Chapter Text
On an average day in Pure Heart Valley when monsters weren't menacing the public and Air Pirates weren't trying to rob the small kingdom of its riches, you could find the sworn protectors of this small town resting in their new home overlooking the village. The quaint house that stood on a cliff over a beautiful waterfall had everything the three daring do-gooders required. Living space, a kitchen, a bedroom, a highly advanced workshop for cybernetic parts, and of course a dojo where a true hero could train to keep their skills sharp. Along with their weapons.
Which was exactly what the new Sheriff Mao Mao was up to, running a rag over his golden katana to keep it clean for when it would next be needed to fight off evil. Previously this was just another chore that was necessary for him to maintain his tools. A needed exercise he conducted without thinking much of it. However he'd earned an audience for this as the wide eyed Adorabat watched him polish his weapon. Her eyes sparkling almost as much as the light bouncing off the metal before her. Mao Mao couldn't hide the smirk over just how fascinated she was with something so simple. Nearly all aspects of the hero life being wondrous to her.
"She shines like a beauty after a good polishing." Mao Mao said proudly, looking his blade over and making sure to curve it just right so the light from the sun caught the tip and shined for his audience.
"It's so cooooool!" Adorabat said cheerfully, her wing pressed against her cheeks in excitement. "I can't wait to get a sword of my own!"
"Heh, well, maybe one day. But for a hero to be truly effective you need the weapon that suits you best. A sword, a dagger, a glaive."
"What's a glaive?" Adorabat asked curiously.
"It's like a big flying star thing with blades on every end... no wait, I think that's from a movie. It's like a big stick with a blade on the end..."
"Like a spear?"
"Yes... but no... that's more like a dagger where one is more like a knife and it's... never mind, doesn't matter. What matters is we get you the weapon that suits you best."
"The weapon that suits me best... hmmm... I wonder what that is." Adorabat thought carefully, watching Mao Mao continue to polish his blade and spitting on it as he did. "Eww, you spit on it?"
"Of course, you can't clean it if it's dry. Besides, the best weapon has a little bit of yourself in it as well."
"A little bit of yourself... so a weapon with a little bit of Mao Mao in it is the most amazing weapon there could be!"
"Heh, well, that's true." Mao Mao thought of something and smiled proudly. "Want to finish this up for me?"
"Really!?" Adorabat said in excitement. "Oh yes oh yes oh yes!"
"Alright, here you go. Just be careful! This thing is sharp after all." Mao Mao explained, handing the blade to Adorabat who eyed it with wonder. "Just put it back in the sheath when you're done."
"Aye aye, sir!" Adorabat saluted as Mao Mao walked back into the house, setting the sword down and taking the time to carefully polish the blade. She ran the rag over it carefully, looking to remove any spec of dirt that might have been left after he had cleaned it. Flipping the blade over Adorabat could see her reflection in the sword. "This weapon has some of Mao Mao in it... so what if it had some of me in it too? Would it be even stronger because I love Mao Mao so much?" Wondering aloud Adorabat worked up her saliva and spit on the blade, carefully wiping the sword with it afterward to make sure no traces were left. Blushing at her actions she slipped the blade back into its sheath and took into the air, carrying the sword in her claws.
"Mao Mao, I finished polishing your sword." Adorabat said, flying around the living room and carrying the weapon with her. "Mao Mao? Mao Maooooo?"
"He's in the bathroom." Badgerclops said from the couch, his large frame resting comfortably on the cushions while watching television and eating snacks.
"Oh, okay. I just got done polishing his sword for him." Adorabat said proudly, landing on the end of the couch and hugging his sword against herself.
"Heh, well guess he's polishing his other sword then." Badgerclops said absent minded while he kept eating his snacks from the plastic bag they were held in.
"His other sword, he has more than one?" Adorabat asked.
"Yeah, he's got- I mean no! I uh... just, forget I said anything!" Badgerclops said, seeming to realize he spoke out of turn though Adorabat didn't really get what he meant.
"If he's got another weapon then I could shine that one for him too if he wants!" Adorabat said eagerly, Badgerclops covering his mouth with his hand so he wouldn't say anything else. "He just showed me how to do a 'spit shine', so I bet I could get it all clean in a jiffy!" With her declaration his cybernetic hand came over his mouth as well, one eye wide with terror. "What's wrong?"
"Wait, what is wrong?" Mao Mao asked, walking into the living room now with a puzzled look. "What's going on here?"
"Mao Mao, I polished your sword!" Adorabat said in excitement, flying over to him to hand the weapon back.
"Ah, excellent work deputy. A fine job."
"If you want, I can polish your other sword too!" Adorabat offered, Mao Mao looking confused.
"My other sword? What other sword?"
"Badgerclops said while I was polishing your sword outside you were polishing your other sword in the bathroom." Adorabat explained, Mao Mao's eyes shifting back and forth trying to understand. When he seemed to get a grasp on what had happened he shot Badgerclops a death glare. The other hero turning his robot hand into a clamp over his mouth as he hid behind the couch. "I can clean that one for you too!"
"Uh, um... well, you see he was uh... just, mistaken. I wasn't doing anything like that." Mao Mao said, seeming more flustered than before. Adorabat didn't really understand why they were acting so weird so she tried to figure it out.
"Wait, is this like, some special weapon I'm not allowed to see yet?" She asked innocently.
"You could describe it like that." Badgerclops said, peeking up from behind the couch but ducked back down from a barrage of knives thrown his way by Mao Mao.
"You're not helping!" The hero cat screamed as he breathed hard. "Uh... you see Adorabat, he's uh... describing something you don't need to see because..." Mao Mao was struggling here so his partner popped back up despite the near attack on his person.
"You're just not ready for that yet, dude. Wait till you're older." Badgerclops said. "Just forget I said anything about it." Mao Mao seemed to agree with that but she wasn't about to let it go so easily.
"I'm plenty old enough! Why I was living all by myself before I became a hero. Just cause I don't have as much experience doesn't mean I'm a kid." Adorabat landed on the couch and tried to fight the urge to cry so she didn't look more childish in front of her friends.
"It's not that special anyway. Not like Mao Mao knows how to use that sword anyway." Badgerclops said and let out a shout as he ducked another knife thrown his direction.
"That's enough of that!" Mao Mao screamed. "Let's get some lunch, I need to clear my head outside."
"Don't gotta ask me twice, let's get going little buddy." Badgerclops said picking Adorabat up and putting her small body on his shoulder. Even though they were done talking about this it was in the back of her mind through the rest of the day. Through lunch, through their daily patrol, through breaking up the illegal candy operation hiding in the bakery basement Adorabat just kept thinking about that morning. She wanted to know what Mao Mao's other weapon was that he thought she wasn't ready to see. It would be her mission tonight to find it.
A good officer of the law always searches for clues. So after everyone had gone to bed Adorabat snuck out of her bunk to figure out what kind of secret weapon Mao Mao had been hiding. Flying into the bathroom she locked the door behind her and got to work. Inspecting the shower but only finding the various cleaning products they all used. The medicine cabinet was filled with various bandages, disinfectants and pain pills they kept on hand for those really rough monster battles. "Hmph, nothing. If he was polishing a sword in here he'd have to have something to do it with. Maybe... down here!"
Adorabat opened the door beneath the sink, a spot she almost never looked in before. There were cleaning supplies for the bathroom, sprays and soaps. A box of tissues and a bottle of some kind of clear liquid she'd never seen before. Nothing that looked like a tool to clean a weapon. Though weirdly there was a magazine in here that didn't look like the usual tabloids that Badgerclops bought. Pulling it out there was a lady in a weird outfit on the front. "Brave Beauties? Is this some kind of warrior magazine?"
Opening it up made it seem much less like a magazine for fighting, though the people inside did seem to be doing some kind of wrestling that she'd never seen or thought of before. "This is... different." Adorabat said, feeling a little embarrassed to be looking at these but not understanding why. Still she picked up on one important detail: there was a sword that only boys seemed to have. It didn't look like the kind of sword she was familiar with though. Maybe it was like that glaive thing where it was a weapon that was hard to describe. Also the ladies inside the magazine were giving it a polish too, sometimes with their entire mouth.
"So that's the sword Mao Mao didn't want me to see!" Adorabat said, putting the magazine back where she found it. "They think they can hide it from me, but I'm smart enough to know how to handle all kinds of weapons already. And I'll prove it!"
Moving quickly through the house Adorabat landed on the floor of the bedroom and peeked over where Mao Mao was sleeping. His cape was wrapped around his body as he was snoring against his pillow. Her eyes and teeth gleamed in the moonlight as she felt one step closer to proving she was both an adult and a hero. Clinging to the ceiling of his bottom bunk, Adorabat used her wings to carefully unwrap the cape around his body. Once she had it unraveled and him exposed she was disappointed to find what she was after wasn't in sight.
"That's weird." Adorabat whispered to herself. "The magazine showed that his other sword should be right here." Feeling around with her wing Adorabat touched between his legs to in search of secret sword she sought. Her prodding didn't discover anything quickly enough though and she was getting frustrated. Mao Mao was really sneaky and could hide all sorts of weapons anywhere he wanted but how was he hiding this? The more her wing searched and rubbed though it seemed to cause something to happen as she felt something press against her touch. "I think I found it!"
Keeping her wing pressed against that spot where she felt movement, Adorabat watched as his Secret Sword grew before her eyes. It was... different than she expected. Certainly not the sort of thing she would have thought of as a weapon. But that wasn't going to stop her from proving she could handle this just as well as Mao Mao's other sword. Flipping off the top of his bunk onto the mattress she walked up to his body, looking at the sight before her. "It's... a lot bigger from this angle." She said, swallowing a lump in her throat. "Don't be scared, don't even think. Just... step into the unknown. Like a hero would."
Reaching up with her wings Adorabat rubbed the secret sword gently, finding it didn't feel like any weapon she held before. "This sure is different..." Thankfully Mao Mao hadn't woke up. If anything he looked like he was having a really good dream. She remembered he mentioned that you had to give a sword a spit shine. You can't clean it if it's dry, and it's best to put a little bit of yourself into your weapon. So putting some of her into his weapon would make it extra powerful. Although spitting directly on it in front of her wasn't easy and she didn't want to get it all over him. Instead she leaned forward and licked it with her tongue.
"This sure tastes weird." Adorabat whispers to herself but kept on licking to try and get it wet. Which really did make it a lot easier to polish. "I wonder how exactly Mao Mao fights with this?"
"Mmm... ya see it? It's... legendary." Hearing Mao Mao suddenly talk Adorabat looked up to his face, but thankfully his eyes were still closed. His fur even darker than the night around him. "My strongest sword... ha ha... yeah, you like it."
"Sounds like he's having a great dream." Adorabat said happily, returning to her work. Though this was making her wings tired and she wasn't sure really when she'd be done. Then she recalled what the ladies were doing in that magazine. "I guess that would make the most sense... maybe that's why they do it?" Moving even closer Adorabat opened her mouth wide and took his "strongest sword" in it.
Thankfully his other weapon wasn't sharp, though it did taste kind of funny. In a way she couldn't describe. Bracing herself Adorabat moved her head back and forth to make sure to polish it all, moving slow enough to be sure he didn't wake up. It had been awkward at first but as time passed she found this wasn't that bad. In fact, she kind of enjoyed it, especially at how she'd proven she could handle such a weapon with ease. Maybe after this he would let her do it for him during the day too. While daydreaming about how happy this was going to make her hero she suddenly was met with an unexpected surprise of something warm shooting into her mouth.
"Mmph!" She said in surprise trying to keep it from overwhelming her but had to eventually pull her mouth away. The moment she did some of it getting onto her face as well. "What... what's happening here?" Adorabat said in surprise, not recalling anything like this when she polished his katana. Though something even more important came up as she heard Mao Mao start to come around and wake up.
"Waz... waz goin on?" Mao Mao mumbled half awake, looking around but finding no one near by. Though realizing his cape was unwrapped he curled himself up again and rolled onto his side, green eyes closing in the dark. From the bunk above him Adorabat peeked down to see him asleep again, swallowing what was in her mouth and wiping her face off with her wing.
"That was lucky." She sighed, having nearly been caught. Still, she wondered what that was that happened just now. Maybe it was part of his weapon's special attack? Yawning to herself, she took her sleeping position in her bunk and decided that was a mystery to solve another night. Still she was about as happy as could be. Well on her way to becoming a hero that could handle any weapon, including the ones that were just for boys.
Chapter Text
With a loud yawn and drowsing groans, Badgerclops slowly climbed off the top bunk of their beds and dropped down onto the floor below. Unsurprisingly, he was the only one in the room as his friends had already risen to go meet the day. Opening the blinds to let in the sun Badgerclops walked out into the living room surprised to find no one on the couch or in the kitchen. Wandering outside and following the sound of music he found Mao Mao and Adorabat performing a stretching routine together in the training area. "Wow, you guys are excited this morning."
"Yep, it's a great day!" Adorabat said cheerfully as she followed along with her role model's movements, mimicking him perfectly.
"I haven't woken up this refreshed in a long time." Mao Mao explained as he continued his movements, flipping and kicking with energy. "It's like months of tension were suddenly relieved in a single night. I can't wait to get out there and punish some crime."
"Uh... yeah, I guess." Badgerclops shrugged. "The biggest crime we ever see in town is illegal parking and littering."
"Those litter bugs are gonna get squashed." Mao Mao declared, grabbing Badgerclops by the arm and pulling him into the house with him.
"Wait, can't we at least have breakfast?"
"We'll eat on the way! Let's go, Adorabat!"
"Whoo whoo!" Adorabat declared as the trio gripped onto the fireman poles that lead them down into the garage where their jet bike awaited. Badgerclops was a little annoyed at being forced out into town this early but as long as they stopped for food he was willing to let them burn off this energy. Hopping onto the bike they took off into the sky, rocketing towards the village.
Much like Badgerclops had predicted, the amount of crime and villainy afoot ranged from zero to none. Not that it stopped his two partners from going about their patrol with gusto. Mao Mao leading the way and nodding to the citizens as he passed. "Smell that air? That's the smell of a new day. A day of peace and tranquility brought to us through vigilante justice."
"Wow." Adorabat said with wide eyes, admiring her hero and taking in a deep breath of air herself. "I can smell it! It smells like corn dogs."
"Corndogs?" Mao Mao asked.
"Corndogs!" Badgerclops said, approaching his friends with five of the fried treats in his hands. "Decided to grab the closest thing I could find. Here you go, Mao." He said handing over the food to the sheriff. Mao Mao feeling his momentum stopped by this but appreciating that they were getting something to eat. "And here you go, little dude."
"Thank you!" Adorabat said, taking the corn dog into her wings. The food on a stick was a little oversized for her small body but she managed just fine. Her mouth opening and tongue coming out as she slides the food into her lips. Sucking on the end she made a happy noise before puckering her mouth over the food to taste it further. "It's good!" She said through a mouthful.
For some reason this stopped Mao Mao in his tracks. Something about the way she was eating her food gave him pause but he couldn't explain why. Instead just watching intently while she ate the end of her breakfast. His eyes were locked on her until he felt a tap on his shoulder, looking up to see Badgerclops staring at him. "You uh... you gonna eat that?"
"Huh?" Mao Mao said, confused and realizing he hadn't even bit into his own corn dog. "Uh... yeah! Yeah I'm good. Thank you for... for breakfast." Turning his back on his deputies Mao Mao was quick to consume his food and get back to patrol. Confused as to what was going on with him in that moment. Was it a memory of something? The sight made him think of something familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Everything okay, dude? You're acting weirder than usual."
"I'm fine, everything's fine. I was just uh... clearing my head is all. Making sure I was free of distracting thoughts."
"Actually it kinda looked like you were spacing out." Badgerclops corrected but Mao Mao just laughed off his very accurate observation.
"While it might have looked like that to the untrained eye I was actually becoming even more attuned with the world around me. Sensing the very ripples in the air itself. Allowing me to detect the slightest of disturbances that could threaten our safety."
"Like that monster." Adorabat said cheerfully.
"Right, like that..." Mao Mao said, looking up at the shadow that had suddenly been cast over them all to see a giant creature on four legs towering above them. "Monster!" He and his friends scattered as a hoof crushed down where they had been standing, followed by a terrible roar. As the nearby citizens scattered Mao Mao drew his sword to look up at a horse like beast with a large thin horn coming from it's head. "A UniScorn. Been a while since we fought one of those."
"Could have been longer!" Badgerclops shouted as he dodged another hoof coming down where he'd been standing, his robotic hand turning into a cannon to fire a laser at its face. The creature roared in pain and turned towards him, stabbing the ground where he'd been and uprooting the stones that had lined the street. "This thing's really mad."
"I got it!" Adorabat shouted, taking off into the air and flying around its face. The monster responded quickly by swiping its horn in her direction.
"Adorabat, look out!" Mao Mao shouted and thankfully she was as aware of the impending danger as himself. Swiftly dodging the horn she grabbed hold of it with her wing and kept a grip for dear life.
"Yeah! I got 'em!" She shouted, holding on with her small wings and spinning on the horn as the monster shook its head. "Can't stop me, I got you now!" She taunted, the UniScorn shake its head with a roar but unable to get rid of her. As if to taunt it further she began doing poses on the horn as she spun around it, giggling all the while. "Check me out, I got 'em right where I want him." She declared, swinging one of her wings out while the other held on and kicking her little leg into the air while she straddled the horn.
For some odd reason Mao Mao felt that weird sensation again, watching her swing around the monsters horn breaking his concentration while he watched. He still couldn't figure out what was happening to him but it couldn't have been happening at a worse time as the monster was bucking with its legs and a hoof was coming down directly at him. Nearly making him a flat cat if not for the extending metal arm that pulled him out of danger.
"Dude!" Badgerclops shouted, pulling Mao Mao back to reality. "I don't know what's going on with you but we need you to help out."
"Right! Right." Mao Mao said, ashamed that he'd dropped his guard so much. "Okay, let's cut him down to size. Fast ball special?"
"Got it." Badgerclops said, reeling back and hurling Mao Mao like a baseball at the monster's face. Drawing his sword, there was a flash of gold as the horn Adorabat had been doing her little spinning dance on fell from the creature's face. Letting go of the horn she watched it drop to the street and witnessed the monster stop suddenly when it realized its main weapon had been sliced from its face. Losing all of its confidence the creature turned and ran away from town the same way it had come, fearing for its life without its horn.
Landing on the street next to the UniScorn's horn Mao Mao kicked it up off the ground with his boot and caught it in his hand. "Yep, cut off a UniScorn's horn and all its anger just goes with it. You figure that out from experience, not from any fancy book reading."
"I feel like we saw that in a heroes magazine somewhere." Badgerclops corrected but Mao Mao wasn't paying it any mind, Adorabat watching her hero with pride as he held their new trophy.
With the threat gone the other Sweetiepie villagers came out of hiding to cheer for their heroes, Mao Mao naturally soaking up the praise. Badgerclops didn't mind it himself but was even happier when one of the villagers brought three vanilla ice cream cones for them to eat up as a reward for their work. "Nice, now this is a heroes reward." He said, passing the other two to his friends.
"Yummy yummy ice cream, yay!" Adorabat shouted, landing on the ground to hold the ice cream with her wings and lick at the cold treat. Her tongue dragging across the length of the dessert and a little bit of it coating around her lips. "Mmm... it's soooo good. I could eat this all day." She said happily and let it get a little messier around her mouth as she ate it up.
By the time Mao Mao realized he was staring at her again, even through the crowd of other villagers he realized that his ice cream wasn't in his own hand anymore. Looking over to see Badgerclops holding onto it. "Yeah you were like... dozing off again so I decided to take this off your hands." He said to Mao Mao. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm... I'm fine. Just fine." Mao Mao said, departing the crowd of appreciative villagers quickly. Adorabat flew over to Badgerclops shoulder and watched as the sheriff was leaving a crowd of fans much faster than he'd ever done so before.
"What's wrong with Mao Mao?" She asked with concern.
"I dunno, I guess he's just having an off day. He should be fine though. Maybe he didn't sleep as good as he thought?"
"Hmm... well then, I'm sure by tomorrow he'll be even better!" Adorabat said confidently. "I'll make sure of it."
"...wait, what?" Badgerclops asked. "What does that mean?"
"Oh, uh... nothing! Let's go on patrol!" She said flying ahead, her friend shrugging and following along not really that worried about it.
As the day past Mao Mao didn't seem to have any other issues thankfully and there was little in the way of further disturbances. This lead to an easy night of dinner, television and finally going to bed. All three settling into their bunks for the evening to meet the morning together.
All of them except for Adorabat. Patiently she waited to hear the familiar sounds of her friends breathing as the fell asleep, being sure neither of them were awake before making her move. Slipping through the dark she was familiar with the best ways to approach her prey, clinging to the underside of her own bunk as she crawled over Mao Mao to see him asleep beneath her. Wrapped up in his cape again like a snuggly blanket. Gripping onto the wood she hung upside down and used her wings to delicately unwrap the cloth around his body. "Don't worry Mao Mao." She whispered to herself. "I'll make sure your weapon is even stronger for tomorrow... I just have to... oh!"
She had to be careful to keep from shouting as his Secret Sword was already revealed to her. No special actions were necessary for her to make it show itself tonight. "Maybe it knew I was coming to polish it?" Adorabat said cheerfully, feeling happy that it was ready for her like this. "I bet after today it knew that Mao Mao needed me. Well I won't let him down." Using her wings to adjust it so it was facing upward Adorabat opened her mouth and lowered herself onto the end of it.
Funny enough it didn't taste so weird this time. Maybe she was getting used to it? While this angle allowed her to suck it more easily she couldn't get as much of it as she did on the bed. Letting her tongue out Adorabat ran it around the Secret Sword in a circle, getting all of it wet from her lips to polish it good. She could hear grunting from below her and raised her head to look at Mao Mao.
"Careful... on that... horn... Adorabat." He mumbled, Adorabat smiling while his Secret Sword rested against her lips. Pulling her mouth off of him she hugged herself with her wings.
"He's dreaming of me!" She whispered to herself happily, thrilled to know that she was in his thoughts. After hearing that there was no way she couldn't make sure that all of his Strongest Weapon was completely polished. Climbing off the bottom of her bunk onto Mao Mao's bed she walked up between his legs and carefully guided it into her mouth. The first time had been challenging but she was getting the hang of it the more she did this. Thankfully the end was sharp which let her suck it more easily. Her head moving up and down while the end of his Secret Sword poked at the inside of her cheeks. Pulling her head back to catch her breath she gulped and prepared herself.
"One more go." Opening wide she let his Secret Sword dip all the way into her mouth, nearly the back of her throat. Closing her lips around it she grunted a little taking so much of it inside. Her tongue rubbing against it like the ice cream she'd eaten earlier today Adorabat could feel some tension and closed her eyes, ready for what came next. "Mmmph! Mmm!" She squeaked as the hot fluid filled her mouth, eventually pulling back and feeling some land on her puffed up cheeks. Swallowing the warm load in her mouth she let out a sigh and cleaned her face off.
"There we go, all done. Mao Mao will be even stronger than ever now!" She prepared to climb back up into her bunk but felt an urge over take her. Unable to resist, Adorabat sneakily crawled up to the front side of Mao Mao's bunk and kissed the top of his head. As soon as her lips had touched she retreated to her own bunk and sat on her bed, covering her face with her wings. She didn't know what possessed her to suddenly kiss someone like that but... it felt nice. And that feeling carried her off into comforting dreams.
Chapter Text
With a loud yawn and a big stretch, Badgerclops slowly climbed off the top bunk of their beds and dropped down onto the floor below. While he normally hit with a thud like he would have done any other day, he made sure to drop softly so as not to make any sound. This wasn't the only change from the norm as he left the blinds closed for his bunk mate one level down to keep sleeping peacefully. Adorabat hanging upside down, wrapped up in her wings as she snoozed away. Sneaking out of the bedroom Badegerclops closed the door behind him softly to let her sleep.
It had been this way for a few days now, for some reason, she was sleeping in even longer than him. It wasn't like he was one to lecture, usually being the last one to wake up. Still he didn't know why she was so tired and if it kept up he planned to intervene out of concern. Seeing her without the usual pep in her step brought all three of them down and he wanted her to be happy and full of life. Though she wasn't the only one that had some poor sleeping habits lately.
"Another all-nighter, Mao?" Badgerclops asked of the cat sitting at their kitchen table with a cup of coffee in his hands. Eyes wide and frantic and hands shaking.
"Just... couldn't... sleep and... vigilant... monsters... hero." Mao Mao mumbled, only barely coherent in his ramblings. Which was about half as coherent as he normally was when giving one of his speeches. Bringing his shaky hand up Mao Mao took another sip of coffee and laid his head on the table.
"Okay dude, this has been going on for almost a week. What's gotten into you? You fell asleep fighting a monster yesterday and I had to do all the work! Adorabat's only half awake these days too."
"You don't understand." Mao Mao grumbled, turning his head around on the table to face Badgerclops. "There's... something attacking me at night."
"Attacking you?" Badgerclops asked. "I don't remember hearing anything."
"It's stealthy, quiet. Like some kind of Night Ninja. I've dealt with this once before." Mao Mao said, letting his voice trailed off menacingly. Realizing he was getting into a long winded backstory story Badgerclops got himself a bowl of cereal while his friend started up. "Back when I was a child my sisters used to antagonize me while I slept. Hand in a bowl of warm water, shaving cream in the hand so you slap yourself with it, crayon drawings on your face. It was brutal!" He growled out, eyes narrowing at the memories.
"So... what? You think your sisters are pranking you at night somehow? All the way out here?" Badgerclops asked through munches of sugary breakfast.
"I can't be sure. All I know is something is attacking me at night. Something so quiet, so sneaky that even I can't detect it. But whatever it could possibly be I'll discover this fiend and defeat them. Exposing their identity for the loathsome monster they truly are."
"Good morning." Adorabat said with a yawn as she flew into the kitchen. Grabbing a muffin with her claws and bringing it back to the table to eat along with Badgerclops. "What are you guys doing?"
"Discussing plans to defeat a horrible monster that slithers through this town undetected." Mao Mao said confidently, which got Adorabat more excited as she hopped in her chair.
"Oh boy, I love crushing monsters. I can't wait!" She cheered, chomping at her breakfast. Mao Mao nodded in approval, happy with her enthusiasm even though he planned to face this threat alone.
"But before all that we'll have to go out and make sure the town is safe." Mao Mao said, finishing off his cup of coffee and standing up. "To adventure! And Bey-" His sentence never finished as he hit the kitchen floor, fast asleep. Badgerclops shrugged and kept eating his breakfast, Adorabat doing the same as they figured now was the best time to get ready while Mao Mao was resting. Once they were both cleaned up and ready to go Badgerclops hoisted Mao Mao onto his shoulder and carried him to their bike.
"Alright bud, I gotcha. You can take it easy today."
"Heh heh heh, oh I'll take it easy." Mao Mao mumbled. "For tonight is when the real battle begins!"
"Yeah sure, I guess."
That was pretty much how their entire day went for all three of them. Mao Mao staggering about and declaring victory against an unseen assassin while Badgerclops and Adorabat got a fairly easy day of work. By the time lunch came around Badgerclops was on his third sandwich while Mao Mao slept on top of their table, every so often laughing in his sleep about his revenge. Adorabat unfolded a napkin to put over top of him as a very small blanket but she felt accomplished in this. "I sure hope Mao Mao will be okay."
"Ah, he's fine." Badgerclops said through a mouthful of chips. "Mao's convinced there's some night monster or assassin coming for him."
"Night Assassin!?" Adorabat shouted in fear.
"Assassin..." Mao Mao mumbled in his sleep, swinging his sword lazily at the air while his friends backed up from the table.
"But... if he's fighting an assassin shouldn't we be protecting him?" Adorabat asked in concern, though not concerned enough to get near his sleep sword swipes.
"Nah, don't worry about it little dude. I'm sure it's all in Mao's head." Badgerclops assured her, using his robot arm to carefully take Mao Mao's sword away from him and picking him up by the scruff of his neck with the other hand. "Lets just have an easy day of patrol and let him do whatever he's planning to do tonight." Walking off with Mao Mao Adorabat followed behind with a worried expression, seeing her hero clearly suffering from whoever was terrorizing him.
"I don't care who this assassin is, I won't let them get the drop on us. We'll be ready, weapons drawn." Adorabat said with a smile to herself as she thought of tonight. Though was distracted hearing what sounded like a sack being drug across the ground. "Um, you're losing him."
"Oh, sorry Mao." Badgerclops said as he picked Mao Mao up off the ground, having not realized his arm had been slacking and he was dragging him through the dirt. "You better solve this tonight because I'm not spending another day like this.
"Tonight... tonight..." Mao Mao grumbled in his sleep.
"Tonight!" He declared again, wrapped up in his cape in the bottom bunk of their beds. Hours later after being dragged around all day by his friends he was now ready to put an end to all of this. "No one is getting past me tonight. Tripwires on the door, bells on the windows, caltrops strewn about the floor. Bring it on." He said through glinting white teeth in the dark, preparing for his attacker to stumble into his trap at any moment.
Any moment now.
Any moment at all they'd come barging in and just fall right into his trap.
He wasn't getting sleepy, YOU were getting sleepy!
Grumbling to himself Mao Mao decided to close his eyes and just listen in the dark. That would give him a better way to find his midnight monster in the dark anyway. Without his sight he could let his other senses become enhanced and allow him to absorb the room around him. His ears were able to detect the smallest sounds in the distance. His nose able to smell changes in the flow of the air. His body able to sense the unusual wet warmth in his lap.
"Wait a minute, there's something wrong with that last one." Mao Mao said as he unfurled his cape to look down on his bed. Spotting two large yellow eyes looking up at him with their mouth currently occupied. Pulling her lips up with a pucker Adorabat raised one of her wings to wave at him.
"Hi Mao Mao." She said cheerfully.
"Adorabat!?" Mao Mao shouted, raising up in his bunk and hitting his head on the one above him with a loud thud. Though that wasn't nearly as big a problem as the voice that came from above them both.
"What's going on down there?" Badgerclops said groggily.
"We're-" Adorabat began but was silenced as a hand came down over her head and pressed her mouth right over top of Mao Mao's Secret Sword. She struggled a little bit but after a moment seemed to accept it willingly.
"Uh, nothing! Nothing just uh... bumped my head." Mao Mao shouted back up. "Go to sleep!"
"I'm trying, jeez." Badgerclops complained, going silent again. Realizing what he'd been doing Mao Mao pulled Adorabat off of himself, her eyes closed dreamily and her tongue hanging out.
"Wow... that was fun." She said hazily. "Wanna do it again?"
"No!" Mao Mao said through an angry whisper. "Adorabat what are you doing!?"
"I'm polishing your secret sword." She said proudly. "So that you can be ready for the Night Assassin when they show up."
"Polishing my... what... how... why!?" He was stumbling through his thoughts, not sure how exactly things ever got to this point. "How do you even know about this!?"
"I found those magazines under the sink, they showed me everything!" She said proudly. "Though I'm still not good at whatever happens at the end, but I'm getting better at it."
"No. No no no. Nope. This can't happen." Mao Mao said, picking her up as she looked at him sadly.
"But... But... the Night Assassin." She protested.
"Adorabat, you ARE the Night Assassin!" She looked at him confused. "While I'd like to compliment you on your ability to sneak through the dark, can't you tell what you're doing is the thing that's been making me unable to sleep at night?"
"I don't understand." Adorabat said as she tried to figure out what he was explaining. "I thought what I was doing was helping? Besides I really like it. It's even better than your other sword! Though I still don't understand how you fight with it?"
"Listen, it's like-" Mao Mao began but suddenly heard shuffling above him. "Hide!" Mao Mao exclaimed and wrapped his cape around himself again, hiding her under it with him. There was a big yawn from above and the sound of shifting weight as Badgerclops was climbing down. "Badgerclops wait, there's traps on the floor!"
"What, traps? What are you doing man, I have to use the bathroom." Badgerclops complained, still hanging onto the side of the bunk. "Can you clear them out of the way."
"Fine let me just- herrk!?" Mao Mao grunted, feeling movement shifting under his cape. As it turned out Adorabat had found an area to settle in against him and it was right on his lap with her body. Unfortunately she didn't seem content to stay still as she wrapped herself around his "Secret Sword" as she called it.
"Uh... what was that?" Badgerclops asked.
"Nothing! I just... here, lemme... ugh... just." Grasping around wildly for his sword Mao Mao used it to swat away the caltrops that were on the floor to allow his friend to land safely. "There! It's done."
"You're really taking this too far, man. Something bad could happen like this."
"Heh heh, don't... urg... don't worry... it'll be solved... tonight!" Mao Mao grunted in the dark but Badgerclops didn't pay it much attention. "Trip! Trip wires!"
"Of course there are." Badgerclops complained, making wire cutters with his robot hand and then walking through the doorway without any obstacles in his path. Mao Mao kept his cape wrapped around him until he heard the bathroom door closed, finally pulling it apart to see Adorabat straddling over his lap and sucking at the end of his Special Weapon.
"I found a better way to do it." Adorabat said happily as she moved her whole body against him now with a mouthful in her lips. "Mmmm. Almost done."
"Wait... don't... not..." Mao Mao grunted but he was too far gone after all of her dedicated effort. Adorabat sealing her lips around him this time as her cheeks puffed up to collect the fruits of her labor in her mouth. When it seemed he was finally done she pulled her head up and swallowed hard, smiling brightly up at him from his lap.
"That one was the best ever! I'm getting really good at this!" She said in triumph. Mao Mao barely able to pick himself up after all the "polishing" she had done. "Well, I guess even if there isn't a Night Assassin I at least got better at handling your weapon." Smiling cheerfully she looked up at him with adoring eyes.
"Adorabat... you... can't do that again." Mao Mao finally got out, turning her smile into a frown instantly.
"What!? But why? I just got good at it."
"Because… hoo boy. Listen here." Mao Mao wrapped his cape around himself again and sat up to look at her. "That isn't the kind of weapon you use on an enemy."
"It's not?" She asked confused. "Then... what kind of weapon is it?"
"It's the kind you use on... a friend. A very special friend. The kind you spend your whole life with." He explained, trying to make sense of this as fast as he could while they still had time to discuss. "It's a secret sword because you keep it a secret from everyone except the person you love."
"But I love you, Mao Mao." Adorabat said confidently.
"Yes, I know. But we're talking a different kind of love. Like... a husband and wife. People who get married."
"Oh. So... it's only supposed to be shown after you're married?" Adorabat asked, trying to figure this out in her head.
"Yeah! Exactly, that's right."
"Okay! Then after I learn how to be a hero, I'll marry you!" Adorabat said lifting herself into the air on her wings.
"That's how it should be. You wait until... hold on, marry me!?"
"Of course, cause I love you Mao Mao." She said flying into his chest and hugging him tightly. "Then after I marry you I'll polish your secret sword every night!"
"That's... uh, you shouldn't-" The sound of the bathroom door opening broke his concentration as he looked back to hear Badgerclops foot footsteps approaching.
"I shouldn't do what? Is there more traps?" Badgerclops asked annoyed.
"No, there's... there's no more traps. Just uh... you shouldn't step carelessly is all." Mao Mao answered trying to keep up the ruse.
"Alright then, night Mao. Night Adorabat."
"Good night." A cheerful voice said from the middle bunk as Mao Mao looked down at his chest to see she had snuck away while he was distracted. Laying back on his pillow he let out a sigh. At least he'd finally defeated the Night Assassin like he had planned but it turned out to be a battle he hadn't been ready for. For now things could go back to normal, but there was the forever looming threat (promise?) that Adorabat made. One day she was going to become a full fledged hero. After that, only the future could tell.