“Okay Marcie, you got the plasma laser?”

“Yep.”

“Slam, you got the map of Herbert’s base?”

“Right here!”

Penny looked over at her two co-agents: Slam with his relaxed smile and Marcie with her grim determination. Glancing up at the towering building above them, Penny couldn’t help but remember the events that led up to the Blackout.

It’d been rather worrying when Gary had gone missing, especially with the mess they’d found in the lab suggesting some sort of struggle. Every single agent was immediately on high alert, searching the entire island for any trace of him. Penny’s girlfriend Marcie had been the most stressed, barely sleeping for days on end trying to find the missing inventor. Even Slam, who often tried to keep things light, had been freaked out by Gary vanishing. Penny had found herself being a calming presence for the two, forcing Marcie to get some sleep and trying to reassure Slam that they’d find Gary. Eventually, things reached a state of…well, not calm, per say-everyone was still freaked out by Gary’s disappearance-but something akin to it.

Then Penny woke up to the island plunged into darkness at nine in the morning and an alert on her Spyphone saying the Everyday Phoning Facility had been blown to smithereens. 

As it turned out, Herbert had managed to kidnap Gary, uncovered and released personal information on several agents, and, most importantly, set up his newest invention: the Solar Laser. With it, he had essentially begun stealing the sun’s energy and using it to warm his lair, plunging the rest of the island into a frozen gloom. Using this power (and a crab army he’d secretly assembled), he’d taken over Club Penguin and was now ruling it as a dictator; anyone who broke his rules was summarily caught and frozen.

However, not all hope was lost. A group of agents that hadn’t been captured (Penny and her friends included) had gone into hiding and were fighting Herbert from the shadows. So far, they’d managed to break into his fortress and get past two of the security terminals, and today they’d be breaking through a third.

“Alright you guys,” Penny said, turning to look at the ladder that led to the central room of Herbert’s base, “Let’s go.”

——————————————

“We’re outside the third security terminal. Marcie, that’s your cue.”

Marcie nodded and turned to face the door. With a quick tap on her shoulder, she activated the laser and began cutting through the metal. Penny turned to Slam, flippers crossed as he stood guard. “Have you been in contact with Dot lately?” she asked, “We could really use some new intel.”

“No, actually. You?” Penny shook her head, and Slam frowned. “Huh, weird. I asked some other agents that earlier, and they all said the same thing.”

Suddenly, the air felt much heavier. “Wait, nobody’s heard from Dot? Like, at all?” Ice water flooded Penny’s veins and her chest tightened as her mind raced with possibilities. This was exactly like what had happened to Gary; they’d lost contact with him a few days before they found out he was missing. What if Dot had been captured? She could see it now: Dot desperately trying to escape, pulling out every disguise she had as an army of crabs descended upon her, struggling to run as Herbert lumbered over with a diabolical laugh and someone was grabbing her from behind-

Penny screamed and jumped away, heart pounding against her ribcage as she frantically looked around. Slam backed away, flippers held up in surrender. “Woah woah, it’s okay! Everything’s okay, Pen, it was just me.” Penny forced her breathing to even out as Slam gave her a reassuring smile. “And Dot’s probably doing just fine. I mean, come on; she’s Dot. She’s probably just hiding out in disguise somewhere and hasn’t gotten a chance to talk to anyone.”

“Yeah…yeah, you’re probably right,” Penny mumbled, giving Slam a weak smile. “Dot’s probably fine.”

Still, though, something inside her was screaming that Slam was wrong, that Dot was gone and they were all in danger…

“Alright, the door has been wrecked!” Marcie shouted, interrupting Penny’s train of thought. She turned towards her fellow agents and smirked. “Slam, you’re up!”

“No problemo!” With that, Slam snuck over to the doorway and flattened himself against the outside wall. He peered around the corner, gave a quick glance left and right, and chucked a snowball at the security camera. The snowball exploded against the lens, covering the camera and rendering it useless. Slam grinned and pumped his flipper. “Score!”

“Okay, camera is down. Pen, your turn to shut down the terminal,” Marcie said, walking into Sector 2. Penny smiled and walked up to the security terminal. Turning it on, she gave the sliding puzzle a quick once-over before getting to work.

“Alright, now this goes here…slide this one there…just one more…and done!” With a final flourish, Penny slid the key into the hole, causing the terminal to shut down. The three cheered, high-fiving each other with a smile.

“Three down, three more to go! Let’s get back to HQ and reconvene with the other agents,” Marcie said as the three turned back towards the destroyed door-

-only to freeze at the sound of the security terminal door opening. Penny turned around slowly, heart thudding in her chest, and came face-to-face with a certain bear.

“Herbert!” she squeaked out, falling backwards into her teammates’ arms. The polar bear in question snarled, glaring at the trio as they gazed up at him.

“I should’ve known it was you three breaking into my lair and causing so much trouble,” he growled as he stepped into the room, “After all, it’s always you three causing me problems. Destroying my inventions, messing with my plans, ruining any chance I have at peace and quiet.” An almost deranged smile crossed his face. “Finally, finally, it’ll be all over soon, and I will have my victory.”

“Run!” Marcie shouted, grabbing her friends’ flippers and bolting towards the door. Penny only had a moment to glance behind her at the bear charging at them before being yanked through the doorway and into the first sector; behind her, Slam picked up the destroyed door and shoved it back into the doorframe, shoving his body against it as Herbert made the door shake with his blows. Penny shot Slam a grateful look as she and Marcie wove around the tables and ran into the room with the first security terminal-

-and felt her heart freeze when she saw the covered vent.

“Nononono-“ Penny mumbled, eyes widening in horror at the sight of their only escape being blocked off. Marcie looked over at Penny with a raised eyebrow before finally seeing the problem.

“Shoot! Uh, it’s okay Pen, just give me a second!” Marcie climbed onto the vent and began wrestling with the cover. As Penny stood frozen in the corner, she could faintly hear someone stumble into the room over Marcie’s reassurances. She turned around to see Slam doubled over, panting with a worried frown.

“Sorry guys, I tried my best to keep him busy, but-“ he began before a loud slam! cut him off. Everyone turned to the source of the noise.

Herbert stood panting, glare fixed on the penguins in front of him. He stood partially doubled over with a death grip on the doorway; Penny could already see the bruises beginning to form on his knuckles. He glanced up, and the frown on his face turned into a warped, angry smile.

“While I must admit this has been fun,” Herbert snarled, standing up straight and stepping into the room, “It’s time to end this little game of yours and finally claim my victory over you foolish fowl!”

Out of the corner of her eye Penny saw a black blur dart towards the bear. Before she even had the chance to process what she saw, she heard a crash and a yell from Herbert. She blinked and was greeted by the sight of Slam wrestling Herbert on the ground. She and Marcie stood transfixed as Herbert stood up, Slam still clinging to his arm.

“Run!” he shouted. Herbert reached out and tried to swipe at Penny; she tumbled backwards and scrambled away, not stopping until she felt the cool metal of the vent on her back. Slam’s eyes went wide with panic, and he yanked Herbert’s arm. There was a loud pop! and a pained roar and Herbert’s arm wasn’t supposed to look like that did Slam just dislocate Herbert’s shoulder-

Clang!

Penny jumped as the vent cover smashed onto the floor in front of her, followed by Marcie. Without a moment’s hesitation, Penny darted out from underneath the vent, grabbed the edge, and began hauling herself into the vent. She turned around, just to make sure that Herbert wasn’t following them, and saw Marcie frozen on her feet, glancing between Slam struggling against the now-injured Herbert and Penny perched in the vent.

“Marcie, come on!” she shouted. Marcie didn’t even flinch, her eyes now fixed on Slam trying to wrestle his way out of Herbert’s grip. Realizing she wasn’t going to respond, Penny dug around in her bag until she felt the cool metal of the grappling hook. She pulled it out and fired it, one of the barbs landing in the back of Marcie’s coat. Marcie barely had time to react before Penny made the cord retract, sending Marcie flying directly into her chest. 

The two tumbled down the vent for what felt like forever before finally crashing to a halt. As they laid dazed, an angered shout echoed through the small space. This seemed to snap Marcie out of her stupor; she quickly tried to scramble back up the vent, only to be quickly restrained by Penny.

“Marcie, come on, we have to go!” she whisper-shouted. Marcie tried to wrestle her way out of Penny’s grip, pointing towards where they’d fallen from.

“But-but Slam is still in there! We have to go back for him!” she replied frantically. Penny forced Marcie to look at her, flippers tightly gripping her girlfriend’s shoulders.

“Marcie, listen to me! We need to get out of here; if Herbert finds out where the base is, it’s all over for us! We can’t risk it!”

“But Slam-“

“Slam will be fine; he’s handled worse situations by himself before. Now let’s go!”

Marcie looked between Penny and the vent’s exit one last time before finally sighing and turning back to Penny. “Alright, fine. Let’s go.”

“Don’t worry, everything’ll be okay. You’ll see,” Penny reassured as the two crawled through the vents.

—————————————————————————

“And you’re sure you can’t get into contact with her?”

“Positive. Not only that, but some agents are saying they saw her in one of those cryopods Herbert’s been using.”

Penny sighed and rubbed the side of her beak. She and Marcie had returned to the Secret HQ to some rather troubling news: Dot had, in fact, been kidnapped. The Director had sent the message sometime during their mission, leaving her and Marcie out of loop until relatively recently. Forcing down the now all-too-familiar feeling of panic, Penny turned back towards the informant in front of her and tried her best to look cool and collected. As the EPF’s highest ranked medic, she’d been given permission to give orders to newer or lower-ranked agents, and she figured that she might as well try to look the part of a leader.

“Understood. Go and help out at the Lighthouse; there’s an influx of hypothermia cases they’re too short-staffed to deal with. I’ll join you there shortly,” she told him. The agent saluted and ran out of the room. Once he was gone, Penny sighed and walked over to the blackboard. Gary’s smiling face stared down at her, a constant reminder of the EPF’s failure to protect those that needed it. She gingerly shifted the photo before pulling a photo of Dot, taking a moment to stare and smiling purple penguin. With a sigh, Penny pinned the photo to the board and leaned back onto the table, letting the sheer despair of the situation wash over her.

The leads weren’t the only penguins who’d become victims of Herbert; they were just the most notable. Other agents, those whose names and faces weren’t nearly as available to the public, had been captured and frozen as well, either due to rebelling against Herbert’s draconian rules or even just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It felt like Penny was taking calls from panicked or concerned friends or family every day now, talking about how they hadn’t seen so-and-so in a while or how their loved one had been snatched up by crabs right in front of them. She buried her head in her flippers and closed her eyes, the names and faces of those taken flashing in front of her. So many penguins who’d been taken from them, from their families and friends. So many penguins that became victims of one bear…

We never should’ve done Operation Hibernation. We never should’ve let it go this far.

The sound of a snowball exploding made Penny lift up her head and glance at the Herbert-shaped practice targets in the training area. Marcie stood across from them, her face a mixture of anger and stoicism. With a quick twist of her shoulder, she threw the snowball and nailed the standee across from her right in the center of the bullseye.

“Coin for your thoughts?” Penny asked, walking over to the practice arena. Marcie didn’t even pause, picking up another snowball.

“Just waiting for Slam to get back.” Another snowball thrown, another bullseye.

In all the years the two had dated, Penny could confidently say she knew her girlfriend pretty well. She knew Marcie was creeped out by the puffle clock in the lodge but would never admit it, she knew Marcie would always try to sneak a dollop of hot sauce into the hot chocolate she’d sometimes get from the cafe (and how frustrating the barista found that habit), and she knew that Marcie stuck her tongue just a few inches out of her mouth when she was deep in concentration.

She also knew that Marcie was beginning to get obsessed with Slam’s lateness, and that Penny was going to have to do something fast before she did something stupid.

“Hey, remember when Slam forgot to take off his Herbert costume and sent the whole base into red alert?” Penny asked, leaning on the railing of the stairs. At this, Marcie let out a snort and turned to face Penny, half an amused smirk on her face. Penny felt her chest flutter as she smiled; it wasn’t much, but it was better than no response at all.

“Oh yeah, I remember that! Didn’t it take him, like, five minutes to figure out what the heck was going on?” she replied, clearly trying not to laugh. Penny began to giggle as the memory flooded back.

“Yeah! And then when he finally figured it out, he took the head off the costume and said, ‘Sorry about that you guys. Anyways, anyone want some pizza? If I can trick the sensors here-“

“‘-then I can probably trick some crabs into ordering some food for us!’” the two said simultaneously before dissolving into laughter. Between bouts of giggles, Penny couldn’t help but feel relieved. It seemed like Marcie had been dissuaded from whatever plan she’d concocted to rescue Slam and had finally relaxed, a rare occurrence ever since this had all started. For a moment, it almost felt like the Blackout had never happened.

“Um, am I interrupting something?”

Their laughter died down almost instantly as the two turned towards the voice. A blue penguin was standing in front of the holograms in the back of the room. She wore a brown wig underneath a fedora and a standard issue EPF suit with a matching black tie. Now much calmer, Penny nodded and gestured for her to come over.

“No, you’re fine, come over; it’s Blue, right?” Penny replied. Blue nodded and walked over, briefly glancing between the two with a look of…worry? “Any updates?”

“Yeah, actually. I was sneaking through Herbert’s base to try and find any weak points we could exploit, and I found some other agents-” she explained, pulling some photographs out of her pockets only for Marcie to practically lunge forward.

“Did you see Slam? Is he okay?” she interrupted frantically. The worried look in Blue’s eyes intensified as she looked between the two, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Penny felt her heart sink into her stomach. She didn’t like how reluctant her fellow agent looked. What was going on?

“…I’m so sorry,” Blue finally mumbled, handing the photos to Marcie. She quickly snatched the pictures and began rifling through them, muttering frantically all the while. She came upon the final photo and promptly froze, flippers shaking and eyes wide. 

“Marcie? Marcie, what’s wrong?” Penny asked worriedly. Without a word, Marcie shoved the photo into Penny’s flippers and promptly hugged herself, backing away from the piece of paper like it would explode. Her flippers trembling, Penny held up the photo to get a better look at it.

The photo showed Slam in one of the cryopods, Herbert towering over him with a sneer.

A flood of emotions hit Penny all at once: confusion, despair, and fear, among others. Slam had been captured? But he was doing so well against Herbert when they’d left, what had happened? Marcie was right, they should’ve gone back for him…but they couldn’t have stayed, otherwise they ran the risk of the whole mission being compromised! So what were they supposed to do? What was the right option? Was there ever a right option? Penny began quietly hyperventilating as she stared at the awful truth in front of her; the only things she could hear were a high pitched ringing in her ears and a low whine from her left-

…Wait, who’s making that noise? It’s not me, and Blue has been quiet this entire time, so that leaves…

Penny turned towards Marcie. The pink penguin was letting out a distressed whine, flipper held over her beak and still backing away from the group. “Marcie,” Penny began, gently reaching out to her girlfriend, “Marcie, hon, it’ll be okay, we’ll-“

Before she could finish, Marcie immediately turned tail and ran towards the holograms. Penny followed her, calling her name, but it was all for naught; Marcie ran straight into the Ski Village hologram and vanished. Penny stopped dead in her tracks, staring dazedly at the row of holograms in front of her. Behind her, Blue awkwardly rung her flippers.

“…I-I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have-“

“It’s fine,” Penny interrupted, sighing as she rubbed the base of her beak. “You didn’t know-neither of us knew she’d react like that.” She turned around to face Blue, her face stony serious yet tired. “Hold down the fort here, okay? I’m going to find her and then head over to the Lighthouse to help out.”

“No problem,” Blue replied with a salute. Nodding, Penny walked over to the row of holograms and stood in front of the one depicting the Ski Village. Mentally steeling herself for whatever lay ahead, she stepped forward into the orange light.

——————————————————————

The moment she teleported in, Penny knew exactly where Marcie had gone to.

She sighed as she turned to face the ruins of the Everyday Phoning Facility. The fire the explosion caused had been extinguished a while ago, so now all that was left was the empty, destroyed shell. In front of the building was an erratic trail of webbed footprints. Following the trail, Penny took a deep breath, steeled herself, and walked through the door.

Marcie sat in the middle of the destroyed testing room. She was curled up on herself, and Penny heard the tell-tale sniffling that told her Marcie had recently been sobbing. Penny stepped towards her girlfriend and gingerly reached out to her. “Marcie-“

“We should’ve gone back for him,” she mumbled hoarsely. Penny sighed and stared down at her feet.

“Marcie, I know you don’t believe it, but we made the best choice we could at the time; we couldn’t risk Herbert finding the HQ. And Slam knew it too, that’s why he told us to run! I know this hurts, but-“

“Of course it hurts!” Marcie snapped, whipping around to face Penny with tears in her eyes. She stood up and threw her flippers in the air. “I just lost three of my closest friends to that…that stupid, selfish, awful bear! And-and so many other penguins have lost their loved ones too, and everyone’s so cold and miserable all the time and I’m sick and tired of not being able to do anything! We’re the EPF, for goodness sake! We should’ve been able to stop Herbert the minute he escaped! I should’ve been able to stop him! But now the whole island’s gone dark, crabs are taking penguins left and right, and the EPF is literally in ruins! I just…I just…”

Just as suddenly as she started ranting, Marcie visibly deflated. She stumbled over to Penny and shoved her face into her chest, much to Penny’s surprise. “I’m just so tired and so unhappy, Penny. We’re supposed to be the island’s best defense against evil, but the EPF’s losing members left and right to someone we used to be able to beat no problem. Gary, Dot, Slam, everyone else…” She looked up, eyes watering with tears. “How many more friends do we have to lose before this finally ends?” 

“Oh, Marcie,” Penny murmured, gently wrapping Marcie in a hug. She brushed her flipper through her girlfriend’s red hair as Marcie’s tears fell into her coat. “I know this has been rough. We’ve all been working so hard, but it doesn’t feel like we’ve gotten anywhere. We keep losing friends, the island keeps getting colder, and Herbert…well, he keeps being Herbert.” That got a chuckle out of Marcie. “But I know that this Blackout can’t last forever. We’ll beat Herbert like we always do and fix everything he destroyed. Until then, we’ve got to keep up the fight; if we don’t do that, Herbert will win, and we won’t let that happen.” She gently cupped Marcie’s tear-streaked face in her flippers. “Does that help at all?”

“…Yeah, kind of,” Marcie mumbled, giving a half-hearted smile. Penny smiled softly and kissed her girlfriend on the forehead.

“That’s good. Now, let’s get to the Lighthouse; they’ve still got cases to deal with, and it’s way warmer there than it is here. You’re probably freezing by now, right?”

“Mmhm.”

“I figured. Come on, let’s go.”

As the two walked out of the Everyday Phoning Facility, Penny looked up. In times like this, she’d usually find some sort of comfort in the twinkling night sky. Now, however, the cloud cover was so thick that not even the brightest of stars shone through. Just another thing Herbert had taken away from them.

The day had actually been rather normal until the crab showed up.

It has been a rather slow week at the EPF, with the worst thing that had happened being a few lost puffles. Due to this, the Director had told a few of the agents present that they could take the day off, including Marcie and Penny. Despite Marcie’s protests (“What if something happens while we’re gone? Herbert’s been quiet all week; maybe he’s been planning an attack!”), they had taken up the offer of a break; it had been a while since they had a day out, after all. At the moment, the two penguins were sitting in the pizza parlor, talking over a half-cheese, half-squid pizza pie.

“Anyways, I’ve been working on, like, five different plush dolls at once, so my work table looks like the site of the world’s cutest massacre,” Penny said, casually grabbing another slice of squid pizza. Sipping her soda, Marcie leaned on the table and put her cheek on her right flipper.

“Penny, that is one of the most messed up thing I’ve ever heard, and I don’t even think I need to tell you I want to see pictures of it,” she said, grinning. The yellow penguin smiled and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her camera roll. Waiting for her girlfriend to find the desired photos, Marcie glanced over the medic’s shoulder and began watching the rest of the patrons. Suddenly, there was a commotion near the front of the Pizza Parlor, with penguins yelling and jumping in their seats. While the pink penguin watched the confusion with a raised brow, Penny flipped her phone around and grinned with excitement.

“Okay, here it is! The red one is a surprise for Rookie’s birthday, while the blue one-hey Marcie, you okay?” she asked, looking confused and concerned. Focused on the chaos at the front of the parlor, Marcie stood up, grabbing a slice of pizza as she did, and walked over to the front. “Wha-Marcie, where-”

“Something’s going on near the front. I’m gonna check it out,” she explained, tugging on her curly red hair. Penny’s eyes widened in alarm before nodding with a determined look on her face. Turning back to the front of the restaurant, Marcie walked towards the commotion and came face-to-face with-

“Klutzy?” she asked incredulously. Indeed, the little crab was scuttling around in a panic, frantically looking for something. They glanced over at the agent and lit up, scuttling over and rapidly clicking their claws.

“Hey, do you know this crab?” the penguin at the counter inquired, glancing between Klutzy and Marcie. She turned to the concerned employee and nodded.

“Yeah, you could say that,” the pink penguin replied. Turning around, she crouched down to make communication between her and the crab easier. “Klutzy, what’s going on? Why are you so freaked out?”

Klutzy, still seemingly scared out of their mind, began rapidly clicking their claws and gesturing wildly. Marcie sighed, quickly realizing the possible problems regarding communication.

Really starting to wish I let Rookie teach me more words in Crab…or that he was here with us. Only thing I can really catch is “Herbert”…

“Marcie, did you find out what was going on?” Penny asked, walking up to the front with a slice of pizza in her right flipper. Upon seeing Marcie crouched in front of a panicking crab, the yellow penguin nearly dropped her pizza. “Is that-“

“Yep. Can’t figure out why they’re so scared, though.” Standing up, Marcie cracked her back and stretched out her flippers. “You wanna take a shot at this?”

“Sure,” Penny said. She then crouched in front of Klutzy and smiled gently. “Hey, Klutzy. You seem pretty freaked out; if you can’t tell us what’s wrong, maybe you can show us?”

After a moment of silence, Klutzy smacked their forehead with one of their claws. They then grabbed the sleeve of Penny’s dress and began pulling her towards the door. Letting out a squeak of surprise, she quickly scrambled after the crab.

“Marcie, ask for a box for the pizza and meet me outside!” Penny yelled over her shoulder as she was dragged outside. Marcie nodded and casually put a flipperfull of coins on the counter.

“…I assume you’re taking the rest to go?” the penguin at the counter awkwardly asked her. Marcie nodded, still in a bit of shock, and the penguin at the counter simply gave her a box.

Walking back to their table, Marcie mulled over the possible reason for Klutzy’s panic. She put the remaining slices in the box, still in deep concentration.

Come on, Marcie, think. Okay, so Klutzy ran into the Pizza Parlor in a complete panic. You tried to figure out what was wrong, but your Crab translating skills are…not the best. The only word you could understand was Herbert, who’s been quiet all week. Now, why would Herbert be so quiet, and what does that have to do with Klutzy freaking out?…

…Crud.

————————————————

“Marcie, I’m not so sure about this theory-“

“Hear me out Pen, okay?! Herbert’s been completely silent all week, right? Well, what if it’s because he’s been planning something huge and terrible?! Heck, he’s done this before; remember Operation Blackout?” And-and if Klutzy, his loyal companion, is so freaked out when they were okay with that, then Herbert must be planning something worse this time!”

The two penguins were currently following Klutzy, who had somewhat calmed down, through the wilderness to Herbert’s base. Marcie had spent the entire time trying to convince Penny that Herbert was plotting something, and that the two of them were currently walking into a trap. After her girlfriend had finished talking, Penny sighed and gently held Marcie’s flipper.

“Marcie, let’s take a deep breath for a second, okay? Then we’ll think this through together,” she said softly. Marcie, still quite nervous, nodded. Smiling, Penny took a long, slow breath through her nostrils, with Marcie copying her actions a few seconds later; a moment later, both penguins exhaled through their mouths. This happened a few more times as they walked until Marcie felt much calmer.

“Okay, what’s your theory on this?” she asked, turning towards the yellow penguin. Penny put her flipper on her chin and frowned.

“Well, I don’t really have a set theory on what’s going on,” she said, “but I don’t think it’s some sort of scheme. Usually with Herbert’s schemes, there’s usually some degree of missing supplies or gadgets, no matter how small. However, nothing like that’s happened all week; it’s rare for him to be completely quiet. And yes, this happened during Operation Blackout, but he would probably realize the EPF would be more prepared for something like that. So that’s why I feel something else is wrong.”

“Hm, I see your point,” Marcie replied, nodding. She looked up as the two came to a stop. “Well, guess we’re gonna find out.”

They stood in front of Herbert’s base. Despite Penny’s reassurance, Marcie couldn’t help but feel nervous. She instinctively look for traps near the entrance and felt for her spy phone in her pocket. Klutzy scrambled inside of the base through the crab door; after a few moments of the door handle jiggling, the door creaked open. At that moment, Marcie rushed in and put up her flippers as though she was preparing for a fight.

“Alright Herbert, stay where you are and…put…your…paws…up?” Marcie trailed off, slowly lowering her flippers. The front of the lair was basically empty aside from a few miscellaneous plants and tools. Behind her, Penny opened the door and walked in, looking around. She walked towards a bunch of plants near the wall.

“Huh, didn’t realize Herbert was a gardener,” Penny noted, crouching down to get a closer look. Suddenly, Klutzy came scuttling back in and began tugging on Penny’s sleeve again, their free claw pointing deeper into the cave. “Oh, sorry Klutzy! Let’s keep going.”

The group continued deeper into the cave, occasionally having to avoid traps pointed out by Klutzy. At this point, Marcie was slowly beginning to realize something else might be wrong. While this could be some sort of setup, she couldn’t help but wonder if Herbert would go this far just for a trap. What would they even do if something was actually wrong? What if it was something serious? Crud, what if they had to bring Herbert to the EPF to get some sort of medical treatment-

“Oof!” Marcie grunted, coming to an unexpected stop. Penny had stopped in front of a opening to another cave, causing Marcie to bump into her. Noticing this, Penny turned around and gave a sheepish grin.

“Sorry, Marcie. Klutzy stopped by the doorway before scuttling in, so I think we’re here,” Penny explained. Looking up, Marcie saw they were in a rather large cave. The interior was rather messy, with machine parts and other random items scattered around. She even saw a computer in the corner with solitaire pulled up. Near the center of the room was-

“Is that Herbert?” Marcie asked, eyes widening in surprise. Indeed, Herbert was curled up in his recliner, barely visible under a pile of blankets. Penny walked over to the side of the recliner and nodded.

“Yep, it’s him alright. Geez, this must be all the blankets in his base,” she replied, picking up the corner of the pink one at the top. Marcie squinted at the layers covering the polar bear.

“I think a few of these are towels,” she noted. Penny absentmindedly slid her flipper onto Herbert’s forehead, and she squealed in surprise before gently putting it back, worry visible in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Pen?”

“Feel his forehead,” Penny calmly told her girlfriend, not looking away from the polar bear. Confused, Marcie quietly slid her flipper onto Herbert’s forehead, only to yank it away after a few seconds.

“He’s burning up!” she yelped, more out of surprise than anything. Looking around, she noticed crumpled up tissues littering the floor nearby and an empty bucket right next to the recliner. Penny nodded and began gently stroking Herbert’s fur.

“Yeah. Flu season probably caught him by surprise this year,” she muttered absentmindedly. She then turned to face Klutzy with a frown. “Is this why you were so worried?”

They nodded, the fear and worry for their friend evident in their eyes. Suddenly, Herbert let out a series of loud, rough-sounding coughs. Quietly groaning, he cracked open one eye, looked around at the group surrounding him, then fell back asleep.

Then, seemingly remembering the two agents he’d seen, his eyes shot open and he sat up with a jolt.

“Wha-agents?! Klutzy, how did these agents get inside the base?!” he yelled, though it sounded more like a rasp. Marcie crossed her flippers in annoyance.

“They brought us here because they-“ she started before Herbert cut her off with a gleeful look in his eyes.

“-wanted to get intel from two of the EPF’s best agents! Excellent work, Klutzy!” he exclaimed, crouching down to pat Klutzy on the head. In response, the crab facepalmed once more. Not noticing this response, Herbert quickly got up and brought the agents into another room.

“Uh, actually-“ Penny began, before a cage crashed down over the two penguins. On the other side, Herbert smiled menacingly, clearly trying to scare the two penguins.

However, the intended effect was completely negated by his bedhead (bedfur?) and the pink blanket wrapped around his shivering shoulders.

“Now, you foolish fowl, this entire lair blocks out the signal to your spy phones. Therefore, you will be unable to escape from my clutches as easily as you usually do,” the bear explained, pacing in front of the cage. He stopped and leaned on the cage, forehead pressed against the bars. “While you’re stuck here, we might as well get to know each other. Come on now, tell me all about yourselves: your favorite color, your favorite food, any and all EPF secrets-”

“We’re not telling your sick, snotty butt anything!” Marcie shot back, leaning towards Herbert…only to realize how bad of an idea getting face-to-face with someone with the flu was seconds later and darting back so quickly she nearly fell. Luckily, Penny managed to catch her at the last minute; Marcie gave her a grateful smile as she got up. Looking towards the front of the cage, she saw Herbert giving her an angry glare.

“I am not sick, Agent. And even if I were, I would never let you take advantage of that,” he replied, crossing his arms. Penny frowned at him, walking up to Herbert.

“I don’t know; you look pretty rough. If I could just take your temperature…” she muttered, digging around in her bag. She pulled out a forehead-scanning thermometer and reached for Herbert’s forehead, only for the polar bear to swat her flipper away, causing her to nearly drop the thermometer.

“Get away from me, you insipid bird!” he barked. Just as he did, another coughing fit overtook him; this one was severe enough to shake off his blanket and make him double over. When it was over, Herbert groaned, stood up, and rubbed his temples. “Ugh, where was I?”

“You were attempting to cough up your lungs?” Marcie deadpanned. Herbert simply glared at the small penguin, who merely shrugged in response.

“Shut up,” was all Herbert could manage. He rubbed his paws up and down his forearms and shivered furiously. “Eugh, why is this island always so cold?”

“That’s probably just your fever; it’s actually quite warm in here. If you’d just let me take your temperature…” Penny explained, lifting the thermometer again. Herbert growled-causing Penny to quickly put the thermometer back with a squeak-,picked his blanket up off the floor, and wrapped it around his shoulders once more.

“Will you stop with all this sickness nonsense already?! I feel perfectly fine; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever felt be-“ Suddenly, Herbert quickly clamped a paw over his mouth, eyes widening in alarm. Marcie looked over to her girlfriend in confusion before turning back to the polar bear.

“Uh, you okay dude?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. In response, Herbert quickly wrapped his other arm around his stomach and stumbled off, allowing the blanket to fall off his shoulders again. A moment later, Marcie heard loud gagging and retching from the other room. She couldn’t help but wince at the sounds of someone losing their lunch; she’d heard it pretty often when visiting her girlfriend in the sickbay at HQ.

After the sounds of vomiting died down, Klutzy scuttled into the room with an almost embarrassed look on their face. Penny sighed in frustration and buried her head in her flippers.

“Alright, I’ve had just about enough of this,” she muttered irritatedly, lifting her head after a few moments. Seeing her exasperated expression, Klutzy quickly pulled out a remote (Marcie assumed it controlled the cage) and quickly pushed a button. The cage lifted off the floor, and Penny marched towards the door, picking up the blanket along the way. Marcie gave her a worried glance and followed her girlfriend. While a temporary truce was implied, she wouldn’t put it past Herbert to try something underhanded.

It wasn’t exactly hard to find Herbert. The bear was curled up next to his recliner, looking absolutely miserable with his head laying on the armrest. The bucket was right next to him, and Marcie couldn’t help but scrunch her beak as Penny picked it up and went to rinse it out, being unable to stop herself from imagining its contents. After that, Penny walked back to Herbert, put the bucket down, and crouched so she was eye-to-eye with Herbert.

“Want me to take your temperature now?” she asked dryly, seeming thoroughly exasperated with the bear’s antics. Despite visibly shivering and looking like he hadn’t slept in days, Herbert lifted his head and glared at the small yellow penguin.

“Don’t. You. Dare,” he growled weakly. After a brief stare down, Herbert let out soft groan and fell back against the side of his recliner. Marcie couldn’t help but feel sorry for the him. The flu sucked, and she couldn’t imagine being pretty much alone during it. Looking concerned, Penny gently placed the blanket around his shoulders, pulled out the thermometer, and began scanning his forehead. It beeped after a few moments, and Penny pulled it away to check the reading.

“101.7 degrees. Can’t say I’m surprised…” she muttered. Herbert’s only response was to give a few weak coughs and pull the blanket tighter around his shoulders. Klutzy’s worried expression returned, and they glanced up at the two agents pleadingly. Frowning in sympathy, Penny stood up and turned to Marcie, Klutzy turning with her. “I’m gonna have Klutzy show me where Herbert keeps his medicine; can you keep him company while I’m gone?”

Marcie nodded, giving a quick salute. Penny smiled gratefully and followed Klutzy out of the room. Turning around, Marcie gave Herbert a quick scan. Looking over at the polar bear now, it was easy to forget he was Club Penguin’s public enemy number one; he was currently curled up in a ball in an attempt to warm himself up and shivering fiercely. She sighed and waddled over to Herbert.

“Alright, get up big guy,” she said, hauling him to his feet, “we’re getting you somewhere more comfortable. You’ll definitely be warmer when you’re off the floor.”

“Nngh,” he responded, seemingly drained of any energy he had possessed before. He then proceeded to slump forward and put all his weight on Marcie. She let out a squeak and nearly fell on her face before catching herself and pushing his head off of hers. His head now resting on her shoulder, Marcie managed to push him towards the recliner, where he promptly flopped down face first, his blanket floating down after him. Marcie casually dusted herself off.

“How’s that?” she asked, turning to face the polar bear. Herbert shifted to face the agent, still shivering as he did.

“M’ still cold…” he muttered, clutching the blanket and pulling it closer to his body. Nodding, Marcie began picking up the blankets (and towels) scattered across the floor and piled them onto the bear.

“Better?” she asked. Sighing in relief, Herbert curled up and snuggled deeper into the mass of blankets.

“…Thank you,” he murmured after a few moments. Marcie’s eyes widened in shock. Usually Herbert wasn’t even civil with her; he must have been really sick if he wasn’t even trying to be sarcastic. Now feeling rather awkward, Marcie began stroking Herbert’s fur, unsure of what else she could do. The bear leaned into her touch, so she continued to gently pet the back of his still-burning hot head for a while.

“I’m back! Geez, your cabinets are a mess,” Penny announced, walking back in with Klutzy close behind. Marcie backed away in order to let the yellow penguin do her work. Penny gently shook Herbert’s shoulder (or, more accurately, the part of the blankets covering his shoulder), causing the bear to blearily lift his head. “Alright buddy, I found some flu medicine. It should help with your symptoms, mostly the nausea. Do you need me to help you?”

“M’ not incompetent, agent,” he grumbled, sitting upright in his chair. He tiredly poured some of the medicine into the cup, with Penny making sure nothing spilled, and took a swig from it before slumping back into his chair and dozing off again. Nodding with satisfaction, Penny turned towards Klutzy, who looked incredibly grateful for the help.

“Think you can handle things from here, Klutzy?” she asked. They nodded. “Good. Let me just set a few things up here.”

———————————————————

“Now make sure he takes this every 4 to 6 hours as needed; he can take it with or without food. Oh, and make sure he stays hydrated!”

Marcie leaned against a nearby wall, glancing between the sleeping Herbert and Penny, who was crouching and giving Klutzy instructions. They had Herbert drink some tea to ease his nausea and had actually managed to get him to eat some crackers. However, the bear was asleep for most of their time at the base.

“Okay, I think that’s it! I’ve written down anything you need to remember, but you should come get me immediately if Herbert’s fever goes up significantly or if any new symptoms appear, alright?” Penny told the little crab, standing up from her crouch and stretching. Klutzy nodded in response, looking incredibly thankful for their help. “Alright, we’re gonna head out. Thank you for coming to get us.”

“Later!” Marcie said over her shoulder as she and Penny left. Walking out of the main area of the lair, Marcie turned towards Penny and smiled awkwardly. “Well, that was some day off, huh?”

“Yeah. Kinda bummed we couldn’t finish our date, though,” Penny replied. At this, Marcie grinned and pulled out her spy phone.

“Well, the pizza is back and my igloo. We can finish our date there; after all, the night is still young,” she purred. Instead of swooning, Penny chuckled.

“Did you seriously use your spyhone to teleport a pizza to your igloo?” she asked amusedly. Marcie awkwardly chuckled and rubbed the back of her head with her flipper, giving Penny the all the answers she needed. “Wow, you are such a dork.”

“Hey, do you wanna come or not?!” the pink penguin shot back, playfully shoving her girlfriend. Having made it through the winding tunnels of Herbert’s lair, the two opened the door to the cool, crisp air of the night. As they did, Penny gave a flirtatious smile and grabbed Marcie’s flipper and leaned in closer to the other penguin.