I'm not the best writer…=_= But I love these Penguins! And now everything slowly sets in…Hmm...I should delay the story with unnecessary blabbity!

Nah, enjoy.

0000 hours

The Central Park Zoo

Midnight.

Most animals were quietly sleeping in their habitats. The three Lemurs, King Julian, Maurice, and Mort, were huddled against each other, tired from their usual acts of partying and hollering through the night; Marlene the Otter in the nearest habitat, and the penguin crew following. They'd been exhausted from Skipper's daily regimen the second they even heard what the task held. At "HQ", Private, Kowalski, and Rico slept in their beds soundlessly, which were basically holes in the wall. Well, Private and Kowalski, at least.

Skipper, their somewhat bossy leader, was half-asleep, unable to enjoy the same comfort his comrades could. There were too many thoughts to think, too much to do, so little time. Besides, the music those Lemurs blast every night kept him up and tossing. How could they dance for so long without collapsing of a heart attack!?

Barely twirling a pencil with the tip of his right flipper, Skipper stared into the white abyss that was his planning tablet for tomorrow's training. He'd love to be slumbering, forcing himself to ignore Rico's peculiar bellows during his sleep like they all had to. But there was time. And time is golden. Skipper wondered how Private and Kowalski could sleep so easy through that.

Taking out a blue tape recorder from his pocket, which the whereabouts of is unknown, he started to record himself. "Skipper's Log," he began, "Midnight…I think. Slumber is not an option, we have to train, prosper, and succeed…Eh…" His mind trailed off. Something ate at him, there wasn't much different now ever since the new imports of plush toys modeled after the animals arrived yesterday, and there were less humans visiting…

Why were there fewer humans anyway? These mammals love the zoo; especially those little ones that throw popcorn and crunchy corn chips at the furry little things inside the fence to see them jump and frolic for entertainment. Skipper hadn't noticed until finally realizing the feeling of leftover popcorn kernels on his feet wasn't there, or the polluted water they swam in wasn't…polluted. It was clean and fresh. Perhaps Alice the Zookeeper scared some of them away.

Nonetheless, Skipper was now up and half-awake, having something to do. He liked the idea of fresh air anyway. Throwing the pencil away somewhere, he stood somewhat erect and waddled up to Rico's bunk. Private and Kowalski were mummies wrapped in nicely folded cloth, while Rico was of the poorest dead, thrown into a half-dug grave and in an awkward position. Skipper, uncaring, slapped the belly of Rico, and he gagged and spat out a flashlight, batteries installed and ready to use. Skipper then went up the nearby steps to the outside "wilderness", slowly closing the door behind him as not to wake the trio inside. Rico gave a loud snort, but continued to sleep as previous, smiling, and dreaming sweet, explosive dreams.

Surprisingly, it was very quiet outside as well, there was no howl or calling of street dogs or cats that were searching for food, no cars passing, but the sound of mice scattering was still there. A nice breeze swept past Skipper's legs and into the metropolis around him. The city was…intimidating. No penguin would dare step one foot into the dark alleyways without someone to keep him company, and keep lookout for danger. That's why he had a team; to be there for him, whenever necessary.

"It's quiet tonight…too quiet…" He squinted.

Taking a good perimeter scan, Skipper quietly waddled around the black fence surrounding the Penguin Pool to Marlene's habitat, and continued on to the Lemurs'. Spots of different colors appeared where he shone the flashlight; back and forth he waved it. He highlighted the three Lemurs; King Julian was kicking Mort away from his "precious" feet, Maurice was tending to his imaginary king, and Mort dreamed of King Julian's feet while attempting to touch his real ones, to no avail. "Everything seems secure…No noise, no annoying Lemurs…" He smiled and snickered a little. "No-"

The silence was cut by the sound of a car riding towards the Zoo. Skipper quickly took cover behind the small brick wall underneath the fence, only taking a peek over it, to see what strange occurrence visited today. A couple of cats scurried across the streets, focused on the noise.

The car, black in appearance, stopped shortly outside, headlights bright and yellow. One of its doors opened fast and hard, sporting a human. Due to the way it walked and the clothes it had on, not to mention the rough ways of handling the door, obvious to Skipper the human was Alice, the Zookeeper.

"Alice? What's she doing here this late?" Skipper thought. He snapped into action and slid on his belly towards the right end of the perimeter surrounding him, close to Alice. One door opened, and then another and one more human stepped out with clothes similar to Alice's. Alice stopped and opened another door, this time taking out a large crate, with the help of Human #2. "What are they…A crate? Kowalski, op-" Skipper stopped, having no strategic penguin at his side, and began creating options himself. He was shorthanded; without Kowalski and the options clipboard it was a bit harder to compile everything.

Alice and the other human carried the crate further towards Skipper, who was too busy using his own think-melon to remember to watch. Their footsteps alerted Skipper, and he quickly slid back to his original position, excited by the moment. Both humans halted in front of the Penguin area, opening their gate and putting the crate in its opening.

"Alright, now time to open this puppy," Alice spoke, and began cracking open the crate. Skipper glared in anticipation.

"A puppy?" He misguidedly thought. When the crate opened, he gazed, and saw a black figure walk out and slip into the pool. Alice quickly closed the gate, walking away with the other human. "Guess that's it then," Alice's voice trailed off.

"A new one, huh…? Looks like it's time for operation; housewarming…!"

Now that the car sped off with both humans inside, Skipper slid over to the entrance of the large pool, and peeked over the fence. The black figure jumped out of the water and onto the middle surface, shaking.

To Skipper's surprise, it wasn't a puppy or anything else his options foretold; it was another penguin.

"A new penguin, eh? Time for the greeting..."

Skipper quickly jumped onto the nearest trash can, and again jumped with a few flips into the pool. The penguin inside turned to face him, but there was nothing; just the sound of a car fading away into the distance. The new penguin stood breathless, all was still for this brief time.

Suddenly, Skipper sprang from underneath behind the other penguin, and held his flippers high, combat ready. The other penguin, startled, lunged at Skipper, pushing him to the ground, and forcing him into submission by forcing Skipper's flippers down with their own. Skipper was too taken aback to weave out of the way.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, s'friendly!" Skipper, under the penguin, exclaimed. The penguin on top slowly backed off and away, focusing on Skipper's flippers. "Sorry to scare you, but you'll never know what could happen in the field of war...Everything alright?"

He began to examine the newbie. He was male, and just a bit shorter than Skipper, both being shorter than Rico and Kowalski, and Private being the shortest. He had no major differences from the other penguins, except for the marks he had around the beak. They looked like burn marks, starting from the tip of his beak to the right end and shortly angled downwards on his skin, where no feathers could grow. The white part of his body was also grayer in tone. Everything else was the common penguin physique.

The penguin hesitated to speak, staring forward at Skipper. "Yeah, I'm fine, are you O.K?" His voice was slightly lighter-toned than Skipper's, and had a general English accent.

"Don't worry about me; I'm battle-hardened, always ready for combat!" Skipper flaunted his years of training and precision. "Looks like you're the newest member of the Zoo, recruit!" The other penguin stared in confusion.

"Wait, what?"

"Ah, where are my manners, I haven't even introduced myself. The name is Skipper. And you are?"

The penguin looked off in another direction, embarrassed, and hesitant to answer.

"What, you've got a name, speak it, recruit!" Skipper crossed his arms.

He continued to stall, and fiddled, scratching his head. Skipper was now tapping his foot in impatience and raised an eyebrow. The now red penguin finally answered.

"I…I don't know…I don't really have a name…"

"Don't have a name…?" Skipper stopped. "Well that won't do! We've got to identify you someway, recruit…!" Skipper spoke. "That's it, Recruit!"

"Err…Recruit…" He shook hands with Skipper; confused, but happy to be welcomed.

"Why don't I bring you back with me, no use sleeping on the ground for the night."

Recruit followed, excited to be so warmly welcomed in. Soon he'd be with the others as well, but he was in for more than he bargained for.

Just chasing what I want here. xD More coming soon!

Skipper ftw.