Chapter 1

A purple-feathered penguin stood a few feet away from the rubble of her workplace. Fire engine sirens wailed in the distance as the debris smoldered. The sky was dark and the flames were reflected in the penguin's dark sunglasses. She had red hair tied up in a ponytail and was wearing a dark gray uniform with blue trim. A laser gun glistened under the stars in her left flipper. She let out a sigh and watched the fire department come and extinguish the fire. Another two penguins, both male, came up behind her. One put a flipper on her shoulder, which she promptly shrugged off.

"Leave me alone, G." Her voice was low and drawn. She sounded exhausted, which she was, and a bit angry, which she wasn't.

The dark blue penguin nodded silently and stepped up beside her. The other penguin did the same on her left, his red feathers forming a stark contrast against the black and white of his suit. One of the engines on the jet pack strapped onto his back was blown out; he would have to fix it later. If there was a later. Orange-red sparks floated away into the clouded-over sky, being torn into smaller, glowing slivers of burning dust by the wind.

The purple penguin cursed under her breath, "Fishing polar bear..." and clenched her knuckles around the handle of her laser gun, wishing she could shoot a beam of concentrated light into Herbert Percival Bear, Esquire's back so he could feel the pain she felt when he shot her in the shoulder twice just an hour or two ago.

"We won today. Thanks to you, Agent." The blue penguin, G, broke the thick silence.

The unnamed agent nodded quietly and turned towards the red penguin.

"Guy?" Her voice rasped and she shuffled her feet awkwardly.

He looked away from the now-destroyed HQ and raised an eyebrow behind his own pair of sunglasses, which were slightly less tinted than the mystery agent's. She could even see through them, noting that Guy's amber eyes were watery. He was crying...? She stifled an urge to hug him but managed to suppress it. The EPF was his home as much as it was hers. They had, after all, both, along with her younger brother and sister, spent their childhoods here due to lack of parents.

"Guy, I- I'm sorry about your jet pack." The mystery agent stammered awkwardly.

He shrugged. "I can fix it." His gaze turned back to the HQ and he wiped uselessly at his eyes with his jacket sleeve.

"I'm going back home to check on the twins," the purple penguin finally muttered, walking away from the rubble.

"Should we follow her?" Jet Pack Guy leaned over and asked G.

Gary shook his head. "She needs time to get over the shock. And so does everyone else in the EPF."

JPG frowned. "If everyone is thankful to her for rescuing us all, why is she so desperate to be left alone?"

G shrugged. "She got shot in the shoulder twice by her mortal enemy, I think she deserves a break to be with her siblings."

"Shouldn't you check to see it she's alright?" The red penguin asked tentatively.

Gary shook his head. "She's a fast healer and an intelligent penguin, more than worthy enough to be the Tech lead. I'm sure she will be okay. Physically, though- I'm not so sure how well she will be mentally, but the twins are the perfect penguins to help her get through it."

"Good point."

A pause.

"But can the same be said for the rest of the EPF?"

G didn't answer, instead he put a comforting flipper on Guy's shoulder and led him away from the remains of the EPF, towards the Lighthouse.

Eventually the dark blue penguin replied with a quiet, "I simply do not know, Jet, but I do know that we will all recover enough to continue our work and finally catch Herbert."

Jet cracked a half-grin. "I bet The Mystery Agent's going to take him down the next time she sees him with her bare flippers."

G smiled faintly. "I'm sure she will."

Hey yallsies? Guess who's BACK?! Woo!