Author's Note: DANG, this is long! D: The next chapter is coming together painfully slowly, but I'll see what I can get done. In the mean time, enjoy this chapter... though the beginning seems a bit too (dang, what's the word I'm looking for?) sugary for my taste. Hopefully you'll like it. Like I said enjoy... because for every frown that is formed upon your face, a cookie is mistaken for a cupcake! HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?

"Surprise"! Carmen and Addie fell back on the ground with wide eyes. Every animal in the zoo, including Joey and the gators, greeted them near HQ with big, warm smiles.

"W-what is this?" Carmen demanded.

"You didn't think we'd let you waltz right into our community without formal introductions and a proper welcome, did you?" Skipper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"B-but the obstacle-course-" Addie started.

"Not only distracted you while we prepared, but you also got to know some of the neighbors in the process." Private explained.

"Kowalski! Course results!" Skipper commanded.

"Stealth: A-, Logic: A, Speed: A-, Strength: B+, teamwork: A, Dedication: A. All impressive marks." Kowalski reported, reading off his notes.

"Just try to keep up the good work, and soon enough you'll improve where we found weaknesses." Skipper said. To think, that whole time, Carmen and Addie were being observed at their best not just by the penguins, but also by the rest of the zoo community. No doubt this would make their place on the team official, but the neighbors also received fairly good first impressions to make the new neighbors settlement in their new home easier.

"That's so sweet!" The two sisters said, and Carmen began thanking everyone in every language she knew.

"Don't thank us," Marlene said. "Thank the guys. They put this all together!" She pointed to the team.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It was Private's idea." Skipper said, and Private blushed with merriment.

"But Kowalski designed the course. He put the whole thing together." Private pointed to the ingenious penguin. It was Kowalski's turn to blush, rather embarrassed.

"Well… a plan is nothing unless it can be made into an action. We all had our parts." Kowalski said bashfully, yet logically. Carmen and Addie decided that it was only fair to give each of the guys a hug and a sincere thank you. Yes, even Addie, the anti-social penguin felt the need to show her now fellow soldiers her gratitude. The team felt uneasy at the sentimental situation, after all, they weren't the kind of peo- er, animals, to get emotional. They were thankful when Julien interrupted the moment.

"Enough of the mushy love-chunks! For I, King Julien the Great…" The lemurs and penguins couldn't help but to snicker at the new nickname Addie had indirectly given him.

"… say it is time to be shaking our bodies, yes!" Julien shouted joyfully, and on cue, Mort turned on the radio to play some very up-beat tunes. And thus, the big housewarming party had begun. Despite the sister's exhaustion, they were too excited to turn down a rare occasion for the authoritative penguins to be throwing a party.

"Just don't be expecting many parties, so enjoy it while you can." Skipper warned.

"Well, I guess this will have to get pretty crazy, eh?" Carmen said with a devilish smile.

"Nooooo!" Addie tackled Carmen down before she could do anything. A few bystanders stared at her strangely.

"You do not want her to get a party going crazy." She answered simply.


The party had lasted an hour and a half, thirty minutes before the zoo opened. Every animal went back to their pens and made themselves comfortable, preparing for another day. It was after everyone left that Addie had finally asked,

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Permission granted." Skipper said.

"May Carmen and I pleasecatch up on our sleep?"

"But it's your first day, soldier!" Soldier… Addie repeated the word mentally. She and Carmen made it in, but they were exhausted. She didn't want to let down the team. Honestly she didn't know why she was so tired, considering there were days like this back in Antarctica. Perhaps it was the environmental change? The climate is a definite possibility. It could be the food. Maybe it was more psychological than physical. Or maybe emotional. Come to think of it…

"Addie?" Skipper waved a flipper before her eyes, but no response.

"She tends to drift in and out of reality." Carmen explained.

"Ah." Skipper noticed the wheels turning in Addie's mind, no doubt looking for a solution without letting down the team. He finally gave in.

"After morning training we'll have a twenty minute break. You two may have your little nappy time then." With a sigh of relief, the three joined Kowalski, Rico and Private for the morning routine.


"Hmm. Could I add relish and ketchup?" Kyle asked.

"Only one." Rai replied.

"I guess with ketchup it wouldn't be too bad. Yeah, I'd eat my right foot under those circumstances." Kyle said. The two friends laughed at their crazy game of impossibilities.

"Ok, then. If you were a sailor trapped in the middle of the ocean- o hey! We're early!"

"…What?" Rai shot a glare at Kyle.

"I said… we're early?" Kyle knew that look. Rai wanted to kill him very, very badly. Slowly and painfully. Though Kyle was a morning person, Rai was not. The undeniable fact that Rai wouldn't get up unless he woke her eventually made Kyle into much less of a morning person because he had to try surviving his friend's savage behavior every day before noon.

"I could've had at least thirty more minutes of rest, and we're early?! The gate is locked, dude!"

"Calm down! The fact that my dad is part of the zoo community tends to come in handy. I have a key right here." Said Kyle as he opened the gate.

"Besides, you know what they say! The early bird catches the worm."

"Yeah… but the night owl hunts down the early bird!" Shouted Rai as she chased Kyle throughout the entire zoo.

After the run, Kyle and Rai's endorphins were up, and they were awake and ready to work.

"Ok, I'll be right over! I just need to grab a couple of shovels, you get their breakfast." Said Rai as she walked past the penguins. She did a double take, thinking for sure that they were doing Karate. But after rubbing her eyes, she only saw normal, non-warrior-like penguins staring curiously at her.

"Um… right. Good morning. Um… I'll feed you guys in a second, ok? I just… Yeah." Rai quickened her pace to grab the shovels and a bucket of fish. When she returned, the penguins were surprised to see something new in their food bowl.

"I told you I'd bring you some salmon. I had to check with someone at the research center to see if it's ok. I had to buy fresh, as in not yet packaged salmon. I believe you owe me quite a bit of money." Rai teased as the birds savored the delicious treat.

"You're welcome. But don't expect this to happen again. It was hard enough getting permission from the employee." She blinked a few times.

"AGH! Why am I talking to penguins? You don't even know what I'm talking about!" She marched her way to the elephant habitat mumbling something along the lines of, "it's too early for this", and that the stress was really getting to her. The penguins got a good chuckle from that display.

"That girl is a mystery, dipped in drama-sauce and sprinkled with a comical spice!" Skipper said.

"Didn't you say something similar about Alice?" Private asked.

"I believe he said that Alice is 'a riddle, wrapped in mystery and, dipped in nasty sauce." Kowalski said, reading the quote from his notes. Carmen and Addie looked at him curiously.

"Do you write every observation down?" Addie asked.

"Of course! There may be a very crucial period of time when we'll have to refer to them." Kowalski answered. Addie smiled.

"You're starting to sound more like a detective than a strategist, Kowalski." Said Addie. Carmen was grinning behind her, unable to keep herself from the conversation.

"O Addie, you joker! You know as well as anyone, and have even told me a few times that 'one must always observe, never see, and listen, never hear. Or is your brain still fried from last night?" She teased, patting Addie on the head as if Carmen were the elder sister. Addie simply rolled her eyes.

"Do you even know where I learned that?"

Carmen Shrugged.

"Sherlock Holmes." Carmen and the others tilted their heads with confusion.

"World's greatest fictional detective?" A couple of crickets walked by, unintentionally creating an odd feeling, like cluelessness.

"Right… can't read." She said, hunching over sadly.

"No time to sulk, soldier, we need to resume our morning training! Then within a few days, you'll be ready to carry out your first mission." Skipper said.

"What is it?" Carmen asked with excitement.

"You'll know when we're done training. Now then, GO! GO! GO! Evasive maneuvers!"


Training was done, which meant Addie and Carmen could get some shut-eye at last. The zoo was officially opened, and extremely busy, which gave no time for further training. The exhausted new recruits were thankful after hearing this news and immediately drifted to a good long nap on the platform, back to back. It was almost comical because they had an appearance as two guards who fell asleep on the job. Unfortunately, this also meant a lot of work for the zookeepers.

"Kyle, I need you at the otter exhibit. These kids won't stop throwing food at the animals, and I need backup!" Alice's voice spoke from the walkie-talkie.

"I'm a little busy here, Alice!" Kyle said, trying to gain order at the petting zoo. Kids were pushing each other; fighting over food pellets to feed to the animals; one was riding on one of the goats, which was trying with all his might to buck off the little pain in the neck.

"Aw come on! What kind of kid would even think about doing that?" Kyle asked aloud. While all this was going on, Rai was presenting in front of a group of kids with several reptiles from the Galapagos Islands.

"Yeah, uh, kids aren't really my forte. You sure I shouldn't switch off with Kyle? He's better at this kind of stuff!" Rai asked a colleague.

"Kyle's busy keeping kids from riding the goats at the petting zoo. Knowing you, you'd be screaming in the kid's ears with a mega-phone. It's safer for the kids that you're here instead of there." The colleague said.

"I'm not that dangerous." She scoffed with her eye twitching, and she resumed the presentation.


Hours passed, though for the zookeepers it felt like eternity.

"LUNCH BREAK!" Kyle shouted happily as he ran to the office to grab his packed lunch, and to the crossroads between the penguins and lemurs where Rai was supposed to meet him.

"There you are." Rai had her hands on her hips. It looked like she was waiting for a while and was on the verge of looking for Kyle herself.

"It's hard pushing past the kids and their parents, you know."

"Yeah, well it's hard explaining things in simple words. How on Earth am I supposed to describe Darwin's theory of evolution to first graders?

"I thought you were talking about species found on the Galapagos Islands today. "

"I was, but you know how kids are with their questions. They never stop asking, one thing leads to another, and the next thing you know you're talking about something that you learn in middle school, which an eight year-old could never understand." Rai said as she unwrapped her sandwich.

"True that. But at least it's starting to calm down. There are barely any visitors here."

"Nah, they're all checking out the animal show a few habitats over."

"I never thought I'd say this, but man, I hate the weekends."

"Busiest time for a zoo." Rai agreed. Then something black and white caught her eye. She got up from her sitting position and investigated the area. Black and white blurs were seen from the corner of her eye, but when she turned again: nothing. Suddenly she heard a splash and instantly turned to the penguin habitat. There were the penguins, safe and sound, waving innocently. Rai narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but shrugged it off.

"What's the problem?" Kyle asked.

"I thought I saw- Gah! I'm going nuts! Nuts I say, NUTS!" She took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I'll be right back, I need some Advil". And Rai walked toward the office holding her head with Kyle behind her.