Some time later, Oswald was sitting at the table with his own laptop.

"Big O and Arctic Mister O... Opal and Ocean... Opal and Omar again... Opal and Odd Todd..."

Omar returned from a shopping expedition. "Hey, Oswald."

"Oh," Oswald looked up from his computer, blinking. "Hi, Omar."

Omar nodded, carrying his shopping bag over to his souvenir shelves. "So, still checking out the fanfics?"

Oswald muttered something noncommittal. Omar pulled a coffee mug out of his bag and started looking for just the right spot.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Maybe the fans just don't think of you like that."

Oswald ground his teeth. Then he looked over at Omar.

"What's with the sweater tied around your waist?"

"It, uh, might get cold later on..." He went into the next room for sticky tape.

Oswald went back to his task. "Orla and Odd Todd... Todd and Odd Todd... Orla and Orchid... Orla and Lucas from KIDS REACT?" He continued scrolling down.

Omar returned with the tape and nearly dropped his mug when Oswald shouted, "FINALLY!"

"You found something?"

He hurried over to join his friend as Oswald read out loud, "Oswald and... OCTAVIUS?"

Omar did his best not to laugh at Oswald's reaction. "Well, y'know, it takes all kinds..."

"But I'm ... And Octavius... I mean, we experimented at the Academy, but..."

Omar's eyes widened. "Say what?"

Oswald looked at him, bewildered. "We considered being scientists. So we did lab experiments together. What's the big deal?"

Omar shook his head. "Oooooookay..."

"We tried it out awhile but we both transferred to Library-Museum Studies when Octavius discovered his love of shushing and I decided I didn't like explosions." He grimaced. "Took forever for my eyebrows to grow back..."

Opting to ignore all that, Omar punched up 'Library Love.' "Let's check it out. It could be great."

"It says it's For Mature Readers."

Omar shrugged. "People say I'm very mature for my age."

"I'm pretty sure I've never heard anyone say that..."

Omar brought the story up.

Seconds later, they slammed the laptop shut.

Oswald looked over at Omar. "I don't think we're old enough to read this."

Omar looked over at Oswald. "I don't think anyone's old enough to read that. I don't know if Orla's old enough to read that..."

#

In the van cockpit, Orla sat with her laptop, reading. "A most unsatisfying denouement... And Oswald is completely out of character..."

She sniffed disdainfully again. "All of this talk of love, kissing, romance, dating, courtship... Fah! Where are the heroics, the derring-do, the celebration of our mighty battles?"

Opal was punching coordinates into the dashboard. "Don't worry about that, Orla. I have just found the solution to all our problems!"

Orla quietly shut her laptop. "Is it the kind of solution you can tell me about or the kind you keep secret until we are immersed in it so we won't restrain you from doing something foolhardy that almost gets us all killed?"

"No, really, it's perfect! Look," She punched up the Fanfiction site on the Van Computer dashboard screen. "There's a whole section here dedicated to Crossovers, where the characters from one show interact with the characters from another."

Orla skimmed over the screen. "What has this to do with us? We are in none of these stories."

"Not YET," Opal smiled mysteriously. "Van Computer! Take us to Metropolis!"

The van's rockets fired.. "Heading for Metropolis..."

#

The boys walked into the cockpit just in time to hear Van Computer announce, "Now over the city of Metropolis!"

"Metropolis?" Omar looked out the window. "Isn't that where Superman lives?"

Oswald looked out the other side. "What are we doing here? Do we have a mission? I didn't know the Big O was sending us on a mission."

"Well..." Opal turned to face them. "Technically, she didn't actually send us here..."

Oswald sighed. "I knew it..."

Orla looked up from her seat. "Wait until you hear why we are here. Then you will have even more reason to be angry."

"What do you mean? It's a great idea!" Opal brought up the Crossover Fanfiction page again. "There's this one guy who keeps doing stories teaming Odd Squad up with super-heroes. He's done Wonder Woman. He's done Batman. But he hasn't done Superman yet! So all we have to do is find Superman and team up with him! The guy won't be able to resist writing a story about it!"

Omar's face fell. "You couldn't have picked a cool hero like Spider-Man or Black Panther or Captain Marvel?"

"I gotta kinda agree with Omar," Oswald said. "Besides, if you wanna bump into a superhero, you should've gone to New York. There's tons of them there. Folks are practically tripping over them."

"We have visited New York several times," Orla observed. "And we have yet to trip over any superheroes."

"Yeah," Omar agreed. "And you'd think a pack of wooly mammoths running down Broadwsy would've gotten their attention."

"Well, they can't handle everything..." Oswald insisted. "Besides, why would Superman need our help?"

Omar stared out the window. "Um, maybe to fight THAT?"

There was a deafening roar. The van swerved in mid-air to dodge the giant rampaging turtle monster attacking the city.

#

TO BE CONTINUED...