Hey to all my faithful readers who read this! I'm not dead! So please enjoy this chapter, longest I've written for this story. I'm getting better. And thanks to Defiance of Fate for letting me use his OC Ventusaqua10. I actually started this chapter following the mission but then I gave up and improvised. I like it better this way.

Questions For A Crab

A month is what it took for Gary to invent his machine. A whole month of me watching a crab. One damn crab. Oh well… Now he can, apparently, "question" it. I doubt that he will be able to hang on to it.

I walk into the Gadget room and instantly I notice two things first was the penguin standing next to Gary, and the crab in a cage that had a microphone pointing at it, which was attached to something labelled the "Crab Translator 3000". I sigh knowing that it WILL explode.

"So Gary, what failing invention do we have today?" I ask sarcastically. "And who is this? Getting rid JPeG and Rooks are ya?"

My tone is neutral, but still sarcastic. I know very well who this penguin is and I know why he is here, but Gary doesn't know that.

"Agent Icetail38," the inventor greeted. "This is Agent Ventusaqua10. He will be your partner."

My snarl is almost instant at those words. Ugh! Where is my life leading me? Oh right! My death eventually. Gary expects me to work in a team? I should have smuggled Nightshade along!

"Um… Hi?" Ventusaqua10 says nervously. I nearly laugh at the timid voice, but I don't. It would be out of character, cause I'm meant to be resentful, which I am. I decide to ignore him for now. Time to draw the conversation away from my "watcher".

"So," I say, dragging out the word. "You are going to question the crab? You know I can't speak crab."

Okay so that was a lie. I can speak crab, just not fluently, and Gary knows about the same as me. I just love sarcasm. I don't listen to G as he rambles on about the invention. My focus is on the crab. He seems to be trying to snap the microphone in some attempt to escape. I can imagine the explosion that is going to happen, the amazing escape of the crab and Gary's shout to me and Ventusaqua10 to chase it. So I decide to save Gary the mess and secretly use magic to quickly and quietly break the mesh on the cage.

The crab jumps out of the cage and scurries away.

"Come on Ventus, let's go crab hunting," I call cheerfully as I run out the door after the red blob in the near distance. I laugh at Gary's expression as he stares at the cage. Both Ventus & I were running at relatively the same speed. The crab was slower. I grin as we approach the edge of Ski Hill. The crab jumps so does Ventus, but he slips on the ice and starts to tumble.

"VENTUSAQUA10!" I shout angrily. I was going to make the crab slip then change the apparent surface of the hill so we could get down safely, but now I find myself shape-shifting into a large black bird with pure white eyes, the shadowbird, rocketing after my falling teammate.

~~TIME SKIP~~

After about a minute on the ground Ventus is waking after falling unconscious from hitting his head before I caught him. As he opened his eyes, I quickly transformed back into a penguin with my usual dance clothing and blue-black hair with white feathers. Neither Ventus nor I have our maps. How convenient…

"So where are we going now?" Ventus asked. I observe the snow and find crab-prints in the snow. Without saying a word I run in that direction. I ignore Ventus' protests, following the tracks to a cave with a door covering its entrance. Ventus tries to open the door. It's locked.

"So what do we do now?" he asked quietly. I think for a moment.

"Now I wish I brought Nightshade…" I say as I bring out a set of lock-picks. Ventus watches me as I carefully pry the lock open. We enter the cave that brings back memories of my "mission" with Gary's sled. I shiver as I see the rope trailing up the wall. My eyes follow to see where it leads. Seeing the cage above my head I quickly push Ventus behind a rock and sign for him to be quiet. As I investigate the rope I seemingly set off the trap. The cage falls and Ventus almost runs to try and help me, but we both freeze as the huge polar bear appears with Klutzy.

"Well, well, well Klutzy," he says, for the polar bear is very obviously male. "What do we have here?"

I smile, realising that this was going to be VERY cliché.

"Why, it looks like we've caught a nosy little bird snooping around our cave," it continued. Boring monologue much. Klutzy holds up my spy phone.

"How interesting ," the polar bear snarks, taking my phone in his paw, his words flowing seamlessly from one topic to another. "And what is this? It appears to have brought us a gift. How kind!"

"So you're the one who's been causing all the trouble," I say calmly. "I must say, sarcasm suits you ill."

"Guilty as charged," the polar bear replied, ignoring my last comment. "Have you enjoyed my handiwork?"

I snarl slightly as memories of the avalanche come to mind. I see the polar bear smirk.

"You must be the one who's been foiling all my plans. I must say you are a clever bird to have tracked me down. You must be very curious about what I am doing here on your cold miserable little island."

"I don't see why I should hold any curiosity to someone who hasn't even had the time to tell me their name," I snap.

The polar bear starts laughing then drags a flipchart over with the title "My Monologue version 7 extended cut". Damn.

"I am Herbert P. Bear, Esquire formerly of the Arctic Circle, and now prisoner of the frozen snow-ridden landscape you call home. I left my own cold and dismal home many months ago on an iceberg. It was a dangerous move, but I knew it was the only way to fulfil my greatest dream. Do you know what that dream was?"

I suddenly can't speak, fearing what was on the flipchart. So instead I shake my head, hoping he wasn't going to say what I feared he would. Herbert continued.

"To find somewhere warm to live! Somewhere sunny and hot, with sandy beaches and fresh fruit growing everywhere! I was sick and tired of freezing every day. So I leapt onto an iceberg and never looked back!"

"And how did you get here?" I asked carefully.

"A great deal of bad luck," Herbert replied. "I floated adrift and alone for days, then weeks, then months. The weather did get warmer, but there was no sign of land anywhere. At last, when I had almost given up hope, I spotted an island in the distance. I rowed with all my might, trying to reach it, but too my horror, I realized that it was covered in snow, too!"

"I'm sorry?" I say, unsure of the reaction. Herbert took no notice.

"I was doing my best to row away, but then my iceberg tipped!"

I heard no more as my head swam. All I saw was Herbert's mouth moving. The pictures flipped by but they were fuzzy. Eventually Herbert stopped talking and looked at me expectantly.

"I will stop you Herbert," I snarled struggling to keep my eyes open. Herbert's laughter was the last thing I heard before I blacked out. When I woke up, I found Ventus looking at me worriedly through the bars of the cage.

"How long was I out?" I ask in a pained voice.

"About a minute," Ventus replied. "Herbert just left."

I nod then look around the cave. I noticed the weird contraption labelled "CAGE LIFT". When I point it out to Ventus, he promptly walks over to it and adjusts a few things. Suddenly the cage is lifted and I am free.

"Grab anything that looks to be of any use," I order. "We need to get out of here."

Ventus nods then moves towards a rope. I pick up the anchor that is surprisingly light. I hand the anchor to Ventus when I spy a blueprint on the wall. I run over to the wall and snatch the blueprint into my flippers, staring at it.

"This is Gary's," I whisper. I roll up the sheet and keep it for later. When I turn back to Ventus I see that he has made a makeshift grappling hook out of the anchor and rope. We waddle to the door and open it to make our escape. But before we could move, the snow heap above the door fell down I sigh as I watch it block our exit.

"Call Jet Pack Guy," I say. Ventus pulls out his spy phone then groans as he shows me the screen. There is no service. Fishsticks….

I look around for anything that would be of use to us. Hot sauce bottle on table, not quick enough. The only thing that could get us of here quickly would be me. I sigh and summon a fireball in my flippers. Ventus watches amazed as I let the fireball fly through the snow, creating a hole, then dissipate into smoke.

"Ask either your Grandfather or your cousin," I tell him as the only explanation I will give. He shrugged as if he had almost expected the answer. We ran out the door and back to the cliff where we quickly throw the makeshift grappling hook to the top and climb up.

"And now it is a race against time," Ventus says as we run down to Ski Village. He points out the lodge and how he heard that it was part of Herbert's plan to chop it down with a weird contraption. I say nothing as I turn towards the building, scrutinizing it.

"He's probably behind the Ski Lodge," I assert quickly. "I suggest that we try and find out where by listening through the walls. We don't want to reveal ourselves to him until we have a solid plan."

"This plan isn't solid?" Ventus asks. I shake my head.

"Until we know where he is any plan we make at this point could easily crumble to pieces if given the right factors."

With that Ventus nods and we walk into Ski Lodge. We find it easy to pinpoint where Herbert is because he talks so loud. Hearing what he was doing at that moment helped me form a better plan. His contraption was broken and he was hungry for a seaweed pizza.

"Ventus," I say quietly. "Go to the pizza parlour and get a seaweed pizza for our fuzzy fiend."

Ventus nods as he runs off. I keep listening to Herbert and Klutzy as they fumble about their contraption. Many minutes later I am beginning to question Herbert's intelligence and wonder where Ventus is. That is when he burst through the door holding the pizza box I sent him to get.

"What took you so long?" I hiss as he walks over.

"I had to cross all creation and back to find random stuff just so I could get this pizza!" he whispers. "Cut me some slack!"

I smile and inspect the pizza.

"The pizza's cold," I comment jokingly. I motion for him stay put until I'm finished. I walk out the door labelled 'Gone Fishing'. Beyond the door is Herbert, Klutzy and a weird automated lumbering vehicle. I carefully leave the pizza next to Herbert and wait till he notices it and starts eating it.

With Herbert's attention turned away from his broken machine I take the chance to sabotage it, before slipping back into the Ski Lodge, listening to Herbert as he finished his meal and turn his focus back to the machine.

"Ah-ha, that should do it Klutzy," he says. "Full steam ahead."

We hear the clanking of metal before a scream of surprise. Ventus and I snicker as we walk out into full view of Herbert as he falls into the frozen lake. His surprise turns to anger when he sees us.

When he manages to get out, I lift my flipper and wave at him with a huge smirk on my face. Just then Gary decides to sneak up on us.

"Good job agents," he says. Ventus jumps at his voice. I remain impassive as he walks into view. Just then G's spy phone rings. Answering it, he raises an eyebrow before handing the phone to me. As the yelling starts I hang up, not caring for the bear's words.

"Gary," I say pointing to him, before I gesture towards Herbert across the lake. "Polar Bear."

"Did you discover anything else on this mission?" he asks sceptically.

"I found your lost blueprints," I say, handing the paper to the inventor. He inspects them and nods. Then we walk back to HQ, discussing the mission and Herbert.

That night, a lone shadow moved silently through the forest making its way, deep into the woods. There it met with a white bear. They exchanged a few words before coming to an agreement. Both then turned and disappeared into the shadows, running back to whence they came. The bear towards the wilderness and the other figure, back towards civilisation.

IMPORTANT! - I won't be able to update frequently for a while as I have lost my main means of typing chapters. I had to give my laptop back to the school. Please bear with me! I'm working as hard as I can.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except Icetail38. Club Penguin belongs to Disney, Ventusaqua10 belongs to Defiance of Fate and Galaxystar16 belongs to Cloudstar36. Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter. Please review and tell me that your still with me!

Thanks!

~Icetail of WindClan - Meta-If~