Momo: A Jinx in Pure Heart

Chapter 11: Back to School

"Well, let's hope we find this ghost," Mao Mao grumbled while keeping a hand on his hilted sword. "I'm really not in the mood to be chasing down something that should've completely disappeared months ago for nothing."

Momo took out her wand and held it at her side. "I guess you don't want to miss the pie..."

"Well yeah, that too," Mao Mao looked away, halfheartedly caught in the dilemma of whether or not to deny this selfish part of himself that longed for a slice. "Farmer Bun always grew the best pumpkins for the pie."

"Don't forget that Muffins always prepared that pie the best out of any baker in the valley," Momo noted in addition. All she got from the sheriff was a nod.

Eventually, everyone made it back to the school, going around to the backyard where they stood when the rain of toilet paper occurred. It was when they got there that they noticed the ramshackle house that stood at the edge at the very back of the yard of grass. In fact, it was the first time Mao Mao actually paid attention to it. "Hey Momo," he turned to the smaller black cat girl and pointed at the greyed house, "do you know anything about that?"

Momo looked where Mao Mao was pointing and saw the little building in question. "Hmm...I think I've seen it a few times whenever I went outside to read." She moved a little closer to the house. "I wasn't really that curious enough to try and find out more about it, but after I asked any teacher who was walking around at the time..." she paused, "...I was told it's just a place to store old items."

The answer seemed to make Mao Mao look visibly disappointed. "Really? I would've thought such a rundown thing would be grounds for a haunting." He took wider and faster strides, making it to the edge of the house's extremely shallow porch first but stopping short of actually stepping onto it. "Where are Badgerclops and Adorabat anyway?" he wondered out loud, sounding a little confused and irate at the same time, "I'm absolutely sure they would've given up on their patrol search around this area already. With Badgerclops, these tasks don't even last five minutes."

In a moment of serendipity, his eyes widened upon seeing the front door of the ramshackle house slowly opening up, a droning creak emanating from the hinges. Neither he nor Momo knew what was coming out at the moment, but they were prepared for anything. Mao Mao immediately unsheathed his sword and held it pointed out in front of him while Momo took an elegant stance with her wand raised above her head.

"Who's coming out?" Mao Mao ferociously called to the mysterious door-opener. "Surrender now, or –"

"Whoa, bro. Chill."

Both black cats immediately ceased and lowered their guard at hearing the sound of Badgerclops's voice. The door opened all the way to reveal the eponymous badger stepping out of the house, looking unaffected by Mao Mao's aggression from a few seconds ago. What caught Mao Mao further off guard was the sudden arrival of Adorabat swooping past the badger's shoulder and right at the sheriff's face.

"Mao Mao!" she cried out affectionately as she flew close enough to Mao Mao that he instantly sheathed his sword and caught her in both hands, slowing down her momentum until he was holding her in a swaddling manner.

"Adorabat," Mao Mao responded as he held her. After taking a moment to nuzzle her face with his own, he then held her out at appropriate talking distance. "Have you and Badgerclops been in there this whole time? What did you find?"

Adorabat appeared to hesitate for a bit, as though she was searching her brain for something to say. "Well, we didn't find the toilet paper prankster. But we found lots of cool stuff in this house. It was like a treasure hunt." At the same time, Mao Mao noticed over Adorabat's shoulder that Badgerclops closed the door from behind but spotted a small white corner from near his feet.

"Hold it right there!" Mao Mao called loudly, making both the bat and badger freeze. He slowly pointed at where Badgerclops stood while narrowing his eyes. "What's that next to you, Badgerclops?"

Badgerclops let his eye trail to where Mao Mao was pointing. "Oh, that?" he responded, moving aside to reveal a short little person wearing a bedsheet over themselves, a pair of eyeholes cut from the sheet for them to see through. "This is...just another Sweetypie kid we found, yeah." He tried to be inconspicuously casual about it as he rubbed the back of his head. "There were costume problems and the kid needed something else to wear, so we helped out."

Mao Mao didn't appear to be settled though. "Really? And would this 'kid' be involved with a certain stunt regarding flying ribbons of 'paper', by any chance?"

"Dude, you're still on about that?" Badgerclops complained. He pointed both hands at the ghost-themed costumer, "This is a kid and a Sweetypie. No way can someone of that combo be able to do a carpet-showering prank of that scale."

Mao Mao tried to ignore the fact that Momo had told him something like that as well. As far as he was concerned, there was a potential suspect present, and it seemed to fit the description, or at least looked similar, to what Pinky had claimed about what really happened. He was the sheriff and he wasn't going to pass this up. "Well, you should know that we were tipped off that a 'ghost' was behind the prank." He walked straight up to the ghost-dressed person next to Badgerclops. "Doesn't seem wise for a prankster to come out in the open with that in mind..."

He was met with resistance from Badgerclops, who stood right between Mao Mao and the costumed ghost. "Mao, we've all been doing this for hours now. This person was wearing some other costume that wasn't a ghost and just wants to party. Just let this go, man, at least for tonight!"

Mao Mao was just as resistant. "Just let me check this first!" But soon enough, he felt a hand tug at his cape, which prompted him to look behind to see Momo as the one doing it.

"Mr. Mao Mao, maybe Mr. Badgerclops has a point," she said to him diplomatically, "It's Harvest Moon, and stuff like pranks are common and expected. We're all trying to have fun and no one means anything malicious when they misbehave. Besides, that costumer over there isn't a real ghost, so why don't we just drop it for now?"

Mao Mao looked back at the ghost-dressed kid hiding behind Badgerclops and shielded by Adorabat standing below. The person looked rather scared of him and didn't seem to behave any more suspiciously than Sweetypies like Pinky. There was also the consideration that the strips of toilet paper that landed on the roofs of the neighboring houses were neither high in quantity nor tangled in the structures badly; the mess would be incredibly easy to clean up by tomorrow. Mao Mao considered that he had been doing this chase for hours and he had yet to see any more of Harvest Moon's festivities.

Perhaps it wasn't that big of a deal...

Mao Mao sighed. "Alright, let's drop it then." He groaned inwardly from hearing the excited cheers of the others around him. "But..." he interrupted, turning his gaze on the little 'Sweetypie' dressed as a ghost which prompted said Sweetypie to cower a little, "...don't think of trying anything funny, 'cause I will be watching."

Once he got a nod of compliance from the little costumer, Mao Mao turned away to begin heading back to town, with Badgerclops, Adorabat, and the Candy Cup Witches in tow. The little ghost tagged along closely, staying by the side of the bat and badger who had helped it find what was perhaps the best costume for spending enjoyable time with Sweetypies in.