Just Another Day in Pure Heart
It had been a day like any other in Pure Heart Valley, the birds were chirping their sweet songs, the sun cast down its warm rays. Everything was at peace in Pure Heart Valley... until it wasn't.
You could almost say that Pure Heart wouldn't be Pure Heart without the occasional monster attack. The sheriff's dept. was currently handling the latest of monster invasions in the town square.
Today, their battle was with a swarm of Jade Wasps; six inches in length with a eight inch wingspan, these green monsters have dangerous neurotoxin that's causing the team to try and stick to distance fighting, with Mao Mao currently evacuating the nearby Sweetypies from the square.
"Badgerclops!" Mao Mao shouted. "On your left!"
Badgerclops turned as one of the Jade Wasps flew in at an attempt to sting him. Adorabat intercepted the six inch wasp as Badgerclops moved back into firing distance.
"Adorabat!" Badgerclops shouted to the blue deputy, alerting her to what he was about to do.
As Adorabat placed distance between her and the wasp, Badgerclops shot the Jade Beetle into dust. After Mao Mao evacuated the last Sweetypie, he moved to join back up with the rest of the Sheriff's Dept., but found a wall of Jade Wasps blocking his way.
Frustrated, Mao Mao gripped Geraldine tightly. Fighting a singular gigantic monster was definitely a pain, but a numerous amount of smaller monsters was even worse.
"Badgerclops, you got a flamethrower in that arm of yours?" Mao Mao asked, holding Geraldine in front of him, ready to slash at any wasps that come near him.
"Yeah, because I just happen to have the tool for everything in my arm," said Badgerclops sarcastically, firing shots at Jade Wasps as they lurched toward him and Adorabat.
"You have a cannon that turned your own stink into a weapon, but you don't have a classic flamethrower," questioned Mao Mao as he slashed a wasp with Geraldine. "Or at least a can of pesticide?"
Baderclops and Adorabat moved themselves back to back, so that the wasps wouldn't catch them by surprise.
"I haven't had time to install one okay? Between fixing the Aerocycle and my chores, I just haven't had the time."
"To do what? Go to the store and buy a can of bug spray?" Mao Mao sniped at Badgerclops.
"You make it sound so easy," shouted Badgerclops. A few wasps moved forward, and in response, Badgerclops switches from his standard laser arm to a rapid fire one. One by one, Badgerclops dropped the wasps like flies.
"You only have two chores, and the Aerocycle only needs it's scheduled maintenance!" Mao Mao stated in response to Badgerclops' griping.
"Exactly." Badgerclops said back like his point was obvious.
As the wasps started to advance, Mao Mao turned around and made a dash for the lamppost fifty paces behind him; unsurprisingly, the wasps flew after him. When Mao Mao was three paces away from the lamppost, he made a lunge for it. Grabbing the street lamp by it's thin neck, he swung around it and threw himself into the air and over the small group of wasps that kept him from his friends.
As Mao Mao fell to the ground, he bent his knees in anticipation of the force from the landing. When he came down, Mao Mao tucked in and rolled along the cobblestone to soften the blow, coming to a stop next to Badgerclops and Adorabat.
"We're out numbered," whispered Mao Mao to himself. "Think Mao Mao, what do you know about wasps?"
"Mao Mao's talking to himself again." Adorabat pointed out. She pulled out one of her smoke bombs from who knows where she keeps them on her small body, readying it to use in case they needed to regroup.
Seeing the smoke bomb, Mao Mao got an idea. "That's it!" Mao Mao exclaimed. "Adorabat! Give me one of your smoke bombs!"
"What are you going to do with it?" Adorabat asked as she handed him the smoke bomb.
"I'm gonna test a theory," he replied with smirk.
"You mean your not entirely sure this'll work?" Badgerclops asked, keeping his sights on the Jade wasps surrounding them. "Sorry but, no offense bro, your plans tend to backfire even when you're certain they'll work."
"Trust me," said Mao Mao, as he got ready to enact his plan. "It'll work this time."
"That's what you said last time." Adorabat whispered under her breath.
Mao Mao threw the smoke bomb into the air, immediately after, he jumped after the object. When the bomb fell back within reach, he slammed it with the flat of Geraldine, sending the bomb careening towards the wasps. When the bomb came into contact with the ground, smoke billowed out in a small radius, only covering a third of the wasps.
"Uh, what was the plan again?" Adorabat asked Badgerclops, unsure as to what was the goal to Mao Mao's "master plan".
"I don't know Adorabat, I just don't know."
When Mao Mao landed on the ground next to them, he stared into the smoke, waiting for his plan to show that it had worked as he had hoped.
As the smoke cleared, the Jade Wasps that were covered in the smoke were now lower to the ground in comparison to the others. They were wavering in the air, like a man trying not to fall asleep in the middle of an important task.
"Ha ha, yes!" Mao Mao exclaimed as he raised his arms over his head in triumph. "My plan worked!"
Adorabat, confused, asks Mao Mao, "What worked?"
"Well, it's quite simple Adorabat." Mao Mao replied in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Along my travels, I've learned many things. One being that when bees are exposed to smoke, they become less active. It was a gamble on whether it would work on these wasps or not, but I think we see that my plans can indeed work."
Badgerclops rolled his one good eye, knowing that last bit was a jab at him and his comment on how Mao's plans didn't always work.
"A broken clock is right twice a day bro. You've got one left." Badgerclops said with a counter jab.
Unoffended by his bestfriend's words, Mao Mao was only determined to finish his plan. "Well I better use then shouldn't I? Adorabat, get some altitude and drop your smoke bombs. Cover as much of the ground as possible."
"Okay!" Exclaimed Adorabat. "Except, I have a question."
"Altitude means height," said Badgerclops anticipating Adorabat's question. "He wants you to go as high as you can go."
"No further questions." Said Adorabat. Flapping her tiny little wings, she flew high above the wasps. However, a number of wasps only saw a tiny creature separating itself from its group, and followed it into the sky. Though this wasn't ideal, it wasn't unplanned for.
Mao Mao saw what the Jade Wasps were doing, he turned toward Badgerclops and said "Badgerclops, give Adorabat some covering fire. I'll stay on defense."
"On it!" After receiving his orders, Badgerclops transformed his arm from a rapid-fire laser cannon into a sniper cannon, complete with a x10 scope.
Badgerclops shot down any wasps that got near Adorabat, but with the team's only long range fighter focused on protecting the deputy, the wasps in the square gradually started to move toward the the Sheriff and his deputy.
Mao Mao had to double time it in order to protect Badgerclops from the 360 degree onslaught. Slash one wasp, look for the next one that's too close to Badgerclops, slash that one. Repeating this process against dozens of foes was taxing Mao Mao's stamina.
Mao Mao tried to regulate his breathing, a technique that he discovered in his travels, and used every now and then. By breathing like you would during a leisurely walk, your stamina will last slightly longer than you would by breathing like you during a full sprint. But even with this technique, Mao Mao was cutting it close.
Dancing around Badgerclops was starting to be the least of his worries. The wasps were getting bolder, and attacking in bigger groups. Cutting an entire group and moving to the next one was becoming to difficult for Mao Mao. As Mao Mao started to cut down the next group, a wasp avoided his sword and managed to bury its stinger in Mao's left arm.
"AAGGHHH!" He screamed, he punched the wasp in response to the sting.
"Mao Mao!" Badgerclops, worried for his friend, diverted his attention to Mao Mao, who now was in his knees, holding his arm with his right hand, with Geraldine in his left. "Adorabat! We need that smoke now!"
Adorabat saw the mishappening on the ground below her, figuring her height was good as is, she dropped as many smoke bombs as she could at once. Each one took around ten seconds to hit the ground. The first hit Mao Mao and Badegerclops dead center.
Adorabat did this on purpose to give them a sort of shield, protecting them from the wasps. She protected her friends as well as followed her training. Mao Mao often told her that as heroes, their first priority was to protect others, and then fight off evil. The rest of the bombs were spread out from the initial one. She kept dropping them, well after the square was completely covered in smoke. It wasn't until she ran out that she stopped.
Adorabat gradually lowered herself to the ground, worried about whether she may have overdone it. When she was fifty feet above ground the smoke started to clear. She saw Badgerclops and Mao Mao huddled together, surrounded by dozens of unconscious Jade Wasps.
When Adorabat landed next to the two heroes, they were coughing from the insane amount of smoke that they inhaled.
"Adora*cough*cough*bat," Mao Mao coughed, how man*cough*y did you *cough* drop?"
"Well," she replied looking a little embarrassed. "All of them."
"Huh, thought "all" would've meant more than that." Mao Mao replied, casting his gaze across the unconscious monsters. "All in all, you did good Adorabat." Mao Mao patted the blue bat's head in appreciation for her good work.
"Are you good bro?" Badgerclops asked, looking at the spot on Mao Mao's arm where the wasp stung him.
"Starting to lose feeling in my arm, but otherwise I'm fine." Mao Mao swapped Geraldine to his good arm, and let his left arm go limp. "That neurotoxin is some fast acting stuff."
"Nooroo Tuxin?" Asked Adorabat, unsure to what neurotoxin is.
"Well, neurotoxin is a form of venom that attacks our nervous systems," explained Badgerclops. "What it means is, if we don't get Mao to a doctor soon, he could possibly loose his arm, pending on how powerful the toxin was."
"*Gasp!* Mao Mao, are you gonna be okay?!" Adorabat flew around Mao Mao frantically, trying to find a way to help, even if she had no medical experience.
"Relax Adorabat, first things first." Mao Mao gestured to the Jade Wasps surrounding them. "We need to get rid of these wasps before they start to wake up."
While Mao Mao and Badgerclops cleared out the despicable bugs, Adorabat left to inform the Sweetypies that they were free to come back to the town square.
After they were finished "cleaning up", the Sheriff's Dept. left for the castle to see Camille, the royal Magic Technician.
"Ow ow ow!" Exclaimed Mao Mao as Camille examined Mao Mao's sting mark.
"Oh hush now." Said Camille as she walked over to one her bookshelves. Quickly brushing over them, she pulled out a thick book with a worn, leather cover. Opening it, she scanned through its contents, looking for something to help them in this situation.
"Just give it to us straight," said Badgerclops. "It serious?"
Camille turned toward the heroes with a knowing smile. "Not at all, it's a simple remedy. The only complication is what follows afterwards."
"What do you mean?" Adorabat asked.
"Well, you see, the Jade Wasp has a very dangerous neurotoxin. If left untreated, you could become a vegetable. As I said, the remedy is simple, but here's the catch." She said turning to Mao Mao. "You won't be able to use your left arm for a while, and when you are able to feel again, you'll have to go through a rehabilitation process."
"I see," said Mao Mao, lifting his right hand to his chin in order to consider all of this. "How long until the remedy kicks in?"
"Well, the remedy should take effect in less than a week. The rehabilitation will be extensive, and it won't be over until I say otherwise.
"I don't like it." Stated Mao Mao, frustrated about how all of this is only because of his carelessness. "Are you sure there isn't another way?"
"None to my knowledge." Camille replied.
"I see," Mao said, disappointed by her answer. "I guess I'll just have to do it your way. How long will it take to get started?"
With a smile, Camille called into the next room for her assistant, Honey. They got to work immediately at making the remedy for Mao Mao.
In a rundown bar, kilometers away from Mao Mao and his friends, a certain Tanuki woman was facing a dangerous adversary.