On the dead street of Knight Avenue, in the middle of the day, two catgirls went head-to-head.
One was part of a weakly-cobbled-together organization with a shoddy lair and an even shoddier MO of capturing only two people.
The other was part of a better-built organization dedicated to stopping oddness...and part of a whole village of catpeople who were led by a corrupt king who was hellbent on capturing said two people because of his impatience.
As they jumped in mid-air, one made sure to hit the other square in the face with a simple claw rake upon passage. It was simple, it was not-so-sweet, and it managed to cause some degree of pain upon landing.
"Nngh...that was a dirty move, Peaches!"
Peaches chuckled. "No one said this fight had to be fair, Aozora."
"What?!"
"You heard me."
Aozora stared. Stared in utter disbelief of this catgirl, who had been kicked down by life, and her witty comeback and...was actually right. Just a little bit, not by much, but...she was right.
...No. That was not right. She was not right. She needed to get her head out of the dirt.
Aozora's teeth grit together. A growl came forth. She ripped off her cloak in one fell swoop. "I'LL KILL YOU!!" she screamed, bursting towards Peaches with long strides.
The other catgirl easily avoided the attack, however, simply by stepping off to the side.
Aozora stumbled and whirled around. "What..."
"Your friend Orino may have beaten Mandy by being more agile, but don't think it'll be the same this time." Peaches smirked. "Because this time, you're fighting another catgirl!"
Aozora's face went tomato-red with rage, even moreso when she saw Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of the group they had brought with them come up to Peaches.
"And I've got friends on my side!"
She had made sure to emphasize "friends". Aozora's expression, in turn, twisted into an ugly grimace that no one would ever think could be done by her species. "I knew it. No wonder you've been able to evade our King for so long. But that ends today!" Upon receiving a simple head nod, the other members of SOHALC came to her side. "Because I've got reinforcements on my side as well!"
An index finger was jabbed at the opposing group.
"If you want to make this a war, then we'll make it a war!"
The two sides charged without hesitation, and met in the middle.
Dust began kicking up from the scuffle. The ponies used everything from magic to gadgets to take the catpeople down, even in spite of the advantage they had in terms of agility. Even so, Rainbow and Applejack, two of the most athletic members of the group, became the star MVPs, delivering blow after blow to SOHALC from both air and land.
Off to the side, Zifia and Olive were facing off.
"You...you were the one who took Orino down, didn't you?" Zifia spat.
"Lucky guess. But it wasn't just me." Olive smiled, choosing to be light on details regarding Oprah -- while she was aware the Director could probably take down the whole of Vallea if she so chose to, she didn't want to make her opponent suspect of why she wasn't involved in this fight. She gazed at Zifia, kneeling before taking off at a running start towards her.
"Either way..."
The sound of bones cracking, and the horrific pain that accompanied it, sent Zifia into a horrifying yowl. Olive leaned close, her lips nearly caressing the catgirl's human ear.
"I can send you back the same way I sent him back. Don't underestimate my strength."
The Director backed off, leaving Zifia with enough time to compose herself.
"But can you handle this?"
A swift kick to the shins sent Olive toppling onto her back, her head nearly hitting the concrete. As she winced in pain, she felt the sensation of a hand clasping her throat hard enough that she was close to choking.
"You're pinned!" Zifia declared. Before she could declare victory by tightening her grip, however, Olive began thrashing, hard enough to throw her off and send her tumbling to the ground.
"I'll..." Olive gave a cough. "...fight for Peaches and Mandy for as long as I'm able to. For as long as I'm alive!"
Zifia growled, rubbing her broken arm as she watched her opponent slowly get on her own two feet. "I know about Mandy's beef with Clementine."
Olive's eyes widened. "W-what?"
"How she hates Mandy's guts now because Mandy attacked her completely unprovoked. How Mandy wants to make up with her." Zifia chuckled. "Like she'll ever be able to do that!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Olive shouted, thrusting herself at Zifia until they were nose-to-nose and ignoring the pain in her shins. "Mandy will find a way to make up with her!"
"I doubt it."
Baring her teeth, Olive decided it was her turn to try and choke Zifia -- and by odd, if she wasn't going to do it better. Her grip was more firm, was far tighter, and was filled with nothing but sheer rage. "Don't ever doubt her ability to mend friendships, you got that?" she snarled, a little ball of sadistic satisfaction forming inside of her as Zifia began to cough. "Now why don't you give me one good reason why I should let you go and-"
Two claw swipes, each going diagonally down her lower stomach, stopped her cold. She let go of her opponent's throat, stumbling backwards before landing on the pavement and clutching her stomach, feeling blood begin to soak through the two layers she was wearing.
Zifia gave a few coughs of her own before beginning to rub her throat. "Not on the agile side, are you?" she taunted. "I figured. You're probably a half-breed just like that "friend" of yours."
Olive was too busy shivering in pain to fight back. As she pulled her hand back, she could see red coating it, and instantly feared the worst.
How could a couple claw attacks hurt so bad? It's like she attacked with knives! If I bleed out like this, I-
"Freeze-Ray-inator!"
A sudden blast filled Olive's vision, and within the blink of an eye, she found Zifia nearly fully coated in ice, with only her head sticking out of the top.
"What..." The catgirl tried in vain to move. "H-hey, get me out of here!"
Olive smiled, seeing the form of Pinkie Pie trot up to her with a gadget held in her forelock.
"I got your back, Olive!"
A shaky sigh of relief left the Director. "Thanks, Pinkie!"
"A pro-tip, though..." The party pony sidled up to Olive, reaching behind her back and taking out a towel she could use to wrap around her senior's stomach. "I think we can defeat these guys if we use the gadgets we have! After all, if Peaches says we can play dirty, then I'm ready to play dirty!"
Olive's eyes widened. A realization began to take form. "You're right." she murmured, allowing Pinkie to patch her up as her shirt and jacket were lifted up to make room for the towel. "We're not going to win this with brute strength. We've got things they don't!"
"Hey, get back here!"
Pinkie perked up with a yelp, her hooves working about as fast as a hummingbird's wings to tie the towel around Olive's stomach and lower her clothes back down. "Oop, gotta go!" she said, taking off in a blur.
Olive simply blinked in confusion. She recognized the voice as one of the catpeople, but her brain was still stuck in the process of "have to thank Pinkie". However, she snapped back to her senses when she saw Zifia struggling to get out of her confine.
"King Ashero is gonna hear about this!"
Olive slowly got to her feet and smirked. "Not if you're so injured you can't even bow down to him."
Reaching behind her back, she whipped out an absurdly-large gadget.
Zifia's ears flopped downwards. Her eyes shrunk. "Oh cattails."
With a foot and a hand dangling off of the bed, Mandy snored. It was like they had been trying to make up for lost time, like they were hardly punctual and had just arrived at their destination. Which was probably true, but if anyone saw Mandy in such a state, they'd take it as a pretty good sign that she was on the mend.
A snort caused her body to jerk slightly, and her eye-booger-encrusted eyes slowly opened to meet the ceiling of her room. Sleepy murmurs left her, and one coalesced into a squeaky yawn.
"Mmmwow, that was a nap I didn't think I needed..." she purred, before she touched her throat. "Oh, my voice is back."
Another yawn left her as she rolled over and allowed her body to hit the floor. Which, really, wasn't her ideal way of waking up, but she didn't really care about that too much. She slowly got to her feet, swaying slightly as she leaned on her nightstand for support.
And then a truck hit her.
Metaphorically, of course. If a truck came barrelling through the underground of Earth then it would be an utter disaster.
She gasped. "My voice is back! I can talk again!" she cheered. "No more stinky ol' Laurenhitis for me!"
As she bounced around the room with glee, a happy sigh left her. "Wow, whatever Dr. O gave me was powerful schtuff! Oh, oh, I'm gonna go see him!"
Not a minute later and she was throwing open the door to the Medical Bay, a big fat grin on her face.
"M-Mandy!" Dr. O whirled around, but just as quickly tried to compose himself. "Um, h-how's your throat?"
The grin turned lopsided.
"Hmm...I guess the cure didn't kick in yet."
"Yes it diiii-iiiiid!" Mandy called in singsong.
"Oh!" Dr. O blinked. "Oh, thank odd. I'm so glad you're talking again. I suppose since you have different sleeping habits, the cure worked faster than usual."
"Is Oprah better?"
"She's still resting up. We're having nurses monitor her around the clock to make sure she doesn't sleepwalk or do anything else dangerous in her sleep."
"That's a relief." Mandy placed a hand on her chest. Part of her felt upset that Oprah was still asleep, but another part of her was relieved that she seemed to be making improvements. Her ears swiveled as she attempted to listen for any sign of her friends in the bullpen, frowning when nothing presented itself. "It seems quiet...a lil' too quiet. Where is everyone?"
"I'm not sure." Dr. O said, turning back to his cart and the bag of cotton balls that sat on top of it. "They're probably around somewhere."
"Maybe they went on some super-big mission." Mandy theorized, before giving a sigh. "That's okay. There's something I have to take care of first, anyway. Thanks, Dr. O!"
"Not a problem. Just make sure you drink lots of fluids. A-and try not to talk so much for the next couple of days. Just so your vocal cords can heal."
"Got it!"
As Mandy made her way out of the Medical Bay, her mind got to churning.
I need to patch things up with Clementine. I almost forgot about her in the wake of Oprah getting sick and then me getting sick... She clenched her fist. But I need to make amends with her. I shouldn't have gotten as angry as I did...
She stopped. Bit her lip. Closed her eyes.
She was the one ally I had when no one else was on my side. We were just starting to become friends...
Tears began to well up, but quickly stopped.
No. I can't cry now. There's only one thing I have to do.
I'm sorry, SOHALC. But this is more important.
With loud fwoomp noises, her wings spread. She soared through Headquarters and right to the tubes, where she made her destination loud and clear to the on-duty tube operator.
Soon, she found herself hovering over a spot in Trillium Park -- not the same spot where the sandbox was, mind, but a completely different spot. Either way, she knew that any area was viable for her to create a portal that would take her to her destination.
"It may have been an issue going to the Odd Side when I had others with me, but doing it alone doesn't require Serendipity 2.0." she said aloud, her tail bobbing up and down as she took out a gadget that had a large pudding bowl for a cone.
"Portal-inator!"
She fired the gadget, and a portal opened -- one that wasn't too large, but one that wasn't too small. It was perfect for her, and even better, it led to right where she needed to go.
Tucking the gadget away, she took a deep breath, and dove straight in. Lucky for her that she had wings, because the descent alone was enough to turn her into a Mandycake.
"Weird..." She tucked her limbs closer to her as she looked around warily. "It's like the Odd Side got stranger since the last time I was here."
In reality, not much had changed. The sky had grown a slightly darker shade of pink and the floor was lined up like a checkerboard -- Mandy suddenly got flashbacks of that Discord figure the ponies had told her about -- but that was about it as far as changes went.
She drifted along the same way she had gone, off to the west side of the realm.
"Aw jeez...what am I gonna say to her?" she fretted. "It's gonna be really awkward, and she may attack me, but..." Her gaze turned steely. "I hafta try!"
It took her far longer to get to Clementine's throne room than it did with Serendipity 2.0 -- mainly because the plane had gone at breakneck speeds and nearly made her regurgitate at least half of her organs and the large lunch that festered within them. But she arrived eventually, and stood at the entrance as she awaited the opening of the doors.
The first thing she was met with in terms of a living face was the ugly grimace of a dog-girl.
"Oh no."
"You."
"Wait!" Mandy stretched her hands out. "Clementine, it's not what you think. I didn't come here to fight."
"After you tried to murder me the last time because you thought I was keeping two of your friends hostage, I believe otherwise." Clementine spat, her eyes narrowing.
"I came here to apologize!"
Clementine's expression twisted so it looked like she was about ready to bust out into laughter. "You? Apologize? Now?" She couldn't stop a snicker from making its way out. "I am sorry to say, you are a little too late to get that ball rolling."
"Can't we talk things out?"
"I am not interested."
Mandy bit her lip, realizing that she was going to have to resort to extreme measures. "I-I even brought you a gift that was meant for SOHALC! Please!"
That did it. Clementine's eyes widened as she stared at Mandy. "SOHALC? How do you know about them?"
Mandy's eyes went the same in turn. Me?! How do you know about them?! Her brain became scrambled as she tried to figure out how and why Clementine, of all people, knew about SOHALC. The stars of coincidence had clearly aligned.
Assuming that was actually a thing. She didn't really know.
"I..." She fiddled with her hands. "W-well, it's kinda a complicated story, but..."
A grating sigh left Clementine's body. "I suppose there is no other choice. Come and walk with me. We will talk on the way."
Mandy had almost contemplated asking "On the way to where?" But even she knew that was a fool's errand -- Clementine was, for once, not acting hostile or aggressive towards her. It was the perfect chance for Mandy to make amends, and so, she followed the dog-girl as the doors closed behind them.
"Um...see, they gave me an invitation to come to their..." Mandy's brow furrowed. "I dunno if 'headquarters' is the right term for it...but anyway, I went there, and they said that they would let me go home a free hybrid if I brought them gifts."
"And what if you didn't?" Clementine asked, not looking back in the slightest.
"They would kill me. And Peaches, too. A-and everyone else...my friends, my family..."
"Peaches..." Clementine tasted the name on her tongue as she racked her memories. "The name sounds familiar, but I'm unable to place it..."
Mandy buried her face in her hands, gritting her teeth in an attempt to try and stop the tears from falling. Some part of her knew that her effort of keeping the secret was inevitable, for many reasons. For one, she was terrible at keeping secrets for any span of time longer than at least a day, and that was being generous. For another, Olive was already catching on, and it was safe to say that most everyone else was catching on too.
...Okay, that was far fewer reasons than she thought. But the risk of her being slaughtered, along with her entire family, still remained.
"Peaches is..." Her shoulders rolled. "...my cousin."
A pause. And then, "Your cousin?"
"Yeah!" Mandy chirped, in an attempt to try boosting her mood that ultimately proved futile. "Well, I didn't know she was my cousin until she came to Toronto looking for the person who burnt down her hometown, Vallea."
Clementine softly smacked her lips a few times, the name "Vallea..." dancing upon them.
"She thought I was the culprit, but I wasn't. Once we made amends and became friends -- hey, that rhymed, coolio! -- she became an ally of Odd Squad!"
"I recognize the name 'Vallea', but..." Clementine slightly slowed her walk. "For some reason, I cannot recall a thing about it."
Mandy sidled up alongside her. "You...don't remember Vallea? Enemies of Galagu, your hometown?"
Clementine came to a full stop. She took a deep inhale, a gasp of shock as memories began coming back to her in a flood. Within the opening of the gates, a single tear broke from the crowd and began falling down her face. Her eyes began to slightly quiver, a sign of more tears to come.
"Are...you crying?"
The dog-girl straightened, wiping the tear away using the bottom of her palm. "No. It's nothing." she starkly responded, clearing her throat to steady her voice. "Let's go."
As the duo arrived at the entrance to the Odd Side, where a cave sat embedded in a wall, Clementine crawled through it, Mandy following suit using her own wings to propel herself. They soon landed back in what Mandy recognized as Trillium Park.
"So what are you doing out of the Odd Side?" Mandy asked.
"Running errands. Getting groceries and such. Food in the Odd Side can get rather tiring after a while."
Food shopping. Adults hated it. Mandy, on the other hand, would set up residence in a supermarket if she were allowed to. She loved riding in the carts that held food and sampling all sorts of food and buying food...it was just a dream come true as someone who adored eating food and making it. She would have gotten overly excited if she wasn't on an important friendship-repairing mission, and since she had an opening, she wasn't about to let it go.
"Um...I know you probably don't want it, but..." Mandy gave a small smile. "Do you want my help?"
Clementine stared at her. Gazed into her bright, beaming, eager eyes. It almost sickened her. Key word being "almost", because she had standards even for those that attacked her. "You are a persistent one." she noted. "I have a feeling you will not back down if I say no, so..." She bit back a groan. "Fine. But do not get in my way, understand?"
"Yuppies!"
With that, Clementine started on her way again, with Mandy following suit once more as she beamed from ear to ear.
Well, we're not quite there yet, but...it's a start. Maybe if I invoke more memories of Vallea and Galagu, it'll get her to open up.
Maybe...
...Man, I guess people callin' me 'annoying' really is starting to pay off!
Aozora got thrown to the ground once more, a painful yowl leaving her. She found it hard to get up, no matter how much she struggled. Blood was oozing from wounds all over the place, and one of her eyes had shut as the result of an attack aimed directly at it.
"Well?" Peaches stood over her. "Can you stand, or can we call this a loss for you and your cronies?"
A growl rattled in Aozora's throat, followed by a hiss that was full of spittle. "How...dare you...King Ashero...he'll do something...about this...!"
"Yeah? Highly doubt it." Peaches smirked. "King Ashero is a lazy being who sends catpeople to do his bidding for him because he's a coward who doesn't want to face us directly. Tell him that. You can even say it's a personal message from me to him, if you want."
"Anyway, rules are rules. You all lost." Twilight pointed out.
"Which means we get to run ya outta town! For good!" Rainbow hovered high in the air, crossing her front legs together as she stood alongside Twilight.
"F-fine! Fine." Aozora extended a hand for Kenji to help pull her to her feet. "We'll leave. But this is certainly not the last you'll hear of us catpeople!"
"We know." Peaches said. "Ashero can send as many of Vallea's townsfolk as he wants. We'll beat them down every single time."
Hisses were her only response.
"Twilight, Rainbow, follow them to the town line so they don't try anything funny."
The two mares nodded, following the four catpeople as they began to waddle and limp their way away from the battleground.
"The rest of you did great." Peaches nodded, wiping off some blood that had begun to ooze from her cheek. "That was a really smart idea to have us use gadgets, Pinkie."
"Aww, it was nothin!"
"Are all of you okay?"
"Aside from my stomach..." Olive clutched it as another round of pain shot through her. "...as well as the soreness and the rest of the cuts and bruises, I'm fine. I'll be fine."
"Got some bruised bones, probably, but nothin' too serious." Applejack said, stretching out her hind leg.
"I think some of my wingbones may be broken..." Fluttershy tenderly touched a wing.
"I'm totally fine!" Pinkie, of course, was largely uninjured.
"Apart from a messy mane..." Rarity shuddered as she pawed at it in some kind of a desperate attempt to fix it. "I am fine as well."
Peaches gave a relieved sigh. "Let's head back and rest up."
"Wait!" Rarity cried out. "What about the house?"
"We'll deal with that later. The most important thing right now is that we all see Dr. O."
Murmurs of agreement came forth, and everyone began making their way towards the same tube entrance they had come out of, licking their wounds and comforting those who had received more serious injuries. Peaches watched the catpeople with Rainbow and Twilight head off into the distance, a worried expression settling on her face just before chasing after the group in the hopes that they could grab onto her, or she could grab onto them, so she could use the tubes.
Soon, Mandy and Clementine were standing near the entrance of a store that the former certainly hadn't seen before.
"What's this place?" she inquired with a tilt of her head.
"They call it 'Shop and Savor'." Clementine explained. "It looks like a grocery store."
Mandy blinked. A memory began flooding back to her, of being at the store on opening day. It was, perhaps, the first and last time she would ever visit a store on opening day. Twilight had warned her, she had refused to listen because with a new grocery store came food, and she nearly got trampled on by crowds galore. It was almost traumatizing, but Mandy forced herself to look on the bright side -- she got at least $200 worth of food. It was something for her efforts, and well worth the money too.
"Oh yeah!" she chirped. "They're pretty recent. Lots of good stuff!"
"Mm." Clementine stepped through the automatic door. "Let's go inside."
Mandy bounced her way inside, giving friendly hellos to the people and ponies that recognized her. The second she stepped foot inside the store itself, she was assaulted with smells of food. So much food. All the food she could ever have, within her grasp, as she devoured it, piece by piece...
...No. That wasn't what she was there for. She was hungry, but even she drew the line somewhere. Besides, she had no money on her at the moment anyway, and no one was likely to hand out free samples to her even if she was an Odd Squad agent.
"It smells so...fresh in here."
"Well, it is a grocery store." Mandy giggled. "Got anything you wanna buy in particular?"
"Yes. I have a list."
One reach behind Clementine's back and a rather long list was brought into existence. Mandy marveled as she came into the knowledge that dog-girls from Galagu apparently had that ability. Although...now that she thought about it, Peaches had that ability too, so maybe Clementine having it wasn't all that strange.
"Quite the long list!"
"Indeed. Come along."
Mandy's tail began swishing side to side as she fought off the urge to either ask Clementine if she could leap right into a cart -- assuming she wanted one, anyway -- or to just leap right in herself and go on a cart ride and pray to the powers-that-be up above that the cart wouldn't tip over (again).
A deep inhale, a straightened posture, and she was marching after Clementine, gritting her teeth together.
The ponies followed closely behind SOHALC. However, they were just at a great-enough distance to where SOHALC could talk to each other -- a rookie mistake, they thought. But Aozora, being the group's leader, wasn't about to go down without a fight. If it meant not getting killed in the House of Torture, that was all that mattered to her.
"What do we do now, Aozora?" Yuki asked quietly.
"Just follow my lead." Aozora responded in turn, her voice just as quiet before she raised it back to its normal volume. "It's over, Yuki. We failed."
"B-but...if King Ashero finds out we failed, he'll punish us!" Kenji said, his body beginning to shiver.
Aozora bowed her head. "I know. We tried our best. But Peaches and her friends are just too strong."
"Stronger than we anticipated." Zifia agreed.
"Darn right we are!" Rainbow cried from behind. "And hopefully you catpeople will know what's good for you and stop trying to capture and hurt Peaches and Mandy!"
"Hmm...speaking of..." Aozora looked around. "Where did Mandy go? Did you pathetic lot try to leave her behind?"
"Uh, no! She's si-"
"She..." Twilight said, giving Rainbow a sharp jab to the chest with a hoof. "...thought we could handle you four on our own and wanted to see how we did."
Aozora took a moment to let this sink in. "Hm. So even if we did beat you, we still would have gone home with only half the winnings."
Sighs rung out among the group of four.
"I suppose this is the end for us." Zifia said, attempting to pick up her leg so she wasn't dragging it on the ground anymore but utterly failing to.
"It's also the end of our escort." Twilight pointed to the Now Leaving Toronto sign. "You're at the town line. Now go home, and never show yourselves around here again!"
Zifia, Kenji and Yuki all looked towards Aozora, who solemnly nodded. "You heard her. Let's go."
As the group began to plod away, Rainbow smirked. "That's right, don't come back!"
Four pairs of ears swiveled towards the mares, and remained pointed in that direction.
"Well, I think we showed them." Twilight turned and began to head further into Toronto. "Come on, let's head back."
"Yeah! I could soooo use a rest after that battle."
"Me too."
The two groups went their separate ways. It was only when neither catperson could hear the sounds of wings flapping or hooves tapping along pavement that they all dropped the ruse with mighty sighs.
"Is everyone all right?"
This question of Aozora's was met with uneasy murmurs as the other ex-SOHALC members checked their wounds.
"If we can't get Peaches, then we can at least get Mandy."
"Aozora!" Zifia's cry of her leader's name was almost a mewl. "It's over. If Peaches is too strong to handle, then what makes you think we can take on Mandy?"
"Orino got close, remember?" Aozora fired back. "The only thing that stopped him were those two Odd Squad leaders, Olive and Oprah. Perhaps if Mandy isn't around those two, we could easily take her down."
"Aozora...I don't think this is a good idea." Zifia's ears folded downwards, which wasn't without its share of pain especially since both had a few notches embedded in them. "Even Mandy was able to give Orino a run for his money. We're already weak and injured. It'll be an easy battle for her!"
Aozora growled and thrust her face into her subordinate's. "Don't defy me, Zifia!" she yelled. "Do you want to be executed under King Ashero's orders? Because that's exactly what he's going to do to us if we don't bring at least one of those idiots back there!"
Giving a small mew, Zifia backed away, rubbing her arm as another bolt of pain shot through her that caused her to wince.
"If everyone is in good shape...then let's go find Mandy. We'll crush her under our claws and make her come back with us!"
Both Kenji and Yuki exchanged nervous glances. Neither one of them really agreed with the manic but determined Aozora, but they certainly didn't want to be killed at the House of Torture, and they certainly didn't want to go out as defying the orders of one of Ashero's most trusted catpeople.
"Uh...sounds good, I guess."
"If that's what you want."
"Good." Aozora turned and pointed towards Toronto. "Now, shapeshift and spread out! We'll cover a lot more ground that way. Toronto is a big city, after all."
She watched as her underlings began heading off towards Toronto, shapeshifting into their more healthy cat forms and sprinting in three different directions. She then did the same, turning into her own cat form and sprinting back into the town.
"Mandy...you won't get away. Not from me!"
Mandy's body quivered as she glanced at the bag of oranges that were the next item her rainbow-colored corona had to latch onto. It was clear that carrying so many items at once was beginning to take its toll on her, especially since half of the items were heavy and some of the stuff was stuff that adults could slip a disc carrying. Maybe. Probably. She wasn't sure what "slipping a disc" meant, in all honesty, but it sounded painful enough.
"Y-Y'know..." A bout of nervous laughter left her body -- a bad idea, one that caused her to nearly stumble. "It might be better if you got a cart for all these items...m-my magic can't really hold all this stuff."
"And yet you're doing it now."
Mandy blinked, taken aback by the sudden snark. "I...w-well, um, y-yes, that's...true. But if I let go of these things, all of them are gonna drop."
Her gaze swiveled around the area, attempting to find an empty cart nearby she could use. Lucky for her that she and Clementine were rather close to the entrance in an adjacent aisle, and she was able to wobble over there and retrieve a cart. She tried to gently place the items in the cart, but ended up doing things halfway and nearly throwing some stuff in there she knew wasn't super-fragile. As her magic flickered, the final box of crackers landed inside, and she gave a mighty sigh.
"There..." she wheezed, taking the cart and pushing it towards Clementine. "Now it's all in a shopping cart."
Clementine's muzzle wrinkled in unease and disgust. "That thing looks like it'll kill me."
Mandy sputtered. "Nooooo! Kill you?! No, no, I- what makes you think that?!"
"It's got four wheels, a nose that sticks out, and..." Clementine poked at the flap that covered the baby seat. "Whatever this is."
Mandy's brow furrowed as she tried to ask herself how and why Clementine didn't know about carts, then a realization hit her. "Ohhhh, right. I forgot. You probably don't have carts in Galagu." She shook her head. "No, no, see, it's not sentient. A cart is meant to hold things so you don't have to carry them. Like..." She moved her gaze about. "Ooh, see that baby?"
Clementine looked at where she was pointing. A Pegasus mare was pushing her foal in a cart designed specifically for ponies, the baby cooing happily as it played with a circular toy in its hooves. As she wasn't all too familiar with the equine species, she didn't feel a need to question how or why such a creature had carts or was using them to begin with. "Yes?"
"That mom can't hold her baby and all her items at the same time. So she uses a cart to carry both so she doesn't have to!"
"Mm." Clementine watched as both mother and baby left the store with the cart. "It does look rather odd."
"Plus, you can ride in it too!" Mandy chirped, before backtracking. "Er, well, not when you're big. I tried that once, and I toppled over. It wasn't fun. I got a bad nosebleed from the pavement. Momma punished me good that day."
"I think I'll stick to the outside of the cart." Clementine made her way to the back end of the cart, gripping the handle and peering inside of the vehicle. "We're almost done, anyhow."
"Really?"
"You looked at the list, didn't you?"
Mandy twiddled her fingers. "Well, I did, but it seemed so long!"
"I needed less than I thought."
Mandy nodded, then her gaze drifted to the sign in the next aisle, marked with "Pet Food". She smiled. "Hey, ya need any...dog..."
Clementine fixed her with a half-lidded gaze and a raised eyebrow. Mandy couldn't tell whether she was upset or unamused, but she took a guess and assumed it was both.
"N-never mind! Tasteless joke, totally tasteless joke!" She let out some nervous laughter that attracted the attention of more than one customer, and certainly more than one employee. "I'll, uh, shut up now."
Doing a facepalm, Clementine gave a ragged sigh, her body slightly deflating as she pushed the cart along. She had to ask herself if Mandy was usually this annoying, but of course, the question remained only in her mind and was never spoken aloud. Besides, she was pretty sure the answer was a resounding "yes", anyhow.
Mandy, of course, followed, wincing as she began to fret over her blunder being the killing blow that would sever the one chance she had at mending things with Clementine.
"Fluttershy, Applejack, you're good to go. Take it easy, okay?"
"Mhm."
"Thank ya kindly, Doctor!"
"Not a problem."
As both Fluttershy and Applejack headed out of the Medical Bay, they began heading downstairs to meet up with the others. Bandages littered their bodies, with Applejack's bruised back leg wrapped up in a cast.
"I'm glad that no one got seriously hurt." Fluttershy commented.
"It was all thanks t' Pinkie suggestin' we use gadgets instead of attackin' those catfolk physically. Otherwise we never would've won!"
"Hey there!"
The two mares glanced down to see Peaches waving to them, and gave friendly waves back.
"Have any of you seen Mandy?" she asked as they arrived in the bullpen. "She wasn't in bed when Olive and I went to check on her."
"I was up in Dr. O's office." Applejack explained. "So was Fluttershy. We haven't seen Mandy at all."
Peaches sighed. "Where could she have gone?"
"Oh! How's Ms. O?" Fluttershy asked.
"Still resting in quarantine. She'll probably be out of commission for a few days."
The sound of the steel double-doors opening caused everyone to turn their heads towards the newest arrival to the bullpen: Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who quickly made their way over to the trio as soon as they saw them.
"Hi, everyone!"
"Hey."
"Hi!" Peaches greeted. "How were they?"
"They behaved well and are heading home now." Twilight reported. "They shouldn't cause trouble for us anymore."
"They'd have to be really stupid to try and mess with us again, especially since they're worn out to the max!"
"That's a relief." Peaches heaved another sigh. "Thanks for doing that."
"No problem." Twilight glanced at Rainbow. "Come on, let's go and see if Olive has any cases for us."
As they turned to leave, Peaches stretched a hand out, although her gaze was fixated on Olive, who had gauze wrapped around her exposed stomach. "Wait, hold on! Shouldn't you be resting?"
"We're fine."
"Yeah, I think we'll be alright." Rainbow stretched out her front leg and rubbed it, examining the large bruise that sat in its crook.
"All right, if you insist." Peaches shifted her gaze towards the right-side hallway. "I'm gonna go clean up and take a nap. See you four later."
A chorus of goodbyes were the last thing the catgirl heard as she walked away.
As she began to make her way towards her room, she closed her eyes in thought. She was relieved that SOHALC had been chased out of town for good, because it meant that both Odd Squad and Mandy were free from Vallea's grasp once again. But she couldn't help but worry about her cousin -- the same one who had a tendency to run after distractions and charge headfirst into battle. She wasn't sure if she was cured or not, but regardless, the worry still festered inside of her.
Mandy...I really hope you're safe. And I really hope you aren't going and straining your voice again, either.
"Thankies! Have a good day!"
"You as well, Mandy! Glad to have met you!"
As Mandy gave a friendly laugh in response, Clementine's eye twitched. Her energy had almost been completely sapped out of her just from enduring the girl's conversation with a cashier she hadn't even met. Her eyes darted around in an attempt to find a clock so she could find out just how much time had passed, but found there were none in view.
The pair left the store, with Mandy taking half of the bags in her corona and Clementine taking the other half.
"It looks like we got everything we need." Clementine said. "And it's a good thing, too. I can't leave the Odd Side unattended for too long."
"Why not?"
"Strange things will start to happen."
Where've you been? Strange things have already been happenin', sister.
...is what Mandy would have snarked, if she weren't in the process of repairing a friendship.
"Well that's vague. But I'll take your word for it." she decided on. "You want help carrying these back?"
Clementine grit her teeth. Every bone in her body was compelling her to bark out an angry "no" and then maybe an angry "leave me alone". But if she was being honest...she was growing a little attached to Mandy. Annoying as she was, she had a certain charm about her that acted like a magnet, and Clementine could feel herself being pulled into it effortlessly even in spite of her hostility towards the hybrid.
She clenched her fists together.
She bugs the snot out of me...but...she's just so nice...and...I've always wanted company...
But she abandoned me! She left me in the hands of those merciless adults!
Only because she had no way to fight back.
But she could have done something to-
"Yes!"
The word came out without consent or warning. Clementine's eyes widened. She had half-expected Mandy to start cheering or throw a party or do something that would irritate her more than that one bad poison ivy rash she got as a child. But the hybrid just smiled and followed Clementine as she walked, not saying anything or doing anything.
Of course, unbeknownst to her, Mandy was celebrating solely in her own thoughts.
Yeah-ha-ha! Wow, I guess she's starting to warm up to me! This is great! At this rate we'll be best friends in no time! Although...maybe I should take it easy...after all, she does seem a little stand-off-ish. But hey, nothin' I can't fix!
Once they arrived back at the throne room, they dropped the bags, Mandy breathing a sigh of relief.
"Well, thank you for the help, I suppose." Clementine said, taking her own bags to the right side of her throne. As she knocked on the wall, it spun around to reveal a rather large refrigerator.
"It's no problem!"
Clementine very nearly dropped her bags as a memory came back to her. It had been when she and Mandy were heading back to Galagu, just before they had crossed the border into another city that she couldn't remember the name of -- how she had lost her barrette, the one she treasured the most since it was a gift from her parents, and how Mandy had found it and said those same words...
Tears began to cloud her vision as she stared at Mandy, picking out all the cold food items from the bags and holding them with her magic. In that moment, the bitterness and revenge she had held against Mandy for years slowly and gradually began to ebb away. She felt a new emotion, one she couldn't describe, but one that was warm and familiar. It was one that told her, "I want to befriend this girl."
Or, well...she supposed in her case, "I want to befriend this girl again".
"Something wrong?"
The question snapped her out of her dazed stupor. She blinked at Mandy rapidly, and it took a moment before words came out. "I...I want you to...stay here with me." she posed. "Can you do that?"
"Stay here?" Mandy tilted her head. "A-are you sure?"
"This is non-negotiable."
The words were harsh, constricting, and made sure Mandy had no means of escape -- which were fine by her, because in her mission, this was a good step forward, a large step forward. "Makin' this kinda awkward, aren't we?" she cracked, before nervous laughter left her lips. She composed herself seconds later, however. "Anyway, sure! If you want me to stay, then I'll stay."
The sound of Mandy's stomach growling resounded through the room, to the point where Clementine was worried it would trigger a structural collapse. But it didn't -- and Clementine had full control of the room, anyhow, so even if it collapsed, she could always rebuild it.
"Um..." Mandy twiddled her fingers. "You got any food I could have from your bags?"
Mandy happily consumed an entire mini-sandwich, chewing and swallowing it as her tail beat the ground. "Mmm, you picked out some great stuff!" she chirped.
"I have plenty." Clementine smiled, a little surprised by Mandy's voracious eating habits but choosing not to comment on them. "Do you want another one?"
"Normally I'd eat it all!" Mandy declared. "But, uh, out of respect...I'll have one more, and that's it, please. I have standards."
Reaching into the container, Clementine took out another sandwich and decided to place it in Mandy's hand, forgoing the plate as she had figured out that those were a lost cause. "Here you are."
"Thank you!" Just as quickly as she downed the one before, Mandy ate the mini-sandwich in her hand, relishing at the crunchiness of the lettuce and the rich taste of the ham inside.
Silence fell among the duo. Clementine fidgeted with her hands, struggling to ease into one of the questions that had gotten her curious about Mandy.
"Um...this is going to be awkward, but...what is life like for you now?"
Mandy swallowed her sandwich and grinned. "Well, it's pretty great! I have a loving adoptive family now, and lots of nice friends!" She blinked. "Although you've prolly already met a couple of 'em..."
Clementine only gave a soft "mm" in response as she ate another sandwich, racking her brain for another conversation piece. Finally, after a minute or two, she decided to settle on one of the other questions that had gotten her curious -- a question that involved a commonality she wanted to dig into deeper.
"Hey..."
"Hmm?"
"About that gift for SOHALC...um, no, wait..." Clementine shook her head. "How are you involved with SOHALC?"
Mandy's eyes widened only slightly. She rubbed her arm. "Well, it's kinda complicated, but...the gist of it is that they want to take me and Peaches back to Vallea with them because Peaches didn’t find who razed it, and because...I’m an accomplice. W-well, not really, I didn’t burn it down and neither did she, but...yeah." She stared at the floor. "They created SOHALC in order to find and capture us, but promised to let me go if I brought them gifts daily." Her gaze drifted to Clementine. "Wait, how are you involved with them?"
Clementine sighed. "They confronted me as I was coming out of the Odd Side after we...well, you know. They told me that they knew all about my past...that they would tell me all about it and bring me back home if I did not comply with their wishes."
"What did they want you to do?"
"They wanted me to destroy you, for good. And...I promised them I would."
Mandy sat on this information for a minute. So SOHALC got to Clementine, too...they tried to use her to attack me because she's a dog-girl? Is that how they knew her? They don't really know about my friendship with her, do they? She's just someone from a neighboring town of theirs that they're using as a pawn to try and get to me.
...Although knowing King Ashero, guess anything's possible, huh? For all I know he could be one heck of a strateetergist and I wouldn't know it. He probably knows about Odd Squad...and knows that the Odd Side is somehow connected to us.
The pieces were falling into place, now. And as they began falling into place, one by one, something became apparent to her. It was almost like a eureka moment.
"It sounds like they view us both as the enemies."
"Enemies?"
"They're after both of us. Although their priority is set on me and Peaches right now, not on you." Mandy explained. "Did you recognize any of the names of the SOHALC members?"
"None of them."
Mandy bit her lip as she stared at the far-off wall, not noticing Clementine's eyes beginning to well up with tears again. Perhaps "they're after both of us" was a little strong -- after all, who knew if Vallea was going after Clementine with as much intensity and drive as they were going after Peaches and Mandy -- but years of being an Odd Squad agent had taught her to never ignore a hunch, especially when that hunch was right and had more legs to stand on than a millipede.
Finally, she looked to her left, and she saw tears streaming down Clementine's face. "Are you crying again?"
"No. I'm fine." The response was instant, and the wiping of tears came even faster. The sniffle was apparent, however. "I'll be okay. You should probably head home before the Odd Side corrupts you."
Mandy had forgotten about the dangers of the Odd Side entirely. Strangely enough, though, she didn't feel her mind becoming twisted in any way -- at least, not more twisted than it already was. "But I thought you wanted me to stay?" she asked.
"There is always tomorrow." Clementine said. "Can you come tomorrow?"
"U-um...sure! I can come tomorrow. If you want."
As Mandy stood up, Clementine fixed her with a warm smile, a light blush creeping along her cheeks. "Thank you. For spending time with me today. I...I appreciate it."
Mandy had to fight hard to not burst with excitement. "It was nothing, really!" she chirped. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
The hybrid took to the sky and flew off, giving Clementine one last "bye" before the throne doors closed behind her.
It was only then that she began squealing with excitement, and the entire fly back, she began talking to herself endlessly, going on tangents about all the fun things she could do with Clementine and how she was oh so close to befriending her fully and wondering what she liked to do and what foods she liked to eat.
Unbeknownst to her, however, it seemed that her mission of befriending Clementine had already been well-achieved.
The words came effortlessly. The tears, thick and solid, came just as well.
"Goodbye...my old friend."
As Olive piled some papers together, a sigh left her, which only served to aggravate her wounds. The clutching of her stomach and the wishing of the pain's disappearance left her immune to distractions, such as-
"Partner!"
Olive blinked. Turned her head to the right.
And smiled.
"Otto!" she cried out, embracing her friend in a warm hug.
"You all right?" Otto asked, before his gaze drifted to the gauze around Olive's stomach. "Uh, besides that."
"Well, I've got some cuts elsewhere, some bruises, and a fair bit of soreness." A tired chuckle left the girl. "But nothing life-threatening."
"Thank odd." Otto breathed a sigh of relief. "So what happened with that organization?"
"We beat them in a fierce battle and ran them out of town." Olive explained. "They shouldn't cause trouble anymore."
"Good. Are the others okay?"
"Yup! Just minor injuries all around."
Otto glanced up at Oprah's office. "How's Oprah?"
"Still in quarantine, resting. She'll probably be there for a couple more days." She gazed at him hopefully. "Think you can manage running the precinct alone until then?"
"Better idea: how about we trade off?" he said. "I'll handle Director duties here tomorrow, and you run our precinct."
Olive chuckled. "Sounds like a plan!"
The sound of the automatic doors opening caught both Directors' attention, and they turned their heads to look. Joy and relief began filling their chests as they saw exactly who had arrived.
"Mandy, there you are!" Olive called. "Where have you been? Everyone's been asking about you!" She gasped. "Is your voice back?"
For a moment, Mandy didn't respond. She made her way over, but kept her eyes glued to the floor. And then came: "Yeah, my voice is back."
"Thank odd!" came the unisonant cry.
"Okay, next question: where have you been?" Olive repeated.
"I was..." Mandy gave a small smile. "...with a friend. An old friend of mine."
Silence. Olive and Otto leaned in, as though expecting a barrage of words to come flying at them. But nothing came.
"Care to elaborate?"
"I'll have to decline."
Otto's eyes widened. His gaze flicked to Olive, who only gave an unsure shrug.
"Are you feeling alright?" Olive asked. "You're still not your usual self, even though you don't have laryngitis anymore."
"I'm fine. I just...have a lot on my mind." Mandy replied, giving a weary chuckle.
"Oh." was Olive's initial response as she stared at Mandy for a little while longer until the smile returned to her face. "Well, you'll be happy to know that SOHALC has been run out of town."
Otto tilted his head. "SOHALC?"
"The secret organization." Then, to Mandy, "Peaches, the ponies and I gave them a good beatdown. They shouldn't harm you anymore, okay?"
It took a few moments for Mandy's brain to catch up to what Olive said, but when it did, she became elated -- or, well, as elated as she could get in her exhausted state. If Olive and Otto's reactions were any indication, SOHALC hadn't just been thrown out of town, but they had failed to capture Peaches too, which was a good thing. The fact that everyone knew about her affiliation with SOHALC didn't matter to her anymore, and she no longer had to keep the terrible secret bottled up inside of her. It just made her day all the better.
"And please, don't give them gifts anymore." Olive added. "There's no need. Twilight and Rainbow Dash told us everything. We know about the sleepwalking, too, so hopefully that won't crop up again."
Mandy sighed. "I didn't wanna tell you..."
"Because you didn't want them to go after you." Otto finished.
"Mhm."
Olive grabbed Mandy and pulled her into a hug, her body jerking slightly with another bolt of pain that shot through her stomach. "Well, you're safe now." she said. "They're heading back to Vallea. The organization is dead and gone."
Secretly, Mandy had already known SOHALC was just four catpeople sent by Ashero. But she wasn't sure. Oddness was everywhere, after all, and what laws prohibited four humans from dressing up in dark cloaks and threatening murder by proxy if a victim didn't comply with their demands?
Olive let go of Mandy, but still kept a grip on her shoulders. "Why don't you go and take a rest? Maybe Otto can make you some dinner if you're too tired to cook."
Mandy shook her head. "I had dinner already. But I can always make some more food for myself if I need it. Thanks for the offer, though."
As her head moved towards the right-side hallway, another eureka moment hit her.
Dinner...Clementine...Galagu...yes! I know how I can fully re-form the friendship! Oh, why didn't I see it before? It'll be perfect!
"Wait, wait, I got it! Thanks for the suggestion, guys!" were her final words before her feet took her straight to the Breakroom. Olive and Otto merely blinked in surprise as they stared after her.
It wasn't long after she began rummaging through the cabinet that sat at floor-level in the wall that she heard footsteps approaching her, and then a familiar voice.
"Cuz! Oh, there you are! You weren't in bed so I thought you went missing."
A barrage of clattering and clanging pots and pans was her response as Mandy moved about in the cabinet. Peaches tilted her head curiously.
"No, just went to see an old friend." came Mandy's actual response, as she yanked out a plate, a mixing bowl, and a few utensils. "Ah!"
"Huh. Well, we ran that nasty organization out of town!"
"Yeah, I know, I heard." Mandy pulled herself up on her feet. "Look, do we have any lettuce?"
"Lettuce?" Peaches did a quick sweep through the refrigerators that lined the walls, as though expecting a head of lettuce to just be sitting inside one of them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were none, but it did make her realize something. "Uhh, last I checked, Olly came through yelling that she needed to go get some..."
"It'll take her seventy light-years just to get it!" Mandy gave a groan. "Whatever, I'll go myself. Stand guard and don't let anyone touch this stuff, okay?"
"Uh...o...kay...?"
"I'm headin' back to Shop and Savor!"
"Shop and what?"
Peaches didn't get an answer to that, as Mandy was gone in nearly an instant, taking off for, and through, the double-doors.
Olive and Otto watched the ordeal go down.
"There she goes."
"And Peaches is guarding kitchen supplies."
Their eyes went half-lidded. Hands rested in cheeks. Typical of partners with strong chemistry, they moved as one unit, and thought as one unit.
"Typical day at Odd Squad."
Clementine emerged from the portal connecting Toronto and the Odd Side, getting to her feet with a huff. It was a pity that she had forgotten something she hadn't put on her grocery list, but a return trip to Shop and Savor would, of course, clear that right up.
"Well well well. Look who it is."
The familiar voice stopped the dog-girl cold. The source of the voice showing her humanoid face threatened to send her to her knees.
She gasped. "You."
The source smiled her rather wicked cat smile. "Did you forget the deal you made with us?"
"No, of course I didn't forget!"
"Good. So I trust you succeeded?"
Clementine hesitated for only a moment. "W-well...no, but-"
"Ah ah ah. No buts. It was a 'yes or no' question. If you haven't destroyed Mandy yet, then that's on you." The source huffed, her short bob of a tail flicking from side to side. "Need I remind you that we are more than willing to take you back to Galagu?"
Clementine's eyes shimmered with a sense of familiarity, fixating on a random point in the sky. "Galagu..."
"Yes, your old home. Our King has mentioned it once or twice. Often lacing the name with enough venom to wipe out an entire army of catpeople." The source began fiddling with a few strands of her long blonde hair, her expression one of disappointment. "Look. We may not have been able to bring Peaches back, and we haven't found Mandy yet..." The expression then turned malicious. "...but perhaps taking you back is enough to prevent us from being executed."
Something in Clementine snapped, and she returned to her senses, baring her teeth at the enemy. "You'll never make me come with you, Aozora."
Aozora, on the contrary, grinned.
"I thought so."
Clementine barely even had time to react against Aozora's blinding speed, as the catgirl unsheathed her claws and landed a mighty blow on the dog-girl, who gave a yelp of pain as she stumbled backwards and landed on her rump.
"Which is why I'm going to take you back by force- aah!" Aozora winced, and her body began to slightly shake. "Nngh...that stupid fight, it wore me thin..." She slowly raised a hand. "But I will never give up!"
Clementine's eyes widened. Even in spite of the pain a majority of her front was feeling, she couldn't help but smile. "So you are weak. And meanwhile, I am strong."
Unfortunately, her hope of having the upper hand was squashed by Aozora returning to normal and rearing up, both of her hands in the sky now. "We'll just see about that."
More attacks were made on the front, serving to amplify the pain Clementine was feeling. She let out a sorrowful and painful howl, a cry for help that echoed into the air.
"Yeah, how do you like that?" Aozora taunted, capping it off with a round of light chuckling.
As Clementine opened her eyes, they began to water. She could feel blood beginning to soak her clothes. "P-please, stop!"
"What's the matter? Can't fight back?" Aozora crossed her arms. "I'd think that since you're from Galagu you could easily have some battle prowess. But if you're not gonna even bother, then it's not fun!"
Something else snapped in Clementine right then and there. She bared her teeth, a growl rumbling about in her throat as she reared her feet back before giving Aozora a mighty kick. This sent the catgirl flying a little ways, and it took a few moments before her body met the ground again.
"Ha!"
Aozora snapped right out of it. "You're gonna pay for that!"
Within seconds, she had Clementine by the neck -- quite literally, as her claws sunk into the dog-girl's neck. Clementine had opportunity to give another howl, as the claws hadn't sunken so far in as to damage her vocal cords. Aozora thrust her face into Clementine's, enough to give a single warning.
"You have five seconds to tell me where Mandy is, or I will kill you and take your body home as a prize along with hers!"
"Stop! NO!! STOP!!"
Just as Clementine gathered her willpower together to send another cry for help, another familiar cry, this time one of singsong, cut through the air.
"Tiiiiimbeeeeer!"
A hammer came spinning right for Aozora, at such a high rate of speed that not even she could dodge it. It hit her dead-on, making her release her grip on Clementine's neck and sending her flying once again. Five seconds after she hit ground, her head lifted. "What in the name of the-"
"Don't you dare touch her, Aozora!"
Rubbing her neck, Clementine's eyes widened as she turned to look at her savior. "You!"
Sure enough, there stood Mandy, arms crossed and wearing a triumphant smirk. Her corona allowed her hammer to come right back to her, and she held it out for both combatants to see.
A bout of manic laughter left Aozora as she slowly got to her feet. "Looks like I didn't need to go hunting for my prey. My prey came to me!"
"Save it!" Mandy barked. "You're weak enough as it is. Give up now..."
She threw her hammer up into the air, allowing it to complete three full spin-cycles before she caught it in her hands and held it outwards in a showy pose very reminiscent of a magical girl's once they finished transforming.
"...or feel the wrath of my hammer!"
Aozora growled. "I refuse to be executed by King Ashero!" she declared, charging after Mandy with a piercing yowl.
Mandy, being used to catpeople's speed thanks to both Peaches and Orino, simply stayed in place, the cat smile remaining on her face as the handle of her hammer became swept up in her corona. Her swing to Aozora's face was a direct hit, and thanks to its brute power, it sent the catgirl flying further than Clementine's kick move did, allowing gravity to, in turn, allow her to give a painful yowl before letting her add in a few hard knocks to the dirt and a skid stop for good measure.
"Aozora!"
Both Clementine and Mandy turned to look at Zifia, rushing over in her cat form to tend to her comrade.
"Aozora, are you alright?"
Aozora gave a growl, weaker this time around. "I'm fine, Zifia- nngh!"
"You can't beat them. They're stronger than you are." Zifia warned. "If you keep going like this, you won't be getting an execution from King Ashero because you'll die right here!"
Unfortunately for her, Aozora wasn't keen on listening, as she struggled to get to her feet. "As long as I can stand...I will fight. I don't think I need to-"
"Aozora, watch out!"
Zifia had leaped out of the way just in time, her hearing having detected the sound of Mandy teleporting. Aozora, on the other hand, was not so lucky.
One open mouth of shock only invited the head of a hammer to come and live there as a temporary squatter. The sounds of choking were, of course, included in the lease.
"Well." Mandy landed on the ground, tucking her wings in. "That was easy."
"Aozora, wait!"
"Aozora!"
Both Kenji and Yuki arrived on the scene in their cat forms, stopping cold when they saw their leader in her current state.
"I knew you were weak from your last battle with Peaches and the others. You never stood a single chance. You won't beat us."
Zifia rolled her eyes. "I could've told you that!"
"Now, I'll give you -- and your comrades -- two options." Mandy said. "You can leave for Vallea and never return, or I can kill you right here, right now." She narrowed her eyes. "So what's it gonna be, Aozora?"
All she got in return was a bout of muffled speech, leading her to sigh and remove the hammer from the catgirl's mouth and allow her to breathe -- and also cough.
"Well?"
Another cough. "Fine! Fine. We'll leave. We'll leave and never come back." Then, her body wracked with a final cough. "You were right, Zifia. She's too strong. We can't beat her."
"Darn straight." Mandy's tail lashed back and forth. "And you can tell King Ashero that if he really wants to capture us so badly, then it's already been made clear -- he'll need to get off of his lazy tush and do it himself."
Aozora's eyes widened.
"Now leave. AND DON'T COME BACK!!"
And that was all the incentive she needed to book it, changing back into her cat form and darting away.
Mandy watched her go for a moment before her gaze moved to the other three ex-SOHALC members. "You three as well. I don't want to see your filthy faces around here again, unless you're askin' for a face-bashin'."
Zifia didn't bother to argue. "You heard her. Let's go."
With that, she, along with Kenji and Yuki, ran after Aozora, right in the direction of the town line.
Another fling of the hammer into the air, another three spin cycles, and another capture of it in Mandy's hand as she held it out. "And that's how we do it!"
Clementine blinked, having been rendered speechless by the awe she had felt just watching Mandy in action. The pain she had been feeling had mostly gone away throughout the ordeal, but had come back just as quickly, and she winced in pain as she struggled to understand the reasoning behind it all.
"I...y-you...you saved me." She stared at Mandy. "Why did you save me?"
"You were in trouble. There was no way you could fight back. And because..."
Mandy looked back at her, and smiled.
"Because you're my friend."
The floodgates opened. A rush of memories flooded Clementine's brain as it began to warp, as though attempting to break free from a trance. Her entire body shook as she stared into that face...that beaming, hopeful face that she had befriended and journeyed with. She understood everything now -- why Mandy did what she did, why she had suffered through such hardships and came back kicking every time, why she had been so nice to her even after she had willingly attacked her...why she had even attacked her to begin with...
She's grown up...she's so strong...
So strong, that now, she's fully able to protect her friends.
Including myself.
...Including myself...
Tears cascaded down her face. Her eyes began to shake and quiver.
Wordlessly, and without any regards to her injuries or to her pain, she reached up and pulled Mandy into a tight hug, loudly sobbing into the hybrid's chest.
"T-take it easy there, huh?"
"I-I'm sorry, it's just..." Clementine gave an ugly-sounding sniffle. "Seeing you rush in to save me...I'm so grateful, and..." She grit her teeth. "I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry!"
"Sorry?"
"I know now. I know why you abandoned me all those years ago." Clementine's pupils grew. "You really couldn't fight back. The mob...you were outnumbered. Your magic and flight skills were weak. And if you tried to fight with your hands and feet, you could have put us both in danger."
Mandy's eyes widened as she realized exactly what was going on. She shook her head furiously. "Nonono, I'm sorry! I should have stayed behind and fought, even without my flight or my magic. It wasn’t right to abandon a friend like that." She folded her ears downwards. "You were right. I was a coward. A-and when I went to rescue Applejack and Apple Bloom, I...I lost control of my temper. You were telling the truth." Tears began falling from her eyes, now. "I’m in the wrong, not you!"
The words were a scream, punctuated only by a hiccup that threatened to ruin the mood.
The two girls stared at each other.
Seconds later, they were hugging each other. Pitiful wails, sorrowful howls and choking sobs were exchanged. Within the messy din, they found room to say a few more words to each other.
"I'm sorry!"
"So am I!"
Neither Mandy nor Clementine knew how much time had passed by the time they broke free of one another. They smiled, their eyes red and bloodshot.
"Thank you. For saving me."
"It was nothing, really. Thank you...for accepting me." Mandy rubbed her arm. "Could we maybe-"
"Start over as friends?"
Mandy looked up and blinked a few times.
Clementine gave a small chuckle. "Of course we can, Mandy. Let's be the best of friends!"
Mandy could feel her eyes beginning to water again as she leapt at Clementine and lifted her up into a tight hug, ignoring the spluttering sounds the dog-girl began to make. As soon as she put her down, a realization came to her.
"Wait! What about the Odd Side?"
The Odd Side. Clementine had forgotten all about it in the wake of Aozora attacking her. And now that Mandy had brought it up, she began to realize just what that sensation in her brain was. "The Odd Side...it isn't where I belong." she murmured. "It doesn't need a ruler to keep things running. My home is Galagu, and it always will be."
Mandy gasped. "That means...the Odd Side corrupted you!"
"I suppose so."
The hybrid's mouth pinched inwards. And then her ears flapped a little as she began to recall everything that had happened with Clementine -- going to the Odd Side and recognizing it as a hostile environment, fighting with her over Applejack and Apple Bloom, her stand-off-ish-ness and hostility even before Mandy went utterly berserk.
Wait...how the heck did Momma and Otto not realize that?! was a question that sat there, but then rotted and decomposed just as quickly as she had made it up, because frankly, neither Olive nor Otto knew jack about what the Odd Side was truly about. A new one formed soon enough, though.
"Wait! A-are you sure you don't wanna come back with me, to Odd Squad? Peaches is there, a-and you can even help out if you want!"
Clementine shook her head. "I don't think my skills will be of much help. Although..."
"Yeah?"
"I don't have anywhere to stay now. I can't go back to the Odd Side. And I need these wounds treated." Clementine stared at the slowly-setting sun, still pretty high in the sky. "Is it possible...you could stay with me?" She perked up. "Oh, uh, n-no, I-I-I mean..."
"You wanna stay with me?"
Clementine stared at Mandy. "You would allow that?"
"Well..." Mandy twiddled her index fingers about. "My boss is kiiiiinda outta commission right now, and I'm the next in line to be leader, so...I'll say yes!"
Clementine gave a giddy laugh. "Oh thank you! Thank you so much!"
"However!" Mandy raised one index finger. "We can't let those groceries you bought go to waste, can we?" She giggled. "I'll go get them for ya, and close the portal to the Odd Side too! Anything valuable ya have there?"
"Not really. Just the groceries."
"Okay-dokay! Stay here, I'll be right back!"
With mighty wingbeats, Mandy raced into the portal at a breakneck speed. It only took her about fifteen or so minutes to retrieve the groceries, and to her surprise, she was able to carry the rest of the bags with ease through the portal. She chalked it up to her energy and drive having been fully returned to her, and didn't bother to question anything past that. As soon as she was out of the portal, she used the reverse settings on her Portal-inator to close it.
"I'm back!" she declared, making her way over to Clementine, who was leaning up against a tree and clutching her front. "We used up a couple groceries from our...uh, meal, but I got all of them! And the portal's closed too."
"Thank you..." Clementine winced again, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Now c'mon, hop on my back!" Mandy urged. "We should get you some treatment for those wounds of yours."
"Hop on...what?"
"Oh! I like to give rides to people and ponies. My spine became strong enough to support the weight of two, if you can believe it, I mean..." Mandy gave a laugh throughout her words. "Human anatomy, amirite?"
Clementine was still a bit hesitant, but another pang of pain shooting through her stomach ultimately made her cave in. She slowly got on Mandy's back, her hands gripping her friend's shoulder blades in a way that she hoped wasn't too tight.
"Now hold on tight!" Mandy warned, spreading her angelic wings far and wide.
"You're not gonna go super-fast, are you?" Clementine asked warily, as she eyed the wings.
"Nah! For you, I'd always go easy."
Peaches fiddled with a pencil on Olive's desk. "The calls have slowed down substantially, huh?"
"You said it." Olive sighed, poking at the wrinkles that she had felt forming under her eyes. "Now I know how Mandy must have felt. At least at my own precinct I don't go home feeling as weary as this at the end of the day."
"Hey, look on the bright side! Maybe Oprah will get better as soon as tomorrow. Dr. O did say he gave her a special fast-acting cure."
"I hope so." Olive said. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."
The sound of the double-doors opening snapped everyone out of the cloud of fatigue. Sure enough, it was Otto, there to brighten Olive's evening and perhaps share some of his boundless energy with her.
"Hey, partner!"
"Hey."
"You feeling okay?"
"A little worn-down..." Olive stretched her body out. "...but nothing I can't handle. How were things back there?"
"Pretty good! Steady workflow, no conflicts, and I got to go home early!" Otto grinned. "And yes, I did all our nightly duties, before you ask."
"Good."
"Isn't Mandy back from the store yet?" Peaches asked. "It's been a while."
Olive tilted her head. "Is that where she went?"
"She said that she had to get lettuce. Not sure why. Olly came back with some a long time ago..."
"Maybe she had some separate business to take care of?"
The sound of laughing could be heard through the bullpen as the double-doors opened. Mandy and Clementine walked through, the former clutching her chest with one hand as she wiped stray tears away with the other.
"Oh, Clementine..." Mandy gave a wheeze, a sign that her lungs were crying for air. "You're such a crack-up!"
"Am I?" Clementine tilted her head. "I've never really thought of myself as much of a joke-maker, but..."
"The word...the word i-" Mandy gave a few hacking coughs. "C-comedian! The word's comedian!" she finally eked out. "And nonsense! You...could be a one-dogperson act at standup comedy!"
"What's 'standup comedy'?"
"A-" Mandy stopped. Blinked a couple times. And then a blush crept across her face. "Oh. I forgot. You're not used to customs here, are ya? Sorry about that."
"It's all right. Although I do want to know more about this place you call..." Clementine rolled her hand. "Toh-rain-toe."
"No, no! It's 'tuh-ron-tow'! Tuh, ron, tow!"
"...Tuh-ron-tow. Toronto."
"There ya go!" Mandy began to head for the Breakroom. "Now c'mon. I'll go put these groceries away! All the frozen stuff's gonna get spoiled! You, missy, go on up there and get some treatment from Dr. O."
Peaches sighed as she watched the pair move in separate directions. "And there she goes."
"Wow, she didn't even say hi to us!" Otto remarked, his tone having just an edge of hurt to it.
Olive stared for a few moments as she finally recognized just who Mandy had brought back. "W-w-wait...guys, that's Clementine! The ruler of the Odd Side!"
"That's Clementine?!" Peaches' words were practically a yowl as she too stared at the dog-girl, who was entering the Medical Bay.
"Yeah. That's the girl we came across when Mandy took us to the Odd Side to rescue Agent Applejack and Agent Apple Bloom." Otto explained.
"Do you recognize her, Peaches?"
The catgirl thrust her face right into Olive's. "Do I recognize her?!" She pulled backwards, and in a much calmer tone of voice, said, "Well, no...I didn't know what she looked like up until now, and the name didn't ring a bell..." And then, being nose-to-nose with Olive again, she screamed, "But that's who attacked my cousin?!"
Olive placed a hand right over Peaches' face and gave a mighty push. "Yes. That, indeed, is the one who attacked Mandy. After Mandy attacked her."
"But...Mandy's so friendly with her now!" Peaches gasps. "That means-"
"What? What does it mean?" Otto asked.
"She took my advice to heart." A smile formed on Peaches' face. "She became friends with Clementine! Ha, I knew she could do it!"
Olive's eyes became half-lidded. "It's like I told Zifia. Never doubt Mandy's ability to mend friendships."
"Maybe that's why Mandy wasn't acting like her usual self." Otto theorized. "She wanted to make things up to Clementine for what she did in the past. And for how she acted when she went to rescue Applejack and Apple Bloom."
"You're right on the money with that, partner."
The phone ringing snapped the trio out of their people-watching, and Olive reached over to pick it up.
"Hello, Precinct 13579, how can I help you?"
"..."
"Uh-huh...you got it, sir, we'll send someone over there right away! Thank you! Buh-bye now."
As Olive placed the phone onto the receiver, her gaze moved around the bullpen in an effort to spot any stray agents that looked like they weren't busy. As luck would have it, two such agents entered the bullpen from the left-side hallway, deep in conversation.
"Hey! Applejack, Rarity!"
The two mares looked up and began making their way over.
"Oh, hello, Olive, darling!"
"Howdy!" Applejack waved. "How're things goin' with your Director duties?"
"Pretty well." Olive smiled. "A man needs your help, though -- something about his furniture being turned into washers. You two up for solving it?"
Applejack hesitated for a moment, wondering if Olive meant the bolt kind of washer and not the appliance. Still, she nodded. "Sure thing! Aren't we, partner?"
Rarity giggled. "Of course, partner. We'll go and solve that right now!"
"See y'all in a bit!"
The trio watched the partner pair leave with smiles on their faces, oblivious to Mandy and a patched-up Clementine coming up to them next.
"Hiya, Momma!"
"Mandy!" Olive's expression was nothing short of relief as she turned to face her adopted daughter. "It's good to see you in high spirits again."
"Uh-huh!" Mandy pulled Clementine closer to her. "I'm sure you and Otto have met Clementine, I mean of course, you guys were there for that whole thing..."
Clementine waved. "Hi."
"Hi! I'm Olive, of the Odd Squad precinct the next town over from here." Olive gestured to Otto. "This is my partner, Otto, who co-runs the precinct with me."
"Hey! Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you two as well."
Mandy bounced over to Peaches, pulling her close as well. "And this is my cousin, Peaches!"
"Oh!" Clementine eyed the catgirl. "You're from Vallea, right?"
"That's right." Peaches nodded. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Clementine."
"Same to you as well!" Clementine tilted her head. "I must say, it's quite odd how I don't recognize you."
Peaches simply shrugged. "Well, the feeling is mutual. But hopefully we can become good friends!" she said. "I know how Vallea and Galagu see each other as enemies, and how your queen isn't one for violence. I, um..." She twiddled her fingers. "...had to deliver a letter to Galagu a long time ago."
"Queen Weylyn?" The name tasted weird on Clementine's tongue -- had it really been that long since she had been in Galagu? "Yes, you're right. The people of Galagu don't like inciting violence. We only fight if we need to." She sighed. "I plan on returning there, as a matter of fact. It has, unfortunately, been quite a while. It will be nice, to be able to see my friends and family again."
"I see." Peaches nodded. "I wish you the best of luck, then."
"Thank you, Peaches. I promised Mandy I would write letters whenever I got the opportunity, but perhaps I'll write you some as well."
"That would be wonderful. Please do!"
Mandy blinked, wondering exactly how and when Peaches had gotten more eloquent. She made a mental note to check the character description of her cousin later.
"Sorry to butt in, but..." Otto had to resist snickering at his own pun. "What happened to you? Why is there blood on your shirt?"
"Oh!" Clementine pulled her shirt out a little ways to examine it, as though having not noticed the stain before. Indeed, she had been so caught up in fighting Aozora and Mandy saving her that she barely noticed it. "I was attacked by SOHALC after exiting the Odd Side. Luckily, Mandy arrived just in time to save me."
Olive, Otto and Peaches all stared for a minute or two. Neither Clementine nor Mandy knew whether they were stares of shock or anger.
"So they came back..." Olive finally lamented, pinching the bridge of her nose with her two index fingers. "After we beat them and everything!"
Mandy scoffed and waved a dismissive hand. "Ah, they didn't put up too much of a fight. Aozora was already weakened from whatever you guys did, and everyone else was tryna convince her not to fight! But she did anyway." She laid a hand on Clementine's shoulder. "Luckily Clementine didn't get hurt too badly!"
"Don't worry about me, Mandy. I'm fine." Clementine assured, before giving a soft sigh and letting her gaze rest on the trio. "Mandy helped me see that the Odd Side had corrupted me. It's not my home. I belong in Galagu."
"She was corrupted. Just like what you guys were talkin' about!" Mandy offered for an addendum.
Olive tilted her head slightly. "How'd that happen?"
"I'm...not too sure." Clementine rubbed her head. "My memory is rather fuzzy. One minute I was in Galagu and the next minute I was in the Odd Side..."
Peaches bit her lip. "So...you're not staying here?" she asked, her tone carrying a level of heartbreak within it.
"No. I'm heading back to Galagu tomorrow."
"But why?" Peaches begged. "You could stay here in Odd Squad! I'm sure Oprah -- she's the leader here -- she wouldn't mind! We could get to know each other more!"
Clementine merely shook her head. "I'm sorry, Peaches. But I don't belong here, even if this 'Oprah' character would let me stay." She gazed into the catgirl's eyes. "I have made up my mind. Please, try to understand."
Peaches opened her mouth, as though aiming for another attempt, but closed it just as quickly as she realized that any further attempts would likely be futile. Deep down inside, she knew Clementine was right -- both of them had vastly different approaches to staying in Odd Squad. Peaches had left because she was exiled by Ashero and needed a place to stay, while Clementine simply needed a place to stay for the night after leaving the corrupting Odd Side because Galagu was too far to journey to in the span of a day. Peaches was a permanent resident, and Clementine was not.
Secretly, it hurt the catgirl. As many friends as she had in Odd Squad, Clementine was one of the only ones whom she had felt a personal connection with. And she was just leaving...it almost didn't seem fair.
But she forced herself to swallow that pill.
"I can't force you." she said. "In that case...good luck."
"Thank you." Clementine looked around. "Now, is there any place I could possibly sleep? A free bed, perhaps?"
"Can you shapeshift into a dog?"
Clementine turned to face Peaches again, taking a few seconds to process her strange question. "Er, yes...why?"
"You could sleep in Mandy's room. She can have a dog bed ready for you in seconds flat!"
Mandy nodded enthusiastically. "It's true. I've got two ways."
"Well, I don't mind either way. I'm flexible."
"GreatI'llgomakeoneberightback!"
And off the hybrid went, her feet taking her down the right-side hallway and turning a corner. Olive bit back a groan as, before she sharply turned the corner, Mandy nearly collided with the back wall. But she caught herself just in time.
"I will say this..." Clementine said. "It's amazing to see how Mandy has turned out."
"What do you mean by that?" Olive asked.
"When I first came across her, she was sad. Angry. Scared. She held so much resentment for Odd Squad kicking her out." Clementine smiled. "But now, she's so full of energy and life. It fills my heart and makes me happy, just like how her heart is filled and she's happy."
Peaches sighed. "Well, that's Mandy for you. She always brightens up our moods with her crazy antics."
"She can get grating, and annoying, and...exhausting..." Olive rubbed her head, her mind partially shutting down before her energy was sapped by the many memories of Mandy's enthusiasm taking its toll on her. "But honestly, it's hard to stay mad at her. Even as a baby, she was more calm and peaceful."
Clementine stared at Olive. "You knew her as a baby?"
"If you can believe it..." Olive pointed to herself. "I'm Mandy's adoptive mother."
Clementine did a double-take right then and there. She looked Olive up and down, looked down the hallway Mandy had gone through, and back again. "You?"
"I know, I look young."
"You?"
"It's a long story."
"...You."
"Don't keep pushing it."
"Sorry, it's just..." Clementine stammered, trying to find more words to say, but none came. She became fixated on Otto instead. "So that must mean you're the adoptive father, right?"
Otto's eyes widened. He took a visible step back and threw up his hands. "Me? Nonono, I'm not her father. I'm a friend of hers."
"Oh."
"I raised Mandy from infancy into the agent we see today." Olive explained. "It was hard work, but to me, it definitely paid off."
"That...makes sense." Clementine said, still a little bewildered and confused. "Uh, y-you did a good job, Olive."
"Thank you!"
The sudden arrival of Mandy via a very stealthy whoosh of air was punctuated by a cloud of dust that kicked up around her. "I'm back!" she declared, showing the group the dog bed she had made. Large, red, and made with a cloud-like material -- perhaps it was made of clouds. If it was, no one could tell. "Here you go, Clementine, one large dog bed! I, uh, didn't know what breed of dog you were, but..."
Clementine laughed. "That's okay. Thank you, Mandy."
"Oh!" Mandy perked up. "Um, I was making you bone salad before I realized I didn't have any lettuce. As a sort of make-up present." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Do...you still want it?"
Clementine's eyes shimmered. "I love bone salad! Oh, count me in!"
"Yay! Let's go!"
Olive, Peaches and Otto all watched as Mandy crafted a bone salad in the Breakroom. They weren't exactly sure what bones she had put in there, and it was a bit terrifying to think about if they dwelled on the question too long, so they moved on to other topics of conversation.
Finally, after a few minutes, Mandy laid a bowl down in front of Clementine. "Et voila! Bone salad!"
Clementine eyed it for a few moments, feeling her mouth begin to water. "It looks wonderful!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know you were so good at cooking!"
"Weeeeell, I'm more of a baker, really..." Mandy twiddled her fingers. "Blame Pinkie Pie. She threw a cookbook at me and broke my computer, and I never looked back!"
Eagerly, Clementine took a huge chunk of the salad and shoved it into her mouth. "So good!" she said, resting her hands on her cheeks.
"Lemme know if you want more!" Mandy said, looking upwards. "Ocean's got a tooooon of bones up there in the Creature Room that he doesn't mind me using. Not sure why..."
Clementine had the bowl halfway empty within a few minutes.
"Hey, take it easy! The last thing you need's a tummyache!" Mandy patted her own stomach. "Besides, eating like that is my thing!"
"Mm?" Clementine looked up and swallowed her bite. "Oh! Sorry, it's just...bone salad is one of my favorite delicacies back in Galagu. It's been so long since I've had it!"
Mandy took a seat and eyed Clementine as she continued to eat. "Well, eat up! I've got plenty." she said, choosing to take some salad for her own and leaving the bones out of her mouth by the end of it since they weren't the soft squishy kind she liked.
Once Mandy had cleaned up the dishes, she headed up to the Medical Bay, where she received the news that Oprah would be right as rain tomorrow. Relief coursed through her -- not just relief that her boss would be healthy, but relief that she and Olive didn't have to play O for a Day anymore. It was stuff like this that made her realize that, for the hierarchical position she was in, she could never be a Director. Not now, anyway.
After going through her nighttime routine, she showed Clementine around and briefed her on the "Handle Mandy with Care" manual.
"Now, if there's an emergency, you can wake me up. It might take me a while before I actually do, though." the hybrid explained. "I'm not gonna bore ya with details, but lemme sum up: I'm a really deep sleeper, and, uh..."
"You still snore, don't you?"
The deadpan question made Mandy blink a few times. "S-snore?" she muttered, before launching into a stilted laugh. "Ah- I- I- don't-" She leaned on her bed for support. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
A sigh. Clementine stared at her.
"...Yes. I snore."
"I figured. Many nights on our journey was I kept awake by you 'sawing wood', as they say." Clementine playfully rolled her eyes.
"Aah-ha-haaaa..." The laugh lacked any sense of enthusiasm as Mandy reached behind her back and pulled out a pair of earmuffs. "Well, if you want, you can use these. Fluttershy gave me these when I was sleep-flying all around town...bit of a long story there..." She placed them in Clementine's hands. "But they're great soundproofers!"
Clementine tilted her head slightly, gave a soft hum of curiosity, and then smiled. "Thank you. I'll have to try these out."
Closing her eyes, the dog-girl began to change form. It was much like Peaches -- a bright shimmer of light that was inching ever-close to blinding. Within seconds, she became, to Mandy's surprise, a yellow Labrador Retriever. The earmuffs remained on her leg, swaying back and forth slightly.
"...Well that was a lil' unexpected."
Ignoring Mandy's comment, Clementine sat and placed the earmuffs over her ears. They didn't necessarily work all too well due to how the ears were facing downwards, but it was a better solution for her than getting less-than-ideal sleep due to all the sleep noises her friend made. "Much better."
Mandy simply stared as Clementine climbed into her bed and did a few round-trip spins on it before laying down in a tight ball.
"Good night, Mandy."
It took the words a little while to connect to Mandy's intricate brain, but when they did, she stammered out a "Oh, g-g-good night!" before climbing into her own bed and allowing sleep to claim her, while at the same time disallowing her from thinking about Clementine any further.
Clementine woke up first, of course. It had been like that for the journey to Galagu, and it was like that in Odd Squad too.
Her jaws parted in a yawn, and her whole body shuddered with the recoil of morning breath. Slowly rising to her paws, she stretched out her body and turned her head to the clock that sat at Mandy's nightstand.
6:00. So early. She looked at Mandy. I hate to wake her now, but she'll be sad if she finds that I disappeared suddenly.
After changing back into her more humanoid form, she made her way over to the snoring hybrid, with one leg and one arm draped over the side of the bed, and gently shook her. "Mandy? Mandy, wake up."
No response. Clementine heaved a sigh and tried again, shaking her a little harder this time.
"Please? It's time."
A frantic waving of hands and a cry of pure gibberish brought Mandy back to the waking world. Her head slowly turned to look at Clementine through half-lidded, crusty eyes, the popping sound her neck made going completely unnoticed by her.
"I have to go now, if I'm going to make it far."
Mandy's ears slowly folded downwards. Likewise, her entire body slumped forwards.
Clementine smiled. "Still not a morning person either, hmm?" She chuckled. "I'm sorry. But I thought you would at least want to see me off."
A squeaky yawn made its way out of Mandy. "Yeah, I do..." she muttered. "But y' couldn't wait' til...I dunno...9? 10?"
"I wanted to leave at sunrise." Clementine, after stretching her body out a little, made her way for the door. "Come on, let's go wake Peaches up too."
"Mmmmm-all right, all right..." Slowly, Mandy began to get up. "But I'm gonna head zztraight t' bed after thizz..."
In spite of a few falters with her telekinesis as a result of her half-asleep brain, Mandy was able to get the bags to Clementine as they, along with Peaches, stood on the town line of Toronto.
"Y' sure thizz izz ev'thin...?" Mandy asked.
Clementine took the rest of the bags from the hybrid's magic grasp. "Positive. I think these groceries will last me throughout my journey." She began to gaze at the contents inside of them. "Thank you, Mandy. For freeing me from the Odd Side, for making up with me..." And then, she made eye contact with Mandy -- although it was a one-way street, seeing as how the hybrid's head was drooped. "...for everything. I'm so glad that you're doing well. And...I hope you stay safe."
A bout of loud snoring came from the hybrid in response.
"...Mandy?"
"Wha-huh?!" came, along with a flurry of snorts. "I-I'm awake, I was listenin', I swear!"
This got a hearty laugh out of Clementine. "Did you hear what I said?"
"Totally!" Mandy chirped. "You, uh...you're thankful for me. And I'm thankful foooooor..." A yawn interrupted her sentence. "...you too. I'm glad I was able to make up with you, Clementine. I hope we can stay bestest friends forever."
"Me too."
The two girls went for a hug, causing Peaches to smile wide. While no one was looking, she wiped away a stray tear that had begun to fallen down her cheek.
"And Peaches?" Clementine gazed at the catgirl with warmth in her eyes. "I'm glad I got to meet you. I hope we can stay in touch, even though we're supposed to be enemies."
Peaches' tail began to wag slightly. "Of course! I'll have to visit Galagu again sometime and meet Queen Weylyn."
"I'll tell her to look forward to your visit."
And then, they hugged. However, as much as Mandy tried to stay awake, it was quite evident she was gradually beginning to lose that war.
"You'll write letters, won't you?"
"Of course I will, whenever I get the opportunity to."
"Good." Mandy yawned again. "And don't forget, you're always welcome in Odd Squad whenever! If you need help, don't be afraid to contact us, 'kay?"
"I'll keep that offer in mind. Thank you." Clementine turned in the direction of the next town over, the soft breeze allowing her hair to billow slightly. "I suppose this is goodbye."
Mandy glanced at her damp index finger. "Mm...I can't tell if these tears are from me yawnin' or if I'm really cryin'...but..." She gave a soft sigh. "Good luck."
"We'll miss you."
"The feeling is very much mutual."
Clementine began taking her first steps.
"Goodbye, my friends."
Peaches kept her gaze fixated on the dog-girl's figure. When it finally disappeared from view, she bit her lip. As much as she wanted to cry here and now, she figured that Mandy would cry eventually too -- at least, once she got her bearings together and met the world fully awake once again. So, she forced herself to bottle her emotions, even in spite of one rampaging thought that bounced in her brain:
I already miss her.
The method failed. Tears began to fall.
The sound of a big squeaky yawn from Mandy snapped her out of her stupor. "All right, sleepyhead, let's get you back to bed before you fall asleep on my-"
Loud snores threatened to break nearby windows, scare animals away from their homes, and disturb people's commutes to work. As Peaches turned her head, she found Mandy using her shoulder as an impromptu pillow.
"...shoulder." the catgirl lamely finished, before giving a sigh and beginning to head back the way the trio had come originally. Of course, with Mandy being Mandy, it was a little harder than expected, but Peaches soon reached a tube entrance and dove inside by using Mandy as a sort of human shield, and eventually, put the hybrid right back to bed before heading for her own room to get some well-needed rest.
Good luck and stay safe, Clementine. We'll see you again, I'm sure of it.
"Mmm...file th' reportzz by Monday, get me some pazzta, and zzhave the goat already..."
Although Mandy was deep in the thralls of a good dream, with her sheets askew and all, it didn't stop Olive from nearly throwing open the door.
"Mandy!" She rushed to her adoptive daughter's bedside. "Wake up, we've got great news!"
Arms slowly wrapped around the girl and pulled her closer, leading her to blink in shock a few times. Before she knew it, her ear was being gently nibbled on.
"H-hey!" Olive pushed Mandy downwards. "Stick to eating your own pillow!"
Sighing, she reached behind a back, pulled out a small piece of cloth, and tied it around Mandy's eyes. Once she was sure the knot was secure, she watched as Mandy, in the midst of a sound-barrier-breaking snore, stretched her hands out.
It was the perfect opportunity for Olive to offer her jacket as an object to grab on.
As soon as she felt a tug, she hoisted Mandy up onto her back, watching the hybrid's arms drape across her shoulders and down towards her torso. Sure, her hands weren't gripping onto anything now, but Olive had enough strength to stabilize Mandy, and that was what mattered.
The only problem was that she could feel her eardrums rattling with each snore. Maybe they were developing cracks in them. She honestly couldn't tell.
"Why do I think waking her up will be easy? It's never easy!" she muttered to herself, leaving the room and beginning her journey down the hallways of Precinct 13579's Headquarters.
As soon as the duo stepped foot in the bullpen, Oprah jumped out from behind the wall that separated the hallway and the Breakroom. "Surpriiiii- ohh..."
Near silence. Olive and Oprah merely stared at each other, listening to the sound of Mandy's snores and incoherent sleep-talking.
"She's still asleep."
"Yeah."
"She got up early this morning, didn't she?"
"Can't say for sure, but I'm 99% positive she did."
"And you're carrying her on your back?"
"Do you want her to start sleepwalking again?"
More near-silence.
"Well I didn't get sick for..." Oprah faltered. "...at least a couple days just to be greeted like this."
Olive blinked. "Don't."
Oprah ignored her, of course. Made her way over to Mandy, and began slapping her in the face with as much force and as much speed as that runaway Ferris wheel she had to chase down one time.
A simple moan as Mandy weakly pawed at her cheek, a sleepy mumble of "too early", but nothing more.
Clearly, waking up Mandy was not going to be an easy task. Not that it ever was. To Oprah, though, that just made it all the better a challenge, and her mind immediately came up with an idea. She grabbed ahold of one of Mandy's pony ears, jerked it down to her own mouth level, and whispered:
"Precinct 13579's food supply is open for free raiding."
A flurry of snorts, and then some leg kicking that nearly made Olive topple over onto her back. "Hzuh-whuh...?!" came the plaintive cry, as Mandy's eyes, still obscured by the cloth, flew open then reverted back to a half-lidded state. "Where'zz food? M' hungry! Mr. Jonezz didn't give...he didn't..."
The hybrid's vision was blurry. Shapes of hallucinations began swaying side to side, and she rubbed her eyes in an effort to restore her eyesight.
"...Oprah...?"
"Surpriiii-iiiiise!" called the Director in glorious singsong.
Slowly, Mandy edged her way off Olive's back and onto her feet, where the Director took the blindfold off of her. It took her a few more seconds than normal to get to Oprah, but she got there, and pulled her boss into a tight hug. "You're cured...!"
"I am." Oprah sighed. "I'm feeling so much better. Whatever Dr. O did certainly worked." She looked behind her, where agents were simply going about their daily lives. "And it looks like Headquarters didn't fall to shambles while I was out."
Mandy reached behind her back and pulled out a Chocolate Moo-Moo Surprise drink, chugging it before speaking again. "Nope. Me n' Momma got all taken care of." she sleepily chirped. "But, uh, mostly Momma. My voice got sore waaaaay too soon, lost it, had to recover for a while. Nasty stuff."
She felt her voice begin to grow stronger and felt her energy returning to her with every word she spoke, and that made her smile.
"Oh, oh, and you know how you said the Odd Side is super-duper dangerous?"
"Yes, what about it?"
Mandy put on a smug expression. "What if I told you I managed to save and uncorrupt its ruler?"
Oprah's eyes widened. "You did what now?"
"Have a juice box, sit down, and I'll tell ya all about it!"
"I can't believe it. So you saved Clementine from the clutches of both the Odd Side and the catpeople of Vallea?"
"Yup!" Mandy kicked her feet against the stem of the chair she was sitting in a few times. "We're finally friends again, after...being apart for...so long..."
Olive and Oprah, who were sitting across from her at the Breakroom table, watched as Mandy grit her teeth and let her eyes begin to quiver.
"That's good!" Olive offered, as a lame attempt to cheer her adopted daughter up. "So why are you crying?"
Mandy's body quivered next. "She...she didn't wanna stay here, so she...she left for Galaguuuuu!"
And then came the wails and the waterfalls. The brunt of just what Clementine had done earlier hit Mandy like an airplane in the air, and she was nothing short of upset about it. Part of it was her struggle to try and recall exactly what had happened -- her mind had been fuzzy and she had been acting largely on autopilot with whatever part of her mind had been awake taking the wheel. She had a brief moment of clarity, when she had asked Clementine if she would write and then offered for her to contact Odd Squad if she needed help, but then her consciousness began to waver. She failed to remember anything after that.
Olive, on the other hand, knew Clementine was leaving for Galagu, but had no idea Mandy and Peaches had left to see her off -- probably early in the morning, judging from how it was past 1:00 now. "Oh, Mandy..." She gave a sigh as she got up and pulled the hybrid into a hug. "It's probably for the best. We already have Peaches. Inviting Clementine to stay likely would have dragged Odd Squad into more conflict, and we already have Vallea after you and Peaches."
This seemed to calm Mandy down as the waterfalls ceased and she gave a sniffle, which didn't help much considering that snot was nearing her top lip. "Aw man...it didn't really set in when she left...I was prolly half-asleep...but..." She shook her head. "I know she's moving on to bigger and better things. She'll be all right!"
"You did a brave thing." Oprah praised. "The Odd Side could have just as easily corrupted you too, and yet, you took the time to befriend and save its ruler." She smiled. "I couldn't be more proud."
Another ugly sniffle. Mandy magically conjured up a tissue, both to clean the snot off of her face and to hide her reddening cheeks. "You're makin' me blush!"
"I have a question, though." Olive said. "Who's running the Odd Side now that Clementine is gone?"
"Clementine told me that it doesn't really need a ruler to keep it running." Mandy blew her nose with another conjured tissue, then stuck out her bottom lip in thought. "Actually, Peaches told me something similar when I told her my backstory...when oddness gets sent there, it sorts itself out!"
"So you broke the cycle."
Mandy blinked, and then shrugged. "I mean sure, if that's what we're callin' it!"
Only a second later and she felt her body being squeezed, her lungs screaming for air.
"Ti-i-iiight! Too tight...face blue, need aaaaaair..." She was let go, and she let out a choking gasp. "Oprah, please-" A round of coughing.
Oprah made her way back to her seat. "You've just solved one of the biggest oddities this precinct has ever had. Now no one can be corrupted by the Odd Side anymore."
"I do have to wonder how the concept of having a ruler came to life to begin with, though..." Mandy shook her head and smiled. "But that doesn't matter!"
The sound of a growling stomach cut into the conversation. Both Oprah and Olive didn't need a single second to figure out whose it was.
"Oh wow, can't believe I forgot to have breakfast! Or lunch. Any food, really." Mandy hopped off of her chair. "Berightback!"
Both Directors watched as Mandy sped through the double-doors, nearly knocking papers out of the hooves of Applejack, who fixed her with a glare.
"It really makes me happy to see her smiling again." Olive mused.
Oprah tilted her head. "Like she wasn't before?"
"She was so bitter and upset before. She really wanted to make up with Clementine." Olive's eyes closed. "I'm surprised she isn't even sadder about having to let her go, but...I guess she's accepted it."
"Part of me thinks that we'll be seeing Clementine again someday." Oprah frowned slightly. "I really wish I could've met her."
"Well, Galagu and Vallea are close towns, I think. So you may not be too far off."
"Hmm."
"Hey..." Olive got up and stood in front of Oprah. "You want me to help you make something? I'd imagine you must be starving after that bout with sleep-itis."
"No need. Looks like Mandy's doing it herself."
Olive peered behind Oprah and watched as a suddenly-appearing Mandy made her way through the Breakroom, gathering all sorts of pots and utensils and placing them on the table.
"She moves fast."
"Have you seen her when she's hungry?" Oprah smirked. "If you mention food, she moves at Mach 5." She held up her badge phone. "I kid you not. I recorded it."
"...Huh."
"I burnt my hand!" came a distant high-pitched screech from somewhere that, without a doubt, belonged to a Mandy who had just learned one of the many improper ways to handle things on the stovetop. A plaintive cry followed the words, attracting the attention of a few passing agents.
Peaches emerged into the bullpen right then, giving a hearty yawn. "Hi!" she greeted, before her eyes widened. "Oh, Oprah! You're cured!"
"Yep." Oprah nodded. "That cure Dr. O gave me worked its magic."
Peaches gave a sigh. "That's a relief. Both Mandy and Olive were getting really worn out." She tilted her head. "How did you get sleep-itis, anyway?"
"I'm not too sure..." Oprah scratched her cheek. "Dr. O couldn't pinpoint a cause, but he did say it could be brought on by one or two bad nights of sleep...although I've been sleeping fine."
The sound of approaching footsteps came. Mandy levitated a plate of waffles and a plate of pancakes, letting the latter land in front of Oprah. "Et voila! Pancakes for you, our dear leader..."
"Oh, thank you."
"Aaaaaand waffles for me!" Mandy took the other plate in her hands, setting it down and going right to town on the syrupy waffles. "Mmmm..."
"Hey, why is my phone on your desk, Mandy?"
Mandy choked on her bite of waffle. Some food that was well on its way to the stomach threatened to climb back up there to her mouth and deal with the issue itself. Her hair and tail bushed out as she attempted to swallow the bite she had, feeling the large mass scrape the back of her throat. From there, she began to cough, which also made the recent delivery of food threaten to come back up and tell her to get her fo-shizzle together.
Olive, Oprah and Peaches all watched in shock as Mandy grabbed ahold of her water, chugged it, and then proceeded to launch into another round of coughing again.
All fell silent right then and there. Mandy picked herself back up, let her hair and tail return to normal, and began to speak.
"How did I not notice that?"
Olive's comment became overshadowed by a bout of nervous laughter from Mandy. "Oprah, Oprah, ya worry too much!" The laughter turned stilted. "Now c'mon, that doesn't matter in the long run, does it? But I mean, if ya want it back..."
She levitated the phone from her desk and placed it in front of Oprah.
"Take it. Cell phones are in now, baby!"
"Uh...thanks?"
As if sensing that it was removed from a rightful place, the phone rang. Before Oprah could even lift a single finger, Mandy snatched the receiver up with her tail and held it up to her ear.
"Precinct 13579, Mandy speakin', how can I help ya?"
"..."
"You don't say! I'll need your place of residence, sir."
"..."
Mandy blinked. "...N-no, your address, sir. I don't need to know your wife's maiden name and your annual income."
"..."
"Got it! We'll send someone over right away."
"..."
"You're welcome! Bye now!"
As Mandy placed the receiver back onto the top of the phone, she stared back at the three pairs of eyes that were staring right at her. "Whaaaat? Lemme have one more, I'm the second-in-command here! Plus I didn't get a chance to take that many calls...stupid plot convenience."
A hearty sigh left Oprah as she went back to eating her pancakes. Mandy, likewise, eagerly downed the rest of her waffles as Olive and Peaches shared a laugh.