Oswald adjusted his headphones and turned on the speakers.

"Okay," Oswald twisted some dials. "If everything's set up right, we should be able to hear everything Todd and that other guy say."

"And I am maintaining visual surveillance," Orla trained her binoculars at the abandoned house in the distance. "Todd and the others have gone inside." She lowered the binoculars, blinked, shook her head, and raised them again. "That's... quite peculiar. Sometimes I see a woman and other times a large dog." She sniffed. "Sorcery is afoot, no doubt."

"Yeah, no doubt," Oswald turned a knob. "Let's listen in."

There was a burst of static, then Todd's voice, very quiet. "Oh my God..."

"Yes, I'm so sorry," the sweet, piping voice of the strange boy they knew only as Basil Valentine answered. "We really should have tidied up a bit."

"Who... were they?" Todd sounded unsteady.

"I don't know, really." They could almost hear him shrug. "I suppose I might have over-reacted. I just get so upset sometimes..."

Omar and Opal exchanged looks.

Omar said it first. "Y'think Todd'll be all right?"

Opal forced a smile and a dismissive wave. "Todd? He'll be fine!" she said nervously. "He's an old pro handling these kinds of things. Heck, he was a villain himself once!"

Then the transmission went dead. There was no sound, no static, nothing. It was completely dead. Oswald bolted upright and scrambled to figure out what happened.

"Uh-oh..."

#

In the woods on the other side of the house, The Big O listened to Opal on her badge phone.

"This is bad. Seriously bad." She listened. "No, we can't rush the house. Todd's in there. We'll give him a few more minutes." She listened again. "It's a chance we'll have to take. Keep monitoring the situation and try to re-establish contact."

She hung up, then turned to the two invisible agents standing between her and the house.

"O'Grady! Oz! I need the two of you to activate your saltinators and walk in a complete circle around the house."

"Saltinators? Why?"

"Don't ask questions! Just do it! O'Grady, go left, Oz , go right! Make sure the two of you meet up by the van, then take the tubes and get out of there!"

The two agents started walking in opposite directions, leaving trails of salt behind them.

And make sure you don't leave any gaps!"

#

Basil Valentine removed his stovepipe hat, placing it on the decrepit kitchen table which had obviously been left when the house was abandoned. Ambrosia hurried over, lifted him up, and set him on the table so he was more or less eye-level with Todd. Nectar stayed outside on the porch, something for which Todd was extremely grateful.

Todd kept reminding himself not to look startled or scared by what was happening around him. He needed to react the way his Odd self would. He tried to remember what being Odd was like and found it disturbingly easy.

The far wall was completely covered with flies, writhing and crawling and buzzing constantly in the background. Todd smiled. "Awesome!"

"So glad you like it." Basil had produced a wicker basket of cherries from somewhere. "So... Todd..."

"It's ODD TODD!" Todd found himself shouting. He didn't even have to think about it. It just leapt out of him. Then the laugh. "EEEEHAHAHAHAH!" It felt... good tearing out of his throat.

"Ah, yes. Odd Todd..." Basil Valentine's skeletal, clawed right hand sifted through the cherries. "What... oddness... have you been up to lately?"

Todd thought fast. "Been taking the long road, man. Lying low, letting them think it's all good. Then when they least expect it... WHAM!" Todd clapped his hands together. The flies, surprised by the sudden noise, rose in a cloud for a moment, then quickly settled back down again.

"Hmmm... Yes..." Basil Valentine sucked on another cherry, then turned to his beautiful assistant. "Ambrosia, it's a bit stuffy in here. Could you open the window?"

#

Inside the van, Orla kept her binoculars fixed on the old house.

"I have noticed no activity."

"Hey," Omar looked around, puzzled. "Y'hear that?"

Oswald lowered his headphones. "I don't hear anything..."

"Yeah, exactly!" Omar hurried over to look out the windshield. "This is a woods. There should be birds, bugs, little animals, all kinds of noises. And there isn't even any traffic on the road."

"Hark!" Orla held up her hand. "Something is afoot!"

Peering through her binoculars, Orla watched as the woman in white walked over and opened a window. Then she looked directly at Orla. The warrior almost dropped her binoculars as their eyes met across the field.

"Orla!" Noticing her friend's expression, Opal hurried over. "Orla, what's wrong?"

Orla was visibly pale. "I believe we are in trouble."

#

"You recall the matter we spoke of, Odd Todd." Basil Valentine sat cross-legged on the table. "These... Odd Squad... agents and their peculiar longevity..."

"Yeah," Odd Todd nodded. "Some of 'em seem to live for centuries without getting any older!"

"So you've said," Basil Valentine ate another cherry. "And my sources have confirmed it. I would like to know how."

"Yeah," Todd fiddled with his collar. "So would I."

"I understand some of them are several hundred years old." He tossed a pit away. "Yet they still look like children." He smiled. "Rather hellish..."

"Yeah. I've spent years trying to crack the code of how sometimes they age and sometimes they don't..."

"But you don't know?" He sucked his finger, smiling.

"Not entirely sure, no. I think it's some sort of statis field..."

Todd did his best to sound convincing, wondering to himself if Basil Valentine knew about Agent Orla.

"Yes," Basil Valentine answered. "Yes, I know all about your Agent Orla."

Todd's breath caught. He knew he hadn't said anything out loud about Orla...

Basil Valentine's eyes darkened. "Did you honestly think you could trick me?"

Todd turned and saw Ambrosia standing behind him. She grabbed his wrists.

On the table, Basil Valentine met a gesture, as if swatting something away.

And miles away, the OSMU van found itself lifted and tossed, rolling end over end away from the old house and toward the road.

#