Fanfic / Viva La Vida

Viva La Vida is an Odd Squad fanfiction written by lilac-kat, with the idea originally conceived by Agent43 as the prize for winning a contest held by the author.

The story features a What If? scenario exploring Olive's Face–Heel Turn to the "odd side" and Odd Todd's repeated attempts to get her to join, with her struggling to choose between leaving Odd Squad and joining him or staying in Odd Squad with her new partner, Otto.

It has some notability in being conceived by Joshua Kilimnik himself, who played Odd Todd on Odd Squad and was a very active part in the show's fandom at the time of the story's writing.

Viva La Vida is not connected to the Ships Ahoy! 'verse, due to the story not being the original idea of the author.

Don't confuse this with the Coldplay song of the same name, although the title of the story and the chapter titles contain references to it.

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This fanfic contains examples of:

• Adaptational Explanation: This fanfic expands quite a bit on the thoughts of Olive during the events of a couple cases she was on.
  • In "The Briefcase", Olive still screams at the sight of pie, but she also reminds herself that the pie isn't Odd Todd and admits that screaming was just instinct to her — in reality, she liked seeing the pie there and had little qualms with it.
  • In "The O Games", Olive spits venom at Odd Todd as she tells him that he isn't her partner, but she ends up getting confused by her words because of the "once your partner, always your partner" philosophy, and it only gets worse as she finds herself defending his actions and reasoning rather than being against him wanting to become Director for a day to bring Odd Squad down, culminating in her "maybe things would be less odd if Todd won" comment from the end of the episode being Played for Drama. Furthermore, that scene in the story lampshades the impossibility of Odd Todd becoming Director of Precinct 13579, since Odd Squad has many precincts that he would also need to take over if he wanted to actually shut down the organization for good.
  • In "Trading Places", the story focuses on Olive meeting along with Odd Todd as he's about to strike Polly Graph, and her thinking hard about Odd Todd's offer for Olive to join him in causing oddness. While she turns him down like in the actual episode, the story shows that she very nearly agreed to his offer, and her being fired from Odd Squad for reasons outside of her control causes her to harbor mistrust towards her coworkers that factors into her Face–Heel Turn.
  • A non-Olive example from Chapter 5 — while the cantaloupe that powers Precinct 13579's electricity looks to be a normal cantaloupe in canon, this story reveals that only a special kind of cantaloupe can serve as a Power Source for the electricity, hence why no one can just run to the grocery store, buy a cantaloupe, and replace the one that Olive stole (although Olive replaced the special cantaloupe with a normal one so no alarms would be set off).
• Advice Backfire: Olive tries to seek out advice from Otto or Oscar. She never tries to get in contact with the latter, but when trying to reach out to the former fails, she turns to Odd Todd for advice instead. Naturally, his advice is for her to quit Odd Squad and join his Todd Squad instead, which she doesn't take too kindly to.
• And Then I Said: Inverted. Otto talks to Oprah about Olive's Face–Heel Turn, and says "See, it started with..." before explaining the events of two nights ago, which isn't told in full. The dialogue then picks back up with Otto stating how he's seen his partner very little.
• Armor-Piercing Response: Olive asks Odd Todd why she should join him, and while he reiterates that goodness can come out of oddness and that being evil allows you to serve your own needs and relieve boredom, he also tacks on his true intentions to seal the deal into her joining him, which causes her to go into shock.
  Odd Todd: Besides, the Todd Squad doesn't have to be a one-man band. I want an assistant, a companion, a partner in crime. Someone to fight the boring, defend the odd, and reflect everything my Squad stands for. Someone who, once my partner, always my partner. You. Olive, I need you.
• As the Good Book Says...: Chapter 3 opens up with a short passage from the Bible that reflects the events about to unfold.
  Ephesians 4:26-27: "In your anger do not sin". Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The Bad Ending has Olive successfully completing her Face–Heel Turn, joining Odd Todd, and stealing the cantaloupe that powers Precinct 13579, while Otto and the rest of the precinct's agents left without power and Otto in particular is left feeling nothing but regret and sadness.
• Bad Liar: Olive isn't very good at lying to Otto, and as a result he suspects something is up. A rule in the Odd Squad Rulebook that states partners have a right to know each other's secrets backs him up as he confronts Olive as to what she's hiding in a sack she's carrying.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: Olive instinctively turning the pigeons attacking Odd Todd into pudding to save him is the final nail in the coffin that convinces her to turn to the side of oddness and evil. Early on, Odd Todd also tries to kick a pigeon in retaliation for it pecking at one of the pies that Olive brought him.
• Basement-Dweller: Todd Squad's Headquarters is located in the basement of its leader's mom, and it's all but stated that Odd Todd still lives with his mother (and possibly his father, as well) in spite of his Big Bad status.
• Batman Gambit: Odd Todd knew that Olive would pull a Face–Heel Turn and join him — it was only a matter of time before she did. It's likely why he posed a We Can Rule Together offer for her during the events of "Trading Places".
• Benevolent Boss: Although it goes against every single Odd Squad rule in existence, Oprah decides not to fire Olive. Instead, she puts her on a month-long probation, where she will be banned from going on cases, monitored around the clock by Otto or one of Oprah's assistants, and will attend odd therapy with Oscar for two hours daily.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Katherine may seem like a regular citizen and an Odd Squad client to boot, but in reality, she ends up working for Odd Todd as his chauffeur.
• Bizarre Taste in Food: True to Otto's status as a Big Eater, he is shown eating a melting Popsicle made out of butternut squash soup, which disgusts Olive as she has to try her damndest not to gag.
• Brutal Honesty: Oprah manages to give Olive a healthy dose of honesty in Chapter 6's Good Ending.
  Olive: I guess I just...always assumed it would never happen to me. Gosh, I was stupid. Wasn't I?
  Oprah: Yeah, you kind of were.
• Cathartic Exhalation: Olive breathes a sigh of relief when the pie sitting in the warehouse turns out to be Oprah's briefcase.
• Chekhov's Gun: The to-do lists that frequently show up at the beginning of almost every chapter end up being the main catalyst towards Oscar's and Oprah's idea to call Olive and try to get her to turn back to the side of good.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Oscar wastes no time in chewing out Olive and asking her why she didn't just come to him, Otto and Oprah about her problems sooner, as if she had done so, she would have been placed in a therapy program specifically designed to help agents who are about to go to the "odd side".
• Creature of Habit: Horrifically and gradually subverted. Olive used to be content working at Odd Squad, since it's a fun but dangerous place, but has been feeling bored with the organization because of the same odd problems that pop up every day and how the town's citizens can't learn from their odd mistakes and frequently repeat them.
  Olive: Boring? You wanna talk about boring? This is boring! This whole thing! It's the same villains, the same problems, over and over again! Number hog? We just had one of those last winter! Honestly, I don't understand how these people keep doing the same odd stuff and making the same odd mistakes and not learning from them! Not to mention, did you never notice that none of the adults can do basic math? Keyword, basic!
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: It's in Olive's instinct to scream whenever she sees pie, and to seek shelter by clutching the arm of whomever she's with at the time, if anyone at all. In this case, it's Otto, who tells her to face her fears, but it's later stated that her screaming was just instinct — she actually liked the pie.
  • At the end of Chapter 4, she instinctively pulls out the Pudding-inator from her Hammerspace spine and fires it, and has no memory of her collapsing to the ground.
• Dangerous Workplace: This story pulls no punches in having one of its characters realize just how deadly Odd Squad can get while also simultaneously being fun.
• Determinator: Otto is initially hesitant about trying to convince Olive to not complete her Face–Heel Turn, but after some persuading from Oscar, he decides to give it a shot.
  Get Olive back. Do whatever it takes, but get her back.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Olive still being amiable with Odd Todd, in spite of him abusing and harassing her and trying to kill her and her co-workers to boot, draws some heavy parallels to Stockholm Syndrome.
• Didn't See That Coming: When Olive answers her badge phone in Chapter 6, Otto picks up, which surprises her since she thought Oprah would be the one to pick up the phone and tell her she was fired. It doesn't throw her for a loop too much, though.
• Downer Ending: The initial, intended ending is quite the invoked Tear Jerker, with Otto kicking himself for not helping Olive sooner as her Face–Heel Turn ends up becoming fully completed and Precinct 13579 loses power for good.
• Dramatic Drop: Oprah's reaction to Otto telling her that he thinks Olive has turned odd is to let her pencil fall to the floor.
• Everyone Has Standards: Sure, Olive might be going through Sanity Slippage and is amiable enough with Odd Todd to send him constant emails, but that doesn't mean her meetup with him is casual, nor does it mean she won't still be hostile with him when the two meet in person.
• Evil Duo: Olive and Odd Todd. Odd Todd is the Big Bad who seeks to create odd and has practically devoted his entire life to it, while Olive also seeks to create odd but struggles with her true alliance and with performing odd deeds instead of having it come naturally.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Olive leaves Otto with an Incredibly Lame Pun that cements her Face–Heel Turn quite well.
  Olive: Now, if that's all you wanted to say, I believe you all have a power problem you need to fix. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope it doesn't leave you too melon-choly!
• Evil Laugh: Odd Todd gives out quite a few of these, natch.
  • In the Bad Ending, Olive gives one of her own for the first time, a shrill cackle that's meant to sound quite similar to Odd Todd's.
• Face–Heel Turn: This trope is played with in many different ways throughout the story.
  • Deconstructed within the story as a whole. Olive gradually undergoes this as the story progresses, with the first ending having her completely making the switch to the side of evil. It's apparently a very common thing for agents to turn to the "odd side", with therapy programs in place for them to take advantage of if they feel themselves slipping, but Olive doesn't bother with that and has to do battle with her emotions and feelings, and why she likes being around Todd rather than disgusted with his presence like her new partner and most everyone else.
  • Played straight in the Bad Ending, where Olive completes her alliance switch and joins the Todd Squad alongside Odd Todd in a case where The Bad Guy Wins.
  • Subverted in the Good Ending, where Otto's words manage to reach Olive and she realizes what she's done, quitting the Todd Squad and returning to Odd Squad in order to face the consequences of her actions.
• Facial Dialogue: Olive fully remembers the face that Odd Todd made when she told him that she was quitting the Todd Squad — full of anger, but also hiding sadness and disappointment, and it's implied that he didn't say a thing to her as she stole the cantaloupe back from him and got out of his house before he could catch her or attack her with a gadget. It's a face that almost made her pull another, and a quicker, Face–Heel Turn.
• Feathered Fiend: Odd Todd ends up being attacked by a flock of Pesky Pigeons — Polly Graph's pigeons, if his words are any indication — who peck at him and poop on his clothes. Olive instinctively rushes in to save him by turning all the pigeons into pudding with the Pudding-inator gadget.
• First-Person Perspective: Part of Chapter 5 is told from Otto's point of view as he talks to Oprah about the two times he's seen Olive since their argument.
• Foreshadowing: At the beginning of Chapter 5, Olive's third to-do list has "get a honeydew melon in the oddest way possible" listed, and the lights flicker briefly just as Oprah asks Otto to tell her about the two times he's seen Olive as of late. It's later revealed that Olive stole the cantaloupe that powers Precinct 13579 and its electricity.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Olive starts to develop one, which begins with her going off on Otto for him mentioning that she's been acting weird lately and only grows worse as she takes her rage out on everyone else.
• Happily Ever After: Olive mocks Otto with this in Chapter 6 during their phonecall.
  Olive: Just like right now you're not frantically trying to convince me to come back, just so you guys can get your precious cantaloupe back where it belongs and fix the power and everything ends happily ever after, yay! Well, hate to disappoint, but this is one happy ever after that Odd Squad will be denied.
• He Who Fights Monsters: The basis of the fanfic is that Olive starts to turn to the side of creating oddness rather than being on the side of eradicating it. She doesn't seem to like it one bit and even tries to claw her way back to being on the heroes' side a couple times, but her poor mental health and her Sanity Slippage eventually win.
• Insane Troll Logic: Although it's somewhat justified as her mental health isn't in the best state, Olive takes some incredible leaps in logic when she calls out Otto for distracting her from work, exhibiting odd behavior, and bullying her just like Odd Todd did previously — things that he's never done. Otto can't even get an explanation out of her as to what she's trying to say, as she interrupts him by telling him that she should never have been an Odd Squad agent and storms off instead.
  • In Chapter 6, Otto tells Olive that everyone knows she stole the cantaloupe that powers Precinct 13579 and that while she's still mad at him and while he makes mistakes that make her mad, he still wants her back as his partner. Olive, at this point nearly a pure bonafide villain, once again severely misconstrues his words as him manipulating her and bossing her around.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Every time Olive insists that doing odd things is bad and that she would never do anything odd, Odd Todd points out a time that she did do something odd, her current feelings, or a gadget she used that ultimately disproves her point.
• Ignored Epiphany: On sheer instinct, Olive saves Odd Todd from a swarm of Pesky Pigeons, and has no memory of anything that happened from the time she pulled a gadget from her Hammerspace spine to the time when she found herself laying on the ground with all the pigeons turned into pudding. When she comes back to her senses, she is rendered in a state of shock as she asks herself "What have I done?" and stares at the result of her actions, but instead of having a Heel Realization, she feels peace wash over her and she agrees to Odd Todd's offer to join him.
• Literal Metaphor: Odd Todd thinks that he has the last piece of the puzzle needed to get Olive to defect and join him, and then it's revealed that he has the last piece to a 500-piece puzzle of a puppy loose in his pocket.
• Madness Mantra: Olive's second to-do list in Chapter 3 has her repeating "do not lose your cool" five times out of the nine things presented. Naturally, she loses her cool at the climax.
• Mouse World: As per canon, Precinct 13579 houses many little cities with many Lilliputians living in them. However, Olive decides to mess with the town of Lilliput specifically by dumping two hard-boiled eggs into its town square, which causes all of the Big-Endians and Little-Endians to start arguing with each other.
• Multiple Endings: The author originally posed the option of two endings to readers — either Olive would complete her Face–Heel Turn and become evil, or she would back out and go back to Odd Squad in the hopes of becoming an agent again and facing the consequences of her actions. While the author and the contest's winner decided on the former Downer Ending, the latter was also added in as an alternate Good Ending.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Olive has this reaction to instinctively attacking Polly Graph's pigeons and turning them into pudding to save Odd Todd.
  • The Good Ending has her pose this question to herself when Otto's words manage to reach her.
  Olive: [thinking] What in jackalope's name have I done? Am I doing? I have to make this right while I still can.
  • Otto's best friend and work partner, whom he shares a sibling-like relationship with, goes through Sanity Slippage and eventually turns into a cold-blooded criminal who allies with the very co-worker that abused her, harassed her, and tried to kill her in addition to her co-workers. To make matters worse, he doesn't try to stop her and even ends up pushing her away at one point when she tries to speak to him about her problems, which makes it hurt all the more when her actions affect him and his friends and co-workers to the point where he ends up feeling guilty.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Odd Todd has one regret, which comes in the form of not allowing Olive to reach her true potential and instead belittling her and overshadowing her skills, because if he hadn't then she would have joined him sooner. However, when she comes to him later on, it gives him another chance for him to try and pull her to the side of evil, and it works.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Otto makes a very grave mistake in not allowing Olive to talk to him about her problems, instead dragging her along with him on a case involving another number hog — and he eventually ends up paying the price when Olive completes her Face–Heel Turn.
  Otto: [thinking] She's gone. I lost her. And it's all my fault.
  For as long as he lived, Otto never forgave himself for what had happened this week.
  • Olive turns down Otto's offer to get pizza despite her simultaneously realizing that the two of them going to get pizza is a great opportunity for her to vent to him, and upon returning to Odd Squad after her argument with him, she quickly realizes what she's done.
  Olive: [thinking] I blew it. I totally blew it. I said I wasn't going to lose my cool and I did. What's worse, Otto was right and I was wrong, and he knows it.
  • In Chapter 5, Otto grabs hold of the cantaloupe that powers Precinct 13579's Headquarters when he confronts Olive as to what's inside the sack she's carrying. She asks him if she can have it back so she can get back to her "case", but instead of denying her request and keeping the cantaloupe in his grasp, he holds it out to her and allows her to take it back, essentially making a burglary attempt successful in the process.
  • Inverted as Olive is a villain by that point in the story, but Chapter 5 shows that for some reason, she still holds on to her badge phone despite being on the side of evil, and even laments how she didn't toss it in the trash when she came to Odd Todd's house. This is what enables Otto to be able to reach her. Subverted in the Bad Ending when she simply brushes Otto and his words off and continues being evil.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Although she agreed with him willingly, Olive turning evil was not solely her doing — Odd Todd coerced Olive into completing her Face–Heel Turn, and she was able to fight him and return the cantaloupe Power Source to where it belongs. It's for this reason that Oprah allows Olive to keep her badge and stay hired with Odd Squad, meaning that had Odd Todd not forced her to become evil (which is stated to be in the form of the tasks he gave her to perform as part of initiation into the Todd Squad), Olive would be fired and subsequently unemployed, which, considering the circumstances, might have led her to become evil anyway — or at the very least, might have led her to delve further into Sanity Slippage.
• Noodle Incident: If Chapter 2 is anything to go by, Olive once accidentally swam in the fuzzy dice pool and not in the regular pool.
• Oh, My Gods!: Chapter 6's Good Ending has Olive giving a "what in jackalope's name" in response to Otto calling her, although it also has her thinking "God, I'm so glad I came back" at the end.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In Chapter 3, Olive is quick to realize that there's something wrong with her since she never gets worked up over anything and usually keeps her emotions steady. It's part of her ongoing struggle of her feeling bored with Odd Squad and everything in it, including Otto, and she decides to test her slip in personality by searching up "#oddsquad" on every social media site available, only to find the hashtag filled with pictures of rowdy teenagers.
  • Later on in the chapter, Otto also confronts Olive and says that she's been off all day, which leads to the two of them getting into an argument. Likewise, Olive also shoots down his offer of the two of them going to get pizza despite her brain telling her to agree to it so she can talk to Otto about her struggles.
  Olive: [thinking] What's the problem? I'm embittered and jaded and tired of Odd Squad. And that needs to stop now.
  • Otto not being up for getting pizza after his nasty argument with Olive just shows how shocked and hurt he is, doubly so by him simply standing in place for a long time as the sun sets, and adds to the impact of the scene.
  • In Chapter 6, once he hears just how evil Olive has become and how she refuses to give back the cantaloupe she stole, Otto's tone of voice goes completely rigid — a rarity for him considering he's regarded as the Nice Guy of the Main 4.
  Otto: I don't think I know who you are. What have you done with my partner?
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When Odd Todd tells Olive to call him by just that, she tells him that she was never partnered with anyone named Odd Todd and that her partner — present tense, not past tense — was named Todd. She brings her hand over her mouth once she says it, but her intention for meeting up with Odd Todd nor the fact that she refers to him as her partner doesn't go unnoticed by him.
• The Power of Friendship: Even in spite of all she did to him, Otto harbors absolutely no ill will towards Olive and is relieved to hear that Oprah won't be firing her. It's so heartwarming to the Investigation agent that she almost feels like crying. Almost.
  • The end of the Good Ending of the story has Olive realizing what a real partner is to her.
  Olive: [thinking] Real partners make up and forgive each other after arguments. Real partners care for and help each other. Real partners solve problems differently, but they do it together because that's what partners are for. Real partners are not just partners, but friends.
• Rage Breaking Point: Olive manages to hit hers at the climax of Chapter 3, as she snaps at Otto and the two get into a rather nasty argument.
• Sanity Slippage: Olive gets hit with this hard throughout the story. Her conflicting emotions cause her to lash out and act irrational towards her partner and her co-workers, to the point where she finally goes off the deep end and pulls a Face–Heel Turn. Although she tries to keep her mental health in check numerous times, her attempts ultimately end up futile, and Chapter 4 even implies that she has no control over her thoughts and actions at all when it comes to treating Odd Todd as an ally rather than an enemy.
• Sdrawkcab Name: Olive takes on the name "Evil O" upon defecting to Odd Todd's side, which is the name "Olive" spelled backwards.
• Shoe Phone: Olive is tasked with catching a fish and using it as a phone to communicate with Odd Todd.
• Shout-Out: In Chapter 5, when trying to avoid Otto, Olive tells him that she's late for a very important date.
• Slasher Smile: Olive gives one when Odd Todd invites her to eat cantaloupe with him for dinner that's practically instinctual for her by that point.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Otto's first time seeing Olive since their fight two nights ago has him confronting her about where she was that morning, only for her to quickly cover up what she's doing.
  Otto: Hey, Olive. Where've you been?
  Olive: Huh what? I'm not doing anything odd here!
  Otto: Okaaaay.
• Tempting Fate: When Oscar comes into Oprah's office and informs her of the two eggs he found in Lilliput, Oprah asks if the day can get any worse. Unbeknownst to her, however, it has been getting worse, and it hits its peak eventually.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. Although it's left ambiguous whether Odd Squad as a whole has them, Precinct 13579 has therapy programs for agents that feel like they're turning to the odd side. Part of Olive's punishment is to attend odd therapy with Oscar for two hours every day for a month.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Defied by Olive in Chapter 4 when Odd Todd tells her to call him by just that, only for her to insist on calling him Todd because her old partner didn't have the "Odd" attached to his name.
• This Cannot Be!: Olive's reaction to finding out who the last contestant of the O Games is.
  Olive: [thinking] No. No, that's impossible. It can't be him, it just can't.
• Wham Line: Olive hits Otto with one that manages to leave him so stunned that he forgets about going to get pizza and just stands on the sidewalk for a long time as it becomes nighttime.
  Olive: You know what, go get your stupid pizza! Guess some people just don't care enough about me as an Odd Squad agent if I'm always getting assigned horrible partners. And if you think I'm boring, maybe it'd just be better if I had never been one!
• Write Who You Know: Katherine, an Odd Squad client introduced in Chapter 3 who is a number hog, reflects the author's obsession with the number 9.
• You're Just Jealous: Olive accuses Otto of being jealous that she had another partner before him, and it just so happened to be Odd Todd. Otto is taken aback by this and says that he would never be jealous of the agent who frequently bullied his ex-partner and always held her back, but it just goes in one ear and out the other with her.

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