Olive, Oscar, Otto and Doctor O raced to the Spider-Cat room, each loaded down with as many boxes of Spider-Cat Anti-Venom zappers as they could carry.

Doctor O took the lead. "If they receive treatment within thirty minutes of being bitten, there shouldn't be any trouble."

Olive checked her watch. "It's been over an hour."

"Then there should be trouble."

Olive scrunched up her face. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

"Of COURSE there is! I'm a DOCTOR!" She paused. "I'm.. not sure what, exactly, but there must be something..."

Oscar was in full freakout mode: "I killed Batman and Robin, oh man I killed Batman and Robin, I'm gonna go to jail forever and get kicked off Odd Squad and Ms. O'll kill me and we'll hafta move again and my mom will be SO upset and I'll never get to play for the Vancouver Canucks and I'm gonna be in jail forever..."

"It's okay, Oscar," Otto then tried to figure out a way to follow up that statement. "We'll... come visit you...or..."

They skidded around the corner and Otto thought of something better.

"Look, they're Batman and Robin! They've gotten out of tougher traps than this!"

"Well, not recently."

The kids screeched to a halt, the boxes falling from their arms. Batman stood before them, completely unhurt, straightening his cape.

"It was quite a challenge, though." Batman nodded. "I see you're fully recovered, Oscar." He looked over at Doctor O. "You've made certain of that, haven't you, Doctor?"

"Of COURSE I made sure! I'm a DOCTOR!" Producing a sheet of paper, she handed it to Batman. "Here's the results of the brain-scan I performed a few moments ago."

Batman looked at the scan. "Pastel colored bunny rabbits dancing in a circle?"

"Exactly." She nodded. "He's back to normal."

Oscar's mouth worked silently a moment. When he recovered his ability to move, he ran over and seized Batman in a bear hug. "Oh Batman! I didn't kill you! I'm so sorry..." He blinked. "I mean, I'm not sorry I didn't kill you, I'm sorry I tried... You know, because... I mean..."

Batman smiled. "It's all right, Oscar. We know what you mean." He looked down at the young scientist's new bouffant hairdo. "But it might be a good idea to stop at the barber shop." Oscar kept hugging him. "Commissioner Gordon can be surprisingly broad-minded, but even so..."

"But how did you escape?"

"An old magician's trick! Fortunately, I began to come around just as we were being chained up and was just alert enough to flex my muscles," Batman explained. "Then when I relaxed, I had just enough slack to work myself loose."

The kids all looked at one another. "Ooooookay..." It didn't make much sense but it apparently worked so they went with it. "But... What about the spider-cats?"

"Very simple," Batman tried to stride forward, then realized Oscar was still hugging him. He detached Oscar and resumed his speech. "As we all know, spider-cats can be lulled into a tranquil state with subsonic vibrations. I simply hummed at the lowest frequency I could manage until I was able to reach the light switch."

"See?" Otto nodded, smiling. "I told you. They can get out of anything." He looked around. "But where's Robin?"

"Robin was bitten," Batman responded sadly. "Several times, in fact." All the color drained from Oscar's face. Otto and Olive caught him before he collapsed. "However, I was able to find and administer the antidote in time." He looked around. "You might want to be careful where you step, though."

Just as the kids started nervously checking their shoes, Robin suddenly reappeared, springing up from apparently out of nowhere. "Holy Alice In Wonderland! I sure hope I never have to go through tha..." He staggered as Oscar leapt forward and hugged him. "Um, miss? Miss?"

Olive's badge phone rang. "Go for Olive..." She listened. "We've just found Batman and Robin. They're fine." More listening. "What?" More listening. "What?" She looked at the others. "They've captured The Joker."

"Excellent!" Otto fist-pumped. "BOOM-caught-a-lotta!"

"Who captured him?" Robin asked. "Batgirl? The other Odd Squad agents?"

Olive shook her head. "He just called the police station and gave himself up."

#

A short tube ride and a Batmobile trip later, Batman, Robin, Olive and Otto were wandering through what was left of the convention center.

"It... looks like a cyclone hit it..."

Olive stepped carefully around piles of sticky silly-string and rubble, following the caped crusaders as they explored the ruined building. Otto gulped at the gouged claw-marks in the walls, the shattered furniture, the exposed electrical wiring, the twisted pipes...

"Stay alert!" Batman warned. "This could be a trick!"

Robin tried to open the door to get to the next room. He grabbed the doorknob, pulled, and the entire door fell into his arms.

"Holy... It's been ripped clean off its hinges!"

Batman looked around grimly. "What sort of rampaging beast could have done all this?"

Just then, they heard the howling. Otto and Olive looked at one another.

Otto shook his head. "Naaaah. That's just crazy."

"Odd Squad!" Chief O'Hara called from nearby. "Yuir friend, the one with the... um... speech impediment... He's got him cornered in an upstairs office. Top floor."

#

Fortunately, the elevators still worked. The quartet arrived just as The Joker was being led, hand-cuffed, disheveled, his usually natty suit torn to rags, into the corridor.

"This is humiliating! I'm the Clown Prince of Crime! Who would have thought a goofy little dumpling with a potato fetish could destroy my beautiful wickedness? I can't even..."

Olaf was crouched nearby. As the police led The Joker past him, he growled. The Joker yelped and cringed back.

"KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ME!" Spotting Olive and Otto, The Joker glared at them. "Odd Squad, you cheated! You cheated! What kind of lunatics do you have working for you anyway? This is preposterous!"

Otto and Olive exchanged looks. "Olaf?"

Olaf looked at them, reached into his pocket, and produced a small, bruised, peeled potato, clutching it against his cheek. "Potato..." He sobbed.

Wandering around the corner, Oskana plucked the potato from his hand. "Waste not, want not." She tossed it into the metal tub she carried, which was already filled with the other potatoes she'd gathered up. "Just wash 'em off and they'll be as good as new." She walked off the way she came.

Olaf contemplated this. "Oh." He smiled and stood up, straightening his tie. "Okay then."

"OKAY THEN?" The Joker screeched. "OKAY THEN?"

"Come on, men," Chief O'Hara motioned to the officers. "Take 'im away."

"I'll remember this, Odd Squad!" The Joker shouted. "And if you see my little fashioned-challenged protégé, tell him he gets an F!" He struggled as he was led off to the paddy wagon waiting below. "An F MINUS!"

"Olaf? Olaf, are you here?"

They turned to see a gasping, exhausted Oren running down the hall.

"Olaf!" He stumbled toward them. "You're okay!"

Olive stared. "What happened to you?'

Oren took a deep breath. "The Joker... And Olaf was chasing him... All through the building... I ran... Thirty flights of stairs... And down... And up... Twice..." He clutched his stomach.

"Oren?" Olive took a step toward him.

He shuddered, turned, shook violently, and threw up all over Batman.

"OREN!"

"I... I..." Oren blinked. "Batman?" He smiled awkwardly. "I've... always wanted to meet you..."

"Um... Yes..." Batman drew his cape around himself.

Oren stood, swaying slightly, looking up at the Caped Crusader like he was about to cry.

Before Batman could console him, Olaf ran over.

"It's okay, partner! I fix!" Olaf pulled out a gadget and fired it at Oren. "Reversinator gadget!"

Bathed in a multi-colored light, Oren repeated the last few seconds backwards, the vomit detaching itself from Batman's uniform and flying back down Oren's throat. Olaf turned off the gadget and Oren stood, eyes wide as saucers, processing what had just happened.

Olive and Otto exchanged looks. "Oren? Are you all right?"

Oren finished processing what just happened.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH!"

Hand over his mouth, he ran out of the room.

Olaf pulled out a pad and paper and handed it to Batman. "When he feel better, he will want your autograph..."

#

Back near Odd Squad headquarters, Oscar was headed to the nearest barber. He paused to check his reflection in a store window.

"Cripes," he muttered, scowling at the bouffant he was wearing against his will. "I look like Miss Yvonne..."

Rounding the corner, he was just in time to see Agent Odie emerge, fluffing his new bouffant.

"There!" He admired himself in a small hand-mirror. "I'd like to see that hair-pirate Oscar steal THIS..."

He lowered the mirror to see an embarrassed Oscar standing apologetically in front of him.

"Um... Hi?"

Odie's lower lip trembled. "I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!"

Turning on his heel, Odie stormed back into the barber-shop.

"JUST SHAVE IT ALL OFF! ALL OF IT! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!"

"Agent Odie!" Oscar ran after him. "Agent Odie, WAIT!"

#

"...And we found this in the road," Batgirl placed the she-wolf bone on Commissioner Gordon's desk. "Also, the Wayne family butler said a rare flowering dogwood tree on the estate had been damaged. Someone had broken off one of the branches."

"How strange," Commissioner Gordon rubbed his chin. "Why would Odd Todd go through so much trouble to steal that bone, just to throw it away? And why vandalize a tree?"

"I have a suspicion," Ms. O sipped her juice box. "Do you have the stolen items recovered from the villains' hideout?"

"Yes, yes, they're right over here," The Commissioner led them over to the table where the items were arranged.

"And the list of the items that were stolen?"

"Right here." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to her. Ms. O headed over to inspect the items. "But I don't see..."

"Just as I thought! Seven bags of sugar were stolen!" Ms. O pointed. "But only one... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six bags were recovered!"

Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon looked at one another. "There's a bag missing!"

"And a bag of salt... And two bottles of rum..."

Commissioner Gordon scratched his head. "How could my men have missed them?"

"I don't think they did," Ms. O walked around the table. "You'll notice Elpha Kratt's diamond-studded feather boa. The feathers are here..."

"But the diamonds aren't!" Batgirl gasped.

"But..." The Commissioner pondered. "What could it mean?"

"Commissioner," Ms. O turned to him. "Have there been any other pointless or inexplicable thefts during The Joker and Odd Todd's crime spree?"

"As a matter of fact, there have been!" Commissioner Gordon produced some papers from his desk. "Several, in fact! All by a trio of girls!"

Ms. O and Batgirl exchanged looks. "Did you get a description?"

"Yes, yes," he shuffled through his papers looking for the relevant pages. "They were young, attractive, in motorcycle gear, all blondes with a..." It finally hit him. "...A single black streak in their hair..."

"The Todd Squad!"

Batgirl looked over the list. "A spool of blue thread... Crushed gardenia blossoms... Five copper pennies..."

"But... But Odd Todd can't make his immortality potion now! We've recovered the items he stole!" Commissioner Gordon gestured to the table. "And even if he could, what would be the point? His partner's been captured!"

"Odd Todd never intended to make that potion!" Ms. O slurped from her juice box.

Batgirl was lost. "But... The Joker..."

"Odd Todd was using him! He tricked The Joker into teaming up with him and staged this entire crime spree to distract us!" Ms. O paced around the room. "That's why he added that fake item about potato peelings! He probably came up with that part of the plan after discovering Oren and Olaf were in town!"

The light dawned for Batgirl. "He deliberately set The Joker up to be captured..."

"The little scoundrel!" Commissioner Gordon exploded. "But... What's his real plan?"

"Let me see that list!" Ms. O snatched the piece of paper and skimmed over it. "Oh no. Oh NO. That explains the frogs..."

Batgirl looked at her. "He's making another potion, isn't he?"

"Yup." Ms. O drained her juice box. "And if we don't stop him before he finishes it, Gotham City is doomed!"

The phone rang. Commissioner Gordon answered it. "Yes, Bonnie?" Brief pause. "The kaleidoscopic kid criminal's struck again! Odd Todd and his moll just held up Cap's Hobby Hut on Maple Drive! All they took was a model rocket!"

Batgirl looked puzzled. "A model...?"

Ms. O was already pressing her badge phone. "Otto! Olive! Oscar! Batman and Robin! Meet us at Gotham City Airport!" She charged toward the door. "I just hope we're not too late!"

#