Chapter 1: The Night Before

It was a snowy and windy night in Pure Heart Valley. Being that it was currently in the winter months, fields of white blanketed every part of the land. Apart from the whiteness, the currently snowed-on roofs of every building in the town areas, houses on the Ruby Pure Heart spire, the palace, and beyond were alit in many colors based on the strings of decorative lights hung up by the Sweetypies.

On a cliff a good distance away from the main town, the headquarters of the valley's Sheriff's Department was not only lit up, but reverberating with a number of voices crowded together from within. But that was white noise compared to what was actually happening inside.

"Wee! This is so comfortable!"

"Hey, Kevin! Sofia's for sitting, not jumping!"

Badgerclops had to hurriedly catch the little teal porcupine in the air as he bounced up and down the sofa, feeling a little miffed that the beloved piece of furniture was not being respected as it should. At the same time, Mao Mao was in the middle of giving a lecture to Ketchup and Chubbum about how to properly pack luggage while following them as they walked.

"No, you don't just jam clothes into a backpack like it's a pencil case! Why do you even need that many shoes and bows anyway?"

Neither one of them seemed to be aware of the sheriff's grouchy voice and related facepalming, as they were having too much fun packing to even think about doing it properly. But who could blame them? After all, it wasn't every day that the Sheriff's Department was taking the whole class on a holiday trip Lunarton City for Snowfest this year.

"My papa tells me it's important to prepare your feet in all kinds of winters," Chubbum answered the sheriff.

Likewise, Ketchup also gave Mao Mao her answer. "I wanna see what other people think of my pretty bows when they see me."

Mao Mao was nearly at a loss himself. "For the last time, you need to be wearing winter-appropriate clothes for your own protection! Actually, scratch that! Do you even wear clothes?"

At the same time, Adorabat was near the attic with Plippy and Lucky. All three of them were discussing the details of packing.

"What are you taking for the trip?" she was asking the two Sweetypies with her, apparently trying to follow Mao Mao's example of how to direct the others in proper packing. It wasn't like she didn't have it together. "You need to take the most important things." She noticed that neither one of them seemed to understand what she was saying to them, though they weren't simple-minded enough to not say anything back to her.

"I wanna take my pet spider with me," Lucky said innocently. In his hands was a little clear plastic tank containing a hairy spider that was a few inches long and fewer inches wide. Adorabat, unsurprisingly, wasn't alarmed by such a sight, though neither was Lucky, as he was the owner. Plippy, on the other hand, was less than pleased.

"Ew! Keep it away from me!" Plippy cried in disgusted fright. He ran away and got right behind Adorabat. "Take it away!" he demanded.

Lucky was just as displeased to hear such words being spoken by his fellow Sweetypie. "Hey! Don't talk like that about my spider! Don't touch my spider either, Adorabat!"

"I wasn't going to," Adorabat thought. While she liked bugs as much as Lucky did, even she didn't think it was safe to bring pet bugs on a winter vacation. It was just way too much trouble. But that didn't keep Lucky and Plippy from loudly arguing with each other with her in between them. Adorabat pressed her wings against her ears, trying to block out the pointless fighting.

Meanwhile, Badgerclops was having a harder time trying to get Kevin to cooperate. As soon as he within attaching distance of Mao Mao, he matched right over to him. "Mao! Is there any way we can change this trip?"

Mao Mao growled in fatigue. "If only I knew, Badgerclops. Of all the times for the king to be so unreasonable in telling us to host communal class vacations, it had to be on Snowfest!" He was simultaneously demonstrating the proper packing procedures to Chubbum and Ketchup as he was talking. "It's not like he was going to take no for an answer."

"Well, you would've just told him no anyway," Badgerclops said. "Go by popular vote!"

Mao Mao sounded rather displeased at what his friend said. "Well, maybe I would've gotten the king to reconsider that way if you backed me up. You caved the moment he threatened to not host a return banquet if you refused." Badgerclops held his mouth shut, feeling like his friend had him cornered on that statement.

Neither the badger or black cat noticed Adorabat flying towards them both. "Guys, can you make Lucky and Plippy stop yelling at each other? It's giving me a headache!"

"Not now, Adorabat," Badgerclops dismissed her without even looking. "Kevin here's giving me a headache right now!"

Adorabat immediately went over to Mao Mao. "Mao Mao, Plippy and Lucky are yelling at each other. Make them stop!"

"Adorabat, my hands are already full with Ketchup and Chubbum right now!" Mao Mao said irritably. "Just…make them compromise or something…"

Adorabat frowned. She turned and flew up to the attic at the top of the stairs that stood on HQ's ground floor, making sure she knew the lights up there were on. She entered to find her dad Eugene deeply engrossed in the detailed content of several papers attached to a clipboard.

"Dad, all the other kids are being ridiculous and Mao Mao and Badgerclops aren't helping!" she complained to him.

But Eugene didn't lift his eyes from the clipboard, though he did hear what his daughter said to him. "Sorry, Little Gem. I know it's hard, but I really gotta make sure we got everything else planned for the trip. Just, uh…bear with it, okay?"

Adorabat pouted. "I've been doing that since Lucky wanted to bring a spider on the trip! How come I don't get to bring a pet?"

Eugene was already starting to feel the nervous stress pile on, hoping it wouldn't result in him having to clear his sinuses of all moments. He put down his clipboard and went right over to Adorabat, holding her a bit. "Please, Adorabat. This trip matters to everyone else, if not you. I'd love to tell the king that spending Snowfest at home is better, but this doesn't happen every year. Let's allow everyone to have fun, okay?" Adorabat didn't say 'okay' back, but looked away with a reluctant nod. With that, Eugene let go of her and went back to his clipboard. "Go pack your things, if you're bored."

Adorabat then left the attic, though not before landing on one of HQ's rafters in the main atrium. "Nobody's listening!" she proclaimed. "This house is so full of people that it makes me sick! When I grow up and be sheriff, I'm living alone! You hear me?" She made sure to holler directly at everyone below, even making sure her dad could hear her in the attic while jumping up and down on the rafter beam with a stomp. "I'm living alone! I'm living alone!"

Her tirade was cut short by a knock at the front door. Mao Mao was the first to respond by going up to the door and opening it, revealing the visitor to be a delivery guy holdinga familiar stack of flat boxes. Mao Mao would have pointed out the obvious about what they were if it wasn't for Badgerclops so savagely beating him to the punch, saying only one word: "PIZZA!" It wasn't any easier for Mao Mao when Badgerclops shove him aside hard enough to go flying.

By the time Mao Mao got back up again, Adorabat already dove for the scene, just as eager for pizza as the next Sweetypie. Undoubtedly, Adorabat shrieked for a slice as loudly and shrilly as Badgerclops did. Mao Mao walked into the kitchen to find everyone having gathered there, appropriate as that was where meals were to be partaken at in the first place.

Adorabat, on the other hand, was flying around the crowded and chaotic table space, observing the other kids and Badgerclops scarfing down their share of slices in search of some of her own. She was checking plates and even pizza slices until she got next to Chubbum. She made sure to direct her voice to Mao Mao, Badgerclops, and Eugene when she decided to speak.

"Has anyone seen the mealworm-topping pizza? I think someone forgot to order it."

Mao Mao and Badgerclops appeared to wince at the sound of such a name, while the other Sweetypie kids appeared to be confused. Eugene was at a loss with what to say to his daughter, though it was more due to not expecting to hear something like that from her, an inconvenience at most. Unusually, it was Lucky who gave her an answer as everyone else resumed their eating.

"The mealworm pizza was here," he said, "but I wanted my spider to eat too, so I gave it to 'em."

Adorabat was silent. In fact, all the other kids fell silent too, leaving the adults to wonder what that meant. "Where's the rest of it?" she slowly demanded to Lucky in a raspy whisper, making the others try to move away with the slices in their hands, not taking their eyes off them both.

Lucky wasn't sure how to phrase his answer, but it was better to just answer the bat. "I liked the mealworm pizza, so I got myself a lot of it. I still gave a few more to my spider."

That was what told the other Sweetypie kids to flee and hide behind the adults. Adorabat dove right at Lucky in a shrieking fit of rage, swooping down and sending the green mouse into the air, prompting Mao Mao to dash and grab Adorabat while Badgerclops extended his robot arm to catch Lucky before he landed on the pizza sitting on the table.

"Adorabat, stop!" Mao Mao exclaimed once he got hold of the little bat. By his side, Eugene also put himself between his daughter and the other kids, hoping to give her another reasonable face to look at. But Adorabat continued to growl and snarl at Lucky, who was looking quite frightened himself, prompting Mao Mao to carry her out of the kitchen. Once both were in the clear, he went on to try and have a talk with her. "Adorabat, what were you doing? The night's as hectic as is!"

"Lucky's being ridiculous again!" Adorabat pouted. "It's dumb enough he's trying to bring a spider on the trip, but now he wasted my favorite pizza on it and took so much for himself! He didn't leave any for me!"

Mao Mao took a deep breath. "Look. I know it's…not good, but we really don't have time to be fighting over small stuff like this right now. The last thing we need before we leave for Lunarton is another mess." He looked past the kitchen entrance to the door leading to the bedroom. "Just…stay in the room and we'll bring you a slice or two later." Adorabat just pushed out her lower lip with a glare in her eyes before marching off to the bedroom, slamming the door in the process. Mao Mao frowned, then headed back to the kitchen.

Back in there, the kids resumed their pizza-eating with nary a trace of what has just happened a minute before, even including Badgerclops who felt the same way. Mao Mao wasn't surprised that Badgerclops would be like the kids in taking such an emotional event in stride, but he still couldn't quite get used to the sight. "Really?" the black cat sardonically asked the badger.

"Hey, the pizza's not gonna eat itself," Badgerclops casually reasoned with his mouth full, "and you know how I don't like letting good stuff go to waste."

Mao Mao simply shook his head before deciding to help himself to an available slice. He turned to see Eugene who was checking outside the kitchen for Adorabat. "She's cooling off in the next room," he told the older bat-Sweetypie. "She'll come around."

Eugene sighed. "I sure hope so. You sure the valley will be completely safe while we're away?"

Mao Mao sighed even harder. "That's a question for the king, not me." He looked out the window. "Then again, winter this year's forecasted to be the coldest on record, heaviest snowfall too. The Sky Pirates will be too busy shivering to try anything, and most monsters will be in hibernation thanks to the snow." He paused again. "Well, it better be true…"

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Later in the night, everyone had now gone to sleep. The Sweetypie kids were fast asleep in the main atrium while the main trio plus Eugene were in the main sleeping quarters – Mao Mao, Badgerclops, and Adorabat were in their triple-decker bunk bed while Eugene hung from the ceiling nearby in slumber. But unbeknownst to everyone asleep, Adorabat was still up. Despite having received compensation in alternative pizza slices by Mao Mao, Badgerclops, and Eugene, she was still hung up over the fact that Lucky still got away with his misdeed.

"Stupid Lucky, stupid spider, stupid other kids," she huffed in her mind. She released herself from her upside-down perch on her part of the bunk bed, flying out of the bedroom and into the main atrium where the other Sweetypie kids were sleeping. She took a long hard look at all of them before flying up to the attic. She really wanted more privacy at the moment and she already spent enough hours awake stewing over her slight. Latching onto a ceiling beam in the attic, she tried to get to sleep. Eventually she did, though before she drifted off completely, she had one last thought to herself.

"I wish they'd all just disappear."

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The whole winter night in Pure Heart Valley, while everyone was asleep, began to pick up rapidly. Its winds blew faster and the snow began obscuring the landscapes, so much so that ice was forming over every building it could get its clutches on. A few such icicles happened to start gathering near the cylindrical power generator that stood next to HQ's dormant waterwheel. The ice spread until it enveloped the generator, building up until it caused the machine to flicker several times for a moment before it whirred down completely. Luckily, HQ's auxiliary power supply kicked in, but by that time, whatever digital timers were set in place were already reset.