Chapter 2


Note: this chapter has blood and self-done surgery. Scroll down until you see another one of these pieces in italics if you are a bit squeamish for a summary and a continuation of the chapter that anyone can read.


A rattle of keys was heard as a purple-feathered penguin unlocked the front door of a penthouse. She pushed the door shut with her heel, shrugging off the jacket part of her uniform and sliding it onto a hook. After taking it off, her shoulders were revealed in a form-fitting tank top, still gray and blue to match the uniform's theme. She hissed a pained curse when the jacket finally peeled away from her skin and gently touched the back of her right shoulder. She could feel two hard lumps lodged in her skin. The bullets.

She made her way to the kitchen through the darkened penthouse apartment. When she finally made it there, she flicked on the light switch and choked down bile at the sight of blood staining the tips of her flippers. Her own blood. She make her way to the sink and reached up to the cabinet above it with her left hand- too high for the twins to reach, and for good reason.

Inside was a mirror with suction cups on it, which the purple penguin attached to the window across from the refrigerator, a large roll of gauze, and a set of medical tools. She closed the cabinet, careful to only use her left hand, and pulled out a small saucer from another cabinet. The penguin didn't remove her sunglasses, but she did pull her hair up on top of her head. She stood with her back to the window, her head turned to the left so she could see what she was doing.

She began to snip the feathers off neatly on the area around the bullet wounds with a small pair of scissors until bare skin was revealed. She set down the scissors and pulled a wad of gauze off the roll, which she promptly stuffed into her beak to bite down on. A small scalpel came into use and she began slicing away at the skin around the bullets. She would've gritted her teeth if she had some and managed to dislodge one of the two. She grabbed it with tweezers and twisted, yanking it out with a gush of red.

She tossed it onto the plate, clenching her beak closed and pushing up her sunglasses with the tips of her reddened fingers. She then worked at the other bullet until she could set it onto the platter as well, then wrapped a liberal helping of gauze around her shoulder and fastening it in place. Spitting the wad of gauze that was in her mouth out, the mystery agent cleaned up the kitchen, throwing out the bullets and used gauze that wasn't currently on her shoulder, washing off the medical tools, that sort of thing.


Okay this is a good point to pop back in if you're a bit squeamish. Anyway- basic summary for those who skipped the previous paragraphs- our Mystery Agent got home and took the bullets out of her right shoulder with her own tools. Fish, she's hardcore.


The agent kicked off her boots after waddling back to the front door and continued down the hallway to the spiral staircase and then to her room at the top of the stairs. It was a small, observatory-like tower that poked out of the top of the roof like a giant, unwieldy chimney of some sort. The room was completely circular and had five pieces of furniture- a telescope to view the stars from the completely-made-of-one-way-glass dome, a desk with a laptop sitting on it and a swivel chair nearby, a wardrobe, and a giant, fluffy bed.

She tossed on her pajamas after removing her blood-speckled tank top and pants and threw herself down onto the bed. She wrapped herself in blankets and fell asleep in an instant. She seemed to drift in and out of dreams, most of them nightmares. Nonsensical visions filled her head, both frightening and confusing the purple-feathered penguin. She shifted and flipped over restlessly until she finally fell into a deep sleep.

Sleep seemed to last only a moment when the agent woke up to the sight of sunlight filtering in through the glass dome. She yawned and stretched, her shoulder wound now only stiff, rather than painful. Getting dressed took more time than usual since she had to rummage through her dresser for a spare uniform than what she always wore. The purple penguin eventually settled upon a plain black one that was the same style as the gray one, only without a jacket and only a t-shirt instead.

She went through the usual morning routine- waking up her younger brother and sister, making pancakes for breakfast, going for a few rounds with the punching bag, brushing her teeth and hair, changing the gauze, showering, you know the drill. She was going in for a few more rounds with the punching bag when her little brother, Superguy, waddled in, his brown hair and red flipper/ leg feathers dripping with water.

"E? There's no more hot water and we're kind of out of towels..." He pouted.

The agent rolled her eyes from behind her sunglasses (which were still too dark to see her eye color through) and shook her head, escaped strands of red hair from her ponytail reaching for the sky. "I'll get you one. Oh, and the next time you see Oceana, tell her not to stay in the shower for so long next time, so everyone else can have some of the hot water."

"Okay, thanks, Ember." He smiled and zoomed out of the make-shift gym the mystery agent had set up instead of a guest room. Punching bags and targets lined the walls, and a set of barbells also dwelled within the walls. Ember prided herself on being a much smarter penguin than average, with a knack for computers and coding, but hand-to-hand, ranged, or weaponized combat didn't faze her either.

She exited the gym and made it to the laundry room. Grabbing a fluffy pink towel (the only dry one) off a rack, she passed it to Superguy, who had followed her. He grimaced at the color in distaste, sticking out his tongue when Ember began laughing at his dismay. Superguy then frowned comically as he dried off his flippers, legs, and hair, his black t-shirt now speckled with dark water droplets.

"Alright, tell Oceana when she gets back from lifeguarding that lunch is in the fridge. I'll be gone all day today- I've got a headquarters to rebuild and a new trainee to take care of."

"Okay! Love you, sis, and tell Dot that I say hi!"

Ember snickered and looped a lock of her red hair around the tip of her flipper as she waddled out the door, making sure it was locked. Dot the Disguise Gal and her little brother had huge crushes on one another and took every chance they got to spend time with eachother chatting about nothing in particular. Little did the oblivious dork know, PH also had a crush on him, but nobody knew about that except for- hmm, let's see- Gary, JPG, Ember, Oceana, Dot, even the Director... So, pretty much the entire island knew except for Superguy, the dense little fish.

Ember rolled her eyes and continued walking down the street until she made it to the corner. It was time to make it back to the EPF and check on what the mess looked like in the daytime, as well as instructing a new recruit in the was of the Tech division. She groaned suddenly at the realization that there would be a massive amount of heavy lifting before the computers would be able to come back online.

When the carpool (a nice-looking truck Ember always forgot the name/brand of) finally arrived, she smiled at the driver and said calmly, "Ski Village, please." The driver had looked at her a bit funny when they first met and she had kept her sunglasses on for the whole ride, but had eventually gotten used to it and the two had become friends.

"Have a great day at work, E!" The other penguin waved.

"You too, Lilly." Ember smiled, sliding out of the passenger's seat when they made it to the Ski Village.


Hey guys! I'm so EXCIIIIIITED for the rewrite of this story, I've added so much more and have actually pre-written quite a few chapters! Anyway, I think quite a few of us know who that carpool driver is ;). Also, next chapter will be a lot of heavy lifting and such, along with an introduction for none other than CC! Have a faaaaabulous rest of your summers! Love you guys!