G'day mates! I am super sorry bout the lack of updates! If you want an excuse, its a mixture of writers block and procrastination. So apologies for that. I will try my best to step up my game.
I must thank you all for all the reviews. I'm still sorry I haven't updated. Must have been keeping you all in suspense.
DriftedDaisy: A Golden Jet Pack? For real? The only thing I got from my golden puffle was a taco...
Mewcat: ;) Thought i might include it, because why not? Oh, and for others reading this, go read Mewcat60's stories. You can thank me later at school.
Guest: If you think that's weird, you should just see what Jessie and I came up with at school. (Jade the turkey, Hank the piegon, etc. Inside jokes)
Smile Lover: I like waffles. I'm eating some right now. :D
Missygirl156: Or both...
CCRainbowUnicorn: I thought grass was rainbow and Cheerios were purple, but okay...
TrainerBubbles1: Dun Dun DUN! Also, love your pen name :)
Brittney9100: Uh oh...
CadenciaDj: Aaaah! Run Herbert, run! Run like a snail! Because that's the fastest he'll ever go. ;)
JuliettReviewer: Another chapteeeeer is here!
To recap! Last time we met, Rookie fainted and then woke up. After that, he started acting very weirdly. Lake Blue was troubled by this and conclude that Herbert was involved. Enjoy!
Lake Blue rushed into the EPF command room the next morning, her long, brown hair flowing down her back instead of tied up into a ponytail.
Rookie looked normal enough. He was sitting at the meeting table with Gary, Dot, and Jet Pack Guy. He was trying to balance a pen in between two sheets of paper.
"Good morning Lake Blue. Nice hairstyle." Gary complimented as Lake Blue took a seat. She blushed a little as she gathered her hair into a bun and secured it with a scrunchie.
"So how's Rookie?" She asked, glancing at the green penguin, who was still trying to complete his little challenge.
"Oh, same as always." He replied. "Dot challenged him to balance the pen between the paper, so he's pretty occupied right now."
"Give up yet?" Dot teased, watching as he tried standing the white sheets of paper upright.
"Wake up Herbert!" He muttered loudly as he continued trying to fumble with the pen.
"What?" Jet Pack Guy questioned, a little confused.
"Oh nothing." Rookie assured. "Do you want some tea?"
"Are you sure Rookie is okay?" Lake Blue whispered to Gary as they observed Rookie's behaviour. She was tempted to tell Gary her suspicions, but as any penguin teacher would say, "You need textual evidence to back it up."
"Hi Rookie." Jessie waved as she entered the room and took a seat. Noticing Rookie's task, she shot a questioning look to Lake Blue, who just shrugged in the same confused manner.
"The really sour one or the really sweet one?" He questioned out loud.
"Um, what?" Jessie asked, chuckling a little at the awkwardness of the conversation.
"Do you want sugar?" He looked up from his work.
"No, I want salt." She decided to ease the tension by adding a little joke.
"I give up. How do you do this Gary?" Rookie pushed the objects away, sitting back in his comfy chair.
Lake Blue and Jessie exchanged glances.
"First you pleat the paper so that it can stand up. Then you put the pen on between the two pieces." Gary then proceeded to demonstrate, ignoring Rookie's sudden change in topic.
"Ohh, wait how did you do that again?" Rookie asked, confused.
Gary sighed. "Nevermind." He waved him away.
"Oh. Okay. Cookies!" He squealed, jumping up form his chair and bouncing towards the box of cookies sitting on the table. Lake Blue and Jessie followed him up, having nothing better to do.
"Rookie are you okay?" Jessie asked as Rookie stuffed his face with chocolate chip cookies.
"Huh? Oh yeah." He smiled, pausing to take a few breaths,
"Are...you sure? You were acting kind of weird." Lake Blue asked, only to receive another nod from Rookie. She glanced at him skeptically before siding up next to Gary.
"I think there's something wrong with him." She whispered to Gary, who nodded in agreement.
"Me too, but I couldn't confirm my theory, so I kept silent." He muttered back, occasionally glancing at Rookie, who was now engrossed in a conversation with Jessie.
"What is your theory?" Lake Blue asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I think Herbert might have been involved with this." Gary mused.
"Why is that?"
"Haven't you noticed? He's been acting odd after he fainted the other day."
Lake Blue nodded in acknowledgment. "I thought the same too. I feel Herbert may be behind this."
Gary said nothing and nodded.
"So are we going on a mission today?" Rookie interrupted, looking towards Gary.
"Well...there may be one little thing we need to research." Gary said, winking at the others, only to receive questioning looks from them except Lake Blue.
"Really? What?" Rookie asked excitedly, eyes lighting up.
"We're going to Herbert's lair." He announced.
"What?!" Jet Pack Guy and Dot blurted out in unison.
"Why?" Rookie asked curiously, twirling his propeller cap so that it spins.
"Why not? I thought you wanted some action." Lake Blue interrupted, winking at Jessie, hoping she would get the idea.
"I don't know. The half inch wrench?" Rookie tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Let's go!" He jumped up and bounced towards the door.
"You know what? Rookie is weird." Jessie said aloud after he exited the room.
"I told you!" Lake Blue sighed.
"You didn't!" Jessie protested indignantly.
"Well, you figured it out." Lake Blue pointed out. "We're going to see what Herbert is up to."
At Herbert's lair
The agents stood at the front entrance, a somewhat milder Rookie standing next to Gary.
Lake Blue looked expectantly at the others before stepping forward and pressing the doorbell. She jumped back, as if expecting something to crash down on top of her.
Sure enough, an anvil plummeted down from tall tree. Seconds before reaching the floor, it exploded into a music box. The music box then began playing Herbert Style very loudly.
Lake Blue and Jessie exchange confused glances, while Rookie was jumping and dancing to the catchy tune.
"What on Club Penguin was that?" Lake Blue blurted out as she walked up to the door and gave it a strong, swift kick. It burst from its hinges and lay on the floor. Motioning for the others to follow, she stepped in.
"Why are Herbert's doors always so weak?" Dot whispered as they made their way down the stone stairs.
They saw a light coming from deeper in the cave. Herbert's loud voice was heard echoing throughout the cave.
"Klutzy what is wrong with you? Stop confusing me by blurting out random phrases!" He was yelling.
"But I'm not saying anything!" Rookie exclaimed out loud, covering his own beak as a few clicks rang out.
"What was that?" Herbert paused, stepping out of the room, only to his surprise to see the agents glaring back at him.
"What are you penguins doing here?!" He gasped as Klutzy followed behind him. "Didn't you get squashed by the anvil?"
"For the record, that anvil turned into a music box." Rookie explained, right in sync with Klutzy's clicks.
"Woah, we are totally in SYNC!" Klutzy and Rookie exclaimed excitedly in unison.
"Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx!" They jinxed each other in unison, getting more and more frustrated by each jinx.
"Stop jinxing me! No you stop!" They yelled at each other.
"Well, that escalated quickly." Herbert sided next to Lake Blue and whispered.
"It's actually 'boy, that escalated quickly'." Lake Blue corrected.
"Can you make him stop copying me?!" Rookie and Klutzy shouted in frustration, turning to Herbert and Lake Blue.
"Herbert, what on Club Penguin did you do to Rookie?!" Lake Blue turned to Herbert angrily.
"What do you mean what did I do? What did you fools do to Klutzy?!" Herbert yelled back.
"Guys, stop. We won't solve anything by yelling." Dot interrupted. "Now Herbert, explain what happened in the past week?"
Herbert paused for a moment to think, but not before giving a dirty look to Lake Blue, who was all calmed down.
"Well, Klutzy had a fever on Saturday, and he fainted later that day, but I thought it was because it was too cold. He ended up in bed for a few hours, then got right back up. After that, he started acting weirdly, talking about you agents and something about a piece of paper and pens and oranges." Herbert recalled.
"Stop taking my pizza!" Rookie and Klutzy loudly squealed in the next room. The agents and Herbert ran in to see Klutzy and Rookie wrestling each other over the box of pizza on the table.
"You stop taking my pizza! I'm going to tell Gary!" Klutzy and Rookie argued in unison as they continued trying to reach for the pizza.
"Klutzy! Rookie! Cut it out!" Jet Pack Guy scolded, his voice reverberating around the room.
Klutzy and Rookie stopped fighting to stand up. "It was his fault!" They protested, pointing to each other.
"Okay, what did you guys do to Klutzy?" Herbert demanded, glaring at Lake Blue.
"What are you looking at me for?!" She stepped back to meet his fierce glare. "I did nothing!"
"There must be something else causing all this trouble." Gary piped in, deep in thought. However, no one but Herbert heard him, because he was right next to him. That, and everyone else was arguing.
"Guys! SHUT UP!" Herbert yelled. "The garbage guy wants to say something!"
"Watch your language!" Lake Blue, Rookie, and Klutzy chirped in.
"Thanks Herbert?" Gary gave a questioning look. "Anyways, I think Klutzy and Rookie are being controlled somehow. By something or someone that is not Herbert. Until we can eliminate this power or whatever this is, they are jinxed. In other words, forced to say the same thing at the same time. Whose words are spoken probably depends on the situation. Sometimes, Klutzy will say something when Rookie is not, so Rookie says the same thing, and vice versa."
"What does that mean?" Rookie and Klutzy questioned in sync.
"See? Rookie said something there while Klutzy didn't, so they both say what Rookie has to say.
"Great. So I'm forced to say dumb things." Klutzy and Rookie sighed, while Klutzy rolled his eyes.
"Jinx!" They started again.
"No more jinxing!" Jessie ordered, silencing the two.
"So what are we going to do? We don't have any idea who the culprit is." Dot asked.
"We?" Herbert questioned. "Since when did I agree to help you fools?"
"Since this concerns you too." Dot shot back.
"I work alone. I can solve this mystery without you penguin fools." He began to walk away when he slipped on a rock and tumbled into a hole in the ground.
"When did that hole get here?" He groaned as he looked up at the agents, who peered down at him. "Can you help me up?"
"Look who's working alone now." Dot mocked as they flung a rope down the hole.
"Ouch!" He yelped as the heavy coil dropped on his head. "That hurt!"
"Quit whining and get yourself up here." Jet Pack Guy retorted. Herbert silenced himself and he hauled himself up. But after several exasperated tries, he collapses on the floor on the hole.
"Any other way? I'm not skinny enough to do this." He groaned.
"AKA, you're too fat." Klutzy mutters, but Rookie screams it out.
"Hey Klutzy, I HEARD THAT!" He bellows.
"Let's use that thing." Jet Pack Guy pointed to the machine labelled "Cage Lifter 3000".
"Isn't that the cage that trapped me like a few years ago?" Lake Blue questioned. "That thing is annoying."
They proceeded to tie it to the wheel and with a few pushes, it spun, dragging Herbert up and out of the hole.
"So we are going to try and find out what's going on?" Jessie declares, glancing at Klutzy and Rookie.
"Yeah, I guess." Herbert mumbled.
"Let's go then!" Lake Blue smiled as she walked out of the cave.
"Did you break my door again?!" Herbert yelled as they passed the splintered door.
"Yup." Lake Blue nodded, a slight smirk on her face.
Back in the EPF Headquarters, they took a seat at the meeting table.
"This jinxing thing is really annoying. I mean, you're hearing about our plans, and we're hearing about yours, which isn't bad, but you are also hearing ours. I would much rather go on without knowing each other's plans." Lake Blue began.
"So how are we supposed to find the culprit? We don't even have a lead." Dot asked.
"A lead?" Klutzy and Rookie piped up questioningly. Rookie was holding a puffle leash in his flippers.
"No, not that lead." Jessie sighed.
"This lead?" He held up a box of mechanical pencil lead.
"No! That's not even lead! That's graphite!" Jessie sighed, glancing at Lake Blue for help.
"We meant the lead as in a clue or hint to who the culprit is." Lake Blue explained.
"Ohhh, you could have just said that." Rookie nodded, followed by a less audible "Why did I have to be jinxed with that fool?"
"Klutzy! That's not nice!" Herbert gasped, shaking a finger at the red crab.
"Whatever." Rookie and Klutzy muttered.
Suddenly, the agents jumped as a block crashed through the window, shattering the window to pieces.
DUN DUN DUN! Hope you all enjoyed, I'm going to make this brief. Thank you all for the support you have given me. I'm sorry for the lack of updates.
Now my mom is telling to go outside so i got to go now baiiiiii :)