Hello! How have you all been? :)
As requested, I will finish this story. I owe all of you at least that for sticking with me all this time. Thank you all. i will do my best to complete this story in a satisfying manner, and so it will most likely take quite a few more chapters to complete. I hope that's all good with everyone!
Lake Blue was miserable.
Rolling over for the umpteenth time, she gazed up at the metallic ceiling of the EPF headquarters.
She couldn't afford to waste time staying in bed. She had work to do, an agency to run.
Why was life so cruel.
Jessie popped her head in the doorway, a concerned yet slightly amused look on her face. "Are you 'kay Lake?"
"No." Lake Blue groaned, plopping down on her back with a huff. She grimaced as another headache wracked through her skull. Trying to take her mind off it, she concentrated on blowing away a strand of brown hair that kept placing itself between her eyes.
"It's weird how Dr. Toni couldn't identify the issue..." Jessie commented, giving her a sympathetic smile. Lake Blue gave a nod, rolling around again to lean on her flippers and face her best friend and colleague.
"... Almost like its never occurred before."
"Well, at least running the EPF has been smooth so far." Lake Blue sighed, smoothing back some of her bangs.
"This is pretty easy." Jessie chuckled in agreement. "It's also been relatively peaceful, save for the-"
CRASH!
"... recruits." Jessie sighed, turning around and rushing to check up on the aforementioned penguins.
Even with the feather disease, Artie and Fries still found the energy to bicker and fight, given that they were throwing assorted items at each other by the time the yellow penguin ran into the break room.
"You stupid frog! This is all your fault!" Artie seethed, pelting the penguin with a lunchbox.
"It was not my fault! You're just jealous of my fabulous hair!" Fries retorted, yelping as the plastic projectile bounced off his blonde hair.
Rodelstein sat calmly in the corner, trying to avoid being hit as he wrote in a small notebook. None of them seemed to be bothered by the headache as much.
The other recruits soon raced into the room as well, alerted by the loud noise. "Vhat is going on?!" Luden barked, slamming a flipper against the wall, eliciting a loud smack that startled almost everyone except for the two altercating penguins.
Lake Blue eventually hobbled over to the rest of the group, clutching her head. "Fries! Artie! Be quiet! This is unacceptable for secret agents such as yourself!" She snapped, pushing the two penguins apart, which surprisingly seemed to work.
Artie immediately lowered his head in remorse, murmuring a quiet apology. Fries chuckled slightly, giving her a reassuring wink before shooting another dirty glare at his green feathered colleague.
"Are you all better now, Lake Blue?" Kik asked, head tilted to the side at the the Comm Lead's changed condition.
Lake Blue paused a little, giving herself a once over before beaming. "Well, I suppose I just needed to do something productive."
"You call that productive..?" Rodelstein mocked, closing his notebook with a thump.
Lake Blue merely raised an eyebrow at his snarky comment. "Rodelstein. I just recovered from a skull-splitting headache. Do not aggravate me in any way unless you'd like to deal with a grouchy and angry Lake Blue, which I assure you, does not happen as often as you'd think." She warned in a carefully level tone.
Gingerly ruffling her hair, she turned to leave the room. "And with that said, I'm going to do some paperwork." She whistled cheerfully, skipping out the door, glad to be able to work again.
"She's starting to act like me." Evane noted with a pleased smile, casually shuffling out with Tori in tow, much to the smaller penguin's displeasure.
"You know, I never thought working as a secret agent would be so easy." Luden sighed, leaning against the wall and slicking back loose strands of his perfectly combed back hair.
"Then why do you seem so stressed." Rodelstein coughed, opening his book again as the aforementioned penguin shot a glare at him.
"It's usually not. But since Herbert's gone, we usually don't have any other threats to the island's security." Jessie explained with a small smile.
"Anyway, Luden would you like to train and practice your fighting skills with me aru?" Yang murmured to the vexed penguin, trying to ease some of the tension in the room. The blue penguin grudgingly agreed, leaving the company in awkward silence again.
"... Psst. Your eyebrows look ugly as ever."
"GIT!-"
Alright, so maybe this wasn't such a good idea..., Lake Blue thought to herself as she flipped through the stacks of papers. Somehow, a small envelope found its way between the documents. Curious, she tore open the unlabelled paper, and a card fluttered onto the table surface.
Greetings from Penguin Chat Island!
Huh..?
Flipping the postcard over, she scanned through the familiar handwriting. "Agents," she read aloud, "how have you all been? We are currently at Penguin Chat Island, taking a well-deserved holiday. We do not intend to return to the EPF, however we acknowledge our haste and strive to justify our means. Regards, G."
"Who are you?"
The small white puffle bound into the room, a shrill voice interrupting her train of thought.
"Who are you?" Lake Blue retorted back playfully, setting the postcard aside to show Jessie later.
"I asked you first."
"Well I asked you second."
"... I'm hungry." He eventually declared before bouncing out the room again, presumably to find his owner.
"I keep telling you, there is a giant shark in the water!"
"Don't be stupid dude, sharks don't exist in Club Penguin!" Alfie laughed loudly, taking another bite of his burger, spewing small chunks of lettuce, bread, and meat.
"I've been on this island longer than you, and I know for sure that there's a shark in the water!" Herbert crossed his arms stubbornly.
"Did you just admit that you're old?" Gils snickered, folding his arms with a wide smirk as his eyes glared challengingly at the white bear.
"No." Herbert huffed, crossing his arms. "I'm just implying that my observation and intellectual capabilities are much better than yours, hence why I notice things that your otherwise puny brains don't even bat an eyelash toward."
Mewcat leaned over, exchanging bewildered glances with Moonhunter. "Did he just..?"
"Yeah. Weird."
"Oi! That was rude and unawesome!" Gils barked indignantly, finally wrapping his head around the insult.
Herbert couldn't help but allow a small smirk of triumph to cross his lips, unsure of where that came from, but it felt good to be smart.
"Wait what just happened?" Alfie interrupted his moment of pride with a confused and muffled question.
"You penguins are daft." Herbert deadpanned.
"In what way?" Moonhunter inquired, raising an eyebrow in slight suspicion.
"Most of you are completely oblivious to the outside world, you enjoy materialistic appearances, and your economy is on the verge of collapse." He replied with rapid-fire elocution.
"And since when were you smart?" She snorted, suppressing small chuckles.
Something in the bear had definitely changed. No one knew where it came from, or how it came to be.
Of course, that was immediately jinxed as Herbert proceeded to blurt out with a blank expression, "Since whales are tuna."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind."
Once again, it was relatively quiet within the EPF Headquarters. The light pattering of feet on metal could be heard on occasion, accompanied with the festive chatter of a few recruits.
Come to think of it, there hasn't been this kind of peace in a long time.
Which usually means that Herbert was going to attack any minute now.
But that was impossible, right? Herbert was with Mewcat and Moonhunter, not to mention two of their new recruits.
Jessie remarked all of this to her colleague Lake Blue, who was less energetic but still paying attention.
"Maybe you should call them and check up on them." Lake Blue suggested, stifling a small yawn. "I feel the headache starting to come back."
"Then you should be resting, not doing paperwork." She retorted playfully as she pulled out her phone, dialling the familiar string of numbers.
Beeeeep…. Beeeeep… Beee- Kkzzzzrtt—
A roaring sound followed shortly after, and the ear-splitting screech of metal reverberated throughout the entire HQ. Jessie glanced down at her phone, noting the lack of signal on the EPF's private phone line, and dashed off with Lake Blue to investigate the source of the noise.
They were mentally prepared for something along the lines of attack. They were prepared for altercations between the new recruits. They were even prepared for the return of the Ultimate Protobot.
But they were not prepared for the sigh they were about to behold.
Herbert was stuck within the walls of the Elite Penguin Force, blotches of colour blemishing his fur, and a very very irritated look crossing his face.
"Aha…AHAHA- HAHAHA!" Lake Blue started laughing, clutching her belly as she shook, sending the rest of the agents that had gathered there into fits of giggles and laughter as well.
Sure, Herbert had had his fair share of "I'm stuck" places, but horizontally in the mix of metal, wires, and concrete? Now that was a first.
"It's not funny you daft penguins! Help me get out!" Herbert roared, writhing in the small hole, trying to push his big belly through the crudely jacked out hole.
Turning on the jackhammer lying nearby, Luden gave the leads a reassuring nod and proceeded to chip away at the solid defensive walls, eventually freeing the polar bear.
Grumbling, Herbert brushed the dust and bits of metal off his coat as he shot defensive glares at everyone.
"Oh no, did Herbert bust the communications line or something?" Mewcat asked as she stepped through the hole, staring at her phone with furrowed brows.
"That would explain a lot." Jessie nodded in agreement.
"But that means that we have to fix it…again." Moonhunter complained exasperatedly. "Do you know how much we've spent on repairing stuff? I hate to be like Gary and all, but this is getting kind of ludicrous."
The other three were silent, each exchanging glances, unsure of how to handle the situation. Anything they say could cause a whole argument that would tear their agency apart.
Sensing the tenseness, Moonhunter eventually sighed, crossing her flippers. "Look, I'm just saying that what Gary said has some truth to it. We should be more careful."
Begrudgingly, Lake Blue gave a curt nod. "Regardless, we have to work together. If we break that's the end of the agency."
"Pfft, don't get all dramatic and mushy in front of me, yuck."
Conflict semi-solved, they proceeded to push the polar bear to his jail cell, content in this one unified task.
"You know, something weird has been happening with Herbert." Mewcat began once they stepped out of the jailed room.
"Yeah?"
"He's been saying a lot of really intelligent stuff. He's only done it once so far, so I suggest we keep an eye on him."
"That seems highly improbably." Lake Blue commented, a faint headache gripping at the edges of her brain.
"Are you okay Lake?" Jessie asked tentatively, trying not to worsen the effects of the headache.
"What's up with you?" Moonhunter demanded in a concerned tone.
"Lake Blue, along with a lot of the other recruits, have been experiencing the feather discolouration, due to Jade's hairgel product we suspect." Jessie explained, giving the aforementioned penguin concerned looks.
"Hmm... that doesn't seem good. We should probably tell Jade about his faulty hair product!" Mewcat urged.
"Busted communication line, remember?" Moonhunter huffed.
"Hey, I feel bad." Lake Blue interrupted, stifling her groans of pain. "Like, I have a bad feeling about something. Something's going to happen."
"I think you're imagining things. Nothing can really happen. We're watching Herbert 24/7." Jessie assured her, giving the peach penguin a comforting smile, which the agent returned.
"You should probably lie down if you're sick..." Mewcat observed.
"Yeah... Perhaps that is for the better..."
