Hey, guys! babbitrulez, here. ... And... HAHA!! I have tricked you! That was merely a test! I was planning to post the one with the least votes all along!! MWA-HA-HA!! And if you're mad...? TOO BAD!! ... I'm sorry. That was kinda mean... But anyways... It came down to two stories, so I just chose the one I had more fun writing. ... So...

Standard disclaimer applies... I don't own the characters of The Penguins of Madagascar... I only own my OCs. (You'll know who they are. I won't name them.)

Oh! and another! (Sorry. My friends'll probably sue me if I don't mention 'em...)

This story is a collaboration between iGothic and I. Almost all the funny stuff was lent to me by her. ... And one of my other friends. Thank you for reading this message.

Alright. Well, I've been stalling for a while now with my long explanations... So... on wit dee story! Ah-hah-hah!

Newbies

-a story about four penguins… plus an otter… plus four more penguins…-

Chapter 1: The Meeting

It was 0600 hours (one hour before the zoo opened) and the head penguin, by the name of Skipper, had woken up his men for an announcement. "…I can feel it in my gut, boys," Skipper said.

"Um… What exactly do you feel in your gut, Skippah…?," Private asked tentatively.

"Those fish from yesterday. … And the fact that something big's gonna happen today."

"Oh."

"What do you men feel in your gut?"

"Um… Fish…?," Private answered.

"Hydrochloric acid swirling around digesting fish…?"

"Eugh…," the youngest member of their group uttered softly.

"Hmm…," Rico thought, tapping his chin a few times with his right flipper. "Nn-yeh-gey!!" He had hacked up a chainsaw and turned it on, laughing maniacally. "AH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAAAAH!," scaring poor, little Private.

With a straight face, Skipper said sternly, "Rico. Put that away. We may need it later."

"Raw…," he groaned in disappointment before tossing the gardening device/weapon into the air. When it came down, he swallowed it with a gulp.

THUMP!

"What in the halibut was that?," the flat-topped penguin asked.

"It appears to have been some sort of thump, Skipper."

"… Yes, Kowalski. We heard it…," Skipper answered, his half-lidded eyes showing slight irritation.

"… My apologies, but without seeing the object that created the clamor, I'm afraid that's my best answer to your question."

"My rhetorical question."

"…Oh."

"Everyone up the ladder! Time to recon the perimeter." The lead penguin began climbing, his teammates right behind him.

All four birds jumped out from the hatch and landed in defensive positions.

A large wooden box with quarter-sized holes sat on the concrete of their floe.

"Kowalski. Analysis."

"Eeee…! Th're's s'meone out there!," a voice said excitedly from the box.

Skipper and Kowalski looked confusedly at each other as Rico and Private just tilted their heads to the side, also baffled.

"Shut-up…!," another voice said. A slap was heard, then "NYAGH!," from the first voice.

"Guys… Please… Stop it…," a soft, concerned voice pleaded.

"… Fine…," the first voice growled.

All was silent until a new and fourth voice shouted out, "Mitchel Musso 's hot!"

"Shutup, Des…," the second voice muttered.

"Well, 'e is…!"

"True. He is," the first voice agreed, saying something once again.

"… Whatever."

"Guys…?," the quiet voice said again. "You know they're still out there, right…?"

"Oh."

"Right."

"Duh…"

All was silent.

"Kowalski. Analysis. Quickly!," Skipper whispered so whatever was in the box couldn't hear him.

The first voice spoke again… "I think he said someth'ng ag—ooh!" …only to be interrupted by another slap.

"It appears to be a crate."

"Hiiiiii!," the fourth voice shouted happily.

"… One with animals inside."

"No duh, Einstein…," an impatient voice said.

"I beg your—!"

"Just find a way to get us outta here…!"

"Please…? If… you don't mind uh'course…," the gentle voice added.

"Breh!" Rico coughed up a crowbar and used it to tear the front of the box open. He swallowed it again, then said, "Ta-dah…!"

"Good work, Rico. Now let's— Sweet tuna fish salad!"

"What? You've never seen a girl before…?," the voice they first heard said in an amused tone.

It had come from a chinstrap penguin of Skipper's height, but smaller around her waist area. She wore black glasses over her dark brown (almost black) eyes and had a light blue bead holding three abnormally long feathers at the back of her head that reached slightly past her shoulders. She smirked, showing the fact that she had a "beauty mark" on her left cheek.

A she-penguin (who was also a chinstrap) of Private's height popped out from behind her. "Hey! What's up, buttercup?!" She had a huge smile. The smiling penguin had many feathers that hung down on her head, three or four of them covering her left eye.

"… Chinstrap Sisters…?," Skipper asked slowly, baffled and shocked at this blast from the past.

"…No…?," the first she-penguin drawled amusedly, leisurely shaking her head.

"I'm Destiny and this is my cousin, Corinne!," the second she-penguin stated cheerfully.

Skipper sighed in relief. He and his men weren't going to lose 15 feet of intestines today.

"But you c'n call me Des 'n' her, Cori." Des pointed to her ponytailed cousin with her own birthmarked flippers. Both flippers had large white rings around them that looked like fingerless gloves complete with thumbhole. Her left one had a small, white, clay skull on a string like a bracelet. She also wore glasses, although hers were blue, not black.

"Shut up, you guys…," came a voice from the shadows of a back corner. A dark gray eye opened in the dark (that was all that could be seen), making the boys jump back a step.

Both slate-colored eyes opened, and an African penguin that was Rico's height (and didn't have a hunchback sorta thing goin' on…) walked out of the shadows. She had messy, dark brown feathers that reached to right above her shoulders, one of them on the right side of her face curling towards her eye. In fact, both of her eyes had an evil glint, unsettling Skipper, Kowalski and Private, but intriguing Rico.

Her flippers were crossed and she walked past the two cousins, smacking Cori in the back of the head, making her flinch.

When she slapped Cori, the penguins could see that a chunk of her left flipper was missing.

"Hey," she said coolly asked she walked into the sunlight. "Name's Shadow. Don't forget it. Hate sun. Love the dark. Goin' back in. Bye." Shadow walked back into the crate and into the shadows. Her eyes closed, so if they hadn't known better, the boys would've thought she wasn't even there.

…

Quiet crept over the penguin habitat.

… That is, until…

Private spoke up. "Who's that behind you two…?"

"Huh?," Cori said, she and Des turning their heads towards their tallest friend. "Oh, that's Ali!"

"… Hey. Pleased t' meetchu," the tall she-penguin softly greeted, a small smile on her face. The gentoo stood up and walked forward, studying the four new penguins before her with two light gray eyes. "Hmm…" She put her right flipper under her beak. "Fr'm how you all carry y'rselves… I'd say… Intellig'nce 'n' reason; av'rage-sized and odd 'n'a good way; younger, so shorter 'n' leader; and cuteness matched w'th stealth," Ali stated.

… Once again. … Quiet.

"… Wow. … She's…"

"Absolutely correct…!," Kowalski smiled, finishing Skipper's sentence.

"Yeah. That's the one."

Ali giggled softly. "Thanks…"

"Als."

The tall she-penguin quickly turned her head over her shoulder to look at the one who had called, her long, light brown feathers from her head that reached her waistline flowing along behind her.

The guys noticed a large, pink bow smack dab in the center of the back of her head.

"Yeah, Shadow?"

"C'mere."

She complied and asked, "What 's it?"

"Where are we…?"

"Well… We can't be in 'Ntarctica… T's'not cold enough… And we're definitely not 'n Georgia anymore…"

"Finally! We're outta that place!" Shadow stood up and stretched. So where were they…?

"Um…" Ali took in her surroundings. "Using deductive reasoning 'n' from th' looks of th's concrete jungle, I'd say we're in th' Big Apple."

"New York. … Fun."

"Yay!," exclaimed Cori.

"'Ve never been to New York b'fore!"

Shadow walked out of her shadowy corner and smacked both Cori and Des on the back of their heads.

"Oo-ooowwwww…!," the two said in unison, different pitches and all.

"Idiots…," Shadow muttered under her breath. "So where do we bunk…?," she asked Kowalski, who Ali had pointed out as the intelligent one.

"Well… Uh…"

"What? No options…? Meh." She shrugged her shoulder. "Guess I'll have tuh ask Co—"

"No! I have options!"

"Well then spit 'em out, Kowalski," Skipper said.

Kowalski pulled out his clipboard and scribbled for a few seconds. He showed a picture of Rico with a knife in his flipper and said, "Well, we could have Rico carve a few beds into the wall, the question being, which wall."

"Um… Is… Is th're a second option…?," asked Destiny in a quavering voice as she, Corinne, and Ali warily looked at Rico.

"Yeah…," agreed Ali.

"'M not sure 'f I trust him w'th a knife…," Cori stated. "No offense!," she quickly added.

Rico smiled and shook his head 'no'.

"Um… Option two is…," Kowalski started, doodling once again. He flipped around his clipboard, displaying four sleeping penguins in a cave next to a sleeping otter. "We have you four stay at Marlene's nights and here days."

"Too much moving around. Next," Shadow said, half-glaring at the tall penguin. (AN: note that I didn't say 'she-penguin', meaning Kowalski, not Ali)

"Um… I'd j'st like t'say wuh'more thing about option one…?," said Corinne.

The dark-brown feathered she-penguin sighed. "Fine… Whatever… Go ahead…"

"What're th' chances that the knife would slip outta Rico's flipper and hit me…?"

Ali whipped out an abacus with blue beads from behind her back (widening Kowalski's eyes) and started calculating. "20 perc'nt chance, Cori."

"Wow. 1 out of 5… That's a big chance…," Shadow said sincerely. "Um… I guess I'm sure now which one not to pick… OPTION 1! GO WITH OPTION 1! Please…!"

"Sha-dow…!," Corinne shouted forcefully, although looking like she was about to cry.

"Kidding…," Shadow said, smirking.

"Oh. W'll that's okay then." Cori smiled happily.

"My gym partner's a monkey!," she and Des sang, confusing everyone around them.

"… Yeah…," Shadow drawled. Turning back to Kowalski, she told him, "We'll bunk with this 'Marlene' tonight, but you better have some bunks for us carved out of the wall by tomorrow…" She glared as she spoke.

The tall penguin gulped. "Y-yes… Alright."

"… Good." Shadow's demeanor completely changed. "So where are you sneaking off to…?," she asked Private, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Oh. I was just going to tell Mahrlene that—"

"Hey guys!"

"… Nevahmind."

"So what's up?," the otter asked from on top of the barrier to the penguin habitat. "I heard there were some new arrivals and—" She spotted the four she-penguins. "… was going to ask you guys to come with and meet 'em… but I see they're already here!" Marlene dove into the water, swam for a few seconds, then jumped onto the floe, extending her paw to Shadow, a smile on her face. "Hi. I'm Marlene."

Shadow's smile and bright eyes quickly turned into a slight frown and cold eyes.

Cori and Des walked up to Marlene, pushing her away.

"Um… I'don't think she likes you…," Cori noted.

"Well, why is that…?," the frustrated otter inquired, arms akimbo.

Des answered her question with a question. "'Re you random…?"

"Uh… I dunno, why?"

"Because…!," Cori explained, looking at Shadow with slight fear. "She c'n tell by your scent…!"

"My… scent…?"

"Yeah. She welcomes random animals w'th'open flippers, but shuns non-randoms intuh 'blivion with'er glare…!," Des continued.

"And the worst part is…," Cori started.

"It never ENDS…!," Des and Cori added, their faces the very definition of terrorizing (what with their wide-open eyes, their half-grimaces, and their furrowed eyebrows…).

"Unless 'f course, you become random!," Des smiled as she clarified.

"…Right, right-right. So who are you guys?"

"Oh! We got transferred here fr'm th' Georgia 'Quarium!," Des said.

"I'm Cori 'nd th's's Des, my cousin."

"Th' tall one's Ali…," Des began.

"…and the other one's Shadow," Cori finished.

"Uh-huh…"

"Hey. There any girbles at this zoo…?," asked Shadow. (AN: pronounced with a hard g, people. like GIR-bles … GIR from Invader ZIM.)

"See? Random!," Cori stated happily.

Skipper walked up to Marlene, Kowalski and Private close behind. "Those are some twisted sisters…"

"I dunno, Skippah. I kind of like them."

"Rico!"

Private flinched. … But… not feeling anything, he relaxed and said, "Uh… What happened…?"

…Nothing. Nothing had happened.

"… Rico…?," Skipper asked.

"Skipper, I believe he's associating with the other party."

Kowalski was right, of course. Rico was happily 'chatting' with Shadow. Destiny and Corinne went to poke them (Corinne after Rico and Destiny out for Shadow), but the two taller penguins simply pushed them away with straight faces.

"Ow…," pouted Cori and Des in unison as they rubbed their flippers where they were pushed.

"I told you guys'not to…," Ali quietly reminded.

"Yeah, yeah…," Des grumbled.

"We know…," added Cori.

"Did somebody say 'party'?!"

Skipper sighed and muttered, "Oh, for the love of—"

"It is me, King Julien! Sorry with me being of the lateness. I and Maurice were discussing whether or not to be greetingful to our new neighbors, when dee annoying Mort kept touching da royal feet! So I, me, da king, had to be taking care of da busy-ness."

"What're you doing here, Ringtail…?"

"Did I not just say dat? Because I am being pretty sure the words came out of my kingly mouth. Maurice! Did I, the grand and regal King Julien, not say dat?!"

"I'm sure you did, your majesty."

"Den why is the silly paynguin saying I did not?!"

"HEY!"

All heads turned to the source of the outburst.

"Will you shut up over there?! I'm trying to have a civilized conversation!," Shadow screamed.

Julien and Maurice just looked at each other in surprise.

Cori, Des, and Ali just continued their game of Go Fish.

Kowalski, Skipper, Private, and Marlene just tilted their heads in disbelief.

Rico just smiled at her.

"Thank you…! Now as I was saying, Rico, I— … This is a private conversation…!"

"You're talking about me…?" Private asked.

"No… Why would you think that…?"

"Oh. Because that's my name."

"… 'Private'…?"

"Yes."

They just looked at each other for a bit.

Shadow looked confused while Private just smiled.

Confusion.

Smile.

Confusion.

Smile.

Confusion.
Smile.
Confusion.
Smile.
Confusion! Smile! Confusion! Smile! Conf—

"I WIN! … Now hand over my fish."

Everyone looked at Destiny (excluding Ali and Corinne).

Des looked over her shoulder and innocently asked, "…What…?"

"Hey. We never got any'f'your names…!," Cori declared.

"Yeah… We told all of you our names… but none of you told us your names…," said the soft-spoken Ali.

"Oh! Well this is Skipper, the tall one is Kowalski, Rico is the one over there by you, and Private is the youngest and the shortest," Marlene explained.

"Thanks!," Des said, then turned back to Ali and Cori. "Now. Where're my fish…?"

"For the last time, Des… Just 'cause it's called 'Go Fish' does not mean YOU WIN FISH…!," Shadow said, raising her voice every few words, working her way up to a scream.

"Aw…," Des pouted.

Rico coughed up a frying pan and held it up to the irked Shadow. "Eh…?"

She looked next to her, then shook her head, smiling. "No thanks, Rico."

"Raw…"

"…Well…"

"Uh-huh…?," he prodded eagerly.

"Hand it to me. I wanna see if someone has fast reflexes…," Shadow said, with a mischievous smirk and a maniacal glint in her eye.

"Ah-hah!" He replied, nodding his head and passing her the iron frying pan.

"Thanks. HEADS UP, JULIEN!"

"Maurice. Why is the she-pahynguin telling me to put my regal head up when something is flying at me?," Julien asked. "Should it not be head dow—Oofg!" The ring-tailed lemur flew off the brick separating the lemur habitat from the penguin habitat.

"King Julien! King Julien! Are you alright?!," Mort asked, scurrying up to his king.

"Yeah. You took a real hit," Maurice added.

Julien wobbily sat up. "You dare!," he said, pointing to a tree. "Clean the royal foog-la-roo!"

"… Is… Is that what I sounded like…?," asked a slightly perturbed Kowalski.

"… Uh… …More or less…," Skipper replied.

Kowalski flinched in disturbance, a grimace contorting his face while Rico and Shadow slapped flippers, smiling triumphantly.

"Ah… Young love…," Skipper remarked, turning back around.

"But… Rico's the oldest of us, sir," Private commented.

"Yeah, but… 'old love' just doesn't sound right."

"…" Private thought about that for a moment. "… Then 'young love' it is!"

... So... What'd you think of the story? And sorry about the millons of apostrophes, but that's how the people these characters are based off of talk. And no, it's not a "true" southern accent. ... Just lotsa slang. Oh! Which of the OCs did you like best? (Yes, you can say more than one or even all.) ... Anyways, I really only have one BURNING question for you guys.

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On a scale... of 1 to 10... 1... being the best... what... would you rate candy buttons? And don't worry. I just wanna know.

... Well. ... That's about it. This story should be updated once every month (on the first) unless I have a Special Bonus Holiday Chapter. Then there'll probably be two: one long one and one short one.

...Hmms... That's... That's about it. ... So I shall leave you with a quote. (If anyone guesses right, you get a cookie. ... Or a one-chapter / one-scene cameo in the story. Either one. Your choice. ... And just so you know, the cookie is virtual.)

"Always. Look. In. The box."

babbitrulez, out!