Home Alone in Pure Heart Valley

Chapter 3

Back in HQ, all was empty and quiet. From the top of the stairs that led to the attic, Adorabat peeked around the corner, looking rather like she had just gotten up from a deep yet restless slumber, evident by the wrinkles under her eyes and stray tufts of fur sticking out from every part of her face.

Still half-asleep, she gently hopped down the stairs and walked over to the main bedroom to access the bathroom for use. When she was done, she then went over to the TV to turn it on, then entering the kitchen. She helped herself to a small snack from the fridge and went back to the living room, sitting on the couch to watch TV. She started at the animated screen for a little while, but as she grew more and more awake, she started to notice the empty silence, looking around as though something was off. She turned off the TV.

"Mao Mao?" she called out. She got off the couch and began checking everywhere.

She first checked Mao Mao's office space, going over to his desk and even checking the holding cell next to it. "Hello? Mao Mao?"

She went downstairs to the garage. "Badgerclops?" She noticed the little plastic tank containing Lucky's pet spider was sitting on the workbench, making her even more confused as to where the bug's owner was. After all, that thing was one of the many others that the group was to bring on the trip, but it was left behind. Adorabat questioned if the vacation even started yet. That confusion was further compounded from seeing the aerocycle still being there, sitting inactive in the garage.

She went back up and went to the dojo and even the maintenance room next to the kitchen. "Dad? Chubbum? Kevin? Ketchup? Plippy? Lucky?" When she didn't find anyone she called out the names of, she even circled around and rechecked all the spots she went through just moments before. "Where is everybody?"

Adorabat went right back to the living room, sitting back onto the couch. She thought about what might possibly be the reason for HQ to be empty except for her. That was when she remembered the events of the night before.

"I made the whole group disappear!" she gasped to herself in disbelief. It would have been cause for alarm had she not remembered something else about last night: The stolen and wasted pizza courtesy of Lucky, Mao Mao not punishing Lucky for it, how neither Mao Mao or Badgerclops and even her dad took her gripes seriously...

A grin slowly crept on Adorabat's face. "I made the whole group disappear."

The day moved forward with a single bat having the holiday party of a lifetime. Once Adorabat realized the freedom she now had to do things that Mao Mao would have normally forbade her, she was practically on an itinerary of her own. First, she was bouncing up and down on Sofia the couch, munching on bag of popcorn plus other snacks belonging to Badgerclops at the same time. Then, she was playing with Mao Mao's hero equipment and some of the tech down in the basement-garage. After that, she took to flying all around in HQ, yelling "I'M FREE" while she went for every corner. She then capped it off with rapid-fire paint projects in the dojo, especially with the traps deployed and running to spread her flying paints with greater effect.

Once she cooled down and had most of her fun, Adorabat relaxed by going back down to the garage to look through more privately stored parts of the space. She was currently looking on one of the computer monitors on Badgerclops's work desk, and her eyes were pretty wide at what she was gazing at before nonchalantly moving off to the next interesting thing.

"Why are those ladies crawling like that?" she commented on the pics she saw on Badgerclops's computer. "It's gotta hurt your back." She sifted through a nearby desk drawer for something else she could find, to which she shortly did. "Whoa, firecrackers!" she gasped, "I'll save those for later." She took a moment to yell upstairs, for a moment pretending she wasn't alone in the house. "Badgerclops! I'm going through all your private stuff! You better come down and stop me!" Without waiting for an answer, she resumed her snooping, sifting through another drawer. What she pulled out had her cringing.