Fanfic / If You're Alone Onstage

If You're Alone Onstage is an Odd Squad fanfic written by OneSunnyDay.

Five years after being fired from Odd Squad for a crime he didn't commit, Otis, who is now a teenager, is sought out by Oprah, Olympia and Oona for his help in beating Dementia, his father who has jumped off the slippery slope and has gone from being odd to being complete evil. Although hesitant and uneasy about going back to his former place of employment at first, he decides to work with them to save his father, all while battling feelings of mistrust and betrayal for the people he once called his friends and teammates.

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This fanfic contains examples of:

• Age Lift: Otis is aged up into a teenager in this story, having lost his Proportional Aging abilities. In the show, his age was never revealed, but he looked to be 11 or 12. In the epilogue, he is turned back into his normal child self, at 11 years old.
  • Olympia also uses the Older-inator to age herself up from 11 to 16 to meet with Otis at his school dance, and remains at 16 for the majority of the story up until the epilogue, where she gets turned back to her normal age.
• Ambiguously Absent Parent: Otis's mom is never mentioned outside of a brief moment in the epilogue where Otis asks his father if he remembers her and he says he does.
• Archnemesis Dad: Oprah believes that Otis is able to defeat his villainous father, Dementia — not just because they're father and son, but because she's seen Otis in action and believes in his skill. Otis doesn't take kindly to this, calling out Oprah for believing he betrayed Odd Squad and telling her that the only reason he's helping her and Precinct 13579 is because of Olympia. Chapter 7 reveals that Odd Squad has an extensive history of dealing with Dementia, and Chapter 9 all but states that Otis was an Antagonistic Offspring who was also an Odd Squad villain up until he made a Heel–Face Turn at some point and joined the organization as an agent under "Stipulation OS V.1".
  • Chapter 12 all but states that Dementia isn't a good villainous father to his villainous son either, having left him for Odd Squad to deal with after committing a crime at a zoo. That crime is what causes Otis to have a Heel–Face Turn and leave him to join Odd Squad.
  • Averted in Chapter 13, when Dementia is revealed to have framed Otis and gotten him fired from Odd Squad, but wanted to help his son and not hurt him. He apologizes for abandoning Otis at the zoo and realizes that he was the one who caused him to have a Heel–Face Turn in the first place, and then offers a We Can Rule Together proposal to him, which causes Otis to realize that while he's making amends and becoming a good father, he's still a villain committing acts of oddness.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In Chapter 7, Todd tells Olympia and Otis that his garden has lost its produce, which is replaced with books, television sets, magazines, and "a surprising amount of spaghetti".
• Back to School: Being a teenager and no longer employed with Odd Squad, Otis is forced to go to regular school. In Chapter 5, Olympia asks him about it, and he tells her that the food is terrible, he's taught both things he knows (like math) and things he doesn't, and he didn't make any friends due to harboring mistrust for everyone.
• Bait-and-Switch: In Chapter 12, Oprah organizes a strike team of five agents, and when determining whom the fifth agent should be, she asks Oscar if he knows anyone perfect for the job. He says he does...and then decides to go and get Andy from accounting. Oprah's quick to snap at him that she was referring to him.
• Calling the Old Man Out: When making a Heel–Face Turn, Otis tells his father that he should stop being evil. His father doesn't take too kindly to this, but doesn't try and stop Otis from making the turn either.
• The Cassandra: Otis is blamed for his villainous father breaking into Headquarters, even though he didn't do any such thing. This gets him fired from Odd Squad and leaves him bitter, losing his trust in the organization and feeling betrayed for 5 years after the fact. The only one who believes him is Olympia, his former partner, which is why he is close to her and is the only person he's willing to be with.
• Character Catchphrase: Olympia answers her phone with "Who's excited to talk to Olympia?!"
• Comically Missing the Point: Just before Otis goes to defeat his father, Olympia asks Otis what she wants him to do, and he boasts that she's about to see more of his "secret specialized abilities" that she mentioned in her "O Song" that she did for OddTube. She doesn't take it the way he intended.
  Olympia: Otis, what do you want us to do?
  Otis: Do you remember your "O Song" you did for OddTube?
  Olympia: Yeah?
  Otis: Well, you're about to see some more of my "secret specialized abilities".
  Olympia: So, you want me to sing the "O Song"? No problem!
  Otis: Olympia, that's not what I meant.
• Comical Overreacting: Oprah is absolutely fully convinced that a small, three-inch crack in her office ceiling means the entire ceiling itself needs to be replaced. To confirm this, she asks Olympia and Otis for their take on the matter, since they're both teenagers and have a different perspective of things.
  Oprah: I have two questions for you. Number one: do we need to replace the ceiling?
  Otis: I don't see who that's-
  Oprah: You guys are teenagers, meaning you're taller and closer to the ceiling. So, I'm asking you, do you think we should replace it?
  Otis: I think it looks fine.
  Olympia: Are you serious? Don't you see that huge crack, right there?
  Otis: Olympia, that's three inches long.
  Olympia: I know! You're right, Ms. O. It needs to be replaced.
  Oprah: Good, just what I wanted to hear.
• Cute and Psycho: Oona, natch. Her first appearance involves her not understanding personal space as she leans close to Olympia's face and tells her about how no one seems to have a need for gadgets anymore with Dementia roaming about, asking what'll happen to her if no one needs gadgets anymore, then she reverts back to her friendly self.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Prior to joining Odd Squad, it's implied that Otis's past wasn't great. As a result, he saw Odd Squad as a place where he could make a fresh start for himself and forget about his past, but when he ended up fired by Oprah, he ends up suffering from a lot of Angst.
• Deadpan Snarker: Otis gives quite a few sarcastic quips at various points. And when he's not doing that, he's giving out eyerolls.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After everything he's been through with his mistrust of Odd Squad and his relationship with his father, Otis is re-hired back onto Odd Squad and becomes Olympia's partner again.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted three times in the story.
  • Oprah is still hard on Otis despite realizing that blaming him for helping his father, which he never did, was wrong. Olive calls her out on it at the end of Chapter 10 and in Chapter 11, and she tells her that she's been covering up her guilt in response to Otis shutting her out whenever she apologized to him.
  • In regards to Otis's relationship with Odd Squad, Oprah and Olympia both feel remorse for jumping to conclusions and blaming Otis for conspiring with his villainous father, but although they've tried to apologize to him numerous times, he shuts them out every time because he believes that their apologies are not sincere.
  • The Big O also doesn't seem very forgiving of Otis and believes that he will betray the organization.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Oprah refers to Olive by her title of "Ms. O" instead of her actual name, despite them both being Odd Squad Directors. Olive remarks that she'll never get used to being called that, and Oprah agrees by saying that she'll never get used to calling Olive that.
• Evil Gloating: Todd can tell that the Shapeshifter is still hiding in his garden from his experiences working with her and how she always gloats about what odd things she's done before fleeing the scene. Sure enough, she reveals herself and shapeshifts into her Shapeshifter Default Form from her previous guise of a tree.
• Evil Is Not Well-Lit: When the strike team enters the basement of the Science building, the room is dark. Just as they reach for flashlights, the lights suddenly turn on, revealing Dementia in the flesh.
• Failed a Spot Check: Oona can't quite grasp the fact that Otis has been gone for 5 years, and as a result, he is now a teenager instead of a child.
• The Fashionista: Oona knows how to sew, much like her predecessor Oscar, and easily creates Investigation agent suits that fit Olympia's and Otis's grown bodies.
• Frame-Up: Otis was fired from Odd Squad in this manner. His father, a well-known villain named Dementia, broke into Precinct 13579's Headquarters and framed him for it, getting him fired from Odd Squad. As a result, Otis suffers a lot of Angst over it.
• Friendly Enemy: Although Otis and the Noisemaker are friends, the latter still loves to create oddness as a villain. The only thing that will make him stop is if Otis asks him to.
• The Game Come to Life: In Chapter 3, Oprah informs Olympia that Mr. Lightning is using his lightning powers to bring video game characters to life at the Shmumbercade.
• Good Parents: Dementia may be a villain, but he loves Otis very much and begins to cry when he resorts to hitting him with one of his own beams to erase his memory. Luckily, Otis decides to wipe his memory of anything odd, and the pair reconcile in the epilogue.
• Heel–Face Turn: Otis decides to join Odd Squad when Dementia abandons him at a zoo after (presumably) stealing money from it. He tries to call him out on his actions, but doesn't get very far.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Otis's father being the Big Bad of the story takes on an entire new meaning following the Season 2 finale, where Otis's brother and father figure, Brother Quack, was revealed to be a villain, forcing Otis to fight against him by enlisting the help of Odd Squad to stop his Evil Plan.
  • The same can be said for Otis being framed for committing an act of villainy and being a former villain himself, both things of which are later addressed in the Season 2 finale.
• History Repeats: A 16-year-old Olympia brings Otis into Headquarters, only for Owen to order his Security agents to seize him, then order them to seize Olympia when he can't recognize her. Something similar happened in the episode "Trading Places", where a 21-year-old Olive had trouble convincing Owen, as well as Otto and Oprah, that she was who she said she was.
  • Chapter 4 has Otis and Olympia visiting the Shmumbercade to stop Mr. Lightning from wreaking havoc and them needing to pay Karla $1 each to enter the arcade, with Olympia handing Karla a dollar while Otis tries to make a dollar with the change he has on him, mirroring an exchange from the episode "Game Time".
• Innocently Insensitive: Oksana's snark falls into this territory when she berates Olympia for asking for a burger with everything but the bun.
  Olympia: Two hamburgers please! One with everything and one with nothing but the roll!
  Oksana: [rolls her eyes] You know, it takes a long time to make all this food, even just a roll.
  Olympia: And we definitely appreciate it!
  Oksana: Sure. Otis appreciates it so much, he hasn't eaten my food in 5 years.
  Olympia: [quietly] Oksana! Don't bring that up. Otis is still sensitive.
  Oksana: OK, whatever.
• Intergenerational Rivalry: It's not just adults that Odd Squad hates with a passion — they also hate teenagers, as evidenced by Owen rushing to have Otis and Olympia (who are both teenagers) arrested for being villains.
• It's All My Fault: Olympia is still kicking herself over Otis getting framed and fired from Odd Squad, and even when Otis assures her it isn't, she insists it's her fault.
  Olympia: Otis, I'm so sorry about what happened.
  Otis: [sighs] It wasn't your fault.
  Olympia: But I feel like it is. I should have defended you more-
  Otis: Then you would have been kicked out, too, Olympia.
  Olympia: But you didn't do it!
  Otis: I know, Olympia. I know.
• Jaw Drop: Otis has this reaction to Oprah explaining to him that his father made a declaration to wipe the minds of everyone on the planet. The news is so shocking to him that he doesn't just go slack-jawed, he sits down in a chair just to process it.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Otis's father's third Evil Plan, as well as his initial evil plan, involves him completely wiping the minds of everyone in the entire world so that he can rule over everyone. Otis manages to defeat him by using the Memory-Displace-inator gadget, one of Oscar's new inventions, on him, which erases all of his memories pertaining to him being a villain.
• The Lightfooted: Otis is incredibly agile in combat and dodges all of Dementia's memory-wiping beams with ease. Once his father realizes that he can't hit him by magical means, he decides to attack him physically, but Dementia puts up a much better fight and manages to take out Oprah and Olive, while Otis is left winded and can't hold his own for long.
• Logic Bomb: Olympia and Otis confront Mr. Lightning at the Shmumbercade after he makes video game characters come to life, and when they ask him of his motive, he fires back with a question that makes Olympia have to sit on it for a moment before Otis picks up the slack.
  Olympia: Why did you do this?
  Mr. Lightning: Why not?
  [pause as Olympia sits on the question for a bit]
  Otis: Because it's causing chaos.
  Olympia: Yeah, that's it.
• The Man Behind the Man: In Chapter 11, Owen enters Oprah's office and drops a bomb in the form of the reveal that Dementia was the one who ordered the Noisemaker to attack the library with tiny loud instruments. Otis then explains that it's not the first time Dementia has done this, as he recalls that ten years ago, he sent other villains out to cause oddness while simultaneously making empty threats to attack things in the hopes that it would throw Odd Squad off his trail so he could complete his ultimate Evil Plan of making a machine that combines all his powers.
• Master of Unlocking: Oprah has quite a knack for picking locks, but some locks prove to be harder than others — case in point being a lock that is located on the basement door of the Science building of the Odd Squad Academy.
• Mistaken Age: When Olympia (who is 16 years old, having given herself a temporary Age Lift) brings Otis back to Precinct 13579's Headquarters and is confronted by Owen, she pulls out her badge to prove that she's an agent of Odd Squad. Owen fires back by saying that Olympia is supposed to be 11, and she looks to be 52. Olympia asks him how she looks even remotely 52 years old, to which he responds with, "So, you admit you're not 11!"
• Mistakes Are Not the End of the World: Olympia tells this to Otis in Chapter 11 when trying to get him to open up to her, using it as justification for Odd Squad's actions. Ironically, this is contrasted with how she's portrayed in canon, which has her learning this lesson numerous times throughout Season 2 as The Perfectionist.
• Moment Killer: In Chapter 11, Oprah apologizes to Otis for not believing him, and he forgives her for it after a heartfelt talk from Olympia. And then Owen barges in with a shocking revelation.
  Oprah: Owen, you better have a really good reason for barging in on our heartfelt moment!
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Dementia as an illness is quite a horrifying thing to go through, as many can attest to. Otis's dad, a villain whose schtick involves altering victims' memories, has it as an actual name. His real name is Adam, as shown in the epilogue.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Olive tells Otis that if Todd never made a Face–Heel Turn and became evil, and if he had never released the pienado, she would still be a Shrinking Violet. Because he did that, however, it made her a Little Miss Badass who is now the leader of her own precinct, just like she's always wanted.
  • Otis uses this trope in his shoot-down of Dementia's We Can Rule Together proposal in Chapter 13.
  Otis: You know, if you had asked me a week ago, I might have actually thought about it. But, I think you made a big mistake sending me back to Odd Squad. Because, before I went back, I was angry at them and confused. I was alone, and I had no one to turn to. But once I did return, I realized I never really was alone. And even though they may have made a mistake, they're still my friends. You may have not intended for it to work out this way, but you fixed me, Dad. So, no, even if you're my father, I'll never rejoin you.
• Oh, Crap!: Otis is so taken aback by Olive explaining that Dementia threatened to hit the Burly Bears stadium and followed through on the threat that he experiences Color Failure.
  • Oscar, Olive, Otis, Olympia and Oprah all go through Color Failure when Dementia reveals that he was behind Otis getting fired from Odd Squad.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: In Chapter 7, the Shapeshifter taunts Otis by telling him that Odd Squad will never trust him and never forgive him for what he did. The words cut into him deep to the point where he walks away from the scene and comes to the realization that his facade of telling everyone he's fine is crumbling.
  Shapeshifter: So, Otis, back on the Squad? How'd you get them to do that?
  Otis: W-what do you mean?
  Shapeshifter: I know what happened 5 years ago, Otis. Odd Squad might say that they trust you, but they don't. [laughs] And they can't, because even though you think you've changed, you can't. Once a villain, always a villain.
  • Chapter 13 has Dementia stating something similar to Otis when offering a We Can Rule Together proposal.
  Dementia: Otis, can't you see? You're my son, and we will always be odd, no matter what we do. We can't run from it, we can't change it, so why not embrace it?
• The Only One I Trust: The only agent Otis is willing to be friendly with is Olympia, as they were former partners. In spite of this, however, he is reluctant to open up to her and confess his true feelings regarding his firing.
• Parental Neglect: Implied with Dementia, who abandons Otis after committing a crime at a zoo and genuinely doesn't care about his son making a Heel–Face Turn and joining Odd Squad. However, he ends up feeling remorseful for what he did in Chapter 13.
• Poor Communication Kills: Owen apparently didn't read the memo that Otis was set to be brought to Headquarters by Olympia. As a result, he and the other Security agents treat Otis as a villain, as well as Olympia herself, and attempt to arrest them.
  • This is part of the driving conflict of the story. Otis is clearly bothered by him being framed and being fired from Odd Squad, but he refuses to tell Olympia what's on his mind, and as a result, she can't help him. Instead, he suffers from Angst.
• The Power of Friendship: Olympia and Otis were former partners prior to the latter being fired from Odd Squad, and even after 5 years, Otis still harbors friendship for her despite her kicking herself for not defending him well when he got blamed for his villainous father, Dementia, breaking into Headquarters. The only reason he's helping Odd Squad (which he now despises) is because of Olympia, who tried to defend him with her life but ultimately failed in the end, breaking out into sobs when she saw Otis being taken away.
  Olympia: Otis, I don't care if you were a villain once. You aren't one now. I've been your partner for almost a year and I like to think I know you better than anyone. You wouldn't do this. [to Oprah] You have to believe me, Otis wouldn't do this.
  [...]
  Oprah: Olympia, we'll find you another partner.
  Olympia: [crying] I don't want another partner, I want Otis.
• Power of Trust: Trust is a very big theme in this fanfic. After Oprah apologizes to Otis and he begins to trust her and the rest of Odd Squad, she gains newfound confidence and lets go of the guilt that she's had bottled up for five years since he was fired from the organization.
• Redemption Rejection: Otis tries numerous times to get Dementia to stop causing oddness and make a Heel–Face Turn, and every time he does, he's immediately shot down.
• Rejected Apology: Most everyone feels remorse for blaming Otis for his father breaking into Headquarters, but he's definitely not so quick to forgive, since he believes that none of the apologies he's given are genuine.
  Otis: I- I guess I never thought Odd Squad was really sorry for what they did. I just thought they only wanted me back because I was the only one who could find my father. So, when Ms. O tried to apologize, I shut her out, because I thought she didn't mean it.
• Ship Tease: So, so much of it between Otis and Olympia that you could cut it with a knife.
• Single Tear: As he finishes recounting the story of how he got fired from Odd Squad, Otis lets one tear roll down his face.
• Speak of the Devil: In Chapter 2, Olympia begs Owen to take her and Otis to see Oprah so he can see that they mean no harm. He refuses and tries to shunt them out of the tube lobby, but Oprah appears and orders him to let them go free, to which he and the rest of the Security agents oblige to.
  • Chapter 5 has Otis and Olympia at their desks, working with Otto to identify a pattern in the places that Dementia stated he was going to attack but never did. Then this exchange happens:
  Otto: Everyone in those places loves Soundcheck?
  [Otis rolls his eyes]
  Olympia: Probably. But I doubt that's why he's choosing those places.
  Otis: And he also threatened the whole world. And I don't think everyone in the world loves Soundcheck.
  Olympia: Yeah, like Olive.
  Olive: [from the Lab] It's an on-and-off thing!
• Tempting Fate: Oprah yells at Otis for not finding Dementia yet, stating that he needs to stop solving small cases and focus on the bigger problem. Olive then walks in and explains that there's a big problem.
• That Reminds Me of a Song: Defied, and then played straight in Chapter 13 when Otis is fighting his father 1-on-1.
  Olympia: You know, I really feel like we need musical accompaniment.
  Oprah, Olive and Oscar: Olympia!
  Olympia: Sorry!
  [later]
  Olympia: [singing] Ms. O goes in for the kick, Olive comes right back with it, Oscar works on disarming the machine with his gadgets-
  Oprah, Olive, Otis and Oscar: Olympia!
  Olympia: [singing] Uh-oh, it's another O-O-O! Uh-oh, it's another O-O-O!
  Dementia: I never knew your partner was so annoying.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: In Chapter 7, Olive tells Otis that he doesn't have to call her by her title of "Ms. O", and that he's free to call her by her actual name instead.
  • Chapter 12 opens up with Oscar accidentally calling Oprah by her title of "Ms. O" and her correcting him with a growl so he calls her by her real name instead.
• Title Drop: The title is derived from a lyric of the song of the same name that Otis sings to Olympia in the Odd Squad episode "Agent Orchid's Almost Half-Hour Talent Show". She sings the song to him in Chapter 11.
• Tube Travel: Deconstructed in Chapter 2, when Olympia and Otis go through the tubes and Olympia notes how cramped they are now that she's a teenager rather than a child.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Olive sees Otis as a teenager in Headquarters and immediately recognizes it's him, instead of freaking out like Owen and the rest of the Security agents did earlier. Justified, as she was likely informed of his arrival via the memo and knows Otis's face well (since this story takes place after the events of Odd Squad: The Movie).
• We Can Rule Together: In Chapter 13, Dementia apologizes for pushing away and neglecting Otis as his accomplice and as his son, stating that he committed all the odd crimes throughout the story to lead Otis to him. He then states that he's going through with his Evil Plan in spite of his apologies and invites Otis to join him, but he shoots him down.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Jamie Jam wants to help the Mayor's cheese festival. Unfortunately, her way of helping is by spraying jam on everywhere and on everything, which upsets and scares the attendees. Luckily, Olympia, Otis and the Mayor help her set things right.
• Wham Line: Otis drops one in Chapter 11 when Olympia confronts him about his behavior.
  Olympia: Otis, people make mistakes. It's just the way we are, and we feel horrible about it! We've tried countless times to tell you how sorry we are, but you keep blocking us out. Why do you keep blocking us out?!
  Otis: BECAUSE YOU DON'T MEAN IT!
• Wrong Assumption: Oprah firmly believes that Otis conspired with his villainous father Dementia to help him break into an Odd Squad precinct's Headquarters. Even when he tries to defend himself, he fails to do so and gets fired from Odd Squad as a result.
• You Are Not Alone: Olympia tells this verbatim to Otis in Chapter 11.
  Olympia: Otis. I can't speak for all of Odd Squad, but I know Ms. O meant it when she tried to apologize. I've worked with her for the past five years, seeing how bad she's felt and the guilt of falsely accusing you of showing a villain where Headquarters was. I've worked here enough to know that everyone here hates themselves for not believing and standing by you. Talking with Olive and Otto tells me that so many others feel the injustice you've dealt with is terrible. You are not alone, Otis.

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