Sitting at the snack-table in the OSMU van, Omar stared at the screen of his laptop computer, grinning from ear to ear.

"Guys!" He called to his team-mates. "Guys, c'mere! You GOTTA see this!"

Opal looked up from her magazine.. "What is it, Omar?" She said with a heavy sigh, expecting yet another cat video or the latest TikTok dance challenge.

"I was checking out the results for Odd Squad and... You know there's fan fiction out there?"

Oswald looked over from his reading nook. "Oh yeah. I read some of those back when I was a library museum person. Most of 'em are really bad." He shook his head. "I mean, really bad." He made a sour face. "Honestly, Odd Squad meets I Love Lucy? What kind of person would even want to read something like that?"

Munching on a chicken leg from dinner, Orla strode over to join the others."What is this 'fan fiction' young Omar speaks of?"

"They're stories people make up about Odd Squad," Omar explained.

Orla's eyes widened. "PEOPLE ARE MAKING UP STORIES ABOUT ODD SQUAD? We must stop these miscreants before our reputation is permanently besmirched!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jumping off his swing, Oswald hurried over to calm down his partner. "They're not spreading rumors or anything like that! They're just... Making up stories. About Odd Squad."

"Yeah!" Omar clarified. "They're just telling stories about stuff they like to imagine happening behind the scenes and stuff."

"You know," Oswald added. "Just adding their own imaginary adventures to the established canon." He sighed. "But honestly, most of them are really bad."

"But they mean well," Opal finished. Then a thought seized her. "Wait a minute... We've been around awhile... Maybe there's fanfic about US!"

They all exchanged looks.

Oswald sighed wearily. "Oh, man! Who're we gonna meet, The Munsters?"

"Aw, c'mon Oswald!" Omar grinned. "Don't be like that!"

"Yeah!" Opal agreed. "There might be some amateur epics out there!"

Finishing her chicken leg, Orla joined the others. "I admit, I am curious to see what adventures our young fans might concoct for us..."

The Van Computer interrupted. "AGENTS! YOU HAVE AN INCOMING CALL FROM THE BIG O!"

"She'd have to call now..." Omar closed his laptop and joined the others around the monitor lowering from the ceiling.

The Big O's face appeared on the monitor screen.

"Agents!" She began. "I'm calling because I understand you've just discovered the Odd Squad Fan Fiction websites!"

Oswald gaped. "How did she...?"

"Because I'm reading this story right now on my computer."

The agents looked at each other. "Wait, WHAT?"

"Doesn't matter. Here's the important thing. I know you're all curious so I won't forbid you to look at them. But I really need to warn you. Our fans generally love us but they can get a little... enthusiastic sometimes. And some of the things they come up with can be, well, jarring."

Orla frowned. "What do you mean jarring?"

"One story claimed I was the reincarnation of a famous voodoo priestess. Another accused me of being in the Illuminati." She rubbed her eyes. "And I won't even discuss that business on Deviantart..."

Omar raised an eyebrow. "Sounds... pretty weird..."

"And that's not even counting the ships."

"Ships?" Orla was puzzled. "What do nautical vessels have to do with Odd Squad?"

"No, Orla," Opal explained. "In fanfiction, ships and shipping refers to imagining a romance between characters not shown as romantically involved in the main stories."

The Big O sighed. "They've paired me up with Oscar, my old partner O'Donahue, I think there's even a story where I'm dating Agent Olive." She coughed. "Some agents can get really upset about these things. At one point, Agent Otis was even questioning his sexuality. And poor Olympia nearly had a nervous breakdown." She swallowed. "If you must read the stories, keep in mind they're just stories. None of them are necessarily true."

"Ah!" Oswald sighed in relief. "So Oscar Isn't the son of Flo the Progressive Insurance Lady and that mad scientist guy from MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000?"

"Well, no, that one's true," she admitted. "But most of the other stuff isn't. Just be careful, okay?"

She signed off. The monitor retracted to its usual place in the ceiling.

Oswald nodded. "See, even the Big O agrees that..."

The others hurried back to Omar's laptop.

"You guys!" He ran over. "Didn't you hear what the Big O said?"

"Yeah," Omar shrugged. "But, y'know, now we GOTTA find out!"

"After all," Opal smiled, typing. "How bad could it YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Oswald gasped. "What? What happened?"

Opal's finger stabbed at the computer screen. Oswald read over her shoulder.

"'Omar, My Partner, My...Love?'"

He looked at Omar, who brought up the story and started reading. "'Opal had to admit it to herself. She was in love with Omar. She loved everything about him: His beaming smile, his cheerful nature, his adorable... tush...'?"

Orla scowled. "I see nothing so impressive about it."

"HEY!" Omar quickly turned to face her, blushing. Then he glared at Oswald, who quickly averted his eyes.

Orla nodded. "This must be one of the 'shippings' you mentioned earlier."

"Exactly!" Oswald tried to console Opal. "It's just a fanfic story. It doesn't mean anything."

"Yeah. Exactly!" Opal forced herself to smile. "It's just a silly fanfiction ship. That's on the Internet. Where everyone can see it..." She put her head on the tabletop and started to moan piteously.

Omar slid in next to her and took over the computer. "It's just a story. Look, here's one where I'm supposed to be dating Orla. And here's one where it's you two girls..."

Orla sniffed disdainfully. "All this silly romance! Where are our adventures?"

"Actually, it looks like all of these are ships." He scrolled down the page. "Another Omar and Orla, three more Omar and Opals, Orla and Arctic Mister O, Orla and Big O, Opal and Otis..."

"Bah!" Orla grimaced. "What do these fans think I am, some fair damsel to be wooed and courted?"

"Omar and Olympia, Omar and Olive, Opal and Oscar, Omar and Oona, Orla and Ocean, Omar and Oskana..." He paused. "Who's Oskana?"

"You don't want to know." Oswald shuddered. He peered over the others, reading down the list of stories, searching.

"Opal and Owen, Ocean and Oceana, Orla and Oscar, Opal and Oz, Van Computer and Mathroom..." He grinned over his shoulder at his friend. "Hey Oswald, looks like you lucked out! There don't seem to be any stories about you at all!"

"Yeah," Oswald smiled weakly. "That's just great..."

TO BE CONTINUED...