Author's Note: HAHA! FINALLY! Sing hallelujah, everyone, 'cause I am back and with a vengeance! Well, enough of that, rants are stupid. You want it, you got it. Here's CHAPTER NINE!

Time: 1421 hours.

Operation: New York's Funniest Home non-video-recorded pranks.

Target: Periscope.

Purpose: The viewing of Rico and Carmen's handiwork at a safe distance.

The mischievous duo swiftly made their way down the fishbowl entrance, currently on the verge of tears from keeping their laughs in for so long.

Whoops!

When the two penguins hit the ground after slipping on a step on the ladder, their long-await roar was released.

"I guess we were a bit too anxious going down the ladder, eh?" Carmen managed to say. She rolled off and thanked the penguin that protected her from the concrete ground. Rico nodded vigorously until his tongue hung from his smiling beak.

"Race ya to the periscope!" Carmen said childishly, making her way around the corner, only to be pulled back. Carmen stared back at Rico with a confused look before he pointed to the broken pencils against the wall, and an opening in the wall parallel to them, then to the barely visible string Carmen had snapped.

"Ah, booby-trap. Thanks for saving me…Again!" Carmen patted Rico on the back, who had his flippers on his hips and head held high, a pose usually taken by a super hero. Carmen rolled her eyes as she took another step toward the periscope, a step that snapped another thin string. Above her, a hatch opened to reveal a giant pie directed right at her! Rico gasped and quickly tackled Carmen to the ground, and out of the pie's very sticky path.

"Whoa, thanks again Rico!" Carmen said, feeling embarrassed that she keeps walking into traps. Rico gave a smile and a slight chuckle. But seriously, what was going on? He didn't remember the giant pie. He should know. He helped design the security system! The two got up from the ground, brushing dust and assorted berries from the pie off themselves. Rico decided to take point in case there were any more unexpected traps. Thankfully, they reached the periscope unharmed, but just in case, Rico decided to quickly inspect the area surrounding the periscope. Nothing. With a relieved chuckle, he looked through the periscope to see… nothing?

"Something wrong?" Carmen asked. Rico pointed to the periscope and covered his eyes, then exaggerating confused actions. Carmen's concerned expression became a grin, evolving into a snicker.

"You have a little-" Carmen pointed to her right eye. What? Did he have dirt around his eyes? Rico rubbed both eyes, but ended up smearing the black ink that formed a ring around his eye. Now the ink was covering most of his face.

"I suggest-" Carmen released a snicker before attempting to say the word, 'mirror'. Rico took the hint and regurgitated the needed item and laughed when he saw his ink covered face. Their jolly laughter was stopped, however, by the sound of something crashing to the floor. The duo turned their attention to, and was utterly shocked to see a huge boulder rolling towards them. Screaming, they ran down the hall with the boulder right behind them until they hit a dead end.

"This is the end! Good bye Rico, I just want to say… this was way more fun than goofing around with the leopard seals in Antarctica!"

"Kaboom!"

"Kaboom? O! Great idea!" Rico regurgitated a small stick of dynamite and laughed darkly, but it was too late. The boulder hit, and… they were still alive? No broken bones? No missing limbs, nothing? Rico poked the boulder, and it released a squeaking sound.

"Fake." Rico managed to say with raised eyebrows. Carmen was baffled, yet excited and pleased, but angry as well, knowing well who was responsible for this.

"So I guess she still has a bit of mischief left in her, eh? " Carmen stormed her way around the rubber boulder and her face made contact with a blueberry pie.

"And you said I was no fun anymore." Addie smirked, as she made sure all the pie's contents were mounted on Carmen's face. When Rico made his way around the boulder, he too, was greeted by a pie in the face by none other than Skipper and Kowalski. Carmen laughed as she wiped the sticky fruit and fruity liquids off, nearly giving Addie a death glare.

"You do realize you're going to have to clean this up, right?"

"Uhhh, that would be a negative, dear sister."

"What?"

"Being the victim of our booby traps are the first part of your punishment for leaving the perimeter without permission, being the cause of distress in the lemur habitat, and distress within the zoo community." Skipper explained.

"Not to mention causing Julian to be twice as annoying as before." Maurice mumbled, hoping the other animals, or at least the chimpanzees didn't file a restraining order against their 'king' for all the 'kindness' Julian offered them.

"The second part of your punishment is cleaning up this mess." Skipper said in his authoritative tone.

"Ah, but isn't Addie the source of this disorder?" Carmen questioned.

"Not exactly." Kowalski stated with a hint of a chuckle.

"Not a single trace of this mini-disaster would exist if you followed orders, so that makes you responsible for all of this." Addie construed, handing Carmen a bucket and mop. Meanwhile, Rico tiptoed towards the ladder leading to the surface with the rubber boulder as a disguise, hoping he wouldn't be noticed.

"Not so fast, mister!" Skipper ordered. Rico let out a groan, and knowing that he was also responsible, he regurgitated his own mop and began cleaning up.

"So, what do we do about Julian?" Maurice asked.

"Kowalski, options." Kowalski pulled out his notes and put together a plan.

"Well Skipper, we could reason with Julian and tell him all of this was nothing more than a practical joke. But the odds are, he won't believe a single word of it." Skipper released a frustrated groan. Why can't things ever be simple with the lemurs?

"He might if we bring in proof and a confession." Addie suggested. Skipper and Kowalski looked at each other, Kowalski with a look of disappointment, and Skipper looked as though she was struggling to keep himself from allowing the slightest chuckle to escape his beak.

"He can't be that bad." Addie said, crossing her flippers over her chest.

"Trust me, there's more than a boatload of idiots out there, and one of them happens to be right next door."

Carmen, overhearing the conversation, scoffed.

"You don't know the definition of that word until you've met half our colony." She said bitterly. Skipper still looked skeptical.

"Couldn't we at least try using reason?" Addie looked over at Kowalski, pleading for help. He sighed, then took out his abacus and began his calculations.

"Sir, there is a chance he'll listen if we give him evidence that he accepts as 'logical." Kowalski said. Skipper brought a flipper to his face.

"Very well. But if logic does no good, we use force." With that, Skipper climbed his way to the surface with the others following him.

"How would one use force to bring another to their senses?" Addie asked, trying desperately to convince herself Skipper wouldn't use the measures leaders in history used during war. History books… yikes!

"He wouldn't do something exceptionally drastic." Kowalski assured. Exceptionally drastic? What was considered exceptionally drastic? Or what did they consider drastic? Addie wondered.

_

"It was a prank! You've been duped! Tricked! Outwitted! Played like a fool! Tell them, newbie." Skipper exclaimed, taking a couple of steps back, exposing Carmen, who pulled Rico into the spotlight with her.

"Yeah… sorry about that." Carmen said half-heartedly. Rico nodded in agreement, and regurgitated a small explosive.

"See, we used Rico's explosives to make you think the sky spirits were mad at you."

She then took a bottle of Super-Glue from behind her back.

"And this is why Mort is stuck to you. It should wear off within the next ten minutes." She explained to a shocked Julian. Mort on the other hand, was unconscious from the day's events, and from Julian having a freak out that would probably keep Mort far away from Julian for a week or two.

"I cannot be believing this! Why would you be tricking your king? And worse of all, impersonate the sky spirits?" Julian asked accusingly, ready to leap from his throne. Carmen smiled.

"Because it was fu-" She began, but Rico nudged her, knowing their limits. Carmen sighed in defeat.

"I'm sorry. The point is, no one, er, no immortal being, no wait. Um. The sky spirits aren't angry with you. So things can go back to normal, right?" Carmen asked hopefully.

"Well… I am pretty upset, but at least I can go back to my old self again. Your apology has been kingly accepted, my flightless neighbor!" Carmen and Rico looked back at the team in relief, and Skipper was actually shocked Julian would actually listen!

"However. Because we are going back to normal, I demand my delicious fruity treats back!" Julian ordered with his paw out, referring to the goodies he ordered Maurice to give to the penguins earlier that day. Skipper groaned, now suffering from his daily dose of 'lemur-induce-headaches'.

"Well… at least he's a bit open-minded." Addie said, avoiding eye contact with the group.