A/N: Sorry if my Spanish in here sucks, all I have is a translator. XD I barely passed that class with a D+.
Como Va?
Chapter 1: First Impressions
"What's the verdict, Kowalski?"
Kowalski peered down from the roof of the Zoovenir shop, furrowing his brows as he saw Alice. In front of her were five crates that were currently being signed off to her. "It looks like a new shipment of animals," he responded into the two-way radio.
"Animals? What kind?"
"Based on the size of the crates-" and the words written on it, of course, but he didn't say that. "I'd have to say… Adelie penguins, Skipper."
There was a brief pause at the other end. Finally, "How many?"
Kowalski did quick recount to make sure he'd gotten it right. "Five, sir."
"Five? Alright Kowalski, get back here."
The tallest penguin nodded, jumping down from the roof and sliding on his belly back toward the penguin exhibit.
-
"Alright men, fall in!"
They scrambled to line up, stumbling over one another. It'd been some time since Skipper had ordered them into formation, and it took them a whole four minutes to remember how far apart they were supposed to be, and how they were supposed to stand.
Skipper made the mental note to work on that. "Alright boys… Alice is brining in a new shipment of penguins today," he told the others. "Be ready for anything. There's five of them. They may already be a team. Some of them may be higher rank than me."
Private shifted nervously, straightening his back a little bit.
"Now, when Alice gets here, stand straight, and look good, got it?" Skipper asked, his eyes traveling over each of them. After getting a nod from all three, he turned.
About that time, Alice carefully began lifting the crates into the exhibit, grumbling unhappily about how heavy they were. The penguins waited impatiently, curious to know about the newest additions to their exhibit.
Finally, Alice pried open each crate. Skipper raised an eyebrow as one by one, five Adelie penguins tumbled out of their boxes. His shoulders dropped as he realized that every one of them was still asleep. "At ease men," he ordered as the zookeeper carried the empty crates off.
Rico stepped closer to the newest arrivals, leaning down to sniff the closest one. He blinked and straightened himself. "Home."
"Home?" Skipper repeated, raising an eyebrow. Rico was the only one of the team to have been originally born in Antarctica. "Kowalski, analysis!"
Kowalski jumped into action again, plucking a feather from one of the new arrivals backs. He held it up to the light. "Indeed, Skipper. They originated from Antarctica."
Private frowned, leaning in to get a better look. "What's that mean, Skippa'?"
Skipper sighed, putting his flippers on his hips. "It means we might be dealing with some recruits that have no experience at all."
Private blinked, turning his eyes back to the sleeping penguins. Would that mean that he wouldn't be the lowest rank anymore? Part of him was bothered by the idea. Another part of him was relieved that he might not be the one that had to hold regurgitated flashlights anymore.
All four stepped back quickly when one of the new arrivals began to stir. The black feathers on his head were styled into spikes. He opened his eyes slowly, pushing himself onto his flippers. He took in his surroundings, cocking his head to the side. "Ah, man… What is this place?" he asked, his attention turning to the four penguins standing over him.
"New York Central Park Zoo," Skipper responded in a firm tone. The others took that as a sign to line up again. "State your name."
He blinked slowly, staring at Skipper as if he were crazy. "Uh… Nestor?" Nestor sat up, rubbing his rear that was still sore from the needle that had hit him. Wait… the needle. He jumped up, obviously in a panic. Looking around again, he spotted his friends still on the ground. "'Ey, what happened?! ¿Qué demonios es este lugar?"
Skipper raised an eyebrow, watching as the new arrival freaked out (in two languages), trying to nudge the others awake. "Looks like you were captured," he responded calmly.
"Captured?" Nestor's eyes widened. "By the aliens?!"
Kowalski frowned, motioning Skipper over. "Hold that thought," Skipper told Nestor, and all four of the zoosters huddled.
"He probably hasn't seen much outside of Antarctica," Kowalski pointed out. "We may have to explain some things to him and his friends."
Skipper glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Nestor had woken up one of the others, one with (surprisingly) brown feathers decorating his head. He seemed to be trying to explain but Raul (that's what Nestor called him anyways) seemed pretty dazed still.
"Alright men, get to work waking the others."
Private, Kowalski, and Rico nodded, breaking the huddle.
It took them an entire eight minutes to wake the others and calm them down. It was almost frustrating enough for Skipper to want to hit one of them, but he decided against it. In the mean time, they managed to learn each of the Adelie penguins' names.
"'Ey man, I'm so glad you guys are alive!" Ramon cried, pulling the others into a hug.
"Aww man, get off me, Ramon!" Raul grunted, being stuck closest to his over-emotional friend.
Skipper cleared his throat, catching the amigos attentions.
Ramon was the one to step forward. "'Ey man, como va?"
Skipper blinked and Kowalski spoke up, "I believe the direct translation is 'What's up?'"
Shaking his head, the leader focused on the new arrivals again, putting his flippers on his hips. "How many of you actually know what's going on here?" he asked. He immediately regretted it, all five beginning to talk at once about aliens and some guy they called 'fluffy'. Skipper cringed at the cacophony of voices. He could see Rico about ready to take action, and he quickly held a flipper up to stop the manic penguin. "Alright, alright, quiet down!"
He sighed heavily. "You're all at a zoo. Do you know what that is?" There was a long silence and all five of the amigos plopped down, watching Skipper much like small children watched their teacher at school. "It's a place where the humans keep animals locked up for their own sick enjoyment."
Five flippers shot into the air.
"What?" Skipper demanded, clearly annoyed.
"What's a human?" Lombardo asked, cocking his head to the side.
Skipper stared disbelievingly. Surely they'd seen humans before? Even in Antartica? Kowalski cleared his throat and Skipper stepped aside to let him speak. "I believe you know them as 'aliens'."
There was another silence before Nestor spoke up. "So, how we get out of here?"
"That takes careful planning and several months time," the taller penguin answered. "For now, I'm afraid you're stuck here."
They each looked around, taking in their surroundings. The little island in the middle of the pool, the green grass just outside the exhibit, the shining sun. "Well… it's not so bad here," Ramon commented, cocking his head to the side. "Right Amigos?"
"Yeah, I can live with this," Raul agreed. "Lot's of sun."
Skipper shook his head, not quite sure what to make of this whole deal. Obviously, there were some things they'd have to work on here. Private didn't seem quite as worried about it, offering them a huge smile and waddling up to them.
"I'm Private," he told them.
All five of the new arrivals peered down at Private, the smallest of the entire group. "Aww, he's so cute," Rinaldo commented. "He's even shorter than you, Ramon!"
"Like bite-sized!" Raul threw in.
Irritated, Skipper stepped between Private and the amigos. "I'm Skipper," he told them, taking on a harsh tone. "This teams leader. That over there is Kowalski, the strategies expert," Kowalski quickly jumped back into line, saluting. He was followed by the others, "That's Rico, our weapons and explosives expert, and Private is special operations."
The amigos exchanged glances and burst out laughing. Skipper could already tell he wasn't going to like these guys.