Chapter 7: One Fell Sweep

Badgerclops was feeling very proud of himself right now.

He had just captured another ghost in the school's absurdly spacious broom closet, all thanks to the invention in his robot arm that he pretty much built on the fly. Adorabat wasn't as accomplished, but she was proud of herself in her own way as she was able to stun ghosts and even blow them back a little with her supersonic screams. They may not have had the same magical strength or advantages as Momo and Mao Mao, but they didn't need either of them to prove why they were part of the Sheriff's Department.

Case in point, Badgerclops built a gadget of his own invention that could catch a formerly undefeatable foe, even if he was originally aiming to vanquish it more directly. Both the badger and the bat were currently tallying the number of ghosts they caught, tossing each one trapped in Badgerclops's energy bubble-nets onto the pile behind them, paying not attention to how they wriggled and groaned inside their confines.

"Hey Badgerclops, what do you think we should do about all of them?" Adorabat asked, referring to the pile of captured ghosts in the corner.

Badgerclops took the time to shoot at one remaining ghost before turning around to look at the pile he and Adorabat made. "I'm not sure," he sounded hesitant, "we could probably hide them in HQ somewhere…" His gaze lingered on the trapped ghosts, which gave a snarl when they noticed him staring, but Badgerclops wasn't frightened so much as he flinched, taking a step back.

"We can keep ghosts at home?" Adorabat squealed excitedly. She erratically flew around the broom closet in excitement at that possibility. "Yes! My own spirit collection!"

"Well, I said 'probably', you know?" Badgerclops objected, "Mao Mao might strongly disagree to that. Also, you already got a bone collection and that's unhealthy enough as it is."

"Wait! Hold on!"

The badger and the bat turned to one end of the hallway upon hearing the voice of the student Momo. She was currently riding on Mao Mao's back, the latter giving her a piggyback ride while sprinting. At least, Mao Mao was sprinting, but upon hearing Momo's call for him to stop, he ceased his rapid leg movements, skidding to a halt on the hallway floor. At the same time, Momo's call to stop was accompanied by her looking and pointing at the open door that signified the school's broom closet.

"What's up?" Mao Mao asked the little black cat girl upon doing what she said, but Momo didn't answer him right away. She was instead focused on running into the broom closet. As the sheriff waited for her to come out, he noticed his two deputies standing at the side. "Badgerclops? Adorabat? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey Mao," Badgerclops waved to his friend like it was the least unusual thing in the world, "all the students are evacuated like you wanted."

Mao Mao felt a little relieved despite how slightly miffed he was at the badger's nonchalant tone. "Well okay, good, but what are you doing now?"

Adorabat sprang up to answer for Badgerclops, "We're trapping ghosts all over the school! We're ghost catchers now!"

That statement was what almost tipped Mao Mao over backwards. "Ghost catch –! H-how are you even doing that?"

Badgerclops smirked, tapping his mechanical arm with a tip of a finger. "As you know, dude, you have a bad tendency to underestimate my creative genius."

"Yeahyeahyeah! Later!" Mao Mao grumbled, ending the discussion with the rapid flicking of his wrist. He turned back to the broom closet Momo was in, his ears twitching at the sounds of clattering. "Momo!" he called out. "What are you doing in there?"

"Just a moment!" Momo answered back. After a few seconds, she let out a little pleased remark of 'there it is' before coming back out with a broomstick in her hands. All three members of the Sheriff's Department were all concentrated wide-eyed on her. When Momo noticed, she gave a little giggle. "Oh, that? The school also gives flying lessons too." She additionally leaned forward to give a pseudo-whisper, "Comes in handy if you can't afford your own vehicle…" She turned directly to Mao Mao and held up the broom directly in front of him. "This will help us chase down that ghost much faster." She then readied the broom under herself, "Care for a ride, Mr. Sheriff?"

Mao Mao briefly paused but then gave a lopsided smile while putting a hand on his hip. "Guess I should've flown…" He hopped onto the broomstick behind Momo, who then concentrated her magic powers, causing the broom to slowly but surely ascend, floating further up until both cats' feet no longer touched the ground. After just a second of Momo revving up her broom, the two black cats then zipped down the hall to whatever way led to the rooftop.

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Left behind in the faint magical dust cloud left behind by the broom, Badgerclops and Adorabat were at a loss with how to react to what they just witnessed, save for a couple blinks.

"Hey Badgerclops, you think Mao Mao and Momo look like they're getting along very well?" Adorabat asked with slightly narrowed eyes, seeming a little suspicious at how fast the two black cats developed their ability to work together very well.

"Are you kidding?" Badgerclops sobbed. "If I knew about flying brooms a lot sooner, I wouldn't need to fix the aerocycle!"