Hello penguins!
At long last, the first book in the Agents of Club Penguin series is here: The Silent Army!
THE SILENT ARMY
The journal of Egaro:
The following is classified information. It is intended for those willing to learn our history—history many have forgotten through the years. many, many of those years have passed, leaving only distant memories of these events. This may be no more than a story to you, but it is very, very real. I can only hope you treat this journal with care, respect, and honor.
If you are willing to take the truth, read on.
-Egaro
September 19th, 2007
Two days before the fall fair
Egaro stared at the ocean waves gently lapping on the rocks. Penguins passed him by with barely any notice or care on their way to the Lighthouse. He picked up a shell and tossed it in the water. In two days, Rockhopper’s surprise boxes would be opened, and the Fall Fair would begin. Yet as excitement filled the air, Egaro was dull.
Egaro was always being teased for his clumsiness. While most penguins zoomed down the slopes in sled races, Egaro was sliding backwards and forwards and falling down. While most penguins were catching fish to fill their empty stomachs, Egaro was being shocked by angry jellyfish. While most penguins were catching beanbags for community service, Egaro was being crushed by anvils…the list went on and on.
A penguin walked up and sat down.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Egaro sighed. “Not much, Jmg. You?”
Jmg rolled his eyes. He took off his Viking helmet and waved a flipper around his face. The penguin was constantly getting overheated in his heavy attire. “You always say ‘not much’, and usually that’s true. But something’s bugging you. Just tell me!”
Egaro shook his head. “You should know what’s wrong. I’m a klutz! The PSA had to come save me when I broke the iceberg in a weak point with a jackhammer!”
“You have to admit, you are kind of cool for being the only penguin to tip the ‘berg,” Jmg said.
“I didn’t tip it, I broke it. There’s a difference. If I tipped it, I would’ve got coins.”
“No one knows if that’s true,” the penguin pointed out. “It is a rumor, after all.”
“You’re missing the point! How about the time I wound up stuck on a stalactite while I was flying a jet pack for two hours? Or when I dropped my electric guitar from the stairs in the Lighthouse and almost hit a penguin in the head? Or how about when I fell off the VIP seats in The Stage and ruined the piano? The list can go on, Jmg, and you know it!”
Jmg sighed. “This is the fifth time this week, Egaro. Cheer up; the Fall Fair is in two days!”
“I don’t care,” Egaro said dully. “I’ll probably mess that up, too. I mess everything up!”
“No, you--” Jmg stopped as his Spy Phone rang. “I’ll be right back,” he said. He walked to the rocks near the Lighthouse and sat down. “What is it, G? I’m in the middle of something important!”
“Well, you need to come to HQ immediately!” G replied. “This is more important than the important thing you’re in the middle of!”
Jmg paused a moment, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right there. Should I ask Egaro to come, too? He’s right here.”
“Tell him it’s something more…personal,” G replied. Then the line went dead.
In truth, Egaro had heard every word that passed. He had extremely keen hearing and eyesight. The penguin kept his head down and continued to stare at his reflection. He picked up a rock and threw it at the image as Jmg told him and left. Then he got up and began to waddle away.
***
“I have called you here on account of your trustworthiness, honesty, and skills. I have a very important, top-secret mission for you.”
Six penguins stood gathered around G: Taco, Jmg, Twilight, Mod, Bubo, and Mail. The penguins had been called from their daily lives to take on G’s new mission.
“Apparently, a gang is forming. They call themselves The Pros. These group members are apparently innocent, calling out about pro parties. But when we had an agent infiltrate the party, he found out that it was much more than a party, and more of a meeting. But his communications with us on his Spy Phone were cut off. A radio signal had stopped its function. After that, the agent didn’t even remember the incident. We hope to disguise you as Pros and infiltrate the meetings. Do your best to remember everything; don’t write it down or communicate it to us. Got it?”
The agents nodded.
“Taco,” G said, “you are in charge of this mission. Good luck to all of you!” G turned and walked away.
“This is gonna be fun,” Mail muttered.
“Cheer up, Mail!” Waddles said. “We might be famous by the end of this. Who knows!”
“I know that this isn’t worth it,” Bubo said.
“He’s got a point,” Jmg replied. “There’s no reward for this.”
“And when do we get rewarded?” Twilight answered. “We’re agents; this is our job!”
Suddenly the agents broke into argument. “Guys, stop arguing!” Mod exclaimed.
“Everyone, please stop,” Taco said quietly. Suddenly the agents stopped their quarreling and stood at attention. If there was one thing that the agents knew, it was how to obey the leader of a mission.
“First off, we are going to find costumes,” Taco said. “We need some Roman Soldier Helmets and Fishing Vests. The vests will be easy. The Roman Soldier Helmets are super rare. Does anyone know where to get them?”
Jmg grinned. “I know just the place.”
***
The agents stood at the door of Egaro’s igloo. “Are you sure this is such a good idea?” Mail asked. “Surely Egaro won’t just give us the helmets. Who would?”
Jmg sighed. “No one knows Egaro better than I do. He’ll give them up without question.”
Taco stepped up. “We have to rely on Jmg’s trust in this penguin. We all have to learn to rely on each other. If we do well on this mission, we will probably become a squad.”
“Oh, boy!” Bubo said sarcastically. “It’s always been my dream to work with five other partners!”
“Bubo, just stop it!” Waddles said. “It’s stupid!”
“Yeah, Bubo,” Twilight said. “Stop being a jerk.”
“So now I’m being told to shut up by the girls, huh? Bring it!”
“Stop it! Here comes Egaro.”
The other penguins hid at Taco’s remark. Only their new leader and Jmg stayed at the door. “Hey, Egaro!” Jmg said. “I needed to ask if I could borrow—“ The penguin disappeared before Jmg could finish. “What—“ he exclaimed. Then Egaro came back, wearing a vest and carrying seven Roman Soldier Helmets. “I am coming with you,” he said.
“As leader of this group, I tell you that you cannot come!” Taco exclaimed.
“Unfortunately, unless you accept me as part of this group, you cannot tell me that I cannot do anything.”
“He’s good,” Mail whispered.
“Shh!” Waddles exclaimed.
“Come out,” Egaro said. “I can hear you, anyway.”
The agents emerged, dumbfounded. “How did you know—“ Bubo began.
“He just told you!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Very well, then,” Taco said. “Just one question: How did you know?”
Egaro grinned and repeated G’s favorite words. “An agent should know everything that every other agent knows.”
“So you spied on us?” Taco asked.
Egaro hesitated, then replied, “Yep.”
***
October 7th, 2007
After a long time of preparing so they would look and sound like Pros, the agents were finally ready. Dressed in Roman Soldier Helmets and Fishing Vests, all seven were identical.
“Do you really think this is going to work?” asked Bubo.
Mod stopped. His eyes clouded over.
“Mod?” asked Taco.
The penguin suddenly snapped out of his trance.
“What’s wrong?” Mail asked.
“I…I don’t know,” Mod replied. I saw us running out of an igloo…then it exploded!”
“The future, perhaps?” G suggested.
“In any case, it can’t matter, right?” asked Jmg.
“Who knows?” Twilight replied.
“What are we waiting for?” Egaro asked as he walked in. “Let’s get started.”
***
Hearts pounding with exhilaration, the agents waited in the Town for a Pro “party”. It was not long.
“Pro Party at my igloo! Add me to come!” a penguin in a Roman Soldier Helmet and Fishing Vest shouted. The agents quickly sent letters asking to be buddies, and they were all accepted. Quickly, they used their Spy Phones to teleport to the Pro’s igloo.
“Is everyone here?” A penguin shouted. “Everyone?”
“Everyone who matters!” shouted another. Snickers went through the audience.
“Very well. Pinkstar will speak now!”
Egaro almost dropped to the floor. Pinkstar was the name of one of his good friends. Maybe it was a different Pinkstar? But when the penguin stepped up, he knew it was the same penguin.
“Fellow Pros,” Pinkstar began, “as your leader, I have some very important news. We have been training for almost a year now, in secret, for this moment. Not a word has been spoken about our army. Now, our silent army is ready to strike!”
Cheers went through the crowd, but the agents were numb with shock.
“That’s—“ Mail began furiously, but Taco nudged him to remind him of their mission.
“—the best idea I’ve ever heard!” he finished with fake emphasis on “best”.
The crowd quieted as Pinkstar spoke again. “We will make our move tomorrow at seven. We will come from the Dojo and move over the mountain and infiltrate the Penguin Secret Agency’s HQ. Destroy everything and everyone there. Are we clear?”
Approval went through the crowd.
“Get a good night’s rest,” Pinkstar called as she left the podium.
“We should, too,” Waddles said. “We’re going to need it.”
***
The agents ran out of the igloo with after the rest of the crowd. They were excited to tell G the news…and as they ran, the igloo exploded. However, the agents were not surprised. These Pros were ready to fight, and the agents would give them a fight they’d never forget.
***
OCTOBER 8, 2007
The agents were crouched down on the mountain, awaiting the arrival of the Pros. Hundreds of spies sat, clutching the prototype snowball “guns” that had been handed out by G. They had a short, large chute and a trigger. You scooped snow into a tube at the top, then pulled the trigger to make it fire. They were mainly designed for knocking enemies back and melee combat.
Twilight’s flippers were getting stiff, so she stood up to stretch. She saw a flash of gold. Thinking fast, she took her gun and fired. It knocked someone to the ground.
Waddles darted over to see who it was. Twilight and the rest of the agents accompanied her.
“A spy,” Bubo commented mildly.
“He’s out cold,” Jmg said, with some delight. “Take his hat and vest and shoot a dark green Paintball at him. That ought to make him think twice about spying.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little…harsh?” Egaro asked.
“It’s a great idea!” Mail said, enthusiastic for a fight.
Twilight, in the meantime, was gazing. She saw a mound of navy blue swarming up to meet them.
“Here they come,” Taco whispered.
“Why, there must be thousands!” Bubo exclaimed.
Taco stood his ground, ready to fight. The friends around him loaded their snowball guns.
“Ready!” Taco shouted. All the agents loaded their snowball guns.
The leader waited until he could see the red fur on their helmets. “Aim!” he shouted. The followers pointed at a specific target.
It was several painful minutes until Taco saw what he was looking for: the whites of their eyes. “Fire!” he shouted.
Immediately, the battlefield was filled with flying snowballs, while Pros flung their maces at the agents furiously. Quite a few went flying down the face of the mountain, no doubt to land in the snow at the bottom, with any luck.
All the agents were fighting furiously. Mail was thwacking an already unconscious Pro with the butt of his gun, shouting with glee. One tried to get too close; he took the helmet of the unconscious one and threw it at the newly unconscious one.
Bubo and Jmg had teamed up and were pelting Pros with snowballs.
“Drive them toward the cliff,” Bubo muttered. “We can get ‘em off from there.”
Together, the two worked to fire until the Pros lost their footing and fell down, down to the bottom of the mountain. They glanced at each other, satisfied, before returning to the fight.
Waddles and Twilight were working together, too. Twilight, with her fast reflexes, would distract and annoy a group of Pros, while Waddles picked them off one by one.
Mod was standing in the middle of the field, his eyes glazed over.
“Idiot!” Mail said. “Run, smart one!”
Mod’s eyes cleared. “Mail, run toward the edge of the mountain. Pretend to jump off, but grab the branch right below there.” Mod pointed. “I’ll hide and fire at them to push them off. I had another vision.”
Mail nodded quickly and jumped. The interested Pros looked down…and were hit with heavy fire. They fell off the side of the mountain.
Meanwhile, Taco was surrounded. The furious Pros around him were attempting to club the senses out of him, but Taco kept snatching their maces and hurling it at them. He was doing a good job of fending for himself.
Egaro was in the hardest fight of all: he had found Pinkstar. She swung at him furiously, and he ducked.
“Why?” Egaro asked. “I thought you were my friend! Friends don’t do this to their friends!”
“Friend, my word!” Pinkstar replied. “You were always a stupid fool! A klutz, a useless piece of garbage!”
The words stung. Furiously, he attempted to shower her with snowballs, but she merely laughed and clubbed him—hard. He flew through the air, over the side of the cliff.
“Have a nice life!” Pinkstar called wickedly. “That is to say, if you live!” Then she turned around and heard a vicious clicking noise. She was surrounded by the other agents.
“You’re a traitor and a murderer, Pinkstar,” Taco said.
“We don’t like murderers,” Bubo added.
“And traitors deserve to die a traitor’s death,” Mail commented, the light of madness gleaming in his eyes.
“So you’ll pay the price for what you’ve done,” Waddles said.
“Aye, to our friend and to everyone here on this island,” Twilight muttered.
“Egaro is my friend,” Jmg said, “klutz or not. So we’re going to do something about it.”
Pinkstar swung her mace at them furiously. Jmg caught it and snapped it in two. The vicious leader’s eyes widened.
“Have a nice life, Pinkstar,” Taco said, mimicking her words to Egaro. “That is to say, if you live.” And on that cue, the agents fired.
***
Egaro sat at the bottom of the cliff. He stared at his red cap. His whole body was on fire with pain; he had him stumped and scraped along logs, finally getting trapped in a snowbank. And though he was in pain, the thing that hurt the most was seeing that cap, torn and tattered to bits. One thing was for sure; he would never wear it again.
His watch and shoes had also been ruined in the fall, and his shirt was scratched open in numerous places, not to mention the damage done to his physical body. He closed his eyes and let the darkness of sleep take over him.
***
When Egaro next opened his eyes, it was in a very different place.
“Is he awake?” a penguin whispered. He recognized it as Jmg.
“I think so,” Taco replied.
“Guys?” Egaro said weakly. “What happened?”
Jmg ran to hug him, but Mail stopped him. “We’re not supposed to touch him, wrapped up like that.” Turning his attention to his friend, Mail said, “You look like a mummy, wrapped up in those bandages.”
“The world looks so bright,” he commented. “Why?”
“You aren’t wearing your sunglasses,” Waddles replied. “They took out the glass from all over you. There were tons of little shards.”
“Where’s the frame? And my cap?”
Twilight produced the frame. It was squashed, completely ruined. She also took out his cap…in perfect condition.
“You’ve been out for two weeks,” she said. “When you were awake, I figured you’d want it.”
“Thanks,” he replied. “Now tell me what happened.”
The agents explained what had happened to Pinkstar, and how the Pros had fled when she flew over the edge. They went on to explained how the agents had tracked down as many as possible and banned them.
“But I have a feeling our battle has just begun,” Taco said.
“Maybe…” Egaro replied. “But as long as I have my friends, that’s what counts.”
