For same reasons as found in my first story, How It All Began, THIS IS NOT PLAGIARISM... END OF STORY...

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE AWESOME SERIES OF PoM...

The Invention Gone Wrong

Chapter 1: Gender Swap Fiasco

Skipper's POV

I woke up Saturday morning to find the boys brewing my cup of fish coffee.

"Kowahski! May I stir it this time? Please?" I heard Private say.

"No, Private. You know Skipper prefers me stirring it." Kowalski replied.

"But you did everything already! Let me stir!" Private begged.

"Shh, Private! You'll wake Skipper!" Kowalski whispered.

I got up and said, "Kowalski just let the boy stir. I don't think there's a difference ifhe does it." Kowalski rolled his eyes and gave Private the mug.

"I'll see you topside, boys." I told them, climbing out of the hatch. It was a very sunny day. Suddenly I didn't feel like a cup of fish coffee. I felt like I want adventure and thrill. But with the zoo closed for the weekend, not much happens now. I turned to the lemur habitat, half-expecting Ringtail to pop out of nowhere and annoy me… But he didn't… I happily took a deep breath. Could this day get any better?

Soon, Private and Rico jumped out of the hatch. "Where's Kowalski?" I asked.

"Uh… inve'shon 'awn der!" Rico answered.

"Kowalski's working on an invention?" I exclaimed. "Great! Nothing like anotherone of Kowalski's inventions to destroy us all."

"Skippah, Kowahski told us to call you. He says he wants everyone to see." Private told me.

I grunted. "Alright then. Let's see that invention." I said, slowly walking toward the hatch.

When we came down, we saw Kowalski putting a white cover around his big machine.

"Okay Kowalski. What's the new invention Rico should destroy?" I whined.

"Destroy, Skipper? I do not think excessive force is necessary. This invention will simply change the genetic structure of any living thing to its exact oppos…"

"Geez man! Stop with the jibber jabber and let's get this over with!" I said leaning on my bunk while Private and Rico sat down on the floor beside me.

"Alright… I really haven't thought of a name yet, so lets just call it 'The Invention'." He stated, uncovering the machine. "It's an experimental invention, actually. I designed it to… well… make males females and females males."

"Why would you want to do that?" The naïve little Private asked.

Kowalski cleared his throat and said, "Experimental, Private. It's an experiment."

I yawned. This was too boring. As I said, I needed action today. Maybe a snow cone can cheer me up. "Um… Boys, I'm going out for some snow cones… alone. That's an order, Private." I glanced at the boy, who seemed disappointed. "I'll be back just in time to watch this thing blow up. Rico, if Kowalski's invention threatens to destroy us all, you know what to do." I smiled.

Rico barfed up a bat and began laughing maniacally. I jumped out of the hatch and jumped out of the habitat. I stopped when I heard music and turned to see that the lemurs have finally woken up and got dancing. "Aha! Yes Maurice! Shake that booty! But not as much as I am shaking it! As always, I should be being da best!" I heard Ringtail and I knew I should leave, fast. Before they start annoying me. I slid past the entrance and sighed.

Private's POV

I was listening to Skipper when he said he wanted snow cones, I wanted to go with him, but he said he wanted to be alone. Well, I can't disobey Skippah. Kowahski kept on blabbering things I couldn't undahstand. But I could undahstand one thing, that it could make gendahs swap.

"Now, I need a test subject." He said.

I gulped. I knew at once that I was gonna to be picked as the test subject. Rico pushed me up on my feet and I slowly walked toward the machine.

"Okay, now to aim…" Kowahski recited,

"Um… Kowahski, Is this gonna hurt?" I asked him.

"Just a little incredibly so, but don't worry. There's a cure for the effects…" He explained. "Um… where was I?"

"Eymi" Rico told him.

"Yeah, right… Aim… and…" he said, calibrating the machine. I braced myself for the horrible pain. Suddenly, I heard sputtering and opened my eyes to see that Kowahski was panicking.

"Oh for the love of Isaac Newton… EVACUATE!" He screamed. We then headed for the hatch but then the invention overloaded!

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

Skipper's POV

I was walking back to the habitat with the rainbow cone in my flippers when I heard a –

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

The loud sounds made me drop my snow cone. I grunted, "What the deuce is going on in there?" I asked myself, sliding toward the zoo.

When I walked in the zoo, I noticed that everyone was acting strange. Everyone was acting like they didn't know whom they were! Even the lemurs stopped dancing and were scratching their heads in confusion. I noticed that there was a large hole in the roof of our HQ. I jumped down the hole and saw that the boys were lying unconscious on the floor.

I nudged Private to his feet, "Private, are you okay?" I asked him.

Private opened his eyes and looked at me… "W…what?" he said.

"Are you okay?" I asked again.

"Y…yeah… I guess…" He replied.

I walked up to Kowalski and helped him up. "What happened?" He asked me.

"I think your invention blew up." I answered.

"Wh…what invention?" he said in a rather girly voice.

"The invention that you…. Hey… Why are you speaking like a girl?"

"Get off me!" He shrieked, pushing me. I let him go and he helped himself up. Soon, Rico got up as well, also not knowing what happened. "I'll check on the other animals in the zoo while you try to remember." I told them. Then, I ran outside. The other animals were starting to recover too. I walked to Marlene's habitat. I saw Marlene trying to swim the shock away.

"Marlene! I'm glad you're okay." I exclaimed.

"Marlene? Who's Marlene? I'm Milo… Who are you?"

I gasped. "I'm Skipper! Remember? You're Marlene! Not Milo!"

"Marlene? I told ya dude, my name's Milo. Who's that Marlene you're talking about?"
"Crud!" I shouted and slid out of Marlene's habitat and back into the HQ. I found the boys dusting everything, brushing their feathers and other girly stuff. "What are you doing!?" I screamed.

"My goodness this place is dusty. You should do more cleaning in here." Private said.

"I'm okay with the Private doing these, but Rico?"

Rico cocked his brow. "Rico? Who's that?"

"Rico? You can… talk? But… why in a girly voice?"

Rico walked up to me and said, "Calm down, boy. You must be mistaken. I'm Rica. You're right about Private… Um… Katie's in the other room mixing up a new perfume for Private."

"Perfume?! In my HQ?!" I shrieked, as I stormed into the lab. I saw 'Katie' mixing a pink liquid in a glass bottle. I knocked it over and heard 'Katie' shout, "What do you think you're doing?" I noticed that the liquid had poured all over me. I began to feel queasy and soon blacked out.

I opened my eyes to find myself lying down in my bunk. As I sat up, Private greeted me with a smile. "Oh! You're finally awake! I'll call Katie. She will be pleased to hear that you have recovered." He… I mean she told me.

"Wait… recovered? What happened to me?" I asked Private.

"Um… Honestly, I have no idea. But I think Katie will know what happened. Tootles!" Private said, climbing up the hatch.

I sighed and got up. Rica must have noticed me because she waddled over to me and patted my back. "Good. You're awake. Katie would like to know that. She's in the room, by the way. She's sulking."

"Sulking?" I asked. "Why is Katie sulking?

"She's guilty…. She kept on saying 'It's all my fault, it's all my fault' all over again. You should check on her." Rica suggested.

I grunted. I hated being told what to do, but I know that was the right thing to do. So I opened the door to the lab and saw Katie pacing around, muttering.

"Kowal… Err… I mean… Katie? I'm awake now." I told her.

Katie looked up and walked over to me. "I'm so sorry! I was mixing a bottle of liquid knock-out gas that I was planning to make into a perfume. I guess it wasn't fully mixed yet." She said, ducking her head in guilt.

I actually took pity on her. "Hey. It's not entirely your fault. I'm the one that knocked it over, right?" I tried to comfort her.

"Hmm.… I guess that is true. By the way, I didn't actually catch your name."

"Oh yeah, right… Just call me Skipper."

"Alright. Skipper it is. Say, you don't happen to know where Private is, do you?"

"I saw him go topside… He didn't tell me where he was going."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Heh… she'll be back. Probably just went to chat with the other animals."

Other animals? Oh, right… I have to check on the other animals! "Um… Katie, I have to check on the other zoo animals. You know, make sure everyone's okay and all…" I told her.

"Oh… sure. You go then. I'll be fine here with Rica." Katie said, going to a table. She wore her goggles and started pouring chemicals into another, mixing, then pouring. She stopped when she noticed that I was staring.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, cocking her brow.

"No… I just… thought that… never mind… carry on, Katie." I said, walking out the door, grabbing a telescope and going up the hatch. Why didn't Katie's potions explode, or make something poisonous? I thought. Hmph… It doesn't matter. I'm checking on the zoo.

The lemurs seem to be alright. So does the chimps, rhino, elephant, crocodile…Everybody was okay! I looked at the lemur habitat once more, and noticed Private talking to Julien. What are they talking about? I thought, so I headed for the lemur habitat.

"I'm throwing a party tonight. Wanna come?" Ringtail asked Private.

Private opened his beak to reply, but I covered his mouth and said, "NEGATORY! WE HAVE PENGUIN BUSINESS OF OUR OWN, THANKYOU VERY MUCH, RINGTAIL!"I shouted.

"Err… Ringtail? Yes, I am a Ring-tailed lemur, but you can just call me Julia." Julia told me.

"Nah… I'm still calling you Ringtail. C'mon Private." I said, dragging Private back to the penguin habitat.

When we got back to the HQ, I saw the invention Kowalski made was still complete, untouched. It looks like it didn't explode. I'm no sciency dude, but I'm gonna try to fix this. I thought. I ran inside the lab to find Katie mixing a blue liquid.

"Katie? Is that the perfume you were supposed to make?" I asked.

"Yes. And it's almost done." Katie said, smiling.

"Done? How can it be…"

"FINISHED! Private! Here's the perfume you wanted!" Katie shouted.

Soon, Private came rushing in the lab. "Thanks Katie!" she said before running out with the perfume.

"So… Private wanted the perfume… not… you?" I guessed.

"Well… yeah! Why would I need perfume? I just had fun making it. By the way, how are all the animals? Is Julia, Murielle, and Squirt okay?"

She means Julien, Maurice, and Mort. "Um… yeah. They are. Private was talking to them. Anyways, the main reason I came in here is to ask you some questions."

Katie took off her goggles and sat on the table. "Sure. Ask away, Skipper." She said, smirking.

Okay, Skipper. She's a girl. Don't be too hard on her… "Um… Do you remember making some sort of contraption that makes boys girls and girls boys?"

"Hmm… I don't recall making an invention today…"

"Um… If you did, what would be the cure?"

"Cure to what?" she tilted her head in confusion.

Urgh! Kowalski, don't make this any harder than it is! "A cure to the person that got zapped by that contraption?" I said. I was becoming impatient.

"Hmm… Honestly, I don't really know right now. But I'll let you know if I remember anything. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go make some blueprints." She said, jumping off the table and heading toward the door.

I blocked her path and said, "Wait… blueprints for what, exactly?"

"You know I always like to Invent. I'm gonna invent something actually usefularound here..." she replied.

I sighed and let her go out. "Great. Another invention…." I muttered. Wait… another invention? Aha! That gives me an idea! I ran out the door. "Katie! Wait! I have a suggestion!" I shouted.

TO BE CONTINUED…