher cave, and the boys decided it was a great time for a sleep-over at J.J's bouncy castle. Peanut was excited, he hadn't gotten to hang out with his two best friends lately, because... well...

He looked over at his mom, who was staring at the ceiling again. She had been like this all week. It was the strangest thing, one minute she was fine, the next... she was more or less catatonic, answering questions simply, not really even smiling. It wasn't like her. "Mom... I'm going to J.J's now, okay?" Peanut asked her, his eyes full of concern. She mumbled and waved him good-bye, before giving him a quick hug.

Maybe he shouldn't even go at all, he thought to himself, now halfway to J.J's place. But what would he do for her anyways? He'd been trying to cheer her up all week... Maybe Eggy and Marshal could help him figure it out! That was a great idea, if anyone could think of a plan, the three of them together could easy! Peanut was about to run to J.J's when something warm, yellow and fuzzy collided with him and sent him falling backwards. "Eggy?" The young duck (though second oldest in his family) stared back at him, and then waved a quick greeting to him. ("Yo!") "Dude, are you alright?" The otter helped his friend up, but he didn't seem to be injured at all.

"I'm fine, but I've got something to show you, we have to go!" Peanut crossed his arms and put down his bag of stuff, (candy, games, cards... all for the sleep-over.) waiting for the duckling to explain. "There's a monster! In the zoo hospital!" Really? That was the news? Everyone knew there was no such thing as monsters, and Peanut thought that Eggy was way smarter than that.

"Monster!? For real!? We gotta go see it!" A voice made the two young animals jump a few inches into the air. Finally, their third friend, Marshal, had shown up. As soon as they had calmed down, Eggy was rearing to go and show them his discovery.

Peanut, however, was a bit more apprehensive about the whole thing. "There isn't a monster, you guys." He tried to reason with them, but they kept going on about what kind they thought it was. How could they think about something so silly at a time like this? He really needed their help with his mom. "Don't you want to help her too? I know you do." He said, poking Marshal specifically in the chest. The penguin brushed it off and grumbled, complaining that he still wanted to see the monster. Arguing was getting them nowhere fast. "Fine. We'll go see... WHATEVER it is, then we'll go back and help mom. Agreed?" That seemed to be an idea everyone could live with, and they took off towards the zoo hospital.

It was true that Marlene had been feeling off. Something just wasn't right. Every time she went to do something, she would feel like something was missing, or something was wrong... No matter what she did, she couldn't put her finger on it. So, quite simply, she DIDN'T, and laid around all day instead, trying to figure it out. Except doing that just made her more depressed, and it was spreading to Peanut. The otter sighed and sat up, rubbing at her eyes. She would just have to get over it. For Peanut's sake.

The noise coming from the hospital was loud! It sounded like a car alarm had been going off in there. And Peanut couldn't actually believe it might really be a monster. "Told you so." Eggy remarked, nudging the other boy. He grunted and rubbed at the spot, but didn't move. "So... how are we going to fight it?" The penguin next to him backed up a bit. No one said anything about fighting it! It might be huge! It could gobble them all up in one bite, why were they going to try to fight it? "Think about it, do you really want that thing to go after our families?"

"ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!" A throaty noise rattled the cages of the small, one room building. It startled the three youngsters outside, and they turned into a huddling mass of nerves. "BEEOOOOOOO BEEEOOOOOOO BEEEEEOOOOOOOO!" As did... a car alarm? What kind of weird monster was this?

One of a kind. "Would you STOP... doing that? I'm trying to think." A calm voice that could only be heard inside the office made the "monster" stop it's incessant growling and roaring and... car alarm-ing. Only the monster wasn't really that... monstrous. A young female otter crossed her arms and humphed at the male beside her.

She pushed her long bangs out of her face and glared at him. "And what would you say if those noises saved us and got us out, hmm? I bet you'd be feeling pre-tty foolish." She said. Her brown eyes sparkled when she realized the boy was about to rise to her challenge before he stopped himself. Her older brother was always the perfect picture of control. And she hated it.

Just once she wanted to see him freak out over something. "Then I would bow to you and call you the greatest ruler sister in the world, and dance to that song you like." She gasped. He never wanted to dance to that song she liked! "But that's never going to happen, because your idea is stupid." Her hands fell to her sides and he went back to thinking. He was SO going to pay, as soon as they got out of there. Well... if they ever did get out. It was starting to look less and less like they were going to. She whimpered a bit and her brother reached his hand for hers. Even though they were in separate crates, they could still comfort each other. "Hey, now. No tears, alright? I'd rather hear those monster noises again." But he regretted it the moment he said it, because that got her going again.

He was about to yell for her to stop when another voice came in through a window somewhere. "Hey! Who's in there!?" That wasn't a human, it was an animal! And a young one at that. Maybe they could get help! The girl looked back at the boy excitedly. They were saved! And it was all thanks to the noises. The boy rolled his eyes and got ready to swallow his pride, but his sister shook her head, telling him it could wait until later. "Is there a monster in there?" A monster? They looked at each other, making sure neither of them were anything but otters.

"No." The girl said. "But if I shake my head really fast, I kinda look like a dog."

Her brother promptly slapped the back of her head, just hard enough to hopefully knock some sense into her. "Why would you even say that?"

Outside, Marshal was considering what she had just said. It made sense, actually. "Well, we know they're not robots. Robots don't have a sense of humor." The three boys walked under the window and climbed up the wall with ease. Once on the ledge, they could see the two otters in cages on a counter, no monsters anywhere in sight. Still... "Peanut, you should go." He stuttered indignantly. Why him? Why couldn't one of the others go? " Because you look like them, and if they're monsters in disguise, they'll feel more comfortable around you. Just go!"

Peanut cracked open the window and slid through while the others watched, muttering angrily to himself as he climbed down the cabinets to the floor. "Just go, he says... Monsters in disguise, he says... I'll show him a monster..." He finally reached the side of the counter the two "otters" were on and yelled up to them. "Are you SURE you're not monsters?" He asked. A boy's voice sighed and told him that they weren't, but they did really need help. Well, that was good enough for him. "They're not monsters, help me up!" Peanut yelled. Almost instantly, Marshal and Eggy slid through the same window, and jumped down, rushing as fast as four little bird legs could carry them. The three worked together to push Peanut to the top of the counter, sending him crashing into one of the cages.

He rubbed his head, and heard a soft noise in front of him. "Are you okay? That looked like it hurt." A girl was talking, and laughing, at him. Peanut opened his eyes and was about to yell at her when he stopped. Two of the strangest eyes he'd ever seen were watching him from about three inches away. There was something about those eyes he just couldn't get away from.

Something that made him almost deaf to Marshal calling his name over and over again. "PEANUT!" He had to yell to even get a response out of him. "S'cuse me real quick, folks." Marshal said, dragging the half-responsive otter away from the cages. "Hey, what's the matter with you?" Peanut didn't get a chance to explain, as he was being shaken by his best friend. "Focus, man. We don't have time for you to make googly eyes at a girl. We have to help your mom, remember?" The otter broke his hold on him and ran toward the cages, saying they could help her after they let the other two out.

Marshal crossed his arms and looked at Eggy, who was watching him closely. "Can you believe this guy? A girl comes into the picture, and he thinks he's Superman."

The little duckling smiled. "Looks like our boy's got himself a girlfriend." Marshal didn't smile.

"She's not his girlfriend. She's just a girl in a cage, that's all."

Eggy laughed out loud and patted Marshal on the back. He could be so thick sometimes. "Why are you in denial? It's not like she's your girlfriend." Marshal shoved Eggy a bit before going back to watching Peanut.

He was doing a good job in letting them out, he had gotten the boy out, now they were working together to free the girl. "Okay, I'm not in denial, because..." He struggled to think of a reason. "The denial is a river in Egypt." That would work. Eggy countered, though, asking if he meant the Nile. "That's what I said. The Denial. You should pay attention in school more, Eggy." The duckling rolled his eyes, but hid it from their two, finally freed guests. "Hey, great, you're free! Uhm... who the heck are you, anyway?"

Peanut was about to tell him he was being rude, and the girl apparently thought the same thing, but answered him anyway. "I'm Roz, and this is my big brother Cube." She said, extending her arm out. He was about to shake her paw, but she snatched it away coolly, grinning the whole time. The two of them made quite a pair, Roz was blond and fairly shaggy with brown eyes, and her brother was neatly kept and a dark, sandy color with green eyes. The pair grabbed a zoo map from off the counter and started to leave. "Anyway, maybe we'll see you later. Bye!" Peanut waved enthusiastically, and Marshal just rolled his eyes.

"Oh, brother." He pulled the otter away, and together the three of them headed to the penguin's den, to finish packing for the sleep-over.

----------

Next Time On Geeze Doumani!

The "eyes" have it, and we finally learn who Roz and Cube are. But you already know, don't you? Well, Peanut doesn't! And neither does Marshal. Did no one tell them!?

A/N: Don't forget to review!