Momo: A Jinx in Pure Heart

Chapter 8: Mao on a Roll

Mao Mao popped another cobbler candy in his mouth as soon as he finished the candy before that. "I had no idea Blue could even make tea-flavored candies," he told Momo when the group stopped at a grassy forest clearing that was home to a couple bare and gnarly trees.

"Like I said, Mr. Mao Mao. We Sweetypies can make candy out of anything," Momo replied with yet another wink.

Mao Mao rolled his eyes. "And I suppose you can turn lead into candy too," he thought. He thought about sitting down on the grass with Momo to both relax and look over the notes he compiled over the house visits he made in his investigation. But before he could do anything, his ear twitched at the sound of rustling vegetation. He got right into battle mode, drawing out his golden sword. "Momo, get behind me!" he commanded, scanning the area for who or what was in the vicinity.

Momo didn't react immediately, but her frog and fox friends obeyed, rushing immediately to the cover of the sheriff's cape. Mao Mao kept watching, and then saw to his satisfaction, Pinky hightailing out of a patch of shrubs to run to a random house, snickering out loud to no one despite being within hearing range of the sheriff himself. Mao Mao felt excitement rushing through his veins, as this was what he had been waiting for the whole night.

"Now I got you," Mao Mao grinned, even laughing in pleasure. Without another moment's notice, he pounced off the ground and sprinted straight for Pinky. But of course, Pinky had to notice the sheriff's presence, breaking into a sprint himself to get away. "Pinky!" Mao Mao yelled. "You are under arrest for vandalism and egregious wasting of essential items! Come quietly or else!"

"Never!" Pinky shouted back, ducking around a corner.

Mao Mao noticed ribbons of white cloth trailing out of Pinky's hands. He traced around every part of the streets and alleys where Pinky ran through until he got close enough. Mao Mao took a flying leap, maintaining his trajectory until he landed right on the pink rhino Sweetypie, pinning him down on the cobblestone pavement. "Okay, criminal!" he growled. "Time to pay for your damages. Where'd you steal all that toilet paper? How'd you commit your crime?"

"Get off me! I'll never tell!" Pinky screeched defiantly.

"Oh, maybe you will after I bring you to the station," Mao Mao fired back.

Pinky tried hard to wrest himself free from the sheriff's grip, until he came up with some other crazy idea. "Hey Slim! I'm over here! Get the sheriff off me!"

Mao Mao jolted at the sound of Slim Pigguns being called out for, since he was the other suspected perpetrator he had his sights on. Unfortunately, he realized a second too late that Slim was actually nowhere to be found and Pinky used that brief distraction to buck him off, not enough to knock Mao Mao off his feet, but got enough space to shuffle his way out of the sheriff's weighted hold and take off again.

Mao Mao was livid once he recovered his bearings. "Pinky!" he roared. "You lying – get back here!" He got back on his feet to chase after him again, but Pinky had gotten enough time to put more distance between himself and the sheriff by winding through several more alley corners. Mao Mao would have definitely lost Pinky for sure if it wasn't for a stream of sparkles zipping past him and following Pinky's trail until it ended with Pinky making a shout of pain in the distance.

Mao Mao had no idea what just happened, so he figured he would find out by racing to where he was sure Pinky fell. Sure enough, he found Pinky lying on the ground in his front, feverishly nursing his pained backside. Mao Mao wondered why Pinky was like this until he heard footsteps behind him, prompting him to turn around to see Momo with her wand in her hand, raised and pointed in Pinky's direction.

"You're welcome, Mr. Sheriff," Momo told Mao Mao with a sly cheeriness in her tone.

"Momo, you had your wand the whole time?" Mao Mao asked almost quietly but incredulously. "You could have stopped him any time you wanted?"

Momo twirled her wand as she answered him, sounding a teensy bit guilty, "Well technically, I got my wand back when we were waiting for you at the school. I figured I ought to if I was going to make myself useful with you for the flying broom mystery, so I made use of my extra time."

"Then why didn't you stop Pinky sooner?" Mao Mao narrowed his eyes, expressing a bit of suspicion and disappointment.

Momo swayed on her feet a little, looking in other directions as though she was blatantly feigning innocence. "Just thought I'd let you go first, see if you still got the 'non-magic' hero strength down," she said ever so teasingly.

"Oh, don't you talk to me like that," Mao Mao muttered, trying to sound offended and disciplinary when he really was just flustered.