Oswald stood frozen in confusion as the van started tipping for no reason.
"What's... What... What..."
Orla tackled him, pulling him with her under the snack table, which was bolted to the floor. Omar and Opal dove in after her.
"Van Computer!" Opal shouted. "Activate lockdown mode!"
"LOCKDOWN MODE ACTIVATED..." Armor sprouted around the van, covering it completely and protecting it as it bounced and rolled across the ground, propelled by some unfathomable force.
"My souvenirs!" Omar whispered, praying they'd survive the experience.
Oswald was more scared THEY wouldn't survive. "What WAS that? It picked up the van and threw it like a tornado!"
"UNKNOWN," Van Computer replied. "NO TORNADOES DETECTED. NO KNOWN SOURCE FOR THE WAVE OF FORCE THAT STRUCK US."
"Base sorcery is what it is," Orla growled. "Fortunately, I have taken precautions." Reaching behind her back, she produced four crude necklaces made from knotted rope, each with a pale rocklike object in the center. "Put these on. They're bezoar stones!"
Omar stared at the one she handed him. "They're what now?"
"Bezoar stones," Oswald explained. "Hard masses that form in the stomachs of goats and deer and some other animals when they swallow something that irritates them."
Opal gaped in a mixture of confusion and disgust. "You want us to wear goat hairballs?"
Oswald slipped his necklace around his collar. "At this point, I'd wear the whole goat if it did any good!"
"Hey, it can't hurt!" Omar put his on too. Wrinkling her nose, Opal did likewise.
"Van Computer!" Opal shouted. "How long until you can get the jet thrusters on-line?"
"I WILL TRY MY BEST," Van Computer responded. "JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE..."
"We've got to get back to that house!" Opal insisted. They all clung to the table as the van continued to roll. "Todd's still in there!" She shuddered. "That poor guy! What did we get him into?"
#
Inside the dilapidated farmhouse, Todd was pressed against the far wall, unable to move, barely able to breathe, held there by an invisible force. Basil Valentine slid over to the edge of the table he'd been sitting on, stepped down into empty space, and hung there, suspended in midair. He walked across thin air over to Todd, his black frock coat billowing and flapping behind him.
"So... Odd Todd..."
"It's TODD now!" Todd smirked.
Basil Valentine's expression didn't change. He reached over with his withered hand and ran his bony fingers across Todd's face. Ambrosia stood nearby, blank-eyed and swaying.
"What was the point of this?" Basil Valentine asked softly. "To redeem yourself? You should know that's impossible."
His fingers reached Todd's eyebrow, the one with the white streak. He brushed it gently.
"You will always be remembered as the monster who betrayed Odd Squad. No matter what you might do from now on, that will be your legacy."
Todd tried to look nonchalant. "I know that."
"Do you? Do you really?" He smoothed down the eyebrow. "They'll never forgive you. They'll never stop hating you. They'll never trust you again." He smiled. "And they're right."
Todd squirmed under the weight of the pressure pinning him to the wall.
"You're so close to slipping. I feel it inside you. Do you honestly think they can't feel it too?"
He reached into Todd's pocket and removed the flip-flopinator.
Todd winced. "I... was going to put it back." His mouth was suddenly very dry. "I just wanted to hold it for a while..."
"Did you?"
#
Outside, invisible agents Oz and O'Grady rounded the house from opposite sides, Oz on the left, O'Grady on the right, leaving trails of salt behind them. The Big O had instructed them to circle the house completely. They were now edging around to the front.
Nectar was standing outside on the porch. Both O'Grady and Oz kept glancing over at her. They were invisible, she couldn't see them, they knew that but they couldn't help being scared.
Then she seemed to notice something. She raised her head.
And looked directly at O'Grady.
Her face twisted into a vicious snarl.
Suddenly, she was gone. In her place was an enormous black wolf that leapt from the porch and tore across the yard straight toward him.
#
"Do you understand, O'Malley?" The Big O shouted into her badge phone. "There's no room for error! You have to open the tube in the exact co-ordinates I gave you..."
"And shut it right when you give the word," O'Malley responded laconically over the phone. "I got it. Tube open now..."
A glow erupted from behind a tree. The Big O dove into it and was gone.
#
Basil Valentine held the gadget for a moment, letting it swing back and forth before tossing it away.
"You're going to fade away," Todd said suddenly, smiling at the sudden realization. "You're aging backwards, very slowly, but you're getting smaller and smaller and soon there won't be anything left! That's why you're trying to find out Odd Squad's secret: To save yourself!"
Basil Valentine's smile faded. His eyes turned feral.
"Ambrosia... Bring me the scalpel..."
#
The wolf bounded across the ground, its eyes yellow and glowing, its fangs terrifyingly long. O'Grady saw it coming and froze in shock. Oz took off running toward him, still trailing salt, straining desperately to reach him before the wolf did. The beast was huge and fast, incredibly fast, covering the distance in seconds.
Fortunately, Oz had blind panic on his side. He reached O'Grady, their two lines of salt connecting and forming a perfect circle just as the wolf leapt toward them.
"O gosh..." Oz grabbed O'Grady, the two of them falling to the ground. "Ogoshogoshogoshogoshogosh..."
The wolf never completed its leap. It stopped in mid-air as if it had slammed into a wall, dropping down in a heap just behind the line of salt. Nectar took its place, sprawled unconscious on the ground. The grass withered beneath her.
O'Grady blinked. "Whuh... What happened?"
Oz shook his head, a pointless gesture since he was invisible. "I dunno, man. But let's not stick around to find out. The Big O said to make the circle, then get out! Circle's made, let's go!"
Switching off their saltinators, they hurried to the nearest tube entrance and vanished.
#
Miles away, the forces buffeting the van receded. It rolled back up on its wheels and retracted its armor. The jets emerged on either side and fired up.
"Come on, guys! We might still be able to salvage this!"
#
Back in the house, Todd suddenly flopped on the floor. The force pinning him to the wall was gone. There was a humming like thousands of insects all around.
Ambrosia collapsed like a broken doll, scalpel in hand. Basil Valentine looked around, bewildered and increasingly furious.
"What... What is..."
There was a burst of light from behind a chair. The Big O jumped out, grabbed Todd, and pulled him back with her into the tube entrance. There was a flash and they were gone.
"What... How... How dare you... HOW DARE YOU..."
#
The van arrived just in time to see The Big O emerge from behind the tree with Todd.
She grabbed her badge-phone.
"O'Malley! Shut the tube entrance! NOW!"
"Shutting it down..." The glow faded.
The Big O sighed in relief. "Thanks, O'Malley!"
The OSMU agents emerged just in time to see the house explode into flames. There was a pillar of fire and black smoke and an unspeakable screeching sound.
"Don't step over the salt!" The Big O warned. "Basil Valentine's magic can't cross over the circle but you have to stay on this side to be safe.
The agents watched in horror as the house burned and crumpled.
"Oh my..." Opal's jaw dropped. "Is.. Was there anyone in there?"
"No," Big O replied. "Nothing human." She lowered Todd to a sitting position on the grass. "How about you, Todd? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so..." Todd stared at the ground. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, Todd," Omar assured him. "You did your best."
Todd shook his head. "No. I mean... For everything..."
"I know," Big O nodded.
"Some heroes WE are!" Opal whined. "We didn't do ANYTHING!"
"It's okay, you guys. You did your best." She smiled at them, then turned to smile at Todd too. "Doing your best is all you can do, really. You just have to keep trying."
Todd stumbled to his feet.
"Now let's get Todd back home."
They boarded the van and flew away.
#
"Agents Orind, Oladda," Olive sat behind her desk at her Precinct. "Something very odd has happened!"
Otto strode in seconds later to hand the young agents the file and take over explaining the case. He and Olive traded back and forth elaborating and instructing them, the two of them working in perfect sync. They were a perfect team.
Todd watched them, hiding in the shadows. Nobody knew he was there; he was still expert in slipping in and out of headquarters undetected. And he stood there and watched Olive with her partner. They were great as Mister and Ms. O.
Todd couldn't help feeling proud of her. She was the happiest he'd ever seen her.
He slipped quietly back out before he was discovered.
#