Welcome to the third chapter of the story. Long waits aren't fun, I'm guessing. But now I can resolve this for you. Let's read, shall we?

CHAPTER 3 – St. Patrick's Day

(P staying with Marlene) Skipper and I had now been dating for over three months! I was so happy he was my boyfriend. Our love was beautiful. Every single date had still been absolutely perfect. I was at the highest point of happiness in my life.

If you doubted that Skipper and I loved each other, you were totally wrong. Nothing could sever our relationship. Even if you could physically separate us, we would find each other again.

I had just woken up from a wonderful dream with Skipper and I on our Valentine's date again. That had been so prefect and unexpected. I had forgotten that years ago I had spilled the beans that I liked the Spanish guitar to Skipper. * I loved that he remembered that.

I headed out of the cave and decided to go for a swim. I saw a four-leaved clover growing from the grass. I didn't believe in superstition much, but I knew that to some people they meant luck. Plus, it was St. Patrick's day. I went along with it for fun, by hoping that Skipper and I would remain together forever.

After that, I checked to see if Alice had another chlorine accident again by slipping my non-white foot into the water. ** It was still brown, which meant I would have no fur discoloration.

As I swam, I couldn't help but think back to when that had happened. Everyone had thought that I was an arctic mink named Arlene. That was a really strange day. Both Skipper and Julien had been trying to get to my heart.

There was no other word to describe that except it was weird. But I had wound up with Skipper anyway. But now I had an idea to test him. I would make Alice do drop lots of chlorine in the pool again. She was coming around right now, dropping some in the pools.

I got out of the water and looked for a good place to jump from to knock it out of her hands. I figured a slide down from the top of the habitat would be good. It would give me enough speed to make sure I would land on her face. I would have to act fast, though. Otherwise I wouldn't get the chance.

She was almost at my habitat, so I quickly scampered to the top of the slide. As soon as she started to reach for a chlorine pellet, I slid down and landed on her face. "What are you doing?" she shouted at me, trying to get me off. *** I saw lots of chlorine pellets land in the pool, so I jumped off of her face onto the grass.

She looked at me confused, so I retreated into my cave. "Animals," I heard her mumble as she walked away. I walked out again and looked for Skipper, but didn't see him. I was through with that visual search, so that my test could take place.

I once again slipped my non-white foot into the now over-chlorinated water. When I took it out, it was white, which meant I had gotten this to work. I then eagerly jumped into the pond, ready to test Skipper. But I would have to really try to avoid Alice now. If she caught me before I could test Skipper, my plan would be lost.

I went back into my cave and looked at myself in my mirror. **** Even though I did look like an arctic mink, I thought it wasn't a bad look for myself. But I remembered that Julien might hit on me again. That would be annoying. But I would definitely try to stay away from the lemurs for today.

I then decided to go find Skipper. He said last night before we went home from our date that he would be working on the car this morning. That was where I would find him, along with everyone else.

I looked around for Alice, and she was nowhere in sight. I carefully proceeded around the zoo, hoping not to be spotted by anyone, for now. I had no doubt that I would be spotted later, but I wanted to get to Skipper first.

Sure enough, when I arrived at the garage, they were all working on the car. I was about to say hello when the scent of the chlorine must have drifted over to them. They all rushed at me. I had forgotten that they thought Arlene had done something horrible to myself. I knew how to get out of this, though.

"Wait, can I just talk?" I asked everyone. They let me go, but made sure I would not get away. I noticed Skipper had a touch of anger in his eyes, probably angered with Arlene for endangering myself. "First of all, I didn't do anything to Marlene now or before," I said. "Baloney detector Kowalski," Skipper said to him. *****

Rico horked up a slice of baloney and gave it to Kowalski to scan me. While I thought it was somewhat ridiculous that they were using a sandwich topping to determine if I were lying, I went along with it. "Skipper, I'm detecting the truth here, surprisingly," Kowalski said.

"Run another test," Skipper ordered him. He definitely did not trust me. It made me happy to know that he would protect me if this ever happened, but I kept that emotion hidden until later, when I would reveal the truth.

"It would appear again that it's still the truth Skipper," Kowalski said to him. "Very well. But I've got a highly-trained eye on you," Skipper said to me. "Whatever," I said sarcastically, as if I were ignoring that. I knew he would watch me closely though. I was play-acting.

"So what are you doing?" I asked everyone. "We're making sure the car will have better gas mileage," Private answered. "Private," Skipper said, before slapping him. It bothered me to see Skipper do that. After today, I would try to help him stop slapping everyone if they spilled a secret.

"Interesting. How far could it go before?" I asked curious. I already knew the answer, but since I was acting as Arlene, I couldn't say that. "Kowalski, spy test," Skipper ordered him. Now he thought I was a spy. This was getting interesting.

Kowalski took from the garage a spyglass with a bunch of equipment attached to it. I remembered seeing the blueprints for it a few days ago. I would compliment Kowalski later for completing it. Kowalski turned it on and looked at me up and down through it. "Skipper, I detect that she is not a spy," Kowalski reported

"Very well. But I've still got my eye on you," Skipper said to me. I shrugged it off yet again. "The car previously got 50 miles to the gallon, but now it will have 100 miles to the gallon," Kowalski said. "Wow, that's great. That's a long distance, for such a small car," I said. "It's strategically adorable," Skipper said. ******

"Skipper, I was unable to complete my research on arctic minks the previous time Arlene was at the zoo. Now that the car is complete, I think that it is a perfect opportunity to study them once again," Kowalski said to him. "Very well Kowalski," Skipper responded.

He then used his whispering voice. He must have thought that Arlene couldn't pick it up, but since he had been training me for that, I could pick it up. "If you detect that she is a spy or has hurt Marlene, report it immediately," Skipper said to Kowalski. "Yes sir," Kowalski said to him.

(P to Skipper) "I think I'll go home now," Arlene said. She just started going back to Marlene's habitat, leaving us here. "I still don't trust her," I said to the men. "That's perfectly understandable Skipper. Last time, she almost got away with possibly hurting Marlene," Kowalski said to me.

"If she even plucks one strand of fur of off Marlene, this will be the last time we see her. If she does that, we will ship her back to whence she came," I ordered the men. I had to protect Marlene from whatever plan Arlene had in her mind. I would remain loyal to Marlene until the end, no matter what Arlene did to try and seduce me.

"I will keep an eye on Arlene during my studies Skipper," Kowalski assured me. "Excellent Kowalski. But if you feel there's anything wrong happening, just drop what you're doing and come back to the HQ," I said to him.

(P to Marlene a bit later) I was being poked and prodded by Kowalski's instruments. I went along with them to not arouse any suspicion from him that I was a fake mink. I didn't understand what most of the equipment did, but I didn't want to arouse any suspicion from Kowalski.

I was somewhat surprised Skipper wasn't watching over us, though. But that meant he trusted Kowalski a lot, with making sure that the real me was all right. "Now for a final test would you like to do the saliva analysis?" Kowalski asked me. "Sure," I said, taking a cotton swab from him.

I gave it back to Kowalski when I felt I had put enough onto one side. He put the cotton swab into a plastic bag to use in a machine later. "Thank you Arlene. If you are interested in your results, please let me know," Kowalski said to me. "You're welcome, I said happily to him.

(P to Skipper) "So Kowalski, what did you find out? Has Arlene done anything nasty to Marlene?" I asked him when he came back. "I don't think they have had any problems this time Skipper. It seems to be all going smoothly in that habitat. I was just about to do a DNA comparison on Arlene with the saliva sample I have collected," Kowalski said to me.

"Will that tell us if it is in an arctic mink's nature to betray someone eventually?" I asked Kowalski, still wanting to protect Marlene. "I am not sure Skipper. But I will make sure to find out for you," he answered. "Thank you Kowalski," I said to him. I still didn't trust Arlene.

(P to Marlene) I decided to let both Becky and Stacey in on my plan, so I headed there after Kowalski left. I made sure to look out for Alice, though. I wasn't quite done yet. I almost came into her view, but quickly scampered in the opposite direction.

Finally, I had reached their habitat. "Hi girls," I said to them. "Hello Marlene," they both surprisingly said to me. "How do you know that I'm actually me?" I asked them, curious. "We saw you spill the chlorine out of Alice's hands this morning," Stacey said to me. "What was that about cousin?" Becky asked me.

"I'm about to test Skipper. Last time I was like this, he thought I was a mink named Arlene," I explained. "You want to see if he'll remain loyal to you. That's an interesting and clever plan," Stacey said to me.

"Thanks girls. I knew I knew I could rely on you," I said to them. "Good luck with your plan for Skipper," Becky said to me. "Thanks. I'll be back later to tell you what happened," I said, before leaving to find Skipper.

(P to Skipper) I hadn't found either Marlene or Arlene at their habitat. I was worried, but my gut instinct kicked in, telling me that Marlene was safe, wherever she was. I decided to go around the zoo to find her. As I was walking through the zoo, I heard Arlene and the badgers talking in that habitat.

What immediately caught my attention was Stacey saying, "That's an interesting and clever plan," to Arlene. What could they be talking about? "Thanks girls. I knew I could rely on you," I heard Arlene say to them. "Good luck with your plan for Skipper," Becky replied to Arlene.

"What do they have planned for me? Have they done anything to Marlene?" I wondered to myself. I saw Arlene get out of the habitat and walk away from where I was standing. She probably hadn't seen me standing below the wall. I hopped up over the wall to ask the badgers what had just happened.

"Oh hello Skipper. We were just talking about you with Arlene," Stacey said to me. "Might I have further details?" I asked them. "Sorry Skipper, but we've been sworn to secrecy," Becky said to me. That was surprising, as that wasn't what I had heard. But Arlene clearly had something planned. I needed to get back to Kowalski to see what the DNA meant.

"Well ok then. But I've got one highly-trained eye on you," I said to them before heading back to the HQ. I arrived and Kowalski was still looking over his data. "Kowalski, what have you found?" I asked him. "Something's wrong Skipper. All these results match Marlene's. Even down to every strand of her DNA," he replied.

"So, is she another robotic clone?" I asked Kowalski. "In my tests Skipper, I didn't detect any sort of robotic instruments. I even tried to use an EMP bomb to see if that was the case, and sure enough, Arlene is not a robotic clone," he replied.

"Something is clearly wrong. I even heard Arlene and the badgers talking while I was doing some recon," I said to Kowalski. Private then started giggling. "What Private? Why are you giggling like a naughty schoolgirl?" I asked him.

"Skipper, I think that Arlene is really Marlene in disguise. She wants to test you on your relationship by seeing if you'll fall for someone else instead of her," Private said. "Interesting theory. But how can we know for sure?" I asked him.

"Well, you can test Marlene in return Skipper. While you do that, we can make sure that Arlene is truly Marlene," Private suggested. "Head of the class Private. That's an excellent idea," I said to him.

(P back to Marlene) As I made my way over to the HQ, I was nearly seen by Alice, but managed to go in a different direction before she spotted me. But that slowed me down, so I had to walk longer to get to my destination.

I slid open the hatch and plopped down onto the floor of the HQ. "Well hello," I said to everyone, but mostly directing that to Skipper. "Hello Arlene," everyone responded. My ruse was totally working. "Well Skipper, we'll go and make sure everything is going well around the zoo," Kowalski said to Skipper before they left.

Now it was just Skipper and I. "You still don't trust me, do you?" I asked him. "No Arlene, I do not," he said to me. "Hmpf. You will have to eventually, though. I'm as much part of this zoo as you," I said to Skipper. "We shall see Arlene. If you even pluck one fur off Marlene, you're gone," Skipper said to me.

"What's up with you two anyway? What have I missed since I've been away?" I asked Skipper. I wasn't going to throw myself at him just yet. I was waiting for the right opportunity.

"I don't have to answer that question you know," Skipper said to me. I laughed. "Well, I could just ask one of your men. Or the badgers. Or anyone besides Alice," I said. "True, true. Very well then. Marlene and I are in a relationship," Skipper answered.

"A Penguin and an Otter? That sure is an interesting relationship," I said. "It is. But I do care for her very much," Skipper said. "How about love?" I asked him. "Yes, I do Arlene. I do love Marlene," he said to me.

Now was the right moment to start testing Skipper. "But you were trying to get me to be attracted to you last time. I now understand that. Why not try again?" I asked, batting my eyes slowly, but effectively.

Skipper looked like he was about to say something, but the hatch opened up again. "All clear Skipper. There are no problems in the zoo between anyone," Kowalski reported to Skipper. "Very good Kowalski," Skipper said, complimenting him. Kowalski nodded and then they closed the hatch, leaving us alone again.

"Now do you trust me?" I asked Skipper. "Yes, for now," Skipper said to me. I thought for a few seconds of what to say next. ******* "Well, fine then. But why not live a little?" I asked Skipper, batting my eyes at him again.

"I come from the same climate as you, the cold. We both need warmth to survive in our natural habitats. Marlene is merely a tropical-climate Otter," I continued. "True. But Marlene very much needs protection from the cold, with her relatively thin fur," Skipper said to me.

Now here came the real test. I started to fall towards Skipper and he caught me. I loved when he did that to the real me. But I hid that emotion down. "Now come on? What's better? Marlene or I doing this?" I said to Skipper. "Marlene is still better Arlene," Skipper said to me.

(P to Skipper) I was sure that Arlene was Marlene now. I had no doubt as soon as she fell into my arms. No one's fur felt as soft as Marlene's. She was testing me very well, though. I would compliment her later.

"Hmpf. Well, how about this?" Marlene asked me, kissing me directly on my beak. As soon as we kissed, I had even more confirmation that this was really Marlene. I could just tell. I kept on kissing her for a little bit longer, to trick her right back.

(P to Marlene) Why was Skipper still kissing me? What was going on? I was massively panicking. He was cheating on me with me! I pulled away gently, but wanted to slap Skipper for this. When he found out, I was going to slap him into next week, I was so angry.

"How was that?" I asked Skipper, batting my eyes again. "That was pretty much exactly like Marlene. Interesting," Skipper said. "Yes, very," I said, kissing Skipper again. This was interesting.

(P to Skipper) Marlene really was testing me. But I was still testing her in return. She had blown away her cover identity at this point. Her true identity was now out in the open. I heard her sigh lovingly, in our kiss and hug.

"Well?" I asked her. "I love you," Marlene said to me. "And that's what gave it away. I love you too Marlene," I said to her, right before we kissed again. That must have rocked her to her core to hear that.

(P back to Marlene) Skipper knew! He knew I was acting! How? Did my outburst give that away, or had something else? I was curious. I looked into Skipper's eyes after we split apart and saw him knowing I was the true me.

"Well Skipper, what do you think of me?" I asked him, batting my eyelashes. I was still trying to keep up the Arlene ruse. "Marlene, your cover is officially blown. But you did an excellent job at it," Skipper said to me.

"What gave it away? My uncontrolled outburst? Or something else?" I asked Skipper. "Well, what sparked it was Kowalski saying the DNA matched your sample. Of course, now we know why. But it wasn't until you fell into my arms that I was 100% sure," Skipper said to me.

"You were testing me as I was testing you. You're brilliant Skipper," I said to him. The man I loved had been pulling the switcheroo on me this whole time we were alone. "You are too Marlene. And, even bleached, you're still beautiful," Skipper said to me. We both shared a big kiss, knowing we would never cheat on one another.

"One more thing Marlene," Skipper said to me. "What is it Skipper?" I asked him. "This," Skipper said, before pinching me on the arm. "What was that for?" I asked him, rubbing my arm.

"You're not wearing green Marlene," he said to me. "You aren't either," I said, before smirking and pinching him. We laughed at our actions and kissed again, gloriously in love.

And that's a wrap on today's chapter. How was it? Please review it. The next chapter is coming out on April Fools Day, April 1st. Not much of a gap this time! But in the few weeks until then, I have a few notes for you to read.

* Referencing "Monkey Love" where Marlene kept saying her proposal she would want some day.

** Referencing "The Otter Woman" here. And, well, with this entire chapter.

*** Alice is shouting at Marlene the same way she did in the beginning of "The Return Of The Revenge Of Dr. Blowhole."

**** As also said in "The Otter Woman", Marlene has a mirror in her cave.

***** Referencing the baloney detector first revealed in "Otter Gone Wild."

****** Kowalski said that about the car in "Little Zoo Coupe."

******* Had to watch myself here, a bit.