Kowalski opened up the crate and walked out of it. There, he saw two female penguins staring at him. One was almost as tall as him, and the other was smaller. They smaller one waved at him.

"Hi! I'm Candy. What's your name? Oh, and this is Riley." The small penguin, Candy, pointed to the taller one, Riley. Riley smiled.

"I'm Kowalski," Kowalski replied. Candy giggled but Riley looked him over. Candy glared at her. Kowalski stared at her too. "Is there something wrong?"

"Hm... what if you're not the real penguin we were expecting? What if you're a phony?" Riley growled. Kowalski stepped back but kind of smiled a bit. Maybe he was the wrong penguin and he had to be sent back to the zoo!

"Riley!" Candy spat. "Why would Kowalski be a phony? Of course he's the one we were expecting! Of course he is! Maybe you're a phony! Maybe we should just send you over to some other zoo!" Candy snapped. Kowalski pushed the two girls apart.

"Now, let's not get psycho here! I'm not a phony. I think I'm supposed to be here, although I rather wouldn't." Kowalski said. Riley and Candy sighed.

"Okay, whatever." Riley rolled her eyes. Candy stepped back.

Suddenly they heard water splash and they all looked toward the direction it came from. A penguin jumped out of the water. She was about the same size as Riley. She had a black stripe of her beak and was holding a bag of popcorn in her wings.

"Popcorn anyone? It's fresh!" The penguin held the bag of popcorn out in front of her. Candy and Riley waddled over to the penguin and started to eat the popcorn. The penguin's gaze flickered over to Kowalski and she smiled. "Oh, hey, you must be our new transfer! I'm Zoe. Please, come and have some popcorn. It's Kettle!" Zoe the penguin greeted. Kowalski slid over and took some of the popcorn.

"Mm! I love Kettle corn!" He quickly took another bite. "I'm Kowalski." Zoe gave him a quick nod of her head. "Back in New York, all we had was Buttered Popcorn." A took a few more handfuls and popped them into his mouth. The popcorn was even more tasty due to the fact he hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. Everyone was eating in silence, as if lost in the popcorn. Finally Kowalski swallowed his last bite and decided to start a conversation. "So, are any of you ladies interested in science?" Candy gave him a disgusted look while Zoe glanced at the empty popcorn bag. Riley hopped up and down.

"Oh, I love science! I've been studying cells recently. Did you know that in plant cells, Chloroplasts contain Chlorophyll that makes the plant green?" Riley replied. Kowalski nodded. He chuckled at the female penguin's enthusiasm. "And that the nucleus controls what goes on in the cell, and-"

"Ugh!" Candy wailed. Kowalski and Riley stared at her.

"What?" Riley snapped.

"Science talk!" Candy complained curtly. Riley rolled her eyes and Kowalski couldn't help a half-smile. Riley turned back to Kowalski.

"We should talk about this some other time." Riley whispered, shooting a rude glance at Candy. The small penguin stuck her tongue out at Riley.

"Maybe you should meet some other animals here," Zoe suggested, changing the subject before things got out of hand. "San Diego Zoo is really big and is filled with tons of nice animals." Zoe frowned a bit. "And some not nice animals." Her happy face quickly returned. "We don't have to meet them all tonight, because you are probably exhausted."

"I'd love too." Kowalski agreed. Zoe leaned over and whispered something into Candy and Riley's ears then quickly sped away. The other three penguins followed.

"Oh, can we meet Verhart first? She's awesome! She's a cheetah!" Candy queried.

"It's your lucky day, Sweet-tart, because we were planning to go to her first!" Riley yelled back to her. Candy clapped her wings.

"Sweet-tart?" Kowalski asked.

"That's their nickname for me!" Candy grinned. Kowalski shrugged.

They four penguins reached the cage. Candy hopped over the fence first, a big smile on her face. Riley and Zoe hopped up next, with Kowalski last. He was kind of worried if the cheetah was mean to him. He shook his head fiercely. What are you thinking, Kowalski? Skipper would not except that behavior! He would expect me not to be worried if the cheetah is mean to me, but you stand up for myself and see what she's up too! He slapped himself across the face then glanced at the three penguins standing in front of him. But, maybe these penguins are enemies too... Yeah right! They seem pretty nice! But I will always have my eye on them! That is what Skipper would want me to do! But, of course, it doesn't really matter now. Boy, do I miss Central Park Zoo. I don't belong here! I belong at home! I have to find my way home! I miss everyone so much. I miss Skipper, Rico, Private, Marlene, Cori, Jason, Kitka, Savio, Stacy, Becky, Sahara, Toby, Max... even the lemurs. And Hisser. And maybe even Antonio. Kowalski let out a long, depressed sigh.

"Kowalski!"

Kowalski suddenly snapped back to reality and stared at the three penguins in front of him. They were chuckling, as if they had seen something that had embarrassed someone else.

"What are you waiting for?" Zoe asked. Kowalski shrugged. "Then hurry up! We don't have all day!"

Kowalski slid over to his new friends. They were pointing at a beautiful cheetah. She had navy blue eyes and streaky tear lines. Her gaze was soft but he could tell she was angry.

"Kowalski, that's Verhart, or Freeheart. Verhart, that's Kowalski!" Candy introduced the two to each other. Kowalski raised a wing hesitantly and Verhart let out a loud hiss. She scraped her claws against the ground. She narrowed her eyes. She leapt to her feet, her fur bristling. She crouched down, as if she was going to pounce. She let out a roaring noise.

"Did I ask you to bring the transfer here? No, I didn't!" Verhart exclaimed. Kowalski turned to flee, but Riley seized his wing. He tried to break free from her powerful grasp but she didn't budge. Finally he gave up and sat on the ground.

"Don't worry, Kowalski. She's mean when you first meet her, but when you become friends with her, she is really sweet and actually quite shy." Riley explained, still holding onto Kowalski's wing. Kowalski wasn't sure if he could trust her, because he couldn't imagine that beast to act like a cute little kitten. He still sat on the ground, trying to think of escape plans. He needed to get home to New York!

"Should we come later?" Candy queried. The furious cheetah sat down and gave her chest fur a couple of swift licks with her rough tongue. She forced her fur to lie flat. She suppressed a sigh.

"Yes, please. The zookeepers are 15 minutes late for my feeding time, and you know how I get when I'm hungry." Verhart kneaded the ground with her fore-paws. The four penguins quickly sped away.

They returned to the penguin habitat. Kowalski stretched and let out a huge yawn.

"We'll show you some more animals tomorrow. We will also go back to Verhart. She'll probably be in a better mood." Zoe told him. Kowalski grimaced at the cheetah's name. She seemed as if she wanted to kill him today! He followed Zoe inside a small cave. There was a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor, with a couple of flowers. "I know it's girly... we were kind of expecting a girl. Not that a boy is bad or anything!" Zoe laughed. Kowalski nodded quickly, showing her that he was okay with it, then crawled into bed. He yawned again, curling up. He opened his mouth to speak but Riley and Candy came in.

"Kowalski! Can we study cell parts tomorrow? I have a really good microscope we can use!" Riley quickly yelled, grabbing a microscope off a small table and waving it in the air.

"Can we get some candy tomorrow? I love candy!" Candy rubbed her tummy and licked her beak.

"Leave Kowalski alone! He's trying to sleep." Zoe sneered. Riley and Candy quickly shut their mouths and turned to leave.

"Uh, guys?" Kowalski started. The girls turned to face him. "I know you were waiting forever on me and all, but... I need to get back home." Kowalski watched their confused expressions. Riley opened her beak to speak, but Kowalski quickly interrupted her. "This isn't my home. Central Park Zoo is my home. I'm so sorry guys, I really am, but I can't stand it here. I miss my friends too much. I need to get back home." Kowalski sounded like he was begging but he didn't care. Candy lowered her head. Kowalski heard a sniffle as the small penguin turned to leave. Riley and Zoe exchanged glances.

"I understand," Zoe said softly. "We'll think about it." The two penguins then left, leaving Kowalski lying alone in his bed, unable to sleep no matter how tired he was.