(my first in a series of episode style shabiki fictions. and kwa that, i mean, the sort of stuff you'd see in an episode)


April 1st, 2013.

The Penguins woke up early that morning. Skipper watched the rest of his team tiredly crawl out of bed. Kowalski was first, followed kwa Private, and Rico....well, he just sort of rolled out of kitanda and hit the floor. He was still asleep.

Several attempts to wake him up were made until Private had the bright idea of placing a samaki near Rico's head, intending for him to eat it when the crazed bird woke up, but just before he could place it on the stone floor, Rico's eyes opened wide and he lunged at the fish, swallowing Private's flipper.

Unfazed kwa the comical scene unfolding before him, Skipper started speaking, but was cut off kwa Kowalski ; "Skipper, today, if you're not aware, is April Fools Day."

"it is?" alisema Skipper, in horror.

Standing in front of the fourth ukuta of the HQ, which was covered in various calendars all boldly marked with "April First" , Skipper said," Why wasn't i made aware about this sooner?! How am i supposed to keep track if nobody tells me anything?"

Rico shook back and forth, trying to shake Private off the way a dog would shake off water in the background as Skipper continued, "Will, men, it's April Fools Day, and wewe know what that means! I want all of wewe to be diligent, and on your toes at all times today! wewe never know when someone could sneak up behind wewe and-.."

Just then, their back door opened.

"Hey guys! What's-...." alisema Marlene, walking in slowly, covered in the remains of a pie.

"SMOKED SALMON!" shouted Skipper, leaping in to a karate pose, "Boys, we have a potential prankster in our midst!"

The others followed Skipper's lead, as Marlene stated, dumbfound.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.....pranks?! I'm not here to prank anybody! i still have pie on my fur, manyoya from Julien's latest prank!", she said. As if for emphasis, she spit out a few crumbs of pie that fell in her mouth.

The Penguins relaxed from their defensive positions.

Kowalski waddled over to Marlene, goggles on, and examined her all over.

Taking a sample of the cream covering her body and tasting it, he alisema simply, and cheerfully, " Ooh! banana, ndizi Cream Pie!"

Annoyed, Skipper said, "Enough with the taste testing, Kowalski, there's work to be done! We have to beef up security today because of the dangers all around!"

"Uh-huh....dangers...how are pranks dangerous? alisema Marlene, flatly.

"You don't know the half of it, Marlene! Manfredi and Johnson loved pranking until ....The Accident..... now their unusually harsh voices are a reminder of why NOT to prank people!"

The otter just rolled her eyes. "Where's your sense of fun, Skipper?"

"There's no room for fun when you're in an elite team, Marlene!"

In the background, while they began a heated argument about work versus play, Kowalski was doing the usual perimeter check with their periscope when he noticed something unusual.

"Um...Skipper?" he called, nervously, his voice faltering.

They were still arguing, so he called over his shoulder again, urgently, " Skipper?"

Marlene and Skipper both turned to him at the same time and, annoyed, shouted "WHAT?"

"In case wewe didn't notice, I'm trying to have an argument here!" alisema Skipper, who faced Marlene and began to say, " We're too busy for leisure time! Our finances are low enough as it is, and i don't have enough to pay the boys, and-."

"You don't pay us We're penguins. There's no finances to worry about." pointed out Private, innocently.

Skipper just glared at him.

Not wanting to have what he saw take the back seat, Kowalski said, loudly and quickly, "Oh for the upendo of Doris! Just look!", and pushed Skipper towards the periscope.

Peering into it, he was annoyed to find King Julien 's mouth near the lens of the periscope, his breath fogging it up.

He shouted with a voice that could be heard echoing throughout the HQ, " Heloooo? pizza man? I would like to order a pie! How am i to be using this telephony thingamabob, Maurice?"

"Uh...Your Majesty...that's NOT a telephone." replied the Aye-Aye.

"Then what is it?"

Maurice opened up his mouth to speak, but Skipper called out from inside, "It's a periscope, Ringtail! Now get off out roof au we'll MAKE wewe get off!"

Julien gasped in surprise, saying " how did wewe do that? that was being a greattastic Skipper impression! now imitate me!" he ordered

Maurice, embarrassed put on his best attempt at an Indian accent and mumbled, " I am da king and all dat...be bowing down to me...."

"Enhhh...I was liking wewe Skipper better. Now where was I?" he said, unimpressed.

Skipper, the team, and Marlene climbed topside, unnoticed kwa Julien.

"You were just leaving!" he said, shoving Julien as he was walking towards the wooden plank that served as a ramp to get on and off the penguin's ice floe.

"Happy April Fools Day!" cried Julien.

"Yeah, yeah...." muttered Skipper, as the Lemurs walked back to their habitat.

"But what about my pizza?" he called over to them, but was ignored.

Marlene left for her place to get cleaned up, and the penguins reentered their HQ.

"What did wewe want to onyesha me, Kowalski?" asked Skipper, with no hint of apology in his voice.

"A large and suspicious-looking truck, sir. it was entering the Zoo with what appeared to be live cargo." replied the scientist.

Looking around using the periscope again, Skipper asked, " Any name on it?"

"It appeared as though it alisema 'Seaville'"

"What?!" cried the others in unison.....well, at least the two of then. Rico alisema " WHU?!"

"Boys, it's time to investigate! Commence Operation: Fools in April!" cried Skipper, standing up from where he was sitting on the cinder block table.

Later, they were at the Zoo's Offices, looking for the transfer records of the new animals.

Opening the juu drawer on the left, Kowalski quickly flipped through some files and found the one he was looking for.

"Here we go!" he announced, holding up a large file folder marked with that day's date.

Opening it, he was shocked to find himself staring at the faces of Manfredi and Johnson.(which the idiots at Seaville, who always get the names of their wanyama wrong, called Frederick and Johnathon)

"S-Skipper...c-come and look at this." Kowalski stammered.

"What is it, Kowal-......" alisema Skipper as he snatched the file out of his flippers.

"Manfredi and Johnson!" gasped Skipper, " They're alive?!"

"They're alive?!" cried Private.

Suddenly, they heard Alice coming back in, so they hid underneath her desk.

They overheard her talking to the delivery man.
"Yeah. I put the two new arrivals in with the other four. Funny birds...they never seem to be around."

Exiting her office when she sat in her chair to doze off, they made their way back to their HQ.

"Why did wewe tell us that they were dead all those times, Skipper?" asked Private, in a hurt tone.

"I may have changed the story a few times, but-"

" A FEW times?" questioned Kowalski, his eyebrow raised.

"Fine!" Skipper snapped as they reached their HQ, " Loads of times! but up until today, i honestly thought they'd croaked!"

"So THAT'S why wewe didn't come looking for us!" alisema a tall penguin, auk with a mohawk and his flipper in a kombeo when they entered the HQ. A shorter one with a flat head was beside him

"Johnson!" exclaimed Skipper, "And Manfredi! come here wewe knuckleheads!"

They rushed, to their leader, limping and both hugged him.

"You know, we saw wewe about a mwezi au two back. We were at Seaville this whole time." alisema Manfredi.

"You were?! Sweet dandy candy, i need to get my eyes checked!"

They both laughed at their leader's joke.

"Now what's this about wewe making up stories about us?" asked Johnson, curiously.

"Um....well...you see..... " began Skipper.

"Yes?" prompted Manfredi.

"Um...never mind. April Fools!" he shouted with a small laugh.

The End.