The Agent sighed and checked their spy-phone for the 30th time that minute, tapping their flipper on the linoleum floors of the pizza parlor as they waited in line. It always seemed to be packed at this time of day, penguins who have gotten off of work found it a great opportunity to get a bite to eat before they went home for the day.
Today however, it seemed to be especially full, it looked like it would take a while for the line to dissipate.
The Agent found themselves thinking about the events that had happened earlier in an attempt to alleviate some of their boredom. Earlier that day, The Agent had teamed up with Rookie, Jetpack guy and Gary to apprehend Herbert with the use of the giant magnet, however, he managed to trick Rookie into giving him his spy phone and escaped. Both Rookie and G went back to headquarters shortly after, while Jetpack guy stuck around to explain the whole situation to Rory, the head of the construction crew and close ally of the EPF.
So after an exhausting day of running around trying to catch an evil genius Polarbear, The Agent had gotten hungry and figured they'd come to the pizza parlor for a bite to eat. They didn't really have anything appealing at home and they were craving fish-dish, so it seemed like a good idea.
And so, the poor penguin found themselves completely bored out of their skull, waiting in a line that barely met the door of the quaint little parlor. The penguins in-front of them moved up a little bit in the past minute, but it was still dreadfully long, new penguins coming in soon after. Man, they felt bad for the workers sometimes. It must be difficult keeping up with this many customers, especially during rush hour. The Agent took another look around the room, the smell of warm pizza making their stomach rumble once again. Would this line ever move?
And then they heard the clicking.
Confused, the Agent looked down and spotted the last person they would've expected to see, Klutzy the crab. Just what was he doing here? Didn't he go back to Herbert's base earlier? Maybe Herbert wanted him to get a pizza or something after a long day. The Agent snorted. That was an amusing thought, after a long day of fighting each other, both of them had the same idea of getting some pizza.
The Agent turned their attention back to Klutzy. He appeared to be fiddling with his claws nervously, poor thing must've been a bit spooked being around so many penguins at once…The Agent had briefly thought about arresting him, but shook the offending thought away. Klutzy was just getting food right now, there was no need to arrest him right this moment. They could wait until they were on the job.
The line shifted upwards, and the penguins in-front of Klutzy left, carrying their pizza with them.
Huh...When had the line gotten so short?
Klutzy appeared to be at a loss for how to get onto the counter for a brief moment, but he eventually managed to hop up there, clicking something to the cashier.
"Ah, I'm really sorry, I can't really understand you…" The cashier looked to be genuinely at a loss, and for good reason. When have you ever seen a crab order a pizza before? Hm…Well, they couldn't act as an in between, not knowing crab speech as well as Rookie does, but The Agent could probably help him out.
"Are you trying to order a pizza?" Klutzy blinked in alarm, he knew that voice. He turned around, The penguin behind of him looked different, but there was no mistaking it. This was his friend's rival, The Agent! He appeared to be torn between getting food and bolting at that very moment, eyes wide with panic.
"Er, I can help you out if you want…Vegetarian, right?"
Klutzy paused for a moment, then nodded his…Eyestalks? Slowly. He still appeared to be on edge, but apparently decided The Agent wasn't going to try anything and had relaxed a little bit. He still casted glances towards the door, but he was at least giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Alrighty then, Could he get one vegetarian pizza, please?" The Agent asked the cashier. The cashier blinked curiously but nodded nonetheless, Running off to tell the order to one of the penguins manning the Pizzatron. It probably wouldn't take that long to cook, considering the Pizzatron itself was fast-paced.
Klutzy gave a grateful- or at least it sounded grateful?- click to The Agent, hopping in place happily. The Agent gave a small smile. They had always liked helping out when someone needed help, and this time was no exception. Even if the person you're helping is a sidekick to the villain you're chasing down. Ah well, technicalities.
The mood shifted drastically when Klutzy looked down at his claws, and suddenly started freaking out. Was he ok? What happened? He was fiddling with them once again, looking around frantically…Almost like he was looking for something. It didn't take long for the cashier came back with the pizza. He told Klutzy his total, which seemed to make him even more fr- oh.
He must've not have brought any coins, or dropped them on the way over!
The Agent looked over to the crab and pondered something for just a second, before pulling out their coin purse and handing the money over to the cashier. Klutzy blinked, staring wide-eyed at them, eyes shining with equal parts curiosity, gratefulness, and tears. The Agent gave a small smile. Pizza didn't cost that much anyways, and they wanted to help the little crab out. Bad guys need to eat too!
"You don't have to pay me back, just tell Herbert i'm putting it on his pizza tab. He still owes me for the wood-chipper incident." The Agent winked at Klutzy, the crab looked all too bemused at that last statement, his claws clicking quickly like a sort of giggle. He picked up his pizza effortlessly with a single claw, hopping off the counter as he did so. He gave a last wave of a claw to The Agent before scuttling out the door, heading in the direction of the Ski Hill.
The Agent smiled and turned back to the cashier, the poor guy looked a bit confused. Honestly, Without context, that last conversation did sound a little weird.
"O-oh, can I get you anything?" "Ah- One fishdish pizza, please!"
Then again, weird is what happens when you work a day in the Elite Penguin Force.