And in a quiet corner of Odd Squad headquarters, a strange, malicious figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stepped out of the shadows. He resembled a small boy no more than eight or nine years old with watery green eyes, blondish fuzz on a once clean-shaven head, and a dueling scar across his face that made his left eyelid droop. Adjusting his ersatz Odd Squad agent suit, he walked briskly through the halls, eventually discovering himself near the Creature Room. Finding the place deserted, he slipped in to look around.

A sudden voice startled him. "Hi there!"

He spun quickly to see a slimy blue blob with wide, friendly eyes grinning up at him toothlessly from inside an open cage.

"Are you a new friend? I love making new friends!"

The boy's lips curled in revulsion as he stared at the creature. "What... are you?" he asked in a thick German accent.

"I'm a squanzo bonzo!" the blob cheerfully replied. "My name's Ralphie! I'm one of the creatures here in the Creature Room! My buddy Ocean just stepped out for a moment! Do you know Ocean? He's really nice! You'd like him! He..."

"ENOUGH!" The boy glared at him with an icy rage.

Ralphie didn't notice. "I'm so glad to meet you," he said. "What's your name?"

The boy snorted angrily. "My name is Doctor Helmut von Glocke, though some presume to call me The Chrononaut." He raised his arm, his palm pointing at the little Squanzo Bonzo. "And you annoy me!"

Energy waves pulsed from his hand, enveloping the little creature. It struggled and squirmed as it suddenly began to age, squeaking piteously and growing more and more ancient until it finally crumbled into dust inside its cage.

"Horrid little beast," the boy sniffed as the dust blew away.

A couple of agents wandered past, waving a greeting at the boy in his agent disguise. He watched them balefully as they passed, then turned his attention back to his mission.

#

"The Chrononaut: Doctor Helmut con Glocke," Oswald sat in the van bullpen reading aloud from a file card. "A Nazi scientist who invented a time-travel device in the last days of World War Two. When he tried to test it, he moved himself forward to the Present while also physically regressing himself bodily to kid-size. Moreover, the chronal energy he was charged with gave him the ability to age things until they decay into powder." Oswald slipped the card back into a large cardboard box stuffed with many more notecards. "He's probably another one we should keep an eye out for!"

"QUEEN VASTERIA ASKED YOU TO COMPILE A LIST OF ALL THE SHMUMBERMAN VILLAINS JUST AN HOUR AGO!" Van Computer exclaimed. "AND YOU'VE ALREADY GOT ALL THOSE NOTES! YOU MUST WORK FAST!"

"I don't work that fast," Oswald admitted. "I made these up a long time ago, just for fun. I love research projects!" He sighed wistfully. "Good thing I've got the SHMUMBERMAN OMNIBUS! I can use it to cross-reference my notes!" He wrote something on a notepad on the table in front of him. Then he selected another card from the box.

"Here's another time-travel villain: Doctor Persephone!" He wrote her name on the notepad. " Her real name was Evangelista Dunkirk. She was a super-powered Spiritualist medium from Victorian times who had herself sealed up inside her spirit cabinet -That's sort of a magician's box mediums used to supposedly prove there wasn't any trickery- and she had herself locked up inside and chained up inside of it. She said it was part of an experiment. She was going to visit The Other Side where ghosts live or whatever they do. Days passed, then weeks, then months. And she never came back out. They had the box x-rayed but the x-rays said the box was completely empty. No one could figure out where she went or what happened to her or even how to get the box open again. The spirit cabinet eventually ended up at The Shmumber City History Museum. Then one day a couple years ago, she just stepped out, not a day older, with her magic spirit powers even greater than before. She decided modern times were decadent and summoned a ghost army to try to take over the world."

A figure stepped through the closed doors of the cockpit behind Oswald, a petite blond woman in an old-fashioned white lace dress with trailing clouds of mist around her. A tiny bottle of grave dust dangled from a golden chain around her neck. Ectoplasmic tendrils curled from her hands.

Oswald didn't notice her walking toward him as he refiled the card. "I sure hope she doesn't turn up! She's really scary!"

#

"Well, hi!" The brightly smiling man in the plaid shirt stood at the door. "So nice to meet you! Are you collecting for something or...?"

"Not quite," Otis responded. "I'm Otis, she's Olympia. We're with Odd Squad."

"We're working on a case," Olympia continued. "And we need to get information about the Shmumberman Comics series." She checked her notes. "You're Devlin Whittier, right?"

"Guilty as charged!" He briskly shook each agent's hand. Then he quietly produced a bottle of hand-sanitizer and washed as discretely as possible. "Always glad to meet fans!"

"Uh, yeah," Otis checked Olympia's notes. "You co-wrote and drew SHMUMBERMAN from 1996 to 2003, correct?"

"2005," Devlin Whittier answered. "One of their top-selling runs. We did the classic DEATH OF SHMUMBERMAN run and the story where Shmumberman finally proposes to long-time love interest Cheri Punch. We were planning to get them married. There was going to be a big wedding issue with multiple tie-ins, magazine stories, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT coverage, the works. Then Editorial backed out at the last minute. Said it'd 'age' the character. I still think that's bogus. Don't you agree?"

"I..."

"Yeah, I think so too. But water under the bridge, y'know?"

"Yeah, we..."

"I also created Ultra-Wing. He was a big hit, got spun off into his own series. Ran for years. I wasn't able to work on it, though. Too busy with SHMUMBERMAN. But that's the way it goes, amirite?"

"I guess so, but..."

"It's always really great to meet fans."

"You said that already."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't. But it is really, really great."

He shook their hands again and disappeared back inside, shutting the door behind him. Otis and Olympia exchanged looks, then knocked again.

After a moment or so, he answered the door again, scrubbing his hands with sanitizer. "Oh, hello! Are you collecting for something or...?"

"We need to ask a few questions about the Shmumberman comics..."

"Well, fire away! Always glad to accommodate a fan!"

"Yes, well..."

"A lot of comics pros don't really like dealing with fans. They find them rude or annoying. But I know the fans can't help it."

"Uh, we..."

"A lot of fans are socially awkward and we are, after all, their idols. I say that with all modesty, but we're like gods to them. So they tend to be overwhelmed."

"We need to ask..."

"I mean, this young lady... Olivia, right?"

"Olympia."

"No, that's just silly. I'm pretty sure it's Olivia. Anyway, girls sometimes have trouble in fandom. But I can relate."

"That's great. But we need to..."

"And some fans have a chip on their shoulder because they're angry and embittered about how they can never measure up to us. We're just better than them and they have trouble accepting it. But it's okay. We all have a purpose in the world, even them."

"Sir, we need to..."

"I mean, I'm almost certain they must have some purpose for existing. I can't see it myself, but I guess they must or they wouldn't be here, amirite?"

"Sir, we..."

"They just need to accept their natural place in the scheme of things. We can't all be incredible."

"We have some questions...?"

"Anyway, glad we could get that straightened out. Thanks for dropping by."

He stepped back inside and closed the door on them again.

Otis and Olympia stood there wondering if they should knock again when the door opened.

"Oh, by the way, y'wanna buy some original art?"

He produced a number of framed comics pages.

"I'm afraid we can't right now. We're working on a case..."

The man's face instantly soured. "Fine. Be that way."

He slammed the door on them.

#

Back on Earth Shmumber, Otto, Olive and Little O were comparing notes.

"From what I overheard," Little O explained, "they were after The Big O. But they got me instead."

Otto considered. "I wonder what they want her for."

"They probably just want her out of the way," Olive reasoned. "And unfortunately for us, she pretty much is!"

"Yeah," Little O sighed sadly. "She won't be much help to us on the Odd Squad Space Station."

"True," Otto nodded. "But it also means she's safe! They won't be able to get her way out there!"

"Great!" Doctor Straw interrupted. "Well, as long as that's settled, we'd better hurry up and get to the Shmumbertonium before someone steals it!"

They hurried off on their errand.

And as they walked away, a man in a white stocking mask, white cape, white top hat and white body stocking quietly became visible in the hall behind them.

"Ah, yes!" He chuckled to himself. "The League of Villains knew exactly what they were doing when they sent The Chameleon Thief to spy on those juvenile extradimensional interlopers!" He produced a small transmitter from a pocket in his cape and pulled up the antenna.

"Villains! Villains!" He hissed into the transmitter. "Ms. O has been located!"

After relaying his message, he tucked the transmitter away and activated the tech in his suit, becoming invisible again. Then he hurried to catch up with the agents.

#

Not that far away, Osmerelda struggled for several minutes to wrench open the side door of an abandoned warehouse.

"Frozen solid..." she observed.

She finally managed to pry it open, but only after using her heatinator to melt away some of the snow and ice.

She used her badge-phone to check in. "Shmumbra? I think I've found where Shmumbermaid is being held captive!"

She scanned the room and quickly spotted the colorfully garbed heroine imprisoned in a block of ice.

A gaunt woman with bright blue skin, a silver gown, and hair like tinsel gloated.

"At last, Shmumbermaid, I have lured you into my trap!" she cackled. "Soon, you will be frozen solid! And I, Blizzardess, shall be the fairest one of all!" She threw her head back and laugh maniacal laughter like icicles shattering on rock.

"No, wait!" Osmerelda amended into her phone. "I've definitely found her!" She stepped back, holding the door open, and adjusted a button on her suit. "Winter coatinator!"

There was a flash and she was suddenly in winter gear.

Then she resumed her phone call. "I'm going in! But I've gotta be REALLY careful! It's super cold in there! And gadgets don't work in extreme cold! So I won't have any weapons to fight with!"

Osmerelda snuck into the frozen warehouse, moving slowly and deliberately. The floor was covered in ice and very slippery. Osmerelda struggled to keep her balance.

She edged her way across the room, doing her best not to attract the villain's attention. Her sneakers slipped and slid on the icy floor.

Leaning against a pile of snow for balance, Osmerelda carefully took another step.

Her foot hit a weak spot in the ice. It cracked under her sneaker, making a loud snapping sound.

Blizzardess turned toward her.

#

Across town, Omar and Orla stepped carefully across the weakening floor of a burning building. Both wore firefighting gear and were sealed inside a large water bubble that moved with them as they walked.

"I can't believe this fire's still going," Omar commented, adjusting his goggles. "It's been a month! Time must work differently here!"

"Undoubtedly," Orla responded, her voice muffled somewhat under her oxygen mask. "But we must make haste to find this Shmumberman! The protective shield the mermaid Shmumbra conjured for us will not last long!"

It was true. The edges of the bubble were already starting to sizzle and dissipate.

"What does this 'super-hero' of yours look like?" Orla asked.

"Trust me, you'll know him when you see him," Omar replied.

The building groaned and creaked around him.

"I just hope we find him before this whole building collapses!"

"There!" Orla shouted triumphantly, pointing to a bulky figure moving through the smoke. "That must be The Shmumberman!"

The figure lumbered toward them, its metallic armor gleaming, the single red light in the center of its otherwise featureless face blinking irregularly.

"Uh-oh," Omar gasped. "That's not..."

Orla dodged barely fast enough to elude the force-blast the creature fired from its blinking red light. The water bubble twisted and pulled Omar with her.

"It's The Shmumbernaught!" Omar exclaimed. "The robot crazed tabloid publisher K. Carlton Crank commissioned to hunt down Shmumberman!"

Another blast. This time Omar dodged, dragging Orla with him.

"Argh!" Orla hissed in frustration. "This Shmumbernaught is determined to bar us from continuing our search!"

Another blast. They both jumped back simultaneously. The floor began to buckle dangerously.

"If only we could split up!" Omar dodged again. "But we're both stuck together inside this bubble!"

"Then there is but one thing we can do!"

Taking several deep breaths, Orla forced her way out of the protective water field, exposing herself to the heat and flames.

"ORLA!"

Omar tried to grab her and pull her back in, but she eluded him.

"MAKE HASTE, YOUNG OMAR!" Orla struck at the Shmumbernaught. "FIND SHMUMBERMAN WHILST I DISTRACT THIS BEHEMOTH!"

The Shmumbernaught grabbed at Orla. She ducked under his grasping hands, barely. Omar could see her exposed skin reddening.

"HURRY!"

With no other choice, Omar ran off to search.

#

And back in the Creature Room at Odd Squad headquarters, Doctor von Glocke had found the door to the Dinosaur Room. He ran his hand over the cool steel, listening to the roars and screeches of the beasts inside.

"Yes..." he purred, smiling. "Yes. This should do quite nicely..."

#

TO BE CONTINUED...