"So you see, we... Some of us, anyway..." Opal glared at Omar, who pretended not to notice. "We want to get more fanfiction written about us..."

Omar sighed. "And the girls kinda figured since most of the stories are set around here..."

"You came to our precinct?" Olympia nodded. "Yeah, I can sorta see how that might make sense..."

Oona's head whipped around. "You can?"

"Sssh!" Olympia nudged her friend. "The thing is, we don't really have very much going on here right now."

"But it's lucky you showed up when you did," Oona added. "When those those blobs got loose, we needed all the help we could get!"

On cue, Agents Oswald, Owen, and Oren entered the lab, all of them exhausted, bedraggled, drenched and sticky from blob gunk. They were each carrying two sealed five-gallon blob containers.

Oren spat out a mouthful of blob. "There! Forty gallons of blob," He set his containers on the workbench. "And don't EVER ask me to do that again!" He wiped his face with his coat sleeve, which turned out to be a bad idea since his sleeve was also covered in muck. "I had enough of this back in Blobsylvania!"

"Well, that's why we recruited you!" Olympia smiled. "You're an expert blob catcher!"

Oren wasn't mollified. "I am an expert in so many other, much better things..."

"Next time, YOU guys have to catch the blob!" Owen lugged his jars over and put them down next to Oren's, his jumpsuit dripping with slime. "I don't know why you had to call security!"

"Because there were dangerous animals loose in headquarters," Oona answered. "That's security's job."

"No it's not! Because it's... It..." He froze, concentrating. "Just gimme a second. I'll think of something..."

Oswald stared down at his ruined suit. "Why did I have to do this again?"

Opal smiled. "Because Omar and I called 'Not it!' first."

"Hey, rules are rules." Omar helped Oswald with the containment jars.

Olympia smiled at Oswald. "I just can't get over how much you look like your brother O'Paddy!"

"Well, we are identical twins..."

"Yeah, but you could almost be the same person!"

"Hold on," Oona held up her hand. "There are forty gallons of blob. But there are three of you and each of you have two five gallon containers. That's only thirty gallons."

Opal and Olympia looked at one another. "There's still ten gallons out there."

The three boys stood there dripping and trying desperately to concoct a reason why they shouldn't have to resume searching for the remaining ten gallons. Fortunately, a voice echoed through headquarters.

"Fear not, my compatriots! I have the rest!"

Orla strode into the lab, neat and tidy, not a hair out of place. She carried two more blob containers.

"There!" She set her containers on the bench next to the others. "Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, forty! All forty gallons of blob have been re-captured!"

Omar's eyebrow went up. "You caught the rest of the blob?"

Oren gaped. "Then why aren't you covered in slime?"

She smoothed back her hair. "When one has over four hundred years' experience with blobs, one learns their ways." She smiled apologetically at the three disheveled boys. "But I see you all did well also. You battled valiantly and achieved our objective."

"They sure did!" Oscar bustled over, as drenched with gunk as the other boys. "Sorry for letting them get away from me! Guess it just goes to show even the Head Scientist can goof up once in a while, heh, heh." He smiled at the others. Nobody smiled back. He coughed. "Now I can take those blobs back to the Main Science Building for our scheduled symposium!"

Olympia looked him over. "I think you're gonna need to get cleaned up first..."

"I think we all do," Owen frowned. "You know how our new Mister O feels about personal grooming."

"Didn't feel so strongly about it when he was smearing strained peaches all over his face, this morning..." Oren muttered under his breath.

"Quite right," Oscar grabbed his lapels and made a ninety-degree turn on his sneaker heel. "C'mon, guys! To the showers!"

Oswald blanched. "The... The showers?" He looked down at himself. "Well, I guess there's not much choice..."

"Don't worry," Owen assured him. "We've got uniform seeds and one-gallon buckets down there so you'll have something to wear.. Not sure if we've got any Mobile Unit suits, though..."

"No, it's okay," Oswald reached behind his back and produced a small capsule. "I brought my own..."

The four boys sloshed away, leaving Omar with the four girls.

#

Several minutes later, a freshly grown agent suit, a Mobile Unit uniform, a security agent jumpsuit, and a scientist outfit were all hanging in a row on a special line in the boys shower room, drying. Owen was already in the shower, singing 'O Solo Mio' to the tune of 'Santa Lucia' at the top of his lungs for some unfathomable reason. Not the whole song, just the words 'O Solo Mio' over and over.

"O SOLO MIO, O SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLO MIO..."

As he undressed, Oren was unloading his litany of complaints about the universe and its inhabitants on Oswald, presumably because he was a fresh face and hadn't heard it all before.

"Then it turns out he's a werewolf and you'd think that'd be a problem but now he's suddenly a big deal and doesn't have time for his old partner anymore..."

Oswald stripped off his suit, tied a towel around his waist, and reluctantly slipped off his underwear, making sure the towel stayed in position. Oren removed his glasses, set them on top of his watch and shoes on the bench, dumped his clothes in the bin and walked past him into the showers.

"I mean, Olive gets a promotion, freaking OTTO gets a promotion, then when they need a new Mister O they choose a BABY? I've worked here for YEARS, I'm the best agent they've got, and they just pass me over..."

"O SOLO MIIIIIIOOOO..."

Oswald sat down on the bench. Oscar noticed this as he undid his bowtie. "What's the matter, buddy? Feeling a little shy?"

"No..." Oswald responded a little too fast. "No, it's just... There's this story I read..."

#

Back in the lab, Omar and the girls were chatting to pass the time. Suddenly, Opal gasped.

"Oh no. Oh no, I just thought of this story I read..."

#

"So there's..." Oswald looked over at Oscar, saw he was unbuttoning his trousers and looked away. "There's this one story..." Oscar strolled over to dump his stuff in the bin. Oswald quickly stood up, adjusting his towel. "Like we said, we've been researching fanfiction and there's this one crazy story by this creepy person on this one site..."

#

"I thought that story was Age-Restricted!" Oona exclaimed. "How were you guys able to read it?"

Orla struck a pose. "I am five hundred years old!"

Olympia was impressed. "Can you get into R-rated movies too?"

Orla sighed. "It... does not always work that well in person..."

#

"Oh, come on!" Oscar laughed gently. "You don't really think we have showers that magically teleport guys away without their clothes on!"

Oswald half-smiled, half-grimaced. "Yeah... I did feel a bit silly..."

"First of all, Odd Squad doesn't have teleporters." Oscar walked into the showers. Hanging his glasses on one of the nozzles, he switched on the water. Oren and Owen were on either side of him. "We were workin' on 'em, but agents kept re-appearing with things in the wrong order."

After making sure the coast was clear, Oswald slipped off his towel and hurried in, hoping to get done as quickly as possible...

"Then when that fly got in with Agent Oakley, we decided to stop doing it..."

Oren produced a small brush from somewhere and started cleaning his fingernails. "Stupid blobs get in everywhere, y'really gotta be thorough..."

"O SOLO MIO..."

Oren glared past Oswald at Owen. "Why do you have to sing that song?"

Owen shrugged. "It's public domain." He poured some shampoo into his hands and started washing his hair. "O SOLO MIIIIIIIIO..."

#

"I mean, can you honestly imagine the two of us, The Big O, and Olive going around to waterparks and using a,gadget that makes boys' swimtrunks disappear?" Olympia shook her head. "Not only is that awful, it's causing oddness! We'd all get kicked out of Odd Squad!"

#

"But the proof positive that story isn't true," Oscar told Oswald. "D'you really think I'd be using these showers if they could zap me somewhere else?"

There was a flash of light and a loud popping noise. And the still-running showers were now empty.

When Oswald's vision cleared, he found himself staring at a glowing green wall. Oren, Oscar, and Owen were still lined up on either side of him. Oren was focused on scrubbing his nails and kvetching, Oscar couldn't see very well without his glasses, and Owen had his eyes closed because he was shampooing his hair. None of them had noticed anything had happened. In fact, Oscar was still talking.

#

The girls and Omar suddenly heard a popping noise. The girls were facing the lab entrance; Omar was on the other side, facing them. Then they all heard a familiar voice.

"I mean, obviously I would never. As President of Scientists, I have my dignity to maintain..."

Oona blinked. "Is that...?"

"Girls..." Omar whispered urgently. "Whatever you do, don't turn around!"

#

Very pale and getting paler, Oswald noted the closed sliding doors and the racks with gadgets hanging on them. They were now in the lab. And dripping wet. And...

Swallowing hard, he half-turned to look behind him. He saw Omar staring back at him in shock. The four girls, thank heavens, had their backs to him but the lab entrance and the bullpen were right there beyond them.

Oswald turned around quickly and began to contemplate crying.

O'Malley wandered by, double-taked, and started giggling.

"Hey guys," he laughed. "Nice tans!"

"Why, thank you, O'Malley!" Oscar waved to the little tube operator. "I've missed O'Malley! He's always so friendly..."

#

The four girls looked at Omar.

"Is it all four of them?"

Omar nodded. "

And are they...?"

"Oh, yeah. Stark."

"Okay..." Oona took a deep breath. "First, we can't look at them. Even if they never find out. It would be a complete betrayal of confidence..."

"Omar," Orla turned to her partner. "You must watch them for us and tell us what they are doing."

Omar nodded. "On it."

"I mean, it'd be a terrible thing to just take a little peek. No, it would. So I won't. I will not."

Opal pressed her fingers to her temples. "What are we gonna DO?"

Omar tried to console her. "Well, at least they're all facing the other way."

"How is that good?" Oona demanded. "Oren, Owen, your friend Oswald and my old boss Oscar are all mooning headquarters and most of them don't even realize it!"

"Well, at least they're not flashing headquarters... I think. Are flashing and mooning the same thing?"

Opal moaned.

#

Oren scowled. "It's so weird. I keep hearing people whispering."

"That's just the plumbing in this old building," Owen explained. "It makes all kinds of noises." Then he shivered. "Man! It's drafty in here all of a sudden!"

"O'Malley probably forgot to shut the door when he came in here," Oscar responded. "HEY O'MALLEY, COULD YOU SHUT THE DOOR?"

#

Shielding her eyes, Olympia hurried to the door. "People should be getting back from lunch soon. I'll try to steer them away from the lab." She ran out to the bullpen.

"O SOOOOLO MIOOOOOO..."

"We've got to do something," Opal whispered. "Those guys are gonna realize they're not in the showers sooner or later." She looked at Omar. "How's Oswald holding up?"

"I think he's hyperventilating. His little tummy's going in and out really fast. It's kinda cute, actually..."

A fierce glare from Orla silenced him.

Oona was still fighting to keep from turning her head. It would start to turn but she kept catching herself at the last second and resisting.

Oswald, meanwhile, was indeed hyperventilating. The only thing that was keeping him from fainting dead away was the fear he'd fall over and they'd see EVERYTHING.

Oren had finally finished with his nails. "Stupid blobs get everywhere, you gotta scrub every nook and cranny..."

"Ugh!" Omar made a face. "Okay, that's it, I'm out..."

The girls were lined up more or less in front of the boys, still facing away from them, standing with their coats spread out like bat wings, doing their best to block the view.

"What do you mean you're out?"

"I mean I'm out. I've just seen something no human being should ever have to see and I just can't..."

There was another flash of light and another popping sound.

Opal smiled. "Does that mean what I think it does?"

Omar nodded. "Yep. They're gone."

"And we all resisted the urge to peek." Oona sounded almost disappointed.

"Wait," Orla held up a hand. "Yes, they are gone from here. But where might they now be?"

Olympia hurried over, closing her badge and pinning it back on as she ran.

"They're back in the showers again," she explained. "My partner Otis heard the water running, went in to investigate, and they re-appeared right in front of him."

"Excellent," Orla folded her arms. "If we are lucky, perhaps they will never know about what just happened."

"Except for Oswald," Opal added. "Poor guy. I hope he'll be okay."

From the distance: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH!"

Omar winced. "I'm guessing it'll take awhile..."

#

Some time later, a now fully clothed but still shaky Oswald was back in the lab with his friends.

"I am so sorry, Oswald," Oona apologized yet again. "I have no idea how any of that could have happened." She forced a smile. "But you'll be happy to know none of us peeked at any of you..."

"Yeah, thanks," Oswald muttered, still beet red. "I appreciate it. And I realize it really wasn't your fault. And I hope someday I'll somehow be able to forgive you."

"Hey, c'mon," Omar tried to reassure him. "Things aren't that bad. I mean, I'm pretty sure no one saw you..."

Ori and O'Duffy walked by, giggling at Oswald.

"Well, no girls saw you..."

Oskana walked by the other way. She looked at Oswald a moment, smirked, and walked away.

"Okay, but it's not the end of the world..."

"Hey! Pinky!" Orchid stormed over to shout at him. "Next time you and your buddies go streaking, y'might wanna clean up after yourselves! I went in to return a gadget and nearly killed myself slipping on some water!"

"Sorry..." Oswald muttered, unable to look at her. She stormed off and he buried his head in his hands. "Of all the people in the UNIVERSE... This day can't possibly get any worse..."

"Hey, at least it's all over..."

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Look out everybody! Gooey Randall is on a rampage!"

Before they could react, both boys were splashed by a tidal wave of goo.

"Okay, we caught him! Thanks, everyone!"

The boys stood there blinking, covered with slime from head to foot.

Oswald spoke first. "Whuh...We'll... We'll get cleaned up in the van..."

Omar looked puzzled. "But the van only has pineapple juice..."

"It's FINE! We'll MANAGE!" Grabbing Omar, he dragged him away.

"Sorry, guys!" Oona called after them. "I promise, it won't happen again!"

"IT BETTER NOT!"

A cardboard box, open on both ends, floated over to Oona, Opal, and Orla, hanging in midair at approximately waist-level.

"I have never been so embarrassed in all my life! I can't believe this!" Then it swiveled to face the staring Opal and Orla. "Well? What are YOU looking at?"

Then it floated off, leaving a trail of wet footprints.

"Agent Oz," Oona explained. "It's complicated..."

#

TO BE CONTINUED...