As Skipper, Kowalski, and Heidi watched, Dave lowered the crate into the penguin exibit.

"Easy now... lower... 'k, move it a little to the right," Jesse ordered, "Alright... now... touchdown. Perfect."

Dave heaved after he let go of the crate. "Jesus, that was heavy," he yelped, after taking a few breaths.

"Okay, lets pry this thing open." Jesse said.

After a few attempts of Jesse trying to open the crate, Dave finally got out a crowbar and pried the door open easily.

"It just takes the magic touch," Dave said, a smug grin on his face.

"Yeah, whatever." Jesse sighed.

Skipper looked into the wooden box. He saw three dark shapes in it. One of the shapes started moving out of the box. Once the penguin was in the light, he was revealed. This penguin was rather tall. A lot taller then Skipper and Heidi; a bit taller then Kowalski.
.
"Hey there," The tall penguin said, "I'm Johnson."

Out of curiosity, Skipper asked Johnson, "How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Damn, Skipper thought in his head, I'm not the oldest of the guys anymore.

Skipper was happy that he was finally the oldest (besides Heidi of course) but he was only able to enjoy this fact for a few hours.

"Um, what's your names?" Johnson asked the three.

"Skipper."

"Hey, I'm Kowalski."

"Hello, I'm Heidi. Welcome to the Central Park Zoo."

"Thanks," Johnson said to Heidi.

Heidi smiled back.

Then another dark figure moved towards the light. This penguin was short, a tad shorter then Skipper.

"I- I'm, er, Manfredi," He squeaked shyly.

Johnson rolled his eyes at Manfredi, probably because of how shy he acted towards the others.

"He's twelve, in case you were wondering," Johnson added to Skipper.

The last dark figure moved towards the entrance of the crate. This penguin was taller then Skipper and Kowalski, around Johnson's height. He had his feathers sticking up on his head, in what appeared to be in a formation of a mohawk. This penguin didn't say anything.

"Who are you?" Skipper asked.

The penguin just cocked his head.

"Ummm," Skipper wanted him to answer.

Finally the penguin answered. His voice was so scratchy, it was hard to make out was he was saying.

"Rico," He squawked.

"Rico is my age," Johnson added, once again turing to Skipper.

Dave and Jesse removed the crate from the exibit once all the penguins were out of it.

------

It's been a week after the new penguins came. They were finally settled, and Skipper knew them well enough by then to decide what he thought about them.

Johnson acted like the boss. He could easily boss Manfredi, Rico, and Kowalski around, but not Skipper. Skipper wanted to be the boss, so he didn't like Johnson. But Skipper thought that he could restore order over the exibit if he showed who the real boss was, and then Johnson would treat him like he's the leader. But that could take some time.

Skipper didn't care for Manfredi. He liked him more though, since Manfredi was more of a follower and also listened to Skipper's orders. But Skipper describes him as a pansy. Manfredi is weak and doesn't have what it takes to be a man. He's worse then Kowalski. At least Kowalski isn't afraid to fight Skipper. If Skipper threatens Manfredi and tries to start a fight with him, he'll start bawling like an infant.

Rico was another story. He was willing to do what Skipper says, and he was a good fighter. Of the trio, Rico was Skipper's favorite. Skipper could throw a brick, or a ton of bricks at Rico, and he'll just get back up again. He was fit to be a soldier. And Skipper discovered a cool, yet VERY strange talent that Rico has. He can regurgitate. Well, most penguins can do that, but Rico's case is different. He can spit up tools and weapons. It is confusing to Skipper how Rico can fit all that junk in his stomach, and why he bothers to carry it around with him all the time, but his talent could be useful in the future...

Kowalski didn't like Johnson that much either, but Kowalski was a follower, so he followed everyone's orders. Kowalski thought that Manfredi was pathetic and wanted to get rid of the idiot. All he did was cry and complain. Cry and complain. What a baby. And, also like Skipper, Kowalski liked Rico. He became friends with him easily, though was kinda weirded-out by his talent. Kowalski also kind of envied Rico, since he became a better fighter then Kowalski the first time he tried. Nevertheless, they were friends.

Heidi liked all of them. But that's just the way she is. She saw goodness in everyone, even that good-for-nothing Dash.

-------

Two weeks later.

Heidi was getting weaker. Lately, she's been staying in bed for the whole day and wouldn't move a muscle. Skipper and Kowalski worried about her. Even Rico, who doesn't know her that well, also realized something was wrong. He knew about her disease by now, but hadn't seen her this bad.
Manfredi and Johnson didn't notice a difference.

-------

Three days later.

It was a beautiful morning. It was cool outside, and not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day. But nobody was enjoying it. Skipper and Kowalski mourned. Rico wasn't the affectionate type, but he did his best to calm them down. Heidi's bunk was empty that morning. Her lifeless body was taken away to be buried in the animal cemetery. She will never be forgotten by all that knew her, how she was always able to bring a smile to the sadest person's face.

Now she was gone.