"Are we THERE yet?" Herbert huffed, trotting through the snow next to The Agent. Honestly, he didn't even know how he got roped into this. The Agent just...showed up at his doorstep at twelve in the morning, chirping his ear off about a mysterious building in the woods they had found on a patrol, and wanted to visit. He didn't even know why he decided to go with them. After all, this could've been a trap, or an ambush set up by the Extremely Petty Force. Still though, there was...an odd feeling driving him. A pull, of sorts. He decided to go with his gut, just this once, and hoped it wouldn't come back to bite him later.
Yeah, he soon regretted the decision to go with The Agent. All he wanted to do was go back home and sleep. Was that his blanket calling him, or was he hearing things?
Herbert hid a yawn behind one of his paws, looking down at his companion...If you could really call them that. They were more rivals than anything, really. The Agent looked almost as tired as he was, but still held that chipper-ness about them that theyve always had, albeit a bit subdued from how they normally acted. How did they find the energy...?
"Almost, just be a bit patient!" The Agent sent a smirk his way. "Or are you saying you DON'T want to see something really cool?"
Herbert grumbled to himself, crossing his arms and suppressing a shiver. "I think ive seen enough 'cool' things for one lifetime, thank you."
The Agent devolved into a fit of laughter that slowly ebbed away after a minute or two. "Pfff- and people say you don't have a sense of humor!"
Herbert rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
The Agent stopped short, staring ahead blankly as they grabbed Herbert's arm. "We're here."
Herbert had one word for what he saw before him.
Spooky.
And it really was. Standing there in the pale moonlight, was a building. It wasn't like any building he had ever seen before. The Agent was right when they said it was mysterious, the entire place radiated a...weird aura. Not that he'd ever think they were right or anything. That would go against his genius persona. It was a mixture of a dark, ultramarine blue, and bright yellow, that stood out starkly against the snowy forest of the wilderness. The words above the building read 'IKEA' and Herbert donned a puzzled expression. What the heck was an IKEA? Was it a secret weapon or something? What did it stand for?
"Uh...What is it?"
The Agent grinned. A grin that deeply unsettled the polar bear. He didn't like that grin. That look was usually reserved for the times when The Agent was about to do something extremely foolhardy, reckless, downright dangerous, or some unholy combination of all three. Sure enough, he got his answer when The Agent turned that manic grin towards him, eyes alight with mischief.
"Lets find out."
...Nope.
Nope nope nope, he was not dealing with this, it was way too early to deal with The Agent's shenanigans, Nope. Herbert went to turn around, to go back to his cave and forget this mess ever happened but The Agent acted first, grabbing him by his paw and leading him towards the building.
Herbert sighed, a long suffering one. "Great. Amazing. This is how we die."
The Agent rolled their eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Herbert. And here I thought you were confident nothing could ever beat you."
Herbert gave them a flat look, barely keeping a sassy retort about his self esteem off of his tongue. "Nothing can, I'm just worried that whatever's in there is gonna get you first." The Agent put a flipper to their chest, looking at them like they were about to cry. Oh jeez, was it something he said, he didn't mean t-
"Awwww, you do care!"
Nevermind, The Agent is a LIAR and he should've known better than to trust those crocodile tears.
"No I don't, quit spreading lies. I thought you were honest."
Herbert pointedly looked away from The Agent, who was giving him an impossibly smug look, and spotted something.
"Is that a monkey?" Herbert blurted the first thing he thought before he had a chance to stop himself.
Sure enough, there was a monkey, donned in a fluffy white coat, just...standing on the concrete in-front of the building. Something about it was odd. It was like it was from another time, like it was an all-mighty immortal being judging them for their sins. It looked over at them, and Herbert stopped in his tracks, vaguely aware of The Agent following his eyes.
"...Ooh, is that our tour guide?"
"..."
Herbert raised a paw to his face, rubbing the bridge of his muzzle. This was going to be one long night.
Punstorm AN: Hello! I'm glad you decided to read this, First chapter will be a little bit short, but Motivation permitting, I might write more when possible! I hope you enjoy the story!