Chapter Text
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At this point, Jet Pack Guy was becoming a little too familiar with executing rescues in the Box Dimension; for his liking.
So when Rookie frantically called him saying a penguin had fallen off of the Box pathway into the void, Jet Pack Guy gave his dutiful affirmative, hung up, and sighed.
He spun his chair to swiftly stand from his seat in the EPF command room, and made his way to the launchpad.
Towards Rookie's igloo, Jet Pack Guy took off. The fastest entrance to the box dimension, he knew by default.
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Rookie wasn't in his igloo when Jet Pack Guy arrived. The red penguin had landed, and let himself in with the spare igloo key Rookie had given him years prior.
He spared no time, and stepped into the box portal sitting in the far corner of the colourful, bright igloo.
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The Box Dimension was always disconcerting to step into.
The nausea faded after the first couple of times following the Box Dimension's discovery, but the feeling of gravity warping beneath his flippers never failed to slightly disturb JPG.
Stepping onto the boxy platform, Jet Pack Guy spotted Rookie easily, standing on the corner of the pathway, flippers on his head in panic.
The green penguin, with his regular propellor hat and red Hawaiian shirt, stared diligently out into the purple void, posture tense.
"Rookie." Jet Pack Guy called in greeting upon his approach.
"JPG!" Rookie turned around quickly. "Oh, thank goodness! Dude!"
The green penguin began to ramble frantically, and he put one flipper to his head once again. "I was in my igloo, working on that report for the EPF's public secrecy- and-and I might have fallen asleep, but then I got a call from a buddy saying someone fell into the Box Dimension, and I'm usually supposed to be there to help as the island's leading expert on the Box Dimension! But I got here too late and-"
"Rookie. Hey!" Jet Pack Guy interrupted him by waving a flipper in his face.
Rookie froze, eyes wide. He shook his head slightly, and tried to catch his breath.
Jet Pack Guy put a flipper on Rookie's shoulder, and continued. "You're allowed to be busy, and you're allowed to rest." He stated gently. "You can't be in two places at once. You got here when you could, and you're handling it now."
"I-" Rookie sighed. "I really shouldn't be letting things like this happen, dude." He gestured anxiously out to the purple void.
JPG shook his head. "Breathe, Rooks." He demonstrated by taking a deep breath of his own, flipper still on Rookie's shoulder.
Rookie closed his eyes and attempted to mimic him a couple of times, and eventually managed to calm himself slightly.
"Good, okay." Jet Pack Guy commanded, finally removing his flipper to step back once. "You did the right thing by calling me. I can find them, I just need to know the direction they went off into."
"Right, okay, yes." Rookie nodded with a grounding sigh. "They're, uh, a pretty new penguin, peach colour, and um, according to the call they fell off of this corner, and floated off straight that way." The green penguin pointed.
"Great." Jet Pack Guy nodded, and primed his jet pack. "I've got this."
Rookie smiled in return. "Thank you, JPG." He replied as the red penguin launched off of the platform.
Jet Pack Guy hovered overhead for a moment, and turned to send a salute down towards Rookie.
Rookie's smile grew, and he mimicked a goofier version of the salute back.
"OH! And remember," Rookie called up to him after a thought seemingly occurred, "this place is kind of... weird! Sometimes! Please be careful! Don't let it mess with your head too much!"
Jet Pack Guy nodded. "...Got it." He responded simply. "See you soon."
And with that, the red penguin took off in the direction that Rookie pointed, into the purple void of the Box Dimension.
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Jet Pack Guy soared through the Box Dimension void, scanning the horizon for anything peach or penguin shaped.
The large portal on the box platform made a slight sound when it was nearby, but now that he was a considerable distance away, it was quiet.
Eerily quiet.
Even his jet pack, modified as it was to be quieter for stealth, seemed to be somehow more muted amongst the swirly purple haze, and floating boxes in the distance.
Jet Pack Guy knew he was moving forwards, could feel the familiar momentum, albeit warbly with the odd gravity of the dimension.
Still, visually, objects in the distance seemed to somehow move away from him at a faster pace than he could ever hope to match.
The void around him seemed to distort, expand, and contract nauseatingly.
This was normal. Guy knew this was normal. He had done a rescue in the Box Dimension before, with very similar, eerie circumstances.
He pressed on. Eyes under his shades diligently scanning for anything out of place.
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After a few minutes, Jet Pack Guy finally spotted something out of place amongst the purple void.
A penguin, dark purple, amidst a couple of boxes; growing rapidly closer instead of farther away.
The penguin he was looking for was peach, Guy knew. Did a second penguin fall in, or did the peach penguin have another colour on them, perhaps?
There was no time to question it. JPG increased his speed, and the figure of the penguin grew clearer.
"Hey. Hello?" Jet Pack Guy called out once he was within earshot.
There was no response.
Growing closer now, Jet Pack Guy blinked a couple of times in an attempt to clear his vision.
Something wasn't quite right.
The purple penguin was facing towards him, flippers seemingly casually rested on a box, as if it were a table below them.
Now close enough to see the penguin's face, JPG instinctively backed up slightly with the realization that something was, indeed, very wrong.
The "penguin's" face, their entire figure, was intact. But, it was primarily made up of cascading, semi-opaque cyan, yellow, magenta, and black pixels, as well as green lines of code flashing and fluttering about.
At a distance, the penguin looked to be dark purple, which had turned out to be the semi-opaque pixels reflecting the box dimension's purple haze through them.
Blank eyes, and a vacant expression. Whatever this was did not seem to acknowledge Jet Pack Guy in the slightest.
Jet Pack Guy only stared. Around him, a few boxes floated much closer than they had been a minute prior.
Feeling quite enclosed, JPG made a move to get himself away and move on with his search. One of the more disturbing illusions of the Box Dimension, he figured.
However, before he could fully look away, The corrupted penguin's head slowly shifted to focus on him.
Hovering frozen, surrounded by closing-in boxes, a deep, unexpected horror overtook Jet Pack Guy.
Guy could do nothing but watch as the figure slowly raised its flashing, corrupted flipper to wave sluggishly.
Jet Pack Guy stared on, barely breathing.
After a short moment of waving, the corrupted penguin's flipper began to fade until it was completely gone.
This was followed by the rest of the penguin's body, and face.
Suddenly, there was nothing there but a few boxes. No penguin at all, besides Guy.
A few boxes, alarmingly close to Jet Pack Guy, closing in, nearly being charred by the jets on his back.
Guy frantically looked around, and flew upwards to make some distance between himself and the too-close boxes. He took in breaths like he had been underwater for too long.
The void of the Box Dimension around him appeared as it always did; purple haze, and boxes at varying levels in the distance.
He put a flipper to his head and breathed a quiet, "What?" to himself.
None of that was real. It couldn't have been.
Rookie had told him not to let the Box Dimension mess with his head. Clearly the farther you went, the worse the illusions got.
His mission was to find the peach penguin who had fallen off of the Box Dimension platform. Who knew what kinds of illusions they were going through.
He had to get them out of here. The real penguin, lost somewhere in the void. Jet Pack Guy closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Rookie had told him not to let it mess with his head.
He wasn't going to let the Box Dimension mess with his head.
JPG shook himself rapidly. A few more deep breaths, and he straightened his shades and lucky tie.
Jet Pack Guy kept pressing forwards into the purple void.
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Flying on, a few more thankfully uneventful minutes passed by before Jet Pack Guy spotted something again.
Hesitant but hopeful, the red penguin once again picked up his speed towards the figure.
Upon close inspection, a small peach penguin in the distance.
"HELLO?" Jet Pack Guy opted to shout out this time. "Are you... from Club Penguin?" He continued as he approached rapidly closer.
Immediately, the peach penguin seemed to startle, and they flipped over clumsily amidst the floaty gravity. In doing so, the box they were clinging onto with their flippers slipped away, and they flailed a little bit.
"Hello?! I-I am, yeah!" A small voice responded from the peach penguin, and Jet Pack Guy's shoulders dropped a little in relief.
He smiled slightly as he flew up to the penguin. "Hang on, I'm coming to get you." He assured them.
Just as Jet Pack Guy got close enough to hold a conversation, the peach penguin held out their flippers with an apprehensive look. "W-wait!" They exclaimed.
They stared at JPG's face for a moment, and flailed a little bit in the gravity. "How do I know if you're real?" They finally asked.
"Mm." Jet Pack Guy nodded once, and put a flipper to his beak. "I could ask you the same question." He mumbled.
Guy sighed. "Well, um- my name is Jet Pack Guy, I have a pet fish named Flash,-"
"Say- uh, say Kachow!" The peach penguin blurted with a point of their flipper. "To- to prove you're real. Something... y'know, the Box Dimension illusions probably wouldn't say, right?"
Guy blinked. "... I'm not saying that." He replied without hesitation.
The peach penguin breathed out, and seemed to cringe at themself for a moment, before shrugging. "...Okay, yeah, that's fair, sorry. It was just the first thing I thought of..."
They looked away, ashamed. "It's been super scary out here... but I trust you."
Jet Pack Guy sighed, and rubbed his eyes under his shades for a moment.
"...Kachow." JPG mumbled, with slightly gritted teeth.
The peach penguin stared for a moment, before they started giggling. "Thank you." They laughed. "You didn't have to do that."
Jet Pack Guy just sighed. "It's fine. Let's just get you home, alright?"
A lot of the previous anxiety seemed to melt off of the peach penguin's frame. "Thank you, seriously." They sighed with a little more laughter.
"Just glad I found you." JPG replied simply.
Without any more fanfare, Jet Pack Guy offered his flippers, and the peach penguin took them. Securely holding on, Guy began to fly back towards the direction of the box platform.
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The ride back to the box platform was mostly silent. Jet Pack Guy continued to scan the horizon for their destination, holding on tight to the penguin with his flippers.
After a few minutes, the peach penguin spoke. "My name is Lulu, by the way."
Jet Pack Guy looked at the penguin held on to his flippers below him. "Nice to meet you. You already know my name."
Lulu just nodded. "Yup!" They smiled. "And... Thank you again for this. I try to be pretty careful, but like, keyword is *try*, because, I'm uh, usually pretty clumsy..."
JPG nodded with a fond smile. "Sounds like someone I know."
Lulu seemed to watch him for another moment.
"You probably get asked this a lot," they eventually spoke again, "but where did you get your jet pack? It's awesome!"
"Hm?" Guy began to respond, "oh, thanks. It's actually custom, I'm constantly working to improve it. One of my favorite pastimes."
Lulu nodded with a smile. "Neat!" They responded simply.
Jet Pack Guy was silent for a few more minutes as they traveled through the purple void, and Lulu didn't speak up to ask any more questions.
Guy frowned in thought for a moment.
Besides the disturbing illusion earlier, this rescue had been pretty cut and dry. Still, the red penguin had to subtly shake his head to get rid of the afterimage of the corrupted penguin; to focus his vision on the real penguin he had saved in his grasp.
He took a breath. "Hey." He finally addressed them, after another moment of silence. "Did you... see anything, strange.. Out there?" He asked, looking down towards the peach penguin below him.
"Oh yeah." Lulu responded without hesitation. They let out another nervous laugh. "There were some really weird, unexplainable, disturbing visuals. And the sounds? Heh."
They shook their head and blinked a few times. "I'm not sleeping tonight, I already know that."
JPG hummed and shrugged with his head in response. "That... seems to be typical for this place. Just try to stay on the box platform next time, and you should be safe."
"Oho!" Lulu laughed again, albeit humourlessly. "Nope! Not happening."
"Once I get my flippers back on the snow of Club Penguin, I am. Never coming back in here again. Yeah. Nope!"
Jet Pack Guy was silent as he listened to them ramble, and instead focused on their destination, now a distant speck on the horizon.
Neither penguin spoke for a moment. In the far distance, Guy spotted a tiny green speck that was Rookie, pacing back and forth on the box platform. Something in Guy settled at the sight.
JPG sighed after another moment of silence. "Rookie's got you. So do I. So do all of the other penguins."
"If you don't want to come back here, that's understandable, but know that you are safe with us. Both here, and on the island."
Lulu looked sheepishly up towards Jet Pack Guy again after a moment.
"Thank you, that means a lot." They spoke earnestly.
The box platform, large portal, and Rookie appeared much closer now. As Jet Pack Guy and Lulu approached, Rookie finally spotted them. He let out a hopeful gasp, with an enthusiastic wave.
Neither penguin approaching from the void had the flippers available to wave back, but Lulu returned Rookie's enthusiastic smile, while Jet Pack Guy offered a smaller, proud smile of his own.
The time came to land on the platform at last. JPG executed a smooth landing with practiced ease. He set Lulu down without any further fanfare.
Rookie immediately ran up to the pair of them.
"JPG! Lulu! Are you guys alright?! I was so worried!" He exclaimed.
"No need to worry, we're fine" Jet Pack Guy responded as he took a moment to straighten his tie and jacket. "Right, Lulu?"
Guy looked towards the peach penguin next to him.
"Yeah." Lulu smiled. "Can we... go back to Club Penguin now?"
"This way!" Rookie promptly pointed. The three penguins made their way to the gigantic box portal at the entrance.
JPG and Rookie made sure to let Lulu step through the portal first, before following. The two shared an affirming glance as they did so.
A quick flash of purple, and then their flippers met the snowy ground of the Town.
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Instantly, Guy was met with the familiar, chilly breeze of Club Penguin Island. All of the previous disorientation, and much of the stress melted off of his frame. He took in a quick, grounding breath.
Only to be immediately flocked by the bustling activity of the Town.
JPG took a quick glance towards Lulu to confirm that they had indeed made it out, and found them surrounded by a few new friends, seemingly pointing excitedly towards himself and Rookie.
Being such a new penguin, there was a likelihood that Lulu hadn't known of his and Rookie's apparent "mascot" status in the island's community.
Clearly now, they did. Before the true chaos unfolded, JPG made sure to nudge Rookie, to hand out a few stamps, postcards, and friend requests to the surrounding penguins; Lulu in particular.
In the growing crowd, Jet Pack Guy made his best attempt to speak to Lulu directly. "If you're ever in trouble again, don't hesitate to call us."
"Thank you guys!" He heard the peach penguin call back through the crowd.
Maybe they would be afraid of the Box Dimension for a while; that much could be assumed. But seeing now, how many friends they appeared to be making, just from discussing with the surrounding fans about their encounter with the two present mascots; JPG knew Lulu would be fine from here on out.
Amidst the ever-growing crowd, Jet Pack Guy turned to Rookie, who had been watching Lulu out of the corner of his eye as well. Rookie made eye contact with JPG almost in sync, and the two shared a proud smile.
Rookie raised his flipper up to Jet Pack Guy, who rolled his eyes slightly, before returning the offered high five with a fond smile.
"Yes!!" Rookie muttered under his breath as they did so.
More and more penguins made their way into the Town to try and get a glimpse of the impromptu mascot meet up.
Communicating wordlessly, JPG and Rookie nodded at each other.
"Let's go!" Rookie called out to the now quite large crowd.
They began to roam the island for a little bit; handing out stamps, postcards, playing games, and interacting with penguins where they could.
Penguins new and old, watched on with a fond fascination. Lulu, still amongst them, discovering one of the many joys of the island with newfound delight.
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