AN: This is the beginning! Or something like that. I did leave the index as the first chapter mostly so you can pick and choose whatever fic you're interested in, but I feel like this fic in particular is the best place to start because it's what I consider to be the beginning of the bond between the Hoboken animals. None of them ever interact in the show aside from in The Hoboken Surprise (and even then, it's mostly the robot versions of themselves) so the possibilities are endless, really. That potential is why I started this challenge to begin with because there were so many ideas I wanted to explore but I didn't want to dedicate a full fic to every single one.

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Defiant - full of or showing a disposition to challenge, resist, or fight

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In the midst of the fight, Lulu felt, more than anything else, her own heartbeat. It thudded rhythmically, punctuating the panicked screams of all the humans- that senator and their horrible zookeeper included- which hummed lightly in the background like a distant melody. The robotic but familiar voice of her android double, the crashing and grunts and yells, it all muted to almost nothing as she fought with every bit of her own strength, the adrenaline coursing through her like a drug. She felt a little awful for thinking it, but never has she felt more alive than in that moment. When she and her fellow zoo mates dodged and weaved between each other, slamming and punching their enemies in perfect synchronization, never had she felt closer with them.

Clemson expertly weaved between tight spaces, zipping in and out of benches and fences, easily trapping the android Savio before Rhonda body slammed into it. Savio would trap and tighten an android penguin in his clutches, leaving it at the mercy of Hans and his multitude of laser guns. Lulu herself was fighting the android Rhonda, and with a combined kick from her, Clemson and Hans, it went down with a final whirr of 'DIRTY ANIMALS'.

She didn't even notice the penguins had long since gone, leaving them to pick up the pieces of their broken zoo. While they had been the one to rally them into fighting back, the chimpanzee couldn't help but feel a bit bitter at that fact amongst the ruins they will soon have to deal with. The humans had run away as well, at least for the moment, and Lulu fell onto her back, giving a deep sigh. The exhaustion had finally caught up with her, and even though they did win, she knew she'd feel all this come the morning.

"Well… That was fun, huh?" Rhonda had flopped down beside her, a giddy smile on her face. "Didn't think you had it in you, Lulu"

"Oh please, I've been at this zoo longer than all of you."

The orange lemur had shown up then, sitting on the concrete right next to her. Even though he was obviously exhausted like the rest of them, Clemson's annoyingly perky attitude never seemed to dampen. "No kidding, the way you ripped out their wires and slammed them against the benches? Brrr. Wouldn't wanna make you mad, am I right folks? Seriously, if you ever decide you wanna be Queen of Madagascar or something, hit me up. Not really though, since you're not my type. But help to take down booty for brains would be real appreciated-"

A battered Hans cut in then, throwing a fizzling laser gun to the side before perching right next to Clemson. "No! I vant her to help me take out the penguins so Skipzy and I can have a real fight!"

"Um- I'm not helping either of you bozos with your weird evil schemes." Lulu rolled her eyes, and sat back up. "Besides, is that seriously all you can think about right now?"

Savio slithered in then, flicking a broken metal piece away with his tail. "It is more fun to hunt your foes yourself, wouldn't you say?"

"Not the point I was making-" Lulu mumbled.

"Not all of us have the body and strength of an uber-dangerous killing machine you know." Clemson interjected.

"Hey, guys?"

"Vell, Clemson, at least you have opposable thumbs." Hans huffed.

"Fight! Fight!" Rhonda whooped, completely ignoring Lulu's darkening mood.

"And that is super duper useful for uh… holding fruit. Doesn't really stand up to laser guns though. Which you have. Seriously, why do you need opposable thumbs if you have a laser gun-"

"THEY VOULD BE EASIER TO MAKE IF I HAD THUMBS!"

"With weaponry like that, you could end any animal and cook them just the way you like." Savio nodded. "Perhaps the problem lies in your aim, then? Hmm?"

"You try aiming a 10 kilo gun then! It is a lot harder than it looks, you know!"

"Oh pfft, please, he doesn't even have appendages to hold anything with" Rhonda snorted.

"At least I have a further reach than you" Savio hissed, using the end of his tail to poke the walrus' chest.

"Also, it's not like you have much to offer anyway, Rhonda. I mean, can we be honest here? I'm gonna be honest here. When was the last time you even got a mission? I'm pretty sure you mentioned being a super spy of some Blowjoe guy but I've never seen you do anything besides sing that awful song and badly tan yourself. Worst animal to have as a neighbour, am I right?"

"Tough talk coming from a weasel"

"-Lemur, I'm a lemur, like, from Madagas-"

"-WhatEVER"

Lulu gave a particularly frustrated groan then, falling back onto the concrete. To her surprise, the other four animals immediately noticed her outburst, and actually stopped arguing.

The other animals stared at her. Lulu blinked up at them, and slowly got back up. "Sorry- just, can we cut it out for a second? I'm so tired of hearing all of you arguing all the time!"

"Actually I'm pretty sure ve just ignore each other-"

"That doesn't make it any better, Hans" Lulu snapped, and lifted herself up, wincing as she did so. Wow, I really did a number on myself, huh?

To her continued surprise, the other four also seemed to deflate a bit. She noticed now just how bad they looked. Bruises and cuts were starting to bloom into ugly dark marks, a remnant from their horrific fight. They all had sunken eyes, and matted fur and feathers betraying the time they spent in the jail Frances put them in. She felt pity bubble in her heart. Even if the others were all relatively new to the zoo, and even if she didn't know them as well as the ones who've been transferred before, they were here now. They were Hoboken Zoo animals, and though she knew this was far from the best place to live, Lulu always tried to make every animal feel at home here. Her home.

She knew she couldn't let it go on like this. Not after Frances. Not after that cell.

Lulu gave a weak, but reassuring smile "We just got out of probably the worst times of our lives and you guys can't do anything but argue? You saw how we fought out there! If we work together like that, I bet maybe we can make Hoboken better than it ever was!"

"You're way too optimistic there lady" Clemson chuckled, and upon hearing a growl from Lulu, he yelped and backed off. "Okay, maybe you have a point"

"What do you suggest then, mona?" Savio slithered around the chimpanzee. "As soon as the humans come back, we will be trapped once more. Only heaven could tell how long it would be before they'd finish fixing this mess and we would be allowed into our enclosures"

Lulu paused, and looked over the zoo "We can…. We can at least make it easier on them?"

"What do you mean?" Rhonda quirked her head.

"Well, if we could take out all those robots, we could probably clean up a little too. It would give the humans less work to do, and we could fix up our homes just the way we like it!"

"And if we find anything lying around, we can keep it" Rhonda smiled. "Uh- Right?"

"Y-yes! Whoever we get as our new zookeeper probably won't come for a while. We have plenty of time to renovate in the meanwhile!"

"Ooooh, these robot bits would be great for my inventions" Hans surveyed the zoo with a giddy hop. "I'm in!"

"Eh, sure. Why not!" Clemson pulled himself up. "It'd be like a super sized lost and found, hey do you think you can re-outfit the massage chairs without the DNA scanning?"

"I can~" Hans sing-songed.

"While I am not much for material goods, I would like a new heating rock." Savio hummed. "Your idea, perhaps it has some merit in it."

"I call dips on the cotton candy machine!" Rhonda exclaimed.

With renewed enthusiasm on their faces, Hans, Clemson, Savio and Rhonda hurried their way back to the wreckage, picking out pieces and chatting excitedly. Lulu looked over the faces of her zoo mates and smiled. Despite their differences, she felt true peace settle in her heart as the animals' amity rallied together. She knew that together, they could get through all this just fine, and maybe, just maybe, make Hoboken Zoo a zoo worth living in.